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

A leadership retreat…an ADVANCE for leaders!

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I recently had an opportunity to take our leadership team away for an overnight retreat. We’ve had retreats in the past, and they’ve been on site and usually right before the beginning of the year. When meeting with our fab friends at Boosterthon, one mentioned how much cooler a leadership ADVANCE was than a leadership retreat. Once he said that I was hooked!

This leadership retreat was going to be different!

First I surveyed a date and gauged interest before I even booked the place. Making sure everyone WANTED to be there was important! Dates ranged in April and May and we settled on an overnight in April. Just one night, so they still had a part of their weekend to themselves.

I also conveyed what our purpose was going to be right up front. We were going to review leadership teams, detail what we thought were home runs from the past year, and also some strikeouts. We were going to discuss the school calendar and add all of our events so that we were all on the same page for #allthethings. It’s amazing how the tone can change when you give teams the opportunity to have input on dates vs just telling them when to be somewhere. They have such valid input on why scheduling something on Tuesday vs a Thursday made more sense. Things I wouldn’t have thought about and don’t necessarily have a hot sports opinion about. Our leadership team consists of our team leaders and our PLC leaders. One set of leaders handle the logistics of things happening and one set handles curriculum conversations. Each is responsible for conveying any info shared with the rest of the team.

What I brought for each teacher:

  • a binder with a paper calendar, with dates already marked (holidays, state testing, etc)
  • erasable pens 
  • post its
  • pencil

Just so you know the schematics….we were able to book a cabin a couple of hours away. We planned on cooking one meal, having a grab and go breakfast, and then we would all go to lunch at a local restaurant. I tried to keep it as simple as possible. We worked on teams and committees on Friday night and tackled the calendar Saturday morning.

The organic conversations were incredible. The time spent around the fire Friday night, listening to everyone’s “where I started” stories were irreplaceable. Their input made a huge difference and I am so thankful for a team that is willing to be IN the trenches with me. It’s taken four years for us to get to this place where we can share freely, openly, and know that we’re in the green zone together.

 

I highly suggest you “advance” at your next opportunity!

 

Cabin-ly &

Birthday book cart and #principalselfies

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What in the world did principals do years ago without the IG and FB groups of the world?

 

All the great ideas are ideas that people share that you can adapt, tweak, and make your own just make my principal world so happy.

 

For example, the great Jessica Gomez on IG shared her birthday book cart. She gifts every student at her campus, (and every teacher too!) a book on their birthday!

To make this work for my Wolves, I waited until we had our Scholastic book fair, and then used a considerable amount of points to let some of my teacher leaders choose books across a variety of levels and interests. (and yes, I even used points to buy the cart!)

I used book bins to sort and arrange on my cart. I have big vinyl plans to decorate the end to reflect what our goal is…for every student to find a book they WANT to read. I bought picture books, I bought comic books, I bought graphic novels. I bought books Pernille Ripp said I HAD to have and I bought #allthebooks Brad Gustafson said I needed.

I am ready.

My plan is to use our campus master list to announce their birthdays on the announcements, have them come down to the office, check their name off the list, and grab a book! Holiday birthdays will be delivered when we get back, and I’ll do summer birthdays before we leave!

I mean, really! Who wouldn’t want to choose a book from all these choices???

I’m going to add a sticker inside each with a birthday message, like so!

Fujifilm Instax Mini 70 - Instant Film Camera (White)

Now how could one “level up” the birthday cart?? What if you added PRINCIPAL SELFIES, for instance? What better way to let a student celebrate their special day with a mini pic of you and them and their birthday book?? This this mini camera was gifted to me,  Fujifilm Instax Mini 70 – Instant Film Camera (White), to instantly print out a mini pic! I saw this idea shared from the #momsasprincipals group, and as a result, I was hooked! This camera is relatively inexpensive and provides an instant keepsake for my Wolves. Win, win, win…

 

 

 

 

 

Combined, hopefully, all our Wolves will feel celebrated on their special day in addition to getting something new to read! Am thankful for a PLN that not only does great things but shares them out so that we can all celebrate those around us!

 

How do you celebrate your students and staff on their special day??

 

 

Selfies &

Kick off January with #oneoword2019 and other activities with your class/campus!

