Leadership — Page 19

Quick ways to model “Digital Leadership” #leadershipday14

August 15, 2014 by Amber 1 Comment

This year I am choosing to take part in Scott McLeod’s Leadership Day 2014. He challenged us all to write about any digital topic that spoke to our heart. Having led the inaugural Digital Fluency Academy for Region X this summer, I think there are easy fluid ways to easily embed technology into your admin day.

1. Find a digital way to share campus news.

Whether it be a Smore, a YouTube video, or a blog, try sharing your Friday Focus or campus news in a digital fashion. There are too many free & easy tools out there for you to be sending out a word document to your staff each week!

2. Utilize Remind with your teachers.

Instead of a flyer, or a callout, try sharing reminders with your teachers via Remind. We have seen a lot of success with using this with our staff. We got them all in with jeans pass bribes, 🙂 and then used it to send intentional timely reminders. From grade book lock down to potluck lunch reminders…these easy texts were SO much more effective. Did you know that 90% of text messages are read in the first three minutes they are sent? 99% of text messages are read, period. Take advantage and get that important info out there! Utilizing my favorite techie trick from Erin Klein, I plan on taking pictures all throughout our staff development next week, creating an animoto, and then sharing the video via Remind on our last training day. (An easy creative tool for our teachers to then use in their classrooms!!)

3. Google Drive, Google Drive, Google Drive!

There’s always a question I need answered, or a form I need access too…google drive is the answer! Create a form in minutes, collaborate with team leaders, track RTI data…all in a form that doesn’t have to be downloaded, updated, re-uploaded and then reshared. Why take 9 steps when you can do it in one? My digital bestie, Kasey Bell, has a Google handout for you that you can use, or share. She is amazing!

4. Instead of a notepad, keep your notes in Evernote.

I’ve created a checklist for walk throughs to utilize. I’ve also created a shared document with each of them that will serve as a running record of all of my visits. I plan on adding pictures, documenting our PLC progress, as well as any “above & beyonds” that happen throughout the year. As the instructional leader, I want to see a longitudinal “glimpse” into the classroom each time I visit. This shared doc holds us both accountable!

5. Techno Tuesdays

One of our campus improvement plan goals was to increase staff members comfort and familiarity with technology in the classroom. As a way to help them see how seamless it truly can be, I am going to hold monthly “Techno Tuesday’s” where on the first Tuesday of the month I’ll have a short & sweet mini tutorial on a different tool and show, K-4, how it can happen in the classroom. We know that teaching is already hard enough without having to feel like we are struggling in the classroom with something we aren’t familiar with. I want my teachers to be able to come and ask me how to use something, or know that I am giving them the time & space to figure it out. No pressure! I hope to ask our awesome learning specialists, and fabulous instructional tech guru, to host some sessions, as well as some of our more techie teachers. To better educate our kids, we need to first better educate their educators! These integration strategies aren’t difficult but teachers need to SEE and PLAY before they are going to be willing to use it in front of their students.

I struggle with being the “that girl” as Justin Tarte as articulated recently. The problem is, in order to really see a relevant, 21st century authentic learning environment, there is going to have to be a technology integration component. If we as the campus leaders aren’t the ones modeling and showing our teachers the way to make that happen, who will? Our students deserve it!

Technology isn’t something that just “adds” to your plate. It genuinely isn’t an extra. Tom Whitby had a great post about the separation of the tech world and the academia world. Angela Watson talked about the ponds of fishie fishs that we are all swimming in. I think as long as keep we keep separating pedagogy from technology integration, it’s never going to be seamless. Hopefully these tools will allow you to do something differently in your world! You are a LEADER. Use your power for good!

Leadershiply,

Amber

Theory X vs Theory Y leading

August 13, 2014 by Amber 1 Comment

In my summer reading pile of fun, 🙂 I have recently started “6 Habits of Highly Effective Bosses” and thus far have been fascinated by how easily leadership styles can be “sorted”.

