[00:01] SPEAKER_01:
Welcome to Principal Center Radio, bringing you the best in professional practice.
[00:06] Announcer:
Here's your host, director of the Principal Center and champion of high-performance instructional leadership, Justin Bader. Welcome, everyone, to Principal Center Radio.
[00:15] SPEAKER_00:
I'm your host, Justin Bader, and I'm honored to be joined today by my guest, Dr. Richard Sorensen. Rick is professor emeritus at the University of Texas at El Paso and has served as a professor and department chair in the Department of Educational Leadership and Foundations. and has also served as a principal and human resources director in K-12 schools.
[00:38] Announcer:
And now, our feature presentation.
[00:40] SPEAKER_00:
Rick, welcome to Principal Center Radio.
[00:42] SPEAKER_02:
Well, thank you, Justin. It's a delight to be with you and with your listeners today.
[00:46] SPEAKER_00:
We are here to talk about your new book, The Principal's Guide to Time Management, Instructional Leadership in the Digital Age. And when I saw that title, I thought, this is right up my alley. So we have got to have a conversation about some of the key issues here and let people know about the book. So I wonder if we could start by maybe framing for us, if you could frame for us, what prompted you to write this particular book at this particular time? I mean, time management has been an issue since time immemorial in the educational leadership profession, but we are truly in a digital age and one in which instructional leadership is gaining increasing attention. What prompted you to write this particular book?
[01:26] SPEAKER_02:
Something that's really been important to us as co-authors And I'd be remiss if I did not mention the co-authors of the text, Dr. Lloyd Goldsmith. Lloyd and I have – this is the fourth book that we've written together, and they're all branded the Principal's Guide. So it's a Principal's Guide series, so to speak. This is our fourth one. And so Dr. Lloyd Goldsmith, along with Dr. David DeMacchius, all three of us have previously been school administrators, and we've experienced the –
[01:58]
the role of trying to and the experiences of trying to find time to effectively lead an instructional program and better ensure student academic success. But what led us to the book was the fact that we are constantly, as former administrators, and we see it in the field because we're all free engaged in principal preparation programs, we recognize that principals consistently, regularly tell us I just don't have enough time. And we recognize that is an issue with, I suspect, just about any and every principal in that role today. So from that standpoint, we recognize that it was important to address that as we had worked with time, trying to manage time, trying to find time, trying not to lose time as school leaders.
[02:53]
So we recognize that that was a key issue. And we also recognized when we first began this project that, you know, time management books are a dime a dozen. And so we knew that we had to focus on not only time management, that critical issue, but we also had to look at the issue of tying that with instructional leadership. How do you find the time to be an effective instructional leader at the campus level? And then on top of that, we recognize we live in a digital age. And far too many principals, unfortunately, sadly, are not digitally equipped.
[03:32]
They're not prepared to lead in or lead with technology in our schools. So we decided to pursue this from a three-pronged approach. Yes, we were going to the central theme is time management, finding time, establishing time, not losing time. And then tying that in with being an exceptional instructional leader and how to go about utilizing the time to become the best instructional leader. And then what could enhance school leadership, instructional leadership, and time management? And the obvious answer to that is technology.
[04:07]
So that's how we began the process. And once we tied those three together, the book just really began to flow from that point.
[04:19] SPEAKER_00:
Absolutely. It makes perfect sense to put those together because from a time management perspective alone, I mean, obviously everyone has always had more to do than they can get to. You know, we all have the same amount of time to work with. We all have more work than we can do in that time. And if we leave it at that, it can lead to frustration. And I think the lens on instructional leadership is really a way to ask ourselves and to answer the question of what matters and, you know, what kind of work is going to you know, result in the kind of legacy that I want to have as a school leader, is going to achieve the kind of results that I want to achieve as a school leader.
[04:58]
And then certainly the technology component makes so much more of that possible. What do you see as some of the biggest time wasters? You mentioned not, you know, not losing time, you know, given that we all start with the same 168 hours a week. What do you see as some of the biggest time drains operating on school leaders?
[05:17] SPEAKER_02:
Well, as we researched the book, and as we obviously have, the three of us have spent significant time in schools, not only as school leaders, but also working with our interns in principal prep programs, we recognize that, again, far too many principals just don't have the tools. They have the tools, Justin, but In far too many instances, they just don't realize, recognize, or understand how they can more effectively use those tools. And some of those time wasters are associated with the fact that principals just come to work and they just start. They just start the day and before they know it, the day has just basically ate into the time that they need to devote to the instructional program.
