Noob(s), Undercurrent, and Phone Logs

Noob(s)

We are both noobs. The new assistant principal and I. Two years ago, I was in the same situation as he was. I think he is handling it better than I did, but now that the year has started, we don’t have a lot of time to have heart to heart talks. Once we get into the groove. We can have those talks.

Ever so often, some things happen at school that we haven’t gone through before. Going through something for the first time is stressful, a little nerve racking, and usually is not done in an ideal way.
Why?
Because its the first time.

For example. Over the past couple of days, we have a few incidents, and it is interesting to see how parents handle the situation and how they expect or want the school to handle the situation.
One mother whois raising her fifth, and last daughter had a completely different tone and approach than a mother whose oldest is going through middle school for the first time. There is not a right and wrong way to do it.

It’s life.

For those of you with multiple kids, remember how neurotic and meticulous you were with your first child. By the time your third or fourth came along, you’d mastered the craft of bedtime, dinner, potty training, etc. To become an expert, you have to be a noob first.

Undercurrent

Undercurrent: a current of water below the surface, moving in a different direction from any surface current. See also riptide. Occasionally, there are moments at school that are the result of an undercurrent that has been slowly moving for quite some time.

It could be a couple of friends that are super competitive, and that comes to a head on the basketball court or football field resulting in a confrontation.

Maybe two friends like the same boy and he finally decides which one he likes causing extra emotional teenagers and further drama.

Or it could be a parent and teacher who have spent a few years working together with multiple children and a paper gets lost (on either side) that leads to a poorly written email with an inadequate response.

In most industries, the customer transaction is a one-time connection or periodic basic level relationship. It doesn’t happen seven times a day with 180 kids and 50 teachers.

If I want a shake, I go to Article Circle and get a caramel shake. The transaction is over. They don’t plan on me coming back every day for nine months. Let alone staying there for 8 hours a day. Unless I go off the deep end.

We have many roles as educators, which are too many to list here, but one of them is to have a sense of what is going on below the surface. Academically, emotionally, socially, behaviorally, and sometimes even financially we (at least one or two adults in every building) need to have a good enough relationship with a student that we can tell how tumultuous their undercurrent is and when it will metaphorically pull everyone out to sea.

Phone logs

Boring! Right! I know, but seriously it’s kind of cool to look back and my phone logs as a teacher, and now as administrator and get a visual of what I was doing on a given day over the past eight years.
A few suggestions on phone logs.

1. Keep them and don’t lose them. Do this for inbound and outbound calls even if you leave a message. Mine are handwritten, (the only thing I handwrite, I should move to digital) but you could go digital. Think google forms with 3 to 4 questions. Time, Date, Student Name, Notes.
2. We are professionals and keeping phone logs is a professional skill. It helps me return calls promptly, as well as make outgoing calls within 24 hours.
3. It helps identify uplifting and positive “touchstones” home. With a call log, I have a clear record of conversations surrounding a particular student. These conversations can be praiseworthy or behavior related.
4. It’s good to take notes when talking with parents. I know you are good at what you do, but it’s difficult to remember small pieces of information and or tasks that you have agreed to on a 15-minute phone call.
5.  In this litigious climate that we live in, it is always good to have documentation that I am doing everything I can to helps students be successful. I keep all phone logs until a student graduates from high school.
6.  It turns into record keeping into a type of work journal. As mentioned earlier, I have a record of my call logs, and it’s fun to go back through them and see what was going on during a particular year or time in my life.