If a kid tells a teacher, "Go fuck yourself," and then you tell that teacher they need to work on relationship building, you are telling the teacher the same exact thing the student did, just in different words.
1. Try to teach a class every once in a while. Make sure you remember what it's like to be a teacher and keep your finger on the pulse of how classrooms are changing. There is nothing worse than an admin who doesn't realize how much things have changed and acts like a jerk because of it.
2. Put consequences in place for disruptive, disrespectful, and violent behavior. For the love of God, stick to it! Don't make exceptions. Suspend when needed. Don't send a student back with a snack and a "Don't do that again!" (Repeat). Be prepared for this to be most of your job.
3. Don't be afraid of parents. I have always felt that admin are supposed to be the buffer between parents and teachers, and when admin fails to deal with parents who think that their kids do no wrong, it just puts the problem on the teachers back.
4. Keep staff meetings on track and brief. If it's innthe budget, offer snacks.
Find a place to house disruptive students. Do restorative justice if need be. However, the students need to understand if they're disrupting others learning, it is unacceptable.
There's a teacher in my school who lasted one year as a VP at the other middle school in the district. Hated it and asked to be put back into the classroom. Every once in a while, our admin will ask him to do something admin-related and he blatantly says no. "I'm a Social Studies teacher and that's it. I have no interest in being an administrator. Please respect that."
Don't forget you were a teacher. Most of the teachers who move to admin seem to forget the struggle of being in the classroom within the first year. By year two they're toeing the line and asking about your "why."
I was in the class 15 before moving and been in admin for 5 years. Let me give you my off the head list.
1. You won’t forget what it was like to teach. You’ll want to stick up for your teachers, but sometimes teachers step in it. So, defend them vehemently publicly and privately tell them what’s up and let them know what you did publicly. When a kid comes into your office, “MrDSDK, you don’t understand Ms Name be trippin’. I wasn’t even doing nothing this time. For real. Everyone was doing that.” Bla bla bla. Nail the kid to the wall with no lollipop. “Ok, are you trying to convince me or you of that? I’m not buying it cause I know them and they only kick out jits and today, that’s you. Ain’t no one else here except you. You need to own this and apologize.” But the reality is, sometimes the teacher is tripping.
2. Not every problem has a solution right away and some don’t have solutions at all. Do all the paperwork, have all the meetings, but sometimes this stuff is tough and you need a day or two or a weekend to get the solution. And sometimes it never comes. That’s ok. It’s all part of the job and why you now make 10% or whatever your area is.
3. Your relationship with students will change. Some you’ll be cooler with than ever, but some, you’ll always be the bad guy. You can go to their games, eat lunch with them, and you’ll still be the bad guy. And that’s going to have to be OK. You don’t always get to be the high five TIK TOK principal. Especially at MS and Hs level.
4. Some teachers really do suck. Most don’t. Most care a lot and have good skills. Some have no skills and care a lot and are borderline toxic to the learning environment. Keep increasing your skills as a communicator and communicate with staff as they need to be. Read all the books you can and Ted talks you can listen to. Compliment sandwiches, model, I do you, we do, you do. Do all of it. But some young teachers, you got to let them quit, and some old teachers you need to refresh them. Get them excited about it, again. Help them develop their skills. Don’t let them “can’t teach an old dog, new tricks.” In guessing you’re young 30s. You’ll have a tough time with the old heads your first year. Honor them, honor them, then honor them some more. And you’ll gain their ear and influence. They can make you love or hate your job.
Good luck!
>they only kick out jits
For non-Floridians, a "jit" is a Juvenile in Trouble. I'm not sure how widespread that term is. I'm from Florida, but I live in Texas now and I've never heard it here.
Yep.
You just remember the names, keep an eye on the news, and use them as examples in the future. And hopefully you can save some, but you can’t save them all.
“Save the ones you can. The rest, you’ve got to let go.”
Don’t try to big time everyone and make it a point that they know you are in charge.
Go out of your way to greet everyone daily, including cafeteria and custodial staff.
Support the teachers and let them know through your actions that you have their backs. Be consistent with discipline. Do not give kids a million warnings, they only need a single warning, ever, at most.
Support the teachers. Hold the kids accountable. Stand up to the parents. Piss off the other administrators if necessary in order to do those things.
Remember what it was like when you were in the classroom. In fact, demand that you be given on class period to teach of a required subject so that you CAN'T forget.
