Five Things I Have Learnt From Being a Teaching Principal
Last year, thanks to some ongoing budget cuts, I decided to take on a teaching load. This was a creative way to free up a staff member to do some small group intervention. I only teach one or two subjects for the total of around 3 hours a week. It isn't much in the grand scheme of things but I love it and look forward to my time in the classroom each week. I have learnt so much in this time including:
1: I am a teacher first.
Before I was a principal, I was an assistant principal. Before I was an assistant principal I was a teacher. Perhaps somewhere along the way - I am guessing between budgets and buildings I forgot that I was a teacher first. Being in the classroom each week reminds me of my beginnings and why I have stayed in education for nearly three decades. Teaching is at the heart of what I do and who I am and it is such a gift to be able to 'touch the grass' in my career each week through a teaching load.
2: Kids are Hilarious
I was teaching a history lesson last year with the task being a written journal entry about an experience of democracy. One student had only written a small amount and so I asked them to add detail and check for their punctuation and spelling. I continued to roam the classroom and noticed that said child was chatting and not completing the work as instructed. When I went back over and asked why the revisions had not been completed, the student said 'Well, back in the days when this was written, people's literacy skills weren't great so that's why I only wrote a bit'. Seriously, how could I argue with that?! Luckily I had a quick thought and said 'Okay, new task, write like you went back in time and saw it happen. I know you can write well so I expect 3 paragraphs with correct spelling and punctuation'. Snap!
3: Planning Takes Time
When I took on a teaching load, I also took on the planning, assessing and reporting role for the subject. It takes time and students deserve well crafted and planned out lessons. This takes time. I find myself creating PowerPoint presentations to help keep me on track with my lesson and I write time allocations on my task slides, mainly so I don't get derailed and forget what we are doing. I have my planning checked by our Head of Curriculum and when we were having a feedback session last week she said 'It's quite intimidating to give feedback to your boss about their planning!'. I reassured her that I wanted to learn and improve and I saw this less like a feedback session and more of a professional learning session. I think this helped our approach more.
4: Teaching is So Much Fun and Marking Still Sucks!
I love the puzzle of curriculum planning and the creativity of a well constructed lesson. I love the light-bulb moments with students and the moments when they realise how far they have come in their learning. It is an absolute delight, privilege and joy to teach. I actually forgot just how much I love teaching over the years and just how much fun it is. Marking though, is still soul sucking. I have found myself using mini-whiteboards more to check for understanding as part of a review rather than ending up with piles of books to mark. I enjoy the challenge of 'how can I do this task with as little marking as possible?' which has seen me create a range of quick check ins and tasks that are more interesting to mark than the pages of heavy written work I mya have set in the past.
5: Being a Teaching Principal Keeps Your Feet on the Ground When it Comes to Innovation
Planning, teaching, assessing, reporting. School excursions, marking, re-teaching and preparing resources. Differentiating, adjusting, second guessing and assessing again... These take time and some time in the term are busier than others. Since taking on my teaching load, I appreciate where teachers are when a new direction, innovation or bright idea from the principal comes along. I recognise now the feeling of 'Where did this come from?' when a new idea or initiative is shared along with the 'it's not a good time' or 'we have too much on our plates'. As a school we want to keep moving forward, we want to be innovative, creative, at the cutting edge. The difference though since being a teaching principal? Picking my time! I have a greater appreciation of timing and ensuring alignment between our strategic plan and new ideas. It's that old expression 'just because you can, doesn't mean you should' when every new idea comes along. I find myself being more aware of the time, the impact and the outlay when it comes to ideas. It has been a great lesson and has definitely helped me triage my good ideas for a better time.
Having a teaching load as a principal is something that was born out of necessity and given way to learning. I value my teaching time and feel valued by the students. It is a challenge to prioritise the planning, teaching, assessing and reporting alongside the tasks and expectations of being a principal. I have to say though, this is something I would highly recommend to anyone who is in a full-time leadership role. It is some of the best professional learning, personal development and reality checking you will experience.
