Interesting Idea

Your Interesting Idea for this week is all about providing time each and every opportunity you have with staff to increase positive school climate.

Have your staff start to share appreciations.  

Getting together as a staff is such a gift.  It is something that has been missed in the past few years, so when you do get together make sure you use that opportunity to strengthen the relationships among staff as well as deepen everyone’s understanding about the important work you are doing.  After spending time together if collectively we do not have a better concept of our work, processes or procedures and/or we don’t have a deeper committed relationship with each other than we have failed as a leader of that meeting.  Deepen the content, deepen the relationships, each and every time. 

Once “Appreciations” is explained and modelled once, it never needs explaining again.  I simply said, does anyone have any appreciations they would like to make public.

A staff member would then indicate they wanted to acknowledge a colleague and share the sentence, “I would like to appreciate (name) for…” .  They then would share a story about this person doing something that made the lives of those around them better.  It may have been a direct impact on the person sharing or could be something they witnessed the person doing with a student/students that they felt needed to be celebrated.

It is the best way (the only way) to end a session together so people are leaving with good feelings about the people they work with.  I still remember each Professional Activity Day prior to Thanksgiving weekend, when the sentence starter changed to ‘I am thankful for…’ (insert tears)

It was common for our new staff to our school or new to teaching to appreciate the mentorship of others.  It was common for grade team partners to thank the other for taking on more of a load during a difficult time.  It was common for an educational assistant to thank a partner for stepping in and assisting during a tough moment.  

It was heartwarming to hear about someone performing continual random acts of kindness.  It was heartwarming to hear someone appreciate a colleague’s programming, or their interactions with students.  It was heartwarming to hear about a coaching session about a difficult conversation that needed to be practiced. 

All of these were shared in the presence of the entire staff. One after the other.

Acknowledging some of the amazing, unknown, quiet brilliance that was happening in the school had a profound effect on the overall climate and culture in the school.  Since this became part of our rituals, people were more willing to step forward and take on tasks.  People stepped out into the spotlight and volunteered to run events and organize activities that were great for students.  Momentum is a powerful thing. 

It was never a popularity contest.  People knew we wanted many stories, from many areas of the school, capturing many employee groups and job descriptions.  And because they were not speaking about themselves it allowed all of us to hear about things happening that we would never have known.

Those that did not really enjoy speaking in public, would be more comfortable when it was about filling the bucket of another.  Key to all of this? It is not just the individual being spoken about, but how it made the entire staff feel knowing that they work with amazing, dedicated, loving people each day.  And don’t we all want that? It is important to acknowledge the acts of kindness that are happening in the school.  It draws everyone in, and creates commitment to  the place where they work.  The relationships between and among the adults are important, especially in education where a great deal of your day may be spent away from other adults.

To get it going each time there were always two or three people that I could eye and they would get it started for me.  No shame in having plants in the crowd.

The activity sends a subtle message to others about collaboration, and working positively with others.   It illustrates the kind of working relationships that are possible in the school, and truly are a must.  Difficult staff relationship conversations are easier when people can see what we are aiming for.  It is inclusive because different teams and departments do not get to see the work of the entire staff, especially in a staff of 125 like we had. You may not know these people very well, but you are hearing great things about them, so you know they are in the right place.

There have been times when we have had to say, ‘okay, only two more’ because we could have kept going.   We always share that if you did not get a chance to do it publicly would you find a time in the coming days to have a conversation with the person you want to recognize to share with them how they are appreciated by you.  It is easy to start the conversation with, “I didn’t get a chance to share at the meeting and wanted to express to you my appreciation…’

Social science research is clear.  Many adults comment that their unhappiness stems from a lack of recognition for the work they are doing.  

If you have a concern that there is negative talk happening in the school, behind closed doors, or in the parking lot, then create a process where positive talk is modelled and celebrated.  Combat the negative talk.  Drown out the negative talk.  As a great friend once said, it is hard to be a Eeyore, (Eeyore quote, ‘I was so upset, I forgot to be happy’) when you are surrounded by Tiggers (Tigger quote, ‘Put some bounce in your smile’)  Like our students, staff need to hear way more positive comments then negative comments. 

