Today’s tip: Let People Know What You Do.
Letting people see what you do each day gives them a window on your purpose. Many SAM teams elect to share TimeTrack with their school community. These same teams remark on how surprised teachers and other staff members are about the complexity and amount of work a school leader does each day.
Ways this is done:
Go to the single day view and print the leader’s TimeTrack. Post on the office counter, staff room or office entry. People can quickly see that the leader has a lesson plan. They can also see “open times” that they could drop in or schedule to see the principal.
Go to the week view and print the leader’s TimeTrack. Post in the staff room the same day teacher lesson plans are due. This gives a larger view of the leader’s work and makes the point that the principal plans his/her work, too.
On the today view, click the clock icon. This will display the leader’s open times for the week. You can add next week, too, by clicking the box in the lower left. You can print this view by clicking the printer icon, bottom left. Post this list each day on the office counter, staff room door or another place visible for staff, parents and guardians. Let people know that they can request time with the leader using the printed list.
At a staff meeting show you TimeTrack for the last week. Explain how the SAM teams schedules the principal by selecting a category, descriptor and people. Then, show the dashboard and the running record of the principal’s time. Ask a question, like: “This is how I am spending my time by instructional descriptor. “When you look at the descriptors, where would you like me to spend more time?”
At the PLC meeting share the time you spent with the group last year. Ask if there are things you could do in the PLC, or during the four kinds of observation, that would help move their work forward.
Meet with your First Responders and office staff. Show them your increase in instructional time. Explain that you are able to spend more time working to improve teaching and learning because of their work. You want every support staff member to know that they make a difference in student success. As NSIP Director Mark Shellinger says: “The first rule of school leadership is to make others feel important.”
Consider giving a group of teacher leaders and support staff read only access to your TimeTrack. They will be able to see your plan each day from their computer or phone.
Consider giving your supervisor read only access, too.
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