What Makes A Good Principal/Administrator?
Mamacita says: Most schools are in their last couple of months now, so I thought maybe it was time to post this again, in case a community is in the market for a new principal for next fall. If any teacher or parent has more ideas to add to this “list,” I’d appreciate hearing them. Comment away!
What are the qualities of a good principal? I’ve never had one, but here is what I wish I’d had:
I do not need my principal to be a mentor. I need a principal who understands what kids do in a classroom on a daily basis, because a person who has never been there would have a hard time believing some of them.
I need a principal who is not a good ol’ boy.
I need a principal who knows for a fact that occasionally, a parent can be a moron. And who isn’t afraid to stand up to them, no matter how rich or influential the family might be. And who will work just as hard for a poor non-political family who can’t ‘do anything’ for him socially.
I need a principal who is not afraid to mete out consequences to any kid who chooses to break or disregard the rules. He/she should also have the ability to know when rules SHOULD be broken or disregarded.
A good principal is very visible. He/she doesn’t hole up in the office all day.
A good principal doesn’t have two or three cronies in the building who get all the perks. He/she will make bloody sure that both the pleasant and the unpleasant duties are equally shared.
He/she will treat the secretary as an equal, and not condescend to the janitors.
However, he/she will require that the janitors do their job, which includes cleaning up vomit and poop. And if the janitor can’t lift, carry, and clean, then that janitor must go, even if the janitor is the son of someone important in the system. He will require the secretary to keep current with computer software, etc. A secretary who won’t use anything but a typewriter has to go. A janitor who won’t do poop and vomit must go. A counselor who won’t do sex and friendship spats must go.
A good principal doesn’t give a rat’s ass about petty politics.
A good principal will not allow any of his/her teachers to be bullied by a parent, under any circumstances.
A good principal will not allow bullying in the building, even if the bully is the son/daughter of a friend or the corporation superintendent or the mayor.
A good principal will not let athletic functions override the academic intention of the school.
A good principal will enforce the “no pass, no play” rules. Consistently, and it doesn’t matter if a tournament is coming up.
A good principal is frequently seen around the hallways, occasionally drops in to observe a class, in the cafeteria during the students’ lunchtime, and at the door during bus loading.
In most other ways, a good principal is invisible. But when he/she is needed, he/she is there in a jiffy and will whisk any troublemakers away from the scene and scare the shit out of them with quiet dignity and the aura of ‘things to come.’
A good principal never yells, nor does he/she ‘get down on the students’ level’ with teenie-bopper slang and attempts to be cool.
A good principal will support his/her teachers in every way, until such time as the teacher (in private) must be advised about procedure, conduct, etc.
A good principal will not assume that classroom disruptions are the result of poor teaching. He/she will fully support the removal of any consistent disrupting force in the classroom.
A good principal will find out the facts before making any kind of assumption, and especially before putting any kind of negative note in a teacher’s file.
A good principal does not immediately assume that gossip is truth.
A good principal knows from first-hand experience exactly what shennanigans a student is capable of, and does not act surprised and disgusted AT THE TEACHER when a student displays such shennanigans.
A good principal never says “Now, now, I find that hard to believe” to a teacher or any adult in his building, for that matter.
A good principal understand social media, and isn’t frightened when his teachers and students use it. He/she is VERY tech-savvy, and expects ALL of his/her teachers to be likewise. Tech is no longer an option; it’s absolutely necessary in order to function in the 21st century. Good principals know that any administrators or instructors who choose not to update their skills are dinosaurs.
And no, a principal is not an ‘instructional leader.’ A principal is a ‘facilitator,’ a ‘director,’ a ‘manager,’ a ‘backup,’ and a person to whom a teacher must feel free to consult when things go wrong, and to share the good things with, too, and know that he/she will be ABLE to rejoice or help fix any kind of tidings.
Teachers are ‘mentors’ to each other. The principal’s job is to run the school in a business and intermediary sense. To do so requires in-depth knowledge of the workings of a real classroom, not a textbook classroom, and not the classroom of a seminar leader’s youth.
Good principals are there before anyone else, and are the last ones to leave. They attend concerts and plays, not just ball games.
They’re like a good bra. You need one, you’d like to have an attractive one, but ultimately, you want one that supports and lifts you up.
If You Didn't Earn It, You Don't Deserve It
Mamacita says: The world is so full of lovely, kind, honest people. Seriously, I agree with Anne Frank, who said, “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
How is it that in a world full of decent people, so many indecent and horrible people are able to rise to such levels of power and popularity?
Our kids can tell you the name of Britney’s fourth nanny’s dog, and match all the “couples” on Glee, but they can’t give you the name of a living scientist.
Many sports enthusiasts can tell you what Lou Gehrig’s stats were on any given date, but they can’t tell you the name of the disease that killed him, and they don’t know why he considered himself “. . . the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”
Small children can sing every word to songs with lyrics that would have gotten us expelled from grade school, but they don’t know the lyrics to the National Anthem.
