What Do You Do Around Here Anyway?: Real-Life Discussion Generators for Wannabe Principals

by Paul R. Smith

Overview

What Do You Do Around Here Anyway? candidly reports the experiences of one middle school principal for 160 consecutive days, or one school year, with little or no editing. The material is much more than the typical case study. The events are presented in context; the results of actions taken are seen in the daily lives of all affected.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761853312
Publisher:	Hamilton Books
Publication date:	09/28/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	106
File size:	955 KB

About the Author

Paul R. Smith, a retired associate professor in educational leadership from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, previously served for thirty-eight years as an elementary, middle, and high school principal in the Midwest.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Chapter 2 INTRODUCTION
Chapter 3 THE DISTRICT
Chapter 4 1. Yes, I Will Do My Best
Chapter 5 2. Someone Call 911
Chapter 6 3. I've Been Robbed, I've Been Robbed
Chapter 7 4. Well, It Was Dark and I Guess I Was Wrong
Chapter 8 5. Happy Valentine's Day, Dr. Smith
Chapter 9 6. My Dad Wants to Be a Barber
Chapter 10 7. What Do You Do Around Here Anyway?
Chapter 11 8. Maybe We Should Call It Gangster High
Chapter 12 9. There Is a Plumbing Problem in the Building
Chapter 13 10. Maybe This Will Give Us Something to Laugh at During Our Sleep Overs

Editorial Reviews

Smith describes what principals experience all the time…to the glimpses of hope that draw us to education — the chance to make a difference. …this is real stuff from the principal's diary.

Dr. Nick Pace

…An engaging and important book. His astute observations are of value for not only present/future school administrators, but maybe even more so, for educational policy makers…

Dr. John Smith

…A pragmatic study; informative and reflective. He provides a nice blend of his own experience as a leader with that of being a scholar of the discipline. Thus his study compliments theoretical reflection with actual leadership praxis. A must-read for future principals.

Dr. Steven White

Dr. Smith's book reminds me of the classic text by Harry F. Wolcott entitled The Man in the Principal's Office. Except this time it is the principal who does the talking.

Ellen Calderone

…[A] candid collection of snapshots of the real world of the school principal. Those who have 'been there and done that' will wear a smile of recognition as they read his journal of a school principal's life. Smith's journal is [a] vivid, nuts and bolts job description of the school principal.

Richard Heimer

…Insightful, candid, and chock-full of insight, humor, and time-honored wisdom. Principals, those who want to be principals, those who prepare principals, even teachers and parents will find something both humorous and telling within the books' pages. It's one of the truest accounts of the principalship I've had the pleasure to read in some time.

International Journal of Leadership In Education - Duncan Waite