In this episode, Jethro Jones sits down with Rich Czyz, principal of Yardville Elementary and author of "Autopilot: Practical Productivity for School Leaders." They dive into actionable strategies for school leaders to reclaim their time—starting with time audits, the art of elimination, and the power of delegation. Rich shares how empowering students with real leadership roles, like running morning announcements, not only automates tasks but also builds community. The conversation explores the evolving role of AI in education, the importance of maintaining energy and boundaries as a principal, and why sometimes closing your door is the key to effective leadership. Whether you’re looking to do more with less or simply do less, this episode is packed with practical advice for every school leader.

• Find a way to run the school before the school runs you
• Finding a way to do more with less
• School leaders struggle with elimination
• We’ve always been doing this
• Do a time inventory
• Ideal week
• Automation can happen by delegation (automating through other people)
• 5th grade morning announcements
• Students writing resumes, volunteering for roles, and more
• What AI can actually do for us
• Taking care of the minutiae
• Human in the loop has gone from human fixing AI mistakes to human leading AI work
• Energy and burnout 
• Open Door Policy often leads to people dumping problems on you
• Get his Book: Autopilot: Practical Productivity for School Leaders
• How to be a transformative principal? See what you can eliminate this week! 

About Rich Czyz

Rich Czyz is the Principal at Yardville Elementary School and author of four books, his latest is Autopilot: Practical Productivity for School Leaders. He also runs the web site Four O’Clock Faculty.

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