Derek L. McCoy

School leaders have a lot on their plates – there are things that just have to get done. Everything that has to be done is about making sure people are safe, have what they need and being nurtured/supported/pushed to do better.

The managerial tasks are part of the job but that doesn’t mean we can’t see them as an opportunity to be the leaders and changers our schools need.

• Beyond sending an email – Are we tying your message to the goal and need of the school? Consider what a message means for students in 5 years as opposed to people right now.
• Beyond leading a PD talk – Are we making sure the audience knows the need for the PD as it relates to benefitting student learning and needs of the school
• Beyond knowing students names – Do we know students?
• Beyond talking data – Are we making sure that ALL students are being seen and supported and talked about. We can’t talk about ‘ALL’ without talking about ‘EACH;
• Beyond doing walkthrus and observations – Are we making a point to learn strengths, insecurities, finding ways to co-teach lessons, making conversations less about teacher action and more about students learning;
• Beyond duties – Are we making sure people are seen or that the people present are about students;
• Beyond setting dates on a calendar – Are we creating opportunities to collaborate at high levels in conversations centered around students and community?

Principals, grade/dept level chairs, assistant principals, instructional coaches, classroom teachers – all #leadlearners have this opportunity to see beyond the immediate task to be checked off at the end of the day and really make what has to be done worthwhile for the students and community we all serve.