EdTechTeam

Global Network of Educational Technologists

Leadership

6 Self-Care Strategies for School Leaders

You’re taking care of the teachers.

The teachers are taking care of the students.

But who’s taking care of you?

As the educational leader of your school or your classroom, not only are you taking care of and dealing with the stress and PTSD of your teachers and/or students, but you are also dealing with your life’s day to day stresses. Principals and Assistant Principals, how many times are you greeted with 25 different fires that need to be put out…NOW! Urgent emails and phone calls from parents or teachers. Your whole staff needs even more support right now. Wifi/tech issues or a lack of access to devices. I could keep going.

Classroom teachers, I know you’re dealing with it, as well! Kids that just won’t engage, phone calls and emails from parents, learning new systems and tech on the fly. The list goes on and on.

Does ANY of this sound familiar?  It’s critical that you have non-negotiable strategies in place to help you cope and deal with what you experience every day.  You cannot pour into your teachers, students and your own families if your cup is empty.  You have to be intentional and take time to pour into your cup every day so you can show up better for everyone else in your life.  Self-care is not selfish.  It’s critical!

Here are six strategies that you might consider incorporating into your daily routine to help you practice self-care.

Strategy #1. Own your Morning!

When you own your morning, you own the day! How many of you wake up when your alarm goes off, grab your phone and the first thing you check is either your email or social media?  **raises my hand** I’m guilty of it, too! I want to encourage you to stop this practice. I know it’s easier said than done!  Take the first 2 minutes of your day to close your eyes and visualize your day. Think about the awesome day that is ahead and the positive things that are going to happen. There are 86,400 seconds in a day. I think we can all give the first 120 seconds of our day to setting the tone for what we want to happen!

In a productivity article by Carlo Cruz titled, 7 Steps to Own Your Morning and Seize Your Day, he suggests 7 things you can do to seize your morning:

  1. Wake up 1 hour earlier.
  2. Spend your best time by taking stock of yourself.
  3. Write down, revisit, or revise your long-term goals.
  4. Set your daily goals. 
  5. Sharpen your expertise.
  6. Use your head start and start acting.
  7. End a vicious cycle of waking up late by sleeping early.

Strategy #2. Establish your North Star

What’s your why? Why do you wake up every morning? Why do you show up every day? Who are you showing up for? As time goes on, and the days go by, we find ourselves on what I like to call, the hamster wheel of life. We wake up, drive to work (sometimes not even noticing the path we take to get there), work a full day, go home, eat dinner, go to sleep, only to do it all over again the next day. We do this 5 days a week, 4-5 weeks a month and before we know it, we look up and an entire school year has flown by.  

In the book “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek, he challenges us to get to the root of our why. When we know and understand our “why” we get more in tune with our how and our what. I add to this and believe that when you know your why, you walk with more intention and more purpose every day. You become more intentional about the decisions that you make and the actions that you take because you are aware that they are all in alignment with why you do what you do.

I challenge you to dig deep into your why. Understand your why. Really allow it to be your North Star and lead you every day. Write it down. Post it up any and everywhere you can. Make it your screensaver on your computer and your cell phone. It will become a part of who you are.

Strategy #3. Establish Daily Healthy Habits

When you take the time to be intentional about how you take care of your body every day, you are practicing self-care. These daily practices that become habits, will eventually become non-negotiables for you. A few things that you can do to establish doable daily healthy habits are: 

  • Drink enough water. You should be drinking half of your body weight in ounces of water a day. For simple math, if you weigh 100 pounds, you should be drinking 50 ounces of water a day.  For those of you that don’t necessarily like to drink water, here’s how you can get it in:
    • Drink out of a straw.
    • Drink out of a “nice” cup.
    • If you drink bottled water, take the number of bottles that you need to drink to get your ounces in with you to work.  Challenge yourself to drink them before you leave to go home for the day.
    • Add fruit to your water.
  • Make healthy eating choices. You can’t put “bad” fuel into your body and expect it to perform the way you need it to every day! Working in schools puts us in contact with thousands of different germs every day. Eating healthy fruits, veggies, and proteins helps to build our immune system.
  • Move your body for at least 20-30 minutes every day. If you find yourself sitting behind a desk, set an alarm on your phone to get up and take a lap around the building every hour. If you can, stand up at your desk to work. Join a gym. Go for a walk. Make it a game by using a smart watch and engage in friendly contests with your friends/colleagues.

