I'm using the quotes as a basis for reflection on a shift in my professional journey. You see, for 12 years I was an elementary music teacher and now I've found myself to be an assistant principal. In a time that I anticipate to be filled with much personal and professional growth, I'd like to be sure and carve out some purposeful reflection time. As an educator, I've personally benefited from purposeful reflection through blogging and I can only imagine that I'll still benefit from reflective blogging as a leader in education.
My goal is to spend some time in each post writing about the quote, about the author of the quote (when possible), and about how I see the quote and/or the background image of the quote applying to my day-to-day world.
As a gal who always credits a source, I'd like to give a shout out to a dear friend, Kara Lowery, for coming up with the name of the series. Kara is a fabulous special education teacher who specializes in working with children who have autism. Not only is she a gifted teacher; she's also terrifically punny.
Read on; enjoy!
Call me a judger of book covers, but I'm thinking that Mr. Nero is a fan of owls. Several of his books featured on this site have owls in the cover photos! Other than his list of books, I can't figure out if Mr. Nero is dead, alive, married, still teaching, etc. So, if you can find that info, comment below! :)
My hope in the Hoo Said That series of posts is to share a bit about the author of the quote and then use the quote as a trampoline into some reflection on my professional practices of the week. We just finished covering the information I wanted to share about Mr. Nero, so now we're moving on to reflection:
I'm going to break this quote down into two parts. The first:
"But ah!"
Monday was my first day officially on contract as an assistant principal. Between working on plans for the school year and attending on-boarding professional development throughout the summer, I feel like I've been quite busy becoming an assistant principal. I digress. Monday was my first REAL day, and as everyone does when they get to a desk on their first REAL day, I sat down to set up my voice mail.
The first challenge was that I had no idea how to set up my voice mail.
So, I asked my partner assistant principal, Suzanne, how to set things up. Suzanne instructed me to dial "1108," so I did...and nothing happened. I told her it was a dead line, and she told me try dialing "9" before "1108."
So, I did. AND IT CONNECTED TO 9-1-1 EMERGENCY SERVICES!!
As soon as I realized what was happening, I hung up, hoping to disconnect the line before it connected on the other end.
No such luck.
Bells, whistles, and the campus secretary's phone started going off and I had to shout from around the corner, "IT WAS ME! IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! I DIDN'T MEAN TO CALL 9-1-1!!! I AM SO SORRY!!" A few minutes later I received a phone call from a police officer who was checking to make sure that everything was okay. Once I heard my own voice explaining to the officer on the other end of the phone that I was a new employee trying to set up my voicemail, I gave myself a mental face palm.
My "But ah!" connection to this quote is a serious "BUT AH!" because that's about what I sounded like when I realized I had called up emergency services to get some help setting up my voicemail.
Face palm.
Now, for the second part of the quote:
"If we could perceive the world of the Owl, what strange sounds and beautiful forms we might enjoy!"
Part of the on boarding for new administrators I've experienced so far has largely been about the laws that govern our code of conduct and how to work with students who are having disciplinary challenges. Looking at students and anticipating the worst isn't really a part of what's in my educator heart, so I was getting a little down and dreary on what was ahead of me until...
my partner AP and I attended an annual summer meeting called AP Intensive. We were mixed into heterogenous groups based on years spent in administration and were going through some icebreakers when our group's conversation migrated to what made us love our jobs. One very seasoned assistant principal from another campus shared that enjoys her assistant principal position--particularly at the elementary level--because she feels like she has the chance to have a positive impact on teachers and students. Hearing her say these words truly spoke to my heart, and I stopped to talk to her at the next break to tell her that her reflection was particularly inspiring to me. I loved her words because they're why I wanted to obtain a role on an administration team in the first place: I want to make the education experience a better place for students and teachers alike. After a few days of hearing the "down in the dumps" components of being on an administration team, I felt like she had put the wind back in my sails so I could be refocused on my initial goal.
I've spent this week in a few meetings and at my new school, which is truly beginning to feel like home. I've worked on Emergency Operations Plans, collaborated with the admin team on staff development plans, made a Google Site for our staff development schedule, talked with a few parents, did some clerical work, etc. I can honestly say that, as the end of my first week at my new job is coming to a swift close, I'm excited to seek out opportunities to make a difference.
#HooSaidThat