I appreciate that you have read this far in my blog!

Appreciations brought pride.

Appreciations brought laughter.

Appreciations brought tears. 

Most importantly, appreciations brought us together.

Interesting Ideas

Of course you do numerous things to show your staff that you appreciate them.  I always believed it was the daily interactions, done consistently with love and care that showed I valued all staff and their contributions to our students and school.  While grand gestures are nice, and they have a place in the way we celebrate, it is the day in, day out connections that I had with staff that made the bigger difference.  Really, you can’t be a jerk most days of the week and then try to make up for it with a special treat or event on Friday.

A habit that I picked up early in my career came after a professional learning experience with Todd Whitaker.  If you ever have the opportunity to attend any session run by Todd, I highly recommend it.  So many practical ideas and the energy he gives out each time he speaks is tremendous. You will walk away inspired.

I don’t really remember what he called it, but I adopted it and started calling it Thank You Thursday.  It is a practice I did for over twenty years.

In my work calendar I put a standing appointment every Thursday called Thank You Thursday.  While I know you should not use your calendar as a to do list I put this as an all day event in my calendar because it had to be done on that day.  It would be the first thing I would see when I reviewed my calendar but obviously over time, it was just Thursday, and I did this every Thursday, so even though is was written down, I did not need to be reminded.

Every Thursday I would write three hand written thank you cards.  Most times they would go to staff members, but every once in a while they would go to a parent in our community, the crossing guard, bus drivers, even students.

We had cards made up that included our two school logos and our mantra of Work Hard, Be Nice, Make a Difference.  Inside I would write a note thanking the individual for living our beliefs.

During the week, at the back of my notebook, I would capture something that I had seen, or heard about a staff member going above and beyond and on Thursday I would write up a card and place it on their work desk, mailbox or work area.  

Any time we had a new staff member join our school I would write a note to welcome them to our school, also to say goodbye, but most of the time it was for a small, yet powerful random act that they had done.  I always connected it to our saying of Work Hard, Be Nice, Make a Difference in order to continue the common language and to model our beliefs.

Many times it was a positive, heartwarming or comforting interaction I saw with them and a student.

Or a particular lesson that I saw when I came around into their classroom.

Watching them interact with parents outside during drop off or pick up times.

How they used break times to run a club, or provide a safe place for students to hang out.

I started to notice that the cards where kept, they had value for those that were receiving them.  They were placed on desks, or hung on the bulletin board close to their work area.

Those that became administrators from our school and were going off to be leaders on their own would often ask me if I recorded who had received them and did I try to make sure I got everyone.  We had over 130 staff members, so only doing three a week would not get me everyone during the year but I did share the following strategy.

We all know the staff members who could get one every week, it is in everything that they do, you catch them being fantastic all the time.  So I did keep track and I did attach a staff list in the back of my book.  I would often scan the list of names to see who should be getting a card or most importantly those that I noticed ‘needed’ a card.  The cards were always sincere, never made up just to get one done. I would not write one just because a name I saw had not received one recently.  But it did light a fire under me to go out and catch them being amazing.  My belief was that everyone in the building was a fabulous educator and were there for the right reasons.  It was my fault for not finding the opportunities to recognize this.  You have never done a card for someone? That is my problem as a leader.  If I didn’t know much about a staff member I put that on me that I had not made it a point to get around to see them

I had heard once about Superstars and Rockstars.  

The Superstars are the teachers that do amazing things in the school, and really stand out.  Their presence is felt and everyone knows them.  You hear them at meetings and in the building.  The parents know them. They stand out in the crowd.

