Behind Every Great Teacher…
there is an excellent, good, fair, or just plain horrible principal! My present principal is preparing to move to another school. He will be missed. He was not without flaws, but that is true of us all. 
I have been teaching for 20+ years, and have worked under quite a few principals. I don’t remember all their names, but things about them stand out in my mind.
My very first principal was about to retire, and he didn’t care what happened in the school. The students were undisciplined, and the teachers sat in the front office every morning, butts on the desks, drinking coffee. Then he retired, (Thank goodness!), and was replaced by Mrs.D, now she was a principal! She turned our school around, but after a few years, she was promoted, and replaced by, I don’t even remember her name. I was with her for a year before I moved to DE. Before I left, she approached me, and asked, “Are you moving because of me?” Okaaay.
I couldn’t get a job in DE, so I spent two months in Baltimore with a psycho principal who insisted that I write everything I was going to say in my lesson plans. Huh? I explained that I had been teaching for 15 years,and she responded, “Well, you’re new here.”
I got a job in DE,and worked in that school for the remainder of the year. Let’s just say her personal life interfered with her job. I got a transfer and ended up in my present school, under Joe B. Lovely person, not such a great principal. The parents called him Joe. I will say no more. Skip through two or three principals to my present principal, Mr.L., who has been a joy to work with the last three years.
Does having a good principal make a teacher’s job easier, absolutely!
Mr. L was an open door principal, his door was rarely closed.
He made sure that we had all the tools we needed to integrate technology in our classrooms.
He always let us know that we were valued and appreciated.(And not only on Teacher Appreciation Day)
He loved the children, and they knew he loved them!
He was supportive, he always asked, he didn’t accuse.
He offered constructive criticism, and allowed us to offer our opinions.
He laughed.
He was flexible, most of the time.:)
He brought out the leader hiding inside me, and for that I am grateful.
I am going to get a new principal, and I’m hoping she works out. I hope she has some of the same qualities as Mr.L. But you know what? Even if she doesn’t, I will do what all teachers do, no matter what kind of principal they have. I will continue to teach to the best of my ability. But it sure makes the job easier when you have a great principal!
DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER 