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

March ideas for your staff and a message for you, leader!

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I can’t even mentally process that it’s almost MARCH…it feels like we just tried to do March and it all derailed, right?

Heavens to betsy.

I wanted to share a couple of quick ideas to show your staff that it is fact, March…of 2021, actually! and they are still hanging in there and rocking it! Annnnnnd….so are YOU! It’s hard to realize, introspectively, that I can’t compare my energy, my productivity, my progress the way that I always have…because it’s not like it’s always been. I don’t even mean that just b/c I’m in a new role or b/c I’m in a whole new place.

I mean my inertia, my trajectory, my goal setting…feels pale in comparison to my typical enneagram 3 energy. My Gallup activator-ness is less active. Some days even my woo feels less woo-y.

Guess what?

That’s ok, y’all.

It’s ok to authentically have a different pace, perspective, or plan b/c of all that this year has entailed.

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You deserve to be your true self and to feel however you are feeling. Allow your staff the grace to have space to be their true self.  We can’t preach self-care but not change adjust any of our practices and expectations. There’s shouldn’t be anyone who feels behind, after all, there’s only teaching during a pandemic and for us Texas folks, the Snowpocalypse of 2021.

 

March madness!

Kindness and gratitude!

Use these shamrocks to write a note of affirmation and/or gratitude to a fellow staff member. They already have glue dots for you to hang up, easy peasy! You could also play “hidden shamrocks” for prizes!

 

March doesn’t “succ” with people like you around!

These come in a group pack for you to be able to give to leadership, grade levels, or your whole staff!

 

This past year couldn’t have hap-pen-ed without you! 

Who doesn’t love a good excuse to give out FLAIR PENS?? less than $1 per pen, 🙂

 

 

I hope this email finds you warm, well, and leading through the fire, my friends!

 

fire fightN &

 

What’s it mean to be new?

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This may be the first actual blog I’ve help[fully written since beginning my new job in mid-October.

 

Here’s a short list of what it looks like to be new, and what to remember.

  1. Be you.
    1. Your passions and your strength are what secured this position for you. Don’t forget that..even when you feel like you are struggling, or like you don’t know what you are doing…you are there for a reason. Let that be your backbone of strength. My new job, this opportunity came about b/c of the passions that I have and b/c I embraced them. Tech? Leadership? I can be both. I can DO both. And here I am. Doing it
  2. Surround yourself with what makes you smile.
    1. Friends. Texts. Snaps. Tweets. When you start over you are going to need people who connect you to what matters and the strength of what you bring to the table.
  3. Recognize, acknowledge, extend.
    1. What do you see? What do you think about? Who can you tell? There are great things happening. Find it. Celebrate it. Find someone to share it with.
  4. Document your journey.
    1. Tweet, blog, journal. Just remember what it feels like to be at the forefront of a new challenge, experience,

 

Hoping to document what I do and how we do go about doing it as I’ve made this epic change,  just b/c  I know there are people out there, going through a change, wondering how to navigate change for educators. Recruiting EVERYONE in your district, on your campus, in your building is critical for establishing not only any positional changes but also how that reflects incredible opportunities…

 

 

Change makeN &

 

 

 

Amber

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you joined our Facebook groups? Are you ready for FAB FRIDAYS IN FEBRUARY??

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Don’t forget we also have:

Principal Productivity Group  <– Click to join

Over in the productivity group, we are sharing tips on saving time doing everyday things. Lots of suggestions for grocery shopping made easy and meal planning!
Hope your world is moving along! What’s keeping you up at night?

 

 

TECHnically yours and celebration ready,

Amber

Leaders, how do you break over a break?

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We’re closing out the first of a couple of breaks we have this season. How do you turn off all that goes through your leadership brain, when you’re supposed to be “not” thinking about work? I think when you lead the way that we all lead, it’s almost impossible to separate your everyday thoughts from your every day “I’m still a leader and responsible” thoughts, right?

Here are three ways I’ve found to “let it go” when you are able!

Plan activities that you can do while you’re off.

From a massage to a manicure to a latte with a good friend…make sure you have something to look forward to.

YOU are a person outside of your role.

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You need to focus on what you are going to do instead of working. Create a plan for your time away from work. (Principal self-care, perhaps?)The more you can do that reminds you of that, the better leader you will be. It’s been an interesting month for me, leaving one position and remembering that SO much of what I did and how I did it was defined by my “principal” title. Who are you when you’re not that person anymore?