Then there are your Rockstars.  Solid, like a rock.  They are not looking to stand out.  They create magic in their classrooms and their purpose is not to be noticed.  They are one hundred percent in it for the students and their families.  And unless you have systems in place to share good practice and get people into classrooms to see what others are doing, no other staff really sees the incredible work that is being done by your Rockstars.

You need both in your school, but I have always believed it is the Rockstars that are most important.  Thank you Thursdays highlight to you and to them their importance, their value to your mission and acknowledges that you are so glad they are there with you. This is why I did Thank You Thursdays.  To acknowledge all those that fly a little under the radar but do such amazing things for their students and their families.

Another habit that formed because of this was during my walk abouts.  I would make sure I had a pen and post it notes with me.  Going into a classroom I always interacted with the students, asking them what the learning goals were, how they knew they understood, to teach me back etc. When I left a classroom I would jot down a positive statement about the lesson, class, atmosphere, something, not feedback, just an affirmation and I would stick it on the teacher desk, or work place over their binder, on their phone, in a spot where they could see it.  Something like, ‘These students are on fire with this concept!”  ‘Awesome student participation’.  ‘I really like how your students interact with each other’.  ‘What a lovely feel you have in this room’.  A thirty second task on my part that acknowledges and affirms.

Recognize your staff every way you can.  And if you like this Interesting Idea, give it a try. Every Thursday! Three hand written cards! Less than five minutes of your time!  Show them that you notice.  And for you, giving actually feels pretty good as well.

Interesting Ideas

Back at the beginning of November I wrote a blog about the cell phone problem we had at our school.  Those that read the blog were able to learn how we worked as a school, staff and students, to make sure we had a co-created plan in place so technology could be used in the correct manner.  In the blog I spoke about the fact that the problem was not necessarily the cell phone, it was what the student was doing on the cell phone.  As educators we all know the proper use and purpose of technology.  It is not ‘that’ a phone was used, it is ‘what’ the phone was being used to do.  Using the device as a learning tool is what needed to be clarified and understood by everyone.  When phones are used for this purpose all is good.

But admit it, it still troubles you as an administrator to see a student with their head buried in their phone because you are questioning what they are doing.  Go back to that blog if you want to know how we came up with common expectations for student cell phone use.

I teased in that blog that our cell phone issue was not a student issue, it was in fact an adult problem in our school and in a future blog I would write about dealing with staff cell phone use.  That blog is now.

 I had much more difficulty as an administrator when I saw an adult with their head buried in their phone because I was questioning what they were doing.

So while some may have come to the blog immediately thinking I was speaking about the student population I actually spent more time thinking about, worried about and trying to problem solve as a leader about the adults not using their cell phones in the proper way in the school.

We had adults in the hallway in front of others on their phones.  Remember, it is not the phone, it is what they are doing on the phone.  During work hours, when the adults are working with students, there is proper use of a device and there are times when it is not appropriate.  If they were using their phone to capture notes, take a photo, record a memo for the purposes of our students and learning that was a different issue.  

I have walked passed classrooms and looked in to see adults working with a small group of students and on their phone.  I have seen adults caring for a single child requiring an individualized program of instruction, and on their phone.

Do your staff have their phones out while with you at staff meetings or professional learning sessions?  What are they doing on their phones during those times?

So what to do?

We can all agree, there is a time and a place.

As a leader?  You say nothing, and you allow it to continue.

There are situations where it is not acceptable for the adults to be on their phones while working with students.  So do you speak up?

Now obviously we need to be connected to our families.  The young ones we care for and older family members that may require our support. There was a time when the only option for someone outside the school to contact me was through the school office.  I understand when staff members share with me their need for their phones to be with them in order to stay in contact.  If an emergency would arise, we would find another adult to take their place, ensure students are properly supervised and allow that staff member to go to a quiet, private place to make sure everything is okay.

As a leader you have a standard in your mind about student and staff interactions.  How staff use their cell phones while working with students must be an expectation that you have.