People of any age can tell you all about their “rights,” but many of them know (and care) NOTHING about their responsibilities.
People such as the Brangelinas make shacking up and having illegitimate babies seem not only respectable, but desirable, and our young people are falling for it.
Athletes are cool, and Nerds are just geeky, even though just a few years down the line, those athletes will probably end up working for the nerds. Or wishing they could.
I believe that those in authority WANT us to believe that shallow people and things are important, and that people and things that really ARE important are embarrassing and trivial. This mindset enables the power-hungry to draw more and more weak-minded people into their belief system.
Book that makes one think and question and wonder? DANGEROUS TO OUR BELIEF SYSTEM! Which means, of course, that the belief system is so shaky that a simple question from a child will topple it. Or, even worse, require someone who is entrenched and comfortable to fear that the cocoon will be opened and a ray of (shudder) unfamiliar light might shine down upon it, revealing things as they actually are.
A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are made for. –Grace Murray Hopper
Administrations that consider the score on a standardized test to be the end and all of what education is, are sadly mistaken and even purposely ignorant. IGNORANT BECAUSE THEY WANT TO BE. I believe in passing tests, but it’s the knowledge base that’s important, not the ability to bubble on paper with a #2 pencil within a certain time allotment.
We’ve even got TEACHERS (They’re not educators!!!) who don’t think a knowledge of the “basics” is important. How can anyone learn the cool stuff if they don’t have a knowledge base to make the connections with? They can’t; that’s what.
A child with knowledge of basic prefixes, suffixes, and roots will be able to learn new words by himself/herself. A child with knowledge of basic Greek and Roman mythology will be able to see connections between the night sky and NASA and fairy tales and modern literature and science. A child with a vast storehouse of nursery rhymes will be able to learn history faster and more thoroughly, again because of the connections. And I’m NOT talking about those dreadful, disgraceful, watered-down, politically-correct versions of poems and stories – those are crap.
An echo is not original. Good scores are not the intention of education. Good scores are nice, of course, but a monkey with a pencil can get a good score if it is given enough chances, simply through trial and error and the process of elimination.
Many kids today refuse to do chores or work at anything unless there is an immediate reward dangled before their dazzled eyes. “Raise your math grade a whole letter and you’ll get that Wii you’ve been wanting.” What happened to “Do your best and we’ll all be so proud of you!”
Like, “Where’s my candy, man?”
Teachers are told, with more than a hint of threat, to make sure the athletes pass so they can play in the game Friday night. Athletes are no longer representatives of a proud educational system; they are a source of revenue and often pawns in the power -play between stupid parents and equally stupid administrations. Good parents will encourage sportsmanship and good grades and excellent citizenship, and good parents understand that in a perfect world, nobody would represent the school and community on any kind of playing field without all three. It’s the bad parents who insist that their kid be a starter even though he’s failing math and English and hasn’t turned in any science homework since the first week of school. Why should he? He knows he’s going to get anything he wants anyway; Daddy and Mommy will see to it. Self esteem rules.
I will never understand why so many parents don’t see that self-esteem is something to be EARNED. It can’t be given. Any kid understands this; why can’t adults? Trophies for showing up are ridiculous. I’ve heard kids laughing in the restrooms, year after year, over the beaming adults in an audience, ecstatic because their kid got a trophy for the two points he made in that one game. A TROPHY! I am not speaking of special olympics; I’m talking about the regular stuff.
When a kid can get a limo ride and a free lunch for not hurting anybody for three days in a row, why should any kid try hard? Good kids don’t generally get ANYTHING! It seems to be the bad kids who are catered to and rewarded for bringing a pencil, or not drawing blood for a whole day. Self esteem? The self-esteem of our good kids is going down every day, because we don’t have time to give them any attention. They’re well-behaved and working, and we just don’t have time to tell them how much we appreciate them because we’re too busy breaking up yet another fight between the same kids who do this on a daily basis and can’t be kicked out for whatever reason the law or community or parents have decided to apply. And if a nice kid tries to defend himself/herself, they’re punished for it. Bah.
Schools are not set up for kids who really, really love learning. Schools are set up to cater to the lowest common denominator. Kids who love Ravel? Say what? Kids who talk in street code and don’t even know how to speak any language fluently? Oh YEAH.
Kids who love science? Sorry, that’s not being tested this year so we’re not offering it. We’ll put you in this developmental reading class so you can help the teacher tutor the freshmen who still can’t read but who have been promoted yearly anyway. Have a nice year.
Did you know that in many systems, a failing kid can sign up to take the AP test, fail it, but still get an honors diploma? For showing up?
People who have power have changed our educational system until it’s become this way. How did we let it happen? Kind, decent, intelligent, hard-working people are the majority, and yet, they seem to have no say whatsoever in how things are being run.