45 years ago Douglas McGregor coined his clarification of organizational management into Theory X and Theory Y. As you begin your new school year, take some time to see which of these styles apply to you, and which you feel you most want to emulate. I see direct parallels to the classroom.

Theory X think people have an inherent dislike of work, that they avoid working when they can, and need to be controlled. They think employees prefer to be directed, dislike responsibility, and prefer the security of their role more than anything else.

This is the manager who feels employees (or students!) can’t ever be trusted, and need to be watched at all times. They need to be given explicit instruction, down to the very last detail, because there is an assumption that it won’t be done, or done correctly. Theory X leaders can mildly be described as micro managers; they feel that employees don’t care about the company’s interests in the long run. Formal rules, clearly laid out in black and white, and structures have to be in place to define clearly what WILL happen when employees don’t do things correctly…because obviously, they won’t.

In contrast, Theory Y believes people need to be inspired and empowered. They assume that control and punishment are not the only ways to make people work, and that employees (or students!) will actually direct themselves if they are committed to the work. If people are not ALL IN, then what they do becomes a job, versus their passion, versus something they are fully committed in seeing become successful. Theory Y sees people as assets that can be nurtured for the talent that they bring to the organization.

This directly correlates to the culture eats strategy for breakfast mindset. Or as Ron Willingham, author and chairman of the consulting firm Integrity Systems says, “People are important than processes.” Managers should base their success on team accomplishments. Maslow (yes, THAT Maslow) even suggests that managers that are comfortable with interpersonal negotiation , mediation, teamwork, and staff empowerment are more likely to be “successful” than “power kick” managers. Let go of some of that control and recognize that if people understand the why, they’ll be able to handle the how without being micromanaged.

As you kick off your school year, consider taking more time to build relationships than establishing the “rules” and the consequences of your world, whether it be your classroom or your campus. Student choice, student voice, and allowing our students to have a say in what they do can make a difference!

theory Y hopeN,

Amber

Establishing your SYSTEM for back to school…

August 2, 2014 by Amber Leave a Comment

This week we had our C&I administrative retreat to help kick off our back to school season.

Our superintendent began with an illustration and an explanation.

The green zone is an area in Baghdad. It is heavily fortified and known as the “safe place” for any journalists, travelers, and US citizens. The Green Zone is completely surrounded by high concrete blast walls, T-Walls and barbed wire fences with access only available through a handful of entry control points, and has been referred to as “the bubble.” He went on to say that if civilians ventured out of the “green zone”, military support couldn’t guarantee your safety.

The assistant superintendent then crystallized the meaning behind our district “system”. Dr. Stone walked us down memory lane, and what steps had been taken to arrive at the place where we are now. There is a system in place. It has been thought through, fought for, and put into place to help everyone within it. In the same way the walls around the green zone protect the US citizens in Baghdad, the SYSTEM we work in is designed to protect us. She held up an egg. Imagine if we, or one of our students, were this fragile egg. The day to day decisions, are like sheets of paper, dropped against that egg. They aren’t deal breakers, they aren’t enough to harm you. But big decisions? Boulder tough decisions? You need a SYSTEM to keep you safe. She brought out the most simple of illustrations, a green tool box, and inside, placed the egg. No matter what fell against that box, the egg was safe. The system keeps you safe, the system protects you. You still have freedom within that box, but are protected from the outside factors, complications or obstacles that aren’t clear.

Please note, in a year where the Dallas Morning News published an article stating that STAAR scores across the state were stagnant, ours saw an increase. Our system is working.

I had goosebumps. The concept paralleled the environment that we WANT to see at our schools. Our campuses are the green zone. Our environment, our structure, is all built around the predication that we want our students to feel “in the green zone”. We are there to keep our students safe. Not locked away from the outside, but to help them navigate through the muddled waters of life, while still holding their hands. We want them to feel backed, to feel empowered to make decisions, and know that we support them. That alone happens when they trust & believe in your system…when the fidelity is made clear. Is your system trusting and sustainable?

