Start Small to Get Into Every Classroom with Justin Baeder

Justin Baeder of the Principal Center talks about his book Now We're Talking and the habit behind instructional leadership: getting into classrooms consistently. His advice is to start small, skip the grand announcement, and keep track of every visit so you reach everyone, not just the easy rooms. Jethro tells how he and his assistant principal passed 1,500 observations by November, and now spends his mornings in classrooms. Baeder covers a stack of index cards that keeps your visit order honest, and why scheduling short blocks around things you already do beats one big calendar block. What you'll learn Pop into every classroom within a five-day period before you worry about feedback or forms. Visit teachers in the same order each cycle, and write down the date of every visit. Put each teacher on an index card, visit whoever is on top, then send that card to the bottom. Tie short classroom blocks to things you already do, like lunch duty, so interruptions can't wipe out your plan. Check your calendar honestly: your best day, three or four visits, may happen once a month. Chapters 0:00 Where the 21 day challenge and book came from 3:18 What daily classroom visits did for one school 8:34 Start small with the every classroom challenge 10:46 Why tracking visits keeps you honest 12:11 Index cards, Repertoire and Trello for tracking 16:35 Scheduling around emergencies and interruptions 18:41 Why a morning classroom block can stick 23:02 Where to get the book and resources Times are for the episode without ads. Your player may be off by the length of any ads. Questions this episode answers How do I start getting into classrooms when I have no time? Baeder says to start small. Skip the big announcement and the new form. In his every classroom challenge, you stick your head in every room within five days, say hi or say nothing, and don't worry about giving feedback. Just show up and build from there. How do I keep track of which teachers I have visited? Baeder suggests a printed staff roster for your first cycle, or index cards with each teacher's name. Visit the teacher on top, write the date, and put the card on the bottom. He also mentions the Repertoire app. Baeder says tracking keeps you from unintentionally avoiding certain people. How do I schedule classroom visits around interruptions? Baeder says an hour blocked on your calendar usually gets hit by whatever emergency comes up that day. He suggests several short blocks tied to other tasks, like lunch duty, about six slots a day, so you can hit roughly half. Jethro prefers one morning block. About Justin Baeder Justin Baeder of the Principal Center is the author of Now We're Talking: 21 Days to High Performance Instructional Leadership. Links and resources Justin Baeder on Twitter The Principal Center Repertoire visit-tracking app Now We're Talking on Amazon Bonus interview on writing a book Working on this at your school? Get a free preview of a 10-week leadership pathway built from episodes like this one at transformativeprincipal.com/start. Thanks to our Sponsor Broadcast Made Easy who help you start a news broadcast at your school by having everything you need in one easy-to-download place. Check it out today and get your kids creating. We’re proud to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more: Simplify and streamline technology Save teachers’ time Reliably meet Tier 1 standards Improve student performance on state assessments 🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.