‘You Know, Mrs. Castro, You'd Be a Really Good Teacher!’

Abstract

Involvement with the day-to-day of teachers has complicated Ms. Castro's life, lengthened her workday, caused her to seek paperwork shortcuts. she views her presence in the classroom as the most part of her - as much for teachers as for herself. THE third-graders stared at me expectantly, some looking a little worried. hadn't been in front of a class for almost eight years, can still recall the nervousness felt in my stomach that day. was scared. Could still teach? As began to give directions for the morning's work, one of the children raised her hand. But where is Leary? she asked. explained that Leary's daughter was in a school play, had encouraged her to go see it. would be their substitute teacher. But if you are our teacher, who will be our principal? another child asked. Mrs. Pugh is handling everything in the office, said, and sure theyll be fine without me. Sensing my need for their help, the children oiled my rusty teaching skills. They told me how Leary worked with reading groups, showed me the finished work box, reminded me to send the attendance form to the office. Every so often that morning, a teacher would pause at the door survey the scene, often smiling before leaving. As conferenced with a student editing his paper, a teacher interrupted, asking if we would have indoor or outdoor recess. Ask Pugh, suggested. Im teaching right now. Before knew it, we had to start cleaning up for lunch. We took time to recap what we had accomplished, what could have gone better, what the children would tell Leary about our morning. As they went to get their lunches coats (Mrs. Pugh had decided it would be an outdoor recess), one of the children came running up to me before taking his place in line. With a big smile, he said, You know, Castro, You'd be a really good teacher! His words warmed my heart, but it was also a life-changing moment. How had gotten so far away from the thing loved most? How could be an effective school when had become so distant from what school is really about, from what it is to be a teacher? resolved then there that would find ways to stay close to the heart of the matter - teachers students in the classroom. The first part of the struggle to reshape my role as instructional leader was to take control of the hours minutes of my days. penciled in blocks of one to two hours on my calendar at different points each day - time that would be devoted to classrooms. Next to the arrows marking these time spans, wrote sacred told my secretary never to schedule anything at these times. The going was bumpy at first. The superintendent called to schedule a meeting during one of these blocks, though supportive of the idea, he suggested move it to another time. did, before knew it, the sacred time had evaporated from my calendar for that day. The next time there was a conflict, simply said, I can't do it then, with no explanation. It worked. We'd always find another time for that important activity. My morning of teaching also changed my relationship with the faculty. Some of the teachers later told me that the faculty room buzzed with reports of where I'd been that morning how looked at in the classroom. This surprised me, as I'd always seen myself as a teacher, but realized that was new in the district (it was the beginning of my second year), my colleagues had known me only as the principal. used our next faculty meeting to explain that wanted to spend more time in classrooms. My unannounced visits would not be for the purpose of evaluating teachers but were intended to keep me in touch with their classrooms. They would allow me to communicate about our school and, most important, help me better support each teacher in his or her practice. …