Few day ago, ES admin went to each grade level and got feedback from them to see how we can support them more and to find out what they need. We agreed to only listen and not to comment. We listened and wrote down what they said. Just like all schools, it’s a busy time of year so we felt staff morale was not high in energy. We wanted to see why and what we could do as admin to help them.
Tag: Private schools
The +1 Principle Article
I just read an article by John Wink about the +1 Principle. I find it interesting how as administrators we keep adding onto our staff’s plate without removing anything first. When I was a teacher I felt that tasks were being added left, right and center without any tasks being removed for us. However, this year the admin team are trying to remove tasks before adding anything. We meet, discuss, and see if it’s worth implementing or not. We evaluate what would be the outcomes if we do.
To send or not to send reminder emails.. that is the Question?!
I rarely send emails to my staff unless I really need to. However, when I do, I expect my staff to read it from beginning to end as there would be important information for them to know. It’s mostly friendly reminders and I tend to do them all in one email and send it rather than sending them emails every few days. A few days pass and I get the same question asked at least 2 or 3 times from different teachers. I look at them and bite my tongue and feel like saying, “Clearly you did not read my email, otherwise you would have known the answer to this.” Instead I put a smile on my face and answer their question(s). Sometimes there are instances where I ask my staff, “Where is this?” or “Did you not do this?” and their answer would be like “Oh oops, was I supposed to do give it in or do it?” Again I think to myself, “Really, did you not read my email?!” In a very hard but diplomatic way, I respond by saying “Yes, you were supposed to as I mentioned it in my email I sent yesterday.”
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Morning Rounds
When I am not in meetings, I love to be in the classrooms. It gives me a chance to interact with both the teachers and students. The past 2 weeks has been insane with having no time between meetings, solving problems and parents walking in. Tuesday morning, a grade 1 student ran to me and asked “Mrs. Dana why aren’t you coming to my classroom? What’s wrong?” I stopped, bent down and hugged him and told him “I am sorry but sometimes we have so many things to do that I am unable to come by.” He looked at me and tried to smile. He hugged me again and said, “I hope you will come soon.” Right then and there, as I was walking up to my office his question was running through my head. “WOW!” I thought. “Students realize when I come in and out of their classes?” They actually want me there. He noticed I hadn’t been in his class in a while. I am trying my best in the mornings to make it through 7 sections in each grade. I pick a grade and go into their classrooms for that morning. My goal is by the end of the week to have been in each classroom from grades 1 to 4. Sometimes it’s hard and other times it’s fine. I try to have my meetings starting at 10am. I try my best to be out during recess, supervising from beginning to end and checking if teachers are there on time and engaging with students. I try to be outside everyday at 2:30pm greeting parents as they pick up their children. Is it easy? No. Is it exhausting? Yes. But that one student’s’ comment made it all worth it. He noticed I hadn’t been there for a while which meant a lot to me. It proved to me that I am doing the right thing.
Teachers come to me and ask, “Have I passed?” “Is there anything wrong?” “Was there a parent complaint?” “You make me nervous when you walk in.” I laugh and say “No, no, no, none of the above. I like to do my rounds and check on both you and class. I like to come by and see if you need any help. I’m also interested in seeing what the students are learning about and to be visible around the school.” They look at me take a deep breath and smile.
Am I that scary? Are we not supposed to check in on staff and students? Are they not used to that? It makes me wonder and think at times. But if that one student noticed that I hadn’t been around in a while, then it proves that what I am doing is definitely right. Students enjoy seeing me and I love being in their classrooms learning with them as long as I am not in a meeting or solving problems.
What do you do as a principal or assistant principal? Are you in and out of the classrooms? Would love to know… feel free to share please. 🙂
What a Week!
Wow! Life as a teacher was so different than life as an AP. What a week it has been. I travelled to Abu Dhabi for the NESA leadership conference. That was 5 nights and 6 days that I spent networking and attending workshops and answering emails from teachers. I arrived late at night and went to school the next morning. I had no idea what to expect after being away for the week. It was crisis after crisis. From major staff crisis, overwhelmed teachers (due to report cards), students who misbehaved, angry parents and the list goes on. It seemed everyone needed me on the spot right as I walked in. I felt I was being stretched out like no other. Trying to support the teachers, helping those students and solving those crisis we went through was NOT easy.
The most difficult part I am finding after being in this position for nearly two months is having that smile on from the minute I walk in until the minute I leave. Putting that mask on mask off depending who is walking right through my door is also exhausting. I try to be there for my staff and help them in any way possible. However, there are times I feel as though “Really? You’re asking that? You’re a teacher. You can make that decision yourself and you don’t need me for that.” Instead I take a deep breath, smile and try to come up with solutions with them and ways to help them.
Are we expected to have all the answers at all times the minute our staff asks us? Are we supposed to be right there the minute they need us? Are we supposed to have all the solutions to every problem that comes our way on the spot? Can we say “Will get back to you asap?” Can we say “I truly don’t know, let’s brainstorm solutions together?” Is that ok? Are we letting our staff down by saying that?
Despite all that, I still love this position and being there for my staff, students and parents.
Your thoughts?
Dlightfully
My First Week
My first official week as an AP with students and parents was wonderful. I loved and enjoyed every minute of it. It was definitely overwhelming, eventful and exciting all at once. Supporting teachers, going into classrooms when I am not in meetings, helping students, being on duty to check on staff and to connect with students were just a few of the things that kept the whirlwind of excitement going for me the first week. For the first few days it all felt surreal; is this really happening? The secretary was calling me for something almost constantly, and there were always parents waiting to talk to me. It seemed never ending, and I reveled in all of it. My dream … I’m living my dream.
