Once a Teacher, Always a Teacher

When I interviewed for the job as Principal of Navasota Intermediate, the one thing I said in the interview was "I don't want to be stuck in an office every day, I want to still be actively involved in classrooms".

As a leader of a school sometimes that is difficult to do.  I blogged a few weeks ago about going into teachers classrooms and teaching math lessons.  Just today I went in and taught an hour long lesson about simplifying fractions and prime and composite numbers.

But at the same time, I want to do the unexpected.  I want to help shape and change the "role" of an administrator.

So I came up with an idea.  This year our district offers no after school tutoring.  We have so many kids that live so close to school I knew there was a need socially and academically.  So in a last minute decision, I sent home letters with every 5th grade student on Wednesday about after school Math Tutoring that we be starting the NEXT DAY, and lead by ME!

I wasn't sure how many kids would show up.  It was a voluntary thing, and it was an hour and a half of time after school was out (we did it from 3:30-5:00).

Well the next day was awesome to say the least.  We had over 40 fifth graders show up!  We played with paint, did some GoNoodle songs, talked about word problems, and did a few riddles.  It was a BLAST!

And it was a reminder to me.  If you're a teacher, and you're truly a teacher who loves teaching, then it never leaves you.  Ever.  No matter what job you end up taking.

As an administrator I could choose to make excuses about how busy I am, or the amount of things I need to do.  OR I could remember that my sole purpose in this job is those kids and that I'm willing to do whatever it takes to reach every student.  Because truly we have the time for the things we choose to make time for.

Next week is the start of 4th grade math tutoring every Tuesday and 5th grade math tutoring every Thursday!  I can't wait to see how this continues to grow and build relationships.