Where are teachers in your midst most likely to find administrators and coaches?
Nearly every educational administrator or instructional coach has an individual or shared office. But is this the best location for their work? Does it maximize their effectiveness as a leader? In my experience, the answer is a resounding “no”.
My first year out of the classroom, I was provided with an office. In the summer prior to this new role, I spent a few days in my new office decorating, organizing, and preparing for how I would use the space. Before the school year began, I used my office to prepare for staff meetings, meet with teachers to offer support, and organize curriculum. In my mind, it made sense for me to be in the same location the majority of the day, to ensure that the educators I served would be able to find me if needed.
How is Your Office Utilized?
Once the school year started, I soon learned that educators did not come knocking on my door to seek support as consistently as I had expected. The regular visitors I had to my office were students sent to me by teachers who wished me to dole out consequences for noncompliant behavior. I struggled to build relationships with teachers, office staff, and students while stuck in my office most of the day. I decided to venture outside my office and be amongst those I was to serve.
Students First
I started with the students. Before and after the school day, I planted myself by the bus drop-off point or at one of the gates where students entered and exited the campus. I found that not only did this help me to build positive relationships with the community, it also brightened my day. It reminded me of the primary reason I had entered education – to make an impact on students, to inspire and support them. I soon expanded my time outside of the office to include recesses and lunches. I ate with students and watched their interactions with each other during recess. This information became invaluable to me when students were sent to my office. It helped me to see their humanity, their strengths outside the classroom.
Connecting with Teachers Can Be Scary
The most difficult and intimidating step I made was to increase my time in classrooms during the instructional day. It is one thing to support teachers as they plan, to provide professional learning or lead a staff meeting. It is quite another to enter a teacher’s classroom when they have a full class of students in the room. In ditching my office to view learning in action, I encountered resistance. Some teachers asked me if I needed to speak with a particular student, others became visibly nervous when I walked in the room, a few asked me to fix their projectors or make copies that they had not had time to make. I learned the hard way – I had failed to communicate my intentions in entering classrooms. As you make the shift toward being in classrooms on a consistent basis, let teachers know that you are there to watch students learn, not to watch them teach. This lowers the affective filter. Are you concerned that you won’t have time to be in classrooms everyday? Keep reading this post for tips on doing just that.
Unexpected Consequences
As I ditched my office and spent time in classrooms each day, I was pleasantly surprised at some unintended outcomes. Office disciplinary referrals and visits to my office for noncompliance dropped dramatically. I took pictures of student learning as often as possible when visiting classrooms. Rather than seeing the purpose of academic activities as merely compliance, students began to look forward to my visits, to show off their learning. Students and parents alike loved to see learning in action documented via images and videos posted on school social media channels. Student time on task rose considerably. I also found that I was better able to foster collaboration amongst teachers. In taking pictures of student work and creating a “Jefferson Journal” for teacher inboxes, I witnessed educators asking each other about strategies they saw used in the images. These organic conversations between teachers were far more valuable to them than any that were initiated by me as a leader. If the positive impacts on students and teachers were not enough, consider the boost to my personal health. My step count per day went up, I received an increase in Vitamin D by having more time in the sunlight, and I benefitted from interactions with others.
Tips for Ditching Your Office
1) Be Easily Accessible: Office staff and teachers need a way to contact you outside of your office. Forward phone calls from your office to your cellphone. Encourage office staff to text you. Set up notifications for emails on your smartphone and/or smartwatch. Many leaders use a platform such as Google Hangouts for chat, Voxer (walkie talkie app), or Slack.
2) Be Mobile: Consider answering emails/completing logistical work in classrooms. I walked the campus with laptop in hand. Keep in mind, you may need a privacy screen. Students walking by may look at your laptop when you are viewing sensitive student information. As you begin this strategy, be sure to start with teachers with whom you have developed trust. I let a couple of teachers know I had found that discipline calls had decreased as I was in classrooms more often. I asked if they would mind if I answered emails while in their classrooms during the school day. If I had not had this conversation prior to opening my laptop in classrooms, teachers may have thought I was evaluating them. Word soon spread amongst teachers and I was able to expand this practice to all classrooms.
3) Don’t Disrupt the Learning: When I first began walking in classrooms I switched my walkie talkie to silent mode so as to minimize distractions to the learning environment. I found that our noon aides and recess monitors struggled to contact me. Office staff would relay messages to my cell phone via text, but I did not like burdening them with this extra step. I began using an earpiece for the walkie talkie to both respect classroom environments and increase my accessibility to staff. This was especially beneficial on a day I was in a classroom and heard a message in my walkie talkie earpiece from our office manager. She asked me to check my text messages immediately. I had to make a quick decision to call all students indoors due to a bull that was loose across the street from our campus. I was immediately available to answer this urgent issue without interrupting students who were in the process of learning. As a leader, it is vital that you are quickly available to address safety issues and immerse yourself in the learning environment of classrooms in order to provide applicable support to teachers and students.
4) Create a System for Follow-Up: When you are visible on campus, educators, staff, students, and parents often approach you with concerns or questions. Be sure you have a method of taking note of these conversations so that you are able to follow-up. A mentor of mine kept a small notepad in his pocket to record these conversations and write down action items. I used the notepad on my smartphone for a couple of years. Now I use Google Keep, which features location and time based reminders. As we automate note-taking and reminders using AI (make Siri, Google, or Alexa do it!), we have more time to invest in building personal relationships. It is impossible for me to remember the details of conversations I had throughout each day, but each person that approaches me deserves a thoughtful response and follow-up if needed. It is imperative that we value those we serve by ensuring that the time they spend approaching us with a concern is met with a response. If we do not have a system for follow-up, stakeholders will stop approaching us. Relationships and the culture of the school will suffer.
My second year out of the classroom, our main office was being remodeled and we welcomed an additional coach to our site team. I gave my office to our new coach and went completely mobile. Conversations with students occurred in hallways or on the playground rather than in an office. I went to teachers for planning and support rather than asking them to come to me. Relationships were strengthened. Where do your stakeholders find you? Are you ready to ditch that office? Walk amongst those you serve. And be prepared to experience unexpected positive results.