Shadow an Administrator Report & Reflection

On October 9th, 2018 I had the privilege of shadowing the principal of my school, Allison
Ackerman. Our day started at 7:00 a.m. and ended around 7:30 p.m. This was a phenomenal
experience because I could not have ever imagined the vast amount of tasks she accomplishes and
decisions she makes on a daily basis. Throughout our day, Mrs. Ackerman handled a variety of
tasks including assisting with student behaviors, communicating with parents via emails and
phone calls, and dealing with personal relationships amongst the staff. It was remarkable to see
the extent of these tasks, without even touching upon the daily administrative tasks she has to
complete as well.
Following is an abridged timeline of our day.
 7:00- Arrived. Drove around the property, before parking, to check perimeter of the school.
 7:15- Checked AESOP for teacher absences and began arranging substitute schedules. As
we were planning and writing out our substitute schedules, a second grade teacher came
into the office asking to speak to Mrs. Ackerman. They went to speak privately. When Mrs.
Ackerman came back, she expressed that sometimes you have to make a decision based on
what’s more important: your staff’s mental health or worrying about finding a substitute
for their classroom. She explained that the teacher is having a personal problem at home
and was extremely upset. The teacher came to work, but clearly was suffering, so Mrs.
Ackerman made the decision to send her home. I really appreciated and respected this
immediate decision because Mrs. Ackerman was more concerned about the well being of
her staff. I think this will create a high-trust school culture.
 8:00- Faculty Meeting (split by grade level). We each went to a different grade level for the
first ten minutes, so Mrs. Ackerman could set up the fourth grade teachers with discussion
about a new reading assessment and I could start conversation with the special area
teachers about behavior management. Also, she wanted to keep note of which teachers
were on-time. I think this was clever. Since the teachers knew Mrs. Ackerman couldn’t
attend all the meetings, they may have taken advantage and arrived late.
 8:45- Student arrival. I like that Mrs. Ackerman decided to change where she stands during
arrival. Now she is positioned outside on a corner where she can greet students driven by
car, but also talk to the bus drivers as they are leaving about any student issues on the
buses.
 9:10- Morning announcements. During the announcements this week, Mrs. Ackerman
decided to incorporate emotional words school-wide by reading aloud from a picture book.
 9:15-10:00- Got social studies materials for a homeschooled child (The superintendent
asked for these as soon as possible). Collected DIBELS materials for a third grade teacher.
Emailed the superintendent about a teacher being absent after a three-day weekend due to
medical reasons. Called the principal from Sparke. Began the weekly Superintendent
Report. Received a phone call from the Superintendent of Special Education regarding
APPR scores and writing a new letter for teachers grade 3-8. Received a parent email about
removing a special education student out of inclusion due to “classroom disruptions.”
 10:00- Building walkthrough. I love that Mrs. Ackerman makes herself visible throughout
the day! We also visited the classroom of the special education student to observe him and
discuss his behavior/parent communication with the classroom teacher. When we walked
into his classroom, we immediately noticed that the classroom teacher was sitting at her
desk on her cell phone. I thought it was surprising that Mrs. Ackerman ignored this. Later
she explained that since this particular teacher is typically working extremely hard, if she
reprimanded her Mrs. Ackerman would lose her trust. I agree that as an administrator, the
teachers should not feel like the principal is trying to “catch them” doing the wrong thing.
Further, we noticed a teacher filling in their plan book on their prep (which was due that
day) and that the tiles in the new library are buckling.
 10:30- Emailed the Director of Facilities about the buckling floor tiles. Emailed the
Superintendent about the same issue and to inform him that she emailed the Director of
Facilities. Called the Superintendent of Special Education to provide information about the
child we observed. Scheduled teacher observations. Looked at ELA and Math testing scores
for a student in response to a parent inquiry via email. Interrupted by a teacher to
troubleshoot issues about our Dollars for Scholars program.
 During all recess periods (11:30-1:00), we practiced a new emergency drill with the
children outside on the playground. It was interesting to see how the drills went smoother
the more times we did it. I really love that Mrs. Ackerman made it a point to practice these
drills with the children because the teachers have expressed their concern during a faculty
meeting about emergency procedures during lunch and recess. During the lunch drills, Mrs.
Ackerman had to instruct the lunch monitors to stand in their assigned positions and
handle a lunch monitor “tattling” on their colleague for not being in their assigned position.
 I think she handled this issue very well, by acknowledging the comment briefly, instructing
the monitor to go to her position, but still looking into the lunch monitor’s schedule to
ensure all were where they should be. In between these drills, Mrs. Ackerman assisted
teachers with a child having a meltdown, located reading materials for a third grade
teacher, called a parent about an upcoming 20 day absence for one student, and received a
phone call from the Middle School about IST minutes for a fifth grader. We had a working
lunch in between the recess drills.
 1:00- Created a Connect Ed message via email and phone call to explain to the parents that
all the students practiced the emergency drill during their recess periods. I was surprised
Mrs. Ackerman decided to make this message because I did not think this was necessary.
She explained to me that it was a proactive decision incase the children go home and
miscommunicate to their parents that it was a real emergency drill. I think that was great
planning to help avoid numerous parent inquiries.
 1:20- Explained food policy to a parent that came in with an unapproved class snack.
Looked at budgeting materials. Emailed the Superintendent of Special Education about a
student being absent for 11 days. Ordered State tests.
 2:00- Second building walkthrough. During this walkthrough, Mrs. Ackerman didn’t
hesitate to again assist with a student having a meltdown in the hallway.
 2:20- Completed the weekly Superintendent Report we never got a chance to finish. Began
looking and making comments in teacher plan books. This week Mrs. Ackerman required
teachers to highlight one new strategy they implemented in their classroom. I think this is a
wonderful way to make teachers accountable for utilizing new techniques learned from a
previous faculty meeting. Also, it was great to see that she gave feedback to every teacher
and wrote a note asking those who did not highlight a strategy to do so and return it to her.
During this time, there were teacher interruptions and a phone interruption regarding the
PTA event that evening.
 2:50- Signed payroll sheets. Mrs. Ackerman had a wonderful system in which she always
signs these sheets at the counter in the Main Office, instead of in her private office, in order
to make herself visible yet again.
 3:10- Dismissal. Dismissal was a very interesting and frightening part of our day. Mrs.
Ackerman always stands at the beginning of the bus line where she can say goodbye to all
students leaving the building, view all buses, and be available for any issues. A second
 grade teacher approached her saying that she could not find one of her children. She was
supposed to take the bus home, but was not on the bus. Mrs. Ackerman immediately
delegated different tasks to various teachers and staff. One teacher was assigned to go on
and double-check the bus for the student. The classroom teacher was assigned to check the
parent note. Through the walkie talkie, the teacher in charge of walkers was assigned to
double-check their list, the head bus driver was assigned to ask all bus drivers to check
their buses for the student, and an “all call” in school was assigned to the secretary to see if
the student was still in the building. As Mrs. Ackerman was heading into the Main Office,
she radioed for the other secretary to clear the office of all teachers and pull the student’s
emergency contact form. Once we arrived in the office, Mrs. Ackerman told the classroom
teacher not to call the parent and she called instead, while having the secretary pull up
Power School. The parent informed her that she picked up their child as a walker. Mrs.
Ackerman made an announcement to all staff in the school that everything was ok and then
called the classroom teacher to express that she did nothing wrong. This was by far the
most eye-opening part of our day. I was truly impressed with the way Mrs. Ackerman
handled the situation and how she quickly delegated tasks to various members of the
school. She knew exactly what to do and she even expressed that she was going to call the
Police next, which is why she asked the secretary to pull up the student’s picture on Power
School. In addition, I thought it was excellent that Mrs. Ackerman called the parent back to
explain that they were concerned about their child’s whereabouts and to express the
importance of sending in a note about dismissal changes.
 3:45- Parent called back about student being absent for 20 days. It was amazing to hear the
way Mrs. Ackerman expressed her concern about the student being absent and offered
suggestions about how to have them attend school, all while maintaining her
professionalism. I’m glad she was firm and left open-ended questions to have the parent
respond to the situation.
 5:30- Dinner break 
 6:30- Assisted in set up and attended the “Class Parent Tea” at Sparke Elementary School.

In addition to our day, Mrs. Ackerman constantly checked her emails and responded
promptly. It was amazing to see how many emails she receives in one day. I think it is very
intelligent of her to respond as soon as possible, in order to get them “off her plate.” Overall, I am
really appreciative and thankful to have had this experience to see the difference between what
teachers may view the principal’s “job” versus what she actually handles every day.