Do you color code your calendar? If so, how? If not, why not? Is your calendar available to all staff? In other words, can they see your calendar? Schedule things on your calendar?
Additionally, do you schedule time for the unexpected? Such as block it out? Just wondering since you said something such as "if you have a white space, someone will fill it."
I thought you said that if you leave blank space on your calendar, someone will fill it up - but slide 26 says to keep some blank space on the calendar. How do you designate space for the unexpected without leaving it free for the taking?
Hmmm...the unexpected is often more important than the expected...don't know if I quite understand or agree with that. Classroom observations are of utmost importance and those are expected. Please advise...
Doctors, dentists, etc., often use this technique of NOT scheduling every minute of every day on the calendar, in the interest of handling walk-ins. I found the concept to be useful in my principal role, since the walk-ins happen, whether we want them to or not. It seems to serve (and is received by) the "customers" a little better if they are told that Dr. Coulter is scheduled tightly for the next hour, but can speak to you then, rather than saying something like his next appointment in next Thursday at 8:00 a.m.
So while you are not tightly scheduled, do you go out into the building and take care of other things or do walkthroughs? I would assume you don't wait around for a walk-in to happen since they won't happen every day at the exact time you schedule them for, but then I could see the chance of you getting caught up in other things very very high and then there goes your scheduled walk-in time. Does your secretary ping you when someone is there or would you have a check-in system to go back to the office every once in a while?
Generally, I try to stay OUT of the office during the school day, unless I have an appointment scheduled. Yes, the secretary would ping me via radio if I have a needy customer and there is not something scheduled on my calendar.
What do you do with conflicts? Do you treat it as first come, first served? Or do you remove the thing that is of least importance? Or do you see if you can divide your time between the two? Or do you send a representation or your input?
If I can resolve/reconcile the conflict by squishing my time, I will. If I can get to two meetings (of which I'm not the chair), making an appearance and participating substantively in both (even if briefly), that's what I'll do. On the hard conflicts, I'll either have to cancel or send a trusted designee in my place. What I don't do (on purpose) is no-show folks. If I can't get there, I'll let 'em know I can't get there. Always, ALWAYS, I want folks to feel that I've honored their time.
Discipline is a huge issue on our campus. Our admin say that they don't feel like instructional leaders because they "run from fire to fire" (the majority of these fires have been from the Social/Behavioral Support unit that was placed on our campus this year that the district did not support/provide the correct amount of teachers for). What is your opinion on scheduling walk-throughs/grade level meetings/etc., and then reacting to a safety issue with a student (kicking a teacher, running from the campus, etc.). How do you honor your staff's time but also the importance of the "unexpected" when you have one AP and no SRO? Obviously a huge thing is staff capacity building/social and emotional learning to change the school culture, but how do you make those day to day calls of who tends to the emergencies when staff is limited and need is high?
As with our Rattlesnake Alerts, the first level of decision making is on the point of safety. IF a discipline problem (or runner problem) is of immediate concern regarding safety, yep, gotta attend to it now. Most discipline problems don't fit into that box (though the referring teacher often thinks it does). Helping educate your assistant principals and secretaries about the different in "urgent" and "important" will allow you to spend more of your time on teaching/learning and less of it putting out those fires that are simply fires because of perception, not the reality.
Sam, not sure if you have CIS reps on your campus, but this has really helped to minimize the constant fires due to social/emotional issues. CIS usually puts out those fires and admin is left to deal with more serious fires and instruction. This is also due to the trust we have built on our campus with CIS. Relationship building!!
I use Google Calendar (because it's free and it travels with me when I move from one job to another). I can create multiple calendars, and color them with different colors. Thus, I have one calendar for my personal schedule, another for my superintendent work (when I was one), another for school activities, etc. I can turn any of those calendars "on" or "off" so that they display when I look at my screen. I usually leave them all "on" so as to be able to navigate new entries in a way that avoids conflicts. I give several people, but not the general public, viewing rights to my calendar. My wife and secretary have scheduling permission (they can add, delete, or move stuff on my calendar, but rarely do). I give my daughters and sons-in-law viewing rights (the girls for informational purposes and the boys as a modeling tool for how they can better manage their lives as school administrators).
Also - in the calendar screen shot it says things like "folder" and "forms". How do you remember what you're supposed to be doing with that vague of a description? Or if you are to share publicly, wouldn't you have to clean it up a bit?
If I abbreviate or use an acronym, I'll remember what it is. When there are items that I think I might not remember, such as the address of a meeting downtown or the name and confirmation of the hotel I'm gonna stay at in Washington, DC, I'll include that in the calendar entry for that event. In short, I use the calendar to book my time, and use it as my memory for items that I'm pretty certain I won't remember.