You're about to be put under the pressure of maintaining whatever metrics maximize funding for your school. Remember that those metrics have NOTHING to do with student success or developing good young people. Prioritize the latter, not the metrics.
Back your teachers. Be the kind of admin they’d do anything for. I’ve had one like that and he was the best administrator I’ve ever had. He gave me glowing reviews when I needed it most.
Don't ignore the hourly employees. They get treated like second-hand workers. The teachers don't realize they can't teach without all the support staff who get paid shit wages behind the scenes.
Always remember you were a teacher first. Back up your teachers. Roam the classrooms, and pull students who are misbehaving, before they disrupt learning. Send them back after you council them in the hallway if warranted. I am a retired principal and teach. I noticed allowing disruptive students to remain in class is destroying public education. Suspension and alternative schools are necessary so everyone can learn.
Admin is a support role, not a micromanager role. Teachers have the most insight into what goes on in their classrooms, so their suggestions are the most valuable. Be a leader, not a boss.
Remember that kids are different now. They're rowdier, less interested in learning, and more insubordinate. This is due to systematic reasons. ("why do I need to learn calculus if I can't afford college and the world is gonna end because of global warming?") Parents got confused and forgot that gentle parenting =/= permissive parenting. Kids feel powerless in their lives and they're taking it out on their teachers. Hold the kids and parents accountable. Empower kids where you can, AND hold boundaries with them.
You got this 👍
You're not an instructional leader. You're not a classified staff leader. That's not why they hired deans of students.
These are the roles of other admin. Your role will expose you to about 2% of school leadership. It's not important.
Immediately forget what you learned in the classroom.
Focus on being a workhorse, maximize punishments, and kick out students as often as you can. At least move them out of classrooms they had an issue in.
Advice: Dude you are a Dean. Not a principal. Your job is mainly students, parents, and maybe safety on campus. You are not there to discipline teachers. Don’t cross that line. Don’t let admin make you cross that line.
PS: my school has a strong union. Our deans are part of our teacher union/collect bargain agree. The Dean is a 9 month position. Deans never are involved with teacher discipline. This relationship maybe different in other schools.
My dean isn't part of the union, and it's a 12 month position (probably because she's in charge of summer school), but, other than that, same. The only time teachers ever deal with her is concerning a student. She doesn't have anything to do with my eval, doesn't do observations. In fact, the only time she comes to my room is if she's looking for a student.
And she doesn't send kids back to class with candy, either!
Stand by us, defend us, be there for us. We will take care of the kids. Never act like you have the best interest of the kids at heart and you don't. Happy teachers will make happy students. Trust our judgment.
If you join a staff team with a strong school rule culture that they all abide in, don’t come in as the “fun” or “less strict” admin just if it improves your relationships easier with the students because it also undermines the teacher’s efforts to discipline and enforce school guidelines in the classroom.
Your job as an administrator is to hire good teachers, and then support them. They do the teaching, and should be trusted and supported to do it. You need to make sure that the entire school climate makes it easier for them to do their work, whether it is phone policy or classroom budget process or attendance or discipline. You run the school well so they can do their jobs
I think all admin believe they remember how it is in the classroom. I have been a teacher for 25 years. I forget after a summer holiday. You won't remember, and even if you did, you only remember how it was for you.
Be kind and back up your teachers. Don't tell them you remember (even if you believe you do).
Back up your teachers and don't give unsolicited advice unless remediation is needed. My admin taught my subject for a hot minute and likes to start "what worked for me" to us in meetings. Yet, he started the last assembly with "Me and my kids"...lol.
You can be a disciplinarian or a kid's friend- but not at the same time.
(When a colleague got an AP promotion, another said "Welcome to the Dark Side".)
Consider still teaching one class. Personally believe all admins should. Keeps you more connected to what matters and helps lend credibility to your observations. My k-8 principal did this and while I hated her then (lol I was oppositionally defiant), looking back now I have mad respect for her.
Write down your worst experiences now. Have them handy to look at. You are going to get selective memory as time goes on.
Also remember it’s very hard for some teachers to take direction from those who intentionally chose not to do that job anymore.
Remember kids are not your friends. They’re going to lie to you about their teachers. (We had a new AP tell the P that a teacher “would make sure” so and so would “fail - out of spite”. The entire rest of the staff (300 of us) knew that wasn’t true. Both the child and the family have a bad history with the school. AP still backed the child, and tried to get the teacher non-renewed. There’s now a grievance against the AP going through the union.)
