Tuesday, February 14, 2012

What a Principal Does on a Snow Day

I woke up early this morning, planning to make the 2-hour drive to our state's Education Technology Conference... today was to be my only day of attendance.   Two years ago, I wrecked my car on the way to the conference driving through conditions similar to today's snow.  I chose to stay at the office today -- turned out to be a snow day.

So the natural question I often get is "What does a Principal do when the students and teachers are away?"

Here is my attempt to answer that question on our 1st snow day of the year (This post was inspired by "The Principal's Principles" blog):

Catch up... there are always a million things to do and never enough time.  My list for today includes writing teacher evaluations, putting finishing touches on our March inservice day, and reading some of my favorite blogs (A Principal's Reflections, The Principal's Principles, My Island View, The Mobile Native).  

Follow the Conversation... Since I couldn't make the conference, I will follow the #OETC12 hashtag on Tweetdeck all day, hoping to learn, connect, and get inspired.  

Read... There are always a few books on my short list and plenty of professional publications stacked on my desk.  

Clean my desk... this one is usually at the bottom of my list.  Everything else seems more fun.   But today, I am thinking more and more about going paperless (inspired by the Beyond Paperless info on Ryan Collins' blog) -- an effort I have been making for several months now.  For me, Evernote is the tool of choice. 


Play with my kids... my 6 year old just called to ask me when I was coming home to play with him.  Maybe I can carve out an extra couple of hours this afternoon to get out the Wii or maybe play a game of Scrabble Jr.  Who knows, might even go sledding!


Regardless, I will keep busy today!