If you have set a standard, you either lower the standard when people cannot match the expectation, or you don’t want to enforce it. Or you have good conversations with your team about the expectations and coach and help people to achieve the expectation.  Over time, has the expectation slipped to the point where you have an adult cell phone issue in your school?

We were problem solving with our students about the use of cell phones in the school. We wanted student voice to come up with common expectations. It was during our classroom community circle conversations that we had each month (Significant 72…72 minutes a month, read about that in the blog on August 30, 2021) that some senior students shared that the adults in the building were being hypocrites.  “They are always telling us to get off the phones, put the phones away, but they are on them all the time”.  Even some of our students were seeing the modelling done by the adults.  Is this the example we want to set in a school?

We would always share the comments from students each month after our Significant 72 work, so here was a great lead in for our next staff meeting.  Are we bad role models?  Table groups were able to have a conversation about what the students were saying.  Some wise voices in the group got it, they understood and were embarrassed. It really was a great conversation starter and after some discussion we came up with the following plan.

We were all going to do a better job of being on our phones and modelling for our students the proper use of technology. 

We were going to announce to the students whenever there was a moment we wanted to ‘capture’ in the class or working with a group.  We were transparent to those around us when the phone was out and being used, and sharing how it was being used.  What a great example to set for our students when they are using their phones!

When we were going to use our phones to catch up on our lives, it was during our breaks in common staff areas such as the staff room or workrooms.

And if we saw another staff member in a common area, where students could see the adults using their phones, they would smile at their colleague and simply say, ‘It’s work, right?’ And jog their memory.

Some of us would smile and say, ‘what good stuff are you capturing right now?’

Often people would smile and say, ‘yep’ and then put their phone away, but the point was made.

We policed each other.

It may sound heavy handed, but the message was sent to staff and reinforced.  We are here for the students.  When working with the students they have us 100%.  

We are not asking you to use your own phone for school purposes, in fact we would prefer that you don’t use your personal device.  We have lots of technology available in the school for you to have a classroom device for tracking, recording, note taking, photographs etc

As a leader, if it bothers you, say something.  Do something about it.  Start with some candid, respectful conversation about what you see as an issue.  All our staff had been trained in Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue, so we were accustom to having uncomfortable discussions at times.  Take the course if you get the chance.

A hard conversation to have at the start, but so much nicer than being a leader that has to say, ‘put your phone away’.

Do cell phones in the hands of the adults bother you at school?

Be really transparent. Use your phone for work if you wish but announce what you are doing. And if you see others, smile, and discretely remind the person of our common commitment to ourselves and our students.

Put your phone away while working with children or other staff (staff meetings included!) 

Interesting Ideas

Never stop teaching.  Strengthen your school climate by giving your students the skills to work through issues with classmates.

I don’t want to downplay the effects that bullying has on our students.  Bullying behaviour has life long impacts on students.  Schools are meant to be safe, comfortable, learning spaces for all students.  Staff in schools work hard to teach far more than academics.  Our ability to get along, negotiate, apologize and care for each other has its learning roots in our schools.

I just want to start off with the statement that not all student negative interactions are bullying or should be labelled that way. It is wonderful that we have bullying awareness week, and have classroom lessons focusing on this important issue.  But when every comment from a child about another child starts with, ‘they are bullying me’, there has to be a better way to help students understand the distinction between bullying and conflict.

By helping your students understand their behaviours, and giving them the skills to problem solve, you will have less ‘smaller issues’ come to the attention of your staff and/or the office.  And, most importantly, by developing a common language that the entire student body understands and uses, when issues do come to your attention all parties can problem solve using a similar common language.

I was recently filling in at a school and assisting two students with a disagreement they were having.  A teacher had sent them to me because she was not comfortable watching their verbal exchange on the stairwell as they were heading outside for break.

We went into an empty classroom and I did some teaching.  I shared with students the concept of ‘fair chance’.  

