Ready or not!?

In Indiana, the school year is upon us. We have schools starting over the next two weeks. As a parent, I know how quickly the summer went by and I assume administrators and educators feel the same way.

I remember reading Harry Wong’s book in undergrad talking about setting the tone for the first days of school. As a new teacher, I valued the concepts of establishing the routines and relationships with my students at the beginning of the year in order to promote success throughout the year. As an adult, I think this still holds true.

When we start the year, it is important to be purposeful in what we are trying to achieve. As I supported schools and districts over the summer, we focused on defining the most important priorities. Through this process, the attempt was to identify those things that are most important to drive change and monitor those. While we may want to do everything, we likely can’t reasonably do everything.

The new school year will be upon us whether we are ready or not. It is important to have a plan, identify clear outcomes, and define those things for team members that are most important. Here we go!