As a student in school, did you ever wish you could be the principal for just one day? Did you ever wish you could be the one to make the rules, administer corporal punishment, tell the teachers what to do and never have homework? I had the opportunity to see for myself what a principal really does during the average school day. What kind of person does it really take to manage a school? When I approached Mr. A, our middle school principal of two years, I asked him if it would be possible for me to shadow him for the day. His reply? "Get your tennis shoes on and come on!" That alone scared me and started me thinking just what on earth had I gotten myself into? I decided to do just that-excluding the tennis shoes. We have a dress code in our district that prohibits such comfortable items as tennis shoes, jeans, and other casual apparel.
             Mr. A's day began with duty on the front lawn overseeing students while waiting on the first bell to sound that the day had begun. I was fortunate enough to miss that part of the ritual. I stepped in behind him as he was personally greeting each teacher in every hallway of the middle school by name. That's when I knew there was much more to being a principal than issuing detentions and giving orders. Personality plays a large part in being a good principal. If you don't connect with the teachers, then gaining their trust becomes a chore. I noticed that just about every teacher gave him something that he had to remember when he was able to return to his office, i.e. John didn't have a belt on; Susie needed to see him about a schedule change; Mr. Jones is absent. Mr. Jones was absent and there was no sub in the classroom. Off to the races. The sub was called but was running late. That issue was easily solved by putting a paraprofessional in the classroom until the substitute teacher arrived. That, I found out, was an issue that this principal had a phobia about no substitu...