Summer is often devoted to staffing. It is one of the most rewarding parts of an administrator's work. It is also one of the most difficult. I am not interested in hiring warm bodies - I want to hire rock stars. I want to hire teachers who LOVE learning, teaching, the business of school. Mostly - I want to hire teachers that "get" kids, genuinely like them and who are willing to meet them where they are at the moment they enter the classroom. Then, lift them up. All kids. Not too much to ask, right?
Interviews are always structured. Formal. Questions most often address content, pedagogy, preparation, background. Most candidates are able to answer the questions with fluency. Most candidates are able to interject tidbits about themselves into the questions asked so that interview panels are able to score, rank, assess. Today's graduates from teacher prep programs at our colleges and universities are far more poised than I was at age 21, that's for sure. Many have impressive resumes with a wide variety of experiences that defy their age and newness to the teaching profession. When I first started interviewing for teaching positions, I didn't even own a suit - still plagued by a college wardrobe. Somehow, someway, a principal saw something/enough in me to give me a chance back in 1978 ~ they must have thought I had that something to offer. I hope I lived up to their expectations.
So, now, as the principal responsible for inserting great teachers into the lives of our students, the tipping point is the "IT" factor. This is not something that can be scored or charted. It is not something that can be answered in a question. It is something that just IS.
The "IT" factor is the feeling, the "vibe", that the candidate generates. It is the energy, enthusiasm, confidence, optimism, and inherent work ethic that are fundamental parts of the candidates' being. Some are things they have learned or qualities they have striven to develop, but mostly IT is just who they are at the end of the day, every day, when no one is looking.
For me, the "IT" factor is a hybrid of characteristics from all of the amazing teachers I had in my own educational journey, as well as from the outstanding teachers with whom I taught shoulder to shoulder for over twenty years. I have known so many unbelievable teachers over my career. I like to think that I have hired a few too.
IT is a teacher who is deep in their own content, so deep that they are able to extend knowledge well beyond the pages of a textbook. IT is a teacher who makes learning relevant, important, meaningful - who finds a way to ignite excitement and passion to students who think and learn in sound bites and who are used to being entertained. IT is a teacher who truly believes that learning IS fun and designs their classroom to enhance positive interactions. IT is a teacher who conducts themselves with a moral sense of purpose and who sees the big picture - that the net effect of their work is building capacity for our students to change the world.
Sometimes I find IT. Sometimes I don't. IT matters though and I try to never settle until I find IT. I want OHS to become a symphony of rock star teachers. Our kids deserve IT. And I think we have hired some fantastic teachers who are smart, hard-working, fun, and student centered. I think they can change the world one student at a time... I think they have IT....
I can't wait for the school year to start!
