Many of you have heard it here on the blog before, but I was actually in administration last school year. After spending seven years in the classroom, I made the leap! I became a K-6 elementary principal of two schools, and I was also the K-12 special education director for our district. To say it was a different experience is an understatement.
If you are considering becoming a school administrator, I encourage you to read my thoughts below. It may help give you a better idea of what you’re getting into, and whether making the change is the right next step for you.
Here’s what I learned when I crossed over…
The Cons
- Teachers can typically control their classroom environment. They know who is walking into their classroom, and they have a general idea of how their day will look. Administrators have little to no idea what might walk into their office each day. I could see students, parents, teachers, company reps, and more just in my first hour at work! While the spontaneity of it kept things exciting, it could also be very draining.
- I dealt with a lot more negativity. As a teacher, I saw the “aha!” moments happen quite frequently. This made up for the rude children or upset parent. As a principal, I often got to deal with the negative end of things. There’s nothing quite like a parent phone call that blindsides you because you didn’t even know there was an issue to start with…
- Evaluations. They’re a whole different ball of wax when you’re the one delivering them. I did my best to be honest and provide constructive feedback, but it wasn’t my favorite part of the job.
- My list never ended. I know it’s this way as a teacher as well, but I seriously had at least a half-page “to do” list at any given moment. There were times as a teacher where everything was graded and in the books, so I felt caught up. I’ve really had to work on my prioritizing skills. I do my best to ensure the students and teachers come first! Even when I left my admin position at the end of the school year, there were still things on my list! I felt horrible handing them over to other administrators and my predecessor, but I had no choice.
- I spent just as much money being a principal as I did being a classroom teacher. (I had it in my head that this would change…) But I don’t qualify as a “teacher” for some of the discounts out there.
- I was in charge of over 150 little lives – indirectly, but eek – that’s a LOT of responsibility! (And I know there are principals who are in charge of WAY more!)
Enough of all this negativity! Let’s good on to the good stuff!
The Pros
- No more grading, unless teacher evaluations counted.
- No more lesson planning, but I planned or helped plan every in-service, assembly, service learning project, and other big event that came up. (Sometimes I got lucky and received the help of others, depending on what was going on.)
- I got to make sure in-services and staff meetings were worthwhile. There was little I despised more as a teacher than sitting through a boring meeting. Last year I sent out weekly e-mails to ensure my staff knew what was going on. We had an agreement that we would not have a bunch of staff meetings if we could accomplish items via these e-mails.
- I actually worked just a bit less as an administration that I did as a teacher. Technically my day was still 8-4. As a teacher, I was at the school from roughly 8-6 each day. As a principal, my day was about 7:30-4:30. I had more evening obligations as a principal, so it often felt like more hours. And I also think I had more things going on in my head when I went home than I did as a teacher (which I didn’t think was possible!).
- I got to work with a larger group of people and interact with them daily. As a teacher, I really only worked with the grade levels closest to me and the specials teacher. As a principal, I had more flexibility to work with a larger group of people.
- I was able to help our staff feel more appreciated! No matter how much appreciation is shown to staff, I always think we can do more. Last year I gave out small treats to the staff at the beginning of the year to thank them for the “extra” time they put in during the summer. During Teacher Appreciation Week, my fellow administrators and I put together a soup lunch for our “souper” teachers. At Christmas, my staff received a subway art gift. During teacher appreciation week, I gave out little treats each day. I also gave out random thank you treats throughout the year in appreciation for the little things my staff did. My favorite was sending out a quick e-mail when I saw something amazing going on in a classroom. All too often, teachers do not feel appreciation on a daily basis. (I experienced this myself at times!) I’m hoping a quick little e-mail from me could make their day that much better. 🙂 Again, I think we can never say thank you or show people our appreciation too often!
- I got to see a lot of GREAT teaching practices each day. There are seriously a LOT of great things going on in education that should be shouted from the rooftops! {And if you really do want to shout these things from the rooftops – which you should! I highly recommend seeing what Greg and Kayla are up to with #HappyClassrooms!} I encouragee my staff to share great ideas with one another, and I did my best to celebrate the great things I saw going on each day.
- I was able to change the culture of the school. Do I honestly think I did much of this in a year? No, but I got started. Then life took over and I resigned from my position.
- I was in charge of 154 little lives. That’s a lot of love and a chance to make a bigger impact on the world! 🙂
As you can see, there’s a lot that goes into administration. It was a job I truly enjoyed on many levels, and disliked on a few. With that being said, I would recommend anyone who is interested in pursuing administration to give it a try! If the list above intrigues you, what do you have to lose? And if you have any questions along the way, I’m more than happy to try to help! Going into administration can be a definite challenge, but the rewards are also worthwhile!
If you are considering becoming a school administrator, I hope my pros and cons list above was helpful to you. But definitely feel free to weigh in with more thoughts or ask any questions you may have in the comments below.
Thank you, a wonderful post regarding the different roles you've held. The best thing is at least you did not forget what it was like to be the teacher also! Kudos to you, thank you for sharing.
Hey Heather! Thank You for sharing. I just resigned from my teaching position to be a stay home mom but would like to go back to school. It is just hard to decide whether to go into admin, school counseling or speech. I feel I would enjoy all of them because I love education and working with children!! Could I possibly get some advice from you? And do you enjoy being an online professor?
Thanks
Vanessa, I would be happy to share my experience and help you decide on your decision. Feel free to reach out to me!
Hi Hojo, I hold a Masters in Ed, concentration in Esl. For the last 21 years I have worked in the mental HeAlth field. I dont want to teach. I would like to see if there is anyway i could be an assistant Principal. The only teaching I ever did was for head start for a yr in a half. do u think i could take the Admin test and qualify? I dont have a PA cerTification. I kept failing the math part by 7 pts when i first graduated from kutztown and just never took the Test again. Im fully bilingual and do believe i have wHat it takes to be an assistant principal.
I think that answer is going to vary state by state, depending on how they license their principals. You will need to look into that by contacting your state’s department of education. Good luck!
Hi HOJO,
Thank you, for the information above. I’m in the process of deciding to leave teaching for ADMINISTRATION. currently I teach in a Catholic school in ny. my principal has nominated me as a future principal. I have two interviews coming up, but still haven’t made up my mind if i want to go in that direction. all family and friends believe i would be great at it. i like change, but i guess i’m afraid of the unknown and failure. any words of advice or encouragement. thank you! 🙂
Are people already coming to you with questions? I realized that I was answering a LOT of questions and I thought I would be able to make a bigger difference another level up. Honestly, I LOVED it! But I’m not sure I loved it more than teaching Kindergarten. If I go back to education in the future, I want to either teach preschool/Kindergarten or be a principal. That’s where I find the most joy. Spend some time in prayer. That will help you decide if the right move for you now. If you pursue it and it’s not the right fit, go back to teaching. No one says you can’t go back to being a teacher. 🙂 Best of luck!!
Hi, i am at a crissrOad to take a new position where i would lose tenure and not be able to begin my masters in educational leadershiP to gain my principal certifucation. However, the proposed new school has a much higher paY scale and the climate is much better. They do not pay for school until tenured. So confused!
That is a tough choice! Do you love your current school? Do you have a backup plan if you were to lose tenure? I would have never had tenure again as an administrator, but that wasn’t a concern to me because I knew I had plenty of options. (Plus South Dakota doesn’t have true “tenure”, but continuing contract where you an be fired with reason.) Could you take a couple classes while waiting on tenure at the new school? Even one class per semester or year might make earning the degree go faster. Best of luck with your decision! ~HoJo~