A Slow Day by Ms. Boni

It was a slow day today. The article in the Tribune quoted me as saying that it's pretty easy to run things operationally. That's only half true. While it's true that GES has an awesome support staff, most of my days are filled with too much paperwork. I've been feeling a little operationally invisible lately. I think it is every principal's dream to be freed of the mountains of paperwork, memos and facsimiles and to be able to spend more time with students and teachers in the business of learning. Miraculously there was only one meeting today and I wasn't there for most of it. I missed the Wednesday morning meeting with counselor and Vice Principal because I was on the phone with central office trying to find a 5th grade teacher. Here's my day today, I think I remembered most of it. As I said, it was a pretty slow day today.
1.Helped the counselor reassure a parent and comfort a student with school phobia.
2. Had a parental conference for possession of betelnut.
3. Spoke with a concerned parent about homework.
4. Called Finance & Personnel to request funding for a substitute teacher.
5. Called Human Resources to scout out any new applicants for a 5th grade teaching slot.
6. Called Special Education to discuss student privacy rights in regards to FERPA and IDEA.
7. Participated in an email thread regarding FLSA and it's role in coaching, paid differentials for teacher aides and the Saturday Speech and OT program.
8. Called 8 applicants on the eligibility list.
9. Spoke with NMC representative regarding the Americorps Program and opportunities at GES.
10. Worked on completing the Annual Report.
11. Supervised part of lunch recess while it rained.
12. Discussed the Badminton Federation free clinic with coordinators through text messaging.
13. Begged for more time with the PD Specialist on submission of Teacher of the Year packet.
14. Spoke with Rediker coordinator about the integration of EZ-Grade Pro.
15. Helped Teacher of the Year complete her application for district award.
16. Opened the staff development meeting and discussed upcoming curriculum mapping PD.
17. Discussed parent's concern about homework with teacher.
18. Followed up on certification application and status of teachers with central office.
19. Review submissions of Reading First and BRI data for accuracy.
20. Read two teacher's lesson plans for the week.
21. Called (three times) procurement to follow up on security RFB.