what teacher wish principals knew

Let’s Talk About the Leader in Me

…the Leader in Me program that you can imagine. The LIM program does indeed tout that this puts no additional work on teachers. This could not be FURTHER from the truth. Another teacher has posted a detailed list of all the additional things that teachers must do and I do all these duties plus more associated with LIM. The focus at my school is completely off academic achievement (until students fail or parents complain) then the principal temporarily shifts her focus to question the teacher about why students are failing. Teaching the habits during instructional time, constantly decorating the school,…

The Principal’s Pet: A Cautionary Tale

…I was one of the good ones. But that feeling is soul candy, a momentary high from the drug of competition, and it’s totally incompatible with something that would be far more sustaining: collegiality. If I could go back now, I would do things differently. Since I can’t, here’s my advice to principals and teachers to help you avoid similar problems in your school. Advice for Principals Make staff relationships a priority. When I interviewed Carrie, a teacher who left the profession after five years, she told me that one big contributor to her desire to leave was how isolated…

Find Your Marigold: The One Essential Rule for New Teachers

…get started. I also agree that cliques can be just awful, further driving out teachers who are already heading into a negative spiral. I would encourage experienced teachers who are true marigolds to continue to reach out to those teachers, encourage them, and help them break out of those roles. Thanks so much for your thoughtful contribution, Daniel. Shelly Vroegh This article has been a game-changer for me! As a state Teacher of the Year and teacher leader, I have used it to not only think about how I can be a marigold for other teachers but also as I…

What Teachers Want You To Know: A Note to School Administrators

…think of teacher stress as a continuum, I would put these teachers at the healthy end. At the other end, the struggle has a different character, a kind of desperation that goes beyond “good stress.” Teachers at that end of the continuum are panicked. Many nights they go home and cry. They don’t sleep. They can’t concentrate. And they are thinking seriously about leaving the profession altogether. After listening to thousands of teachers tell their stories, I have reached the conclusion that there is one deciding factor that determines where teachers will fall on the continuum, one element that makes…

Principals: Are you brave enough to ask for staff feedback?

…really good suggestions to help teachers get the year started. Any teachers out there who can jump in on this one? Thanks. Jess K. Hello! This is a WONDERFUL article! I wish I could send it a long to my administration. I am a teacher who is working on gathering information about current staff morale. Do you have a survey for teacher-to-teacher morale? Andrea Castellano Hi Jess, are you looking for a teacher survey about admin or something more general? If you could say a little bit more about what you’re looking for, maybe we have something we can recommend….

Frickin’ Packets

…him and not give him another packet. With what our youth have shown this week with the “March for Our Lives” protest, and myself as a former teacher and current teacher coach, I am proud of Jeff. I am also glad that I had the passion as a teacher to engage my students because I always viewed teaching through the eyes of the learner. I hope this teacher was able to reflect on what was said and improve her craft and I hope the best for Jeff. Thanks for writing this post. Reba Matthews Thank you for posting your blog…

Episode 56: Creating a Welcoming Classroom for Special Ed Students

…of that student, and they understand a lot about inclusion and integration and program planning for this child. Why wouldn’t you talk to that person to get that juicy information that you need? GONZALEZ: In the states we call them resource teachers, usually. GAMBLE: I love resource teachers. I’m going to start, like, pushing for that in Canada. 2. Consult with your specialists. Regularly. GONZALEZ: So in addition to talking to the parents, you want to talk to their resource teacher or their educational assistant. And when we talked about this before, you were saying that these teachers have so…

Conquering National Board Certification (and Why It’s Totally Worth It)

…with board certified teachers, working with an online group of other certified teachers, goggling the beejesus out of everything and with a friend going through the process as well. A test that regularly only passes an average of 40-50% of its students is ridiculous. If every test we gave only that many students passed, we’d be on probation and job targets. As quality teachers we would look at the test and our teaching, fix it, reteach, reassess and make changes accordingly. This is not the case. Either the test is too hard or the candidates too stupid. And I know…

Your Teachers Need a Win

…And maybe if teachers had total control over their time and their craft, it would work that way, but they don’t. Administrators also consume this stuff. And they want their teachers to implement it. And far too often, they want them to implement it NOW. This ignores all of the good things teachers are already doing. And so even teachers who manage to avoid that Pinterest-y comparison often have it placed in their laps anyway. So right now I want to pause my usual stream of ideas and suggestions and talk to those administrators, to principals and superintendents and instructional…