Keeping Secrets

I had to apologize to my staff today. I had been keeping secrets from them. To make the matter worse, most everyone knew the secrets already. You see, one of our secretaries had come to me before Thanksgiving, expressing interest in a position at the high school. She asked me to call the principal at the high school and put a good word in for her which I did. She also expressed that according to the counseling office where the position was at that she was a shoe in. I told her to keep it under the radar until we knew something official.

Being the type to try to stay ahead of the game, I called one of your paraprofessionals in to see if they would be interested if the transfer went through to take the office position. Again I ask that our conversation be confidential, and before the day was out the secrets were out. I am telling you the NFL and College football rumors about what coach is being fired or hired have nothing on the rumor mill of a school.

It was not until the day we got out for the Christmas break did I get word from personnel that the transfers looked like a good possibility and not until today that they were made official. Throughout this whole process I kept tight lipped about issues, because best laid plans can become derailed.

I feel one of the biggest secrets we have in education is that we have really good teachers out there giving it their best. But the issues that make the evening news, is how the “American Education System” is failing our children. Documentaries like “The Cartel” and “Waiting for Superman” paint a dreadful picture of public education and how parents and children are suffering. Does public education have room for improvement? Yes. Are there those in the teaching profession that need to go? Yes. Do we need to provide better educational opportunities for our children? Yes.

With that said, I see good teaching going on everyday. Teachers, who put math lessons into real-life situations by having students learn how to cut a chicken to get the most pieces for a lunch, then cook the chicken and allow the students to eat the completed product. I see teachers creating environments where the students talk among themselves about a particular text they are reading. Teachers taking students on a field trip to the municipal building to allow them to see how the government they study is put into action. Teachers are doing the best they can.

There will always be room for improvement in our public schools and it is my job as the principal to provide them with opportunities to improve their skills, through research of best practices and to instill in them the desire to continue learning. I need to be an example to my teachers as a life-long learning by trying new things. Let me know what you thoughts are.