Tag Archives: strategies

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Spirits Of A Silent School

Silent_School_01This is the text of my address to the graduating class of 2016.

Every year, I prepare a graduation speech, and every year I face the same challenge.  I want to say something appropriate to the occasion of course, but I want it to be memorable, relevant and ideally strike an emotional chord with the listener.  My greatest hope is that when I have concluded, people might pause for a moment and think: ”That was nice. He spoke some good words there”.

I was looking for inspiration and I found it the other day when I was walking through the empty hallway of the school. The 3:30 bell had rung long before and everyone had gone home for the day.  In fact I may have been alone in the building at the time, as the only sounds to be heard were my steps on the crisp clean tiles.

A silent school is a very unusual thing.  Typically a hub of activity, one of the first things you notice when you are standing there alone, is that a school echoes in a funny way.   Walk down that hallway when classes are in session and you will hear students talking and laughing; you will hear abbreviated choruses of harmony emanating from the music room, the crisp crack of floor hockey sticks off of the gym floor, the squeak of a locker door followed by the deep thud of books being tossed inside – a humming microwave over here, a churning photocopier over there.  Above it all you will hear elevated “teaching voices” which inexplicably rise above everything else as they challenge students to solve an equation or respond to a short story.

And the smell…the smell of a busy school – that is hard to describe.  Imagine a mixture that included scented hair mousse, day old lunches, the sharp smell of washroom deodorizers, and the musty odor of sweaty gym class t-shirts.   At one end of the school, exhaust fumes from idling school busses seep through the cracks in the window casing, while at the other, some delightful cooking project in the home ec room fills the air with the aroma of fresh pizza dough or the sweet scent of cinnamon.

But in an empty school, it all changes.  It is silent.  No sights, sounds or smells compete for your attention.

Standing there in that empty hallway I paused, closed my eyes, and let my imagination re-create all the activity that occurred there.  I pictured the hundreds of people who walked those halls over the 55 years that building has been in existence and I swear that just for a moment, I felt myself standing there amongst every single one of them.

When you think back to your high school days, I suspect that what you immediately recall is not the ceremony, like this one, that marks the end of a your high school education.  I believe that most people think about those times that were largely unremarkable.  I believe they recall the sights and sounds of those busy school days that formed their routine, and where they were surrounded by the people they grew up with in the town they called home.

That is the school experience you carry with you.  But schools and communities evolve and ours are much different than they were 10 or 20 years ago.  They will be at least that much different 10 or 20 years from now.

However, just as I could sense the presence of those who at one time graced that empty hallway over the last 55 years, if you listen, you too can hear their echo.  It will ring in  your head and in your heart, as your experiences during these formative years  are reflected in your values, in your attitudes and in your actions.

I urge you graduates to take a moment at some point during the evening to step back and purposefully survey the people here in the room.  The group here on this stage is not likely to again be together in the same place at the same time.  With that in mind, take in everything you can to fuel fond memories upon which you may someday call when you are sitting in a quiet room and the excitement and emotion associated with high school graduation has faded.

You will soon have your diplomas in hand, and with that, you are leaving your grade school years behind you.  For some of you that might also mean leaving this little town as you move to your next stage in life.

But there is one thing I can tell you for certain:  Your school and your home town will never leave you.

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6000 Days of Teaching

GeeseI am approaching the end of my 30th year as an educator.  Let us assume that a school year is composed of 200 teaching days.  Granted, those in the profession know that does not reflect the reality, as a teacher’s school year always starts well before the first day of classes and includes significant commitment outside of the regular school calendar.  However, for the sake of keeping the Math simple, let’s consider it in this way: 200 school days per year x  30 years =  6000 days.

My 6000th day is on the horizon, and it will be my last.

It all comes down to this:

A reflection on such a journey could focus on changes that have occurred over time or enumerate the host of lessons learned.  But memory lane is a meandering path and there is little to be gained from traveling that road for very long.

I have of course given great consideration as to “what comes next”.  There is no reason to expect that the characteristics by which one was defined during the course of one’s career will suddenly change when that career comes to an end.  That indicates to me that life after day 6000 is likely to largely resemble life before day 6000.  I will remain an enthusiastic learner and continue to seize opportunities to build capacity in those around me.

And as I leave it is my hope that at least to some extent, those characteristics will have imprinted on others so that what remains is an enduring and mutually supportive learning community.

