My first 6 months as an Assistant Principal

     So since the last time that I blogged it would seem that I did, in fact, get hired to be an administrator. In July I was hired as the Assistant Principal of an elementary school about 25 minutes from my house. When I arrived the first day the sign (above) was waiting by my office door. The school has about 500 students which is more than double the students my last school had. My first month of school as an assistant principal was fine as it was summer and I had time to get acclimated to what my job was. Actually, I think that's kind of funny as I realize now that I wasn't getting acclimated as that didn't happen until the students started to arrive in late August. I guess I was just getting used to my office, the building and the documents I may need to access. The picture below is of the flowers my husband and son sent me the first day of school. 

     Once the students arrived I was focused on building rapport with students and staff. I was a new face and I wanted people to know who I was. I tried to greet people at the door, visit classrooms, and generally be visible to people. Sadly, after about two weeks this faded off as the realities of the job had taken over and took away much of the time I had for these things. To say I felt way over my head in September and October was an understatement. There were many moments where I thought, "what did I get myself into," or "maybe I wasn't meant to be a school leader." I felt like perhaps I had made the wrong choice and should have just stayed in the classroom. This was not because I didn't like the job (well, to be honest, it wasn't very likable at times), but more because I thought I didn't have the skills needed to do it well. I tend to think I have to be perfect at everything from the start. Not a great frame of mind when starting something new. The good news is that my principal and all of the staff are very supportive and understanding of my newness. This is likely what got me through those first few months. 

     At the end of October, I was able to attend the state Assistant Principal's Conference which was both great and a little disheartening at the same time. I learned a lot and got to meet some great people. I also learned about the differences in my role and those of other schools. People thought it was hilarious that I am the sub caller for my school. I learned that Central Maine and Southern Maine are very different in their requirements for Assistant Principals. In the end, it was a good learning experience for me. When I arrived back at school after being away at the conference for two days the paper below was sitting on my desk. I guess they like me. 

     The last two months have gotten a little easier as I have learned more about my role. As with any job, there are things that I like and do not like about this role. The biggest thing that I have learned is that I love being a school leader and love helping teachers and students. Now I need to figure out how I can do the parts that I love the most when lots of other things take up so much time. It's certainly a work in progress as am I, but I feel better about things now than I did in October. I have so much to learn and figure out but am very thankful that I got this opportunity to start my school leadership journey this year. 

This is the wall cling that my RES family gave to me when I left to start at my new school. Love my RES family. 

Don't forget to be AWESOME!!  

~Erica

Hoping for a chance and finding the right fit!

     So I thought I would start this post with a little funny moment that happened at the end of my first interview. When the Superintendent was walking me out after the interview he asked me how I thought it went. I responded with, “well I didn’t fall out of my chair so that’s good.” He laughed which is good. I should note that the Superintendent is someone I have known as it was my son’s former principal. I am not sure I would have said that if I didn’t know him, but at that point, I was really happy I hadn’t done anything clumsy.

     The purpose of this post is to talk about the balance of wanting to find a principal position sooner rather than later with wanting to find a good fit position for me. A little more than a week ago I had my second interview (for an assistant principal position this time) and the interview went well I think. It was a very different interview than any I had been part of before with only two people and very scripted questions with no flexibility to ask clarifying questions or the interviewers to give me any feedback at all during the interview. I was also audio recorded which I didn’t love. After I got over my initial bewilderment of the interview format I really liked the questions and felt that my answers were not only authentic to me but made me very interested in working in that school. Then at the end of the interview, it was explained that it was a three-tiered process and this was tier one. They told me the salary and days contracted to work. This is where the good fit part came in. So I have determined that a good fit not only means the place but also the circumstances. After I left the interview I processed the whole thing. In the end I would be traveling an hour or more, the annual salary was only a little more than my current salary (the daily rate I would be paid would be about $25 less per day from what I get paid now), and the days I would be required to work would be more. So in this situation, it was not a good fit due to the distance I would need to travel farther for a reduced daily rate. It was not a good fit and so when I returned home that night I withdrew my name from the process. Huh??!! You might be saying at this point….I thought you wanted this?? Well, the answer is I do, but I also need to make sure it is a good fit for me professionally and for my family.

     So now I wait for more positions to open up (most of the others I have applied for it would seem I didn’t get an interview for as I have haven’t heard a thing). Such is the life of a teacher trying to become an administrator with no actual administrative experience. The good news is that I have a super supportive principal who let me be principal for the day last week to give me a little experience. It went very well and made me realize that I am on the right path, scared to death about the path, but on the right one at least.

     In today’s mail this showed up:

Can you say things are getting real??!!  Crossing my fingers for the right fit and that I can make it up the steep learning curve and become an awesome principal.

~Erica

     

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog! I decided to start this new blog to share my journey from being a teacher into hopefully the educational leader of a school.

     So here is where things stand so far. I have just completed the course needed to be conditionally certified as a building principal. In June, I start the last course to complete all of the educational requirements for that certification. The only other requirement is to either be an assistant principal for one year or to get a job as a principal and complete a mentorship plan during the first year. It would seem that if I were to be offered a principal position I would be all set to accept it.

     That brings me to next part of this journey. Applying for and interviewing for principal and assistant principal positions. At first, I had just planned to apply for assistant principal positions as I thought I would be more likely to get one and that would give me needed experience to become a principal. Well, I soon learned that there are not many elementary schools that have assistant principals so I shifted my plan. I have applied for several principal and assistant principal positions at this point. I have already had one interview and have one scheduled for next week. My goal is to find a place that is a good fit for me to grow and learn professionally.

     My first and only interview so far went pretty well I think. I mean I was super nervous and wasn’t as articulate as I would like to have been, but it wasn’t too bad. I had prepared by practicing questions that I thought might be asked. The joke was on me though as I don’t think even one of the ones I practiced was asked. One of the hardest questions was, ”why do you want to be a principal?” I found it hard to put into words. Here is my answer now that I have had an opportunity to think about it: I love working with teachers and students! I love to organize and plan. I love to be a leader, someone who helps others be the best they can be. These are the real reasons I want to be a principal. Plus I feel ready!

     So this is my journey so far. Who knows how long (months or years) it will take me to find a good fit for me to be an educational leader, but I will keep trying. Thanks for reading my first post.

~Erica