We are currently in the most dangerous instructional window of the school year: The Gap.
It’s the three weeks between Thanksgiving Break and Winter Break. The turkey is gone, but Santa isn’t here yet. Students are restless, teachers are exhausted, and the temptation to coast until the holiday party is overwhelming.
But if you do the math, these three weeks represent nearly 10% of your remaining instructional days before spring testing.
If we treat this time as “throwaway time”—filled with fluff, movies, and “catch-up days”—we are effectively deleting three weeks of growth. That is instructional malpractice.
Instead of viewing this as survival mode, I view it as Bonus Time. If we can keep rigor high rather than coasting, we gain a massive competitive advantage for our students.
Here is how I lead my staff to maintain high-quality instruction during the “Trash Time” of the year.
The Danger Zones
December isn’t the only time this happens. As administrators, we need to be on high alert during these three instructional dead zones:
- The Holiday Gap: (Nov 28 – Dec 20) The “Lame Duck” session of the fall semester.
- The Testing Hangover: (The 2 weeks after state testing ends). Most schools shut down academically in May, but there is still a month of school left.
- The “Spring Fever” Window: (The week before Spring Break).
The Strategy: Presence is Accountability
We often tell teachers to “keep teaching with fidelity,” but an email isn’t enough. We have to show up.
My leadership team has committed to a simple strategy during these windows: Aggressive Visibility.
We aren’t going into classrooms to do formal evaluations or “Gotcha” walkthroughs. We are going in to be Witnesses. Instead of using our usual observation form (a Google Form) to collect data points, we opt to simply be present and support in the moment where possible.
Why Presence Works
When an administrator is visible in the hallways and classrooms, two things happen automatically:
- Accountability: Teachers know we are watching, learning, and supporting. They are more likely to be on their A Game if they know Mr. Reed is going to pop in at 10:15 AM. And just to be clear, this is not a “gotcha”. We must believe in our teachers.
- Student Behavior: The “holiday crazies” are real. Having admin presence lowers the temperature in the building, helps students regulate, and prevents the kind of meltdowns that lead to the dreaded radio call.
Teaching with Integrity, Not Just Fidelity
We talk a lot about “Teaching with Fidelity” (sticking to the script). I prefer the term Teaching with Integrity.
Integrity means we respect our students’ time too much to waste it.
Does this mean we can’t have fun? Absolutely not.
- Wrong Way: Watching The Polar Express for 2 hours and calling it “Compare and Contrast.”
- Right Way: Using holiday themes within the rigorous curriculum. Have students calculate the volume of shipping boxes. Have them write persuasive essays to Santa using proper rhetorical devices.
We can add our “Professional Flare” and make learning festive, but the learning target must remain the main event.
The Leadership Challenge
This week, I challenge you to get out of your office. Don’t hide behind your email. Don’t use this time to catch up on paperwork.
Get into the classrooms. Be a presence. If you treat these three weeks like they matter, your teachers will too.
Let’s turn “Throwaway Time” into “Bonus Growth.”