I am all rhymed out
but wanted to share
what we’re doing this year
if you have a care!
Share and cleverly steal
as we all always do
make JOY your priority
so special when from you!
Ho ho hoN &
I am all rhymed out
but wanted to share
what we’re doing this year
if you have a care!
Share and cleverly steal
as we all always do
make JOY your priority
so special when from you!
Ho ho hoN &
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!
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.
(Side note: I’ve also done 12 days of GIVING, where we shared acts of kindness!)
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!)
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
Melinda Miller and I joke about how October and February are the armpits of the school year. By October the newness of the year has worn off, the honeymoon is over and the hard work of growing students stretches out in front of you.
As an administrator, one of the challenges is for you to mentally maintain not only the joy of your staff but also the joy of yourself. It’s easy to forget that old adage of putting your own air mask on first before you try to help others, but its crucial during these critical months that you do think about your own well-being. Knowing what fills your bucket is a great first step.
I’ve become really interested in the Enneagram and how that applies to me, my marriage, and my staff. Determining our personality “type” through the Enneagram can help you see through the different lens from which we experience the world. Our personality is an effective way to express ourselves, but challenges arise when our points of view become rigid and we get stuck in automatic habits.(Unpack that thought…it’s a good one!) By discovering these unconscious patterns, we can lead more fully, more comprehensively, and hopefully, encourage our people to understand the actions and reactions of those who operate around us. (You can take a free enneagram test here!)
There are nine basic types of personalities. Here are, according to the Enneagram Institute are those 9 types. You can click on each type to read more.
The Rational, Idealistic Type: Principled, Purposeful, Self-Controlled, and Perfectionistic
The Caring, Interpersonal Type: Demonstrative, Generous, People-Pleasing, and Possessive
The Success-Oriented, Pragmatic Type: Adaptive, Excelling, Driven, and Image-Conscious
The Sensitive, Withdrawn Type: Expressive, Dramatic, Self-Absorbed, and Temperamental
The Intense, Cerebral Type: Perceptive, Innovative, Secretive, and Isolated
The Committed, Security-Oriented Type: Engaging, Responsible, Anxious, and Suspicious
The Busy, Fun-Loving Type: Spontaneous, Versatile, Distractible, and Scattered
The Powerful, Dominating Type: Self-Confident, Decisive, Willful, and Confrontational
The Easygoing, Self-Effacing Type: Receptive, Reassuring, Agreeable, and Complacent
At the beginning of our school year, our team leaders and PLC leaders all took the test, and it’s been interesting to see those types manifest through the course of the year. I abide by the theory of “If I can predict it, I can prevent it.” and being able to understand on a different level has been very helpful.
Especially in this season, as a 2, I can take on too much and can tend to “feel” too deeply when my attempts to please all, aren’t successful. At least, through the Enneagram, I recognize that as a handicap on MY end, versus those around me.
Lead on, my friends through the holiday season…keep your eyes up, your chins up, and your weight down!
Joyfully &
I came across a picture on time hop today of a lil’giftie I handed out on my first day in a new job, many years ago. It was an out of the classroom job, and genuinely where I thought I wanted to be, professionally. I was so excited about joining a new team, all bright-eyed and bushy tailed.
I’ll never forget the utter defeat I felt when several of the more seasoned professionals in said new department brought the cans back down to my cubicle, announcing they “didn’t have time for “cutesie” things like this”. The derision in their tone was PALPABLE.
It took a year and a half of those kinds of moments, those kinds of defeats before I would make a move that put me back into a setting where I could breathe. Where I could be myself. Where I could feel successful.
As we gear up for a new school year, if you find yourself in a place where you aren’t happy or feel like you can’t breathe… take heart. There is a place for you, where you can feel purposeful, and like it’s where you’re meant to be. Mine came mid-year. I kept my head up and treated every day like it was a job interview. I honed my skills and narrowed my professional intentions. I connected with George Couros, who changed my life and introduced me to a connected world that gave me all kinds of opportunities, relationships, and friends. When an opportunity came up, I was ready.
Don’t start the year sad or discouraged about where you are.
Encouragingly &
I can’t recommend educational conferences highly enough, for all levels of leadership, for all levels of learners.
Now I say that with the following caveats…I think learning is fun. I think FUN learning is important. I think everyone can grow and be better. I enjoy being challenged and pushed out of my status quo complacency.
Luckily, there were so many opportunities for this to occur at the #NAESP18 conference this week. While there’s only so much I can cram into my brain but here are the FIVE fun & easy takeaways that I am going to make happen THIS year.
As always, my absolute favorite part was the people who I got to connect with. At one point, I looked up to realize that at the table with me included teh accolades of three Nationally Distinguished Principals, published authors, and a prolific podcaster, in additional to a tattooed skateboarding principal who is redefining what we do as administrators. It’s impossible not to want to be better.
Whether it be from a hashtag, a chance meeting or an impromptu hallway smackdown…the relationships that can be developed, are not only real, they are inspiring.
#NAESP proud &