Each year in our schools I would visit classrooms or have a large assembly, and then have teachers reinforce and re-teach the idea of fair chance.  Senior students were always wonderful at acting out a scenario for our younger students so they would begin to understand about speaking up and trying to solve their issues on the playground, in the locker areas, hallways etc, on their own.

The scenario would be something like this.  While playing a game, or walking quickly in the hallway one student would bump into another.  The child would not apologize for the contact and instead would make an insulting comment to the person that they collided with.  And then we would pause.

The student that had received the comment or the contact would say to the person, ‘I don’t like…’ ‘Please be careful..’ A comment that is kind but appropriate in the circumstance.  And then we would pause again and ask the question.

‘What would a kind person, a Boyne student who understands Work Hard, Be Nice, Make a Difference, do at that point?’  If it truly was an accident or a mistake, or an event that occurred because of the game or sport that you were playing, what would a good person do?’

Every student knew the appropriate response.  When our students called out other students about their comments or behaviour and gave them ‘fair chance’ we would expect an apology, a ‘ya,  you’re right’. This acknowledgement from the person showed they understood that they had caused a problem and together the two of them could work towards a resolution.

Now, I’ll stop for a moment and share that these conflicts are minor in scale.  Absolutely!  Hurtful comments, physical violence and behaviour of a much more harmful nature require more than someone pointing out to a student that it is unacceptable and giving them a ‘fair chance’. Our students were aware of the Harmful Language Protocol and when staff intervention was required.  This Interesting Idea is around the smaller mishaps that occur during play. What it does do for the school is prevents the constant misrepresentation of daily occurrences as being bullying behaviours.

Students are taught that after a person gives a polite fair chance comment, they should listen to the next statement from the person involved.  If they are unkind, if they are participating in bullying behaviour they would comment , ‘I don’t care, you are still…’. ‘or swear’ ‘ or tell them to shut up’ or other negative comments.

One of the students common lines was often, ‘remember fair chance?’ or directly, ‘I’m giving you fair chance, was that on purpose?’

I still remember the situation where the child responded to the fair chance statement with, ‘I don’t care what Mr. Marshall told us, you are still a …’. And remember, the words used here were not indicative of the Harmful Language Protocol, they were unkind words from a primary student.

In that case we ask the receiver of the comment to look around for others in the game or in the area and ask, ‘did you hear me give him/her fair chance?’  When they have others that heard that fair chance was provided, we now have witnesses to events we do not want to have occur at our school and problem solving with everyone involved is so much easier.

It changes the wording. I would much rather have a student come to me and say, ‘I gave (name) fair chance and they didn’t listen to me’ than ‘(name) is bullying me’.  This is a great opportunity to do some learning with the students involved using language that both parties should understand.  Some times the problem started with how the student provided fair chance.

Problem solving with students about issues that occur in the school become so clear, when a fair chance statement is given, and the person does not ‘make a difference’ in the moment and start to repair the problem.  You still need to investigate the entire event but you don’t have layers of statements to wade through.

Parents were so appreciative when we debriefed and shared the fair chance common language.  Parents would hear that when their child was given ‘fair chance’ they still continued to bother, harass, and upset the other child.  This continual behaviour is bullying behaviour and was upsetting to hear as a parent.

Many parents have commented that they think it is wonderful the school is using fair chance, and they are starting to use it at home with siblings.  Students were provided with ‘homework’ at the beginning of the year, and after breaks (Significant 72) to explain fair chance at home.

The other situation that you are probably thinking about is the child who receives fair chance constantly,  Every day, the same students are getting fair chance comments.  Again, a different issue and one that needs to be addressed.  Working with families to support the child that would ignore fair chance would then occur so students could maintain their friendships. We created the opportunity for lots of great family discussions at home. 

There are situations in our schools more severe and important to correct than these ‘little’ instances that occur. However for these common interactions provide your students with common language like the ability to give someone fair chance.  All students understand the words and it prevents every minor disagreement in the school being labeled as bullying. It provides language for your students to begin to work on disagreement with their peers in a comfortable setting. 

