SamTastic Weekly Tip: 1/8/24 - Use your 366th day.

This week’s tip:  Use your 366th day.

I hope your New Year is off to a great start!

2024 gives us the gift of an extra day.  This year we have 366 days instead of 365.  What will you do with your extra day?

We always say we want more time.  This year, your wish is granted.

We’ve included, below, a list of dates/holidays you might want to add to your TimeTrack.  Many TimeTrack users do this every January by entering all the dates in their public notes section.

So, what will you do with your extra day?  Are there things you can do now to make all your days better?  Here’s three ideas:

1. Continue scheduling each day in the GREEN.  It is all about intentionality.  You’ve done a great job the first half of the school year.  Keep it in the GREEN.

2. Enjoy your SAM Daily Meeting

3. Slow Down.  Research shows many leaders speak too fast when working with staff, students and parents. To fix this:

• Instead of responding with a statement, ask three questions first.

• Pause. Silence is powerful. Count silently to five before responding.

• Can you tell me more? This simple question invites people to share and gives you time to really understand their issue.

• Assume a good intent…even when you have to suspend your disbelief.

2024 Dates to add on your TimeTrack

1. Monday, Jan. 1: New Year's Day

2. Monday, Jan. 15: Martin Luther King Jr. Day

3. Wednesday, Feb. 14: Valentine's Day

4. Monday: Feb. 19: Presidents' Day

5. Thursday, Feb. 29: Leap day (Videos released, 17th Annual National SAM Conference)

6. Sunday, March 17: St. Patrick's Day

7. Sunday, March 31: Easter Sunday

8. Monday, April 1: SAM Team Rubric Assessments Begin

9. Monday, April 15: Tax Day

10. Sunday, May 5: Cinco de Mayo

11. Sunday, May 12: Mother's Day

12. Friday, May 17:  SAM Team Rubric Assessments Due

13. Monday, May 27: Memorial Day

14. Friday, June 14: Flag Day

15. Sunday, June 16: Father's Day

16. Wednesday, June 19: Juneteenth

17. Thursday: July 4: Independence Day

18. Monday, Sept. 2: Labor Day, Registration opens, 18th Annual National SAM Conference

19. Monday, Oct. 14: Columbus Day

20. Thursday, Oct. 31: Halloween

21. Tuesday, Nov. 5: Election Day

22. Monday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day

23. Thursday, Nov. 28: Thanksgiving Day

24. Tuesday, Dec. 24: Christmas Eve

25. Wednesday, Dec. 25: Christmas Day

26. Tuesday, Dec. 31: New Year's Eve

SamTastic Weekly Tip: 12/18/23 - Get Ready for the Holiday Break

This week’s tip:  Get Ready for the Holiday Break

Christmas/Winter Break has started for some SAM teams and will begin for everyone else soon. Now is a great time to be sure your TimeTrack is counting correctly.

Correctly? Yes. TimeTrack will only accurately count and calculate your instructional time if it knows the days you are working. At the top of each day you’ll see the Contact Checkmark. If the checkmark is present, TimeTrack counts the day. You can click the checkmark to let TimeTrack know that you are not working and the day will not be counted. This will make your data more accurate.

You can do this day by day. Go to the settings menu to do it by the month: TimeTrack logo ~ Settings ~ Contact Day Set-up.

This is also a good time to check that you are scheduled in the GREEN, at/above goal, for your first day back in January.

While you’re at it, take a look at your FOCUS staff, the people you want to spend more time with this year. Start by looking at the time you’ve spent with each person so far this year and determine if you’ve made progress. Then decide if you want to make changes in who you will spend more time with for the rest of the school year.

Do you want to change your FOCUS staff?  Click TimeTrack logo ~ Settings ~ Individual/Group Set-up: Click the Focus square for each person you elect to spend more time with for the remainder of the year. Go to your dashboard and click the Focus link on the Instructional Top 5 chart, upper right, to see time spent with each of your Focus staff members.

Click any graph bar to see the breakout of time spend with any Focus staff member:

Enjoy your Christmas/holiday and New Year. You’ve worked hard for your school, staff, students, parents and community. Now its time to take care of you.

Are you attending the annual National SAM Conference?  Be sure to send your travel information to Travel@SamsConnect.com  Also, please complete the online breakout session preference selection.

Music Video: I Am a SAM  https://bit.ly/48OCjCm

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

SamTastic Weekly Tip: 12/11/23 - Consider the 4t Non-negotiables

This week’s tip:  Consider the 4 Non-negotiables

Congratulations!  Christmas vacation/winter break is approaching and signals the completion of the first part of your school year.  Your TimeTrack shows your record during the first semester of intentional time spent supporting teacher improvement and student learning.  Impressive.

You use the SAM process to be your better self.  Your SAM and Time Change Coach don’t make the decisions about what you should do each day.  You do.  They are committed, however, to help you achieve the four SAM Process commitments:

The focus tends to be on the first three, scheduling, SAM Daily Meeting and using data.  The process depends, though, on the 4th commitment: working with your Specialist and Time Change Coach.

This is true for both the TimeTrack owner and the SAM.  Time spent with your Coach is key to your success.  Your coach works to develop the reflective practice necessary to make the first three commitments lead to success:  improved teacher practice and student performance.

Time Change Coaches don’t tell you what to do.  Instead, they model reflective questioning, how to use data and encourage fidelity to the first three commitments:  scheduling at/above goal, having effective SAM Daily Meetings and using your data to determine next steps. Coaches, like great SAMs, work to both cheerlead and irritate…they are committed to making the TimeTrack owner more successful.

Your Time Change coach reviews your TimeTrack weekly and gives you feedback. How do you communicate with your Time Change Coach?  Do you respond to the weekly email/text/phone call or notes your Time Change Coach sends?  Some TimeTrack owners ask their Coach to use the public note box at the bottom of each TimeTrack day.  Others prefer to use text messaging.  Still others use email or phone calls.  SAMs can elect how they would like to connect with their Time Change Coaches, too.  It does not have to be the same way as the TimeTrack owner, but can.  Like any communication, two-way is best.  Let your Coach know what works best for you.

Your Time Change Coach joins you monthly online for a SAM Daily Meeting.  Be sure to let your Coach know if you must change the time—your Coach depends on having this 30 minutes with you each month.

Did you know you can schedule extra time with your Coach?  You can schedule one-on-one meetings or as a team.  You can schedule more time with your coach for additional training or help in training others in your school as First Responders, use of the SAM Communications Protocol and use of data.

Are you attending the annual National SAM Conference?  Be sure to send your travel information to Travel@SamsConnect.com  Also, please complete the online breakout session preference selection.

Music Video: I Am a SAM  https://bit.ly/48OCjCm

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