Just found this list of 50 things you find yourself saying as a teacher.  Made me laugh.  There are a few I have said over the years.  I wonder if there is a list like this for principals.

1. Don't drink your watercolor water. (Catina S.)

2. Don't suck the corn juice with your straw. (Tammy P.)

3. I don't know what's going on in that boys' restroom, but I know I won't be impressed by anything I see when I walk in. (Susan L.)

4. Don't sharpen your finger. (Robin B.)

5. Who's barking? (Dawn M.)

6. Please stop petting my leg. (Myranda H.)

7. Pee in the toilet, not the wall. (Anna P.)

8. Get your shoes out of your mouth. (Nicole B.)

9. Stop licking the window. (Aviva W.)

10. Please stop choking him. He doesn't like it. (Lindsey A.)

11. Why are you talking about farting and tattling when you're supposed to be doing your morning work. I don't care to know who's farting right now. (Jennifer K.)

12. Boys, keep your balls in your hands please. (Lynne P.)

13. Please don't eat the cotton balls. They are for Santa's beard, not cotton candy. (Kathy S.)

14. Stop doing belly spins on your desk. (Mary H.)

15. Don't lick your neighbor's computer. (Trish V.)

16. Why am I hearing voices? (Kelley R.)

17. Stop making a belt out of duct tape. (Deanna T.)

18. I have to pee also, but we're taking the FCAT now. Just think about the desert. (Thia T.)

19. Don't pick his nose...Don't let him pick your nose. (Keri L.)

20. Did you seriously spray deer urine in my classroom? (Megan H.)

21. Don't tie your lunchbox to your shoes. (Robyn E.)

22. Is that a frog in your pocket? (Christina G.)

23. No, the eraser can't be pooped out if it disappears down your nose. (Keri C.)

24. If you're in the mood to be noisy, please be noisy inside your head. No one out here wants to hear. (Richard L.)

25. Stop dancing on the pole. (Laurie M.)

26. Don't throw your friends out of the (playhouse) window. (Kristina R.)

27. You need to hold your balls the entire way down the hallway and out to recess, or they will be mine. (Sarah A.)

28. I'm sure giraffes get constipated just like humans do. (Megan B.)

29. First graders, please keep your face to yourself. (Kelly M.)

30. Stop trying to lick your elbow...It's impossible. (Amy B.)

31. Get your fingers out of your face holes. (Melissa T.)

32. Humans don't eat plastic. (Michelle F.)

33. We really shouldn't lick the walls. (Beth B.)

34. We do not drink water out of a sponge. (Cynthia O.)

35. People are not food. (Lorie K.)

36. Pull your shirt down and get off that pole. (Brittany W.)

37. Put the skunk down. (Jessie M.)

38. Your hair is on fire! (Tresa S.)

39. Don't sit in my trash can. (Elizabeth G,)

40. Don't lick the monkey bars. (Denise C.)

41. We do not sit on our friends. (Jaymie L.)

42. We only pretend to be ninja warriors with gentle hands. (Jenny H.)

43. We don't put paper clips in the outlets. (Tori D.)

44. We don't lick our classmates, nor do we bark at them. (Paula B.)

45. (In shop class) Jimmy, please stop asking people to smell your wood. (Julie C.)

46. Get your shoelaces out of your mouth. (Laurie D.)

47. Please stop showing everybody your armpit hair. (Laura H.)

48. Even if you lick it, you still have to do your homework. (Lacie D.)

49. Only eat food, not rocks. (said by Me)

And...Stop rolling your tomatoes on the floor. (Daphne M.)

Do We Really Know What Principals Do?

I read the following on a blog by Sarah Blaine titled "You think you know what teachers do, right?  Wrong."

I spent a little over a year earning a master of arts in teaching degree. Then I spent two years teaching English Language Arts in a rural public high school. And I learned that my 13 years as a public school student, my 4 years as a college student at a highly selective college, and even a great deal of my year as a master’s degree student in the education school of a flagship public university hadn’t taught me how to manage a classroom, how to reach students, how to inspire a love of learning, how to teach. Eighteen years as a student (and a year of preschool before that), and I didn't know anything about teaching. Only years of practicing my skills and honing my skills would have rendered me a true professional. An expert. Someone who knows about the business of inspiring children. Of reaching students. Of making a difference. Of teaching.

This made me wonder about all I have learned about educational leadership.  I've been studying the skills of great leaders, how to implement and sustain change, how to build a building culture that supports learning, how to hire, mentor, and support a great staff, and how to manage the daily business of a school for over four years.  Even after earning a doctorate in educational leadership I worry that I have no idea what a principal does.  

Correction---I do know what I am told about the job of building principal.  What I am not sure of is the load I will carry daily knowing I am responsible for the success of my students, the concern I will feel for my staff members when the teaching profession is denigrated by politicians and community members, and the joys I will feel when I see the personal and professional successes around me.  I hope that as I enter into the profession I will find in it the same commitment, joy, and challenges that I did during my 16 years as a teacher

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