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Kambar Khoshaba, the principal of South County High School in Lorton, Va., wasn鈥檛 feeling quite like himself this February.

鈥淢y mood was deflated. The things that I usually find joy in, I wasn鈥檛 anymore. That鈥檚 when I looked at my calendar and realized that my schedule was full of meetings with adults,鈥� Khoshaba said during an Education Week K-12 Essentials online forum last week.

Khoshaba quickly changed that. He built time into his calendar to spend the lunch hour with students in creative ways鈥攑laying UNO, weightlifting, doing toe-touches鈥攕o he could interact with them when they are most relaxed.

鈥淵ou can have meaningful conversations when you go to them,鈥� Khoshaba told other school leaders during the session, adding that he schedules bonding time with students like he would an administrative meeting.

The principal鈥檚 role has become more complex and demanding in the last few years. Competing demands can quickly fill up their schedules without leaving any time to connect with students and teachers in a meaningful way, Khoshaba said.

Principals need to be conscious about how they are spending their time to avoid burning out. Khoshaba shared three strategies from his own experience that can help. His full remarks are shared in the video above.

Create pockets of time to interact with students

Khoshaba recommends scheduling every activity, including the fun ones. For instance, a lunchtime activity with students has equal footing in his calendar as a disciplinary meeting with a parent.

Interacting with students gives Khoshaba joy and insights on how connected they feel to their classes and the school.

Khoshaba鈥檚 informal data collection doesn鈥檛 end with weightlifting competitions, though. A few times every week, he rolls out his 鈥渕obile office鈥濃�攁 laptop perched on a cart鈥攖o roam the corridors and speak with students and teachers. Khoshaba said this makes him more accessible to his school community.

Once a month, he also brings a whiteboard and markers on his rounds to pose questions like 鈥淒o you feel a sense of belonging in school?鈥� to students. 鈥�69传媒 write their answers on the whiteboard, which I then share with my staff and parents, too,鈥� Khoshaba said.

The trickle-up effect of low teacher morale

Principals and teachers differ on their assessment of teacher morale. In a pair of nationally representative surveys conducted by the EdWeek Research Center last fall, 49 percent of teachers indicated that their morale was worse than in the previous year, while only 26 percent of school leaders thought teacher morale had worsened.

Khoshaba said it鈥檚 crucial to pay attention to warning signs of dipping morale because when teachers burn out, it can hurt principal morale, too. For new teachers, low morale is cyclical鈥攖hey are often excited and energetic at the beginning of the school year but tire out toward the end of the semester.

At South County, the sluggish months tend to be November and March, said Khoshaba. To keep teacher morale up, Khoshaba works with students to send their teachers appreciation cards and messages. He also gets parents involved by asking them to send encouraging emails to teachers. Khoshaba tries to keep the teacher workload light during these periods鈥攆ewer professional development and faculty meetings give teachers more time to work on assessments or connect with students.

In addition to these strategies, Khoshaba has established 鈥淐ookies with Khoshaba,鈥� a 15-minute window for any staff member who wants to talk about personal or professional challenges over Chick-fil-A cookies. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about the cookies, though food is always welcome,鈥� Khoshaba said, laughing. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about the one-on-one time I can give them.鈥�

There is a limit to how much time a school leader can spend having these conversations. Doing this for an entire day could lead to burnout, Khoshaba warned other school leaders. He鈥檚 now reduced the frequency to two half-days every nine weeks.

In the new school year, schedule your joy

Principals must be intentional about making time for themselves鈥斺�渟chedule your joy,鈥� Khoshaba said, adding it鈥檚 the only way principals can rejuvenate themselves. Even on Saturdays, Khoshaba said he updates his calendar with activities as simple as reading a book or going to the gym.

Khoshaba also encouraged his principal colleagues to schedule short vacations over three-day weekends instead of waiting to take a long break.

鈥淲hen you schedule your joy, you have something to look forward to,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat really helps morale.鈥