October and November bring many things: cooler weather, amber-colored leaves and sunsets at 5 p.m. At CHS9, these months also include projects, piles of grading and monotony in classroom structure, all contributing to teacher burnout.
However, Principal Dr. Greg Axelson took notice and proposed an idea to help mitigate the growing fatigue amongst staff and students.
“There’s a time in October where Thanksgiving seems far away but the beginning of the school year seems far behind,” Dr. Axelson said. “We principals want to try to think of things to do for the teachers to lift their spirits.”
At the beginning of October, Axelson proposed initiating classroom takeovers for one period to give teachers a break from instruction. He sent out a raffle for teachers to enter and picked two winners for October: Spanish II teacher Reyna Conger and biology teacher Ashley Joseph.
On Oct. 18, Dr. Axelson taught Conger’s class, giving her the opportunity to unwind and utilize the extra time to grade projects.
“Having that period of free time gave me time to catch up with grading,” Conger said. “I was grading some posters that students made for Hispanic Heritage Month, so it gave me time in a quiet space to grade a lot. I felt really lucky to be chosen.”
Getting back into the classroom gives Dr. Axelson a callback to his teaching experiences. Prior to moving into administration, Dr. Axelson was a history teacher in Desoto and Flower Mound for four years. Through channeling his experience in education, coupled with the teaching styles he observed as principal, Axelson eased into teaching again.
“I was able to try to use some of those old strategies that I used to teach,” Dr. Axelson said. “As a campus administrator, I have seen so many amazing teachers that I have learned so much from. I tried to use some of those best practices that I’ve seen our teachers use.”
Dr. Axelson also took this opportunity to connect with students. Seeing how they interact with each other first hand help him understand their personalities and how they learn best.
“I try to interact with students as much as I can in the hallway, cafeteria, band performances and extracurricular activities,” Dr. Axelson said. “This was a different kind of opportunity where it was just me and a class. It was a nice opportunity to get to interact with them on a one-on-one level that I don’t get very often.”
Students also welcomed seeing a new face at the front of the classroom, appreciating a different teaching style in a subject they are used to being taught the same way.
“Dr. Axelson took the approach that we are learning Spanish for the first time, unlike Mrs. Conger who grew up knowing Spanish,” Spanish II student Varshini Avula said. “Spanish wasn’t Axelson’s native language so he was able to help us learn it the way he learned it.”
Dr. Axelson plans to teach more classes in the future, eager to connect more with students and continue to give more teachers a temporary reprieve.
“It’s always good for principals to remember the real work of the school is happening in the classrooms,” Dr. Axelson said. “That’s where the magic happens. It was a really good reminder to me of how hard the teachers are working and how well the students are doing.”
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