(L) 1994 (R) 2018
It is my intention to share some reflections on the highs, the lows, the excitement, the routine, the successes, the failures and everything in between which I experience the course of the next 10 – 12 months, my first months as a full-time principal of a high school. Writing this journal will help me grow. Reading it may make you laugh…
30 | August | 2018
Most people who work in education and who have been in school for the past few weeks may resonate with the question I am about to pose: just where did the last 14 days go?
Life moves pretty fast, a famous philosopher once said (side note: I knew I wanted to be a teacher when I saw Ferris Bueller’s Day Off at a multiplex in Arvada, Colorado when I was a kid because I wanted Ferris to GET CAUGHT – no kidding, I was rooting against the hero) and that sentiment seems so true to me as I reflect on the last few weeks.
What has gone on here at Mullen High School? So very much: student schedules have been solidified, teachers have settled in to their classes after days of “special schedules” for pictures and class meetings and advisements and… you get the picture. The Back-to-School Dance has come and gone and fall sports are in full swing. The fall play has been cast. Back-to-School Night was this past Tuesday.
Two themes strike me as we wrap up our first two weeks of the 2018-2019 school year.
The first is this: patience is critically important to this work. Not every challenge that arises or every issue that crosses a principal’s desk has to be addressed immediately. Sure, some do (let us not leave fires – metaphorical or otherwise – burning in the parking lot) but many if not most do not require immediate action. Take a breath, I have heard myself and those around me. Reflect a little. Give yourself some space. This is a significant learning of the week.
The second is this: try to never miss an opportunity for positive interaction. The president of our school said this to me early in our working together and she is so very right. Back-to-School Night was a chance for positive interactions with our parent community, a chance for teachers and parents to get to know one another and to begin to collaborate on the fine work we will do together. Observing faculty and giving them some props on the magic they work in their classrooms is another such opportunity. As is sitting with and eating with students at lunch. Not all interactions during a school year will be positive. We should seek out and make the most of them.
Bonus learning: I love this work. Love it.