This is one of the movies that inspired me to become a teacher:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_5e_9QUXKI&feature=related[/youtube]
If you haven’t seen it, you might actually “become dumber” by watching it. The truth is, I just loved the thought of having fun around little kids in school all day. Seemed like the best job ever.
Somewhere between that movie and now I had to grow up (a bit). My day is often spent in meetings, on the phone, or working on some of the “managerial” tasks that a principal must do. Working with three separate school sites, it is very tough to actually teach a class on a consistent basis.
Although, I spend a lot of time in the classroom visiting students, I have not had the opportunity to actually “teach” a class in about a year. Today, I had the fortunate opportunity to cover for my grade two teacher and cover her class for about an hour.
It was so FUN! The kids were pretty excited about the chance to have their principal as their teacher and I was excited to get to do some art with them. I laughed a great deal with the kids, and had the odd “look” from some teachers as they passed by and saw me teaching.
This year I have tried to be in the classroom more now that I am in the “swing” of being a principal in my second full year. I have recently started going to classes and reading to the kids as another way to get to know them. Although this is great for the students to see and know their principal, it is great for me to just be around them.
No matter what administrative position you are in, whether you teach or not, you always have the opportunity to be around the kids. Make sure you take advantage of it and connect with those that you serve.