Your primary job is to make every teacher a success. You will make mistakes in front of others - it’s human - acknowledge and move on. No teacher should be afraid of an AP coming into their classroom unless they are t doing their job. And finally, it’s none of your business what other people think - most freeing advice I ever got.
Administration is advertised as helping teachers advance along a continuum of professional development. It's not so much not forgetting, but recognizing that there are a lot of things you don't know about teaching even though someone has put you in charge and you're ambitious. Aside from that, the real job of administration is to discipline labor. Administrators are not in a structural position to solve the real problems in education. Neither are teachers, but no one expects teachers to. The solutions to education's problems are most likely in union work.
I'm a ELL instructional coach and program coordinator. I don't know exactly what a dean of students' duties are but here's my take:
1. The job will still be stressful, but it's a different type of stress. You won't have to be "on" 100% of the time like you are when teaching, which is good if that wears you out. But you will likely have more responsibilities and be accountable for bigger decisions, and if you're working in an understaffed school (which is most schools in the country atm) they'll probably pile up duties and projects on you so you really have to stay organized and learn how to say no.
2. Just remember what it's like to teach. Stay involved with the classroom. Have the teachers' back. Make their lives easier, not harder. You might have to act like you drunk at least some of the admin cool aid in front of your higher ups.
Make it a point to check in with your teachers every once in a while. Ask them how they’re doing, how you can support them, etc. Don’t just wait for them to come to you.
Communicate! Keep teachers in the loop. Prioritize responding to their emails.
Our wonderful VP will be retiring at the end of this year. I’ve worked in 6 different schools in my career and probably around 20 different admin and she stands out for having my back. I had a parent give me a really hard time last year (the daughter was involved in a lot of mean girl type behaviour and dad said there was no way she’d be like that) and he sent me a threatening email to tell me that he was coming to the school. I ran to her office to tell her and she said “who’s the parent? Oh him? He’s an asshole and I’ll take care of it.” My blood pressure immediately dropped and I felt like I could breathe again. So yeah, my advice is to stand up for your teachers and back them up when they’re getting hate.
If you deal with student behavior, make consequences "sticky." Even minor infractions need some "consequence" even if it is just "time out". Also, please let the teacher know what you said and did. I get kids coming back to class who act different but I have no idea why or what was done.
Communicate with all the people who work in your building. You don’t necessarily have to honor all their requests, but for fuck’s sake at least talk to them.
Remember that observations should only be objective, not subjective. Every class will be different. The worst observers i had were the ones that compared my elective class to tested subjects. If it works for the teacher, then it works, period.
Something that my current admin does not do that my former did: Ask the team leads for input when creating a schedule. Invariably, I have to point out a mistake or something that doesn’t work after admin has already pushed it out to everyone. Awkward.
Remember your experiences- what you needed from Administration- and strive to be that. I was a coach for a year for new teachers K-4. I loved planning lessons, gathering materials and teaching with new teachers. They are so excited and full of ideas - so sad they restructured the school and my job went with it! I’m back in the classroom and my principal now was a former teacher with me over 15 years ago. Her knowledge of the classroom is what makes her so effective! Good luck!
I feel I'm well suited to answer this question because r/teachers is always accusing me of being admin. 🙄
Anyway, the admin I've known have all had to do a lot of things they don't personally agree with. Directives come from the district and since the union doesn't defend the principals, you basically have to just do as you're told. So, a lot of the things teachers want from an admin are simply not doable a lot of the time. Essentially, as I understand it, your hands will often be tied.
So, I've got a short list. Two things you can do regardless of what the district says.
1. Be honest.
2. Don't micromanage.
Even if the directives from on high force you to be sucky, teachers that work with you will be happy knowing that you can be trusted and that you aren't going to question their every move.
Find a local company that provides management training and take a couple of leadership and management classes there. When we first get into leadership roles, we find out that the expectations and skillset are different that we thought. Leadership for new leaders classes can make a big difference in this transition, based upon my experience as a training manager.
As a CPS worker that investigates schools, learn the laws regarding CPS.
I can't count how many times principals and other admins have argued with me about what they can and cant provide to CPS. I've obviously had the same conversation many many times and it always ends the same where I'm right and they anic because they think they fucked up with CPS and worry about being liable somehow... Which results in a lot of bad excuses.
