SamTastic Weekly Tip: 8/25/25 -

This week’s tip:

Check your US mail, this week and next, for a surprise, or two.

• Each TimeTrack owner and SAM will receive two newly revised SAM Flip Books, one about the SAM Daily Meeting and the other about First Responders. 

• Each TimeTrack owner and SAM will receive an invitation to attend the 19^th Annual National SAM Conference.  Registration opens Labor Day.  You will also receive an email a few days prior with the online registration link.  Use this link to see what the annual National SAM Conference is like:  https://bit.ly/4cxGEw7

Featured Conference Keynote Speakers, 19^th Annual Nation SAM Conference

• Will Parker, Principals Matter: Living your Best Life as an Educator

• Will Bowen, You Can’t Complain Your Way to Success

• Tracie Swilley, Principals set the Vibe and Energy Every Day

• John Antonetti, Personal Response: What Engages Today’s Learners

• William Martinez, Signing the Song: The Power of Belonging

Featured Pre-Conference All Day Workshops:

• Jim Masters, Beyond Why and What – Getting to How School Leaders Make a Difference

• Ken Williams, Doing the Right Thing 

• Willow Sweeney, Top 20 Moves for Building Effective Staff and Student Relationships

• Executive Speaking Coaching Seminar, New York Speech Coaching

Finally, enjoy the comments about your work from NSIP Board member Emeritus, Carol Lensing, below.  Nice!

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Hello.

My name is Carol Lensing.

I am an NSIP Board member, emeritus, and a former Iowa superintendent.

In such challenging times in education, and in particular financial times, it is truly inspirational to see the ongoing efforts of our SAM teams across the country as they continue to stay focused on what is most important- administrative instructional support for our teachers and an unwavering focus on student learning and growth.  The rubric assessment is ongoing evidence of your day-to-day efforts and is to be noted and applauded.  

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To access the 2025 SAM Team Performance Report:   http://bit.ly/44MbQ8t

To access the Executive Summary, 2025 SAM Team Performance Assessment:  https://bit.ly/4fh2V2k 

Registration for the 19^th Annual National SAM Conference opens Labor Day.  Go to www.SamProcess.com to register or use the direct link you will receive the day before.

SamTastic Weekly Tip: 8/18/25 - Make Your School Learning Culture Better, One Step at a Time.

This week’s tip: Make Your School Learning Culture Better, One Step at a Time.

School culture.  It exists with, or without you.  Leaders improve school culture by thoughtfully scheduling work that teachers and students appreciate.

Where to start? 

A Missouri SAM principal meets with her six new teachers in a group setting once a week.  Using non-directive feedback, she leads a discussion.  She lets the teachers raise topics/questions as she encourages the group to freely discuss.  She is careful not to make negative or directive comments.  She shares sparingly and communicates support.  Her intent is to demonstrate that creativity, openness to new ideas, and focus on the mission to meet each student’s needs are what she wants to see from each teacher.

A Georgia SAM principal  is using TimeTrack’s Connected Events automated scheduling to do coaching rounds with his three lowest performing teachers, based on last year’s evaluations.  He does two seeing instruction events with each teacher and one feedback session, weekly.  He has committed to this regular support for the next six weeks.  He gets it.  Teachers seldom improve with formal evaluations.  Teachers frequently improve with formative coaching rounds in a safe environment.  Video, how to use Connected Events: https://bit.ly/47xAWtt

An Illinois SAM principal, as she greets students as they arrive in the morning, picks one to be her “classmate” for the first hour of school.  She goes with the student to the classroom, places a chair next to the student’s desk, and does everything the student does for the next hour.  She reports kids love having the principal be a classmate.  The principal reports she enjoys the time and gets to see teaching from the student’s point of view.  She then schedules a feedback session with the teacher focusing on what she liked about the teacher’s work. 