Strategy #4. Engage in your own personal and professional development

As the leader in your school building or your classroom, you are super busy making sure that everyone else has what they need. You are providing learning opportunities for your teachers and students, but who is providing you with learning opportunities? How are you engaging in your own personal and professional development? I’m a firm believer that what we put into our minds is what will come out. Positive in? Positive out. Negative in? Negative out. Listen to, watch and read things that encourage and inspire you to grow and be better.  

A few ideas to make sure you’re getting some “positive in” are: 

  • Turn off the music and listen to podcasts on the way to work.
  • Read professional development books that interest you.  Here are a few that I recommend.
  • Join or start a meeting group with like-minded individuals.  
  • Find a mentor if you don’t already have one.  Set calendar appointments so it’s a priority.
  • Join Twitter and grow your Professional Learning Network (PLN).

Strategy #5. Establish Doable Routines

Every December 31st when the clock strikes midnight, we find ourselves making New Year’s resolutions. We make lists and vision boards jam-packed with “all of the things.” We find ourselves discouraged because we don’t accomplish everything on those lists and vision boards. Then we just give up. Sound familiar? The reality is, is that we can do anything, but we can’t do everything!  What I’ve found to be successful is to implement small, doable, bite-sized things that eventually become a part of your lifestyle. Here are a few doable things that you could slowly start to add to your daily routine.

  • Start journaling. When I was a kid I journaled all of the time! Probably about who my crush was at the time and how school was going and how I was mad at my parents simply because they were being parents and raising me! As I’ve gotten older, finding the time to keep this up has been a challenge. I was recently listening to a podcast by Judi Holler (Fear is my Homeboy) and she talked about a book she read called, “You are Awesome” by Neil Pasricha and he mentioned that he spends 2 minutes every morning and writes on a clean index card, answering these 3 prompts:
    • Today, I will let go of…
      • This helps to deal with any anxiety that you might have. When you write it down, it disappears.
    • Today, I am grateful for…
      • This makes you see the small everyday things that you encounter.
    • Today, I will focus on…
      • Choose one small thing. Again, you can do anything, but you can’t do everything!
  • Practice meditation. There are so many meditation apps (free and paid) and YouTube videos that you can follow. You can try the app, Calm for free here: https://www.calm.com/schools.
  • Daily gratitude. This one is an easy one for me.  I have a journal on my nightstand and every night I pick it up and write down 5 things that I’m grateful for. It’s a super simple practice that really makes me reflect on the day.  I attended John Maxwell’s Live2Lead conference last year and had the pleasure of seeing Rachel Hollis speak. She mentioned that she practices gratitude in the morning. She even challenged us to select things that we are grateful for (when practicing gratitude) that have happened within the past 24 hours. Of course, we are thankful for our spouses, our kids, our jobs, our friends, etc., but selecting things that have happened within that 24 hour window really cause you to look at the small things (ie. the blue sky, your perfect tasting cup of coffee, the “good pen” that your colleague let you borrow, etc).
  • Shut your phone down at least 1 hour before bedtime every night. According to the Cleveland Clinic, continuing to engage with your phone all the way up until you fall asleep has negative effects on your brain.
    • It keeps your mind psychologically engaged.
    • The blue light from the screen suppresses melatonin.
    • The alerting properties delay REM sleep.

Strategy #6. Brain dump every night

In order to clear your mind from all that’s racing around in it from the day’s events, keep a notebook next to your bed and brain dump everything that’s floating around in your mind before you go to bed.  It’s a way to get everything out of your mind so you can regain focus. When you get things out of your brain and onto paper, it can reduce anxiety, eliminate unnecessary thoughts/tasks, and prioritize what needs to get done.  The key is to write down everything!  “Dump” all of your thoughts onto paper!  These could be the pressing things that will be on your morning’s to do list, picking up the dry cleaning on your way home from work the following day, an email that you need to send in the morning, a good book that you want to order from Amazon, a teacher walkthrough you need to get done before the end of the week.  Write it ALL down.  You might also consider creating your braindumps digitally using tools like Google Docs, Google Keep, Microsoft Word, or OneNote.

You could also separate your brain dump into personal, professional and family sections or just create one long running list. You may even decide to color code your brain dump so you can visually see what needs to get done in each area of your life.  While I love brain dumping every night, there are times when I create a weekly brain dump on Sunday nights or first thing Monday morning.  Whether you brain dump at night, in the morning, or for the week, this list could potentially serve as your “to do” list.  Once you accomplish something on your brain dump list, cross it off!  

CLICK HERE to access a brain dump template that you may want to use to get you started!

