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

Meet the Teacher…more than a fly by! #thefirstyear

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Meet the teacher is also a crazy hectic afternoon. You’ve beon in PD all week, your classroom is frantically ready, and you’re about to welcome in all of your new students.

*shivers*

This is typically your FIRST FIRST with these new babies! Especially in elementary school, this is such a big deal! We really wanted to make sure everyone felt welcomed, invited, and were excited to start off their year with us. Adding in a “few” new things can make a world of difference. Several of these ideas were shared by Matt Arend and Todd Nesolony, and given a lil’Teamann twist. I am so thankful for experienced, PLN friend who are supportive and sharing! 7

 

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We had a photo booth right when families walked in the door, with a staff member to take pictures so they could get in. Our art teacher is amazing. She freshened up some props, added grade level sticks, and decorated a frame our fabulous 3rd grade teacher had previously used. End result? Family fun while creating a memory. My lil’bit is starting kinder and this picture may have actually make me cry. 6

Parents were asked to leave a “wolf wish” for their student for this year. We had post its and pens that coordinated with the wolf, so even when the notes were up, you still saw our Wolf. (again, awesome art teacher!!) These wishes? So inspiring. 12

 

 

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Our end result was a fun night and hopefully, a start that made these Wolves ready for Monday!

 

Side note?

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This office staff? Makes my heart so happy. Their willingness to jump in, tolistent to me, to get to know me…has just made this new school year SO much better. We have these crazy text streams that go on and on and on..and are full of hystercal gifs. I hope that you all have a staff like this to work with!

 

 

proud principal,
Amber

 

 

 

 

 

Blogging the unbloggable… #thefirstyear

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We all agree that the educational system may need some tweaks and adjustments, and I will always voice those concerns/ideas. Am I just wrong to think that there is more to what we do than just doing the fun stuff? As a public educator you can’t just do the fun, and ignore the rest. That’s not what is best for kids…right?

As I prepare my back to school professional development with my amazing team, I am seeing starting to clarify some of my “instructional” thoughts. Why when I am searching for data plans or an agenda to deliver the nuts and bolts for the school, am I not finding anything? Where is the #reviewingdata hashtag? I can find meme’s making fun of the required video list…but I don’t see curriculum vertical planning guides.

Where is reality?

Fact: There is more to being an administrator than just motivation and supporting innovation.

 

I think it is a disservice to also not talk about some of the realities that are (or should be) be a part of our day to day.

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  • We get to experience instruction in every teachers classroom, potentially impacting how every student earns. We have to evaluate instructional strategies and then EMPOWER our teachers…but also help make them better.
  • We have to look at trends in data; we have to assess how our students are learning. NO, I am not someone who defends or supports the pressure standardized testing. It is still a reality. We in Texas are measured on student growth in addition to baseline scores. Growing learners…that is what we do. That means the data has to be analyzed, discussed, & evaluated.
  • We make hard decisions. Sometimes unpopular decisions. Decisions that have to be made to ensure the fidelity of the system…the system that we all become a part of when we committed to becoming an educator.
  • We teach kids how to learn. Little five year olds, including mine, come to us not knowing how to read…not knowing how to add or subtract. I need her to be taught how to do that. I need her to learn. We are responsible for TEACHING them how to learn. For ensuring that happens.

Now, do I think that there should be innovation and building relationships with students? Of course, I do, and if you know me, you know how much I value both of those things. But there also needs to be conversations about data, and handbooks, and district initiatives. There needs to be analyzation of assessments, both formative & summative. And then training provided to help support your teachers to be as effective as possible. And I think we should be blogging about THOSE things too.

I’ll be blogging those unbloggables, if no other reason than to make sure some administrator who is new to the position knows those things should be talked about. I am so thankful to those admin who have been transparent and helpful in their journey, like George Couros, Curt Rees, Melinda Miller and Tony Sinanis. Voxer conversations, blog posts, & friendships have all made me a better leader/person.  My goal is to be that for someone else!

 

PD planning,

Amber

 

 

Do less better… #thefirstyear

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I can’t sleep at night. My to do list grows hourly. My pinterest boards are over-flowing.

I HAVE SO MUCH THAT I WANT TO DO!!!

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak to the Indiana Principals Leadership Institute with Tony Sinanis on what being a “digital leader” looks like. It was a great group of inspiring leaders and I was so impressed with the program. They have a grant from the state to develop and cultivate the kind of leaders we WANT to see in our schools. They bring in great speakers (cough cough, ;)), complete an action research project, provide mentors…it’s just an incredible labor of love from their directors. It makes me think wow, we could have something similar, in our district, in our regions, heck in our state. I COULD TOTALLY HELP CREATE SOMETHING LIKE THAT!

I have a voxer conversation going with my friend Angela Watson. I see organizational administrative from Stephanie McConnell on Instagram. I see Chris Kesler post his new interactive science notebook resources on facebook. I make fun stuff! I mean, I love good fonts and am creative! I COULD TOTALLY MAKE MY OWN PRODUCTS!

The new Adealphean comes in the mail, showering me with Greek life. I see a new ADPi shirt on Pinterest I completely need. I make plans to hang out with my sorority sisters, which makes me want to be more involved with our alumni group. I NEED TO RECOMMIT TO MY SISTERS!!
Do you see a pattern here? I could go on and on. There’s literally not enough time in the day to do all the things I think I want to be amazing at. On Sunday before church, I was catching up on a podcast by Erik Fisher, “Beyond the To Do List” and his episode called “Do less better” really resonated with me. The guest, John Bell,  is a retired consumer packaged goods CEO and global strategy consultant to some of the world’s most respected blue-chip organizations.

