On March 22, 2017 I job shadowed Mrs. Tracy Nabors at Sycamore Elementary School.

We started the day in the front of the school and greeted students as they got out of the car.
She addressed each student individually and often the parents. This gave each one of those
students a positive start to their day.
Once the morning announcements were finished we spent some time in her office going
over the daily schedule. The emphasized that a daily schedule was a farce and that there were
always changes and last minute things that would come up every day. We then shifted to the
importance of hiring the best teachers you can. Hiring the best teachers will give you the best
results in student achievement and growth. In addition to improved scores, is great evaluations.
All of her teachers got at least a 4 or 5 the previous year. This majorly cut down on the amount
of evaluations she had to conduct. It also allows almost all of her teachers tenure. Cutting
down on the amount of formal evaluations opens up the door to have informal evaluations or
drop ins. This allows her to have a good idea of what is really happening in the classroom.
We did a walkthrough on the entire school. She emphasized the importance of having a
servant mentality. She is there to help her teachers and students, not to rule over them with an
iron fist. We peeked into a couple of rooms and were able to get a snapshot of a few different
classrooms. Again, the importance of hiring the best teachers possible. The better teachers
you hire, the less work you will have to do.
We went back to her office and went over the evaluation rubrics. We also went over an
in county evaluation. We each did a mock evaluation on a 2nd grade social studies teacher. I
was blown away at this unannounced evaluation. The teacher had control over the lesson, it
moved at a fast pace, and it was clear that the students understood what was being taught. The
20 minutes flew by and I found myself just enjoying the lesson and not necessarily evaluating it.
We went back to the principals office and went over our results. I discovered that the type of
teaching that this particular teacher was using was Whole Brain Teaching. I learned a very
important lesson, I could still learn new teaching theories and ideas, even as a principal.
I chose to do this at an elementary school because I figured that this would more than
likely be my first administrative stop. I assumed that elementary administration was just a
stepping stone to middle school and then high school. I learned that elementary administration
is extremely important because it is the foundation of a childs education. If you do not have the
best teachers teaching the best curriculum, it will cripple the educational foundation of all the
children in the school. I definitely look at elementary administration in a new and appreciative
light.