This week’s tip: Take the First Step
Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Being a school leader requires faith. Improving a teacher’s work requires that you recognizing good performance and then build on success. This allows the leader to model and build the kind of learning culture we all desire.
Some leaders worry that saying something positive about a teacher’s work communicates that there are no areas in need of improvement. This won’t happen if the observations, and subsequent conversations, are frequent.
Try this in your SAM Daily Meeting today. Talk about a teacher who is struggling. Start with the graph from the dashboard showing the leader’s time with the teacher so far this year.
Ask: “What are two things this teacher is doing well?
Then, schedule a Feedback Celebration meeting with the teacher.
If the leader can’t identify anything the teacher is doing well....schedule a 15 observation and ask the leader to intentionally look for good practice. Making sure good performance is recognized, and used as a lever for further improvement, is a key feature of your TimeTrack.
Recognizing good practice takes practice. Keep the faith.
You can use your TimeTrack to make sure this happens.