The Principal's Handbook

Mini-Series Part #3 — 3 Things I’m Doing to Plan for Instructional Leadership
[00:00:00] Welcome to the podcast. Today we are talking about three things I'm doing to plan for instructional leadership for the next school year. . That's all coming up next, right here on the Principal's Handbook.
Stay tuned.
Speaker: Welcome to the Principal's Handbook, your go-to resource for principals looking to revamp their leadership approach and prioritize self-care. I'm Barb Flowers, a certified life coach with eight years of experience as an elementary principal. Tune in each week as we delve into strategies for boosting mental resilience, managing time effectively, and nurturing overall wellness.
From tackling daily challenges to maintaining a healthy work life balance. We'll navigate the complexities of school leadership together. Join me in fostering your sense of purpose as a principal and reigniting your passion for the job. Welcome to a podcast where your wellbeing is the top priority.
Welcome back. Today we're in our third. Today we are in our third part of the mini series, and I am talking about three things [00:01:00] I'm doing to plan for instructional leadership for the new school year. To just give you a quick recap, I am taking over a new elementary school that is a K to two building.
And so I was a previous principal in a K to five school. And so now I am create, I created this mini series to help other leaders think about, , different areas. That they need to plan for the next school year. So today it's going to be on instructional leadership, and I'm gonna give three areas on just how I myself am focusing to prepare to lead instructionally more effectively, and to set the building up for academic success.
And. So I just wanted to share all of that with you. So we're just going to jump right in. The first thing that I am doing right now is I'm learning about the curriculum. So I am in an elementary school, which is a little bit different than if you're in a high school, but I'm learning about what curriculums they have and what they're doing with those curriculums.
So, for example, , in ELA, they have amplify and so. [00:02:00] Understanding, what they have with Amplify, how they've been using it. They've been using it for a couple of years now. So we've had conversations of, is it still being used with Fidelity? What do teachers need for support with that?
So really understanding the curriculum and what resources they have. So in this case, I'm coming in, they have a lot of resources with the curriculum and they also, , have assessments that go with the curriculum. They have a whole like. Suite that goes with it, that they're able to go in, , log in, look at that data, have that data, help determine, instruction, all of that.
They have interventions that go with it. So I'm learning about what curriculum they have, and there is a lot there for ELA because of one. I'm in Ohio. There's been a big push for the science of reading to make sure that there is good curriculum matched to the science of reading, but also, , just knowing that they do have things aligned to the science of reading.
And so that is one thing I'm doing. The other thing, for example, is we're doing a new math [00:03:00] curriculum. So I'm coming in as we're doing a new math curriculum. And so I am learning about that math curriculum and figuring out what PD is going to be happening for that math curriculum. Looking at documents for the math, just trying to understand what that math curriculum all entails.
And figuring out what that's going to look like. And I'm doing this by talking to the curriculum director. , You can talk to teachers if there's instructional coaches that you have available that you can talk to, but find out as much as you can about the curriculum because. , You wanna support the teachers with that curriculum and you always want to know what it is, what the expectation of how they're using that.
That was a big thing with the teachers I worked with in the last elementary school is, , , when we used a curriculum for a long time, we really lost integrity of that curriculum because it wasn't being used like it was supposed to. And so. Helping teachers understand how it's supposed to be used, what the expectation for using that curriculum is, and [00:04:00] giving them the support is really important.
So even as a new principal coming in, you wanna know where they've been with that curriculum and how you can support them. And you also wanna know what PD is needed. , Conversations that I've already had about the. ELA curriculum is because they've been doing it for three years. Is there any follow up PD that we need?
Now that they've been doing it, they understand the curriculum. Sometimes it's easy to start pulling away from it a little bit. So that's one thing that I'm just going to watch for this year is and have conversations with teachers to see are there areas that they're still not feeling comfortable.
, are there any areas that there's gaps in their understanding? , For example, when I was coaching principals, one thing that's really new to teachers with the science of reading is understanding how we're building background knowledge.
So in some of these curriculums, kids at very young ages are learning about big topics, right? That some teachers don't feel are appropriate for kids. And so helping teachers understand why we're teaching that way. [00:05:00] Why it's important and giving them the knowledge so that they are able to help their students better.
So really thinking about that, like I said, checking and making sure that there's professional development for the teachers so that it is relevant to what they need and it's timely to where they are with that curriculum. And that's just going to help show that you care about instruction, that you are an instructional leader and you're there to support teachers.
