my version of transparent, collaborative leadership...with a Teamann twist
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Don’t forget we also have: Principal Productivity Group <– Click to join Over in the productivity group, we are sharing tips on saving time doing everyday things. Lots of suggestions for grocery shopping made easy and meal planning! |
| Hope your world is moving along! What’s keeping you up at night?
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TECHnically yours and celebration ready,
Amber
You have almost made it to the end of 2020!!! I know this is true because we are getting ready to shut down one of our Facebook Groups and re-open the HOLIDAY group.
If you are a principal, assistant principal, director, and or district administrator then this email applies to you! You are getting this email because you might be in one or both of our PRINCIPAL Facebook groups.
Staff Motivation and Appreciation – Click here to ANSWER questions and join if you are a campus administrator.
Principal Productivity – Click here to ANSWER questions and join if you are a campus administrator.
If you are already in one or both of these groups, when you click JOIN GROUP you will automatically be added to the HOLIDAY GROUP without having to answer the questions!
SATURDAY OCT. 31st the Staff Appreciation and Motivation group will be ARCHIVED until Jan. 1st. YES! You will still be able to access it and see it, you just can’t add anything to it. You can only add to the HOLIDAY group.
There are already a bazillion ideas for the holidays in the HOLIDAY group. You don’t even have to think about the holidays! Just scroll the group and BOOM!
If you are completely confused by this PLEASE reply/comment and ask me! I am confused most days this year, there has been a lot going on in my world! (at some point I’ll blog and document all those changes, :))
Alrighty then?! Let the holidays begin!!!
Appreciatively sharing &
*** Are you looking for a COMPREHENSIVE tool to help you tackle ALL your appreciation needs? We wrote a book about it!!
It’s back!! One of the most fun things that MM and I have ever done is this principal gift exchange!
I’ve shared her post below. Come play with us!
It’s a secret principal gift exchange! What started as a small event between 22 people has grown into a national secret gift exchange. School leaders from all over the United States and Canada exchanged gifts in celebration of principals everywhere.
Since this event has grown to over 400 school leaders, my online principal BFF Amber Teamann decided to put together a blog post on how this gift exchange works. Even with hundreds of players, this is the easiest secret pal event ever. You can even use this with your staff!
Before I share the undeniable reasons you should join, let me be frank. The success of this exchange lies in YOUR hands. We can’t MAKE people send and do. But it sure is fun to watch it happen!!
Let’s get started!!!
Usually, we don’t get caught up in FOMO. However, this is super fun! Is there anything better than gifts? (FYI – My “Language of Appreciation at work is…..GIFTS! Buy me all the things.)
Last year this event received national attention from Elfster. Elfster showcased our exchange in their blog. Obviously, you want to be a part of this epic journey this summer.
I mentioned Elfster. You are not going to believe how easy it is to be a part of this secret pal gift exchange. Our past members have gone on to use Elfster for personal and/or family gift exchanges. Have you ever wondered how to do your annual Christmas gift exchange online? Elfster is the app that’s going to solve all your secret pal problems for life.
Principaling is hard. We could all use more principal friends. What better way to make principal friends than to buy each other presents?
More than likely you’ve never met or heard of the person you will be paired with. Your secret princi-pal is going to fill out an online wishlist and profile so you can get to know them. By joining this event you will be forever connected to a supportive and fun group of school leaders.
Like I mentioned above, my language of appreciation is receiving gifts. For those of you who know me or heard me talk about the survey my staff completed, you know how much I. LOVE. GIFTS. Maybe this is why I started this project. I need gifts.
Finally, as much as I love to receive gifts, I enjoy giving even more. GETTING gifts makes me feel good. GIVING gifts not only makes ME feel good but the person receiving the gift feels great. Win, win!!!
So how does this work? Below are the rules.
Hopefully, I have covered all the rules. Use the comments section of this blog to post questions and/or suggestions so everyone can benefit.
Hope to see you there, princi-pals!!
One of my favorite spots in our halls is right in the front entryway. Our building is laid out so that every wing of classrooms branches out off of a long main hall, so to get to where you want to be, you’ll walk right by our “Quote of the Day” spot on the wall.
Each week a different teacher creates a “quote” poster that hangs for all to see. Think anchor chart… of inspiration! I have zero artistic ability, but something about my Wolves, they are incredibly willing to put themselves out there and make it happen, every time I ask.
We used a Silhouette to cut out the “Keep the Quote” part and use chart paper on a rope to roll down each week. (less than $20 bucks, tops!) When a teacher creates the new quote, they get to keep the one from the week before. One of my favorite things is seeing those older quotes hanging outside their door or in their rooms.
Sometimes, when you don’t even have words, just feelings? That’s even more amazing.
My husband tells me all the time that I am very “simplistic”, (which is a different eye-roll worthy conversation in itself) but I know he means that because I allow myself to get so emotionally invested in words…in books or insanely meaningful twitter posts that make me cry…instead of having a staunch stoicism of evaluating whether any of it ACTUALLY matters in life. I’m the girl whose headache goes away when she takes Tylenol, because duh, that’s what it’s supposed to do. When I read something uplifting or encouraging? It brightens my mindset and outlook. It pushes me on. Simplistic or not…it works.
Within our halls, our goal is to encourage and motivate our wolves…from the moment they walk in, till the moment they walk out. The detail of what is hanging in our halls is a part of that.
That’s what these quotes are all about. Encouragement. Motivation. A reminder that words matter.
Use your words for good today.
Quotingly and
PS: Was this post helpful? You might like Melinda Miller’s and I’s book, Lead With Appreciation: Fostering a Culture of Gratitude! The book is packed with ideas to help leaders at any level support their staff and develop a PLAN for making sure climate and culture isn’t the ball that gets dropped when #leadershiplife happens! You can order your copy here, Lead with Appreciation: Fostering a Culture of Gratitude
We all know by this point February can be a dip in morale for our teams. It’s cold, it’s dreary, spring break still seems like it’s forever away…what if you INTENTIONALLY make this a fun month for your team? Try having Fabulous Fridays in February!
What began as something fun for me to do to brighten our team’s month has not only become a tradition but at this point, five years into my Whitt Wolf world, my teachers are ASKING for Fab Fridays! I can’t tell you how happy that makes me! It’s been 10 years of Fab Fridays y’all. TEN!! Here are five things I’ve learned to help you make sure your Fab Friday’s go off without a hitch!
. I have friends who are gluten-free, friends who are vegetarians, friends who don’t eat like a teenage boy as I do. 🙂 We don’t want them to look at these activities as things that they don’t get to participate in, everyone should get excited about Fridays in February!
Are fabulous Fridays in February already here, and to close for you to handle all this thinking and creating? What about Mondays in March or even a “you’re awesome” in April can also work! The main goal is to remind your teachers that you see them working hard, keeping their students at the forefront of what they do and that you just want to, yep, you guessed it, lead with appreciation!
Fabulously &
PS: Was this post helpful? You might like Melinda Miller’s and I’s book, Lead With Appreciation: Fostering a Culture of Gratitude! The book is packed with ideas to help leaders at any level support their staff and develop a PLAN for making sure climate and culture isn’t the ball that gets dropped when #leadershiplife happens! You can order your copy here, Lead with Appreciation: Fostering a Culture of Gratitude
