What Actually Matters in the First 30 Days of School
What Actually Matters in the First 30 Days of School
Welcome to the podcast. Today, we are talking about what actually matters in the first 30 days of school as a principal.
A lot of times, the first 30 days feel like everything matters.
I remember planning my first staff meeting, and I actually have a podcast episode about this that I can link to in the show notes. That first staff meeting is really important when teachers come back. But what I found myself doing was giving so much information during that first meeting.
Now, as I look back, what I really try to think about is this:
What is the most important thing in those first 30 days of school?
What do teachers need to know right now?
Because even as a leader, it can be overwhelming when you're thinking about everything you have to do throughout the entire school year right at the beginning.
So, in this episode, I want you to think about what actually matters in those first 30 days.
We have behavior systems, curriculum, interventions, MTSS, data meetings, committees, and school improvement plans. I'm in Ohio, so we have reading improvement plans. There are things you need to do for new teachers. You have staff culture and parent communication. You need to reach out to parents and make sure they know what's happening at the beginning of the school year.
You're planning open houses, and every single thing feels like the most important thing.
But the goal of the first 30 days of school is not to launch every initiative. It's not about doing everything at once.
It's about asking: What has to be clear right now for the school to function well?
Everybody comes back to school excited, but there's also this feeling of overwhelm.
When teachers are in professional development at the beginning of the year, they're excited to see each other. I've been in a lot of professional development sessions where it's hard to keep people's focus because they just want to talk to their colleagues. It's been so long since they've seen each other. They're also thinking about getting their rooms set up.
It's really hard to focus on all of these initiatives right when teachers get back.
So today, I want to talk about the things we really need to focus on in the first 30 days.
I've been focusing a lot on this concept of Leadership by Subtraction. It's my framework for subtracting things instead of constantly adding more work.
It's not about ignoring important work.
It's about being clear on what is important now and sequencing the work.
Because you can do something later in September that doesn't have to be done on day one when everybody comes back.
That's what I want you to think about as we go through this episode.
Clear Behavior Expectations
The first thing I want you to think about is having clear behavior expectations.
Before you can begin focusing deeply on instruction, you have to make sure the school is safe, predictable, and calm. There have to be clear routines and expectations in place.
In every building I've been in, I've done that through PBIS, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. I know some people like PBIS and some people don't. Whether you do or don't, it's important to have a framework for your Tier 1 behavior system.
I do have a course on that that you can check out at barbflowerscoaching.com, where I give you all kinds of resources for creating a Tier 1 Behavior Blueprint.
But no matter how you set it up, it's important that everybody knows the expectations.
Do teachers know what the expectations are for student behavior?
Do students know the expected behaviors in classrooms and common spaces?
That's really important.
Something I've noticed with teachers is that if we're not reminding them, they don't always teach those expectations as explicitly as they need to.
I'm in an elementary school, and I've still seen situations where teachers don't explicitly teach expectations at the beginning of the year. Sometimes they just forget how explicit we need to be.
So it's a good reminder for staff.
What does explicit teaching of expectations look like?
Do you have lesson plans you can give to everyone?
Is everybody teaching the expectations for common spaces?
Are they teaching students what to do and what not to do?
Sometimes showing students what not to do can actually help them remember.
And are we reinforcing the positive behaviors we want to see?
We also want to make sure teachers understand which behaviors they should handle themselves and which behaviors should come to the office.
You might have some type of behavior matrix that shows: This is teacher-handled. This is office-handled.
Going over that with staff is really important because it helps staff feel supported. They know when a student should be sent to the office.
Do they also know what consequences can be given?
What are the clear consequences that can happen in the building?
In a lot of buildings where I've worked, we've had a rule that teachers can give lunch detentions, but they can't send students to the office for that lunch detention because there isn't anyone available to supervise them.
If a student is sent to the office, it's up to the principal to determine the consequence.
If that's how you do it in your building, you want to be really clear about that.
Who gives the consequence?
What are the possible consequences?
What does that process look like?
Do staff know what to do when a behavior happens in a common area and it's not their student?
Is everybody on the same page that if we see kids running through the hall, we can ask them to go back and walk?
Can we correct students who aren't in our own classrooms?
In most schools, that's common practice, but a new teacher might not know that.
In one of my first buildings, we really focused on noticing positive behaviors. If a class was walking quietly down the hall, we reminded each other to point that out.
We might say, "I love how quietly your class is walking down the hall."
The students were looking for those compliments, and we were reinforcing positive behavior.
So what are the expectations in your building around reinforcing positive behavior and correcting behavior?
And again, are those expectations being explicitly taught?
Do we have common language?
Are there lesson plans?
Are we going to teach expectations as a whole building? Maybe one person teaches cafeteria expectations, another person teaches bathroom expectations, and someone else teaches hallway expectations.
What does that look like?
Or are we just assuming kids know the expectations?
It's never a good thing when we're assuming.
You don't need to introduce five new behavior initiatives as you go into the new school year.
You just need to be clear on the basic system and expectations that everyone needs to use.
I really want you to ask yourself this question:
**If you asked five teachers what happens when a student misbehaves, would you get five different answers, or would you get one?**
Would they know the answer to that question?
Think about that as you prepare for the beginning of the school year.
## New Teachers Need Clarity, Not More Information
The second thing that's really important is making sure teachers understand the information and expectations they need.
But this is especially important for new teachers.
New teachers need clarity, not more information.
A lot of times, new teachers come in and they're completely overloaded with information before school even starts.
They've sat through new staff orientation at the district level. Now they're coming to you. They've received all kinds of documents, but they may not actually know what is expected at the building level.
It's really important to make sure new teachers have mentors and that you, as the principal, sit down with them for some type of new teacher orientation.
This is a great opportunity to build relationships with your new teachers so they know they can come and talk to you.
