So You Want to be a School Admin...The 80/20 Rule...

Tim Ferriss (one of my favorite authors and podcaster), talks about this concept called Pareto's Principle. According to Brian Tracy, leadership blogger, Pareto's Principle was named after its founder, Vilfredo Pareto back in the late 19th century.

Simply put...

20% of your time (or resources, or money, etc) result in 80% of the outcome. So conversely that means 80% of what you do only results in 20% of the outcome. It works in sports, business, money etc. In case you want to see that in action, check out this article from Forbes.

Borrowed diagram from siimland.com

Think about that in your everyday life and see if it applies. How many times do we spend 80% of our time on something that only has a 20% affect on our lives or workplace.

Both Ferriss and Tracy talk about looking at your to do lists. If you have 10 things on your list, chances are only 2 of them are really worthy of spending a large amount of time. Your daily routine can become more efficient by really focusing on those things that deserve the majority of your time.

As a school leader (especially when I was a principal) I found that a GREAT DEAL of my time was spent putting out fires, dealing with paperwork, sitting in meetings, etc. I can promise you that I was not always efficient. Just because I was busy, did not mean that what I was doing was effective or had the most impact for my school.

Sound familiar?

Many times we equate being busy with productivity but I bet if we examine ourselves using the Pareto Principle, we may realize that is not necessarily accurate.

So what do we do?

1. Keep a simple activity log just for one week just to see what you are actually doing. I am almost afraid to do this because I am sure I will be mad at myself when I see how much time I spend on email.

2. Prioritize your "to-do" lists. Keep the 80/20 rule in mind and really focus on those top few. That doesn't mean ignore everything else but make you spend time on what is going to have the biggest impact.

3. Recognize that you will NEVER get everything done. The list will always grow. In my experiences I have always received satisfaction from marking things off of my list. But, I found myself adding things to my list just so I could mark them off easily. I know, weird right?

4. Learn to say no to some things.  This is a hard one for me too. It is ok to say no. It is not rude, disrespectful or a sign you are not a team player. Sometimes you can get really bogged down in other people's priorities. Therefore your priorities suffer.

5. Avoid negativity like the plague. Negativity can easily slow down your progress. It can also creep in and become 80% of your day. Do you know people who have a negativity cloud around them 80% of the day, or more? Ugh....

Using the 80/20 rule can be beneficial to some, others it may drive them crazy. The key is, every leader has to determine what works for them.

Stay tuned for more tips for your journey to becoming a school administrator.

MS

The New Gig...

I got a new gig.

I was not unhappy with my old gig. In fact, I will always be a part of my old gig and of course all of my people were extremely supportive when I left.

I had an opportunity, an opportunity to grow and be a part of something really cool. A new journey for me and a new journey for them as well.

This summer I started my new role as the Director of Instruction at Manchester City Schools in Manchester, Tennessee (Ever hear of Bonnaroo??). I am excited for me but I am also excited for MCS (not bragging, I promise), not because I am this great leader who knows all...my colleagues can vouch for that for sure. Manchester City Schools is getting an exciting, energetic school leader who sees all of the great things happening at MCS as well as the huge potential that it has to offer.



So far, I am learning my role(s) and meeting as many people as possible. My plan is to visit ALL of the schools as often as possible. I get excited when I think about observing great teachers and seeing the positive things that are happening. Here are some of the cool things I have seen so far...

As my journey continues, here are the things I want to focus on.

1. Making sure I follow and share the vision of the superintendent of schools and the school system. This is extremely important to me. I know I will have ideas to share but I also need to respect the current culture and get to know the people and the stories first. There is a HUGE benefit in simply observing.

2. I need to be visible. I want the teachers, staff and kids to know who I am and feel that I am approachable. I want to learn names and visit classrooms. When I see kids, I want to them to recognize me instead of saying, "Who is that tall, bald guy?"

3. Helping to market Manchester City Schools is also important to me. Too often schools and school systems sit back and let other people tell their stories. Unfortunately those stories do not usually align with what we want told. So, we have to take control and be the chief storytellers of our district. I want to be a storyteller for Manchester City Schools. I want to help spread the positive and innovative things happening in our district.

