my version of transparent, collaborative leadership...with a Teamann twist
I had a fabulous Luna Lion text me today a super cute bulletin board idea. I don’t even know if I have a bulletin board at Watson, but her text sent me on a mission to find as many “social” savvy boards as I could, JIC. We had a “Lions Love Technology” board full of our projects and tools….thinking maybe some “Websmart Wildcats”? I’ll be ready!
board browseN,
Amber
This post is cross posted from Connected Principals.
Today I had the opportunity to sit in on an MST vision planning meeting in preparation for the 2013-2014 year. I am changing campuses next year and my new campus is Watson MST. The MST stands for Math, Science, & Technology. There is a strand of MST schools within our district that follow this focus. Students who score above a certain percentile are “invited” to attend.
Anyhoo. In this meeting, while trying to establish a framework of beliefs for the MST program, a brilliant colleague, the principal at the other elementary magnet, Jason Adams, explained in a unique (to me) way of looking at what were doing.
He said, “Think about your refrigerator at home. What’s on it? Pictures of your kids? Schedules? Recipes? Postcards? You have things on there that are important to you and that you want a reminder of, to be able to look at every single day. We want these beliefs to be on our MST refrigerator. What’s so important that we want to remember and be reminded of it every day?”
What a GREAT activity for teachers (and students!) to do at the beginning of the year. Have something that represents your school or your classroom and let each teacher or student “hang up” what is important to them.
We, as a group, voted on what was MOST important, but I can see this being something to keep up all year long…with everyone’s input, to help keep that vision front and center all year long. Vision is crucial!
Magnet-ly,
Amber
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachelrusinski/541435539/
There are certain situations in life that are an automatic reaction. Red light, stop. Phone rings, answer it. Troy Aikman on TV, stop and watch. As an educator, I wish there was a way to turn off our “automatic” mode. One of the bigger moments in my back to school world as a teacher came the day we got our class lists. My very themed, very coordinated, name tags would finally be complete. I could wrap up that same coordinating bulletin board. As an administrator, one of the biggest headaches came the day we handed out class lists. The ooo’s, the ahhh’s, the groans were inevitable. It absolutely made my heart sad to hear the “automatic” reaction to seeing certain names on their lists. Conversations amongst teachers about how they handled certain families, or overcame certain behavioral quirks…you know what I am talking about.
It’s not that I didn’t do the same thing…it’s now I just wish every kid could start every year without the baggage that they may be dragging along with them. I loved starting over every year, don’t you think our students do too?
Two things reaffirmed my thoughts on being in “auto” mode. I love to read over the summer and can actually get in about a book a day, especially if MT isn’t around. 😉 One of the young adult novels I read was “Living Dead Girl” by Elizabeth Scott. If you ever want a reality check of the horrible possibilities in this world, read this book. Over and over, this poor girl was “seen” and “not seen” all at the same time…based on how she looked and people’s automatic thoughts of her. There are students in our classes who are living a life we couldn’t imagine or handle, but we sometimes we get mad because they didn’t turn in homework or get their folder signed. I don’t know that I’ll be able to look at a student or family the same based on this book again for awhile, if ever. It was that powerful.
The second reaffirming moment came while listening to the EduAllStar podcast, featuring Jeremy McDonald, aka @mrmacnology. He told a story about a situation that happened in his fifth grade class with a student and what happened when he had an “automatic” reaction. I challenge you to watch this and NOT tear up. (It’s a powerful 5 minutes.)
The point of the story is that sometimes people, especially our students, need us to ignore that automatic reaction…and be the unexpected. Can you?
unexpectedly,
Amber
This past spring I contemplated several changes to my career path. Some very similar to what I am doing now…some were very different. I mentally went back and forth with people I trust and people who know my heart. I have loved being an assistant principal at Luna. I couldn’t imagine learning how to do what it is I do without those Lions to support me. Especially those that I now consider besties, besties that won’t ever not be in my life now, because of that Luna land.
Not everything went right, but more did than went wrong. I met and got to know some AMAZING people. Learning the day to day mechanics of being a campus administrator and doing it WITH a principal like Mr. Howard was a blessing.
I interviewed for a couple of different high profile technology positions, and was pretty bummed when they didn’t work out. Constant through the process was my thought that Jesus would put me where he wanted me, and I prayed that if an opportunity didn’t work out, then that door would close. Definitively close. Those doors closed all right, 🙂 Reflectively, now, after a heart to heart with Steven Anderson, (@web20classroom) though, I came to a grown up decision. My heart is with students. My passion is with technology. Being on a campus is a natural marriage of those two things. I may feel differently after doing this for a few more years, but for now? I know I am going to be where I need to be. I can still help teachers and share all the techno awesomeness AND get to see it directly impact a campus of children.
I am excited about the new opportunity ahead of me. I’ll be leaving Luna and changing campuses. Next year, I will be the assistant principal at Watson MST. What does the MST stand for? Well, that would be math, science, & technology! How very lucky am I that the magnet campus I’ll be at next year has SO many techno tools and a mindset of integration and engagement. Having a familiarity of the magnet program because of my experience at Beaver MST makes this move an easy transition!
I treasure my Luna Lion memories and will have no problems smiling because it happened. I look forward to the next chapter…as a Watson Wildcat! (Um. BTW. Does anyone know what a wildcat looks like??)
Luna Loved,
Amber
I like goals. I like lists. I especially like crossing things OFF of a list of goals. Thus far in 2013, I have marked off several that were important to me…both professionally and personally. With the upcoming start of the school year (I go back next Tuesday.) I wanted to get a second set of goals written where I can have some PLN accountability. Again, this will be a mesh of professional and personal, but it’s interesting how intertangled they all are.
Like I said, I like a good checklist. And now I have 7 days to wrap my mind around making all of these happen. Who’s with me?
Checkingly,,
Amber