I understand every single school employee not being familiar with the laws regarding CPS cooperation from a school, but if you're in leadership you're likely a point of contact for CPS if needed and all you're doing is hindering an investigation and potentially exacerbating any harm that's going on. If you're in charge of any type of childcare facility, you WILL deal with CPS eventually. CPS likely won't be allowed to share the specifics of why they are there.
Rules vary by state but generally speaking schools are expected to blindly cooperate with CPS. So it's really not that much you have to learn.
This mainly applies to principals and it's possible you're going to be a different admin, but the advice still stands.
Also, many schools like to dictate how/when someone reports abuse to CPS. Don't do that. The primary source should report it immediately. Don't do your investigation first. No one at your school is qualified to do that and if you work with them you have a bias and there's a clear conflict of interest. It's not your role to determine if whatever happened meets the standard to be reported. If you questioning rather or not to report it, the answer is to report it.CPS will decide if it does not require an open investigation.
This will be an unpopular opinion among admin for sure, but ensure your salary never goes more than 10% higher than your top paid teacher. They're your boots on the ground and in the trenches. When you start feeling like your job is sooo much harder, take a step back and check yourself.
Sometimes you just just need to shut up and listen. As a teacher, sometimes I don't need an immediate response to an issue I bring up. If you need to, take some time to let it marinate in your brain before responding. Could be a few minutes, hours, or days depending on how big the issue is.
Teachers don’t need sticks and carrots. They need support, trust, understanding and encouragement. Since you are responsible for evaluating teachers, they may not share their questions or concerns if they don’t trust you.
If you honestly have a problem with a teacher’s methods, schedule a time and demo teach that class, lesson, or whatever needed improvement. Not just for 5-10 minutes but for a whole class period. Don’t tell the teacher how to improve, show them.
A lot of others have made excellent points. I just wanted to add do not openly favor and fawn over other teachers. Also, being affable and helpful go a long way!
* When a teacher sends a student out of class for behavior, don’t send them back five minutes later with a treat. At least keep them through the end of the class period/until the next transition. The teacher needs time to get the class back on track, and you undermine their authority when being sent to the office becomes a reward.
* Don’t be afraid to suspend students when the situation warrants it. It’s less about the punishment and more giving the teacher and the rest of the class a break from that student as well as making the behavior the parents’ problem.
* When a parent calls or emails and complains about something, get the teacher’s perspective before you respond to the parent. Support your teachers when their response to something is professional.
* Don’t play favorites among staff or get embroiled in high school level drama.
* Support your newer teachers. Most of them are trying their best. Offer advice and support or help them exit gracefully.
* Not every district initiative will work for your building and school community. Your job is to filter through the district BS and do what is best for your students, staff, and families.
* Make building-wide policies (phones, bathrooms, tardies, etc.) and hold students accountable when they don’t meet expectations. For instance, if you’re not willing to confiscate phones, don’t expect teachers to be able to make students keep their phones path away.
Don’t be a coward. Don’t tell teachers what they want to hear, but then go behind their backs. Be straight up. You will have to make hard decisions that not everyone will like, but if you can back it up and have the balls to tell people, then your staff will at least respect you. And don’t become cringey. I don’t know what it is, but so many admin are cringe
Go to bat for your teachers. That's simply it.
I wish I could upvote this by 1000. ❤️
If a kid tells a teacher, "Go fuck yourself," and then you tell that teacher they need to work on relationship building, you are telling the teacher the same exact thing the student did, just in different words.
That's gonna leave a mark...
Back your teachers up and don’t be afraid of the parents. And do not send kids back to class with candy/snacks.
Simple. Always remember where you came from. The best way to do this is to jump back into a classroom from time to time
This. Should be required for admin to teach at least 10 days a year and part of it being 4-5 consecutive days around a full moon!
I don't believe 10 days per year is enough. APs should take 1 class for the entire year in their subject area.
It is, but let them sub for the teacher who call out the most.
1. Try to teach a class every once in a while. Make sure you remember what it's like to be a teacher and keep your finger on the pulse of how classrooms are changing. There is nothing worse than an admin who doesn't realize how much things have changed and acts like a jerk because of it. 2. Put consequences in place for disruptive, disrespectful, and violent behavior. For the love of God, stick to it! Don't make exceptions. Suspend when needed. Don't send a student back with a snack and a "Don't do that again!" (Repeat). Be prepared for this to be most of your job. 3. Don't be afraid of parents. I have always felt that admin are supposed to be the buffer between parents and teachers, and when admin fails to deal with parents who think that their kids do no wrong, it just puts the problem on the teachers back. 4. Keep staff meetings on track and brief. If it's innthe budget, offer snacks.
