my version of transparent, collaborative leadership...with a Teamann twist

Creating and using interactive notebooks…a video series!

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My beast is going into Pre-AP biology next year and her future teacher gave her a summer “preparation” assignment to help get her biology mind right. One of the resources shared was a link to a short video on the interactive notebook that they be using in his class. It walked them through creating the tool that they would be using all year long. As I watched I noticed that there was a whole series available! As I watched all of them in fascination, my mind was spinning with all of its admin/classroom implications. I completely want to make these for my leadership team! What a great way to keep notes, track meetings, etc…basically keep all of our resources in one place!

Do you have PLC leaders? Team leaders? Both? What a fun way to help them stay organized! With back to school specials happenings all over right now, you could score these and have a BTS gift that helps them and makes your crafty heart happy, cheap!

In addition to the “construction of the notebooks” the videos talk you through adding pockets, a bookmark, and a tie to keep it all closed! Content possibilities here are endless. They could be for bell ringers, for labs, or even as a basic content specific portfolio! Adding pockets lets them keep up with handouts, but also ensures a “fun” way to keep them organized and involved in their learning. Never underestimate how a “fun” engaging an activity like this could be for your students. Decorating and creating a piece that they are excited about would hopefully make even dreary note taking a bit more fun!

  1. Interactive Notebooks- Intro video
  2. Interactive notebooks- Advanced construction
  3. Notebook Organizational tools
  4. Setting up your notebook for use

Craftily organized,

Amber

Summer reads: 10 books to consider when #principalplanning

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With just 18 days alllllll to myself, I have developed a stringent plan to get all my professional reading in. While I would usually say that my break was for fluff reading…I’ve been doing pretty well on that, 🙂 and need to get all these books in that I’ve been collecting on my desk read and processed. Some are rereads that I’ve committed to consistently rereading. Some are new finds, recommended at the PLC conference we attended a few weeks ago.  Some other leaders have suggested. Each title was selected with a targeted area of growth in mind, and I’m hoping that by committing to tweeting/blogging about them I will be more accountable for their leadership message. Choosing to  develop and enhance my growth mindset through personal accountability and reflection should ensure that these gems of greatness are more than quick reads, but that they are cornerstones of the leader I want to be.

 

bookie books

 

Now, if I can get through a Jennifer Weiner novel in a day, surely I can handle ten books in 18 days, right? Of course I can. 🙂 Especially knowing that these titles are meant to not just motivate, but to also add structure and MEAT to the notion of leadership. I can pin happy  quotes on Pinterest all day long, but what I need is the structure, a system if you will, of how to apply these principles in the crux of the day to day operations of leadership. Don’t tell me to go swing…tell me how to be the leader my district, my teachers, and my families deserve me to be.

Do you have any that you’d suggest I’d add to my stack? Tell me what and why!

book buried,

Amber

Tips & tricks to planning as a principal, part 1

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This summer I find myself able to actually THINK ahead…something last summer didn’t allow, as I had NO idea what I was supposed to even be thinking about!

I’m a planning nerd, which is surprising considering how much is always happening in this role. Someone shared via Twitter recently, ”

The principal’s day is spent in  hundreds of brief tasks, many lasting under a minute. An hour has upwards of 50-60 separate interactions with students, parents, custodians, and teachers. The flow of interactions is nonstop, hectic, and often unpredictable…”

That so perfectly describes the frantic pace…my goal for 16-17 year is to work ahead, and be ahead enough, that I can stay in the flow of productivity. That flow, if you’re a Covey fan, is in quadrant II. covey_s_matrix_2

In order to make that happen, I have a few tricks that I think will make this easier. Starting with, a strong PROACTIVE approach. I was so reactive in 15-16. Planning is essential to keep my mind AHEAD. And while yes, there are cheaper versions out there, investing in a quality planner makes a world of difference. They are of better quality, which means I can put my hands on them daily, and they aren’t going to fall apart and have to be redone mid-year. (Which I definitely don’t have time for!!)

  • An Erin Condren Life Planner… As techie as I am, I have to have a paper planner. I take this with me to all of my meetings. I make notes on the daily pages if I meet with individual teachers or parents, which can come in handy. (Record keeping as an admin can be extremely helpful.) While I don’t take “notes” per say, documenting dates and timelines are very important.  It also allows me to track each year what we’d done the year before. If you’ve never bought an Erin Condren, you can use this link to get $10 off…every little bit helps!
  • A sturdy notebook. This was probably my favorite “trick” from last year. No matter what meeting I went to, district, parent, team, PLC, etc. I took all the notes in this one notebook. It has my requisite happy quote on the cover. It had everything I needed from week to week, for easy reference, and I was able to mark to do’s with highlights and post its. Next years, 16-17 is ever better, because it has a built-in task list which will make it even easier to keep track of my “must do” items. Being able to design the cover seems so materialistic but all my favorites? Plus more happy quotes? Guaranteed to make me smile and during the year, you need all the smiles you can get!
  • Convert your to-do list into an accomplishable list. I love lined post-its. They are just the right size for me to jot everything down. And I do, jot EVERYthing down. It becomes a revolving stressor on my desk…. Moving forward I am going to plan on utilizing the 1-3-5 method of daily to-do’s. Feasibly,  you can only accomplish one big thing, three medium-ish things, and five smaller things in addition to all the day to day happenings. Making yourself choose a 1-3-5 list means the things you accomplish will be the things you chose to do—rather than what happened to get done. Prioritizing ruthlessly seems to be the only way to actually get done what’s most important in the little time that we have as educators.

