SamTastic Weekly Tip: 9/18/23 - Meet the Need. Don’t Take a Message.

This week’s tip: Meet the need. Don’t take a message.

SAMs know that office staff can help the principal have a greater impact on teaching practice, stay on task and go home at a reasonable time ~ if they avoid saying, “Can I take a message?”

Instead, great office staff members use the Communications Protocol and First Responder system. When a caller, visitor, staff member or student says: “Is the principal available?”, they repond by stating when the principal is available by clicking Auto Select on TimeTrack.

“I can get you in to see the principal at 10:00 AM…but she would not want you to wait. The First Responder for your concern is Eve Stevens. Can I have Eve help you and save the time with the principal in case you still need her?”

It is easier, perhaps, to say: “The principal is not available. Can I take a message?” The problem is this delays dealing with the concern, makes the caller, or person at the front counter, feel unimportant, and leaves the principal with a stack of call-back slips that delays the leader departure at the end of the day.

Research shows SAM schools run far smoother than schools that haven’t started the Process. Research also shows SAMs who train the office staff to use the Communications Protocol and First Responder systems have the very best schools, happiest parents, staff and students.

You will find tools for training office staff here: https://www.samprocess.com/written-tools-for-sam-teams

Your Time Change Coach can help you train your office staff. Just ask!

Two reminders:

1. The National SAM Innovation Project is adding a second SAM process practitioner to the board of directors. The Board added a seat for a current SAM principal several years ago. The new seat will be for a current SAM. This is your invitation to apply. The application form may be downloaded here: https://bit.ly/44Fci5f Please complete, print, obtain the required signatures, scan and then submit. The application Deadline is September 29, 2023. Submit applications directly to: NSIP Board President Bert Hendee bhendee2016@gmail.com

2. We have secured additional rooms for the 17th Annual National SAM Conference.

To register: https://bit.ly/3cO5q0z

In-person training for new SAM Teams this week: Monday: Atlanta, Georgia; Tuesday, Bibb County, Georgia

Executive Summary: SAM team Success: https://bit.ly/3rIWkZT

SamTastic Weekly Tip: 9/11/23 - Consider Gratitude

This week’s tip: Consider Gratitude

With school in full swing in most every district, now is a good time to focus on what, and who, you appreciate.

Leaders who show gratitude, the quality of being thankful and a readiness to show appreciation and return kindness, have a super power. Showing gratitude significantly impacts a leader’s ability to improve teaching and learning.

Staff members are thirsty for authentic recognition and appreciation and are far more likely to engage in improved practice when effort is noticed. US Department of Labor statistics show the number one reason a person leave a job is lack of recognition and appreciation.

Many SAM teams regularly show appreciation and do so in a systematic manner. They don’t just say thanks. They connect their appreciation for how the work effects the mission. They tell a First Responder that their effort makes it possible for the principal to spend more time supporting students and teachers. They tell a teacher who has improved that it has a positive impact on students.

Many SAMs create a gratitude culture by asking the leader what they liked during a “seeing instruction” event. Getting the leader to notice what they like is a powerful step toward gratitude.

All of us at NSIP appreciate the work you do each day. No one does work as important, and as challenging, as SAM teams. Your school community, and our country, benefit from the work you do each day. We appreciate, respect and value you.

In-person training for new SAM Teams this week: Monday: Atlanta, Georgia; Tuesday, Bibb County, Georgia

Executive Summary: SAM team Success: https://bit.ly/3rIWkZT

SamTastic Weekly Tip: 9/6/23 - Consider if the Risk is Worth Taking.

Last week’s tip was on Principal Agency, when a leader acts with intentionality and believes they have the power, rationality, or responsibility, to do so.

NSIP founder and Executive Director Mark Shellinger shared this experience as a first year principal:

I remember a district maintenance director coming to my school with a contractor at 9:30 AM wanting to do routine work on the fire alarm system. I said no. They were not going to interrupt the teaching of 800 students unless there was a safety concern. I told them they could come back at 4:00 PM, after dismissal, or do the work on a weekend. The district director told me the contractor’s time was valuable and I had to do what he said. I asked him how the cost of his time compared to what we were spending per hour teaching students in my school. He told me the superintendent wanted this done, now. I told him I would need a directive from my supervisor, or the superintendent, that the contractor’s time was to be valued more than the teaching and learning of 800 students. What happened? The contractor came back at 4:00 PM. I never heard from anyone at the district office until months later when the superintendent told the story in a principal’s meeting in a complimentary way.

Agency requires a certain amount of risk taking. Mark’s decision to take a risk turned out well. It could have turned out differently. What would you do?

A principal who started the SAM process last year interrupted instruction in her school via the public address system when a parent reported a car had its lights on in the parking lot. When asked why, she explained that she had been told to satisfy parent requests. When asked if she had considered that the PA announcement would interrupt instruction, she replied, “I would not want to get in trouble by saying no.”

What would you do?

NSIP Director Mark Shellinger is writing an article on Principal Agency. If you would like a copy of the draft, and are willing to give feedback and share your own experiences, please click here to download: Agency - https://bit.ly/45C7kr4

Registration is open for the 17thAnnual National SAM Conference:

https://bit.ly/3cO5q0z

Executive Summary: SAM team Success: https://bit.ly/3rIWkZT