Implementing CRM week 6

I had communicated to staff that CRM time would be considered “sacred.” Leading by example, I blocked off my calendar all day every Thursday so that neither myself nor my secretary could book in appointments. I keep my cell phone put away and only check it between meetings. Only on very rare  occasions has someone come to pull me away from a CRM meeting and usually it has only been for a few minutes. This past week, however, I left the school missing my first CRM day. For two days I visited a variety of schools meeting with administrators and teachers learning about their school’s CRM journey. I had chatted with Kurtis Hewson at my district’s CRM  leadership workshop where he was presenting and by the end of the conversation he offered to facilitate my tour of schools. I was also fortunate that he was scheduled to be in Edmonton and he offered to be my guide for the day before flying out to visit another district. The schools in Edmonton that I visited were Daly Grove, Winterburn and Kildare. The following day I visited Ponoka Elementary and Stettler Elementary on my way home to Medicine Hat. Each school is at a different part in their journey and all were very welcoming. I got to sit in on a staff meeting, observe CTMs, talk with teachers and support staff, see how CRM software works, walk through schools and ask an abundance of questions of Kurtis and other administrators. I also was given a lot of resources, so many that I have had to file them away to sift through as our school continues its journey with CRM. Just as I encourage teachers to get into other teacher’s classrooms I would highly recommend administrators to get in other administrator’s schools. I owe a huge thanks  to Tim Bowman, Sharon Fischer, Heather Kennedy, Marilyn Schmitke, Cheryl Belyea and of course Kurtis Hewson.