He talked about how companies that specialize tend to make more money with less product than a company who has multiple products. How “In & Out burger” with their limited menu comes comparatively close to McDonalds bottom line despite their 100 item menu, or a litigation form that has ONE focus can outshine those that take on a ton of cases..because they do that ONE thing better than anyone else.

There is something to be said for being intentional and focusing in on something specific. 

It’s not that you can’t do it all, it’s that maybe you should some things REALLY WELL.

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I want to remember that this year, this first year especially. I can’t do it all. I shouldn’t try. I should just make sure I choose to do SOME things, and do them well.

Be intentional.

 

List cutting,

Amber

 

The three foot rule…

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rock wall

This isn’t post about proximity…unless you mean proximity to things that stress you out!

I read a great book this week from the perspective of a navy SEAL. He detailed several missions (some heavily redacted) and went through what key lessons he learned from each one. There were general suggestions about being a team player, what that meant to a SEAL, and some that were were specific.“No Hero: The Evolution of a Navy Seal” was written by a SEAL, and it makes for easy reading.

Mark Owen  (pen name for Matt Bissonette) who is just worth googling himself, had a fear of heights but went to great lengths to overcome it. He was aware that his weakness, any weakness, could compromise a mission at any given moment. One of his early training exercises was to climb a giant rock wall, whose” shadow of this wall seemed to stretch on for miles.”. While climbing, he decided to do it in his own way. They were told to place their cams, the tools jammed into crevices that would catch them if they fell, every ten feet, but Mark placed them every 5 thinking that if he were to fall he would only fall those few feet.

Having used entirely too many camming devices he ran out and was essentially, stuck, not quite half way there. He then made the mistake of  looking at something other than the rock face in front of him, and realized how high up he was. Starting to panic, his struggle was obvious. Luckily his guide had noticed what he had been doing and he scampered over all the extra cams he’d collected from below him. He then offered him a brilliant piece of advice. 

“Stay in your three feet. Don’t look up, don’t look down. Stay right there in the three feet that you can control.”

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He completed the rest of the climb easily, by only thinking about each three feet in front of him as he finished.

You can’t do anything about what is behind you. You can’t worry about what is ahead of you. The best thing you can do is worry about where you are RIGHT now. It is liberating once you let go of things you can’t control. This advice seems to work for just about every situation.

Transitioning this summer from AP to Principal, I completely feel the panic of the wall ahead of me. Am I going to know what to do every day? What about tricky situations? How do I be the very best first year principal in the history of the world?!?

But that advice…”Stay in your three feet world.” is so powerful. I need to focus on the now, on preparing, on learning all that I can about my new campus, on getting situated…and then when the future gets here…I’ll handle it in the same “three feet world” style.

 

Wall climbing,

Amber

What I’m doing NOW to prepare for 15-16! #cpchat

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This clip from Armageddon may best describe how I feel as I transition this summer from AP to Principal. Packing was surreal…but sitting in this big’ol office…having my note pads and posit its where they go…it means thisisreallyhappening.
I am walking into a dream position. The campus is beautiful. The scores are phenomenal. The staff has been lauded by all. The parents I’ve met have been beyond friendly and approachable. Most importantly, the systems that are in place are amazing. They are in a good place (nah, a great place) with PLCs, with logistics, with morale.

What am I going to do all summer then??

1. Get to know the office staff. These team of ladies has the potential to be my front line at any given moment. I want them to KNOW me, know my heart and to genuinely know who I am. I want to make sure they know my vision, my big picture plans, to help make it easier for them to see why I do the things I do, or make the decisions I make.

2. Meet with my “groups”.  There are a myriad of “groups” within a school, and school district. I have a “Tea with Teamann” for the PTA board already planned. We’re meeting team leaders and PLC leaders for a leadership day. I’m thinking about a “grill & chill” for families. I met with my superintendent and assistant supts to talk about what expectations they had for me for my first year. (Not surprisingly, their answer was relationships!) I want to meet all my SHAREholders, 🙂

3. Dig in. The outgoing principal was a data junkie. I am SO fortunate to be able to see longitudinal data on each student before we ever sit down to talk within our PLCs. I’m going to dive deeper into last years test scores, know my percentages, my areas of focus, and my initial thoughts where we can achieve even higher. I. can’t. wait.

4. Breathe. I am going to enjoy this year. I am not going to be worried and stressed over everything. I am not going to think I need to know everything. I am going to focus on being me, knowing that that was what allowed me to be chosen for this position.

I am going to leverage my PLN, which is chock full of incredible educators, to help make this the very best first year in the history of the world. 

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5. *bonus* ( I wrote this post Thursday afternoon and it timed out and LOST the whole things. As I’m rewriting, I’m adding a bonus #5. You’re welcome!;))

That last paragraph? I used the word “I” a ton. One of my goals this year is to excise that word from my vocabulary. I never want to be the kind of leader who is “I” focused…this is a team, a family. WE will accomplish great things, together. It is SO defeating to be with someone who Unless something has gone wrong and I am taking responsibility, then the word I will use is WE.

I want to remember that using the “I” word alienates those around you…

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 #dontbethatleader #wontbethatleader

 

It may be summer, but my wolf wheels won’t stop spinning. Any other pointers/advice you can share? PLEASE do!

 

Wolf ready,

Amber