my version of transparent, collaborative leadership...with a Teamann twist
Question:
As leaders, does one have to balance the gestures of kindness or acts of goodwill because of not being able to do it for everyone?
Example:
Student A is ill and misses a school event, and you are made aware of the illness/student sadness.
Do you respond, reach out, & **insert kind gesture here**…for student A…
or
do nothing because there are always students who are ill and you’d be creating a precedent?
So very interested in your thoughts!!
StruggleN,
Amber
Every day we are presented opportunities to say thank you. From a door being opened to the gift of a chipper coworker who lifts our spirits…this is a season of opportunities to be thankful and to say thank you. There is also scientific evidence that expressing genuine gratitude on a daily basis can improve physical health as well by improving quality of sleep, cardiovascular (heart) health and immune function.
Imagine that … something as simple as how we think about our lives and the people in them actually has a profound impact on our health!
Gratitude promotes optimism and helps us to develop a more positive outlook. Who doesn’t need more of that?? This season you can feel tired, you can feel run down. That to do list is ever looming, in addition to all the seasonal extras that seem to stack up! An easy way to help curb the grinchiness you may be feeling is to outwardly express appreciation for the gifts in your life. There is always something to be grateful for.
But what happens if you are NOT feeling appreciated? That you’re taken advantage of, or that all your hard works and energy/effort is taken for granted? I’m in a pretty awesome facebook group that my principal BFF, Melinda Miller, and I are running full of holiday prep & planning for our staff. It’s not uncommon for an admin to express a feeling of not being appreciated.
You’re not alone, friend.
Don’t lose sight of WHY you’re doing what you’re doing. You don’t do all that you do for words of appreciation. You do it because you are trying to create an environment of awesome.
Culture matters. Creating a space where our teachers and our students are made to feel appreciated and WANT to be is a key component of our jobs…and that’s why you do what you do. Not for the thank you’s, but because it’s the RIGHT thing to do.
If you’re not feeling the love in your world, know that you are doing good work. You are doing some hard work. Some incredibly important work.
Take a moment to think about the people in your world…is there someone who might need to hear a “thank you” from you? Text or email…just a simple thought could bring a smile to someone’s face! Why don’t you text a principal friend RIGHT NOW? Just say “Hey…I see those long days you’re putting in…your staff is lucky to have such a dedicated leader!” Who wouldn’t have their day brightened by such a gesture? Even the Grinch would smile! (ok, he may smirk…but still!)
Please feel free to reread this as many times as you need too, 🙂 to help remind yourself that you are appreciated, even if not everyone vocalizes it…
Holiday hugN you,
Amta Claus
ps:
We all know that it takes a partnership between home and school to foster the kind of connections and growth we strive for as educators. When you have those kinds of quality relationships, it opens the door for parents to support the academic standards as well as the socioemotional ones.
I meet with a group of parents each month and have for the past 2 1/2 years. This group serves as my parent focus group, ones who are willing to sit down and have face to face conversations with me. This has led to several academic conversations that give me an insight into what my parents are thinking, as well as engage in some thoughts I have or decisions that we’ve made as a campus.
One that has come up over and over again is the idea of homework. Knowing that I scheduled it as a “think tank” conversation this month. I’ve written recently about avoiding those education extremes, homework included, and wanted to share specific things that parents could do at home to support ALL students and their academic growth. I wanted something that they could use with our kinder Wolves to my 4th-grade Wolves.
Knowing how incredibly valuable time is, I wanted to focus on skills that would transcend any specific content area and would fit naturally with a parent just living life with their student. Knowing that if it’s easy and meaningful, it would have a greater chance of sticking. We’ve also spent a considerable amount of time in our PLC’s talking through ways we could engage our families with our guided reading initiative and I wanted to offer a way parents could do more with reading, than just, well…reading…so the backside has questions that any parent could ask to help push students past just working on fluency and go deeper with their comprehension.
The end result was this, a Homework Helper. It was well received by my parent focus group and I thought maybe you could use it as well!
Bonus! I crowdsourced and solicited ideas in ways to help build a stronger connection from school to home with literacy, and this padlet was born. Let me know if you use any of these ideas, or feel free to add some of your own!
Partnership helpN,
Amber
When we allow the different…
This past weekend, I got to be present for a good friend’s wedding. A good friend that I met on the internet. 🙂 That I’ve “seen” maybe four times, in my whole life. And it was amazing.
Different, huh?
Be different. Allow different.
Embrace the different.
Amber
Can you believe November is already here? This school year is flying by fast…and November is a great month to stop down and say “thank you” to your staff. I heard in a training today that as the leader your words of appreciation and thanks mean so much more…because, inherently, of your position. Educators live in a world where being overworked has become the norm, where demands for excellence only increase. If you are like me…you’re also tired. You’re also in need of some thanks. You’re also ready for some words of praise. This activity is even MORE important that you do it then! Gratitude improves psychological health. Gratitude reduces a multitude of toxic emotions, ranging from envy and resentment to frustration and regret. … in fact, research confirms that gratitude effectively increases happiness and reduces depression. Be the boss who is kind. Kindness begets gratitude…it makes your people feel appreciated. It makes the exhaustion feel worth it. Simple acknowledgement of the efforts and energy can make the long day seem a bit shorter.
What can you do?
If you’re feeling like you could some principal appreciation too, I have a solution for that too! Text “Follow @ValuePrincipals” to 40404 and you will start receiving texts of appreciation on your phone! You can turn off receiving updates by sending “STOP @ValuePrincipals” to 40404. These texts will be meant to lift ya up, push you through, and just to remind you why we’re doing what we’re doing. No more than one a day…just gems of greatness to keep ya moving forward!
At the end of the day, we ALL work harder when we feel like we’re using our strengths and when our hard work is acknowledged. It doesn’t have to be expensive…just genuine.
How are you showing thankfulness this November?
Thankful for YOU,
Amber