I use Google Calendar (because it's free and it travels with me when I move from one job to another). I can create multiple calendars, and color them with different colors. Thus, I have one calendar for my personal schedule, another for my superintendent work (when I was one), another for school activities, etc. I can turn any of those calendars "on" or "off" so that they display when I look at my screen. I usually leave them all "on" so as to be able to navigate new entries in a way that avoids conflicts. I give several people, but not the general public, viewing rights to my calendar. My wife and secretary have scheduling permission (they can add, delete, or move stuff on my calendar, but rarely do). I give my daughters and sons-in-law viewing rights (the girls for informational purposes and the boys as a modeling tool for how they can better manage their lives as school administrators).
I cant keep to what's on my calendar. If I fill the day up, it ends up being more of a wish list than a calendar----
There are certain things that I tell myself absolutely have to get done---meetings, deadlined assignments, etc.
But in truth, if a schedule my entire day--- or even more than 2/3s of it-- I end up feeling defeated when I realize how much didnt get done. ESPECIALLY since I never ever stopped working.
I'm fine with it. But there is so much out there about scheduling and white space and inefficiency.
Realistically, I imagine my calendar being blank except for the absolute MUST DOs--- which is currently classroom obs, student academic coaching, ILT meetings, parent conferences, pre-scheduled team meetings----
Everything else that comes my way I just find a way to fit into the day.
How inefficient is this? And what if a jam packed schedule with no white space would make me insane. Is that ok too?
I think you're using your calendar wisely. So much of our work is "ongoing" and much of it never gets "finished." Understanding that the only things that get on the calendar are the MUST-BE-DONE-AT-THIS-TIME is a reasonable approach to efficiency.
No question as calendar management is generally a strength for me in terms of getting things done. That said, I need to use my calendar more strategically to align with the campus priorities as well as use my white space more effectively.
Do you color code your calendar? If so, how? If not, why not? Is your calendar available to all staff? In other words, can they see your calendar? Schedule things on your calendar?
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, do you schedule time for the unexpected? Such as block it out? Just wondering since you said something such as "if you have a white space, someone will fill it."
DeleteI thought you said that if you leave blank space on your calendar, someone will fill it up - but slide 26 says to keep some blank space on the calendar. How do you designate space for the unexpected without leaving it free for the taking?
ReplyDeleteSee my response to Alonzo below. I think that explains the rationale.
DeleteHmmm...the unexpected is often more important than the expected...don't know if I quite understand or agree with that. Classroom observations are of utmost importance and those are expected. Please advise...
ReplyDeleteDoctors, dentists, etc., often use this technique of NOT scheduling every minute of every day on the calendar, in the interest of handling walk-ins. I found the concept to be useful in my principal role, since the walk-ins happen, whether we want them to or not. It seems to serve (and is received by) the "customers" a little better if they are told that Dr. Coulter is scheduled tightly for the next hour, but can speak to you then, rather than saying something like his next appointment in next Thursday at 8:00 a.m.
DeleteSo while you are not tightly scheduled, do you go out into the building and take care of other things or do walkthroughs? I would assume you don't wait around for a walk-in to happen since they won't happen every day at the exact time you schedule them for, but then I could see the chance of you getting caught up in other things very very high and then there goes your scheduled walk-in time. Does your secretary ping you when someone is there or would you have a check-in system to go back to the office every once in a while?
DeleteGenerally, I try to stay OUT of the office during the school day, unless I have an appointment scheduled. Yes, the secretary would ping me via radio if I have a needy customer and there is not something scheduled on my calendar.
DeleteWhat do you do with conflicts? Do you treat it as first come, first served? Or do you remove the thing that is of least importance? Or do you see if you can divide your time between the two? Or do you send a representation or your input?
ReplyDeleteIf I can resolve/reconcile the conflict by squishing my time, I will. If I can get to two meetings (of which I'm not the chair), making an appearance and participating substantively in both (even if briefly), that's what I'll do. On the hard conflicts, I'll either have to cancel or send a trusted designee in my place. What I don't do (on purpose) is no-show folks. If I can't get there, I'll let 'em know I can't get there. Always, ALWAYS, I want folks to feel that I've honored their time.