What it all boils down to is that it’s important to take care of yourself. You have to put your oxygen mask on first before you can put a mask on anyone else. There is no doubt that there will be fires to put out when you walk into your buildings and classrooms every day. Having strategies in place that allow you to deal with the stress that you will encounter every day is critical to making sure that you are at your best.  

Whether you incorporate some of the ideas above into your practice or have something else that works for you, do something! I’d love to know what else, besides the things on this list, that you do to practice self-care.  Let’s start some dialogue and share all the tips! We’d all benefit from these ideas!

Dr. Natasha Rachell, a passionate educator, is an alternatively certified high school science teacher turned edtech enthusiast! Currently, Natasha is a Digital Learning Specialist for Atlanta Public Schools.  Natasha has immersed herself into the instructional technology space and has earned several certifications, awards and accomplishments, some of which include:  Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, Google Certified Innovator (MentorMeEdu) and Trainer, Apple Teacher, Surface Master Trainer, and Flipgrid Ambassador.  She has a Bachelors in Biology Pre-Med, a Masters in Education Administration, a Specialists in Curriculum and Instruction and is finishing her Doctorate in Organizational Leadership with an Emphasis in Effective Schools.   Natasha was selected to take part in the first cohort of Our Voice Academy through EdTechTeam, a group of minority educational technology leaders from across the nation.  Natasha has presented at both the local and national level.  She is ecstatic to lead the work as we transition into 21st century classrooms through blended learning opportunities, BYOD, professional learning for instructional technology and digitally connected classrooms.  You can learn more about Natasha by following her on Twitter @apsitnatasha, on Instagram @natashabrachell or by visiting her website at www.natasharachell.com.

Being a Grace-Giving Leader in this Season

“The best leader is one who continually extends grace rather than requiring it from others.” Tyler Reagin

“Give grace” has become the mantra for so many for this time and season that we’re all living in right now. With the rush to put distance learning into place and still support teachers, students and other stakeholders at the same time, it’s so important that we make the conscious decision to give grace to everyone.

Good ole’ Google defines the term grace as “simple elegance or refinement of movement” or “courteous goodwill.” It costs nothing to be kind and give goodwill to others. While everyone is experiencing this for the first time, even you as the school leader, people are looking for answers to their questions such as:

  • When is graduation?
  • When can I pick up a device?
  • When can I come back to school to clean out my locker?
  • When can I come and clean out my classroom?

The list goes on and on. As frustrating as it is to hear the same questions from different people over and over and over again, I encourage you to remain calm, kind, and full of grace. There is no guidebook for how a leader should lead their team or their school during a Coronavirus outbreak. However, there are some good practices that leaders can put into place to give grace to those they have invested in as a part of your school’s staff.

Tip #1 – Lead your Team! 

Although this is a time in our lives that none of us have ever experienced before, as the leader of your school, your staff will be looking at you to lead them! As the leader, you’re supposed to have all of the answers, right? Wrong! You’ve never been through this before, remember? Your staff will be looking for and expecting as much normalcy as possible right now and you are in a unique position to provide that.  

Do you normally have staff meetings on Wednesdays at 3:00 pm? Continue with that!  Of course, now you’ll be leading these meetings virtually.  

Do you normally email your staff with pertinent information once a week? You can still do that! Record a video and send it to your staff. Send them a link to view these videos via Remind or post them on a Google Site or Microsoft Teams that only your staff has the link to.

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist, has a saying, “Take responsibility for the energy you bring into this space.” As stressed out as you are and as much pressure as you’re under, try not to bring that stress and overwhelm to your team. They will react to what you give them. Bring them positive energy and that’s what you’ll get in return.

Tip #2 – Continue to Maintain your School’s Culture!


ASCD shares with us that: “School culture refers to the way teachers and other staff members work together and the set of beliefs, values, and assumptions they share.”  How are your staff members working together right now?  Are they even working together?  Or are they all working in silos from their individual homes?  

Here are a few ideas to continue to build and maintain the culture of your school:

  • Have a staff “show and tell!” During your next virtual staff meeting, ask everyone to share what they’ve been binge-watching, what they’re reading, and any hobbies they’ve picked up over the past few weeks! Maintaining a level of person to person interaction will help to continue building the culture that you’ve already established in your school. Perhaps each department could take turns leading your weekly staff meetings.
  • Put your cheerleaders to work!  Every principal has a set of “go to” people on their staff that carry their vision or the feel “good-ness” of the school and pass it along throughout the building. This is a great time to get some new cheerleaders on your team. Keep those people front and center. They will continue to be a beacon of hope and comfort for the rest of the staff. Get them involved in the day to day of the school. Put them in charge of a committee. Have them brainstorm some ideas that will keep the staff encouraged. 
  • Continue to keep the vision of the school front and center! Just because we are schooling from home doesn’t mean that we do so with a lower level of accountability, structure, or expectations. Things may be different but we are still in the business of educating our students. Stay positive when addressing your staff. Keep them up to date on the happenings of the school. Keep the expectations high and your staff will work to meet them!