[06:10]
And so we go back to really simple things. We begin the process of saying, you know what, set aside time for yourself before the instructional day, before the school day begins, and utilize that time for the best benefit of ensuring that you are putting all your activities in priority order. Again, far too many principals just come in, they start, and they may start with the most trivial of matters. They may begin with managerial duties, which again, in reality could be delegated to others, whether it be an assistant principal or whether it be a clerk or a paraprofessional or even a custodian. In some instances we had, as we were preparing the book and interviewing principals and interacting with them, they were taking on duties and responsibilities that others could easily and readily handle.
[07:03]
So we say sit down, prioritize your activities for the day, Make a to-do list. And these are really simple things that we all know about. But again, far too many times, principals just don't do that. And we ask them about, what's your daily cycle? And most principals say, what do you mean, my daily cycle? And we'd say, when is the best time of day for you?
[07:26]
And so it was so interesting, Justin, how principals would begin to share with us, well, morning is my best time. Early morning, later morning. mid-morning, afternoon. And we had principals share with us, you know, I'm a night owl. And so it was interesting. Lloyd is very much an early, early morning person, and I'm very much a night owl.
[07:51]
So we recognize, even the two of us working, we have different time cycles and daily cycles, and we need to use those to the best benefit of those that we serve. And so we tell them, put those critical issues aside that demand your time into your best daily cycle, and use that, again, for the benefit of the students and the professionals that you serve. And, of course, we recognize that far too many principals, and it's just amazing, less than half of our states offer technology-related professional development for principals, and our principal... Technology training is not offered in principal preparation programs.
[08:37]
So we share in the book and note that principals today who don't use technology are really at a disadvantage to those that do in terms of saving time and also in terms of building better leading teaching and learning in their schools. So these are some of the things we talked about. We talked to them about developing a morning ritual. Just don't get to school and jump into business. Sit down, again, think things through, develop that to-do list, reorganize that to-do list based on what you may have established the afternoon or evening before, may have changed already the next morning, and plan effectively. Plan your daily activities.
[09:22]
Plan weekly. Plan short-term. Plan for the long-term. and numerous other issues that we just thought were really important. And one of the key areas that we found, Justin, that principals just devote a vast amount of time to, in fact, half, at least 50%, if not more, of a principal's work week is devoted to meetings. And in far too many cases, those meetings are principal-directed.
[09:53]
They're principal-generated meetings. And so we address that by asking principals and sharing with principals, are you prepared and how to become prepared for a meeting. And as we go into schools, we'll visit with principals and we notice that they were conducting meetings but there were no agendas. And each of us as authors are very agenda driven. We learn that from our years at the K-12 level. And we incorporate it into our And to our classes, it's essential that our classes be agenda-driven because that keeps us on topic.
[10:30]
So we tell principals, or share in the book, have an agenda, start that agenda on time, start your meeting on time, and end your meeting on time, and even sooner is even better.
[10:43] SPEAKER_00:
Well, let's dive into a couple of those, if we could, because I feel like there are so many rich veins here that we could explore. And on that idea of how we start the day, and so many of us just tend to relish that morning time when we can get stuff done, and we just tend to show up and get to work and just... start without that reflection and that reprioritization that may need to occur based on what's happened since last time we thought about our priorities. For me, I have to say, one of the reasons that I hesitate to do that is, first, it feels good to get things done.
[11:18]
If I'm going to come in and just, boom, get right to work, that feels great in terms of self-efficacy. to just be able to check things off one after the other. But on the other side of it, it's also a little bit terrifying to look at everything you have to do and really think about it. The kind of decision paralysis that we get and we think, well, okay, I have 800 things that I really need to do. I'd rather just do one of them, even if it's not very important, than actually think about all of the other ones. But I appreciate your point there that that really is a critical step to avoid getting stuck and bogged down in the minutia of the job.
[11:53] SPEAKER_02:
You know, that time, that morning time, that time to be alone is a time that's not only essential, it's incredible to the well-being of a school leader. And that time can be used in any framework, so to speak, It can begin with meditation, with prayer. It can begin with reviewing the daily to-do list. But you made a real critical point. We come to work, we get busy because if we sit down and really begin to think and look at what needs to be accomplished, sometimes it's overwhelming. And one of the tidbits that we share relative to planning is don't plan daily, plan weekly because daily can be overwhelming sometimes.
