Today was the first day of school for most of the schools in my district. I spent the day in my new office, working on a couple of projects and getting trained on some others. Not a lot of chaos in the office building. No students wandering in and out all day. Nothing but my work on which I was able to completely focus, uninterrupted.
It was a little creepy just how quiet it was.
I knew that this week would be hard, as students came back and I didn’t have any, but I was truly taken back by just how distant I felt from the world of "school" today. Very little correspondence or conversation with classroom teachers today, either, as they were completely engrossed in the trappings of their classrooms.
While I am eager and happy to be serving teachers, truly an important task, I had my first bit of teacher envy today. I was a downright jealous of those folks meeting and re-meeting students. I missed the energy, exhilaration, nervousness and outright fear of beginning classes and starting down the learning road.
Weird, huh? But I’m coping. I hope your first days are good ones, as frenetic as you can take.
It Was Just So Quiet, You Know?
11 thoughts on “It Was Just So Quiet, You Know?”
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Yeah.
Okay, you are worrying me about next week with my new position. Especially as I am not even getting formally introduced to the staff for another 2 weeks. It is a tough choice. I know I can help the students a lot with what I will be doing now, but not working directly with most of them is going to be really wierd. Let me know how it goes with you. Oh and I agree with your other post that it really is about the tools sometimes.
You wrote exactly what I feel. I’ve worked at the district level for the last nine years and sometimes I still really miss the excitement of my classroom. I try to make my workshops exciting but its not the same. Hope your new job goes well. I enjoy reading your blog.
Seriously. The first few days with kids are about the quietest of the year for the technology folks. Hopefully, that’s a good thing. Use it to rest from that “pre school” rush to take advantage of the teachers’ attention when their initial buzz wears off.
I know exactly how you feel! Day one … I so wanted to go to some of the schools in my cluster and feel the excitement but instead I was working on the technology training plan for the year… I miss it, just a little.
Bud…
Remember saying this when you are able to just get up and walk out and go to the bathroom when you need to. This was also my first ‘out of classroom’ start of year. I made it a point to walk room by room to check with teachers on their planning times to see if all the doodads and gidgets as they call em in their rooms were working. Made me feel more connected to them.
The reality is tha the more you get away from the classroom, well the more you get away from the classroom. I believe in teaching Principals. Leaders who do not deal directly with children, lack relevants.
The thing is all this wonderful professional development programs that are created in quet offices work out so neatly when children are not in the mix. Most of it is completely useless in the classroom. Costs a lot of money but is useless.
Everyone and I mean everyone in schools should spend time in classrooms. There are a host of people and I am going to say a high minority of people who clamor to get those choice jobs out of the classroom. Why because it is easiear. Plain and simple. I know I have been tempeted many times. I have been offered several, turned them down and have spent 23 teaching kids directly. Innovating on the floor so to speak.
It is where the only real relevants is, and certainly where the only joy is, and yes it is much harder, and certainly thankless
It is strange to read others feeling the same way I use to feel. This year, I made the decision to leave my role as principal and returned to the classroom. I believe that I was very good at connecting with students as an administrator, but I missed the close interactions with students and grew tired of fighting battles of change. Maybe one day I will go back, but for now, I am having a blast being back in the classroom.
I’ve gotta agree with Meredith about the importance about keeping that classroom connection, not only for your own enjoyment and sanity (that’s why we started this thing in the first place mostly), to keep connected the world of students and also so that teachers feel you still understand their world.
I still feel the same way. There is nothing like your own class. Make mini projects with classroom teachers a priority so that you can be in classrooms helping teachers and students. You get to really help a teacher and can do a lot of the “time-consuming” initial tasks that can enable a teacher to see the benefits and want to make it work for the students. I know you will do great but you know the more of us who can get in the classrooms and help the better for everyone. We all learn! It keeps us grounded and focused. I don’t think that jobs outside the classroom are “choice” jobs but they can be very relevant and useful – you have to work extra hard to stay relevant to the teachers. It is worth it.
Be consoled that you were not alone………..After 14 years of teaching in the computer lab, and over 25 years teaching in general………..this is the first year I didn’t have students, bulletin boards, the smell of new books, lesson plans, both fear and anticipation in the same breath, and all the joys that come with having a classroom.
But I, like you, and truly enjoying the new possibilities that are waiting for us as we work with a new group of students — perhaps a bit taller, a bit more gray in their hair at times, and perhaps a bit more educated (grins) — but students none-the-less, who will appreciate our time and patience as they learn new ideas too.
Jennifer