Simplify and prioritize-Student Management

As Assistant Principal for Student Management, one of my major roles is school disciplinarian.  I'm the one who is tasked with office referrals. Each time a student is referred, I call them in, spend  time listening to them, investigate if there appears to be a discrepancy, look at their grades together, counsel with them, call parents, and then administer an appropriate consequence.  This can be extremely time-consuming.  However, I have found a way to streamline this task that has been giving me more time to do what I became an administrator for in the first place, namely helping teachers improve their instructional practice.  This has also given me more time out in the building which leads to reduced office referrals.  

So, what is this practice?  It is deceptively simple.  I often have referrals from late in the day that I haven't dealt with yet.  Most of these are what I refer to as non-emergency referrals.  After school or early in the morning, I go through these, reading each carefully, checking student grades, and choosing appropriate consequences.  On a separate sheet, I write the student name and the expected consequence.  Next, I use a triage method to place these in order of importance with the most serious first.  Finally, I make a list of those that I need to get further information on or plan to refer back to the teacher for a classroom consequence or parent contact. (Yes, even in April, I still get a few that should never have been put in the system). 

With this list is in order, when I sit down to begin calling students to my office, I work more efficiently.  I get the job done in short order while still being able to spend quality time with each child.  When I am in the building, I get further information from teachers or share with them why I am turning a referral back to them.  I also  work with them to develop strategies to help referred students be more successful.

Overall, this simple practice has reduced the amount of time that I spend in my office each day and allowed more time to build relationships with teachers and those students who never darken my door.