Teachers: COVID has thinned the applicant pool for administrator positions. YOU can fill the need for fresh educational professionals TODAY. Simply complete the assignments below, and mail it to your local Department of Education.

Assignment 1
Walk the school grounds. Avoid staff and students. Can you make it back to your office by three p.m. without encountering a problem that you are forced to solve with no resources?

Assignment 2
Fill in the blanks with the best choice. Use the word box if you need ideas.

For our next staff meeting, we will discuss the important issue of _____. Please be ready by making sure you have completed your _____ and that you bring your laptops, fully charged. We will make sure that we engage in _______ as we review what is best for children. This year, our work will focus on ___________.

WORD BOX: rigor, self-care, SMART goals, alignment

BONUS: Translate this paragraph into plain English.

Assignment 3
Plan a school budget. Submit it, but know that there is not a chance it will even be level-funded. Revise it at the superintendent’s behest by just using the budget from two years ago.

Assignment 4
Solve this problem: An angry parent is on the phone, demanding that little Phoebe be removed from her first-grade teacher’s classroom because the National Board-certified teacher of thirty years at master’s plus sixty credits will wear a mask in the fall. Do you:

  • Assure the parent that the teacher is the best professional to help her child, masked or not.
  • Remind the parent that these protocols are changing daily, and that things will likely be just fine for Phoebe in September, even with a masked teacher, because children are resilient.
  • Suggest that the parent email the teacher on her unpaid summer break to arrange an unpaid meeting to discuss the issue.

ANSWER: No response is correct. You must get used to this sad fact before accepting a position.

Congratulations: your exam is complete. We will mail your diploma immediately, along with your survival kit: a box of granola bars, some tissues, a surgical mask, and suggestions for a chipper “out of the office” email message. Best of luck, it takes a village, and all the rest!