Turn off notifications and RESIST your email.

If your problem is that you’re constantly worried about missing an important email or something important, try going a night without checking your email — and discover that all of the work you need to do is still there in the morning. Then increase the amount of time you leave your email unchecked. Try to get through an entire day of the weekend without checking. Then — gasp! — an entire weekend. You may find that many people manage to answer their own questions if you don’t get back to them right away! The more you check email, the more you have to check it. The harder it is to regulate impulsivity, the more you self-distract and flit from one thing to another. Plus, in 2020, when things happen, they seem to be happening BIG, so you’ll more than likely get a PHONE CALL if someone needs you. I learned, in all my years, my to-do list always rolls over.

Surround yourself with the people that deserve the BEST of you, instead of the rest of you. 

You deserve quality time with the support system that keeps you sane. This may be friends, family, or even coworkers that are like family. Spend your weekends relaxing with them, as they may not be used to getting 100% of your attention. While we’ve had more “home” time than usual, I really think the stress of being an educator in 2020 means we haven’t actually stepped away from thinking, planning, worrying, and thinking some more.  Jobs, titles, coworkers are going to come and go…but building memories with your family can last forever. Take advantage of not knowing what’s going to happen when you get back, by actually not worrying since it will probably be different anyway! 

It’s ok to take a REAL break and it doesn’t make you less of a leader. 

Yes, there is a lot of overlap and intermingling between work and home these days, thanks to technology and our dealing with #allthethings. It’s not always possible to get the separation we need, but the goal isn’t perfection. It’s creating enough space to allow ourselves to feel refreshed and like we are more than what we do. 

 

Here’s hoping that if that didn’t happen this break, you can get a do-over in December, 🙂

 

Rest seeking &

Starting over as a leader… and a Thanksgiving staff freebie!

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This blog has always been a place of reflection and a sharing of my professional growth and struggles. It started as a tool within my 4th-grade classroom, became a place that exploded with my tech integrationist days, and then where I shared all I learned as a campus leader. Adding another change to the pile will allow me (and thereby, you!) to share a different perspective and once again, catalog what a different lens in education can teach us.

When I was named principal in 2015, I was very clear in my 3-5 year plan and knew even then that my next step would be off of a single campus. I thought that 3-5 years would allow me enough time to see if I was any good at it, but also, to be able to create systems that were sturdy enough, and grounded enough, that they would last past my tenure. That being said, I had no idea what the next step would be or how it would come about.

2020 though, seemed the perfect year to not only change jobs, but also districts, homes, and my realm of experiences doesn’t it?

Sheesh, y’all. It’s been a month. Bear with me as I document this, if no other reason than to be able to look back on it later and think, o\h yeah, that ALL happened, 😉

August 23- made a joke to one of my softball momma friends that we were thinking about listing our house

August 30- started packing (it escalated quickly!)

September 11- House goes on the market

September 16- Hey Amber…there’s a position in Crandall ISD, you should apply!

September 25- Interview. 2 pm: house goes under contract; 3 pm offered the position

September 28- Tell the Wolves. (cry, smile, cry some more)

October 6- Say goodbye to Wylie ISD! Say hello to Crandall ISD!

So now this journey has taken me to this new role, the Director of Technology and Innovation, which seems kinda apropos, doesn’t it? It takes all my techie-ness, all the years of supporting and working with teachers on #ALLTHETHINGS that made my lil’tech heart happy, and combines it with my leadership experiences, and ta-da! A whole new district to support, empower, and engage!

In the same way that I felt my teachers were my “students” in my class, this central office role feels similar.

Acclimate. Listen. Learn. Support. Encourage. Empower.

Learning all new systems, verbiage, all while only seeing 1/3 of people’s faces has made for some fast-paced days, but it has been fun! I look forward to supporting campus leaders (and all y’all!) with ways you can support your staff, but on-campus and virtually…in a pandemic and hopefully, out!

 

For those who read this far…yay you! Here’s a FUN & FREE Thanksgiving activity you can use with your staff! A turkey hunt! Get creative and let teams decorate their turkey with feathers found in their classrooms or homes if you are virtual!

 

I’ll still be sharing admin friendly tips, tricks, and of course, make sure I share all the thing that go wrong, 😉 so you can learn from me as we go along!

 

Here’s hoping this Wednesday finds you thankful!

Gooble GobbleN & oh so