Listen, Taylor Swift is taking over the world! Or at least that is all I have heard about this summer on social media. What is it about her that everyone loves and connects with? I have been reflecting on this for awhile…I know…it’s a little odd. But I want to inspire people like she does through my passion of leadership just like she does through her music. I guess that makes me a Swifty? Taylor connects through delivering her energy and passion for her craft every single time she is with her community. Heck she sings for four hours! Taylor validates the hard work of the people who work for her and writes hand written notes and mega bonuses. But more importantly, she notices and appreciates them. Taylor is visible and responds to her community. Taylor sets boundaries. Taylor has a team and uses their time and hers efficiently (or at least her manager does…). Anyways, you get my point, there is something different about Taylor and how she is taking over the world. It is because people can relate to her and she works hard to build relationships. It made me think about my own leadership and how what she is doing to inspire the world just might be a ticket to how we inspire our world.
Taylor’s Eras Tour had me thinking about big ticket items in leadership and the most bang for our buck. Maybe it is because her tickets were so expensive!! With our school year starting up again very soon, I have been thinking a lot about what has received the most traction in my leadership. First of all, my biggest goal is to use my time efficiently and effectively with the sole purpose of inspiring teachers, students, support staff and students to do the best work of their life. If I achieve this, then I know that will be a big key to their happiness and fulfillment in their own lives because they know how to work hard, persevere, and fight for their own passions in life. I also want to use every moment to the max because we all know how frustrating it is to work hours and hours on end and not feel like we are getting anywhere.
So…that is how I am starting my year this year….with reflection on what has been the best use of time and energy to achieve my vision and inspire others. I wrote down the first few things that immediately came to mind and shared them with you in this blog in hopes that some of these ideas will help you as well. Disclaimer: Some of the ideas are super easy and others take time, commitment, consistency, and hard work but if you stick with it, it becomes a part of your culture and ignites a community of collaborators, visionary teacher leaders, and successful adult and student learners.
- Schedule Weekly Common Meeting Times for Department/Grade Teams – Try to schedule a common meeting time for departments or grade teams once a week for each teacher/group to collaborate. This has made a huge impact on building communities and increasing professional learning. In our school, we scheduled one common prep either right before or after lunch for each grade team to meet. By connecting this to a lunch hour, it gave teachers an hour and a half to collaborate, build resources, problem solve, analyze data, etc each week. Game changer! Teachers felt we were respected their time by building time for them to meet right inside of their school day instead of after school when they are already tired. I know what you are thinking…how did we cover it? Well…we scheduled library, specialists, or admin to cover. It takes some strategic masterminding, but it really, really made an impact.
- Visibility During Transitions – Being visible in hallways during transitions is a small, but mighty task that can be a big ticket. It helps to build relationships with students, teachers feel supported, it gets you out of your office, and you get a pulse on what is going on. Another bonus was that it also helps to tamper down behaviors that seem to pop up in the hallways simply because students see you there. It is like the Hawthorne Effect, people do better and work harder simply because they are being watched. Heck, I can do way more pushups if someone is there watching or coaching me! But if they are not there, I tend to slack a little… ok… a lot. Be visible whenever you can and it will go a long way. Once I started making a point of being visible in halls during transitions, I really found I got to know more students as well.
- 15 second interactions with students/teachers can go so far! Make those happen every day. Make a point of doing whole school walk throughs through halls and classrooms with the purpose of making 15 second conversations with those you encounter instead of just to supervise. As principals, we are responsible for all the students and staff rather than just a classroom so we have to be visible and make those 15 seconds count! These small transactions will build up over time and can give you so much value and impact.
- Use logical vs. natural consequences every single time when dealing with behaviors. I learned this one from my superintendent when I was presenting with him and it really hit home. I was doing this some of the time but not all of the time. Once I really paid attention to this, it instantly helped me to become a better leader and model for the teachers to follow when they were dealing with behaviors. Logical consequences are situations engineered by the person in authority, which are logically connected to the offense and instructive for the student. Logical consequences are not to be confused with natural consequences, which are not controlled by anyone and happen naturally. An example of a natural consequence is if you put your finger in an electric socket, you get a shock. Effective schools should not allow students to accept the natural consequences that no longer act as deterrents (Witmer 2006). My superintendent, told a story of how a teacher approached a principal about finding a student who cheated on a test. That teacher immediately wanted the principal to grant her permission to give the student a zero to teach them a lesson. This was a prime example of a natural consequence. It was not really instructive for the student or connected to the offence. In other words, it wasn’t good for the kid. Instead, the principal and the teacher implemented a logical consequence. He told the teacher that the student was going to work with him for a couple of weeks during the student’s breaks. He would teach the student how to study, learn the content, and use time effectively so that the student wouldn’t have to give up his spare time to study with the principal. The principal also made sure that he worked with the student where other teachers could see him supporting the teacher and the student. After two weeks, the student would have another chance to write the test. This consequence was connected to the offence (cheated on a test, which meant he probably didn’t study enough) and it was good for the student (student learned how to study and felt academic caring from the teacher and the principal). After, having a conversation with the teacher about the plan, the teacher felt heard, validated, and supported by the principal and the student was successful in the end but not happy about all the time he had to spend with the principal. The best part was he learned how to study which will help him long term. It was a win win in so many ways! Implementing logical consequences over natural consequences helps the student/teacher navigate their way out of a problem and shows you support them. It is also connected to the offense and instructive for the student and teacher.