Look at your TimeTrack for today.  Did you post it for staff to see that you have your own lesson plan for management and instructional work?  Would this help build the school culture you envision? Have you scheduled one event, or more, that you believe will lead to an improved teaching and learning climate?

Your work is complex.  It can also be amazingly rewarding and lead to better teaching and learning.  Like the longest journey, it begins with one step.

Finally, enjoy the comments about your work from NSIP Board Treasurer, Nathan Roberts, below.  Nice!

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My name is Nathan Roberts, and I am a Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.  I also serve as a member and Treasurer for the NSIP Board.

During the NSIP Board’s summer meeting, we had the pleasure of reviewing the annual data from the Rubric Assessment.  I was fascinated by how well the time spent by school leaders was tied to enhanced teacher and student performance.  The increase in time spent on curriculum leadership activities was also remarkable and exactly what superintendents and school boards are requesting of their school leaders. 

The transition of time utilization from beginner SAM teams to seasoned teams was impressive and a model for others to follow.  As a Board, we could not stop talking about your amazing work. I was so inspired by your efforts that I shared the overall success and data with all the school districts within the university region and a few beyond.

It is an honor to serve on the Board and witness your extraordinary work on behalf of teachers and students. 

I want to wish each of you a fabulous school year and I look forward to your continued success.

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To access the 2025 SAM Team Performance Report:   http://bit.ly/44MbQ8t

To access the Executive Summary, 2025 SAM Team Performance Assessment:  https://bit.ly/4fh2V2k 

Registration for the 19^th Annual National SAM Conference opens Labor Day.  Go to www.SamProcess.com to register or use the direct link you will receive the day before.

SamTastic Weekly Tip: 8/11/25 - Automated Scheduling with Connected Events

This week’s tip: Automated Scheduling with Connected Events

Dear Mark,

Thanks for your SamTastic Weekly Tip suggestion.  I went ahead and scheduled all four parts of the formal evaluation system for the 52 teachers in our school.  It took me three hours.  Can’t you get TimeTrack to make this easier?

Thanks,

A frustrated SAM

That message from a New York City SAM led to the creation of Connected Events, an automated scheduling system in TimeTrack.   It is an amazingly easy way to get the events on your TimeTrack within a date range you set and the sequence you want…and none of the events will conflict with what you’ve already scheduled.  Best of all: it takes seconds, not hours.

There are two scheduling sequences for Connected Events:

1. Formal Evaluation: Four events in sequence:   Pre-conference, Observation, Office Work to Prepare the forms, Post-Conference.

2. Coaching Rounds: One of more seeing instruction events followed by a feedback session.

Take-a-look at this video showing how to use Connected Events.  It will save you a significant amount of time.  It also removes the worry about meeting the district’s deadline for completion of formal evaluations of teachers and other staff members.  Once you try it, I bet you will begin using it to schedule coaching rounds. 

Finally, enjoy the comments about your work from NSIP Board member Jennifer Stapleton, below.  Nice!

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My name is Jennifer Stapleton. I am a NSIP Board Member and a SAM in Springfield, Illinois.

Time.  Principals and teachers both say they need more time.  The board spent part of the day talking about just that.  The SAMS project can help improve principal and teacher practice by helping them to better use the time they have.  With the amount of turnover and burnout, this process also helps with retention.  

This is a huge benefit to school districts.  The rubric shows that SAMS principals are in class 2 times more than non-SAMS.  It also shows that SAMS Principals give 3 times more feedback.  Both of these data points show that SAM principals provide improved and more effective teacher support, which is ultimately needed to increase student performance.  The data points that the rubric is able to provide are eye-opening and encouraging.  This process works!

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To access the 2025 SAM Team Performance Report:   http://bit.ly/44MbQ8t

To access the Executive Summary, 2025 SAM Team Performance Assessment:  https://bit.ly/4fh2V2k 

Registration for the 19^th Annual National SAM Conference opens Labor Day.  Go to www,SamProcess.com to register or use the direct link you will receive the day before.