We had 10 minutes to eat and decompress and instead the KG AP and I sat down and wrote our very own AP job description. We listed what we do minute by minute from the moment we enter the school till the time we leave. Yes our official working hours is from 7:15 till 3. But we are always here by 6:30 am and we leave by 4pm at the earliest. There are days that that we leave at 5pm depending on what we have to do since there is never any time during the day.
Tag: schools
World Read Aloud Day!
On Thursday we had World Read Aloud Day at AIS. We decided as admin to read to our students. Because my day was crazy insane on Wednesday I had no time to pick a book. The KG AP shared books and I picked one at night. While I was reading the book I got an idea to act it out as well and do something different for a change for our students.
The Day in the life of an AP without your Principal!
The day has come when my principal would not be at school for 3 days. It was the day I feared most. My goodness, 2 days of trying to be in so many places at once was insane. Day 1 started at 6:30am and ended at 5:15pm. It was non stop, one thing after the other. I could only connect with the KG AP for about 10 minutes. At one point, I had to be at 3 different places at once. Between attending to teacher’s needs, to solving students behavior problems, to answering angry parents, to going into meetings, to calling home and speaking to parents, to making decisions on the spot, to seeing unexepected parents that showed up at my office was exhausting and overwhelming.
Continue reading “The Day in the life of an AP without your Principal!”
A simple yet powerful question.
A few days ago after school I was sitting at my desk and a staff member stopped by and asked, “How was your day?” I was so focused on the screen and thinking of what I had to finish that when I looked up at her I didn’t know how to answer. It took me a few seconds to understand what she was asking. Finally I answered back by saying “Come again? Sorry I was so focused on the screen I didn’t quite hear you.”
Feedback. Reflect. Action.
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.
Compliments…Say what?!?!?!?
During the weekend my children were invited to a birthday. I dread going to kids birthdays because I am there as a parent or as the AP depending if there are parents from school or not. More than half of the time I see parents from our school there. I am not the type of mother who sends her kids to birthdays with the nanny. Therefore, I am forced to see parents because I simply can’t stop my kids going to their friends birthdays. The minute they see me they start asking questions, give me their feedback or say something negative. To hear a compliment is very rare now a days and I simply do not understand why! Continue reading “Compliments…Say what?!?!?!?”
Parent Conferences
We just finished our two nights of parents conferences. I must say, as a teacher it had a total different feeling than being an AP. As part of the admin team, we walk around, up and down, all through the hallways making sure everything and everyone is fine. Looking into classrooms and being able to read my staff’s facial expressions and giving them a thumbs up was a great a feeling. One advice my principal gave me was to keep a pen and post it with me to jot down parent’s complaints/requests. For the whole night we never sat in our offices as we wanted to be visible to the parents and staff. At one point, we got four staff members asking us to roam around their area at a specific time when those “difficult” parents came in. So we made sure we were there for them, checking in on them and making sure their conference went smoothly. I didn’t know we had so many difficult parents that staff needed us there just for comfort. Being a teacher you are not aware of what is happening in other classes or grades or how parents are except your own 23 parents. .
The first hour passed and there was not one complaint! YAAAY. My yellow post it was empty woohoo!! Then the second and third hour was just the same. Everyone was smiling, complementing and speaking highly about our staff. PHEW! Our night was a success. I didn’t sit down for 5 minutes! I was all over the place and when I would cross paths with my principal, we would check in with each other for 5 minutes to compare notes and continue walking, smiling and checking up on everyone.
Coming to work the next day with 4 interviews to do, meetings to attend and staff to check up on was truly exhausting, my goodness! Day 2 of PT conferences was another success, my post it was still empty. NO complaints!! Parents were smiling, less staff needing us to roam their hallways and all just went smoothly. To continue smiling and making small talk was hard and tiring. However, I managed and enjoyed it, despite it being exhausting and not being able to sit for more than 3 minutes before someone wanting you or calling your name. It was worth it for as long as our staff and parents were happy.
As admin what do you do during PT conferences? Are you in your offices from beginning to end? Would love to know.
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. 🙂
My Recruiting Experience!
Over the weekend my superintendent, owner of the school and I flew to Dubai for the GRC recruiting fair. It’s a one day fair and I must say that I was nervous about this trip. Those two nights I barely slept. Especially the night before for the fair. I was told I was going since September. And since then I always wondered what it would be like. We got in on Friday. Friday night my superintendent and I met and we reached out to our candidates by email. We set up interviews timings to those that sent us their CV’s through the GRC website and went through our interview questions.
Saturday came and we sat up our table, had breakfast and was ready for the candidates. The doors opened at 8am. From 8 am till 10am the candidates came and confirmed their interview timings. Some people checked out our openings and dropped off their CV. Working 14 hours straight with 1 hour break was exhausting. Smiling, talking, interviewing, answering their questions and making small talk was insane but loved it. I did my first interview with my superintendent and then went solo with the owner by my side giving me tips and answering their questions. The whole experience was surreal. Between interviews we would get other directors/principals asking us for reference checks for our current staff that were there attending the fair as well. When we were done interviewing, it was our turn to email and ask for reference checks for those we interviewed and were interested in offering a contract. The minute we were finished interviewing, we debriefed over dinner, got their referenced checked, then sent emails offering some candidates a contract. It went by so quickly yet so slowly and I learned a lot from both my superintendent and the owner. So many countries and schools attended this fair. It was interesting to see lines were queues for China, Vietnam and South Korea. I went around to see which schools were there. The ballroom was filled with tables and schools from around the world. It was fun, tiring, exhausting and overwhelming all at once. Can’t wait till next year’s fair! 🙂
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