5 Things Great School Leaders Do During the Summer
Even if the summer months are filled with mental strain, make time to play, relax, and re-energize.
𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫.
These are 5 things great school leaders do during summer that will help you refocus your energies before the start of the new school year and keep you on track to becoming a highly effective leader.
Strengthen your goals
Some school principals believe that the best way to improve is to add more tasks to their to-do list. This is not always the case. Instead of saying yes to everything, strengthen your primary goals and prioritize activities that contribute to the school's mission and student success.
Be creative and innovative.
Innovation means first different, then better. Coming up with new and improved approaches to existing problems is known as innovation.
Participate in brainstorming sessions with different groups of people and come up with inventive ideas.
When it comes to innovating, educators should think of it as a process that significantly challenges schools and the way they work.
Find a mentor or coach.
Teachers and principals can be transformed into effective leaders and systems thinkers through coaching.
By seeking critical feedback from a coach, you demonstrate humility and a growth mindset. Listen to what they have to say. Asking open-ended questions and identifying specific ways to go from good to great will help you transform into a better leader.
Collaborate with students and teachers
Efforts to spread effective teaching methods and better outcomes for students can be made possible by collaboration.
When planning the first quarter of the school year, allow teachers and students to have a voice in the process. This may necessitate additional planning and collaboration over the summer, but it will definitely pay off.
Take the initiative and set an example.
Be the role model for the behaviours you want to see in the people you supervise. A sense of fairness and credibility will be built up among your team by showing that you are willing to put your words into action.
Managing and "fixing" underperforming teachers takes up a significant amount of your summertime. The best school leaders spend more time promoting and supporting their best teachers, who, in turn, help others who are struggling.
