Monday, September 3, 2018

Reflective School Leader

Habits are critical to everything we do.  Focusing on the 10/90 Principle, we can concentrate on what is important.  Ten/Ninety is prioritizing how we respond over focusing on how others have treated us or what has happened to us.

Routines that focus on priorities will help you become a better school leader.  For me, it can be easy on a day to day basis to waste time. So, I try to focus on 4 R's, or r sounding type of words: Read, Write, Run, and Reflect.  These are my daily habits.  These 4 things are an easy way for me to reflect on my day.  Did I do each of the 4 R's?  

Here's how I define the 4R's of Habits:

Read - means to learn.  Learning includes my Spanish classes, Duolingo, learning podcasts, etc.  It also refers directly to reading about leadership or education also.

Write - Each day I write in my journal.  I'm also am trying to incorporate a weekly blog.

Run - This is about health.  It used to be about running, but running sometimes doesn't work for me since I have a bad back.  So, lifting, walking, and running can all count as "run."

Reflect - This also comes in the form of journaling.  I empty out my thoughts and reflect on the day.  Did I do all of the 4 R's?  I usually try to reflect on Leadership, Innovation, and Passion.  Somedays though it is more of a specific reflection on one of the 4 priorities I've identified for myself. I have found that writing helps bring thoughts to the forefront.  Often, I think I don't have anything on my mind or I don't need to reflect on the day because nothing that noteworthy happened.  By practicing writing every day, I'm amazed by the amount I have to reflect on but I wouldn't know that without the actual act of writing.

Planning for these routines is important.  Time slips by if you don't plan around priorities.  By planning around priorities, I can move the little things outside of the school day so I can better focus on being with students and there for teachers during the day.

No comments: