What Administrators Are Looking For In Classroom Teachers

Posted by: Stephen Condren
Last updated Tuesday, February 9th 2010 06:09:16 PM

The most important thing that an administrator is in need of is a good teacher that is reliable and able to do the job that is assigned to him or her. This is the most important thing and you must never lose sight of the fact. Everything else is secondary.

There are many similarities that can be drawn between school and military protocol. The most salient one is follow directives and do not ask questions. The reason that you are not to ask questions is that will ruin the system flow held together by the school protocol. It is protocol that is the key to so many things and yet that is the very thing that is over looked over and over again. This is because protocol in the meaning of thought between the lines of text.

The administration takes the running of a school from a global perspective (macro) rather than form a specialized view (micro). However, for the administration to be able to function on a global level they need the teachers and all staff members to work effectively in their positions so that order can be attained and the service of educating the students be rendered.

It is important to remember and never lose sight of this. The administrators are your friends and they want you to succeed and will do all that they can to help you succeed. Work with them and you will find that you will be way ahead and enjoy the day as you go. Further, this will have a positive impact on the students.

A good example is a situation that turned up with my attendance records at school this week. I am new to the building and I was not able to enter the student enrollments onto the system due to the fact that my records and files had not been downloaded. I was trying to enter the “G” that is needed for showing attendance. However, when I was permitted to enter the system on Thursday I was not permitted to access Tuesday’s records (backtracking).

Rather than just let things go I went for assistance to the head of Attendance. She came to my room and gave me her advice, which was good. On leaving she mentioned my situation to the Assistant Principal who immediately took action and came to me. He provided me time to go to the Attendance office and make the entries.

This was outstanding action. The Assistant Principal was courteous and effective and he got the job done. There was concern on his part from the start and no kind of reprimand, just concern. I could not ask for better leadership.

I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago in Hyde Park Township, near the University of Chicago. As I child I was always drawing and painting. My father owned an art supply company, Favor Ruhl & Watson, where I was able to get all that I needed to progress in my work.

I have always enjoyed portraiture and landscape painting. In High School (Naperville Central High School) I took Drafting from Mr. Pierce. I quickly grasped the principles of perspective and drafting and hence made a career with both Fine Art and Architectural Renderings.

In the mid 1970's I joined the US Navy and was stationed on board the USS Midway, CV-41. The Midway was home ported in Yokosuka, Japan (A suburb of Tokyo). While in service I traveled all over Asia including such countries as Korea, China, Philippines, Singapore, Pakistan, Hong Kong, and Japan. While in Japan I learned Japanese. I speak German and Spanish as well.