THE BIG ROCKS Time Management for Principals

Covey, 1989 pg.161 “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”

What are the Big Rocks? Big Rocks for any principal should be the actions that drive student achievement.

10 Big Rocks for Principals  Mission  Giving staff members and students a clear sense of direction  Climate  Making the school a safe place that runs smoothly  Alignment  Meshing curriculum and assessments with state standards  Resources  Getting teachers the tools they need to be successful  Instruction  Nurturing the best possible teaching in every classroom

 Hiring  Using every vacancy to bring in excellent teachers  Interim Assessments  Using data to continuously improve teaching  Collaboration  Fostering constant sharing of ideas and resources  Results  Keeping supervision, professional development and teams focused on outcomes  Parents  Maximizing family support to students’ education

Making it all work can be tough The Jar Activity Not an original idea but a terrific visual aid to bring the point home to truly prioritize to make room for those Big Rocks!

The Empty Jar  The glass jar in the demonstration is the amount of time available in a typical work week.  No matter who you are, what you do, your status, your fame, your power…we all have the same size jar meaning we all have the same amount of time in any given day or week or month.  First fill that jar with Big Rocks that matter the most.

The Big Rocks  The Big Rocks are those activities that matter most in our lives.  They have the most profound consequences, either good or bad, that result from their completion or non- completion.  In terms of our work in schools, these Big Rocks drive student achievement.

The Pebbles  The pebbles are the little things that may add up to be something significant at some point down the line, but if we miss one or two, no big deal.

The Sand  The sand represents all the non-essential things that tend to fill up our days and our work lives.  Sand represents wasteful, non-value- producing activities that fill up our jar and prevent us from fitting in the large rocks that are meaningful for our work.

Remember the order

Remember  We talked at the orientation session about deciding what is truly important and then making those things your priority.  In terms of leading your staff, the following suggestions will greatly aid in that effort

Set Clear Expectations Making certain everyone knows your expectations for their work makes your work that much easier

Decide on a Planning System How you organize your time will decide both how you will spend your time and how impactful that time will be for those around you.

Schedule Key Meetings Unless you schedule them first, your most important meetings (team meetings; leadership teams; planning period meetings) they will get lost in the shuffle. Establish a “set” system and stick to it!

Write It Down You simply cannot remember every detail of every day so you must have a system for writing it down!

Delegate, Delegate, Delegate Hire good people, nurture them, turn them loose, and get out of their way.

Get Into Classrooms Teachers thrive on feedback and they want to know “what you think” of their work. Schedule the time to see them and interact with them.

Avoid Time Wasters Your work usually falls into three piles: Activities that add value and support student achievement (planning professional development) Activities that are “behind the scene” but keep the school running (ordering supplies, managing resources) Activities that are a waste of time (fixing something not done right the first time) Avoid the last one at all costs

Take Care of Yourself In such a demanding job as that of a principal, it is imperative to schedule and honor time for yourself, your family, your hobbies, your peace of mind. Take the time to take care of yourself. The work will be there when you return and you will be in a better frame of mind to deal with it all.

Take Stock Regularly review and revise your time management until you find the perfect system for you. Perhaps it is color coding your calendar or revisiting your Big Rocks weekly. No matter the process, keep working on it until you find one that works for you!

Covey, 1989 pg.161 “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”

Big Rocks Kentucky Principals’ Academy Adapted from work by Stephen Covey and Kim Marshall