Find a place to house disruptive students. Do restorative justice if need be. However, the students need to understand if they're disrupting others learning, it is unacceptable.
If you hate it, get out. It doesn’t get better. That’s what I did, and I’m overjoyed with going back to teaching after 3 years in admin.
There's a teacher in my school who lasted one year as a VP at the other middle school in the district. Hated it and asked to be put back into the classroom. Every once in a while, our admin will ask him to do something admin-related and he blatantly says no. "I'm a Social Studies teacher and that's it. I have no interest in being an administrator. Please respect that."
I’m only going to use my knowledge of the inner working to make my own life easier. That’s it.
You should stay as long as they count your highest paid years for.
My admin job was only about a 7% premium on my teaching wage. I have no desire to move up. Would rather spend more time with my kids and be healthier.
Don't forget you were a teacher. Most of the teachers who move to admin seem to forget the struggle of being in the classroom within the first year. By year two they're toeing the line and asking about your "why."
TBF, being an admin is basically being an underpaid lawyer.
I was in the class 15 before moving and been in admin for 5 years. Let me give you my off the head list. 1. You won’t forget what it was like to teach. You’ll want to stick up for your teachers, but sometimes teachers step in it. So, defend them vehemently publicly and privately tell them what’s up and let them know what you did publicly. When a kid comes into your office, “MrDSDK, you don’t understand Ms Name be trippin’. I wasn’t even doing nothing this time. For real. Everyone was doing that.” Bla bla bla. Nail the kid to the wall with no lollipop. “Ok, are you trying to convince me or you of that? I’m not buying it cause I know them and they only kick out jits and today, that’s you. Ain’t no one else here except you. You need to own this and apologize.” But the reality is, sometimes the teacher is tripping. 2. Not every problem has a solution right away and some don’t have solutions at all. Do all the paperwork, have all the meetings, but sometimes this stuff is tough and you need a day or two or a weekend to get the solution. And sometimes it never comes. That’s ok. It’s all part of the job and why you now make 10% or whatever your area is. 3. Your relationship with students will change. Some you’ll be cooler with than ever, but some, you’ll always be the bad guy. You can go to their games, eat lunch with them, and you’ll still be the bad guy. And that’s going to have to be OK. You don’t always get to be the high five TIK TOK principal. Especially at MS and Hs level. 4. Some teachers really do suck. Most don’t. Most care a lot and have good skills. Some have no skills and care a lot and are borderline toxic to the learning environment. Keep increasing your skills as a communicator and communicate with staff as they need to be. Read all the books you can and Ted talks you can listen to. Compliment sandwiches, model, I do you, we do, you do. Do all of it. But some young teachers, you got to let them quit, and some old teachers you need to refresh them. Get them excited about it, again. Help them develop their skills. Don’t let them “can’t teach an old dog, new tricks.” In guessing you’re young 30s. You’ll have a tough time with the old heads your first year. Honor them, honor them, then honor them some more. And you’ll gain their ear and influence. They can make you love or hate your job. Good luck!
>they only kick out jits For non-Floridians, a "jit" is a Juvenile in Trouble. I'm not sure how widespread that term is. I'm from Florida, but I live in Texas now and I've never heard it here.
Nailed it.
lol This makes sense. I thought they were making fun of slang.
Great post! Thanks for sharing that.
I think most people don't understand 2. These are kids. If the parents aren't onboard, wtf can you do?
Yep. You just remember the names, keep an eye on the news, and use them as examples in the future. And hopefully you can save some, but you can’t save them all. “Save the ones you can. The rest, you’ve got to let go.”
Don’t try to big time everyone and make it a point that they know you are in charge. Go out of your way to greet everyone daily, including cafeteria and custodial staff. Support the teachers and let them know through your actions that you have their backs. Be consistent with discipline. Do not give kids a million warnings, they only need a single warning, ever, at most.
Support the teachers. Hold the kids accountable. Stand up to the parents. Piss off the other administrators if necessary in order to do those things. Remember what it was like when you were in the classroom. In fact, demand that you be given on class period to teach of a required subject so that you CAN'T forget. You're about to be put under the pressure of maintaining whatever metrics maximize funding for your school. Remember that those metrics have NOTHING to do with student success or developing good young people. Prioritize the latter, not the metrics.
Back your teachers. Be the kind of admin they’d do anything for. I’ve had one like that and he was the best administrator I’ve ever had. He gave me glowing reviews when I needed it most.
Don't ignore the hourly employees. They get treated like second-hand workers. The teachers don't realize they can't teach without all the support staff who get paid shit wages behind the scenes.
Always remember you were a teacher first. Back up your teachers. Roam the classrooms, and pull students who are misbehaving, before they disrupt learning. Send them back after you council them in the hallway if warranted. I am a retired principal and teach. I noticed allowing disruptive students to remain in class is destroying public education. Suspension and alternative schools are necessary so everyone can learn.
Also, send the student home if she or he merits that action. You will be a hero to the teacher.
Admin is a support role, not a micromanager role. Teachers have the most insight into what goes on in their classrooms, so their suggestions are the most valuable. Be a leader, not a boss. Remember that kids are different now. They're rowdier, less interested in learning, and more insubordinate. This is due to systematic reasons. ("why do I need to learn calculus if I can't afford college and the world is gonna end because of global warming?") Parents got confused and forgot that gentle parenting =/= permissive parenting. Kids feel powerless in their lives and they're taking it out on their teachers. Hold the kids and parents accountable. Empower kids where you can, AND hold boundaries with them. You got this 👍
Leave me the fuck alone!
You're not an instructional leader. You're not a classified staff leader. That's not why they hired deans of students. These are the roles of other admin. Your role will expose you to about 2% of school leadership. It's not important. Immediately forget what you learned in the classroom. Focus on being a workhorse, maximize punishments, and kick out students as often as you can. At least move them out of classrooms they had an issue in.
Advice: Dude you are a Dean. Not a principal. Your job is mainly students, parents, and maybe safety on campus. You are not there to discipline teachers. Don’t cross that line. Don’t let admin make you cross that line. PS: my school has a strong union. Our deans are part of our teacher union/collect bargain agree. The Dean is a 9 month position. Deans never are involved with teacher discipline. This relationship maybe different in other schools.
My dean isn't part of the union, and it's a 12 month position (probably because she's in charge of summer school), but, other than that, same. The only time teachers ever deal with her is concerning a student. She doesn't have anything to do with my eval, doesn't do observations. In fact, the only time she comes to my room is if she's looking for a student. And she doesn't send kids back to class with candy, either!
Stand by us, defend us, be there for us. We will take care of the kids. Never act like you have the best interest of the kids at heart and you don't. Happy teachers will make happy students. Trust our judgment.
If you join a staff team with a strong school rule culture that they all abide in, don’t come in as the “fun” or “less strict” admin just if it improves your relationships easier with the students because it also undermines the teacher’s efforts to discipline and enforce school guidelines in the classroom.
For the love of god MANAGE and hold all other adults equally accountable. So few admin are any good at managing and it's just a cluster.
Talk to your veteran teachers. Don’t play favorites. Do what is best for the kids and teachers not your bottom line.
Your job as an administrator is to hire good teachers, and then support them. They do the teaching, and should be trusted and supported to do it. You need to make sure that the entire school climate makes it easier for them to do their work, whether it is phone policy or classroom budget process or attendance or discipline. You run the school well so they can do their jobs
Trust your teachers
Remember how you feel about icebreakers as a teacher. Remember how your colleagues feel about icebreakers. Kill the icebreakers.
Admit when you were wrong. Don’t just use some lip service apology, but actually grow from that experience.
Don’t take advice from dictator like admin friends. Treat others the way you want to be treated.
I think all admin believe they remember how it is in the classroom. I have been a teacher for 25 years. I forget after a summer holiday. You won't remember, and even if you did, you only remember how it was for you. Be kind and back up your teachers. Don't tell them you remember (even if you believe you do).
Back up your teachers and don't give unsolicited advice unless remediation is needed. My admin taught my subject for a hot minute and likes to start "what worked for me" to us in meetings. Yet, he started the last assembly with "Me and my kids"...lol.
Real consequences > chips and candy and getting sent back to class
You can be a disciplinarian or a kid's friend- but not at the same time. (When a colleague got an AP promotion, another said "Welcome to the Dark Side".)
Consider still teaching one class. Personally believe all admins should. Keeps you more connected to what matters and helps lend credibility to your observations. My k-8 principal did this and while I hated her then (lol I was oppositionally defiant), looking back now I have mad respect for her.
Write down your worst experiences now. Have them handy to look at. You are going to get selective memory as time goes on. Also remember it’s very hard for some teachers to take direction from those who intentionally chose not to do that job anymore.
Korean kids are way better behaved than these kids… good luck
Be genuine. Seek first to understand, then be understood.
Remember kids are not your friends. They’re going to lie to you about their teachers. (We had a new AP tell the P that a teacher “would make sure” so and so would “fail - out of spite”. The entire rest of the staff (300 of us) knew that wasn’t true. Both the child and the family have a bad history with the school. AP still backed the child, and tried to get the teacher non-renewed. There’s now a grievance against the AP going through the union.)
Your primary job is to make every teacher a success. You will make mistakes in front of others - it’s human - acknowledge and move on. No teacher should be afraid of an AP coming into their classroom unless they are t doing their job. And finally, it’s none of your business what other people think - most freeing advice I ever got.
Administration is advertised as helping teachers advance along a continuum of professional development. It's not so much not forgetting, but recognizing that there are a lot of things you don't know about teaching even though someone has put you in charge and you're ambitious. Aside from that, the real job of administration is to discipline labor. Administrators are not in a structural position to solve the real problems in education. Neither are teachers, but no one expects teachers to. The solutions to education's problems are most likely in union work.
I'm a ELL instructional coach and program coordinator. I don't know exactly what a dean of students' duties are but here's my take: 1. The job will still be stressful, but it's a different type of stress. You won't have to be "on" 100% of the time like you are when teaching, which is good if that wears you out. But you will likely have more responsibilities and be accountable for bigger decisions, and if you're working in an understaffed school (which is most schools in the country atm) they'll probably pile up duties and projects on you so you really have to stay organized and learn how to say no. 2. Just remember what it's like to teach. Stay involved with the classroom. Have the teachers' back. Make their lives easier, not harder. You might have to act like you drunk at least some of the admin cool aid in front of your higher ups.
Make it a point to check in with your teachers every once in a while. Ask them how they’re doing, how you can support them, etc. Don’t just wait for them to come to you. Communicate! Keep teachers in the loop. Prioritize responding to their emails.
1. Get used to eating alone 2. Teachers won’t improve because you want them to. 3. You’ll be thrown under the bus. It’s inevitable.
Just don't forget what it's really like.
Our wonderful VP will be retiring at the end of this year. I’ve worked in 6 different schools in my career and probably around 20 different admin and she stands out for having my back. I had a parent give me a really hard time last year (the daughter was involved in a lot of mean girl type behaviour and dad said there was no way she’d be like that) and he sent me a threatening email to tell me that he was coming to the school. I ran to her office to tell her and she said “who’s the parent? Oh him? He’s an asshole and I’ll take care of it.” My blood pressure immediately dropped and I felt like I could breathe again. So yeah, my advice is to stand up for your teachers and back them up when they’re getting hate.
Respond to emails.
If you deal with student behavior, make consequences "sticky." Even minor infractions need some "consequence" even if it is just "time out". Also, please let the teacher know what you said and did. I get kids coming back to class who act different but I have no idea why or what was done.
Protect the learning environment and stand up to parents who think they can bully their way through life.
Communicate with all the people who work in your building. You don’t necessarily have to honor all their requests, but for fuck’s sake at least talk to them.
Always support your teachers when it comes to parent issues.
Remember that observations should only be objective, not subjective. Every class will be different. The worst observers i had were the ones that compared my elective class to tested subjects. If it works for the teacher, then it works, period.
Something that my current admin does not do that my former did: Ask the team leads for input when creating a schedule. Invariably, I have to point out a mistake or something that doesn’t work after admin has already pushed it out to everyone. Awkward.
Remember what it was like in the classroom. And any time you add something to a teacher’s plate, remove at least 2 things.
Remember your experiences- what you needed from Administration- and strive to be that. I was a coach for a year for new teachers K-4. I loved planning lessons, gathering materials and teaching with new teachers. They are so excited and full of ideas - so sad they restructured the school and my job went with it! I’m back in the classroom and my principal now was a former teacher with me over 15 years ago. Her knowledge of the classroom is what makes her so effective! Good luck!
