Amber — Page 31

Expecting vs extending grace as a leader…

February 24, 2017 by Amber Leave a 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. When I saw those lights, gulp. 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. But it definitely made me think about how I handle situations on my campus. Do I want the reflection, or do I want the finality of a judgement/consequence?

I know what I want for students…and myself. That surely transfers…

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

The #InnovatorsMindset MOOC Starting February 27, 2017 #IMMOOC

February 19, 2017 by Amber Leave a Comment

I credit George Couros for many of the amazing things that have happened in my professional adventures and am excited to help support his book and current project, which I am sharing below! I hope you can join us! The Innovators Mindset is more than just a book, it can literally be a call to action to change the way you engage and motivate your staff or your learners.

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How do you move from “pockets of innovation” to a “culture of innovation”?

How do we start to innovate inside of the box?

What does innovation mean for education, and should every educator be an innovator?

These are questions that I have addressed in my book, “The Innovator’s Mindset”, and will continue to dig deeper into with the second “Innovator’s Mindset Massive Open Online Course” that will be starting again on February 27, 2017.

The brilliant Katie Martin will be joining again to help host this experience, but alumni from the first course will also be taking part to lead in this experience as well. Not only is this a great way to dig deeper into the content of the book, it is an amazing opportunity to create your own learning, while networking with passionate educators around the world. We have also confirmed guests that will be joining us not only for a YouTube Live, but as well as a Twitter chat every Wednesday night at 9pm EST (6pm PST).

We are also extremely excited to bring on some awesome guests for this experience that will share their own experiences and work, to open up the learning past the book.

The guests and the times are as follows:

Actual Date	Topic	Guests	Twitter Chat
February 27, 8pm EST	Introduction	AJ Juliani and John Spencer	March 1, 9pm EST
March 5, 8pm EST	Part 1: Innovation in Education	Sarah Thomas	March 8, 9pm EST
March 12, 8pm EST	Part 2: Laying the Groundwork	Amber Teamann and Matt Arend	March 15, 9pm EST
March 20, 8pm EST	Part 3: Unleashing Talent	Jennifer Casa-Todd	March 22, 9pm EST
March 26, 8pm EST	Part 4: Concluding Thoughts	To be announced	March 29,9pm EST

If you miss the original YouTube Live session, you will be able to watch the recorded version or listen to the podcast.

If you are interested in joining, please do the following:

Buy a copy of “The Innovator’s Mindset“. We will have a “selfie challenge” coming soon so get your book as soon as you can so you can win a prize for our draw.
Sign up for the course (also listed below).
Get your blog ready to go! (I suggest either edublogs.org or wordpress.com)
Share that you are joining to the #IMMOOC hashtag on Twitter and share this link for others to sign up.
Join the Facebook group.

The great thing about the first IMMOOC, was participants created their own spaces to share as well. This is not limited to the groups that we are using above, so if you are interested in making your own spaces, please feel free to do so.

We look forward to having so many great people join this process and delving deeper into the importance of innovation in education.

Differentiated PD, with a purpose! #taketwo

February 19, 2017 by Amber 2 Comments

This week we have an opportunity to meet with our staff while our Wolves have a day off. One of my goals as an administrator is to not waste my teacher’s time. I’ve written before about how I also recognize I need to always be moving them along their own growth path. By providing differentiated professional development, I can accomplish both! In the same way that we expect our teachers to provide differentiated classroom instruction, my expectation should be to do the same for our teachers. Providing differentiated PD shouldn’t be a choice, but we as administrators do. Model what ya want! Or as Jimmy Casas says, Model what you EXPECT. After reading this post from my buddy, Brad Gustafson, creating a choose your PD adventure came easy!

(Flyer!)

Differentiated PD is as easy as allowing teachers to have choice, input, and TIME to think and process the PD they’ve taken part in can allow for deeper implementation and impact student learning, which again, is why we do what we do.

