The principal began the day by writing important notes for the day on a white board by the teacher sigh-in sheet. She then began to greet staff members as they arrived at work. 

A parent arrived at the school to discuss a concern with the principal. The principal met with the parent to hear the concern. The parent was concerned that her child had an extensive amount of homework each night. The principal told the parent that she would talk with the teacher to determine the problem and she would get back to the parent that afternoon. The principal took the contact information from the parent. The principal then placed a note in the teacher’s mailbox to see her during planning time.

The principal then went into the school to visit in classrooms and greet students. This is done every morning as a way to build relationships with the students. 

The principal then returned to the office and checked email. 

The principal and I left to attend a principal’s meeting at the county office.  The meeting was very interesting. Each county level director gave a report from his/her department. The professional learning director discussed professional learning goals for the upcoming school year. The personnel director gave a report on current personnel who are retiring at the end of the school year. The curriculum director gave a report on summer school and how would be implemented. The superintendent and financial officer gave a report on the 09-10 school budgets. He also instructed each principal to trim their budgets by 20% per the board of education.

The principal returned to the school and ate a quick lunch. She began visited 2 classrooms of teachers who were having trouble with classroom management. She left out and about notes for each teacher with suggestions on how to help change the tone of the classroom. The principal later told me that this was documentation for the formal evaluation which must be completed on each certified person. 

The teacher who had the concerned parent met the principal in her office at this time. The principal told the teacher about the parent conversation. The teacher stated that the student was not completing class work and therefore, was bringing class work home to complete in addition to the homework. The principal asked the teacher to contact the parent that afternoon to explain the situation and also let the parent know why the student was not completing class work. The teacher complied with the principal’s request. Before the teacher left the office, the principal reminded her of the school’s homework policy. Homework should be limited to 10 minutes per grade-level, plus reading a book. After the teacher left the principal reminded me that as an administrator, you should never assume that someone knows the expectations. State the expectations and then document if the expectations are not met. 

The principal then called the parent to let her know of the discussion with the teacher. She let the parent know that the teacher would be calling for a detailed explanation.

The shadowing experience was over at this time. 

Writing notes on the white board is a great idea for effective communication in a school

Document all observations in classrooms!

I liked the way the principal handled the parent in this situation.