Standing Out In The Crowd

Okay, TC grads….it’s time to do a little self reflection.

What does your principal/administration really know about you?

If you are not confident that they know anything more than your name and what you teach, then this presentation is for you. You might be one of those people who think that the administrative hierarchy is there to watch your every move, ready to reprimand you if you do something wrong. The mere sight of them coming near your classroom door might make you want to run for the parking lot. This couldn’t be further from the truth!

If you find yourself along those lines, stop and remember that you are an educated professional. You are good at your job and you’ve worked hard for your teaching license. Your administration should be supportive of you, not intimidating you.

That being said, they also have a job to do. April is coming and that means teachers everywhere are learning their fate for next year. Some of you will learn if you’ve received your tenure, others just hope to be re-hired and the unfortunate will learn that budget cuts have eliminated their position. With cuts looming on the horizon, how have you stood out this year? If you haven’t done anything to show your principal that you were the right choice for the job and you deserve to stay, you have a few months left to give it your all. Why should the principal keep you over the teacher in the classroom next to you? Here is my list of 15 suggestions to help you “Stand Out In The Crowd”:

1) Dress professionally. By this point in the year, you may have become “comfortable” and relaxed your attire a little too often. If you think you have “dressed down” too much this year, now is the time to take off your jeans and put on your professional clothes.

2) Don’t punch the clock. Arrive earlier than the students and stay after the buses leave. If you arrive “just in time” and are running for your car right after the bell rings at the end of the day, someone is eventually going to notice. You have plenty of work to do, so do some at your desk and let your principal see that you are working after hours. Trust me…he’ll remember and appreciate your dedication.

“Stand Out in the Crowd Suggestions”

3) Attend all meetings. Offer solutions and ideas to help the school solve current problems. Don’t complain

about anything without having a solution to resolve the situation. Your principal will remember you as a problem solver who cares about his students and

colleagues.

4) Volunteer to assist with extra-curricular activities. Whether you offer to sponsor a group or club or to coach an athletic team, your principal will notice you helping kids beyond the classroom. If you can’t find an activity to oversee, choose one to support. Attend the basketball game or volunteer to chaperone a school event. If you’re not sure how to volunteer for an event, don’t be afraid to ask your principal where your help could be most beneficial.

6) Write a grant. Do you need a new computer lab? How about books for the library? Maybe your school could use an after school program? What if you wrote a

grant to get money for this program? How grateful would your principal be? You’re going to need his signature on the grant proposal, so even if you try for the grant and don’t succeed, he’s going to remember the attempt.

7) Do community service. If you sponsor a group or club, ask your principal to discuss a community service project with you. Cleaning the auditorium, planting flowers, painting the gym walls are all examples of projects your students could do. If the project is big enough, contact your school’s media department and have them arrange local paper or media coverage.

8) Give up your planning period. Yes, I know…this is a touchy subject, but I’m talking about once a week or every two weeks. If you are swamped and grading papers to all hours of the night, this suggestion isn’t for you. On the other hand, if you are using your time productively and have some spare time, ask your principal where you could help out. Helping the attendance office with filing, greeting parents at the reception desk, stocking the nurse’s supplies or even re-shelving checked-in library books are all ways to help donate your time. Your principal will be stunned that you are willing to do this and will value this small contribution more than you know.

9) Donate items to the school. If you do seasonal housecleaning and are going to throw things away, ask

your principal if he might be interested in your old bookcase, desk chair, filing cabinets, old books, etc. Even old pots/pans could be donated to the Home Economics Department, old clothes could be donated to needy students and old electronics could be worked on in shop class. Before throwing anything out, ask yourself if your school could use it.

10) Share what you learn. If you attend a great conference or read a motivating article, share it with your colleagues. Offer to present to the faculty on a staff development day in lieu of your principal having to bring someone in from the outside and having to pay them.

11) Be creative. If you have an idea that could benefit the school, share it! If you think you have a solution to better utilize your school facilities, the budget, your curriculum, or even how to better manage your student body, let your administration know. Fresh ideas are always appreciated and you just might have a solution that no one had thought of. Don’t be afraid to speak up.

12) Limit your days out. Just because you have 10 sick days a year, doesn’t mean you need to use them all. If you are sick, by all means stay home. If you aren’t, recognize that subs are hard to come by and you leave your students and colleagues in a bind. Aim for perfect attendance and your principal will appreciate you!

13) Donate funds. I know this is a lot to ask a teacher, but your principal will usually know of a family/student who is experiencing financial difficulty. Ask how you can help. Maybe the family needs a week’s worth of groceries or maybe just some pencils and paper for their children in school. Whatever your wallet can afford is enough. Do this out of the goodness of your heart, not because the principal is watching. You’ll get more out of the gesture than any commendation from administration.

14) Mentor new teachers. If your school has a mentor program, offer to be a part of it. If they don’t have one, start one. New teachers need a lot of time and support; two things principals run low on each day. Offering to help out reduces the stress on administration and makes you shine.

15) Do what you’re supposed to. That might sound like a trivial suggestion, but you’d be surprised how many

teachers are let go each year for not completing basic tasks. Remember the obvious:a)Be on time, be prepared and be professional.b)Meet your deadlines. c)Attend parent conferences and staff meetings.d)Turn in paperwork.e)Teach your students, motivate them, be excited.f)Follow protocol. Know your district guidelines.g)Lesson plan according to your state benchmarks.h)Lesson plan with ESOL/ESE strategies included.i)Grade fairly.j)Value your teaching license. Don’t do anything to get it revoked and remember to re-certify in a timely manner.

I hope you found a suggestion or two that you can use to stand out in the crowd at your school. Please don’t attempt to do all of these, but maybe concentrate on one or two at a time to start.

I will leave you with one final thought. Your principal is a human being. Please do not be afraid and feel as though you cannot approach him because you are “just a teacher”. Let him know who you are! Be the person he thinks of when he needs a job done. Be the person he can count on. On the flip side, don’t be in his office every day pointing out all your accolades, either. Let him recognize your achievements on his own. If you’re doing it the right way, he won’t be able to miss them!

Questions or Comments?If you have any comments or questions about this presentation, please contact Marcella Ryan, WGU TC Alumni Mentor, at

mryan1@wgu.eduFeel free to provide your own ideas by visiting our WGU Teacher Blog and sharing your thoughts at www.alumni.wgu.edu.Click on “Teachers College” and then choose “Teacher Blog” to post your ideas.