Part 2 I will talk about what you can be doing this summer to get yourself ahead for the 16-17 school year! I’ll also be highlighting a Principal/Teacher organizational system from the Principal Principles. I can’t wait to share!!

 

Summer scheduleN,

Amber

PLC conference: Leadership gems

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We have traveled as a district leadership team to the Solution Tree PLC conference. Day 1 involved some powerful examples of what a PLN and PLC led culture can lead to on a campus.

I figured out at my first PLC conference that the PLC mindset was very similar to what I think is the “connected educator” mindset. It’s all about collaboration, sharing information/knowledge to benefit students, growing as a learner, and utilizing the knowledge of the whole to benefit the individual. That being said, I enjoy conferences because I love to learn, and think there is always something else I can do to improve as an educator and as a leader.

Yesterday’s sessions and great thoughts:

Teaching, Leading, and Living a High-Energy and Well-Balanced PLC Life, by  Timothy Kanold            

This session was all about finding that elusive work/life and how necessary it is to keep sane. Relational and emotional intelligence is a REAL thing. Did you know your EQ has a direct correlation to the emotional climate that you create within your campus? Your relationship with your campus/co-members is as important to their success as it is to yours. “Poor relational leaders will drive skilled and motivated workers out of their profession, or even worse, cause them to withhold discretionary effort…” (Hard Facts, Dangerous Half Truths, and Total Nonsense, 2006)

He referenced “The PLC Energy Quadrants”, that I thought was very interesting. It spoke to the need of EVERY day spending time in quadrant II, a place of low positive energy…(reflective, serene, relaxed) in order to balance staying in the “fully engaged, in the flow” quadrant I, a high positive place (helpful, hopeful, connected, joyful).  Ironically enough, this past year, I weeded out almost all of my low positive “actions” instead choosing to be action oriented and focused on my first year as an administrator. 3

Another fun fact: too much time in QI or QIII will send you to Q4.

Leading with Passion and Purpose: The Principal’s Role in a PLC

This session was led by a high school principal from Texas, bonus points! Mr. Jones started with an activity, having us complete an acronym, with the word LEADER. Pausing to think about how as a leader, each one of those letters stand for such BIG THINGS that I am responsible for being…for representing…for modeling was a big pause. He also shared that the principal, by their year 3, has a direct and substantial impact on students results on a campus. (Marzano, 2005) Knowing how difficult it would be for me to manage such a substantial impact on all 54 of my staff members, I can however choose to be that person for my 6 PLC teams.  “No one person can serve 50 masters!”

My two top tweets from his session (I take notes in twitter blurbs…it works for me!)

  • There’s a difference between co-laboring and collaborating. Which one do you do? # Everyone’s shovel is in the ground!
  • If you’re listening…you’re not talking, solving, or rationalizing, you’re being present…be a listening leader!

He closed talking about something I struggled with this year. His slide was titled “When you’re Famous”…but it asked what evidence you have to show that your students, your teachers, your teams, and your school have accomplished.  

Being a leader isn’t all about you.

Click To Tweet

If you’re the most successful, celebrated, and accomplished person on your campus, you’re doing it all wrong.  The awesome Matt Arend sent me a screen shot this week lauding someone who used to be against many of his initiatives but has, over time, become a huge supporter of the growth changes he’s brought forth. That is a successful leader. That is #realimpact.

“Indeed, there are virtually no documented instances of troubled schools being turned around without intervention by a powerful leader. Many other factors may contribute to such turn-arounds, but leadership is the catalyst.” (Leithwood, Seashore Louis, Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004)

 

leadership growN,

Amber

 

Now hiring: A principal mentor… #thefirstyear

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It’s over. It’s done. I will never be a first-year principal again.

<<insert wiggle dance>>

That spring semester is no joke. As evidenced by my lack (no, really, LACK) of blog posts would suggest, May was fast and furious. I took a ton of notes, which means hopefully I will have time to process and write this summer so that next May I will be able to navigate the quick turns with the ease of  a veteran administrator.

This post, however, I want to focus on a need I have. The need for a mentor. A legit, talk me off the cliff, an in real life, time zones be darned…mentor.

 

1

 

Consider this my social media want ad:

Now hiring: (but not actually able to be paying) a mentor. A veteran administrator who has seen the pendulum of education swing, and is not easily swayed by the standardized testing system. Preferably someone who has experience with a high socioeconomic clientele… Must be willing to entertain conversations concerning team dynamics and best practices. Should be apt in an ability to balance all the in’s and out’s, of all of the things, and help me prioritize. While I am able to meet deadlines, I do struggle with completion panic, wondering if all things were done to the level expected. Or if it could have been better…or in a different, more efficient manner. While not blinded by this role this year, 

there were definitely missteps…ones that have me banging my head against my proverbial desk asking “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!”

Click To Tweet

The best part about this want ad is that I am connected. I am VERY connected. To my detriment connected. Why would I need a mentor? I can vox with literally some of the best administrators in the nation, some of the most prolific speakers, key notes, and authors are my PLN turned friends. How could I not have a mentor?

I’m not real sure. I just know there were several moments this year where I was alone. Utterly alone. Making my mistakes. On that island that we all speak about. Why didn’t I reach out? Why wasn’t there a way to connect that would fit inside my #thefirstyear bubble?

And that is why I need a mentor…to help me figure out what I am doing in that bubble that didn’t allow the connections I’ve spent years investing in weren’t able to help me when I needed it. This year ended on a high. Knowing that I want to be even better than I was, however, I’ve decided to place this want ad. Please let me know if you’re interested in applying, 🙂

I will guarantee some high-quality conversations, random mail goodies, and occasional nervous breakdowns.

 

 

summer reflectN ready,

Amber