I'm back and there are a few changes around here.....

I am back after a month's hiatus. Not really a hiatus, but up to my eyeballs in new changes.
I should say dozens of changes, but most of the changes are attributed to my 2 youngest, several times a day, though the older is going through the tell-tale signs of pre-potty training.... like finding a secluded place to "do his business". He's doomed. We know he knows when! Now comes the fun transition from diaper to diaperless.

The first major change is that I've left the principalship for a season to work in the classroom. The time necessary to be a good principal and a good husband and father of 5 kids 8 years old and younger doesn't exist. At least not for me. Something was going to have to give, and it wasn't going to be my family. So my workdays are a little shorter, and certainly less intense, and it has been a real blessing to me and my family.

So do I change the name of the blog? I've thought a while about it and haven't decided. For now I'll just leave it, but mention my current status as an honest disclosure. I haven't forgotten my experiences. Maybe I'll be like the Colonel for KFC and just wear the title because I've been there and done that.

So do I decide to join my local, state and National Education Association? NO WAY!!!

I saw Stossel's follow-up piece on 20/20 Friday night and I really think that he went light on the unions. Yes, there are great teachers in the profession, but if you want to see bully-like behavior, go to an educator's association convention. The unions bring shame to the profession. I won't have anything to do with them anymore, except to expose the hypocrisy. I'll comment more on the 20/20 piece later.

The other change is in regard to my desire to change professions and get a good Bible/theological education and pursue the pastorate. I am accepted to Reformed (in Jackson MS) and Westminster (Philadelphia) Theological Seminaries. Hence my roadtrip this summer with my son to Mississippi. I hope to visit Philadelphia later this year. This was another factor in leaving the principalship. It is difficult to find a good leader mid-year, so I put in adequate notice and we have a good principal in place now. As a regular classroom teacher now, I am relatively easy to replace with a competent credentialed instructor.

It has been hard going back to the classroom though, (we just finished our first week of school) but it has been professionally enlightening. I encourage all administrators to pop into the classroom for a few weeks every now and then. It really is eye opening, especially if you haven't been at it full time for nearly a decade or more, like me.

Finally, I haven't paid too much attention to the blog for the last month so some comments went unnoticed until today. I replied to several of them so you might want to go back through the last series on bullies and have a look.