Therefore, it is with a high degree of confidence that I can honestly say that 6000 days have taught me that public education really does boil down to those simple words: enduring, mutually supportive learning.

What matters, and what doesn’t:
marble1

Shifting demands placed upon our public institutions have the potential to cause strain to the breaking point.  The above phrase can serve as an effective filter when faced with the flood of initiatives, programs and processes that attempt to find their way into schools.  That which stands up to scrutiny is worthy of inclusion in public education.  That which fails to pass the test must not impose upon the critically important work we do.

The key word of course is “learning”.  What else should schools possibly be about?  Under no circumstances should that be limited to teachers teaching students.  Terms such as “learning community” imply that we are all learning from each other. Certainly, teachers facilitate the learning of their students, but example is the best precept;  every individual concerned with public education must be grounded in a mindset that continually prompts consideration of the question:  What will I learn today?

It is imperative that no one person, group, or ideal exerts so much influence that direction is lost in their absence.  Public education must continually move forward, building on individual contributions and enthusiastically embracing new opportunities.

To that end, I hope I have contributed to creating the architecture within which people are inspired to embrace and share learning and that I have somehow impacted upon the interia that will keep it all moving forward.

If that is all that I have been able to accomplish, I consider my 6000 days well spent.

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The Inseparable Nature of Pedagogy & Technology

innovateI am a member of a disappearing group of teachers. Our numbers are dwindling and we will never be seen in the school system again. What makes this group unique? We began our teaching careers in the pre-internet age.

For those whose journey has not paralleled mine, it is difficult to truly understand just how technology has revolutionized education over that period of time. We know that teachers have shifted from being those who impart knowledge to those who facilitate the acquisition of knowledge. We know that schools look nothing like they did even a few short years ago. But it is hard to fathom the degree that technology innovation has impacted upon not only pedagogy, but upon every aspect of schools and education.

PossessBuilding Capacity

It is critically important to embrace the use of technology to accelerate learning for students and staff alike. We cannot underestimate the importance of building capacity in staff so that they can, by extension, build capacity in their students. As Michael Fullan stated in “Coherence”: “We cannot give to others what we do not possess ourselves”. To that end, I have been very deliberate in maintaining a contemporary skill set and fostering the professional growth of those around me.

By way of example, we maintain a school blog at our school website. Every teacher is invited to make at least a single annual contribution. The intent is not to force teachers to write a blog – certainly, there is nothing to be gained from that in itself – but simply to give them the opportunity to take part in this experience and gain an understanding of how this tool can be leveraged to enhance the learning experiences they design for their own students.

As with any initiative, there is a varying level of uptake. However, it is encouraging that this initiative is now part of our professional school based conversation. It is on the table, so to speak, and ideally is something that teachers will increasingly consider as a tool in support of student learning as well as for their own professional growth.

Technological / Pedagogical Evolution

Remarkable changes have occurred in schools over the years. Classroom space was given over to computer labs that have since become obsolete. There has been a transition from desktop computers to laptops to hand held devices that were unimaginable just a few short years ago. Textbooks and binders are giving way to e-readers and OneNote. All through this, I have forced myself to get on board with those innovations that appeared to have the potential to impact on student learning. Just as importantly, I also gained a clear understanding of my obligation to foster the growth of the teachers with whom I work as well as my colleagues in educational leadership.

I understand that this is not an easy road for some. However, even when that is the case, at least some measure of forward progress must be evident. We do a disservice to our students when we fail to push our own boundaries or rely on what may be comfortable and familiar instead of keeping abreast of latest practice.

We do not live in isolation, and students everywhere are benefiting from innovation in technology implemented within the context of sound pedagogy. Who will foster this growth in your own students, if not you?

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Thank you, John Dewey.

Ripple_HallwayPutting Assessment in Context

It is at the conclusion of the semester that teachers are asked to make some of their most important decisions of the year. After months of creating engaging learning activities and working with students to provide them with opportunities to demonstrate knowledge of the learning outcomes, teachers must determine not only if the student has been successful in that regard, but also identify a grade which represents their level of achievement.

In most cases, it is a matter of identifying an accurate (albeit subjective) number that reflects where students stand relative to their peers. In others it involves a failing grade and accompanying commentary to justify that assessment. The world of assessment is far from black and white, and teachers often engage in an internal dialogue about what counts and what doesn’t, and wrestle with the how their assessment of the students’ abilities truly reflects what that student is able to do.