You will be amazed at the number of students who will share with you, ‘I gave (name) fair chance when we were playing and now we are friends again’.

There’s your interesting idea.  I hope you have enjoyed your chance to read it.

Interesting Ideas

Moving from school to school is part of the job for an administrator.  It is both exciting and anxiety provoking.  Starting with an entry plan for the new location is key.  Each time I have moved I have done an activity with staff that I called ‘Successes and Barriers’.  I want to find out what creates the greatest pride in the school and also what are the ‘things’ that get in their way and prevents them from doing their absolute best for the students they have in front of them.

The most common response for teachers listing their barriers, is “time”.  Every teacher wishes they had more time.  They wish they were not impacted by a sudden bell that rings and interrupts the amazing lesson that is happening, when all students are fully engaged and in a flow.  At times they wish they were not interrupted by the public address system or other school wide events that do not pertain to them. They also wish they had more time with their teaching partners or division or same subject teachers during preparation periods in order to ‘talk shop’ with someone that understands their assignment.

Instructional time is so important for student learning. How we use it and abuse it is an important thing to consider within a school.  As a school leader there are numerous structural things that you can do that impact the sanctity of preserving instructional time.

The school board that I worked with for 33 years now has a balanced day schedule.  The Canadian in me always described this to my American friends as the classic hockey game.  We had 100 minutes of instructional time, then a 40 minute break (intermission), another 100 minutes of instructional time, a 40 minute break and ending with a final 100 minutes of instructional time.  This was not always the case and I remember beginning my teaching career with two 15 minute recesses and an hour lunch in the middle of the day.  This model is still used in numerous school across North America.

Think of the time spent in transition?  Students needing to get ready for break, getting dressed to go outside, grabbing a lunch or snack and then repeating the process in reverse to start up again.  I read somewhere that each transition loses approximately 5 minutes (if done well) off of instructional time.  Teacher contracts mean that there is a clear distinction between break time and instructional time.  If students and staff don’t utilize opportunities during non instructional time to prepare for instructional time then all the time lost comes from the instructional day. Three breaks in a day equals 15 minutes a day of lost instructional time, which is over 46 hours in a school year.  Even with our balanced day schedule we were still losing close to 32 hours in the year.

What could I do as a leader to show I value instructional time and then structure the school in a way to maximize our time in class? By modelling the importance of instructional time to staff the message became pretty clear that class time was going to be used well.  It helped me as a leader have the conversations with staff when students were not active users of class time. We can all think of class activities that are not a good use of time, we also know the importance of slowing down, having breaks during instruction and having fun and building relationships with students.  All of these examples are important to do during instructional time, I’m just commenting that there are some classroom practices that do not honour the importance of using time well.

In the creation of the timetable we wanted to make great use of the full 100 minutes of the instructional block.  This most commonly meant students staying with their teacher for the entire 100 minutes before the next break.  Some classes needed to be scheduled for shorter lengths of time (French, physical education, music, visual arts etc) so we would work to make sure two classes occurred during that time.  If a class was going to leave their teacher for a French class, they were also going to have another subject not taught by their teacher during that 100 minute block.

This allowed us to be targeted with our preparation time schedule.  For example, one grade four class has French/music, while another has music/French.  Now those two teachers have a common prep period together for half the time, and the other period could be used to provide coverage to two teachers (primary teachers) of another grade so they are together.  As much as possible the timetable was written with the idea of giving the opportunity to teachers to be with others in their grade, division or same subject

Teachers of home room classes loved having their classes to begin the day.  The first 100 minutes were considered golden time and they did not want their classes moving through the school to other subject areas.  So our coverage teachers and specialist teachers without homerooms would have preparation time in the morning.  And if a class did have an interrupted first block, we made certain that it occurred only once in a week.

