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

Why I lead…and why you should too! #SAVMP

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mentorI had never planned to be administrator. My Master’s degree isn’t in administration. It’s in Technology and Curriculum Integration, one

of the very few options at the time. (In 2005, technology in the classroom wasn’t at all in demand the way it is today!) I think I’ve always

 

Mentoring and being mentored is an important process, especially when it comes to leadership and feeling your way through the minefields of working with a large collective group of people. I’ve been fortunate to have have spiritual mentors, professional mentors, even some friends I look up to as a mom & wife mentor.

George emailed me not too long after ISTE with another one of his genius ideas…this time to create a School Administrator Virtual Mentoring program, an opportunity to collaborate and share with administrators arounds around the world. How could I not want to be a part of this?

Our first tasky task (shout out —> @KylePace) was to introduce ourselves to our mentees and also blog about why we lead.

been a step up and step in kinda girl (imagine that…) and while my career path hasn’t intentional landed me where I am today, I do think I am where I am meant to be.

As a teacher, I was REALLY proud of my classroom management skills. I could silence the entire cafeteria by myself and could snap my fingers with the best of them. It wasn’t until I was able to see the proverbial “big” picture that it made sense to me. It wasn’t until I became an assistant principal and looked back that I completely cringed. I wish I could go back and tell that girl to calm down. That talent isn’t nearly as important to the “big scheme” of education as I thought it was.

What’s most important? Building relationships. Championing for the underdog. making children LOVE school and LOVE to learn. Challenging the status quo. Ensuring that ALL kids (even the one s that make you groan) get a fresh start every year. That they are able to come to a place where they get hugs, attention, a place to discover WHO they are…and more importantly…who they CAN be.

This is why I am a leader…to help all of us get to where we feel that everyone together is better than anyone alone.

That we can make a difference in the life of a child.

That no one should feel alone. Or unprepared. Or behind.

We have that power. Take advantage everysingleday. We’re all leaders.

I can’t wait to work with my fabulous mentees: Amanda, Chris, and Matt!

SAVMP-ly,

Amber

What’s on your refrigerator?

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This post is cross posted from Connected Principals.

 

2798066405_aa99a03ea4_n  Today I had the opportunity to sit in on an MST vision planning meeting in preparation for the 2013-2014 year. I am changing campuses next year and my new campus is Watson MST. The MST stands for Math, Science, & Technology. There is a strand of MST schools within our district that follow this focus. Students who score above a certain percentile are “invited” to attend.

Anyhoo. In this meeting, while trying to establish a framework of beliefs for the MST program, a brilliant colleague, the principal at the other elementary magnet, Jason Adams, explained in a unique (to me) way of looking at what were doing.

 

He said, “Think about your refrigerator at home. What’s on it? Pictures of your kids? Schedules? Recipes?  Postcards? You have things on there that are important to you and that you want a reminder of, to be able to look at every single day. We want these beliefs to be on our MST refrigerator. What’s so important that we want to remember  and be reminded of it every day?”

What a GREAT activity for teachers (and students!) to do at the beginning of the year. Have something that represents your school or your classroom and let each teacher or student “hang up” what is important to them.

We, as a group, voted on what was MOST important, but I can see this being something to keep up all year long…with everyone’s input, to help keep that vision front and center all year long. Vision is crucial!

 

Magnet-ly,

Amber

Classroom Champions

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How many of your students get to meet a  Paralympic or Olympian? they’re not just hanging around the mall these days, are they?

Coincidentally enough on today’s jog (and by jog, I totally mean walk) I listened to my second Edu All-Stars podcast with Todd Nesloney, Stacey Huffine, and Chris Kesler and heard about this program called Classroom Champions.

 

How it works

Targeting grades Kindergarten through 8, Classroom Champions brings Olympians, Paralympians and Olympic/Paralympic games hopefuls (Athlete Mentors) into the classroom using videos and live chats.
A kind of 21st century pen-pal, each athlete mentor adopts 1-4 classrooms per year. Focusing on their own personal journey, athletes teach about the hard work of training, goal setting, competition and perseverance. Using video  lessons and live video chats, students are engaged with their athlete mentor several times per month. Our program supports teachers by helping them incorporate these activities into their curricula, focusing on letter writing, reading, geography, math, technology, goal setting and leadership.

