Life on the other side: 11 things I've learned as a new administrator

I knew it would be a challenge to step into my new position as (interim) co-assistant principal this year, especially since I would be juggling that with teaching. And I was right! When people ask me how it's going, I usually say "I'm never bored!" which is true, or "Every day is a new adventure!" - also true. That being said, I love the team I work with, and I think we work well together, and so far, I really like having this dual role. On the other hand, ask me again in March, and we'll see how I feel about things. 

Here are 11 things I've found in the short time I've been ICAP: 

11.Administrators LOVE acronyms, like that one I just made up (ICAP - can you figure out what it is?). There is one for everything. 

10. I am invited to random meetings all the time with little or sometimes no context, yet I am expected to just know what they are about. 

9. On many days, I go into school expecting one thing, and often something completely different happens. Like today, I expected to prep for my class, but instead I subbed for 20 minutes of a chorus class for my co-AP, who was on the phone with a parent. Never boring!

8.Some days I have lunch at 10, because I know I won't have another time to sit down and eat; other days, like today, I eat at 2 (practically dinner by teacher standards). 

7. I know where the chocolate is hidden, 

6. There is a whole other side to the office administrative assistants that I hadn't seen. They are hilarious. 

5.There are small crises that happen on MOST days. 

4.Students interact differently with me as an administrator than when I'm in the classroom, both in good and bad ways. 

3.It  is harder to get out of our office and walk the hallways, or get into classrooms to observe, than I thought it would be. 

2.I never realized how much administrators actually do behind the scenes.

1.Sometimes, we just need to make decisions, knowing we can't please all people all the time. Some people will be unhappy, and we have to live with that. Good thing I am not the thin-skinned, overly sensitive girl I used to be!

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