What is Principal Teacher?

     Am I teacher or am I a principal? I am both! I am actually an assistant principal for a 1st-3rd grade campus. I will be starting my second year and I have LOVED it! I will have to be honest though, I really began to miss teaching about a month into my first year as an assistant principal. I had a pit in my stomach because I missed it so much. I missed the joys of teaching and helping student's succeed. I was the teacher who stood on top of desks, transformed my classroom depending on the lesson, created silly songs, dressed up, and more importantly believed my student's were capable of great things. I had spent the last 10 years teaching and all of a sudden felt like a part of me was missing. This feeling never went away and I didn't know what to do. I loved my job as an assistant principal but also wanted to teach. I didn't know how I could possibly do both.
     Fast forward to June. I went to the TEKS resource conference in San Antonio and Ron Clark was our keynote speaker. Talk about a guy who knows what he is doing! I really respect his leadership style. He says it like it is, but in a kind way. He does this because his ultimate priority are his students, and he expects excellence from anyone who is going to teach his students. While he was talking there was one thing which really stood out to me. He talked about one of the classes he taught. Now wait a minute! He is a man who teaches a class and runs the greatest school in the world! If he has enough time to still teach, why can't I? The bottom line is he makes it a priority and I plan on doing the same thing this year. Not only does he make it a priority but so does Co-founder of the Ron Clark Academy, Kim Bearden. Again, she helps run the best school in the world and is an ELA teacher. Talk about rockstars!  They both inspired me to create the blog Principal Teacher. I am not only a principal but a teacher as well.
     As the new school year approaches I have been brainstorming how to make this happen. How do I build trust with my teachers so they know I am not spying on them or assuming I think they are doing something wrong? If I was a teacher in the classroom and my assistant principal said they wanted to teach a class this would be my first thought. Why? Because this is not a common practice among principals and assistant principals. It's not because we don't want to. Ask any principal what they feel like they need to work on and I would bet most of them would say they wish they could be in classrooms more. Being a principal or an assistant principal is tough and there are a lot of things we do behind the scenes. However, I know we can get into classrooms more if we make it a priority. 
     What will this all look like? Will I be teaching lessons, doing read alouds, or just simply being engaged during the lesson and not just sitting in a corner taking notes? I don't know quite yet. I do know there will be some things I do that will turn out great and there will be other things I will need to work on. This is a journey we can all walk together. Here's to a great year!