I don’t get it.
No Child Left Behind? Ain’t gonna happen. And why is that? I can tell you why.
A lot of children WANT to be left behind. They don’t care, and neither do their parents. Our families failed long before our schools did. Contrary to what many people believe, learning is NOT up to the teacher; it’s the child’s responsibility. It’s easier with a good teacher, but it’s still up to the student to do or not do, listen or not listen, etc. And if the best teacher in the universe is talking to a brick wall, bred by two brick walls, not much is going to happen. And guess who is blamed?
I think we should try as hard as we can to help all children, but that we should concentrate on the ones who WANT to learn. And with those children, we should give every drop of life’s blood that we have. Otherwise, the next time your kid’s history book is revised, the new edition will have a chapter about Britney and Lindsey and Paris, and their contribution to our culture. (For those few who bothered to learn how to read.)
Inventors. Doctors. Philanthropists. Missionaries. Neighbors. Parents. Mathematicians. Decent role models. Kind, generous people. Discoverers. Good teachers. Athletes who can REALLY do it. (not the ones who can’t do it without drugs, etc.) Men and women who don’t leave when a better deal comes along. People with integrity. People with a moral compass. Ministers. (Preachers gross me out) Hard workers. Authors. Poets. Scientists. Storekeepers. Masons. Construction workers. People with what it takes to keep it in (or out of) their pants. Etc.
These used to be our children’s role models. How did we allow it all to change? Because, you know, it couldn’t have changed this completely without the complete cooperation and approval of an awful lot of people, whether they did it consciously or not.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think Britney is going to tell us all about how she turned her drug-battered body back into a muscle machine and decided it was fun, after all, to be a mother to her two very confused little sons. This week, anyway. Stay tuned.
I can’t wait. It’s IMPORTANT.
I will always agree with Anne Frank, but it does get more difficult every day.
The Welcome Mat: A Virtual Venn Diagram
Mamacita says: I’ll start this off with my usual flippant “Bring it on.”
There is a child’s world, and there is an adult’s world. Often, they intersect. Sometimes, they don’t, and each is best kept in his/her proper section. Those who believe adults belong in every aspect of the child’s world are intruding, behaving inappropriately, and are probably very unwelcome. Those who believe children belong in every aspect of the adult’s world are equally intruding, behaving inappropriately, and are no doubt very unwelcome.
Most of the time, the world is open to us all, and everybody is welcome. The problem arises when someone is of the opinion that his/her own personal point of view is everybody’s point of view, and if it’s not, seeks to make it so. “This benefits MEEEEE, so everybody else needs to chill.” Um, no.
Just as adults are creepy and intrusive when children are trying to interact with each other, children can be creepy and intrusive when adults are trying to interact with each other.
Nobody is welcome everywhere. Why should they be? Most places, yes. Come on in. Bring the kids.
But some places? Come on in. Children only on the playground, please. Adults, stay 
back. And other places? Come on in. Adults only, please. Children, stay back.
Find out ahead of time and save us all a lot of whining, disappointment, grief, stress, complaining, elitism, pushing, insisting, and tears. I’m talking to all of you, no age limit.
P.S. If your kid poops in the theater and you don’t snatch it up and run like bloody hell for the door before the smell grows feelers and crawls into everybody else’s nostrils for a good long stay because you paid for a ticket, too, and deserve to see the film without interruption, you’re a jerk. This applies to everywhere else on the planet.
P.P.S. If you go to a child-friendly establishment of any kind and think you’ve got a right to make an equally repulsive stink because a family dared let themselves be seated near you, you’re a jerk, too. This also applies to everywhere else on the planet.
P.P.P.S. If the children have lovely public manners, please feel free to step over and tell the parents so. If you’re rich, buy their dinner. Seriously. Well-behaved kids’ parents don’t get nearly enough public attention; people seem to save it for the disruptive kids’ parents.
To quote Inigo Montoya, “Let me sum up.”
Find out a place’s policies before you show up at the door. If you’re allowed in, behave yourself and make sure everybody with you does likewise. If everybody behaves, nobody else has any right to whine. If someone in your party – no age limit – refuses to act nicely and seriously annoys other people – for whatever reason – go home and try again in a year.
There is a time and a place for adults to interact with children, and there is a time and a place for children to interact with adults. There are also times and places for children only and adults only.
Before I forget: adults do NOT belong in the midst of an Easter egg hunt that is intended for small children. Shame on any adult who runs out there and “helps” a kid win. I’ve seen ’em knock little kids down trying to beat them to a golden egg. Sad, pathetic entities, those.
As for adults who scream obscenities or demand exceptions at children’s ball games. . . they’re all going to hell, and the devil is disgusted, too.
I repeat: Bring it on.
Shhhh, hear that sound? That’s the universe applauding.
