Those not familiar with administration would like to think that it is often a cohesive team working together seamlessly to tackle meetings, tasks, evaluations, and whatever else might need done. Administrators themselves will tell you that sometimes this perception is, or at least feels, so very far from the truth. There is no one “typical” day in the life of a school administrator and at times it can seems impossible to finish each work day unscathed, having completed everything on the “to do list”. School administration doesn’t come with a one-size fits-all guidebook. There is no way to truly know what each day will throw at you until you throw yourself into the tussle.
In the midst of this day-to-day and activity-to-activity work style, it is far too easy to lose the why and the who – “why are we here?” and “for whom are we here?” Ask any administrator these two questions and the answer is hopefully “for the students.” If not for the students, the future thinkers and leaders of the world, what is the point of guiding our schools into better and brighter opportunities? To minimize the reactive nature of school leadership and to avoid allowing the constant meetings, adult issues, and other management tasks to take over and gobble up the entire work day, administrators must “Keep Their Eye on the Ball”. They must stay focused at the overarching goal, fostering more beneficial and productive schools and educational environments for students, which is most likely the reason they pursued school administration in the first place.
Of course, this isn’t easy. No one said administration would be. It is different for every administrator and there is no easy answer to overcoming every challenge throughout the day. However, by looking past the long workdays, sometimes absent gratification, and overall stress of a continuously full agenda, administrators can (and should) refocus on Student-Focused leadership. Our research shows that school leaders who are student-focused are driven by 3 key principles:
Prioritize leadership tasks over management tasks
Focus on student dependent tasks over student independent tasks
Prioritize tasks that are more likely to directly impact student outcomes
To learn more about these 3 student-focused principles and to get your eye back on the ball, considering piloting Time ReDesigned in your district. To learn more about the pilot opportunity email us at timeredesigned@gmail.com.
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