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I agree with 1administrator. Most people do get their admin
certification while teaching and the courses are set up with
that expectation. Yes, it means that sometimes you'll have to
miss a day teaching to shadow a principal or attend a meeting
or work on a project for your admin certification. Yes, it
means sometimes you'll be spending evenings or weekends on
admin coursework and you might have otherwise spent some of
that time preparing lessons for your students. Yes, in that
sense it means you can't give 100%. But you can still give 99%
and you'll still be a good teacher.
Taking the time off may appear as though you weren't willing to
put in evenings, weekends working on admin courses after
school. As an administrator you'll most likely have
responsibilities that require you to work after hours. Your
message here doesn't make it appear that this is the issue for
you, but to potential employers the 'gap' in teaching may give
that impression.
Lastly, one of the important skills to develop as an
administrator is the ability to prioritize. Teaching while
working on your admin cert will provide lots of opportunities
to refine that skill! And by saying that I do not mean the
admin coursework necessarily comes first. You may find that
sometimes you put your students ahead of your admin coursework
and miss an admin class, turn in an assignment late, or
whatever. Just be aware of how each decision affects the
overall outcome (your certification) and make your decisions
accordingly - don't be a day late on that assignment that isn't
accepted late, unless you're willing to accept the resulting
grade - but sometimes you might be.
I totally understand about wanting to give 110%. But be aware
that as an admin you're going to face the same situation
routinely - not enough hours in the day and there will always
be situations and projects you wish you could devote 110% of
your time to, and other things that have to divert your
attention from them. It's part of being an administrator and
why prioritizing is so important. So what you're feeling now,
is unfortunately something to get used to. Decide how
comfortable you are with that and go from there. Good luck!

On 11/13/14, 1administrator wrote:
> Most future administrators I know teach and get their
> Masters/Principal certification at the same time by going
> nights and online. My concern would be this: Why could this
> person not do as most others do? If you cannot handle the
> stress/pressure of teaching and going to school, I would
> question your ability to be a building principal. I'm not
> trying to be negative but I think these are some of the
> things that would be raised when you have to show a gap in
> your teaching experience. I finished my BS and never missed a
> semester. I taught as a new teacher and MA student at the
> same time. Sure it's tough but to be an administrator, you
> better be tough. Good luck!
>
>
> On 11/12/14, Perspective P wrote:
>> I really want to be an administrator. However, I know I
> will not be
>> able to give 100% to graduate school and 100% teaching. I'm
> the
>> type that always gives 110%, so it worries me to have to do
> both
>> teaching and school at the same time. Plus, even taking 1
> class a
>> semester with 2 to 3 in the summer will take me some time.
> I am
>> seriously considering taking some time off to go back to
> school. I
>> just don't know if that's a smart career move.
>>
>> I know many places have you do a practicum and I know
> people
>> usually do that at the school they work. Would they help me
> find a
>> school for practicum? I also know that some coursework even
>> before practicum may involve school involvement. Do you
> think I
>> could make this work? My dad is a superintendent, and I
> have
>> worked with many of the administrators in my district, so I
> know
>> between his connections and mine, I would have access to
> schools.
>>
>> Do you think it would be harder, easier, or about the same
> to get a
>> job after finishing graduate school, if I took a year off?
> If I could get
>> an administrative position, would schools be hesitant to
> hire me as
>> a teacher since they'd most likely know that I'm looking
> for
>> administrative positions?
>>
>> Financially, I think I can do this with all I have savings.
> It will be
>> tight, but I can do it. I'm just wondering if it is a smart
> career move?

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