To test a person's character, give them power...

As my triathlon season officially ends (I am going through some serious tri withdrawal), I'm officially gearing my attention towards the school year. 13 of a possible 180-something days are complete, and already, I'm annoyed. Not with the students. Not even with the parents. My ire so far is directed toward our administration. Without naming names or being too descriptive, my school has traded in one grumpy, middle-aged, nut job principal for another.


Recently, our new principal saw fit to berate us, the teaching staff, via the public address system because our outdoor bulletin boards were not up to a particular set of standards. Apparently, the person in question found it acceptable to do this 1) during school hours, when the students were in their respective classrooms and 2) towards the end of the day, when parents were in the building to pick up said children. So not only were our competency and intelligence called into question, but it was done so within earshot of everyone in the building. To me, that action set a tone that was harmful to the complexion of the school environment (Please bear in mind our school year is 13 days old. At this point, is it really necessary to walk around like this guy?!?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HdtO-ls3S0)

This behavior begs the question: why do school principals find it necessary to become a$$holes when they assume this position? Granted, I've only worked for two principals, but my previous one made it clear that they didn't like the staff (and initially didn't want to be in our school) they had, and my present principal just showed themselves to be somewhat foolish and/or irrational. That's not the type of person I feel comfortable working for. That's not a leader to me. We've all had that moment in our lives where we wished we could turn back the hands of time beacuse of something we said or did. But in this industry, I've learned that first impressions lasts a long time in the minds of everyone within a school community. Our principal's disappointment would've been better received if the guilty culprit(s) were met with individually, rather than the whole taking the fall for a few parts.

Phil Jackson once said that people should change jobs every seven or eight years so as to avoid stagnation and/or frustration.

I'm up to year nine. Maybe it's seriously time to find another chalkboard to write on...