What is
a 'sense of urgency?' How do you know if you have it or not? If you have it,
how do you maintain it in the midst of everything you have to do? If you don't
have it, how can I help you get it? These are just a few of the questions that
ramble around in my head late at night. When the superintendent says he wants
to know what have I done to set a sense of urgency at Nance, I lie awake at
night wondering what percentage of the staff feel the sense of urgency? And
then all the things I am responsible for creating a sense of urgency for at
Nance start rolling through my mind like a runaway freight train which then
leads me to question if I have I built a sense of urgency with the staff? I try
to shelter you from the plethora of things that would distract you from your
purpose- teaching students!
According to John P.
Kotter, a sense of urgency is a "gut level desire to win, to move forward,
to accomplish something important to you within a time frame." And then
there's this quote from Todd Whitaker, "The best thing about being a
teacher is that it matters. The hardest thing about being a teacher is that it
matters everyday!" Thinking about these two quotes- Students need us to
bring our best everyday! This means we must be intentional about everything
that we do! We have about 125 solid, uninterrupted, instructional days to get
students from where they are now to where we need them to be! There is no time
to waste or to merely go through the motions of school. Everything we do needs
to be with a sense of urgency and with intention. This includes our use of
planning times and PLC time. Planning time and PLC is where the foundations to
what happens in the classroom begins. Time is something we never have enough
of, so we must make the best use of the time we have. Be prepared ahead of time
for planning. Read the scope and sequence, unpack the TEKS being taught, read
the lessons, and come prepared with questions about what isn't clear. Come to
planning sessions on time and prepared. Build collective efficacy by admitting
your needs, let others help you. It's ok to not know, but it's not ok to do
nothing about it. We have a lot of staff members working outside their comfort
zone this year. We need each other! We can do this! And we will do this
together!