Our plan for Monday is this. Teacher will have breakfast and then have the chance to choose 2 from 6 different choices presented from staff who went to #TCEA17. Choices were based on what most closely aligned with the bulk of our staff’s TTESS goals set in August. They are short sessions, meant to whet their appetite and give easy strategies to add in tools for learning here in the spring.

They then are going to spend time reflecting on their individual goals, and ensure they are moving down that path of a lifelong learner. After lunch, we have time set aside for them to work with their team, analyzing our MOY data and using it to plan for small group instruction. Strategic teaching based on individual student growth is going to be what moves Wolves, in every classroom every day.

And just as fun lil’bonus for reading this far…kicking off our day tomorrow I’ll share one or two of these “fun” testing videos…just to remind us how very humorous our spring season can be. One of my Voxer groups, who bless their hearts still include me, despite my MIA-ness shared these this weekend and they are so apropos!

Hope YOUR adventure is as fun as mine!

Amber

The power of people… #TCEA17 #taketwo

February 15, 2017 by Amber Leave a Comment

I think I’ve done a top ten or 5 take-away post or a what to do list for every conference I’ve gone to since I’ve been blogging.

It typically revolved around a couple of great ideas, ways to grow, and ways to move forward.

Post #TCEA17, which was full of great ideas, and even greater people…I find myself this time in a place of reflection and respect for the relationships that are in my world. There is something humbling about being surrounded by AWESOME and realizing how very much more you have to learn, and to see, and to know.

I hope I am never one of those people who walk away from an opportunity to have the kind of connections that conferences, social media, and tools like Voxer can now provide, and think “Meh. I already know all this stuff. I’m/we’re so ahead of ______. (Insert edtech term here) ” I went to BLC in 2009 and remember asking my then tech director about this crazy tool called twitter. How oh so quickly he dismissed me, saying, “Meh. We don’t need connections like that.” So very short sighted of him, (Literally…what was said. In the airport in Boston I was wearing green converse. THAT’S how much I remember that conversation!!)

Friends who challenge…and push back on status quo.

Ideas you don’t agree with…but appreciate the passion behind.

Having friends help you see that your growth can be in another place…and that is ok.

( I actually have an entire other post written for just this one statement. If you’re not following Sanee Bell, you should be.)

Ideas that take root…and then branch out to your people.

Conversations that lift you up, make you laugh and help you BE A BETTER YOU. ( Dean, Matt, Tom, Adam, Eric, Aaron, Marlena…I mean. Honestly!)

Man…I hope I never walk away thinking, meh. I don’t need that. Because friends, that’s what we want for our students, isn’t it? To always be learners, who grow, and support, and challenge. Who support, inspire, and motivate. Who can develop supportive relationships because in this walk of life you never know which twist your road will take and who you might need along the way

If the smartest person in the room is the room…I am thankful for those in my room. Need a bigger room? Let’s talk…no meh’ing allowed!

Amber

Help curb teacher burnout with Fab Fridays in February!

January 17, 2017 by Amber Leave a Comment

Teacher burnout…it’s a real thing. This stretch in the winter/spring is a LONG chunk of instructional intensity. You’ve got middle of the year data, you have testing awareness creeping up on you, and spring break is just outta reach. The genius of Melinda Miller introduced me to Fab Fridays in February several years ago and I have loved coming up with fun things to do with my staff each year.

While it may seem like a lot of work, really, your teachers are doing the heavy lifting this time of year. And if your team is like mine, they easily over commit in order to help their students succeed. The benefits of building and supporting a positive school climate far out-weigh the time and effort required.

I would also take a guess that a positive school climate can help bring the joy and fun back into teaching and learning.

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Who wouldn’t want to be part of a school like that?

Here’s what we’re doing this year! (You can also download it here!)What do you do to love on and support your teams?

FabFri loveN,

Amber

Hop on over to George’s blog to join #IMMOOC!!