FREE LIVE WEBINAR
The One Thing You Cannot Afford to Keep Chasing
How principals turn one critical priority into consistent adult practice
September 30 | 7:00 PM ET | Live on Google Meet
You already talked about it. You explained what should happen. Someone probably owns it. You may even have a tracker for it. And somehow, you are still asking about it.
Still following up. Still checking whether it happened. Still correcting what should already be happening consistently. You keep checking because the work matters. And if it falls apart, you are the one who has to answer for the result.
This webinar is not about telling you to stop checking. It is about helping you figure out why you still have to chase it.
What is the one thing you cannot afford to keep asking about?
Intervention
Lesson Planning
PLC follow-through
MTSS meetings
Attendance
Student behavior
routines
Walkthrough feedback
Family communication
You have already communicated the expectation. You may have assigned responsibility. You may have created a checklist, spreadsheet, dashboard, or recurring meeting so you can see whether it is happening. And yet the follow-up still comes back to you. That is the part we are going to examine.
"Because checking is not the problem. Chasing is the signal."
There is a difference between reviewing important work because you are the principal...
and repeatedly reminding, checking behind, and correcting because the work still depends on you to keep it moving.
A tracker can show you what happened.
It cannot make the adult practice consistent.
A spreadsheet can tell you something was not submitted.
A checklist can show you that a step was missed.
A dashboard can make inconsistency visible.
But none of those tools, by themselves, answer the questions that determine whether the work actually happens consistently:
-
Do adults know exactly what they are expected to do?
-
Does someone know what to do when it does not happen?
-
Are the conditions in place for people to follow through?
-
What evidence tells leadership whether the practice is actually happening?
If those questions are unresolved, another tracker can simply give the principal another thing to monitor.
In this 55-minute live session, you’ll learn why one important priority can keep requiring your attention...even after expectations have been communicated and responsibility has been assigned.
We’ll use real school examples to examine what sits underneath inconsistent follow-through.
Then you’ll use the same questions to look at the one thing in your own school you keep having to chase.
You’ll learn how to:
Identify the adult practice underneath the priority
What do adults actually need to do consistently for this work to succeed?
Identify what is getting in the way of consistent follow-through
Is the expectation unclear? Is ownership weak? Are the conditions getting in the way? Or are you missing the evidence you need?
Separate reviewing from chasing
There is a difference between reviewing important work as the principal and repeatedly driving the actions required to make it happen.
Decide what kind of leadership response the work needs
Use what you see to determine whether the next move is clearer expectations, stronger ownership, better conditions, or more useful evidence.
This conversation is for the principal who has thought...
“I already explained this.”
“Why am I asking about this again?”
“We have a tracker. Why am I still the one following up?”
“Someone owns this. So why does it still come back to me?”
“I know I need to check important work. I just should not have to keep chasing it.”
And underneath all of that may be the thought you rarely say out loud:
“I cannot afford for this to fall apart on my watch.”
What you will leave with
-
a clearer way to recognize when reviewing important work has turned into repeated chasing
-
a way to identify the adult practice underneath a priority instead of focusing only on the activities around it
-
four questions to help you look at expectation, ownership, conditions, and evidence
-
a clearer understanding of why a tracker can show you what happened without improving follow-through
-
a practical way to look at one priority in your own school after the webinar and determine what may need to change
About Dr. Damia Thomas
I have been the teacher expected to carry out the plan, the coach helping adults change practice, the principal responsible when the plan did not work, and the district leader supporting this work across schools.
As a principal, I learned something that changed how I led...my ability to catch what others missed could keep the school moving, and also hide where the work itself needed to be stronger.
Today, my work with school leaders focuses on the leadership decisions underneath adult practice: what people are expected to do, who owns what, what makes the work possible, and how leaders know whether it is actually happening.
This session brings that thinking to one real priority in your school.
You are still going to check.
You are the principal and the work deserves your attention, but there is a difference between,
“I am reviewing the evidence and deciding what needs attention.”
“I am asking again because I am not sure this will happen unless I do.”
and
If one priority in your school is too important to keep managing through reminders, repeated follow-up, and correction, keep it in mind during this session. You’ll leave with a way to look at why it keeps requiring so much of your attention.