Before school started, my principal,KG AP and myself changed the schedule timing. Something I have been wanting to do since the first day of working at this school. We managed to add 20 minutes to advisory/homeroom time. This way students get stability, time to settle in and see their homeroom teacher for a significant amount of time. They can spend the time doing whatever homeroom teacher decides. They can settle them down, tell them what’s happening during the day so they know what to expect, have a read aloud or give students time to read to themselves. In using 20 minutes efficiently, you accomplish many things.
We also added 5 minutes transition time after recess, and decreased recess down to 20 minutes. Since then, we noticed that bullying decreased, and there’s no longer a line of students outside our offices waiting to complain or receive some sort of punishment. Having 30 minutes recess was insane. The last 10 minutes of recess was when students got bored and started picking on other students, causing trouble.
Some feedback we had received was that there wasn’t enough time for students to eat in grades 3 and 4. I personally think that if they are trained properly and reminded, they will eat properly and have time to play. This is all new to them and they need all the training and reminders they can get. That was the first accomplishment we succeed as an admin team, and I was very happy with the changes.
Another change I did was revamping the duty maps for teachers. Each one now knows exactly which zone they belong to and what responsibility they have for that zone. It’s now clearer and straight to the point. I try my best to be outside during recess when I am not in a meeting, and try hard not to have any meetings scheduled during recess time. Between changing timings in schedule and revamping maps, most of my time was completely taken up for my first official week at work. It’s worth it when teachers come up to me and thank me for making it so clear and colorful, and I really appreciate all their positive feedback.
My first week has been absolutely wonderful in every way, and I almost didn’t want it to be over. I am loving my new position and loving being outside the classroom. The challenges that come my way out of nowhere keep me on my toes like never before. Being able to help our newbies and support them in any way possible is a great feeling. Lets see what the rest of the month, and year, have in store.
My new role…
This is it. New year, new chapter in my life, new challenges, new everything … AAAAAAAAHHH! Its all so nerve-wrecking. I arrived to Kuwait on Wednesday night and Thursday was my first day at work, officially as an ES assistant principal. Mind you I was unable to sleep properly. The anxiety I felt were insane and totally new to me. I probably slept for 2 hours.
The next morning, I picked up the KG AP and went grocery shopping for our new staff arriving that night. We made sure we got them things that will get them by for that night. We had planned many shopping trips for them. We bought the things and took them to sort them out and deliver them to each apartment. Later that morning was my first Admin Council meeting. We all greeted each other, spoke about our summers and began the meeting. It felt weird being there with the rest of the team and jumping into conversations when needed. That night all 8 of us went to the airport. We greeted the new teachers as they walked out of the sliding doors and towards the AIS sign. It was a wonderful feeling introducing myself or a principal introducing me. I tried to make them feel comfortable and answered all sorts of questions they had. Most importantly, I was able to get them connected to message their families and to let them know they arrived safely, and that they were in good hands. We were there from 9pm until 2am making sure everyone arrived and got what they needed.
The next morning we took them grocery shopping and the AP’s met to discuss the following days’ activities and schedule. It was all wonderful yet overwhelming. My main goal was to get them settled in and make sure they got everything they needed. We kept telling them not to worry about their class or school, that these two weeks are for them to make their flats feel like home, and to get their lives sorted out before anything else because that will be paramount to making them feel comfortable starting at school.
The next day we took them for breakfast at a very yummy Lebanese restaurant, then to the biggest mall in Kuwait from 10am-5pm. While they were shopping, the Admin team met to go over the next few days. Meeting at Starbucks and working in this new role, with people passing by, looking at us, felt surreal to me. Was I really here? Am I the AP? Is this happening? I felt as though I had grown up so much, so quickly.
We made sure we were visible to our new staff while they shopped and we worked, in case they needed anything. It was an amazing feeling being there, discussing their day plans and what we needed do for them. Being a teacher and then an AP is a plus for me as I know both worlds, and can empathize with what teachers need, and what they would like for us to do to help them integrate and adapt.
Overall the experience has been great. I am loving every minute of it. Yes, there are challenges but so far it’s been easy to iron it out for them. As long as our new staff are all happy and smiling, and their transition has been smooth, then all this exhaustion is worth it. I can’t wait to see what’s planned ahead for me.
Dlightfully D.
The Beginning
For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to be a teacher. As a child, it seemed as though I constantly held a red pen/crayon in my hand, placing check marks and X’s everywhere. When I had friends over, I always seemed to convince them to play school, and I was always the teacher. I don’t remember ever having an interest in the business world, or anything corporate. All I knew for sure is that I wanted to be a teacher, and that it came naturally to me.
I went to school and graduated with a major in Education. I graduated with honors, and solidified a teaching certificate as well, completing four years successfully.
It wasn’t always a smooth road however; I remember that during my student teaching stint, I had an overwhelming urge to quit and drop out of college entirely. My supervisor insisted on me completing my student teaching for three months in a government school, and it was grueling for me because I had been in private schools growing up and found public education to be a completely different world. My goodness what a difference it was.
When I found that there was no way out of the situation, I didn’t give up. Instead, I went daily for three months without skipping a moment, and completed the three months which felt like three years. But I was done. I knew that I would never fit into a government school. It simply wasn’t a space I belonged in. But I didn’t allow that to deter me from pursuing my education dream.