When I arrived at Tunica Middle School, the principal, Mr. Newson did not completely display the traits of an Educator which is described by Elaine McEwan in her work The 10 Traits of Highly Effective Principals: From Good to Great Performance as “a self-directed instructional leader with a strong intellect and personal depth of knowledge regarding research-based curriculum, instruction, and learning that motivates and facilitates the intellectual growth and development of self, students, teachers, and parents” (p. 24). To be an educator means role modeling teaching and learning constantly. However, Mr. Newson transformed into an Educator after the district was taken over by the state through a conservator.
As a former football coach, Mr. Newson effectively displayed the Educator benchmark of believing all students can learn and he developed programs to help them succeed. He understood and took action on several misbehaving students daily to place them in an environment where they would have the best chance to learn. For some students it meant transferring to another teacher. For others it meant in-school detection, a small group review with …show more content…
Not until the following year, under conservatorship, especially after receiving the first set of benchmark test results, did I receive any constructive feedback; hence, everything changed.
Math and English Language Arts (ELA) teachers benefitted, so I thought, from a daily visit from the administration. But as more benchmark scores came out, six in all, the more visits everyone received. It almost became crisis management and a craving for proficient student results yesterday. Most days during the week, Math and ELA teachers would receive two visits; one from an assistant principal and one from Mr.