Principal Connections

I've only been an administrator for a short while, but I have met a number of Principals and Vice Principals over the past five years who still shudder at the thought of having a personal Facebook account or become suddenly overwhelmed by the prospect of engaging on Twitter. When I ask about the possibility of establishing accounts for their schools, the silence is sometimes deafening and the the looks are their faces are too priceless, almost as if to say aloud, "... but why would we do that ?" I'm not sure what it is. Are the age-old misconceptions about social media still pervasive? Is there anxiety about one's ideas floating around in cyberspace? Are we still afraid of the "evils" lurking amidst the users of the Internet? Are people simply stuck on the word "social"? News flash folks: education IS social (the last time I checked, there are an awful lot of people in the mix...). Knowledge IS a social construct. Literacy and Numeracy (an pre...

This August will mark five years since my appointment as Vice Principal. I think it's fitting that I'm starting at a new school (even though I've worked with the principal at my previous school). As much as I will miss my previous school community, especially the kids, I'm glad this next stop on my journey has taken me to a new geographic locale within the school board. No doubt, I will need to learn, un-learn and possibly re-learn because no two schools are alike and most certainly, the admin team I'm working with is not what I am accustomed to. That all said, here is what I have learned (in by no means an exhaustive listing) in this role so far, and in no particular order of significance or importance: 1. One of my main roles is that of an advocate.     ... of the student who is struggling in a mainstream setting and needs access to any number of         resources to achieve some sense of stability ...     ... of the teacher who wants to ta...

Perhaps it's the end-of-year melancholy that has caused me to be introspective or the emotion that comes with packing up and moving out of my school that has come to feel like home that is making me a bit ... mushy, for lack of a better word. I have been thinking about the last four and a half years A LOT over the last few days. With each box that I have packed, I have had to look at each item - every book, every keepsake... and have recalled the memories and people attached to them. I never realized the menagerie that I had amassed in my teeny tiny office. I've also been prompted to think about the many people who have supported the beginning of my career in administration, whether it was directly or indirectly and two people came to mind whom I have come to regard as my mentors. First is Lori. I have known Lori since I was in high school, where she taught English and was a teacher librarian, but I was never her student - then. She went on to become a Program Resource Teache...