Warner Update
Making a difference, one person at a time
Focus on the Wildly Important (January 2 - 11)
- Anne Frank
A few weeks back I listened to a podcast on Disciplines of Execution. During the podcast, Chris McChesney asked a question that made me freeze. To paraphrase he stated, are you better at strategy or execution?
He went on to state that over 70% of people struggle to execute plans or goals.
Think about it, this time of year most people are making resolutions or goals for the new year. We as a society are great at setting goals. But most of us struggle to execute.
Personally I find myself getting stuck in the day to day urgency of situations rather than the truly important matters. In fact I think that's what happens to a lot of us. We have the best of intentions and then urgent matters become the priority.
That being said, the first KEY is to narrow the focus. Too many priorities will equal no priorities. Efficient individuals keep the Wildly Important at the forefront. They do this by:
- Write down what is truly important
- Act on Lead measures
What does it mean to act on LEAD measures? Most people have heard of Lag and Lead. Lag is focusing on data. This is a good thing. But Lead measures are the critical activities that drive the data.
This is where people struggle. So many of us are data conscious. Think of weight loss...you workout, run, go on a diet and then you look at the scale and you have your data. BUT, did you take the time to reflect and measure the activities that produced the results?
We are fortunate at Warner to have the time to collaborate. As we move into a new year and a new semester I encourage your collaboration time to focus on the wildly important and then hone in on what activities and teaching points will help achieve the goal.
As we return it is inevitable that urgent matters will dictate our time. But we can't lose focus of the wildly important.
I'll leave you with this...let's be better in 2020. I think of the famous idiom, the tail wagging the dog. Ultimately this means that the least important part of a situation has too much influence over the most important part.
Personally, I'm striving to NOT let this dictate my performance and my daily focus.
Next Week At A Glance:
Tuesday, January 7th: 9am Admin Meeting
Wednesday, January 8th: K-2 Assembly at 8:45am
Wednesday, January 8th: PLC
- Quarter 3 Essential Standards
- What do we want students to know?
- How will we know they learned it?
- What will we do if they didn't?
Friday, January 10th: No Staff Meeting
Key Reminders From Our School Improvement Plan
Goal 1: 100% of Kindergarten, First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth grade students will demonstrate a proficiency in reading comprehension and fluency in English Language Arts by 06/05/2020 as measured by State Standardized Testing and locally created common assessments.
Goal 2: 100% of Kindergarten, First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth grade students will demonstrate a proficiency in mathematics understanding and application in Mathematics by 06/05/2020 as measured by State Standardized Testing and locally created common assessments.
- Don't forget that you have resources to support with these goals. The amazing resources include... Suzanne Woolworth, Angela Kolb, Heather Holshoe
- Try to not get bogged down with thoughts of initiatives. The only school improvement initiative was to use Words Their Way. All other resources and activities are driven by your team and grade level.