Assistant Principalship Leadership Academy Reflections: Week 2

The overarching question to reflect on: Does my assistant principalship benefit my school academically? 

Week 1 reflection question: what is my value to my school as an assistant principal? How is your school valuable as a result of you being there? Better? Greater? 

How to be an AP in a Pandemic

1. Call your principal and ask what you can do to help or jump in and do it

2. SEL for staff, especially those you directly supervise. Just call them to check-in, they often trust you to have these hard conversations because they want to teach at high levels. They need you, they have a lot of heavy stuff right now and need to talk through it. You don’t know how they are perceiving you right now. Have compassion. 

3. Talk to your staff every single day. You must have empathy for your staff and what they are going through. 

Week 2 Topic: if you were the principal of your school how would it be different? 

10 self-reflective questions: 

1. Who would you be instructionally? What does your day look like? How would it look different? 

— I would spend more time in classrooms as a principal and providing feedback to academic/content area teachers who I do not currently supervise. Currently, I spend 2 days a week in  IEP meetings and probably at least one to two other days a week on student management concerns most weeks. The final day then is spent half in meetings over students and getting advice from superiors on how I could and should work with them although I know these answers by now but they have to be approved by someone higher up and the other half is spent in classrooms of special education teachers and applied arts teachers whom I supervise. I also typically spend a half hour or so in the cafeteria doing student management which is a time I look forward to because I can interact with staff and students who are down there informally and is the only time to do that and check-in with people. Before school meetings are around student issues/concerns and after school meetings are typically around curriculum and pedagogical practices that we hope to move forward. 

During the pandemic, I have been able to prioritize working with an amazing cross-disciplinary group of teachers who sought my support around a project launch that has approximately 1/3 of our staff now interested and involved. I have also dedicated time to looking into and supporting a new district LMS and the professional development we will need to launch this using a UDL professional development approach for differing staff PD needs. These initiatives have excited my passion for teaching and learning again as teachers who I don’t typically work with reach out to bounce ideas for the project from various subjects. 

This question goes on to ask about time in pre observations, observations, differentiation, equity, SEL, culturally responsive teaching, and learning. culturally relevant pedagogy, equitable practices in the classroom, student-centered instruction. Who am I now related to these? 

2. What types of programs would you put in place that do not currently exist? 

Study your principal as if they were a graduate program...

3. What policies and procedures would you put in place that do not exist? 

4. What would be your overall leadership philosophy? 

Two types...those who have one defined and those who just go with it from every decision they have to make...

5. What decisions would you make in all aspects of your school? 

6. How similar would your leadership be to your current principal?  Keep a journal (or blog) to track things you want to remember and use as you fine them...

7. What would you do differently than your current principal? 

8. How would you utilize your assistant principal? 

9. How would your school be a different school if you were leading it? 

10. Would your school be a better school if you were the leader of it?  Non-negotiable: instructional leadership, student engagement. 

Homework: Are the teachers that I supervise at an advantage because of the collegial relationship that I have with them?