There are so many factors that you can’t control, especially within a school district. Choose to create your own mini system, whether it be within your classroom walls, or a building. Perhaps Angela Maiers tool kit is what you need, or Joan Young‘s ASCD Arias on Encouragement in the Classroom. Angela Watson also has written Awakened, a guide to transforming your mindset in the classroom.

system-ly safe,

Amber

I’m a font snob…or why the details matter!

July 21, 2014 by Amber 3 Comments

One of the hardest things about doing any presentation for me is choosing how I will deliver the message to the audience. I typically present on content that supports what I believe and have been doing, so it is easy to “say”. What isn’t easy is choosing the accompanying visuals. I spend a ridiculous amount of time choosing just the right pictures, layout, and yes, font. Why? Details matter.

At Luna, one of the first projects we undertook was transforming the front office and entryway. We were an elementary campus, and when you walked in that door, we wanted you go know what we were all about. Students and student learning. We wanted a bright and welcoming environment. There shouldn’t be any confusion as to whether you were at a school or a doctors office. A bright rug, a colorful kid friendly couch, and a display of what our Lions had created received more compliments from our families than one could have predicted. Why? Details matter.

Flyers that went home were approved by the office, who knew what our expectations were. Engaging, fun, and yes, fun fonts, became the norm. Teachers started paying more attention to the the details. Parent letters that had been going home for years were freshened up, looked at with a new eye. Being intentional to our audience Instead of it being “what we’d always done”, meant events were given new life. Something as simple as asking for a “fun font” meant that bulletin boards and hands outs took on the personalities of our incredible teams. Why? Details matter.

When looking at an iconic product, or person, you typically see the whole package. How market pervasive would Apple be if they didn’t spend just as much time on their logo and marketing as they did on their product? Movie sets are meticulous in their staging & arranging. Musicians know that lyrics matter as much as the musical arrangement. Authors spend days on finding the right words to describe a crucial scene, to help recreate their story in your mind. Why? Details matter.

Yes, I am a font snob. I want the nuances of my personality to be pervasive in my product. I want you to get “me” so that you understand what I am passionate about. In the same way I wouldn’t dress in a suit and wear tennis shoes…I won’t allow “details” to derail my intent. I have been called superficial in my attention to the smallest details in appearances, but I believe our school will take on the feel of what it looks like, ala the broken glass theory.

This also explains why you won’t ever see me without lipstick, 🙂

Why? Details matter.

Unapologetically,

Amber

Patience, the possible Principal eater…

July 12, 2014 by Amber 3 Comments

Patience is one of those skills that no one tells you is a critical component when you’re preparing for an administration position. It’s under valued and over expected. It’s a skill that has to be developed, nurtured, and like SO many other things…it has to be intentional.

Patience…

…when you think everyone understood what you said, but find out some didn’t.

…when you figure out people can’t read your intentions, just your actions.

…when that student is sent to you again.

…when you wish so & so would have handled that differently.

…when you wish YOU had handled that differently.

…when you see things moving slower than you think they should be going.

…when you realize that you can’t MAKE people change, but only inspire them to want too.

Patience is a virtue, but it can also be the difference between being respected and being ignored. Impatient leaders lose the ability to bring people on board. Patience makes you pause, makes you reflect, makes you not so quick to jump. Change requires patience. Communication requires patience. Collaboration requires patience. Patience allows others to share, others to feel heard, and you to think.

Practice more patience. I know it is a skill that is evolving in me as a mom, as a wife, and most definitely as an assistant principal. Can one ever be too patient? Let me practice more this year and I’ll let you know!

Zen-ly,

Amber

The topic for this post was inspired by a group of fellow PLN principals that I connect with daily. You can find each of their posts on Patience below: