stressed out principal

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stressed out principal
By Carolyn

It sounds to me as if your principal is stressed out by the pressures which are being heaped upon him by the district. I know from experience that the pecking comes from above us all, then ends up on us. Our school district,
for example, has decided that it is going to be one of the top performers in the state. Now the heat is on guess who? The principals, of course, who then pressure the teachers. We have had so many forms to fill out this year to document how we are teaching to meet the needs of the low-performing kids. There have been several forms to fill out to document the performance of our

past and present students on state and standardized tests--all giving basically the same information. There have probably been a dozen forms to fill out on "How are we doing?" In addition, we regularly hear the type of stuff that you mention. Fortunately, our principal tends to show a greater sense of humor than the one you describe. We do, as a faculty, joke and have fun at our faculty meetings. We also, realistically, realize our limitations as teachers.

I don't know how you will change your principal. He is on some sort of track that is going to be hard for him to get off of. I think, however, that if you believe you are doing a good job, you can just allow his remarks to wash off of you. Don't take them personally. Think pleasant thoughts when he is in his reprimand mode.