How Can You Tell Your Principal Cares?
Does your principal care? How can you tell? If you work in a school where the principal doesn’t care then I’m sad for you. You need to be at a school where your principal cares. If not, then you will need to gain all the support you can from other teachers and support staff.
Principals have a difficult job too!
Before I dig into this article, I want to take a moment to remind my teacher friends that the job of principal is VERY DIFFICULT.
Principals must answer to so many people in the course of the day. Parents, the District Office, Teachers, Students, Other district personnel, classified staff, and community members. And if the district is small often the Board Members as well. That’s a lot of people.
I have two other articles that I wrote about Principals. But these are more along the lines of what they are looking for in classrooms and during observations. You can access there here:
What Your Principal Wants to See During Teaching Observations
Teachers, What Does Your Principal Look for in the Classroom
CARING FOR STUDENTS
Most Principals were once teachers and they like children/students. A few only taught
Of course, Principals can adapt, so if yours taught high school and your school is K-4th that doesn’t automatically mean he/she cannot adapt and learn about this age group. Of course, she can just like you could as a teacher.
The bottom line is that your Principal wants to see the students at your school happy and successful. And he/she will do whatever it takes to help make this happen.
And, on the flip side, your Principal will also do whatever it takes to maintain control of the school and not let misbehaving students run
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CARING FOR TEACHERS
Most of you are searching for verification that your Principal cares for teachers also. Well, again, most do. Most principals want to see teachers be happy and successful also. Most want to support you if possible, and to help you develop your skills and mentor you if you request assistance.
How do Principals show their support for you? Are they attentive listeners when you come to speak to them about a problem or issue? Do they understand when you need time off for personal matters? Do they visit your classroom and leave encouraging notes?
I hope this is a picture of the principal you work with. If not, I hope that you have other support systems that you can rely on.
THE HISTORY OF THE TERM PRINCIPAL
The position of a “principal” came about when schools in the 1800s needed to have one of the teachers be in charge of schedules and other administrative things. These teachers were called the “Principal Teacher” since they held two roles at the small school, that of a regular classroom teacher but also the one to take care of administrative tasks.
As schools got bigger and the state departments of education began placing more requirements on schools, the job of the Principal became full time and was most often filled by a very experienced teacher.
Before I move into the next section, I thought I’d take a quick moment to offer you my FREE downloadable called “10 Ways to Impress Your Principal.” You can get it by completing the attached form and I will zip it over to your email in box.
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ENDLESS TASKS…
When I was teaching I thought it wasn’t possible for any other position at the school to have as many tasks and “things to do” as a classroom teacher. Teachers have so many “items on their plates” to get done and take care of.
Then I became an administrator and realized I was wrong. Administrators have just as difficult a job as a teacher does. Here is a list off the top of my head:
- Supervise and evaluate classified staff
- Supervise and evaluate certificated staff
- Monitor student behavior
- Discipline students
- Contact Parents
- Meet with disgruntled parents
- Attend meetings with District office staff
- Attend Principal meetings
- Meet with the superintendent or Assistant Superintendents
- Ensure the safety at the school site
- Attend IEP meetings
- Attend site planning meetings
- Coordinate grade-level data meetings
- Make sure the school is cleaned by custodial staff
- Monthly fire drills
- Coordinate School Safety plan and committee
- Hold annual disaster drill
- Staff Meetings
- Teacher observations
- Classroom walk-through visits
- Hire staff members
- Determine the staffing each year and assign grade-levels to teachers
- Student of the Month Assemblies
- Student Lunch monitoring and supervision of part-time staff
- Community and parent advisory groups
There are probably about 20 other items I left off. But as you can see, it’s a lot of tasks.
Above is a picture of me (as a Principal) with the first grade team at our school. They sure were a fabulous team!
SCHOOL CULTURE
When I was interning in administration while finishing my Master’s Degree, I worked under a wonderful Principal mentor. I feel so fortunate to have worked with him. He taught me the responsibilities of a Principal along with the idea that the Principal truly helps to establish the CULTURE at the School.
During my administrative career, I was responsible for opening two brand new schools. It was actually an exciting part of the job. And part of this new school is the establishment of “school culture.” What will the school colors be? Who will be the mascot? Who will decide these things?
How Can you tell your Principal Cares?
So, now I’m going to list a few things that I did as a principal that I think/hope demonstrated to my staff that I cared about them.
- Leaves positive notes when visiting your class.
- Has an “open door” policy.
- Listens to teacher concerns.
- Allows staff personal time for family concerns.
- Holds team collaboration meetings.
- Keeps Staff meetings to a minimum and brief (if possible).
- Encourages and supports extra activities.
- Offer advice, encouragement, and praise.
- Treats teachers professionally.
- Greets you pleasantly.
- Enjoys interacting with your class (students).
As with the previous list, I’m sure there are many others that I’ve not listed.
I found another source for information on what makes a great principal online at the website called Education Week Teacher. The article is called: What Makes a Principal Great?
I hope you’ve found this article helpful. What other traits do you appreciate in a Principal? What are
Until Next Time,
Your Teacher Buddy