[12:37]
because there is so much to do. And when you begin focusing on the daily activities, they begin to add up. So just think about what's important that I accomplished during the course of this school week, and then begin from there. And that sort of relieves the anxiety associated with the daily process. It's not that the daily activities are going to go away, but if you focus on the most important activities and events of the week, in which you must be engaged and involved, that gives you an opportunity to say, you know what, this is a duty or responsibility I can hand off to my assistant principal or my vice principal or to a clerical person or to a paraprofessional or whoever it may be.
[13:27]
Even we've been in schools where principals were doing activities or work. Typically it's a paper associated that they could have a student worker be completing for them. And it's just the fact that they come to work, they just get busy, they know things need to be done. And principals in far too many instances, and I find myself just like this, I just soon get it done myself because I know I can get it done and I'll get it out of the way. And if I have to depend on someone else, it may or may not get done. And so it's important to learn how to Delegate to effectively delegate.
[14:07]
And it's also important to recognize delegation is not dumping. We don't want to dump. We don't want to use or abuse people. But we want to give people opportunities to become engaged in collaborative leadership, so to speak.
[14:24] SPEAKER_00:
Well, Rick, I think there are so many, again, so many rich issues in there that we can explore and so many opportunities that we have to make better use of our time. And one that you've touched on that I keep coming back to in my work at the Principal Center and in the high-performance triangle model that many people have seen on my website where we combine strategies, tools, and habits. And the tools, to me, have to keep getting better. And you mentioned that In some cases, we're not keeping up as a profession, and I think specifically we're not keeping up with the demands that keep rising, and yet the good news is the tools keep getting better. So I wonder if you have any recommendations for us as to areas where we should be paying more attention to the difference that technology can make.
[15:10] SPEAKER_02:
There's an old adage that states that principals today who don't use technology, they won't be replaced by technology. They'll just be replaced. And That may sound a little harsh, but there's a lot of truth to that. And I think it's essential that principals recognize that one of the greatest time-saving tools that is at their fingertips is the availability, the essential availability of going digital. And principals need to utilize the technology tools that are available to them And before I give you some examples, there are some real misconceptions about technology as it relates to educators.
[16:02]
And one of those misconceptions is associated with the notion, and that's the operative word, notion, or myth, to be an even better word, that educators are right-brained. They're created by nature, so they're not analytical. and they can't grasp or learn or incorporate or utilize technology. And that's absolutely untrue. That's a total myth. Now, where we fail our principals and our school leaders in principal prep programs and also in school district professional development is we fail to train them effectively in using apps and programs and software that's essential to becoming that effective school leader.
[16:49]
So some of the areas that we go into are related to and we showcase and we share the importance of using these digital applications include Wunderlist, Tom's Planner, Evernote, Google Calendar, Google Hangouts, Google Drive, Wiggio, GoToMeeting, and even Facebook and Twitter. And while Facebook has many, many positives and associated negatives with it, it can be used as a real tool that can help principals and assist principals, not only principals, but the faculty and staff as well. And those are just a few that I've named that we go into. We actually examine more than 20 digital devices, programs, apps, and group share technologies in the book.
[17:47]
And One of the chapters in the book that we really appreciate was written by David DeMatthews, one of our co-authors, and it's the final chapter, it's Chapter 8, and it takes numerous of these technological applications and programs and through screenshots how they can be incorporated into the administrative setting.
[18:13] SPEAKER_00:
Absolutely. And I think some of those that you touched on, such as Facebook and Wigio and other kind of group share platforms, so much of what we do is communicating and coordinating with other people. You mentioned Google Calendar, and I know there are tools like Doodle, and I personally use ScheduleOnce. There are so many of these tools that can take those meetings or those needs for communication, those needs to be connected to each other, and either substitute for a meeting or at least make it easier and more efficient to schedule the meeting and conduct some of the business of that meeting using some of the online platforms. I think about my own learning in a lot of the technology that I use here at the Principal Center, kind of behind the scenes, a lot of that I'm learning through Facebook, coordinating with the vendors and the experts that we work with on our kind of behind the scenes technology.
[19:09]
And there's so much that can be learned just by, you know, having the right channels to connect. And I've heard of people using Voxer to make their own professional learning networks. And I know a lot of people get very into those voice messages and kind of on demand, you know, whenever you have time to chime in or time to listen in. Lots of great opportunities out there.
[19:31] SPEAKER_02:
I was going to add, Justin, that we begin the book Actually, there's a segment just past the preface that's entitled, 15 Questions Principals Must Ask About Technology. And these are essential questions that principals need to ask themselves before they begin the incorporation of technology in their schools, or if they are technocrats, so to speak, they're very engaged with technology, These questions can also help them better determine which of those technologies, which of those digital apps or programs, etc., can better benefit the principal and the educators in the school, especially as it relates to saving time, and also as it relates to increasing student achievement.