One of the best ways to honour instructional time revolves around announcements.  We put all our announcements in a shared document that could be read/displayed by teachers when they wanted to share it during the first large block of time.  Announcements needed to be done some time prior to the first break so students were aware of any extra curricular activities that may be happening during that time.  Our primary teachers in particular loved not having the morning learning time taken up by school wide messages that had little to do with their students. 

Our national anthem was integrated into our bell system and would start to play at the same time every morning.  It indicated to students, families and staff the official start time of the school day.  If you arrived at school after O’Canada, you were late for school that day.  I did not get on the p.a. system and ask for everyone’s attention, did not ask them to stand for the national anthem, it just started playing.  Everyone would stop, stand and begin the day.

As mentioned, teachers appreciated using the announcements in a way that best served their students and their instructional time. They often found that the content in the announcements did not pertain to their students.  We found lots of ways to celebrate the accomplishments of our teams, bands, clubs and individual students outside of using the PA system to stop the entire school.  Teachers would review the announcements in the morning and determine ‘when’, ‘if’, and ‘how’ they would share the news of the day.  Birthdays were recognized within individual classrooms.  

Some classes wanted to give the leadership opportunity of reading announcements to their own students. One of the classroom roles for students would be the ‘announcement reader’,  a rotating group of students who would share the announcements with their own class, a joke of the day, birthday wishes etc.  Relationship building, class togetherness, leadership opportunities within each class instead of one or two special students getting to do it for the entire school!

At each transition time we had a warning bell.  It would ring two minutes prior to the bell that signified the start of the next instructional period.  This bell signified to staff that students would be starting with you in two minutes and since instructional time is your teaching time, the expectation is that you are with your students at the start of that time.  Therefore, you have two minutes left in your break before you need to be where you need to be.  At the start of the instructional time, every staff member who was on schedule for that time was in the hallway, on the stairs, outside at the doors and greeting children.  No one was in their classroom waiting for their students to get to them.

Every administrator knows that it is during this moving time when trouble begins.  Since transition time was not built into the timetable, and we had over 1000 students, all staff teaching at those times was working and therefore visual for the students moving from outside to inside, and inside to outside.  It allowed our staff to engage with students, welcome them, high five, fist pump, ‘so glad to see you today’.  A simple thing that is so important.

A common phrase outside with our students was ‘beat the bell’.  After the first bell (warning bell) would ring students were asked to be in their lines, or in the school before the next bell rang.  We had a large field, so after the two minute warning bell, it would take that amount of time to clear the field and get students onto the pavement and near their entry door.  Because the second bell was the start of instructional time, they were greeted by all the staff that were beginning the next class period to get them into the building, into their classrooms and ready to learn.  It allowed transitions to be done quickly, done safely and smoothly because every staff can be involved.  I can guarantee that it did not take 5 minutes out of instructional time to be ready to go because of the use of the warning bell and then all staff ‘working’ to get students settled.

And finally, how often does your school allow someone to get onto the PA system and make an announcement in the middle of instructional time?

How often is a child called down to the office to receive a message or item left at home?

Are messages broadcast through your entire school that are targeted to a single student or class?

I cannot say I value instructional time and then allow office staff or myself to continually interrupt the learning in the school.  Find another way. Don’t interrupt the learning of the entire school to get a message to one class or one individual.  The first year at a different school would be an interesting time as they got to know me, because I did not allow anyone in the office to use the PA system without asking me first.  I’m curious what they said under their breath if they were used to doing things a different way in the past.  In almost all cases I would take the message or item to the classroom or student myself, right in that moment (two minute rule) and I didn’t do it for that particular family or child.  I walked through the building to see everyone, I was visible in the school delivering items in order to protect the learning time of the other 1000 students in the school.

Walk the walk, talk the talk and protect instructional time.  When you become a school leader who has worked with staff in order to protect and optimize instructional time it is now easier to begin those conversations with teachers when class time is not being used well.  Hard conversations for sure, but having been very public in our beliefs about the importance of instructional time it is now easier to begin to ask good questions about the practices occurring in classrooms.