Challenges in School Leadership

School leadership is tremendously complex. Local schools are maintained by the principal, assistant principal, secretary, and counselor. Ultimately, assistant principals wear more hats in a day than they confiscate hats from students. First, they support the principal in the administrative operation of a school.  Often, assistant principals are responsible for leading supervision and evaluation of professional and classified personnel, cultivating an environment that fosters collaboration and continuous improvement, managing school physical and personnel resources, conducting routine administrative duties as assigned by the principal, and communicating effectively with students and staff.  Currently, assistant principals lead the use of technology in the teaching process and professional development to improve technology integration.


Technology Integration


Building a Culture of Trust
Assistant principals often have to juggle a number of high priority tasks that require them to be organized in order to be successful.  From keeping track of the school calendar to evaluating teachers, they are the disciplinary arm of the administrative staff keeping the main goal of helping students achieve their greatest potential.  Students and teachers need to see that the assistant principals are involved in the school in order for them to have the type of authority that makes others want to listen to them.

https://www.nais.org/magazine/independent-school/spring-2015/the-role-of-the-assistant-principal-in-leadership/

Enhancing Instruction
But a review of all cases does not indicate that such differences existed. All schools had goals focused on a) improving their curriculum and instructional programs, b) identifying the most effective instructional practices, c) organizing teachers into collaborative work teams that used student data to plan instruction and interventions, d) providing a variety of extra help services to students struggling to learn to standards, e) engaging both administrators and teachers in instructional leadership, and f) creating a cohesive and collaborative culture in which school staff took responsibility for the results of their actions on student achievement.

Welcome to the New Year at Hatch.  I spent the first week motivating to my teachers to want to change how we teach and re-learning standards that students did not master on the Scantron Performance test in August.  The first week back for students was spent focusing on basic computation skills (adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing) that we felt they needed.  We had a math vertical team meeting Jan 2 to discuss areas we needed to focus at the beginning of the semester. The consensus agreed to teach basic skills for one week then reconvene Jan 15.  

I am not sure what we will find other than our students have not mastered computation

Ruptured Achilles tendon

I ruptured my Achilles tendon Feb 15, 2018 while making a sudden move to the right. It was embarrassing because I was not doing anything strenuous. It was during work where I was shooting a basketball with no one playing against me. I shot the ball several times with a student throwing it back to me.  Well, the last shot went in and that's when I got cocky by pivoting to shoot.  I thought someone kicked me making me look around.  Seeing no one there I proceeded to shoot the ball and that's when I felt the pain in my ankle. I went straight down almost hitting the floor but I wanted to save face. I hobbled off the court to sit on the bleacher to see what happened. It felt like electricity all over my body each time I stood to walk.  I could only walk a few steps at a time so it took me about 4 minutes to go the distance I walk in seconds. I had no idea what was going on much less an injury to my Achilles.  I managed to make it to my office to feel my ankle.  I did not feel my tendon, comparing it to my left foot.  I went to the nurse. She was freaked and said go to the emergency room immediately. However, I went to Urgent Care immediately because my ankle started to swell, scaring me like crazy.

They made an appointment with the orthopedic specialist  Montgomery that same day around 5:00 pm. It took an hour to be seen by the doctor who had seen this many times.  He assured me that I would be walking in no time. I was given the ankle boot to wear that weekend until my MRI that Wednesday, Feb 21. This was getting serious so I asked for a pair of crutches to make it easier to get around.

I went to work Monday and Tuesday like an idiot but spent more time sitting. My appointment was Wednesday at 3:00 pm where the doctor told me to stay home until surgery on Monday, Feb 26.  Well, I was on my way to recovery... or so I thought. Following the procedure to repair the ruptured tendon, my leg was placed in a splint with my foot pointed at a 45-degree angle for 2 weeks. 

Needless to say, I could not walk without difficulty making it impossible to go to work. I spent that time catching up on sleep for the 1st week. I spend the 2nd week trying to do work from home but accomplished very little. This was so boring. It felt as if I was not moving anywhere fast. Below is a picture of the staples to keep the incision closed.

I went back to the doctor Monday, Mar 12, to get the splint removed hoping to get put back in the boot but only to get another leg cast for another 2 weeks with my foot point at a 90-degree angle because he did not want to skip steps in healing. I was so depressed sitting in that chair. All I could think was I didn't do anything to snap the darn thing!!!!

Those 2 weeks were so loooong. I spent the 1st part in denial, wanting to go back to work. Even though I could walk significantly better, I followed the doctor's instructions to keep it elevated and not go to work. He was right because my ankle was in pain from blood pooling in my leg with the smallest amount of walking outside the house.  I had no choice but to keep my leg elevated while watching t.v. and surfing the web. I intended on getting some reading done but it was not happening.  My wife drove me to the store but I could not get out of the car. I kept it propped on the dashboard. This could only get better!!!