[20:26]
Technology can be a a great benefit to school leaders and also to faculty and staff.
[20:35] SPEAKER_00:
Well, Rick, as we look at all of the different possibilities out there, all of the different opportunities to improve our time management, opportunities to improve our efficiency with technology, what's your frame? As you work with new principles, as you see what's happening in the field, what do you think are some of the factors that we need to keep in mind so that we're not just chasing the latest app or doing cool things that the apps allow us to do, but really focusing on what truly matters? How can we connect this back to technology? instructional leadership priorities?
[21:06] SPEAKER_02:
Again, it comes back to training, to professional development. Sadly, Justin, as we interact with principals and interact with faculty and with prospective principals, we find that far too many of their leaders are not engaged in professional development and training. They've reached sort of the apex of their career, And when it comes to professional development, they have this notion, unfortunately, not all, but many, that, you know, I've been there, I've done that, and I'm too busy. I've got too much to do. So I can't engage in my own professional development. And even more so, I don't have time to engage in the professional development of the teachers here on campus or go with them to wherever the professional development sessions may be.
[22:03]
And we find that that is a critical issue, that principals must find time. They must devote time. The time is there. They just must devote their time to better training, better training for themselves, to improve the instructional program, better training for their faculty and staff. All of this leads to improved leading, teaching, and learning, and ultimately it all cascades down to the students and to improved student achievement. And Justin, can I add one item?
[22:44]
A very important piece of the book, it comes in Chapter 1, and it was written by one of our co-authors, Dr. Lloyd Goldsmith, or has developed, I should say, and it's entitled The Time Management Self-Assessment Instrument. It's a self-reflection instrument that, again, it leads to serious reflection by the reader relative to what is exceptional leading, what is exceptional learning, and what is exceptional teaching.
[23:16] SPEAKER_00:
So the book is The Principal's Guide to Time Management, Instructional Leadership in the Digital Age by Richard Sorenson, Lloyd Goldsmith, and David DeMatthews. Rick, thanks so much for joining me on Principal Center Radio.
[23:27] SPEAKER_02:
Well, thank you very much, Justin. It's an honor and pleasure to visit with you and to hopefully provide some good information to your listeners.
[23:38] SPEAKER_01:
And now, Justin Bader on high-performance instructional leadership.
[23:42] SPEAKER_00:
So high-performance instructional leaders, what did you take away from my conversation with Richard Sorensen? One big theme for me is that we will get left behind if we're not taking advantage of technology because the work continues to get worse. more complex. And I love what Rick said, you know, we will not be replaced by technology if we don't keep up with it, but we may be replaced. And I think the reality is that our schools need more of their leaders than ever before. They need us to be high performance instructional leaders to a degree that we've never seen before as a profession.
[24:14]
And I think technology can certainly be a major part of the answer. So I wanted to make sure that you're aware of the Repertoire app that we offer at the Principal Center. And depending on your evaluation system, I know you may have one set of criteria or another, and you may already have a system for saving your evaluations, whether that's something like Teachscape or Kinect. teach boost or one of the the many technology platforms for managing teacher observations and evaluations and what repertoire does is repertoire helps you at the writing stage so when you are taking notes in a classroom when you are gathering your thoughts and preparing feedback in writing Repertoire takes anything that you've previously entered into the app and suggests it as you type so that rather than have to put together a whole page of notes or a whole page of feedback and type out every word, you can take advantage of anything you've typed previously.
[25:11]
And you might have heard me, if you've been following my work at the Principal Center for a long time, you might have heard me recommend TextExpander, which is an app that you can program with shortcuts, with different phrases, so that they take less time to type. But what I found was that very few people made good use of that. And I find that I myself only occasionally will add new things to TextExpander so that I can use them in the future with abbreviations. So what we wanted repertoire to do was to remove that extra step from the process. So when you're using repertoire to take notes in a classroom or to send an email to a teacher, or maybe write an evaluation that you're then going to copy and paste into another system. Repertoire will automatically save things that you type, either sentences or anytime you hit enter.
[25:55]
It can be after a single word, a phrase, a sentence, or a whole paragraph. Repertoire will automatically save that, and then in the future as you're typing, it will suggest that snippet if it matches what you've been typing so you don't have to type it again. So you have to see this for yourself. Check it out at principalcenter.com slash repertoire.
[26:15] Announcer:
Thanks for listening to Principal Center Radio. For more great episodes, subscribe on our website at principalcenter.com slash radio.
