What to Expect on the Journey from the Classroom to the Office
Five words changed everything: "You should go into admin." Three hours later, a career trajectory was permanently altered. This is the book that shows you exactly what's waiting on the other side — and why the adventure is absolutely worth it.
What Nobody Tells You
The job posting leaves out the best parts. This book doesn't.
Forget the desk. You're running a live show from the minute you clip on your radio. Car line, hallway walkthroughs, lunch duty, radio calls — and no one day is the same as another.
On your first fire drill, the principal hands you the alarm key and says "you wanna pull the fire alarm?" Yes. Yes you do. Administration has perks nobody puts in the brochure.
A kid brings a crocodile to school in a gym bag. Another builds a homemade stun gun and claims it's a science project. Nobody warns you that administration is this entertaining.
The salary increase is real, it's earned, and you should enjoy every bit of it, guilt free. This book tells you exactly how to check the numbers and make sure the move makes sense.
"Within three hours of that conversation, my entire career trajectory had changed forever. I applied to the master's program Thursday night. I was accepted Friday. Monday I started classes."— From Becoming Admin
About the Book
This isn't a leadership theory textbook. It's the honest, funny, practical account of what actually happens when you trade your classroom for a radio and a set of keys to every door in the building.
Dr. Granger sold his truck, bought a Prius, drove an hour each way to one of the toughest schools in the district, and processed 1,800 discipline referrals in his first year — and he wouldn't change a thing. This book gives you the full picture: the wild stories, the hard-won lessons, the vocabulary guide, the survival kit, and the 90-day roadmap so you hit the ground running.
Who It's For
Something is stirring. Maybe someone just said "you should go into admin." Maybe you're doing the math in your head right now. This book shows you exactly what the path looks like before you commit to walking it.
You're in the chair. The radio is clipped to your belt. Everything is moving fast and nobody handed you a manual. This book is that manual — practical, honest, and full of the stories nobody else tells.
Want to prepare the next generation of administrators well? This is the book to put in their hands before their first day — so they show up ready for the adventure instead of blindsided by it.
Inside the Book
A Taste of What's Inside
Short, honest, and packed with the kind of insight you only get from someone who's actually lived it.
Day one. No roster. No orientation packet. The circus is already running at full speed and it's been going since before you arrived. Here's how to love it immediately.
The kids who end up in your office are often the funniest people in the building. A first grader who just wants to read her book. A gym bag that moves on its own. You cannot make this stuff up.
You'll know you've arrived when you tell your spouse you need to "circle back on the grocery list and get buy-in from the kids on vacation." They will give you a look. It's worth it.
The final chapter is the one that makes it all click. Gratitude, momentum, and the career that's waiting for you on the other side of the first hard year. The adventure is absolutely worth it.
"Some of the most fun I have ever had in my career has been in my years as an administrator. The gallows humor, the shared crises, the running jokes on the radio — you do not get that in the classroom."— From Becoming Admin
