I have heard the tales of dysregulation, I have heard school staff cursing the covid year in what is has cost kiddos, I have heard horror stories of kids running amok, and I have heard sad stories of teachers in tears. I know being back in school in more ‘normal’ circumstances is hard for kids who have not been used to the strict and consistent routines that schools have to offer during the last 18 months, especially if they were distance learning. Truth be told….it is sort of hard for teachers and school staff too. For this I am so…
The Unsupported Educator…how I ended up in the principal’s office
This one is from the heart. You see, I didn’t start out in this life with the childhood dream of being a principal. I wanted to be a fashion designer. I wanted to live in New York City and make fabulous dresses, wear fabulous dresses, and coordinate them with fabulous shoes. Lots and lots of fabulous shoes. But alas, despite my rebellious nature, I listened to my mom’s advice and went to college and got a ‘saleable job skill’….or a couple, since I started out in journalism, dabbled in psychology, and then went back for a degree in education. I…
And it’s official….summer is over ….out of the mouths of babes.
So, we survived kindergarten boot camp thanks to one super patient teacher and her amazing assistants. This week is always the slap in the face, ‘end of summer is official’ week for me. Kindergarten boot camp starts on my first official day back in the building….which in essence means I have been in the building the week prior to make sure furniture has been put back in classrooms after waxing. But this is official business. It isn’t just a pop into the building to check the status of the floors during my run. It is actually get up and look…
International Cultural Exchange…
I live a blessed life. Truly. One of the blessings in my life is the fact that each day when I get up and go to work, I get to LIVE my life’s mission. Yes, super cheesy, but I do in fact have a vision statement for my life- Do good work with good people for good people. So simple, yet, so complex. The bottom line here though is that being an elementary school principal is awesome, exhausting, challenging, rewarding, sometimes tedious (I HATE reports), exciting. There are moments that are bittersweet, and days when I walk away feeling like…
Adventures End
From the principal’s office…Day 10 Even though the day is not technically over, I am doing today’s post because soon enough, it will be over for me. Today was another mountain adventure. I have a feeling that with all the mountains around here, I could have a new mountain adventure every weekend for a looonnnngggg time. Kathryn, Phillip, and Laura had a mountain race today. They completed a 5k up 680m at 32% incline. I also completed this same course, only I walked it with Claudia and It took us just over an hour. I’m sure my glutes, hamstrings, and…
Adventuring ie: herding cats
From the Principal’s office…Day 8 Today was a zoo day, and we took the nordketta up the mountain to the alpenzoo. I didn’t get to walk around and check out animals because I was talking with Rosi about when the Austrians visit Jackson, and transportation issues for excursions. When we came down from the mountain, we got the kids back to the school for pick up. As we were waiting we heard one of the students (not ours) drop a loud F bomb. This was after hearing several SH bombs at the zoo, again, not our students. One of the…
Adventuring this much requires caffeine….and liquor
From the Principal’s office, day 7 Today was a shadow day for the students. They spent the whole day experiencing the school day from the Austrian student’s perspective. I am looking forward to our meeting tomorrow to debrief with them and hear the details of their day and their thoughts on the experience. In my world today, I had vending machine coffee…voluntarily. Yes, I too was highly skeptical because my only experience with vending machine coffee involves hospitals and scalding hot watered down yucktastic ‘coffee’. I put in my euro…one single euro… and out comes a nice cup of creamy…
Austrian Adventure…another day, another reminder that patience is in fact a virtue
From the Principal’s office Day 6… Today was a lesson on flexibility. Sometimes Type A people have difficulty with this. Since I am a recovering Type A..I rolled with it pretty well. I guess I should start at the beginning. We arrived at the AGI and met up with the kiddos and their host siblings. we were all set to meet with them for an hour of discussion and reflection, an then off to the scavenger hunt at 10. Well…due to testing schedules, we had to have our host siblings back by 11:30, so we had to start early…before many…