In some instances, the stakes are higher. A failing grade in a particular course can put a students’ graduation at risk. Rightly or wrongly, entrance into some post-secondary institutions is screened on the basis of high school marks.   The assessments that teachers make and the grades they assign can cause ripples well beyond the classroom.

The Big Question:

Some jurisdictions recognize a final mark must reflect teachers’ informed professional judgement. Where that is the case, there will be those occasions where one faces a dilemma, best captured in this question:

  • Has this student demonstrated a satisfactory understanding of the learning outcomes?

When I pose that question, I prefer to qualify two key elements:

  • Has this student demonstrated a satisfactory understanding of the learning outcomes?

Assessment must be considered on a case by case basis. We need personalize student achievement by looking closely at the student whom we are assessing, and putting the learning outcomes in context.

John_Dewey

Inspiration from the Past

When confronted with such a task, I take my inspiration from a trusted source. In “How We Think”, John Dewey articulated a number of concepts that resonate across the years. These ideals continue to have relevance and certainly have influenced my own responses.

Dewey writes about context: how a poor performing student may, when confronted with a different set of circumstances may achieve quite well. The point is that our assessment of a student is only relevant within the context of that particular learning environment. It is imperative that this reality is reflected in our assessment. We must know “this student” for this to occur.

Dewey also warns us about preoccupation with external standards. It is paramount that we help students learn how to think. Process, not product, should be our focus. In that sense, our evaluation should reflect more upon the journey toward achieving the “learning outcomes” rather than on whether or not the student ultimately reached the destination.

Teachers have the difficult task of determining pass or fail, or identifying a letter or number that somehow reflects a student’s level of achievement. This can only occur when they have a sound knowledge of the student as a learner and can exercise their professional judgement in assessing achievement of outcomes.

The evaluation of student achievement is an imperfect process and the grades we assign have implications well beyond our schools and classrooms.

Our assessments of students must consider these realities.

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Outside The Comfort Zone: Helping School Systems Embrace Technology

????????????????????????????????Each year, our school division holds a “Summer Institute” for teachers, the purpose of which is to provide two days of professional development just prior to the start of the new school year. In examining the topics the Institute was considering last spring, I detected a lack of activities related to current learning technologies and, with a colleague, offered to fill the void.

Our offer was welcomed and despite the end of the school year being a very busy time, we managed to do some collaborative planning. My colleague is skilled at locating and implementing new learning technologies in the classroom. Selective about what she uses in the classroom, I suspect that for every app, program, or device that becomes a part of her teaching, many more fail to make the cut on the basis not doing enough to improve the learning of her students.

Take The Risk

I envisioned my role in the presentation would be less about new technologies and more about encouraging people to step out of their comfort zone. Changing our practice is rooted in risk taking. That can provoke a measure of anxiety in anyone, but even more so for teachers; the risks they take have the potential to impact on the students for which they are accountable. There is comfort in staying with the tried and true. What is to be gained from stepping away from that?

  • I often consider why, in this day and age, anyone in the educational system would not actively leverage the professional networking power of Twitter to build upon their skill set.
  • I wonder why they would not embrace powerful new communication technologies instead of relying on traditional but less effective technologies.
  • I reflect upon classroom practices rooted in traditional teaching which, while still valid, can be transformed through the use of common and easily accessed technological resources that are typically available in practically every classroom.

What’s Stopping You?

In all of these cases I believe that at least one of two conditions exists, which can be summarized by these statements:

  1. “What I am doing is working for me, so that is good enough.”
  2. “I don’t have the time learn all of this.”

Regarding the first statement, finding what works is important. But simply leaving it at that is not enough. We should expect more from people at all levels within the school system. A community of learners will continually seek out new and improved ways of doing things. From time to time that will mean changing long standing practice, as uncomfortable as that may be. Sticking with the status quo is simply unacceptable.

Regarding the second statement, it is true that time is at a premium. The challenge is to help people see how investing time in learning something new can lead to greater efficiency and actually save some of that precious time in the long run. Professional educators, of all people, should understand this. It is also not a matter of learning “all of this”, but selectively investing in those things which may yield the greatest return.

Inspiring Change

As I prepare for our Summer Institute presentation, I will need to focus on both of these statements. My task is to inspire people to look beyond the status quo and instill the confidence they need to make the leap to the next level. Professional development sessions like our Summer Institute are critical components in facilitating the system wide cultural shifts that are required for this to happen.

Some time ago, I wrote about exploiting technology for effective school administration. The barriers we faced then still exist today, but I am encouraged by the progress I have observed. That progress has only occurred where people have embraced the message I hope to bring to the upcoming PD session:

Take the risk, and leave your comfort zone behind.

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Professional Libraries: Old Fashioned or Underrated?

Bookshelf1I have very few books in my office. Other than a shelf where I keep three particular books that have guided my career and the one or two professional reading selections I have on the go, my personal workspace is devoid of the rows of books one might expect to see adorning the shelves of the principal’s office.

I do a great deal of professional reading. In fact, that is my preferred way to learn. To me however, a book loses its value after I have read it.  Once consumed, it has little function beyond serving as a decorative accessory.

But for those who have not yet turned those pages, the value remains. For that reason, it is important to make this resource available to others. That is not likely to happen if it occupies a permanent sheltered spot upon a dusty shelf.

Every principal has a responsibility to meet the professional learning needs of staff. With what we know about learning and learning styles, we should know that it is important to establish even a small professional learning library in our schools.

Getting up and running

Where does one start? I feel it is important to have a mix of current titles related to teaching and learning, books on health and wellness, inspirational essays, as well as some standard classics.

You will find your own essential titles but from my perspective, here are some “must have” books:
• Servant Leadership – Robert Greenleaf
• Emotional Intelligence – Daniel Goleman
• On Death and Dying – Elizabeth Kubler Ross
• Classroom Instruction that Works – Robert Marzano
• Quiet – Susan Cain
• Multiple Intelligences – Howard Gardner

Whenever I am at an educational conference, I will make a point of stopping by the vendors’ table where one finds books authored by the keynote speaker. When possible, I will get the book signed by the author with a brief message for our school. It is a simple touch but has the potential to create a small connection between the author and professional library borrower.

From time to time, staff members will request certain titles. I try to ensure they find their way into an upcoming book order and a place on our library shelves.

Circulating and (sort of) managing the material

I believe in the honour system to circulate material. I invite not only staff to borrow anything that may appeal to them, but invite visitors to our school (clinicians, consultants, etc.) to treat this resource as their own.

Borrowed material practically always finds its way back to the shelf.  If it doesn’t, it is usually because it had a profound impact on someone that they elected to retain it, or perhaps it found its way further afield. Either way, the resource is in the hands of someone that values it, and a replacement copy is easily acquired.

Location, location, location

reading_chairEndless shelves of professional reading material serve little purpose if housed in a private office. There may be an ongoing invite to others to help themselves, but to make things accessible as possible it is important to create an appropriate location to house the collection.  It might be in the school library, the corner of the staff room, or any other location that staff can peruse the collection on their own time and their own terms. It is important that it is a public area that accessible to all staff. Consider taking a page from libraries and bookstores and install a comfortable reading chair or two.

What example do you set?

I usually have a professional reading selection in my briefcase for those moments when I have the opportunity to get through a few pages and I encourage all staff to do the same. Where appropriate, I will share my thoughts on what I am reading and reference these sources in my discussions with teachers. Just as we encourage teachers to model reading to students, so should principals find ways to model the importance of professional reading to teachers.

Sometimes a book is a pretty good resource!

In our connected world, it is easy to rely on electronic resources to feed our hunger for professional reading material. Blogs (such as this one), web sites and other such resources provide bite sized pieces of information that can whet our appetites for more in depth sources. A balanced approach is most likely to contribute to building sound knowledge base. Without question, a current and well stocked learning library has an important place in the professional growth of staff.

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Warm Hearted Leadership

warm heartOver the course of a day one deals with so many people and encounters so many stories.  Each one those stories, and the resulting behaviours, elicits in us an internal response. It may provoke anger, compassion, anxiety, sympathy, and  a host of emotions.  What we feel is beyond our control, but it is our ability to look beyond the behaviours and deep into those stories that is the sign of a warm hearted leader.

The term “warm hearted” is associated with qualities such as compassion, caring, understanding and empathy.  We all possess those traits to some extent, though any one of them can be more or less developed in some individuals than in others.  It is the warm hearted person who, equipped with these qualities, has a keen ability to look beneath the surface -beyond a person’s actions and into their underlying intent – and see the world with compassionate eyes.

How often, when we encounter someone who is displaying an inappropriate response, do we  deliberately ask the question: “what is their intent?”.  Is anger more a means of defence than attack?  Is judgement a way to curtail being judged oneself?  It is surprising how focusing on the intent can quickly re-frame the situation and help one to understand another’s actions.