DeleteDiscipline is a huge issue on our campus. Our admin say that they don't feel like instructional leaders because they "run from fire to fire" (the majority of these fires have been from the Social/Behavioral Support unit that was placed on our campus this year that the district did not support/provide the correct amount of teachers for). What is your opinion on scheduling walk-throughs/grade level meetings/etc., and then reacting to a safety issue with a student (kicking a teacher, running from the campus, etc.). How do you honor your staff's time but also the importance of the "unexpected" when you have one AP and no SRO? Obviously a huge thing is staff capacity building/social and emotional learning to change the school culture, but how do you make those day to day calls of who tends to the emergencies when staff is limited and need is high?
ReplyDeleteAs with our Rattlesnake Alerts, the first level of decision making is on the point of safety. IF a discipline problem (or runner problem) is of immediate concern regarding safety, yep, gotta attend to it now. Most discipline problems don't fit into that box (though the referring teacher often thinks it does). Helping educate your assistant principals and secretaries about the different in "urgent" and "important" will allow you to spend more of your time on teaching/learning and less of it putting out those fires that are simply fires because of perception, not the reality.
DeleteSam, not sure if you have CIS reps on your campus, but this has really helped to minimize the constant fires due to social/emotional issues. CIS usually puts out those fires and admin is left to deal with more serious fires and instruction. This is also due to the trust we have built on our campus with CIS. Relationship building!!
DeleteI use Google Calendar (because it's free and it travels with me when I move from one job to another). I can create multiple calendars, and color them with different colors. Thus, I have one calendar for my personal schedule, another for my superintendent work (when I was one), another for school activities, etc. I can turn any of those calendars "on" or "off" so that they display when I look at my screen. I usually leave them all "on" so as to be able to navigate new entries in a way that avoids conflicts. I give several people, but not the general public, viewing rights to my calendar. My wife and secretary have scheduling permission (they can add, delete, or move stuff on my calendar, but rarely do). I give my daughters and sons-in-law viewing rights (the girls for informational purposes and the boys as a modeling tool for how they can better manage their lives as school administrators).
ReplyDeleteAlso - in the calendar screen shot it says things like "folder" and "forms". How do you remember what you're supposed to be doing with that vague of a description? Or if you are to share publicly, wouldn't you have to clean it up a bit?
ReplyDeleteIf I abbreviate or use an acronym, I'll remember what it is. When there are items that I think I might not remember, such as the address of a meeting downtown or the name and confirmation of the hotel I'm gonna stay at in Washington, DC, I'll include that in the calendar entry for that event. In short, I use the calendar to book my time, and use it as my memory for items that I'm pretty certain I won't remember.
DeleteDoes your secretary add events to your calendar for you? Or is it all you?
ReplyDeleteI use Google Calendar (because it's free and it travels with me when I move from one job to another). I can create multiple calendars, and color them with different colors. Thus, I have one calendar for my personal schedule, another for my superintendent work (when I was one), another for school activities, etc. I can turn any of those calendars "on" or "off" so that they display when I look at my screen. I usually leave them all "on" so as to be able to navigate new entries in a way that avoids conflicts. I give several people, but not the general public, viewing rights to my calendar. My wife and secretary have scheduling permission (they can add, delete, or move stuff on my calendar, but rarely do). I give my daughters and sons-in-law viewing rights (the girls for informational purposes and the boys as a modeling tool for how they can better manage their lives as school administrators).
DeleteIt's very cool that you are always looking to build capacity and model.
DeleteI cant keep to what's on my calendar.
ReplyDeleteIf I fill the day up, it ends up being more of a wish list than a calendar----
There are certain things that I tell myself absolutely have to get done---meetings, deadlined assignments, etc.
But in truth, if a schedule my entire day--- or even more than 2/3s of it-- I end up feeling defeated when I realize how much didnt get done.
ESPECIALLY since I never ever stopped working.
I'm fine with it.
But there is so much out there about scheduling and white space and inefficiency.
Realistically, I imagine my calendar being blank except for the absolute MUST DOs---
which is currently classroom obs, student academic coaching, ILT meetings, parent conferences, pre-scheduled team meetings----
Everything else that comes my way I just find a way to fit into the day.
How inefficient is this?
And what if a jam packed schedule with no white space would make me insane.
Is that ok too?
I think you're using your calendar wisely. So much of our work is "ongoing" and much of it never gets "finished." Understanding that the only things that get on the calendar are the MUST-BE-DONE-AT-THIS-TIME is a reasonable approach to efficiency.
DeleteOnline or paper calendar? both?
ReplyDeleteDigital.
DeleteNo question as calendar management is generally a strength for me in terms of getting things done. That said, I need to use my calendar more strategically to align with the campus priorities as well as use my white space more effectively.
ReplyDelete