I have heard some teachers giving other teachers advice about how to perform when the boss walks in your classroom. If by boss, you mean principal, I guarantee she can tell it is a performance. Everything you do in the building, every interaction with children and colleagues, every task you volunteer for, and every problem you solve, every complaint you voice, speaks on your behalf. If you are speaking harshly to children in the hallway, someone notices. If you slam doors and raise your voice to control children, someone notices. I will be honest. I never felt like I worked for the principal. I always embraced the idea that I worked for the children. Therefore, my bosses were actually in my classroom all day, every day. I was always glad for the occasions that the principal visited my classroom and observed how hard I was working, but she was never the reason I got up and came to school. If I quit my job, she would have me replaced the same afternoon, but the students would be the ones who noticed I was gone. 

One of the most valuable tools in my toolbox was a student interest inventory. It was a list of questions that every student answered that gave me great insight into how they feel and think. The questions started out fairly benign like _____ is the best color because…..and my favorite flavor of ice cream is _____ Sandwiched in between the simple questions were the questions that really revealed how the child viewed himself, things that worried him and what he perceived his parents thought of his academic capacity, how he handled frustration and what friends he trusted. When I collected the papers, I read them but as a class we never discussed the answers. That information was privileged and gave me insight on how to handle a particular child when he experienced frustration or had problems navigating relationships with other students.