Tip #3 – Check on your People and Give them Hope!

Trust me, your people are not okay.  Even though we’ve been at this for about a month and a half, your staff is still trying to figure out their day to day routine, as are many of the rest of us. Some of your staff are not only working from home, teaching from home, being your school’s bookkeeper from home, etc, but a lot of them have also been thrown into the world of being a homeschool teacher.

Make sure that your team is safe and that they first, have everything they need from a personal perspective, and second, have everything they need to do their job. A phone call goes a long way. A note in the mail goes a long way. A text message goes a long way. It doesn’t have to take long and it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Your staff just wants to know and be reminded that what they are doing does make a difference, that they do matter, and that the hard work that they’re doing is appreciated.  

At the end of the day, we are all just doing the best we can with what we have! Check on your team and keep them encouraged. When your team feels valued and appreciated, they will work hard for you when you need them to. See them and make them feel valued.

“Extending grace is a trait every leader needs to have.  It’s also a trait that will help you develop other leaders.  Be the grace-giving leader.” (Joseph Lalonde)

Natasha Rachell, a passionate educator, is an alternatively certified high school science teacher turned edtech enthusiast! Currently, Natasha is a Digital Learning Specialist for Atlanta Public Schools.  Natasha has immersed herself into the instructional technology space and has earned several certifications, awards and accomplishments, some of which include:  Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, Google Certified Innovator (MentorMeEdu) and Trainer, Apple Teacher, Surface Master Trainer, and Flipgrid Ambassador.  She has a Bachelors in Biology Pre-Med, a Masters in Education Administration, a Specialists in Curriculum and Instruction and is finishing her Doctorate in Organizational Leadership with an Emphasis in Effective Schools.   Natasha was selected to take part in the first cohort of Our Voice Academy through EdTechTeam, a group of minority educational technology leaders from across the nation.  Natasha has presented at both the local and national level.  She is ecstatic to lead the work as we transition into 21st century classrooms through blended learning opportunities, BYOD, professional learning for instructional technology and digitally connected classrooms.  You can learn more about Natasha by following her on Twitter @apsitnatasha, on Instagram @natashabrachell or by visiting her website at www.natasharachell.com.

How to Succeed at Working From Home [3 Educator Tips]

I’ve been working from home for most of the past 15 years… with small kids in the house much of the time. (My children, Clark and Finn are 12 and 10 now, and on Emergency Distance Learning like many students around the world.) So in hopes that I might be able to help some of the millions of teachers around the world now facing similar circumstances, I thought it might be valuable to share the routines, productivity hacks, and collaboration tools that have worked well for me. If you’ve been “working from home” and feeling like you’re “living at work” – I hope this can help. 

Work From Home Tip #1: Routines

In retrospect, the routines I’ve adopted wind up looking quite a bit like the advice you might find elsewhere, but now I’ve lived the benefits of establishing a space for work at home, keeping regular working hours, taking frequent breaks, and getting plenty of exercise.  

I’m lucky to have had a home office (or shared home office) most of this time, but when I haven’t, I set one up in the garage, so I could still close the door. If you’re working at home with kids (or other family or roommates), prioritize a door you can close if you can, even if it’s a bedroom, garage, or a walk-in closet. I usually keep the setup simple and uncluttered; most recently I grabbed a simple 2 foot by 4 foot table (originally from Ikea), raised my external monitor up on a box (for ergonomic reasons), and did away with a keyboard and mouse (using just my laptop to type). But really, a laptop and a clean non-distracting table are all that’s really needed – and the kitchen counter or backyard table make a good change of pace sometimes, especially if others aren’t around for a bit. In my dedicated space, I like a high backed chair, so I can lean my head back and keep from hunching over, which causes strain in my neck and lower back. If you’re going to be on a screen for hours at a time for the first time in your career, don’t underestimate the importance of treating your body right.

