Many of us at EPS inhabit split roles. Part teacher, part something else.
tl;dr; come talk to me; I would love to help you navigate this challenge
It is hard. It is hard to feel responsible for a domain of the school and still make the necessary time for grading, lesson planning, and student meeting time. In other circumstances, the teaching is very concrete in terms of responsibilities but the other domain, is harder to define (and thus spend time on).
The central problem is that as a split role, you have two jobs that could easily be full-time jobs. There is no limit to the amount of time you could ponder and develop a course. You are also likely one of a few holding the torch for your particular domain whether it is managing the makerspace, the tech culture, EICL, grade-level coordinator, etc.
Ultimately, everyone will have to find their own way forward in these roles. Some essential questions that I use for myself are the following:
- Are my efforts distributed in the ways in which EPS would like them to be?
- Am I doing what is needed or am I doing what I like to do?
- Are there ways in which I can do things that support both roles?
- What can I do (or make happen) more efficiently
I’ll speak for myself and I have a hunch that others find themselves in the same situation. There is no end to the amount of effort you can put into a domain. Students futures are at stake and the pressure can feel immense. Also, students are resilient and most of them won’t even notice the subtle improvements that are made. That is to say that having the perfect program seems to pay diminishing returns whereas being present and authentic with students seems to matter the most.
The balancing of time with students vs. perfecting the structure of your area of responsibility is messy and ill-defined. That is not to say that there aren’t periods where you need to be all-in to meet expectations but there are also areas in which 80% good has nearly the same affect as 100% dialed.
If the above is complicated and conflicting… that is just how it is. Reach out to others in split-roles and talk with them, whether it is me or someone else. It is hard and it is rewarding.