How do you balance leadership and management duties to best support student achievement?

I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve had a conversation with students about the importance of making good choices. I’ve become incredibly passionate about how that lesson applies to principals too… starting with how we prioritize our time in order to keep student learning at the forefront of our job description.

It would be easy to allow the paperwork and discipline to completely take over my days, but I have a vision for increasing student achievement at my school and that requires me to be present throughout the building and really knowing what is going on everyday in my teachers’ classrooms. I have made this a priority, and I choose to be in classrooms every single day, because I know that it makes a difference. Since it has also become a part of our school culture, teachers and students expect to see me out and about. There’s a certain kind of pressure that you feel when people expect you to do something good, and that helps keep me in check.

The other thing that helps me balance the two roles is the fact that teachers see me as a resource and not just a problem solver. They know that I am invested in the work that they do and that I am here to work elbow to elbow with them to assure that all students are achieving at high levels. I may not have all of the answers, but I can offer them a different perspective that they might not have considered.

Balancing these critical roles is challenging, but I have seen the rewards that come from stepping out of the office and into the leadership role in order to do great things for kids.