Oh, by the way, you can follow #MCSUnited on any of our social media platforms. And...you can follow me HERE.

4. I want to share as much as possible. Despite what my preschool teacher said (my preschool teacher was my mom), I really do like to share with others. When I see something innovative I share it. When I see something that can benefit kids, teachers or other admins, I share it. When I see something that grasps my attention (which is sometimes difficult) I share it in case it might grasp someone else's attention. So, I plan on sharing whether that is through blogging, social media or even face-to-face presentations.

As you might be able to tell, the new gig is going great! My transition could not have been smoother and I have been welcomed with open arms. Sure, I miss my Tullahoma City Schools folks, but it is always great to become part another community, especially this one.

What an opportunity!

MS

By the way, if you want to start reading my series on personalized learning, click here. 

My Thoughts on Personalized Learning...the Adult Learner

Here is a thought...

We talk about personalized learning or differentiation for our students, what about the adults?

How many times have you sat in a training and thought to yourself, "I'm not sure this applies to me?"

Several years ago I attended a Future Ready Summit in St. Louis. The experience was great! I made some connections, learned some cool stuff and even revisited Twitter (which I now love).

The Future Ready Pledge is pretty specific and asks schools districts to really focus on key components to make sure they are future ready and are producing future ready students. The one component that stuck with me most was the concept of personalized professional learning opportunities.

I copied this straight from the Future Ready website:

"...Access to professional learning experiences that are personal and authentic." That simple statement says a great deal. Personal and authentic, what does that mean?

To me, it is pretty simple. If an educator feels the need to increase his or her knowledge in the areas of blended learning, using Google tools in the classroom or teaching fluency to elementary students, then that educator should be able to get those opportunities. Some may need guidance in getting those opportunities but others may end up finding them on their own. Either way is ok, as long as the educators are constantly improving themselves. The administrator's role in this is to help the educators find their needs and then the find the resources to make it happen. 

The administrator needs to be doing this as well. Personalized learning opportunities are not limited to the teachers. 

Personal and Authentic...

Just the other day, Kyle Hamstra sent out this tweet...

As you can see, the same idea comes out of his thoughts as well.

Personal and Authentic...

So, the question is What do I do next?

Whether through a needs assessment, some kind of inventory, your past year's evaluation or even you gut...find one or two areas you want to improve on and get after it. Talk to your colleagues or administrator, find someone who is doing something you want to get better at or simply Google what you are looking for. 

That's it.

If you are lucky enough to be in a district that tailors PD around the needs of the individual, then you will not need to go far. Just ask around for resources and get better at those areas you want to strengthen. 

If you are part of a "sit and get" culture and want to create professional learning opportunities that are personal and authentic, a good place to start is Twitter. Build a connection with people and just look. The FREE professional learning is there and it will be both personal and authentic. Like it was said above, you do not have to wait around for someone to find that PD for you. 

One of my most valuable professional learning tools is my Professional Learning Network (PLN). I cannot tell you how many hours of FREE PD I have received just by interacting with my people on Twitter. You can be a part of a structured Twitter Chat or simply lurk to see what is going on in the world. You can gain from both but beware, lurking can lead to distraction...you know, funny cat or dog videos. 

Also understand it does not have to be Twitter and it may ultimately be a different platform but right now, that is what works. There plenty of other platforms and methods. Find what works for YOU. If you think you want to try Twitter,  follow ME and you can get an idea of what it looks like.

Word of warning, do not try to do too much at once. Focus on one or two areas, get good at it and then you can try new things. If you try too many things at once you may become mediocre at a bunch of different things. Instead, you really want to be GREAT at a couple.

Should you avoid whole-group PD? No, or course not! Do not get me wrong, whole-group PD can be beneficial, just like whole group lessons with students. But, do not rely on that as your only source of learning. Spend some time finding out what you are passionate about or what you want to get better at (or both) and come up with a plan to make your professional learning...

Personal and Authentic.

Let me know if you get stuck, I will lead you in the right direction.

Mick

By the way, if you missed the previous posts on My Thoughts on Personalized Learning, just click HERE.