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We get back to doing what we get to do on Monday. Our staff has a day of in-service and while the bulk of our day will be spent in planning, both vertically and as grade level teams, we do have a time set aside for us to come together as a staff and do a few fun things.

 

First, Stefanie MConnell over at Principal Principles had a great activity to make a wish for the new year involving glitter, which is always a win! Added fireworks and viola! We’re ready to make a wish as a campus and I literally am so excited about glittermagedon. Stefanie is a great follow and has plenty of inspiration for campus leaders!

 

Second, we’re going to talk about our #oneword2019 as a staff and the power of living life with intention. Darren Hardy wrote an AMAZING book called “The Compound Effect” where he talks about the impact little, inconsequentially, daily choices can have on the rest of our lives. Choosing to focus on one word can help remind us of our path and re-center us as we need it. I made bookmarks that we’ll hand out an hopefully, will become a visual reminder as we go through our semester. Download your copy here!

 

If you’re looking for a great book to kick off your new year with a purpose, his is a great one!

 

Lastly, we’ll have a toast…with ACTUAL TOAST, hahahahaha! I’m bringing all kinds of breads, butters, jams, and jellys! 🙂 We’ll have orange juice and toast to the new year together…I can’t wait! #snackiesnacks

 

 

I hope that your break was full of all your favorite things and you’re as ready to get back to work as I am. I have missed all my Wolves, the small and the tall! 🙂

 

Proud principal &

 

Three ways to celebrate your staff in December at three different price points, plus a free download!

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I love the holiday season. I love shopping for the perfect gift, at the perfect price, for the perfect “OH!” when they open it. I love celebrating my big Wolves and my small Wolves.

I’ve done big things for my staff and some smaller type of things. Things that are all drawn out, and things that take just a few minutes, or few dollars. Things that mean a lot or simple things that are tokens of appreciation. #ALLTHETHINGS, y’all.

 

 

 

As a principal, who is on a budget, both at school AND at home…I have to be conscious of how/why/what I choose to purchase.

If you’re wondering what to do or how to even get started, oh administrator friend of mine, first join this Facebook Group where, literally, all we are talking about is the holidays and celebrating your staff for the holidays.

 

Then, scroll on down for gifts that anyone can handle, regardless of your budget… some of our favorite things…at three different price points!

 

FREE (or on da’cheap!)

12 Days Of Christmas

Here are several of my variations on the 12 days leading up to Christmas break. You can pack these full of free things like wear jeans, or workout gear, or school colors…and throw in coffee bars, popcorn bars, or other snackie snacks. Easy, peasey.

12 days, 1

12 days, 2

12 days, 3

12 days, 4

(Side note: I’ve also done 12 days of GIVING, where we shared acts of kindness!)

 

Really cheap! (and a free printable!)

Who doesn’t need a good package of chapstick? Just a cute tube with an attached note and you have a PRACTICAL, albeit cheap, gift for all, male or female!  Amazon sells 72 lil’tubes for $29.99. That’s a bargain!

Then attach this cute tag and viola! You can add your signature using any kind of graphics editor, like Canva, picMonkey, or an app like Over, Typorama, or my favorite, Word Swag. (yes that costs $4.99 and yes, it’s worth it!)

 

(download your copy here!)

 

Still cheaper than say, a new car for everyone!

  • Stock the fridge with all their faves! (Starbucks Mocha Lattes were a HUGE hit! Any fun snacks, drinks, pudding cups, etc We filled ours up for less $150!)
  • Flair pens for all! (Buy packs and break them apart and give each teacher 2/3 pens…and wish them a Flair-y Merry Christmas!)
  • Beanie hats for all! You can add vinyl to these with a cricut/silhouette, or purchase in your school colors. We found some and had our logo added at a local embroidery shop for our staff last year and they LOVED them!

 

If your team is anything like mine, they will love any effort you give them. We meet as a PLC grade level team each Wednesday and the Wednesday before we get out for the Christmas break and we just sit and eat holiday snacks and chat. We play Christmas music by the fire. It doesn’t take much, just some free time and no stress…you also can’t go wrong with the gift of TIME.

 

 

How do you show your seasonal spirit? Share in the comments!

 

festively and