 

Listening to to Steve Mesler, Founder and 3-time Olympian, who was their the guest star on the podcast, I got SO excited about what opportunities this could provide to a classroom full of students who want to grow up and be athletes. Every year we have some sort of college & career readiness focus and encourage classrooms to Skype with college students. I usually drag my brother, Randy, into it because of his collegiate sports experience.  He was also drafted by the Yankees, so students usually think that is pretty cool, 🙂 (Not me, I’m a Rangers girl, ;))

 

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I also plan on figuring out a way next year to get my cousin to do this…you may have heard of him? El Oso Blanco! AKA Evan Gattis who is playing for the Atlanta Braves right now, 🙂 We’ll see how far that cousin connection can get me…I know I have some old photos around here somewhere…

 

 

Regardless, I definitely plan on involving classrooms next year with Classroom Champions. One of the goals Steve mentioned was showing kids that being a successful athlete takes more than just a couple of weeks of hard work. There’s exhaustion, failure, and commitment required. That’s not what they see when they watch Kobe…and I think this program is amazing because of it! He also spoke about how eye opening it was for a kindergarten class to see a  Paralympic and think that their disability was what MADE them successful, vs being successful in spite of  it. How inspirational!

K-8 teachers can apply in the spring, but Steve encouraged teachers to pick an athlete to follow along with in the fall to get a feel for how it all works.

Thank you, Tech Ninja Todd and team for introducing me on my jog (cough, cough) to another great resource for our students!

 

sports fan,

Amber

 

 

 

An easy way to grow & learn…

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jogging1

Maybe you have a long commute…or have background music while you cook dinner…or a husband who thinks you need to lose weight and so you think jogging is better with a soundtrack… whatever the reason, those moments become easy peasy ways to add some quality content and PD to your world with a podcast!

 

A podcast is free, original, and interesting content to listen to whenever you have time. There are podcasts available on just about anything you can think of, except maybe Troy, sigh. I love to learn and am always short on time so I think educational podcasts are the perfect answer.

 

I’ve found several that I now subscribe too, which is great b/c that means the content comes to me! Not sure how to subscribe? Try here or here to get ya started! There is the obvious Podcasting app on the iPhone or you can use Podomatic.

 

My current two faves are:

Techlandia Podcast 

TPFollow @ipadsammy (Jon Samuelson) and @tedrosececi (Alison Anderson)  &  @CurtRees (Curt Rees) as they take you through the world of educational technology. Listen and get professional development on your commute to school. Things you can use immediately in your classroom, by teachers, for teachers.

Faved because: Easy to listen too, practical integration ideas, varied guests…they follow a three apps to learn from, three people to follow format, interspersed with humor and relevant information…

 

 

EdAdminMinute

edadmin min

The EdAdmin Show highlights the ideas and insights from the innovative school administrator’s point of view. Hosted by Chris Atkinson and featuring a roundtable of education’s brightest. Posts Fridays! (@ChrisLAtkinson)

Faved because: It’s a minute! Reviews great books directly related to being an instructional leader, not hawking a product or brand, just real application to what I do…plus, who doesn’t have a MINUTE?? 🙂

 

Have also added Shifted Learning and EduAllstars to my playlist and both seem to be worth my playlist time so far!

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eduallstar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

exerciseNly,

Amber

 

PS: Please know that when I say jog, I totally mean walk really fast. 🙂

#ISTE13 Reflections

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iste1.jpgI’m so impressed with those who have already been able to get their thoughts down in some form or another about this week’s ISTE conference. I still haven’t even gotten my voice back, 🙂 I blame @MrHooker and his rousing session at EdTech karaoke that required squeals.

ISTE marked my third conference in three weeks. To say I was tired before we even got started is an understatement. To say my brain was full was laughable. In fact, I had multiple notes that are eventually going to be blogs on the other two that were more along the lines of “the way I wish things were” and then along came ISTE.

This wasn’t my first ISTE conference. I went in 2008, also in San Antonio,  right after I was hired as a tech facilitator for our district. I can’t even remember ONE single session that I attended or an idea that I brought back. Now, understandably, that was 5 years and a three year old ago, but still. You would think there was something noteworthy about it…but nope.

This time?  I think on the ride home Matt Gomez and I had a couple hours of silence where we were both still trying to process what had just happened. From the chatter filled ride down, to the reconnecting of people that I call now call besties, to the meeting of people I respect and admire professionally…there are SO many moments that won’t be forgotten.The sessions I attended all seemed to have a reoccurring theme, as did the tweets that I saw flying across.

Technology should enhance learning, not control it. The learning comes 1st & the technology 2nd. (ala George Couros)

From technology directors, to teachers, to principals, to program/app creators, to key note speakers…everyone I came across saw and recognized that if we start with people, relationships and learning, any type of technology is going to elevate the opportunities within your classroom. The PLN that we are connected to GET that. I can’t wait to unpack it all more!

I have so much more to say…and I’ll get to it all, especially more about the WHY I am sharing, soon.

But I have a lot of story time to catch up on, 🙂

 

missed mom,

Amber