Talking to teachers, talking to teacher teams, and really figuring out where they feel strong in the curriculum, where they're struggling, and how you can support them in that. , Another area within the curriculum that you could look for is pacing guides and curriculum maps. So seeing like what that looks like for them.
Do they have them created? Are they utilizing them? And figuring out where those documents are as well is another great step to take. The second thing I'm doing is analyzing building data. So getting on and looking at DIBEL scores, which is reading and figuring out , what are the trends in the data [00:06:00] across reading? Looking at those areas of strength and weakness, what do we need to do? What intervention areas do we need to work on? What grade levels need more support with interventions, and really figuring out what that data is saying.
And so I'm able to go back a couple years if you're even able to go back a year, , and figure out which grade levels or subjects consistently perform well and which ones struggle. , Are there interventions in place? Figuring out if there , are they. Making an impact on students. How are teachers using that data?
Start having those conversations. , Are we seeing that students are actually growing? , Maybe achievement data's low, but you have high growth. So looking at that and then meeting with data teams, teacher teams, interventions, and understanding how data is used for decision making, progress monitoring.
And how they actually use that data for their curriculum and the supports that they need. Okay, so , these are always that you can look at the data and [00:07:00] then, , again, maybe find out if they even look at that data. Do they need more PD or support in using that data? And how can you do that?
Okay, so what do you need to do to create this culture of data-driven instruction? And the third thing I'm doing is, which goes right along with this, is understanding collaboration structures. So. I feel like collaboration makes all the difference because I've worked in teams where I was more collaborative in teams where I wasn't, and I was definitely more effective with collaborative teams.
And every district does it a little bit different. PLCs. In this school, it's actually called A TBT, which is a teacher-based team. That's an Ohio term for the Ohio improvement process. But it's the same idea that teachers meet, talk about data, talk about things that are going well in their instruction, things they need to improve, and it really is this collaborative environment.
So even if you come into a school though, and they say they do TBTs or PLCs, it's figuring out how well they're doing that. Are they just [00:08:00] having conversations about the field trips that are going on? Or are they actually doing those things? , What does it look like? ,
how are these meetings organized? , Are they during the teacher's planning time where it can be really hard because they already need that time to plan to talk about data. , Are the meetings focused on instructional planning and really analyzing data? Are they focused on problem solving?
Do teachers feel comfortable collaborating with each other? Do they actually review the data and the student outcomes? Do they know what the goal is, what they're trying to get students to do? When they have that conversation, do they have, , a form that helps walk them through the process? Do they take notes?
This was always a point of contention with teachers that I worked with. They hated taking notes because I get it. You're trying to engage in the conversation. It can be hard to take notes, but you need those notes. I always said the most effective teams had good notes because they could go back and see how.
Kids did on previous data. And so that was a huge [00:09:00] thing. , What tools or forms do teachers need and what do they need to practice using? Maybe it's even an action plan. Do they have goals for their PLC or TBT? Do they know what they want to get done within that year? What that's going to look like?
With, , my last building with PLCs, we actually made goals. With each team where some teams focus the first nine weeks on math because we were elementary and they had multiple subjects, and then they would switch to ELA for the next nine weeks. What do they want that to look like? , What data do they want to analyze?
When and where are the meetings going to occur? All these kind of structural things. That you can help as a leader, making sure that they're in place. And , also making sure that you plan your schedule so that you can try to be at PLCs as much as possible because that is going to build relationships with the team.
It's going to help you see, like I've talked about before, where they need support and curriculum and interventions, , and how you're able to support those teachers with instruction. , , those are the three things I'm focusing. So I [00:10:00] just wanna review, I'm learning about the curriculum and what PDs needed for that curriculum.
I'm analyzing building data to see how the building's already performing, and I'm understanding the collaboration structures in place and seeing areas that we can improve in that. And if you wanna level up your instructional leadership. And get more organized for success. Grab my eight to four principal planner.
I'll put the link in the show notes, but it's packed with practical tools that just help you prepare for meetings, get into more classrooms, and stay focused on what truly matters. It's so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day emergencies. So grab this planner so you can be more intentional and be the instructional leader you wanna be.
And you'll find the download link right in the show notes. So go ahead and get started today. And if you love the show, if you're listing on Apple, scroll down in your app, please and leave a review. That's how other people find the podcast. But keep in mind, you have the power to shape your life according to the mindset you choose.
I hope you have a great week, and I'll see you back here [00:11:00] next time.