From the beginning, I knew it would be important to still keep regular work hours, both for productivity – and for life balance. It’s easy to be distracted by the demands of home or family and to lose your focus on work – and conversely, it can be easy to just keep working well beyond the number of hours that are effective or healthy. When the boys were younger, I had to be more flexible (sleep when the baby sleeps, right?) and I worked more at night to catch up, but even then I kept regular work hours as much as I could, and kept the weekends sacred. By “regular” work hours, I mean “structured and recurring” not “the same as everyone else.” When I had to watch the boys Mondays and Fridays as babies, I did very little work on those days and I worked longer the other days of the week when Eva, my wife, was around to watch the boys. (I know this was a luxury for us to trade off, but working out a shared schedule like that can be one of the benefits of working from home, especially if your partner is too… which is the case for many people right now.)

Even with regular work hours, taking frequent breaks is an important part of treating your body well, especially over the long haul. It took me a long time to get in the habit, but now I know that I need to get up every hour or so (or whenever I notice myself dropping out of flow) to go for a walk around the block. When I’m at an actual office, normal interactions and trips to get coffee and snacks suffice, but at home, I don’t move enough if I don’t make myself get outside and walk. I’ve also done my share of office yoga – I keep a meditation pillow by my desk and even frequently push aside my chair so I can drop down to one knee on the pillow and stretch my hip flexors instead – sitting in a chair all day is brutal on them.

After work hours, it’s important to still get plenty of exercise. If you’re going to be sedentary much of the day (teaching online is WAY more sedentary than teaching in a classroom or leading PD face-to-face), then you have to offset that with vigorous exercise later. For me, I try to workout an hour a day, whether it’s hockey, martial arts, the gym, or just yoga if I need an easy day. Also, I got a reasonably priced Fit Desk a few years ago, and I can now knock out an hour of biking while I work. If I really get in the zone I can go longer and wind up good and sore – happy with my productivity and my fitness. 🙂

Work From Home Tip #2: Productivity

Perhaps the most important way to cut down on your sedentary screen time when working at home is to be more effective with the time you are spending online.  I’ve found great tools to help me with notes, checklists, and email, all with reminders… and an overarching outliner. (What’s an outliner? Read on.)

As any productivity guru will tell you, the key to taking on something daunting is to break it down into more manageable tasks. Also, the key to not feeling overwhelmed and constantly afraid you’ll forget something is to get it into your system pronto. For the most part, I use Google Keep to capture quick notes, checklists, important websites, and even pictures or screenshots of things that require action. Keep allows me to set reminders and then archive notes so they are out of the way. So when I’m ready to work, I visit Keep and see just what needs doing on that day. I also color code the notes so I can prioritize (red, orange, yellow) and batch tasks (like green for financial, purple for anything requiring paper, grey for random) and so on. It’s great to sit down, start with the right color and dig in.

For email, of course I use Gmail, where I use a similar color scheme with Stars and the Boomerang Extension, so I can practice Inbox Zero. When I check incoming messages I skim them, star them if they require follow up (setting the right color if I’m at my desktop or saving that step for later if I’m mobile) and then archiving them. Then, when I sit down to my starred email, I can prioritize and batch tasks for efficiency. If there’s anything I shouldn’t be working on that day, I use Boomerang to make sure it comes back at a timely point. (Boomerang also allows you to bring a message back to your inbox if others don’t respond to it… just because someone else drops a ball doesn’t mean you have to.)

Though many people don’t know they exist, I’m also a huge fan of outliners and of Workflowy in particular. It’s my top level organization tool where I keep track of all these others… plus longer term ideas, or article and book outlines. I have a personal system where in my outliner I keep the day’s count of Keep Notes and Email (plus voicemail and pinned tabs that require follow up) so I can calculate how many hours I’ll need. (I’ve learned from experience that on average I can act on 10 notes or emails an hour, though of course some take much longer and others are quick.)

Work From Home Tip #3: Collaboration

In 2020, it’s highly unlikely you’re working alone, even if you’re working from home. Even teachers who are often alone “behind the classroom door” can have access to their grade level teams, subject area departments, and a global network of peers and experts. I’ve a developed a toolset with a variety of collaborative apps… for text chats, video calls, shared documents, multimedia editing, and connecting with a personal learning network. 

At EdTechTeam we use Slack for our internal chat, and I’m increasingly able to use it with others as well. Unlike Google Hangouts Chat (or most messaging systems), it has the valuable feature of allowing you to star messages for follow up. This is SO valuable that I’ve developed a habit for doing this even if someone just texts me on my phone… I take a quick screenshot and save it to Keep. In Slack though, there are also features such as channels for specific teams or projects, DMs (group or individual) for private conversations, and LOTS of integrations – with Google Calendar and Google Drive for instance.

