#teachers Archives | Page 3 of 11 | Technically Yours Teamann

Have the vision, not the right answers… #thefirstyear

September 17, 2015 by adteaman 1 Comment

One month in and there’s so much I have already learned! Right off the bat, I have learned how very much I don’t know…and how very ok that is!

It feels like I have been here forever, in a very good way, but I haven’t been. I’m still learning kids names. I’m still learning traditions, and unstated expectations, and how things have been done in the past.

Keeping up with my schedule, my assistants schedule, my counselors schedule…not to mentions teacher’s schedules…

Emails. Oh the emails…responding, answering, delegating…saving, filing, deleting.

Instruction…there’s so much greatness around here. We’re piloting a district initiative with Ipads, and I am so proud of how my teachers have DOVE in, are tacking 30Hands, Educreations, app smashing, and integrating all over with a high level of instructional value. Follow us on Facebook if you’d like to see some of what we’re sharing.

Learn along with us on our two hashtags that we’re posting to, #wearewhitt and #URLearning.

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Building relationships. Every day I am intentionally doing SOMETHING that fosters relationships. From staff, to my AP, to my parents…I am doing SOMETHING and in my Erin Condren Planner I am highlighting each day that I do some little something. I am hoping it’s these little things that make a BIG difference. I’ve bought drinks for those outside in the car pool, given out Twinkies as a “Teamann Treat” for those who completed a task I’ve asked of them, mailed postcards to lil’Wolves bragging on what I hear their teachers bragging about, and written happy notes to those I see that are just keeping on!

I had a great conversation with an administrator I respect this week, asking him his thoughts on a few typical admin situations, and I thought he gave me the BEST advice. He said “Amber, you don’t have to have all the answers.

Your job is to set the tone, to share the vision…and to keep the course in getting there.”

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Such a relief to know I don’t have to have it all mastered, just knowing what I want our “story” to be will help us all find those answers…together…the way it should be!

Admin LoveN,

Amber

Is your school run like a business? Or why mine won’t be…

July 14, 2015 by adteaman 1 Comment

My husband and I are celebrating our ten year anniversary this September. Making it ten whole years is a huge accomplishment in my eyes. I’m not easy to get along with, 😉 To celebrate we chose to go St. Thomas for a week. It was amazing. Right up until the final morning when I received an email from our airline (Spirit) letting us know our initial flight out had been delayed by 2 ½ hours. To make it even more fun, that meant that we would miss our connecting flight to Dallas from Ft. Lauderdale.

Very stressful.

What were we to do then? How does that even work? I called 800 number after 800 number trying to find someone who could help me…all I was told was that I needed to speak to the gate agents. You know, the ones AT THE AIRPORT. That didn’t help me! Despite not leaving until late afternoon, our whole last morning was super stressful. We drove to the airport to learn that the solution was to fly us to Chicago from Ft. Lauderdale, spend the night, and then fly back to Dallas the next morning. It took over two hours to be told what our plan was going to be.

Very stressful.

At the ticket counter, I felt sorry for the young ladies checking us in. Everyone was cranky, it was hot (no air conditioning! Huh??) and nobody liked the solutions being offered. I asked when it was my turn if it stressed the workers out when they learned about delays or cancellations. Her response? “No, you just get used to it.” She was very matter of fact, un-moved by everyone’s stress and situations. The couple in front of me had arranged for their animals to be dropped off at their house, now no one was going to be there. The couple behind me weren’t going to be able to get back home until Saturday! Yikes! One lady had very strict, dire almost, instructions that she’d better be at work the following day. There were no allowances made. Luckily, I had grandparents on standby, and thankfully, my fire fighting husband had an extra day before his next shift. None of these situations impacted the gate agent’s willingness to help or be empathetic to the situation. It was what it was. There was no apology given, or even an explanation shared. They very indifferently went about their business.

One of the refrains I’ve heard is that education should “be more like a business”.

I hope that my campus never loses its ability to connect and empathize with our students and parents.

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I hope my staff is always able to maintain eye contact, provide a smile, and do what we can to help who is front of us. I hope I am always seen as someone who is solution focused, and open to listen and help. I hope they walk away feeling heard, supported, and encouraged. May we never become immune to the circumstances and situations our parents and students end up in…never should we “just get used to it”.

We are more than a business. Especially THAT business.

Home sweet home,

Amber

Expecting vs extending grace…

May 6, 2015 by adteaman 1 Comment

Have you ever been pulled over? This may surprise you, cough cough, but my driving style is a lot like the way I talk…and write. Fast and furious, always trying to get somewhere. Last weekend, with an unexpected afternoon of sunshine, I was out running errands, and inadvertently didn’t pay enough attention to a new posted neighborhood speed. My first immediate thought was, “Ohhhhhhh, MT is going to kill me!’ The second was, “Ohhhhhhh, please don’t give me a ticket! Just a warning, just a warning!”