I intentionally referred to understanding a response, not necessarily accepting or tacitly supporting it through silence.  Understanding the rationale for a behavior is the first step in confronting it however.

I believe that warm hearted people are specially equipped to respond to even the most difficult situations – those that provoke anxiety and distress, that negatively impact on interpersonal harmony and that have the potential to harm the mental health and wellness of themselves and others.

Warm hearted leaders have a responsibility to do even more:

  • They are obliged to not only temper their own responses, but empower those around them to do likewise.
  • They have the special ability to look beyond and beneath – beyond the walls that individuals might build or defences they may employ, and beneath the surface behaviors to which we often react.
  • They have the ability to affect climate and foster a culture of compassion.

To do any less is to squander the gifts that have been bestowed upon them.

 

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Value Added Professional Learning: Using Twitter to Enrich the Conference Experience

twitter_appI recently returned from an annual school leaders’ conference.  The format of the conference has remained largely unchanged over the years and followed the traditional approach of keynote speakers followed by breakout sessions catering to more specific interests.

But this year, things were different.  I found the conference focused on relevant topics aligned with my own professional growth objectives, which is what I expected. But what I did not expect was the real time exchange of ideas and observations invisibly occurring amongst Twitter savvy participants which significantly enriched the learning experience.

Participants engage in the sessions in different ways. Some pay rapt attention to the speaker.  Others may take hand written notes to reinforce the message.  Twitter provides participants with another means of engaging in the presentation, and the interactive nature of this resource can result in a rich learning experience

I sense that conference participants who exploit Twitter experience the event on a different level than those who do not utilize this tool.  Conference organizers are becoming increasingly aware of this.  It is becoming more common to see “#conference_name” on registration forms, name tags and the speaker’s podium.  There are numerous helpful articles to assist event planners in embedding Twitter into conferences.

The running dialogue occurring just below the surface has the potential to be extremely helpful in sharing learning reflections, but there is more to it than that.  For those with the ability to exploit this resource, the Twitter enriched conference has the potential to accomplish three things:

  • The collected tweets of people posting their observations comprise notes far more thorough that one person is likely to compile.
  • Tweets enrich the presentation when they provide immediate links to material or resources to which the speaker has referred.
  • It provides unparalleled access to the speaker for follow up.

Participants may choose to exploit this resource or not, but those who are unaware of the potential of Twitter as a conference resource are missing a significant opportunity to enrich their professional learning experience.

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Bi-Tech: Relating to Both the Digital and Analog Generations

old phone new phoneI am of the generation that grew up in a largely pre-digital era. With the pace of technological innovation in today’s world being what it is, nearly all of us can say we have seen a tremendous amount of change in our lifetime. Yet I find myself in a challenging and somewhat frustrating position;  I need to be able to competently use the latest technology while maintaining a skill set related to that which is rapidly being rendered obsolete.

The best way to illustrate the need for this is to reference my own family. I communicate with my adult children via text messaging and occasionally through a social networking medium. Typical of most digital natives, online media is their first choice when it comes to news, sports and entertainment. We carry our smartphones with us practically everywhere and can connect in seconds, although I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times we actually used those devices as telephones.  Our practice has been to exchange bite sized pieces of text information. I respect that they prefer to communicate in this fashion

My elderly mother receives a daily printed newspaper. She does not have internet access in her home, and relies on the radio and television for her news and entertainment. She has a cell phone and I continue to try to persuade her that the device is essentially useless when turned off.  (From her perspective, there is no reason to turn it on if she is not actively using it.)  She relies on her land line telephone, preferring real time conversation as her primary means of distance communication. I respect that she prefers to communicate in this fashion.

I am caught in the middle with a perspective that yields a unique understanding of both digital cultures.  As a result, I am proficient in accessing communication technologies across generations, something of which I am not confident either generational extreme can boast.

Out with the old and in with the new?

A number of my age cohorts are tech savy, others are decidedly not. As a high school principal, many of the parents with whom I interact typically fall somewhere within that continuum. Does that impact on how I communicate with them?  It most certainly does.

Consider the traditional school newsletter, which continues to be a commonly used communication tool. Stuffed into backpacks and binders, some might find their way home to their intended audience, but many do not. Recognizing that they could improve on their delivery rate, schools began to make newsletters available online or to email them directly to parents, yet they did not necessarily abandon the hard copy backpack-delivery model. This is in recognition of the fact that we are dealing with parents who relate best to a paper newsletter as well as those who prefer to receive that information electronically.

