- Human resource challenges will take up a lot of your time.
Your admin program may have been the best in the country, but it likely didn’t prepare you enough for the human resource side of the job. You will spend more time than you thought trying to work out interpersonal dynamics of a grade-level team, or coaching someone on how to deal with a difficult staff member. Having professional, important, and sometimes awkward conversations is now part of your job.
—– Read up, and practice these, volunteer every chance you can, and then get feedback from a leader you trust. A quote I have on my desk is: “Hard Things are Hard.” It’s a daily reminder that even if the situation is difficult, you still have to deal with it; you may actually be the best person for the job. - You will have ‘crazy days’ & ‘slow days’ – and both are ok.
The vast majority of us will start our careers as assistant principals. That means most of the time you are focused on student behavior and school logistics. Some days, you’ll run from crisis to crisis, hitting four-o’clock and realizing that you have not sat down or gone to the bathroom once. That’s actually part of the job (cue hard things are hard from above). Occasionally, you get a day where the school that you’ve helped lead, is humming along. This is a great time to get your big to-do list items done, visit classrooms to be visible, and enjoy the many amazing parts of school administration. (Eating lunch with students is one of my favorites).
—– Resist the urge to feel ‘guilty’ during these days. Often, our Type-A personalities get the best of us, i.e. – ‘I have 20 minutes to eat lunch, that can’t be right,’ or ‘I just spent 10 minutes playing kickball with 3rd grade, what crisis is waiting for me?’ This thinking is dangerous. - It’s actually manageable.
Full disclosure: I’ve only had 2 administrative experiences – both in “assistant principal” type capacities, but I’ve found both to be manageable.
—— The secret here is making sure you have an effective system for dealing with things that will cause you to get behind or overwhelmed. For me, that’s e-mail and projects. I’ve written about how I handle both here and here. It’s easy to get into a conversation with other leaders about how “crazy” things are – but find your system that works, and work it! You don’t have to feel bad if you manage your time and capacity well.
school leadership in 500 words or less
Sean D'Abreu 
I’d say HAKAS but that’s so overdone!!
Congrats on a great first year!
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Ha!!!
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