The week began with a devotional led by the preacher of the local congregation, and afterward, I was up to introduce myself and give some announcements - one of which was to invite my wife who teaches at the school to announce a special activity for the week.
Most of my day was spent observing classrooms and hallways, and I got a pretty good feel for the school's climate. I monitored those things several times in the day. Naturally, my least favorite times were the moments when students would come to the office, sent by teachers for a time-out or for correction. My goals were not to give them a knee-jerk reaction, but to let them wait for me. Once they were in my office, I calmly and quickly coached them through a better way to act or react and escorted them or sent them back to class. I wanted them back in class as soon as possible. Not unlike any other school, there is a handful of "frequent flyers" in the school, but I didn't want them to think they could just hang around in the office and be entertained.
Another least favorite hour every day was lunch duty, and may I say this? Kids are gross. I didn't have to do too many breakfast or lunch duties in my 32 years as a public school teacher, but I have done enough to realize that it could be the greatest weight loss plan. Just watching kids eat and be kids can ruin the appetite. If only they would just come into the cafeteria to actually eat a meal - and save the shenanigans and silliness for the playground - the day could be more pleasant.
It takes a special breed to be a principal, and I would never choose to be an administrator. I know that if I were in charge, there would be some standards that I would establish and expect (actually demand) from my faculty and students that would change the climate of my school. The last real taste of administration that I had was in 1995 when I was the lead teacher at Buchanan Elementary School in Oklahoma City. That's when I handled the situation of a terrorist bomb killing 168 people less than five miles away. More so, however, the real unpleasantness of the job came when dealing with parents upset at a teacher and coping with disciplinary issues from children in other classes. It just wasn't the career path I wanted to take - even though it would have greatly increased my salary and benefited my retirement. And yes, I realize, I wasn't doing everything a principal is required to do either in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, or in Neosho, Missouri.
On the positive side of things, being the administrator means that I had more chances to converse with adults. In OKC, my adult contact was Principal Blevins. For this last week, I had some meaningful conversations with teachers. In the Christian school setting, we were able to discuss the Scripture. In fact, I sat in on some Bible classes for small times and participated in the instruction before heading back to the office to see who needed me next. Hopefully, I will be invited back to train the teachers in Positive Discipline and Instruction and provide them with some Tolerance Training that can help with student issues.