Yesterday was a great day! It was actually initiated Wednesday after school when I had a staff meeting and realized that I’d barely been in classes for more than a walk-thru in the last month. I can give a million excuses why that was the case, but each and every one of them are just that… excuses! So, instead, I’ll just tell you how my “No Office” Day (#noofficeday) came about.
At the staff meeting, I told my staff that I was going to spend most of the next day visiting them. But on Thursday a meeting I was waiting for (with two other people’s schedules needing to coincide) happened at 10am and I was kept in meetings until 1pm. Then I had a parent coming in to help us out after lunch and I spent the afternoon with her (introducing our students to ping-pong, our parent was a Korean National and International champion). Classroom count: 3 classes, and two of them were in the gym.
So, Friday morning I decided to leave my laptop at home and truly have a “No Office” Day. That morning, I wrote this on twitter:
I am having a “No office” day today. Will spend real time (not just walk-thrus) in every class. Going to be a GREAT Day! 😀
… and then when I took my first picture in the Pre-school, I decided to send accounts of my day to twitter with the hashtag #noofficeday. I have shared the events of the day below.
Yes, I had a few issues that required me going to the office, but not having my laptop, they sent me to my secretary’s desk. Standing at her desk, it seemed pretty easy to ‘not get stuck doing something else’, which commonly happens to me… and probably many other as well. What might normally have ended up with me tethered to my desk for an hour, was dealt with in minutes… and I was back on my way to another class.
So, to all the administrators out there reading this…
I challenge you to have a “No Office” Day!
Leave your computer at home. If you are so inspired, take a few pictures or make a few comments along the way and send them off to Twitter with a hashtag #noofficeday. Although I may not record these days on Twitter again, I’ve challenged myself to have 2 more of these days in the next 2 weeks before our Christmas break. Yes, I’ve got a lot of other things that need to get done, but this was such a valuable experience!
It certainly helped that I have an AMAZING staff that welcome me into their rooms, WONDERFUL students that were engaged with the classroom activities, and some really GREAT things happening in our classrooms¹… but I can say that no other day this year has recharged my batteries as much as they were charged yesterday. Look at your calendars and find make the time for a “No Office” Day!
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Footnotes:
¹ GREAT things happening in our classrooms
Cross-posted on Connected Principals
Quite fun wasn’t it. I remember when I was a full timer trying to break away from the demands of the day and the things that just popped up. Reading one email and that leading to another and another.
The interesting thing is that now that I have retired and go into schools from time to time as a “Principal on Call” replacing someone away for day, gone to a conference, or ill things are different. Because it is not MY school, I get to do the above and deal “office-wise” with only difficult issues – and really, how many of those in a day are there?
I do support your efforts to be out of the office for a day and I have another suggestion for principals who are in school districts where it may be possible for them to plan a swap day. Go to another school and be the principal of the day there. Watch teachers you may not know really well personally teach. Move from elementary to secondary or middle school or primary or however your district is organized. This will give you another opportunity to reconnect with your first love – teaching.
Cheers… Bob
Bob,
Thanks for your comment! (…most of the comments are going to the cross-post on Connected Principals)
Great idea on the Principal Swap day! I think that would be a refreshing thing to do, with many learning opportunities for everyone!