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

Inspire or enrage? Push my thinking, but don’t be a jerk!

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The older I get (cough, cough) the more I realize I don’t know. There’s always another side to every story, there’s always a perspective that can be discussed or understood. Reasons for every action, thought, or attitude.  I know teachers who swear up and down they’ll never be administrators, and administrators who wish teachers could walk just one day in their shoes…especially if they get to pick the day!

One of the surest signs of a confident learner, IMO, is their ability to listen and respond to other’s who don’t believe the same things that they do. There’s a quite the convo happening on twitter right now on the validity and credibility of the Bammy’s that took place in Washington DC this past weekend. There are fierce supporters on both sides. It’s been interesting to watch and think about. I’m intrigued because I truly respect people on BOTH sides of the discussion.

The trick is to do that and NOT come across as arrogant. Or all knowing. Or condescending. Can you do that? Can you engage in a conversation with someone who doesn’t agree with you and NOT be a jerk? If you can, I’d love to have a conversation with you, I might even be swayed. But if you can’t, I’ll just agree to disagree and ignore you. both sides. Twitter gets a lot of flack for being the echo chamber, but that’s not what I see. Maybe because I choose to follow edu-peeps who challenge my line of thinking, ones who not only disagree with me at times (George Couros) but challenge me to defend my beliefs. Not in an offensive, abrasive way…but in a thought provoking way.

Nobody likes to be made to feel stupid…and if you can’t discuss perspectives without making that happen…I don’t think you’re a very good leader. Of course, the onus can also be on you to be willing to HAVE that conversation at times, as well.

If that doesn’t make sense…I’ll let Ross and Phoebe reenact this blog post for you, 😉

Open minded-ish,

Amber

Let your students ignite their passion…and kickstart your class!

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Ignite talks are tag lined with “Enlighten us, but make it quick,”. Ignite is a presentation format where a presenter speaks while slides advance automatically to support them. An Ignite presentation is exactly 5 minutes, and contains exactly 20 slides. The slides advance automatically after each slide is displayed for 15 seconds. I think this would be an amazing thing for teachers to use in class with upper elementary students. With only 20 slides, a presenter must make important decisions about introduction, body, and conclusion. We teach summary skills on a regular basis, what better way to do this than have them prepare an ignite speech?

The students are forced to become experts.  You  allow them to have a note card or two but they are not allowed to simply read about their topic.

 

Erin Klein of the famous Kleinspiration site, gave an inspiring Ignite speech at ISTE this year. Check out her speech, she begins at 46:05.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsVYu1yi-JI

 

I think one of these would be a GREAT think tank idea!

 

Let me know if i can come work with you or your students to get an ignite inferno going!

 

AmFire

 

#SAVMP- How do you encourage leadership?

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leadershipLeaders are everywhere. They aren’t just the ones in charge. Take for example the office clerk in Georgia, who was able to prevent who knows how many injuries or even possibly deaths.

Antoinette Tuff said she convinced an armed Michael Brandon Hill, 20, to surrender after a brief gun battle inside the Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy in Decatur, Ga. The heroic bookkeeper said she stopped the gunman from going to a schoolyard filled with frightened children ‘because I knew that if he got outside, he was going to start shooting the kids.’

What if she had decided that it wasn’t her job to step up and step in? That she wasn’t a LEADER, that she was just a book keeper?

I firmly believe that we can ALL be leaders in education. It doesn’t take a title to step up, it takes a heart for kids, and a willingness to do what is best for them. @TechNinjaTodd wrote a great post for me on being a teacher leader and the ways that he has taken on some different leadership roles on his campus. Teachers, you can look for leaders in your classroom too. Have you talked to your students about what it means to be a leader? How impactful that would be for your campus…if we all realized what a difference we could make…

George Couros asked on our recent  #SAVMP hangout about what campus admin can do tomorrow to help encourage leaders. I think you start by empowering your staff to recognize their strengths. Regardless of one’s love language, (cough cough) who doesn’t appreciate being recognized for their effort? I am big believer in supporting and promoting what you want to see more of…I did it in my classroom, I try to do it on our campus. That doesn’t mean isolating and leaving out anyone else…just highlighting what you think supports the campus vision.

I started with teachers who had a penchant for technology…asking them to help their peers, to help  lead staff development, all the way up to where we had multiple teachers presenting at the local regional tech conference. (So proud!) I saw our teacher branch into tweeting with professionals, utilizing different creative collaboration tools, and actively seeking opportunities to grow. That fire was there, it just needed to be stoked.

Look for the sparks on your campus. Whether it be students in your class, teachers on your campus, or members of your PLN. It just takes a spark to start an inferno…a leadership inferno.

 

Fired up,

Amber

 

What if every day started with this?

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Yet another reason kinder classes could teach the rest of us a few things… I sat in on a morning routine this week and was so tickled to hear & see this. Wouldn’t we all have better days if we started each day singing this to ourselves? I think they have their priorities straight!

Singingly,
Amber