So this year I have a new position. It’s kind of a hybrid
between a district-to-school liaison and an assistant principal. My district
created this position last April and fully implemented it in August; I’m not
sure if any other metro-area district does this, but I haven’t heard of it
before. Basically, this new position places 1 special ed person (a.k.a. me, or
someone like me) in each school as a full assistant principal. Each school principal
in our district was given a new AP allotment for this position, as well as full
control over what tasks are assigned to us. This background info is important,
because I have to admit that I never actually envisioned myself as an AP, but
yet I find myself in the position now, and I am trying to make the most of it.
This is a great career opportunity that (quite literally) fell into my lap! My
challenge at the moment, though, is balance. Balance between operational vs.
instructional priorities. All of my previous roles (teacher, department chair,
central office personnel) have been centered on one task (special ed). This
job, though, is so broad, and the position is so new, that it’s kind of rocking
my world at the moment.
In our book, The
Principal 50, Dr. Kafele says (on pages 4-5 and pages 38-39) that leaders
should spend the vast majority of their day in classrooms, observing teachers
and driving/reviewing/commenting on instructional practices within the
building, and not focus so much on the “fires” throughout the day.
Maybe it’s because this position is new (to me AND to our
district), or maybe it’s because I have never had to be spread in so many
directions before now, but what suggestions do you guys have for creating more
balance in my day-to-day schedule? The operational fires seem to be constant
and drown out any “free” time I have to get into classrooms. The instructional
stuff is the fun stuff to me! The operational stuff is necessary, but should
not be my primary focus (plus, it’s boring! J).
During our Twitter chat, I asked Dr.
Kafele how to become better at this. He said that I should “be intentional”
about my daily time (see pages 4-5 again). Good advice! But fires also demand
your attention, and the things that actually drive change in a school (like the
instructional practices of your teachers) tend to get shoved down to the bottom
of the list or to the “I’ll get to it tomorrow” pile.
Any other first-year (or more experienced) APs out there who
are going through (or went through) something similar? Even if your title isn’t
AP, what suggestions do you guys have? Anyone who moves from classroom teacher
to a higher leadership role is sure to have faced something similar (or at
least I hope I’m not the only one J).
See everyone soon,
Kristin
Kristin, This is an issue that every administrator has to "deal" with. My very first principal back in the late 80's made it a point to be in the classroom of every teacher in the building once per week and put a note in the teacher's box afterward. His visit may have only lasted 5 minutes, but he did it. Of course, it could be that the demands on a principal that long ago were fewer than today.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I do to balance my time is create my calendar. When we meet in our coaches' meetings next quarter, we - the coaches - are going to enter our planned focus walks for the following week in our calendar during the meeting. We are being intentional about it so that we are sure that every gets the support they need and so that we see them in a variety of time periods.
Yes, emergencies happen and you have to make adjustments but it helps for me to have a plan before the emergencies happen. If I can't make one focus walk because of something that popped up, I can find a place to reschedule it and still get into the classroom.
My last thought is delegate, delegate, delegate! What can you give to others to handle so that your time is once again freed up to do what you want to do most - be in the classroom. Who can help you with classroom observations, handling a situation, or solving a problem that raised its ugly head? It is always a trade off and you have to focus on what you are willing to give up and what you are not!
Kristin-I agree that you need to be very intentional about this. You really need to block time that is dedicated to being in classes. Make it clear that this time shouldn't be interrupted unless there is a real crisis. Unfortunately, research tells us that most administrators spend lots of time on managerial tasks rather than instructional leadership. I do realize the importance of those managerial tasks. If you don't deal with those issues, you almost certainly will not be able to maintain your job. However, great leaders don't spend most of their time running around putting out fires. Instead, they put systems in place to deal with and/or avoid most of those more minor issues. There will always be unexpected events that happen, but they shouldn't dominate the majority of your time.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristin! Thanks for your post. I can totally relate!!!
ReplyDeleteHere is one tool our leadership team is going to work through together next week: http://www.usgs.gov/humancapital/documents/TimeManagementGrid.pdf I am hoping it will help us be more mindful of whether the things we are doing are "urgent" or "important" so that we can make better choices about how to spend our time.
Also, aside from the offensive title :), this article really helped me, too: http://time.com/3319641/how-to-stop-being-lazy-and-get-more-done-5-expert-tips/
After reading it, I began scheduling my to-do list across a week at a time to make sure I know my tasks and the time required to do them. It helped me manage my time better.
That article also inspired me to create a "portions of time" pie chart to see how much of my time I was spending on the different umbrella categories of my job. I shared it with my leadership team and some of them made their version as well. It helped us make sure we weren't duplicating work, and gave us a better understanding of how we all spend our time.
Hope some of these ideas are helpful. I am right there with you on the ongoing balancing act of time management and efficiency. I am sure it is especially hard with the newness of the job you described. Hang in there!
Kristin, I get how you are feeling. I feel like all of my time is dealing with managerial issues as opposed to me being able as the special ed department chair to go do observations and provided feedback or development. I have been approached several times about applying for AP positions due to my leadership abilities, but that is not a role that I have ever envisioned for myself. I do think about it a lot, because so many people in different areas have either called me or texted me about this position. I often wonder if I am selling myself short or what. I need to take the advice that Tim, Jennifer and Dr. Sauers offered you and set a calendar of the days I do my observations and not stray from that. Often times, I allow the planning time provided to me to accomplish observations to be taken with what others consider to be important at the time.
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