- Show teachers how to run effective meetings by modelling and running workshop style meetings of your own where it is more about learning/solving issues over housekeeping. Here’s the thing….running effective meeting is really, really hard. I have done so much work and learning in this area and I have found the best way to run a meeting is with one clear outcome, solves or addresses people’s issues, and is quick and action taking. I have also learned that admin needs to teach teachers how to run effective meetings so that they can run their own meetings and not waste time. We have to show them and set up academic expectations through co-constructing criteria on what is important when running meetings. If you are looking for a fantastic resource on exactly how to do this, check out the book, Collaborative Response by Kurtis and Lorna Hewson. They take you step by step how to set up meetings, what types of meetings to implement, and how to run them.
- Set boundaries and use time effectively and efficiently. Your time matters and you need to set boundaries to protect that time. One way you can do this is through opening up your calendar and stating a clear outcome for each block and blocking time. I have a free guide that shows you how to start up and shut down your day that you can grab here to help. No one wants to work hours on end and feel like they are getting nowhere. Learn how to block your calendar in one to two hours increments with a clear outcome that you want to achieve by the end of that block. I also set up at least one two hour session of Tiger Time each week where I shut off my phone, close my door, and get a top priority done that has been bugging me. This makes a huge difference in your time and productivity. I also teach teachers how do this with their organization of their day and lessons inside of their classrooms. They have learned to set a clear target or outcome and state it to the students at the beginning of the lesson with the expectation that the students will be able to learn, do and prove by the end of the lesson. This way students know exactly what the teacher expects of them and they know the target they are aiming for. Everyone needs a target, a map, and time frame to find clarity. I also do this during meetings with teachers and it ensures that we do the work to reach our target and tackle one top priority.
- Building relationships has to also be about academic caring and not just about the warm fuzzies. I am passionate about this one. People need to know you believe in them and have high expectations that are attainable to each individual. A school cannot just be about making friends and doing the rah rah stuff. It has to be about expecting them to also reach academic goals and professional goals. Learning fuels and energizes the mind and so does someone who is cheering you on, setting an expectation for you, and nudging you to reach it no matter what. There is no better feeling than achieving something that is really hard to do. That feeling brings about pride, purpose, and passion which are key to fulfillment. Expect a lot with from your students and teachers with the promise of support and see what happens!
- Teacher supervision includes modelling and team teaching with them rather than just observing. We all know that supervising teachers is a huge part of our job. However, this is so much more than just walking into a classroom and sitting at the back of the room watching. Get in there and be involved in the lesson, plan a lesson, team teach and model everything you expect your teachers to do. Take pictures or videos of you doing the work in classrooms, gather work samples, take pics and videos of colleagues and start to use those in your meetings to celebrate and set next steps. By doing this, you validate the work they do and they see you being vulnerable and walking the walk alongside them. Powerful stuff my friend! We build relationships by doing the work alongside them not telling them or presenting endless powerpoints. We learn and lead through the work.
- Teach and expect actions over programs. Programs come and go but good teaching is good teaching and it lasts. So rather than implementing the next best program, set teaching actions that you model and expect your teachers to do to enhance student and adult learning and to engage the learners to do more of the work. So for our school, we have 6 teaching actions that we have learned, model and expect from every teacher with the goal of enhancing learning through engaging the learner more. For example, one of those teaching actions is to explore ways to include the learner more in the 15 minute mini lesson through turn and talks, vertical whiteboards annotating what they are learning as the teacher teaches, setting a target, wonder walls, etc. Actions inspire and give teachers tools that they can use immediately in their classroom. Best of all, teaching actions over programs can boost student and adult learning in big ways and can be used over and over again so that is not always doing something new.
So there you have it! Just a few thoughts on what works and have become the lifeline of my own leadership that were inspired by a new Swifty. If Taylor can inspire an entire world so can we through our leadership, teachers and students.
I would love to hear what are the big ticket items in your leadership. Big ticket items = big, big, energy, passion, purpose, clarity, and lots of success in all areas. Comment below and let me know what you do in your own leadership!
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