SamTastic Weekly Tip: 8/3/20 - Be a good boss

This week’s tip: Be a good boss.

Are you a good boss? In schools we don’t usually think of the principal or principal supervisor as the “boss”. As a noun, a boss is a person in charge of a worker or organization. As a verb, “boss” means to give (someone) orders in a domineering manner. As an adjective, a person who is “boss” is impressive.

Most SAM school leaders meet the definition of a boss when the word is used as noun and try hard not be “boss” as a verb. If they are successful, they get to put the word, boss, in front of their name as an adjective: “I have a boss SAM principal.”

The pandemic gives you a chance to redefine how people see you as their boss. Inc. magazine shared 21 specific things a great boss does every day. Can you find two that you’d like to emphasize in your daily work?

1. You listen without distractions. Employees will be motivated when you listen attentively and ask thoughtful questions.

2. You genuinely care about and believe in your people — which in turn, will create a loyal team that is willing to do their very best for you.

3. You make time to personally connect with your employees. One-on-one meetings can dramatically change relationships for the better.

4. You empower others by involving them in decisions whenever possible.

5. You trust people to make the right decision, boosting confidence and mutual respect.

6. You show appreciation. Even a simple “thank you.” Praise equals validation.

7. You create opportunities for employees to advance and develop new skills.

8. You regularly ask for feedback.

9. You replace blame with responsibility.

10. You are empathetic and strive to maintain the self-esteem of others.

11. You understand that by our human nature, people want to be part of something great and aspire to make work rewarding, and meaningful.

12. You communicate often and schedule opportunities for your team to connect.

13. You are emotionally resilient and know how to handle high-stakes conversations.

14. You are open-minded and not quick to judge. You come to understand a situation or behavior by asking questions.

15. You show genuine concern for your employees — the whole person, including their life outside of work.

16. You are authentic and honest. When you are not at liberty to reveal something, explain why.

17. You endorse health and wellness programs and self-care practices.

18. You welcome new ideas and value collaborative efforts and are willing to shake things up once in a while.

19. You are not afraid to ask for help and admit mistakes.

20. You are aware of your impact and strive to see things from the perspective of your employees.

21. You are able to detach from negativity and let go of control when necessary.

So, boss, what can you schedule today in TimeTrack that will make you better?

SamTastic Weekly Tip: 7/27/20 - Use TimeTrack on your first day back

This week’s tip: Use TimeTrack on your first day back.

Be sure to start your first week back on track—meaning that you have a plan before you arrive. Schedule now so you are in the Green and have a plan for the day. Let your coach know now if you need help now.

It is fine to set your goal for instructional time lower to start. Just be sure you have a goal and have scheduled the management tasks you need to do your first week and some instructional work, too. Doing a bit each day will make it easier to move forward. This work is not predicated on whether you will have remote learning, in-person or a combination. It is work that needs to be done, regardless.

Schedule your SAM Daily Meeting for your first day. Conduct your SAM Daily Meeting so you are ready for the next day. Celebrate your work from last year and pat each other on the back. You have a plan, your TimeTrack, and you are proactive, positive, enthused and determined. In other words, you are a terrific school leader.

Don’t allow your uncertainty to keep you from setting monthly goals now. You can still do some instructional work but doing so will require planning for it. It is fine to start your first work week with a lower instructional time goal than you did last year. Set the goal and select slightly higher goals each month. You can always change your goals if you’d like later.

Don’t be afraid to schedule instructional work with teachers. You set the tone, and show what you value, by what you do. Working with teachers on their work with students is necessary no matter what school looks like. Start by scheduling a meeting with each teacher or group of teachers. Focus on how the teacher is feeling and be supportive. Ask about the remote teaching that worked well—what were their wins? What are they looking forward to trying? How can you help?

SamTastic Weekly Tip: 7/20/20 - Improve the capacity of your new staff

This week’s tip: Improve the capacity of your new staff.

With remote learning your students stay home and your staff gets a lot larger. Your teachers must work with their student’s first teachers, their parents, a lot more in order to move learning forward. Some parents were excited and enthusiastic about this teaching role when the pandemic forced stay at home orders. Others approached the task with trepidation. Some parents were missing in action.

Some teachers did a great job and engaged parents in a positive and proactive way. These teachers made a point to focus on developing parent teaching skills so their children would benefit.

As a school leader you are focused on improving the skills of your teachers. You now have paid teachers and parent teachers. What will you do to improve their capacity?

1. Schedule time to discuss with your best teachers what they did during remote learning to engage parents successfully. What did they do intentionally to improve the capacity of parents as teachers?

2. Schedule time to discuss with parents what you and teachers can do to help build their capacity.

3. Learn from a high performing SAM team from Maryland how they created a parent university that engages teachers and parents. Shawna Fagbuyi and Stephanie Gobbo were presenters at last week’s SAM Coffee Break. Here’s a link: https://bit.lv/2ZA4Mu8 Shawna and Stephanie used a PowerPoint during the session. Here’s a link to access: https://bit.lv/2CHkvP0

4. Wouldn’t it be great to read the best articles on parent engagement curated by experts? Thanks to our friend Kim Marshall, you can access the chapter on working with parents from his second book with Jenn David-Lang: The Best of the Marshall Memo, Book II. Use this link to download the chapter, Partnering with Families: https://bit.ly/2B7c539