So are schools then to exploit new technologies while maintaining older, even obsolete means of communication?  My answer to that is a qualified no. While we are obliged to communicate with parents and with the community at large, it is our responsibility to enable them to receive information in more current formats and  move away from yesterday’s practice.

IMG_4446aThe Digital Divide.

It has been years since I have sent home a regular printed school newsletter. Our school sends one major newsletter style publication home each year as an insert in the year-end report card. It includes information about the upcoming school year and frequently references the school website as an information source. QR codes direct the more tech savy parents to relevant sections of the school website and it is clearly indicated that this is the one printed newsletter parents can expect to receive. Our goal is education, and that includes enabling the ability to access school information through modern means.

I recognize that some people may be incapable of accessing information through current technology, and for these people we gladly print and send the relevant sections of the school website. These are increasingly rare cases.

Straddling that digital divide can be a challenge. Parents, particularly those of high school students, are largely digital immigants.  While one may deem it necessary to preserve dated strategies to faciliate communication with all parents, the resulting reality sees the same information available in a variety formats and delivery models.  This redundancy is ultimately inefficient.

At some point we must abandon the obsolete.  As communication technologies evolve, so must our practices.

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5 Things All Principals Must Do at Summer Break

lawn chairsIt is the end of the last day of school.  The students have left, staff is trickling out the door, and you can hear the school custodians hard at work moving furniture from the classrooms as they prepare for summertime cleaning.

What happens next is up to you.   You must be  fully prepared to provide leadership to make the upcoming school year a success.  To be able to do that, you need to take some important steps which should include the following.  As principal, what do you have planned for tomorrow?

1. Go home.

I know of school administrators who spend the first week or so of the summer break back at the school tending to duties associated with wrapping up the school year.  They will tell you that the lack of distraction in a generally empty building helps them to concentrate and be more productive.  However, I say that those tasks can and should be dealt with in the weeks and months leading up to the end of the school year.

Inefficient use of time during the school year can indeed contribute to a backlog of activities at the end of June.  Working into the summer is a poor solution to this.  Administrators should instead examine their own practice and make the necessary adjustments to ensure that the tasks they need to complete are done so in a timely fashion.

2. Avoid “drive-by” professional development.

Principals will frequently use the summer months to take a university course or attend a professional development seminar on a topic of interest to them.  That is a reasonable use of time as long as it is targeted PD related to their professional growth plan.

We are frequently presented with PD opportunities that are not directly related to our identified needs.  Sometimes, a PD activity simply sounds interesting. Is that enough reason to pursue such an opportunity?  If you are yearning for an activity, consider bringing balance to your life by engaging in something related to your own personal interests.  Never neglect your own wellness.

3. Disconnect.

Do you check and respond to work related email over the summer?  If so, consider the impact of breaking that electronic tether.

At the end of each school year, I respond to any email and leave the workplace with an empty inbox.  I am largely incommunicado over the summer, and when I return to start the new school year, I inevitably find that inbox to have collected an incredible number of messages.  My strategy is to move every single summertime message into a folder without reading a single one.  In each year that I have done that, I may have had one or two people referencing a message they sent over the summer which I then easily retrieve.  The rest did not seem to make a difference.

Consider the alternative of dealing with work related e-mail every other day over the summer.  If they do not make a difference, why would you allow them to divert attention from your summer break and interfere with your personal time?

4. Recharge.

Some people recharge by getting together with family and friends.  Others revel in the quiet comfort of solitude.  Most people fit somewhere along that continuum.  It is important that you determine what works for you and allow yourself the time to replenish your energy and rest your mind.

5. Plan your return.

Prior to the end of the school year, examine the calendar and pick a date for your return.  Be reasonable, and pick a date that is early enough to give you the time to adequately prepare for the new school year, but late enough to allow you to take full advantage of the summer break.  Selecting a reasonable target date helps you to clearly separate your summer break activities from your work activities.

Never underestimate the importance of life-work balance.

Your summer break is yours to use as you see fit, but do not think for a moment that you are more productive if you keep the focus on school administration over the summer.  There is no evidence to suggest working through the summer makes you more effective.  On the contrary, the most effective administrators are those that have established a healthy life-work balance and respect their own personal wellness.

That is an ideal that should be modelled for all.