When we’re ready to move to an audio or video call, we typically use Google Meet for its tight integration with Calendar. And, for teachers who are now engaged in Emergency Distance Learning, recording is currently free, and new features such as the ability to stop students from muting each other and the ability for a teacher to end a (nicknamed) Meet have shored up some of the tool’s weaknesses. We now use Meet for much of our virtual professional development as well… and the sidebar chat is a great way to get all participants engaged, even during something normally as one-sided as a keynote; hundreds can participate in the chat! 

Naturally, I look to Google Drive for collaborative Documents, Spreadsheets, Slides, and Drawings (not to mention Forms). I love being able to manage sharing easily, edit simultaneously, publish to the web, and have a revision history of all the changes made to a document. But these primarily text based productivity tools aren’t the limit of these features on the web today. Using apps like Soundtrap and WeVideo, you can even collaboratively edit audio and video, working together to create music, podcasts, and movies. Using these tools I’m never worried about a damaged or lost device (or which particular device I have handy at the moment) because all of these store my work in the cloud and work cross-platform (Chrome OS, MacOS, Windows, and Linus), and even mobile on Android and iOS. In today’s world of remote work and remote learning, there is no reason to work in isolation or risk losing your saved files. (Many of these cloud-based services even now have the option of working offline when you don’t have internet access, and syncing up right away once you do.)

I hope sharing this series of tips might be helpful to others just now working, teaching, and learning from home for the first time. I’d also love to hear your tips and your experiences in the comments. Please share below, or find me and the team on twitter. 

Formerly a high school English teacher, Dr. Mark Wagner has since served as an educational technology coordinator at the site, district, and county levels. He now serves as President and CEO of the EdTechTeam, a global network of educational technologists which provides professional development and consulting services to learning institutions, non-profits, and for-profit education companies. The EdTechTeam is a California Benefit Corporation with a mission to improve the world’s education systems using the best technology and pedagogy available. They aim to inspire and empower other educators to do the same. They also work with education leaders to address their most difficult problems and reach their highest goals. EdTechTeam was recognized in March 2019 as the Google for Education Partner of The Year.

Mark Wagner has a Ph.D. in Educational Technology and a master’s degree in cross-cultural education. His doctoral research focused on the use of video games in education, and specifically on the potential applications of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) as constructivist learning environments. He is the author of More Now: A Message from The Future for The Educators of Today (2018).

3 Things for School Leaders to Consider During the Transition to Distance Learning

We’ve all been stuck to our cell phones, televisions, and radios over the past week as decisions have been made to begin closing schools across the country to prepare for what will happen with the COVID-19 epidemic.  Hard choices have been made to close schools very quickly and as a result, teachers and central office staff have been hurriedly creating websites, distance learning opportunities and even physical packets of worksheets so our students and parents are not only informed but so that learning is able to continue.

In many school districts across the nation, decisions were made to close schools starting as early as Monday, March 16, 2020, for an indefinite amount of time. As the school leader in your building, you’ve put things in place to ensure that your students have what they need to be successful while face to face learning is temporarily on hold, but have you considered those things that you may need to put into place for you and your stakeholders? 

There are three things that I’d like you to consider as the school leader in your building as we begin this unfamiliar journey of distance learning. 

Consideration #1 – How will you communicate with your staff?

Being as though you won’t be seeing your staff face to face for some time, you’ll want to make sure that you have plenty of communication measures in place to ensure that everyone receives all of the information they need while we are out and as we prepare to enter back into our school buildings.  Be sure to consider everyone on your staff (ie, teachers, administrative assistants, media specialists, nutrition workers, nurses, counselors, custodians, etc). How often should you be communicating with your staff during this time? Only you know. You might also consider holding weekly virtual staff meetings.

I think a lot of us depend on our email.  With the influx of parents emailing teachers, central office emailing everyone, etc, email inboxes could potentially reach capacity rather quickly. It’s important that we have some other measures in place to be proactive.  Keep in mind that you may have to explore and use a few different methods of communication. Here are a few to consider: 

  • Create a blog specific to keeping your staff informed.
  • Use Remind to send text message reminders to your staff.  You could also text them links to the blog referenced above.
  • Send daily screencasts so your staff “sees” you delivering the information.  There are a few tools you can use for this.  
    • Google Meet has released its recording feature free for 2 months.  You could create a Meet and record it with only you present and send them that link.  Meet could be an option to conduct a virtual staff meeting as well. This tool has a capacity of 250 people.
    • You could use Screencast-O-Matic to screen record either just you addressing your staff via webcam, or record your screen if you had other information to share with them. 
    • Zoom is another recording tool that you could consider using as well. Zoom is also another option to hold virtual staff meetings.  This tool has a capacity of 100 people in the free version.  
    • Create a newsletter through a tool like Smore, Microsoft Sway, etc. that will provide updates to your staff.
  • You may have to send out physical newsletters home through the mail to your staff. We’ve encountered some teachers in our district that don’t have access to wifi. While there are internet companies that have stepped up to offer free wifi, we can’t assume that it will reach everyone we need it to.

