Assistive Principles . . .

Helpful hints, position essays, and useless blather from the Assistant Principal of a high school in Southern California. Posts here do not necessarily reflect the positions or views of the school or district with which he is employed.

So there.

Monday, October 01, 2007

"Missed It By THAT Much . . . "*

posted by Q6 at 5:05 PM

There have been concerns lately that the newly-intoduced-on-our-campus AP English Language course may be having problems. It's no surprise, especially when you consider the fact that this course was supposed to be taught by our department chair--who quickly fled to another school district closer to home (good for her, by the way)--and was given to someone who hired in at the last minute and had no idea it was coming. There is now the distinct possibility that those two sections will be switched to another teacher. "Who will we get to teach this class?" my principal asked me. I didn't even skip a beat:

"Give it to me," I replied. "I'll teach it."

The several seconds of silence that followed were a clear indication that she was considering it. I didn't have a snowball's chance in hell, you understand . . .

We'd been through this last year when an administrator was poised and ready to take over a Math class. The district didn't want administrative time spent in the classroom (presumably since there is so much administrative stuff to do), and so there's no way they'd switch positions and let me back into the classroom (which is now my dream: to get myself financially stable enough to get back into the classroom, hopefully while my mother is still on this Earth). I'd like to point out two things on the subject, though:

One, the term "principal" in education has its roots in the schoolhouses of old. There may have been more than one teacher, but one was considered the top dog--or, more accurately, the principal teacher, which is where we get the term. Whatever idiot eventually decided to move this position out of the classroom altogether clearly wanted his own office, little interaction with students, and premium dental insurance.

Two, I think the only real way for administrators to truly have their fingers on the pulses of their schools is to be on the front lines and in the classrooms themselves. Anything less, and we're seriously shortchanging the students. (For the teachers' union's position on the concept of administrators in the classroom, click HERE.)

* This quote is legendary, and shame on you if you can't place it. The movie remake from this classic TV series looks good, by the way.

4 Comments:

At 5:51 PM, Ms Characterized

You have certainly made your "oint".

Seriously, good entry. Carnival it?

And..."Get Smart"? Gosh, I hope I'm not wrong here.

At 7:07 PM, Joel

I interviewed once with a principal who also taught math three periods a day. The superintendent came into the interview, apologized for being dirty because he was mowing the football field, and he proceeded to tell me that he also taught history. Awesome stuff. I wish more administrators would do something remotely similar to that.

At 1:38 PM, MasonPiper

Was an AP for three years, got divorced and went back into the classroom, I was surprised at how my world view had changed, and not for the best. I always believed that 95% of educators need to move buildings, etc. every 5 years or so, I now believe administrators need to go back to the classroom for a couple of years every so often. I am now back in the office (AP) and am making my attempt to be out with the kids as much as possible.

Good on you and good luck
Piper
Aka Scott Hudson

At 8:16 AM, loonyhiker

You hit the nail on the head! So many times teachers feel like the administration has lost any concept of what it is actually like in the classroom. I think it would be great for the AP to have to teach one class during the year. Then the admin can actually see first hand if their procedures and demands can actually be met. I think a lot of things would change if this happened.

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