Managing Instructional Leadership Action Ideas
Set big-picture goals and stay focused
Decide on the “Big Rocks” for each year
- Focus on 2-3 well-chosen priorities – major project that will produce high achievement.
- Break the “big rocks” down into manageable tasks for your schedule, to-do list.
- Set measurable goals in each one and backwards-design.
- Just say no to activities that aren’t adding value to the mission.
Plan for the year, month, week, and day
- Once a week, review of all your priorities and get big-picture goals onto daily lists.
- Use a calendar system that works for you (Outlook, BusyCal, etc.).
- Build a perennial calendar to keep track of recurring items.
- Block out time for major priorities (e.g., classroom visits, team meetings).
- Come to school with a prioritized to-list for the day.
- Use a tickler/alarm system to alert you to important meetings and priorities.
Monitor progress
- Decide on criteria for a “good day” and check in on whether you’re meeting them.
- Keep a journal or diary; score yourself on the time management rubric quarterly.
- Reflect in the summer on the 20 most salient features of the year.
Continuously improve teaching and learning
Clarify curriculum and discipline expectations
- Put in place clear grade-level learning expectations and year-end assessments.
- Implement a schoolwide discipline system.
- Clarify what issues teachers should handle themselves and what the office must handle.
Orchestrate and support team meetings and PD
- Get important weekly and monthly meetings in everyone’s calendar.
- Give clear direction to teams, visit regularly, and get reports from them.
Frequently visit classrooms and give teachers feedback
- Set a target number of classrooms to visit each day and push yourself to hit the target.
- Give teachers honest, face-to-face feedback soon after each visit.
- Keep all the components short and effective: visits, conversations, documentation
Hone priority management skills
Write it down, prioritize, and follow up
- Decide on the system that works best for you, remember, and don’t drop the ball.
- Mentally put things into bins: staff memo, parent letter, staff meetings, PD sessions, etc.
- Write a regular staff memo that can take care of routine business, key messages, research.
- Be self-aware about the tasks you tend to avoid or procrastinate and do them.
- Use the two-minute rule for dealing with paperwork during the day.
- Develop a filing system so you can put your hands on important papers.
- Do e-mail a day and try hard to clear your desktop by the end of the day.
- Block out time at school or at home when you can do paperwork most efficiently.
Delegate to competent people
- Make a key priority of hiring the best teachers and staff; train and delegate well.
- Empower teacher teams to deal with curriculum, assessment, data analysis, etc.
- Urge people around you to tell you the truth, even if it’s bad news.
Minimize time-wasting time-wasting crises and activities
- Don’t be a sitting duck! Be out and about preventing problems before they occur.
- Develop a crisp style of running meetings: structure, agendas, outcomes, closure.
- Say no to activities that are not on mission, but know when to drop everything and act.
Take care of yourself
- Make it a priority to get enough sleep, eat well, exercise, and nurture relationships.
- Schedule movies and other fun activities into your week.
Revised April 2016