Email vs. Face Time

Though I love the notion of email to communicate nothings beats face time with staff. This year my staff completed a staff by the numbers activity to share with the community, which was fun facts about us. One staff member's number was 4,321 which was the number of emails they have gotten from their principal over the past two years. I'm really hoping I haven't hit that number. I have asked for proof, so I'll let you know if that is accurate. So in an effort not to be just an emailing principal, I've been trying to incorporate face to face conversation with my staff this year at least on a weekly basis. I've only been successful these last two weeks, which is embarrassing to say the least but it's a start. This can simply be stopping by the room before the day begins to see how things are going. I can find out if their are issues or concerns that need to be addressed also. I've always tried to visit the classrooms regularly to see the learning going on not as an evaluation just to see the kids in action. I rarely get the opportunity to talk with the staff though, because they are busy teaching. The last few weeks it has been great to touch base with them, solve some problems, and find out what's going on in their world. As evaluations begin and more of my time is taken by the daily building operations, I'll keep you posted on my progress throughout the year. I'm hopeful there will be much more positive to report about these interactions.