Last week, I was able to have an impromptu conversation with my building principal about a few different topics. This was important for a couple reasons. First, my boss is typically so busy and tied up in meetings that an encounter like this is pretty rare. Beyond that, it was great because she listened intently to everything I had to say - which on this day, was quite a bit.
Among the issues on my mind that day were...6th grade open house format, various academic interventions at our school - specifically serving 6th grade, the amount of non-academic screen time our students have on a daily basis, and whether or not students should have some exposure to grades before entering middle school.
Now, I am aware that this is quite a bit to bring up to one's boss, especially when the meeting in question started at a very informal place. We somehow went from talking about the Minnesota Twins to tackling very important issues at our school.
Which is why the kind of support, listening, and reponse I received is so great. My building principal was fully invested in what I was saying, completely honoring where I was coming from as a classroom teacher. She asked meaningful questions in attempting to find solutions, and even responded to my with more detail via e-mail later in the day. It's this type of support that makes certain people great to work for...and it's always a reminder of how much support our students need from us, even when they're coming from a very random place!
One semester is down and in the books...here's to a great second semester and warm weather just around the corner!
