And Then There Were 2....

Now that you know why you are following me, it is equally important to understand why I want to be an Administrator.  Notice that I capitalized Administrator, not sure that it should be, I could ask my wife which is an English Teacher, but that would be considered following and not leading; I feel as though Administrator and Principal should both be capitalized because they need to stand out.  I have always wanted to be a leader.  When I was in high school, I wanted to go to the Air Force Academy.  One of my favorite quotes from the Academy was "Lead, Follow, or get the He** out of the way."   A little rough and perhaps offensive to some, but a great quote to live your life by.  I have been a follower, in my mind loyal, there have also been times that I simply had to get out of the way because I could not follow and would only be hindering progress.  I now want to live the rest of my life leading.  I feel that the experience that I have acquired with 13 years of teaching at five different high schools, under six different Principals, and six different Superintendents; has put me in a position to share ideas that have worked and to punt ideas that did not, straight to the curb.  I feel that at times, I have been a teacher that was exemplary and at times a teacher that should have left the business.  My 13 years of teaching have not been without bumps in the road, and I feel as though these life experiences have been just as important as the smooth times.  I sit back and see how we run new teachers out of the world of education.  We make them feel as though they are inadequate.  We give them little help, and throw so much on them, that a 20 hour work day is still not enough.  We give new teachers the classes that the rest of us do not want and we expect them to have the results that a veteran teacher would have.  The madness does not stop with just new teachers.  In education, we keep asking teachers to do more, both in and out of the classroom and then give teachers higher standards to reach each year.  We do all of this without leading and teaching our teachers.  We expect our teachers to learn on their own time and money, while expecting them to teach children and parents regardless of the situation.  Teachers naturally do not quit.  I have been so impressed with how teachers rise up and do the best they can do.  Teachers put other people's children at the top of their "to do" list everyday.  Teachers really do care, and they are unbelievable at their jobs.  Yes, I know, your child had a bad teacher.  There are several out there, but there is not a single profession that can profess to have nothing but great employees.  Ask our Federal Government, ask our State Government, and ask our churches.  They all have bad employees.  But most of us have not lost faith in these entities.  We continue to put our money and time into making them all the best they can be.  I feel as though with great leadership, I can help teachers reach their goals while returning the world of education back into a profession that we love.  I know that education will continue to progress in ways that add stress to the teachers, but I know with leadership that is at the front and stands out, we can make this a profession that you smile when your child says "When I grow up, I want to be a teacher."