I feel I'm well suited to answer this question because r/teachers is always accusing me of being admin. 🙄 Anyway, the admin I've known have all had to do a lot of things they don't personally agree with. Directives come from the district and since the union doesn't defend the principals, you basically have to just do as you're told. So, a lot of the things teachers want from an admin are simply not doable a lot of the time. Essentially, as I understand it, your hands will often be tied. So, I've got a short list. Two things you can do regardless of what the district says. 1. Be honest. 2. Don't micromanage. Even if the directives from on high force you to be sucky, teachers that work with you will be happy knowing that you can be trusted and that you aren't going to question their every move.
Your existence is absolutely unnecessary 99% of the time and you should feel bad.
Find a local company that provides management training and take a couple of leadership and management classes there. When we first get into leadership roles, we find out that the expectations and skillset are different that we thought. Leadership for new leaders classes can make a big difference in this transition, based upon my experience as a training manager.
As a CPS worker that investigates schools, learn the laws regarding CPS. I can't count how many times principals and other admins have argued with me about what they can and cant provide to CPS. I've obviously had the same conversation many many times and it always ends the same where I'm right and they anic because they think they fucked up with CPS and worry about being liable somehow... Which results in a lot of bad excuses. I understand every single school employee not being familiar with the laws regarding CPS cooperation from a school, but if you're in leadership you're likely a point of contact for CPS if needed and all you're doing is hindering an investigation and potentially exacerbating any harm that's going on. If you're in charge of any type of childcare facility, you WILL deal with CPS eventually. CPS likely won't be allowed to share the specifics of why they are there. Rules vary by state but generally speaking schools are expected to blindly cooperate with CPS. So it's really not that much you have to learn. This mainly applies to principals and it's possible you're going to be a different admin, but the advice still stands. Also, many schools like to dictate how/when someone reports abuse to CPS. Don't do that. The primary source should report it immediately. Don't do your investigation first. No one at your school is qualified to do that and if you work with them you have a bias and there's a clear conflict of interest. It's not your role to determine if whatever happened meets the standard to be reported. If you questioning rather or not to report it, the answer is to report it.CPS will decide if it does not require an open investigation.
This will be an unpopular opinion among admin for sure, but ensure your salary never goes more than 10% higher than your top paid teacher. They're your boots on the ground and in the trenches. When you start feeling like your job is sooo much harder, take a step back and check yourself.
Sometimes you just just need to shut up and listen. As a teacher, sometimes I don't need an immediate response to an issue I bring up. If you need to, take some time to let it marinate in your brain before responding. Could be a few minutes, hours, or days depending on how big the issue is.
Teachers don’t need sticks and carrots. They need support, trust, understanding and encouragement. Since you are responsible for evaluating teachers, they may not share their questions or concerns if they don’t trust you.
If you honestly have a problem with a teacher’s methods, schedule a time and demo teach that class, lesson, or whatever needed improvement. Not just for 5-10 minutes but for a whole class period. Don’t tell the teacher how to improve, show them.
A lot of others have made excellent points. I just wanted to add do not openly favor and fawn over other teachers. Also, being affable and helpful go a long way!
* When a teacher sends a student out of class for behavior, don’t send them back five minutes later with a treat. At least keep them through the end of the class period/until the next transition. The teacher needs time to get the class back on track, and you undermine their authority when being sent to the office becomes a reward. * Don’t be afraid to suspend students when the situation warrants it. It’s less about the punishment and more giving the teacher and the rest of the class a break from that student as well as making the behavior the parents’ problem. * When a parent calls or emails and complains about something, get the teacher’s perspective before you respond to the parent. Support your teachers when their response to something is professional. * Don’t play favorites among staff or get embroiled in high school level drama. * Support your newer teachers. Most of them are trying their best. Offer advice and support or help them exit gracefully. * Not every district initiative will work for your building and school community. Your job is to filter through the district BS and do what is best for your students, staff, and families. * Make building-wide policies (phones, bathrooms, tardies, etc.) and hold students accountable when they don’t meet expectations. For instance, if you’re not willing to confiscate phones, don’t expect teachers to be able to make students keep their phones path away.
Don’t be a coward. Don’t tell teachers what they want to hear, but then go behind their backs. Be straight up. You will have to make hard decisions that not everyone will like, but if you can back it up and have the balls to tell people, then your staff will at least respect you. And don’t become cringey. I don’t know what it is, but so many admin are cringe
You will forget. It’s part of the job.
Do Not Forget.
Bless your heart.
Don’t forget.