Luckily, I did just get a warning that day. As I was driving away, I thought how ironic it was that as administrator, working with both adults and students, I am a big rules/policies girl. I like to know the parameters of an environment/situation and think that they are in place for a reason. I’m quick to want accountability and feel that individuals should be held responsible.

But when I get pulled over, my first instinct is to want grace. I want to explain, to rationalize, to make sure you understand the circumstances.

I was so much more cognizant of my speed this week. I was appreciative of the chance to do better. I was respectful of the officer’s power of a punitive action, but that he chose to give me the benefit of a learning experience. Had I gotten a ticket, would I have reflected on it so objectively? Or would I have been bitter and resentful? Been annoyed as I watched others fly by, getting away with their hurried pace, while I sat as the “one who got caught”… been focused on more of the consequence, than the actions that I had done to get myself there?

I don’t know for sure.

It was a very poignant reminder that as a leader,

I have the opportunity to give grace, and that more can actually be accomplished by doing so.

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Reminded,

Amber

Success shouldn’t be the goal.

April 14, 2015 by adteaman Leave a Comment

Sarah Lewis, the first keynote at ASCD this year, was simply incredible. She shared many, many stories that resonated with me on failure and why our perspectives needed to shift on this thought. The main one is the thought that there is a difference between success and mastery. She talked of archers…archers aren’t shooting for success. They don’t hit the target once and quit. They work until they are to a point of mastery…where they hit that target over and over again. We should strive for MASTERY with our students. Success one day on one test does nothing. But mastery…which would look like a love of learning, or a true understanding of a concept, THAT is what we should want to see from our students.

Mastery transcends grade levels and test scores. It is a LIFE trait.

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I LOVED her point that the mountain climber that reaches the top of the mountain can look over and see another mountain to climb. His journey is never complete…you can’t climb ALL the mountains. She related it back to that the smartest people in the world KNOW how little they know. How mind blowing is that?

Fringe benefits of failure….you have a rock bottom to build on.

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This also connects to Angela Watson’s “Truth for Teachers” that I listed to too this week. She talks about the need to let go of searching for the elusive search for perfection. Be ok staying in beta. Put out the most viable product that can get the job done, instead of stressing yourself (or your family!) trying to be perfect in every way. Enjoy that you can always tweak or define as you go along, with support from yours students. Be ok staying in beta.

I ordered Sarah’s book, “The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery”after talking to her backstage. She was as down to earth and eloquent there as she was up in front of us all. She paused before she spoke, each word carefully constructed to articulate the exactness of what she was trying to convey. I know that I wanted MORE of what she was sharing. Her book is excellent.

My favorite passage is a story from Sara Blakely, the entrepreneur who developed Spanx, valued at one billion dollars in 2011. Each night at dinner when growing up her father would ask, “What did you fail at today?” Those conversations helped recondition what she thought and how she felt about failure. Failure became not the outcome, but the refused attempt.

Let’s encourage our peers, our teaches, our students to be deliberate amateurs. You never know what you will find out or be able to answer.

Failure pushN,

Amber

Personalizing your own Professional Development & DC

April 5, 2015 by adteaman 1 Comment

I’ve spoken before on how important it is to take charge of your own PD. At the Greater Clark Ed Conference I spoke to a room full of administrators on using their power for good, their admin power. This year this was a new opportunity. The Alliance for Education partnered with the National Teaching & Learning Conference to present a “Digital Learning Day Live” over Spring Break.

I first received a casual text asking if I would be interested in presenting at this event last October. It was an almost comical request. Hey Amber…Do you think you’d want to…come to DC & present on how to personalize your own personal development & growth…

You can access my session presentation here.

Watch Daisy Dyer Duerr be recognized for her tireless efforts in her rural school.

Stand where Martin Luther King Jr. stood.

Meet Governor Bob Wise, president of the Alliance.

Visit the Department of Education. (The ACTUAL DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.)

Have a fascinating discussion with Arnie Duncan’s staff. Have this discussion in Arnie Duncan’s conference room.

Finally meet two people who I literally talk to EVERYSINGLEDAY for the first time.

Visit the big Abraham.

Visit Arlington National Cemetery.

GO ON A TOUR OF THE WHITE HOUSE.

Meh. I guess I could do that…

(I jest. This trip was one of the most incredible opportunities I’ve experienced. Add in the amazing people that I have the blessing of calling friends…& it may not get much better than that.)

PLN humbled,

Amber