Monday, March 26, I finally had the cast removed where I can wear the boot.  I cannot do much walking because my calf muscle is so weak from those 4 weeks of no movement. 

My heel hurts from getting tired quickly; my calf is small and flimsy; the incision on the back of my heel hasn't closed completely; my skin is terribly dry, and I have a lot of dead skin.  Fortunately, I have a week from work because it is Spring Break.  I am still confined to the house but, at least, I can drive and interchange the boot with my shoe.  I will be like this for about 3-4 weeks. My follow-up is April 23.

This is the 5th week of the injury or the 4th week after surgery. Tuesday, I sat with my leg elevated, not wearing the boot a lot but not doing too much walking either.  It felt great to finally wash my leg.  It had so much dead skin but bathing it was a great mental boost. My foot is healing nicely but it is severely tender on the bottom. I take my meds as needed but they make me drowsy and cause nausea. I put first aid ointment to keep the scar from drying out. The incision has about 95% closure. I cover the scar with gauze to keep dust and dirt from infecting the area.

I can drive, Yayyyy!!!!  Wednesday I finally felt like doing some work. It was mentally uplifting to be able to feel independent. I went to my mom's house and sat for a while.  All I could think about was going home. So...I went home, took some meds, and went to sleep. That was some good medicine I took my car to the dealer Thursday and Friday to get it serviced since it was sitting. I had a chance to get minor things repaired since this was my last week from work.  I try not to do much walking without the boot. I walk around the house without the boot but I will begin to wear it and not take it for granted. I am experiencing sporadic pain throughout the day where the meds do not work.


This guy on Youtube got me through my rough patch during recovery [here] and [here].
Below are a few examples how easy it is to rupture the Achilles tendon.  The first one is very scary because this is something all men do to help others.

This woman is exercising but.....

Yayyy!!!!  I am finally back at work with my leg propped in a chair. I am so happy...

  

Below are a few pics of my foot April 2, 2018.  I need lotion but I will let it heal on its own.  I applied first aid ointment and gauze this morning.

I am pleased with the healing progress.

I am 6 weeks post surgery and my heel is tight. I still walk with the boot and happy to do so. I cannot take long strides while I walk like I am used to. Standing up is uncomfortable. My foot feels like it is asleep when standing around talking for about 3-4 minutes. I am careful not to overdo at work. NO SUDDEN MOVES. The wound has completely closed; no leakage.

  

This past week I took it easy since it was my 1st week away from the house. I wore crocks while driving, the boot while walking from my car to work, and sneakers while sitting.  My foot gets extremely tired while wearing the boot even while sitting so I changed the sneakers for the boot very often during the day. My job requires me to move frequently so I keep a pair of shoes available.

I did not take medicine this week while at work but I think I should have. After work, I experienced sharp pain shooting in my foot while driving but after a while, it stopped.

April 15, the re-occurring sharp pain has been happening somewhat more frequently than I would like. My foot even sweats at night making it difficult to sleep. I found information [click here] where others experienced the same discomfort. I find myself taking medicine more often. It is ironic that I have not taken much of the medicine before now. I thought I was in the clear but this pain is often excruciating at times.  My toes are so sensitive to the touch but the pain is episodic.

April 20, the pain continues to increase. I read a blog [here] stating that the nerve is regenerating but that does not ease the pain. I hate taking the meds because of nausea and drowsiness but the meds control the pain.

This is April 23 and I am in to see the doctor, Dr. Mattox. I told him about the shooting pain that I periodically feel but he sort of shrugged it off saying that it is uncommon for other patients.  

This is April 29 and I came across a few sites which indicate sural nerve damage due to scar tissue compressing on the nerve [here].  I feel pain at the tip of my toes where it hurts to wear socks that compress against them. I feel pain mostly in toes 1, 2 and 3.  Pain also is at the bottom of my foot toward the front.  This pain is crazy because it feels asymptomatic. Often sharp pain shoots straight through my foot but most of the times it is a constant, nagging pain at the bottom. Some of the blogs are informative [here].

I spoke with a salesperson yesterday who went the non-surgical approach when he ruptured his Achilles tendon last year Feb 2017.  He has completely healed and is walking normally. He advised me to start applying cold compresses for about 15 min/day which will reduce the swelling and pain.

It is May 16 and the healing is progressing along. I still feel intense sensitivity in the front of my foot but not much pain along the incision.  

Below are images of my foot at 12 weeks post surgery. I thought using cocoa butter would minimize the scar but it is still long. The scar has darkened but it is smooth. 

I can walk comfortably on my foot with a minor limp. It feels much better than 3 weeks ago. I massage the tendon area about 1-2 times per week which makes the area feel great. Now if I can do something about the over sensation in my toes and front part of my foot. This is a problem because it wakes me throughout the night. I have a doctor's appointment May 21 where I will reiterate the uncomfortness of my toes.