Consideration #2 – How will you keep your parents informed?

Parents will likely be stuck to their televisions and news feeds for the latest information regarding COVID-19.  How will you ensure that your school community is receiving the latest information pertaining to your particular school and their child’s classes?  

  • If you don’t have social media accounts for your school, this may be the time to move forward with creating them. Of course, you should check with your central office for the rules that pertain to your district first. Twitter, Facebook and even Instagram are all good places to begin and I’d be willing to bet that you have parents on all of those platforms. Don’t feel stressed that you need to create content for all 3 of these. Create it once, and post it in all 3 places.  Keep it simple!
  • Keep your school’s website updated.  Parents are going to be looking for the latest information and will depend on your website to be updated.  Be sure to not only include information regarding students being out of the building, but also any pertinent district information. This could include information about how students can access food from the nutrition department if they need it, if there is a wifi company offering free wifi opportunities, etc. In times like this, I don’t think there is too much information.
  • Create videos and screencasts that you can send to your parents via email and/or post to your school’s website and/or on social media.
  • Be sensitive to the fact that not all of your parents have access to wifi at home.  You may need to depend on sending physical mail home.  
  • Be sure to translate all information that you send out into the languages that your families need.  

Consideration #3 – How will you hold your teachers accountable for remote learning?

There are so many unknown questions at this time for all of us.  How will you ensure that your teachers are doing what they are required to do during this time?  What documentation will you require them to submit either while they’re out or once we return back to our school buildings?  Are your teachers still required to submit lesson plans during this time? One of the last things that I’m sure you’ll want to deal with at this time is having parents calling or emailing you to complain that their kid’s teachers are not responsive or continuing to teach. This is not a vacation and we are all still being compensated for teleworking so there has to be a level of accountability for all of us.  We are all professionals and we should all be doing what we were hired to do. We are held accountable during face to face instruction through observations, walkthroughs, lesson plans, etc. Why not while we are engaging in distance learning? Here are a few suggestions to consider.

  • Have your teachers create a daily journal that they keep up with that documents their day.  They could submit it at the end of each day to a shared drive or through a Google Form or even a Google Classroom. They could also compile a weekly journal and submit it at the end of the day on Friday. 
  • Create a staff Flipgrid and have your teachers leave daily reflections at the end of their “workday.”  This would keep your finger on the pulse of what is happening in your teacher’s virtual classrooms as well as give you the opportunity to address any concerns that your teachers may have. You could set the responses to be open so they can view each other’s videos, or you could set them to be moderated so no one else sees who responded and what they said.
  • If your teachers are using Google Meet or Zoom to teach their students during the day, hop in and join the discussion!  I’m sure your students would get a kick out of seeing you engaging with them online!

It’s important for us to remember that for most of us, this is the first time that we are dealing with anything like this.  Let’s all have patience and grace as we figure this out.  

Parents are stressed.  

Kids are excited.  

We are overwhelmed.  

With proper planning and effective implementation of distance learning (whatever that looks like for you and your students), we can and will figure this out, together.

Keep your staff encouraged and uplifted during this time as this is a new experience for all of us. If you listen to an inspirational podcast, send it to them.  If you read a good book, recommend it to them. Our teachers rushed to get learning materials ready for at least 2 weeks for our students on such short notice. Our nutrition departments have been making sure our students can still access the food they need. Our custodians have been sanitizing our schools. Our administrative assistants have been answering questions nonstop. Encourage your staff to take a deep breath and to get back on the horse. We still have a responsibility to take care of our students.

If you need a list of encouraging videos to send your staff, look no further!  Here is a link to one that I found online from Ray Birks (@raybirks). Of course, you want to watch them first and make sure they meet your needs!  Here’s a link to access this amazing list of inspiration: http://bit.ly/TeacherInspo.

Want more distance learning support? Check out our Distance Learning Resource Hub with free live webinars, guides, online courses and more!

