Want Frank Observations? Step Inside a Classroom - classroom anecdotes - Brief Article

School Administrator, May, 2000

Back to Basics

Jack Moles, superintendent of the Nemaha Valley Schools in Cook, Neb., was observing a 1st, grade classroom while the teacher was introducing students to the "ku" sound.

Moles watched as the teacher struggled to provide words that start with those letters. She finally turned to the superintendent for help. At that point, Nate, a 1st-grader, asked his teacher, "What about your name?"

Needless to say, Deb Kucera was embarrassed by her oversight, but her students enjoyed a good laugh.

A Regal Moment

Adrienne Sonnek, principal of Maple River Central Elementary School in Mapleton, Minn., was practicing management by walking around when she noticed a kindergarten pupil leaving the hallway bathroom. Seeing her, the youngster dashed into his classroom shouting, "The princess is coming! The princess is coming!"

To ensure everyone knew exactly who the princess was, Sonnek wasted no time following him into the classroom, beaming from ear to ear.

Blunt Assessment I

After moving recently from a superintendency in Kentucky to the top spot in the Holly, Mich., schools, Kent Barnes figured it would be useful to visit classrooms to introduce himself to students and staff. Barnes explained how he had worked as an elementary school principal, a middle school principal, a junior high school principal and a high school principal. He referenced his experience as a classroom teacher and mentioned his several graduate assistantships.

Then Barnes asked the class of 4th graders what all this meant to them. One boy shot up his hand.

"It means," he said, "you can't hold a job."

Barnes no longer asks for students to assess his career path.

Blunt Assessment II

Dennis Harken was visiting classes with a special education supervisor when they popped into a middle-school classroom for youngsters with emotional needs.

Harken, executive director of the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit in Norristown, Pa., observed the teacher, aide and students for about 20 minutes, then got up to move on to an appointment.

A student asked if Harken was leaving. When he said he was, a voice from the back of the room said loudly: "Man, you sure put in a short day!"

Fit 'Em All in a Phone Booth

When the Crane School District in Yuma, Ariz., celebrated the district's 100 years of operation recently, the current board of education invited back for recognition every living member who had ever served on the district's school board.

One of the oldest returnees, who served on the board in the 1940s, told the assemblage about his memorable re-election campaign. The board member thought he was running unopposed until two days before the election when the superintendent informed him that another member of the community had opted to challenge him as a write-in candidate. The superintendent advised him to re-energize his constituents if he intended to remain on the board.

With that advice, the incumbent redoubled his efforts. His campaign in the rural community proved successful when he received eight votes. His late-starting opponent mustered only six.

Grammar Slammer

Bill Owens, the governor of Colorado, probably is paying closer attention to personal letters that are going out over his signature these days.

Owens was called to task during a radio call-in show by Becky, a 7th-grade student, who reported over the airwaves the governor had sent her a letter chock full of grammatical mistakes. The girl found the errors especially glaring since the topic of the letter was education.

The governor apologized over the air with a disclaimer. "Becky, would you send it back to me so I can see it? Maybe we'll just keep this our own secret, but I don't actually write all those letters."

Don't Sneeze Near Him

Imagine the size of Alfonse Dattolo's bank of sick leave.

A New Jersey teacher of French and Spanish, he recently passed the 5,000 mark of days teaching without missing a single day of work.

Dattolo, 50, told The Wall Street Journal he hoped to set an example for his students by coming to school even when he was wasn't feeling well. He said: "Students with ability who settle for mediocrity bother me the most."

No Fibbing Now

An executive-search firm in the Milwaukee area has discovered that the percentage of executive candidates who misrepresent their educational credentials was 17 percent in 1999, a 2 percent increase over the previous year.

The executive-search firm, Jude M. Werra and Associates, compiles its "liars index" on the fibs it uncovers while checking out resumes.