Teaching - The Need for Delegation

Why Delegation is Essential for Professional Educators

As a teacher, have you ever thought, “I wish I had someone to delegate to, but I’m a teacher and I don’t have anyone.” In this article, teachers are challenged to recognize that in order to do what only they can do, delegation is a must - and is a gift they give themselves.  Ultimately, many others benefit when teachers delegate, too.  Read carefully and send this to

others you know, too…

 “I wish I had someone to delegate to, but I’m a teacher and I don’t have

anyone.”

 “Au contraire,” I say.

The main idea behind delegation is this: You need to be doing what only you can do. You may want to reread this statement a few times to let it sink it. Consider some examples of what YOU and ONLY you can do (vs. just any ol’person):

·         Meeting with parents who are concerned about the effect their divorce is having on their child’s performance in your class. You are the only person who can do this; it cannot be delegated.

·         Rereading the novel that you will be teaching next week so that it’s fresh in your mind. You are the only person who can do this; it cannot be delegated.

·         Preparing a rubric to use with a new science project you arepiloting for the district. You are the only person who can do this; it cannot be delegated.

·         Attending a meeting for teachers interested in a cohort master’s degree program at a nearby university. You are the only person who can do this; it cannot be delegated.

·         Reading stories to your own children before they go to sleep at night. You are the only person who can do this; it cannot be delegated.

 Let’s consider some non-examples:

·         Straightening up the bookshelves in your classroom; putting the books into alphabetical order or back into the bins that match the reading level. You are not the only person who can do this; students in your classroom or other students at your school could do this.

·         Installing (or reinstalling after a summer IT removal) software on your computer. You are not the only person who can do this; savvy students at your school or other skilled teenagers that you know could do this. (If you’re not a high school teacher, contact the Honor Society advisor of the local high school. These students need community service hours and working on your computer would count.)

·         Putting labels on file folders so that each one of your students has a carefully (and neatly) labeled folder. You are not the only person who can do this; students, parents, classroom aides, or your own children could do this.

·         Sitting at the computer printing out a series of articles that your professor has put into a virtual file folder for all the students in your graduate class. You are not the only person who can do this; your own students, a local teen, or a friend who has some extra time on her hands could do this.

·         Mowing your lawn, picking up your cleaning, painting the outside of your house, doing the weekly cleaning. You are not the only person who can do this; kids in your neighborhood (or your own) could do this.

·         As a highly educated, uniquely qualified person, there are particular tasks, responsibilities, and projects that only you can do. So that is what you need to be doing. If you had all the time in the world, you could do it all….but time isn’t unlimited. Delegating is a way to leverage your limited time. 

 So what might be stopping you?  Maybe one or more of the following has

entered your mind:

·         I am a control freak (i.e., I can’t let go of anything).

·         I don’t trust anyone else (i.e., I see myself as the only one who can do things correctly).

·         No one else can do things as well as I can (i.e., I am really the only person who can do things well).

·         It will cost money to hire help (I’ve forgotten the real cost that exhaustion plays on my own physical and mental health).

·         I have standards that no one else comes close to (not students, fellow teachers, neighbors, nor anyone in my family).

You need to be doing what only you can do. If you are going to carry out the tasks, responsibilities, and projects that are what only you can do (remember the first bulleted list in this article), then you have to delegate the ones that keep you from focusing as carefully and mindfully on those undertakings.

Keep in mind that there are people (teenagers, for example) in your neighborhood who would be delighted to earn a little extra money and do some of the tasks that gobble up your day. There are actually teenagers who want to be teachers just like you! You might hire them in the summer as you prepare for school or during holidays or even on weekends. They are helping you and you are helping them.

Delegating is like receiving a gift of time - a gift that you, in essence, give yourself.  Don’t deprive yourself of this the opportunity.

To get numerous articles with teaching and productivity tips (for free), just go to ** http://www.ArticlesforTeachers.com  and see what’s there for you to use.

Then, be sure to access the various teaching materials that are available at

the site ** http://www.OwningWordsforLiteracy.com  - and you can click on the

Downloads tab.

 (c) 2009 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., “The Ph.D. of Productivity”(tm). Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do. Sound interesting? It is!