Is it an emergency?

Do you ever find yourself saying this?

Is it an emergency?

More and more I find that I do. It's not because I don't want to help someone, quite the opposite.  It frustrates me to no end to ask someone else to wait or send me an email about something that is an emergency in their world because I'm dealing with them in my own.

Remember, this position I'm in this school year is one that is brand new to my campus, never been done before. And for that fact, there isn't an official, written job description to follow.  It's up to my Principal, District Testing Coordinator, and my own self-starting self to figure things out.  So, we've already been through our first round of STAAR.  But now, we are one school week out from the biggest, busiest week of the year for any Elementary Testing Coordinator and I find myself more and more asking folks that saying, "Is it an emergency?" I want to help you with your laptop that is broken, or to help you load a network printer, or help you with some other technology concern, since technology is my passion, but it's not my primary role.  Testing is.  And so I must prioritize things, events, even family functions and trips to the grocery store around preparations for this BIG week.   Schedules must be written out, rosters checked twice (like Santa), new students investigated to determine services, teachers trained, walls and halls checked, numbered booklets and scans inventoried and accounted for, pencils sharpened, papers copied, folders organized, and on and on.  And I can tell that others are not used to me saying that phrase, because I get the looks, not in a bad way, just in a "Oh, you've never said that before" kind of way.  I am eager to help, but now I must prioritize.  

Every role we serve in, from parent to educator to administrator, comes with priorities.  It's up to us in each role to figure out what's important.  And I will say that those important things shift seasonally, but one thing that will always be important is people.  So, I must temper myself when I say that dreaded phrase and phrase it in a respectful, caring way, so that I don't sever those relationships.

So, that's what I'm working on lately, prioritizing, and still being respectful. What are you working on?