Natasha Rachell, a passionate educator, is an alternatively certified high school science teacher turned edtech enthusiast! Currently, Natasha is a Digital Learning Specialist for Atlanta Public Schools.  Natasha has immersed herself into the instructional technology space and has earned several certifications, awards and accomplishments, some of which include: Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, Google Certified Innovator (MentorMeEdu) and Trainer, Apple Teacher, Surface Master Trainer, and Flipgrid Ambassador.  She has a Bachelors in Biology Pre-Med, a Masters in Education Administration, a Specialists in Curriculum and Instruction and is finishing her Doctorate in Organizational Leadership with an Emphasis in Effective Schools. Natasha was selected to take part in the first cohort of Our Voice Academy through EdTechTeam, a group of minority educational technology leaders from across the nation.  Natasha has presented at both the local and national level. She is ecstatic to lead the work as we transition into 21st century classrooms through blended learning opportunities, BYOD, professional learning for instructional technology and digitally connected classrooms. You can learn more about Natasha by following her on Twitter @apsitnatasha, on Instagram @fithappyeducator or by visiting her website at www.natasharachell.com.

6 Strategies for Using a Zero-based Calendar for School Leaders

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Every day we come to work as leaders, we have the opportunity to advance our schoolwide or district goals…or stay in the same place. It’s a daily choice that is often complicated by the realities of leading a school or district office. You never know what will happen on any given day and this often means working on your goals can fall by the wayside due to the tyranny of the urgent. 

Over the years, one thing has become clear to me. If we don’t utilize our calendars effectively, then there’s a really great chance that we’re going to not allocate the time needed to actually achieve our goals. This is why I operate from a zero-based calendar every single day. I even do this on weekends despite my partner’s misgivings.

The philosophy behind a zero-based calendar is that you schedule EVERYTHING. You schedule your morning routine. This might include exercise, breakfast, mediation or whatever is important to you. You schedule appointments/classroom visits, time to connect with your staff, time to work on projects, time to work towards inbox zero, and so forth. 

If a task or goal is not planned and on my calendar, then there is an EXCELLENT chance that it won’t get done. Just ask my partner 🙂 On the other hand, if you plan for your time, then you will see visible progress on your important goals and projects.

Below are some best practices with a zero-based calendar that I have discovered over time. 

First, you should start small and pick just one or two days a week where you operate from a zero-based calendar. By doing this, you can find a rhythm and identify which times work best for varying tasks. I have also found that starting small avoids feeling “overscheduled” and instead gives you an opportunity to dip your toes in the water. I suggest trying this for the first week and then keep adding on days.

Second, for tasks that require creativity or deep thinking, you should overestimate how long something will take when just getting started. Reality dictates that you probably won’t be very good with time estimates in the beginning. For example, I initially blocked out an hour to write this blog post. And by the time this gets published, I will have spent 2-3 hours through various edits and modifications. My aspiration was to write this in an hour, but I know that I will probably spend upwards of three hours writing a great blog post. At least, I hope you’ll think this is a great post 🙂

Third, with a zero-based calendar you will often find small pockets of time in your day that need to be filled. I suggest using those times for tasks or steps toward a goal that don’t require deep thinking. Examples might include reflecting on your goal progression, organizing and responding to email, returning phone calls, taking a break to walk your campus, check in with staff, or even listening to a podcast. The key is to mix up the activities based on what works best for your day and when you work best. 

My fourth strategy is to actually schedule time for social media check-ins. It’s really easy to go down the rabbit hole of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn and lose track of time. I find that by scheduling the time I will spend on a platform, I am more intentional and seek out better content and interactions. 

A fifth strategy is that you have to be willing to be flexible if an emergency, real or otherwise, comes up. The ‘emergency’ could take the form of a phone call with an upset parent, a student meeting, or a sick spouse or child. Those are things that you would and should deal with in the moment. If your blocked out time is taken up by something like this, then you should take the opportunity at the end of the day to schedule it for your next available time that week. 

Finally, one of the daily activities that I recommend completing with a zero-based calendar is to:

  1. spend a few minutes at the end of the day reviewing what you were able to accomplish and identify if anything wasn’t handled that is a priority and part of your goals.
  2. look ahead to the next few days on your calendar and identify any available time slots
  3. reschedule anything you weren’t able to complete during the day

I hope you find these strategies useful in your day to day work as a school leader. If they are helping, I’d love to hear how these strategies are enabling you to reach your goals. Tag me on Twitter or LinkedIn and use the #leaderhacks hashtag and join the conversation!

Best-

Chris

P.S. If you’re looking for more productivity hacks, then I suggest checking out my colleague Dr. Mark Wagner’s digital workshop that’s all about getting the most out of your time. 

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