Make sure they're clear on the behavior expectations.
Make sure they know what to do if they need help.
That's really important.
Whether they need help with behavior or help with a lesson, who are the go-to staff members who can support them?
Do they know that you will help and support them?
Do they know what strong instruction looks like?
Do they know what curricula are being used?
Do they have access to all of the resources?
Do they know the non-negotiables?
Maybe there's a reading curriculum they have to use, but there are some areas where they have autonomy. Or maybe they have to follow the curriculum exactly.
What does that look like in your building?
You want to make sure new teachers have clarity on all of this.
Really, all teachers need this clarity. But hopefully, over the years, you've been clear and these are things you're continuing to reinforce.
It is still good to review expectations with all teachers, especially when you're thinking about curriculum.
What are our non-negotiables?
What are our negotiables?
Reviewing that with all staff is really important.
When I'm planning a new teacher orientation, I like to map out exactly what I want new teachers to know.
But then I also ask myself: What are the things I need to reinforce with everybody?
Maybe I know there have been questions about something in the past. Maybe staff need more clarity.
Even if I think they should know something, what do I need to reinforce?
It's just like teaching expectations to kids. We can't assume they know things.
We can't assume teachers know they have to teach the entire curriculum as a non-negotiable if that hasn't always been clear. That's just one example, but the point is that we have to make expectations explicit.
As you're creating your new teacher orientation agenda, think about whether there are areas you also need to briefly address with the entire staff during your general staff meeting.
## Curriculum Clarity Before New Instructional Initiatives
The third thing is to have curriculum clarity before introducing new instructional initiatives.
Before you start talking about walkthroughs, coaching cycles, PLCs, or new instructional strategies, make sure teachers understand the curriculum they are actually expected to teach.
Do they know the negotiables and the non-negotiables?
Think about new teachers.
Think about teachers who changed grade levels.
Think about whether you have a new curriculum.
Maybe the curriculum is a year or two old, but teachers still need a refresher.
Think about teachers who may never have received the adequate training they needed.
I remember when I was teaching in one district, I never got the phonics training for the curriculum that everybody else received. Somehow, it just fell through the cracks, and I never got it.
So even if somebody didn't receive the training during their first year, maybe you send them during their second year.
Where do people need more training and professional learning?
Do teachers know where to find the materials they need?
Do they know how a lesson should be structured within that curriculum?
Do they know the non-negotiables that should be taught each day?
Maybe there are even expectations around the amount of time spent on a subject.
Are you clear that K–2 has 120 minutes of language arts each day and that is a non-negotiable?
Have teachers really been trained?
Or is there an opportunity to train people in a curriculum they've already been teaching?
It's not about adding another instructional strategy.
It's about making sure teachers understand the core curriculum they've already been given, even if it's not a new initiative.
So, again, think about these three things:
Clear behavior expectations for the building.
New teachers need clarity—and there may also be things you need to clarify with the rest of the staff.
And curriculum clarity should come before new instructional initiatives.
## What Can Actually Wait?
The next thing I want you to think about is this:
**What can actually wait?**
When I'm planning that first staff meeting, I think about what teachers need to know now.
Then I think about what we can talk about later.
For example, MTSS.
Even if we've been doing MTSS for a long time, what I've found working in elementary schools is that every year, teachers need a refresher on the MTSS process.
What is it?
What does it mean?
Which students do we bring to the team?
Even if it seems silly because we've talked about it so many times, I like to be clear about the process every year.
But does that need to happen on the first day teachers come back?
Maybe not.
Think about intervention groups.
What will intervention look like this school year?
I like to clearly spell that out, but do teachers need that information on day one?
Think about new data protocols.
How are we looking at data?
Is it through professional learning communities?
Is it through grade-level meetings?
What does that look like?
Maybe it's extra committees.
Maybe it's another new initiative.
But does it need to be given to teachers right at the beginning of the year, or can it wait so you can give them the training when they actually need it?
For example, in my last building, we ended the year preparing to implement a new SEL initiative. That would be something we needed to address at the beginning of the year because teachers would start using it right away with the other curricula.
But MTSS and interventions may not need to be addressed right away.
You have to make the decision:
**What do people need right now?**
Then let teachers teach.
Let students settle in.
Collect data.
Start noticing patterns.
Then build the next layer.
Waiting is not avoiding.
It's being strategic in your leadership so that you're not adding too much to your plate—or everyone else's plate—all at once.
The First 30 Days Are About Building the Foundation
Think about the first 30 days as a time to build the foundation.
You need students to know what is expected.
You need teachers to know what is expected.
And you need teachers to know what and how they're expected to teach.
Once those things are clear and you know the foundation is strong, then you add the next layer.
For some buildings, especially if you're a new principal or you're bringing different groups of teachers together, these three things might even be your focus for the entire year.
Because, again, it's not about doing more all the time.
It's about building strong foundations.
You have to be really clear about the expectations for kids, the expectations for teachers, and the expectations for what and how to teach.
Once you're clear on that, you can move to the next level.
But if the foundation isn't strong, your Tier 1 systems aren't going to be strong. Then you're trying to build new systems on a rocky foundation, and that's not going to be helpful.
So this year, I don't want your question to be: What does my school need all year?
I want your question to be: What does my school need from me right now?
That's really what Leadership by Subtraction is about.
You're not deciding what doesn't matter.
You're deciding what matters first.
You're deciding what matters right now so that you're not stressing yourself out and you're not stressing other people out.
You can lead in a way that is clear and consistent for staff while building a strong foundation.
I hope you take some tips from this episode and use them as you plan your first staff meeting.
And just remember: The best principals aren't the ones doing the most. They're the ones who know what to subtract.
I hope you found this helpful, and I will see you on the podcast next week.
