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

Get organized….digitally!

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When I was student teaching, I remember having the teacher next door to me take me into her room and show me her file cabinets. I was amazed. They were, to a newbie, the mecca of experience. There was a file on anything you could think of…from PD to content to parent newsletters…all neatly labeled with the most neat, handwritten labels I have ever seen. I was in awe! It became my mission to be THAT organized…and have that many resources…I was lucky enough to call her best friend and soon learned she was that awesome in all kinds of ways!

Fast forward to 2015 and I think I have less than one drawer of files, and half of them are personnel files.  All of my resources are online now, stored on my computer. That being said, I was feeling the spring fever over the holidays so I took the time to do some “spring cleaning” on my files, pictures, and other things I have “collected” through the years.

I have the unfortunate habit of just saving things to my desktop, which is easy, but does nothing for a sense of organization. I created folders on my desktop that had generic titles but that would hold the types of files I seem to be always saving. These generically titled folders including things like data, teacher info, PLCs, and testing. As I am saving things I do my *best*  to put them into these files. Other tips?

*** Have an external backup. I have learned from switching campuses and then districts, it was really important to have an external backup that could hold all of my professional files. I didn’t have time to go through and be choosy, I wanted it all. In case of a system crash or a problem transferring accounts, I feel much safer knowing all of my resources are backed up. I have it marked in my planner as a reminder, once a month to back up everything on my home PC and my work computer, just in case.

*** Where’s your cloud storage for working files? Do you use Google Drive? Do you use Dropbox? Is there a way for you to access what you need when you aren’t near your external drive? I am a big fan of Dropbox, but with so many districts embracing google apps for education, that also has become a viable source. Google Drive makes it easy to collaborate in real time, so the storage piece there is also handy. Whichever you choose, use it consistently. 

It does no good to have your files all over the place, even if they are organized.

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*** Rename your files. Make it easy for you to remember, and search. I used to think everything needed a file folder and then everything should be in its place. But once I started naming my files very specifically, I learned it was a much quicker process to search for it by name then it was to find a file, and go through its subfolders. Instead of “math data”, I now would save it as “3rd grade math all teachers unit 4”. Again, I do still place my workable files in a generically titled file, but just searching for what I am looking for is MUCH easier.

*** Pictures and movies. My big kid is easy. All of our memories are printed out, and filed in a handy picture box. (or twelve.) In a closet. My little bit has her every moment recorded digitally. Very few of our pictures with her are printed out in a hard copy, but instead are stored in “my photos” on my mac. A very scary  “safe place”. Each summer, I back up my entire photo library to Shutterfly. It takes an entire day to batch upload each and every one….but I at least know that they are all there. Thankfully, should something ever happen, I do a fair job of uploading my favorites to Instagram and Facebook as well. Bless her little digital footprint…

 

What tips and tricks do you have to maintain an organized digital system? I also have a plethora of other organizational ideas (that I’ll get to at some point) on Pinterest. I would love to hear what you do!

File FixN,

Amber

What are you reading? Need some help? (An #ASCD resource)

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I am a big reader. I love to read and have even gotten in trouble for reading in the shower. (TMI?) I read in the car, I read at volleyball practice, I read while waiting for small curly headed 4 year old to fall asleep.

Last year I took on the idea from Jessica Johnson, (@PrincipalJ) to record the books I was reading, both personally and professionally, into Goodreads. This went great, up until the fall, when there was an unfortunate missing YA book/fine/confusion disaster. Thankfully, this was resolved around Christmas and my library relationship was resumed. You can follow along with me on Goodreads here.

What’s harder for me to find at the library are the books I want to read for personal professional growth. Enter in ASCD. (I’m stewing over a professional organization post, stay tuned for that.) ASCD, as an administrator has been instrumental in making sure I am able to speak to, and have resources on, current educational topics and concerns. This infographic was recently shared with me, I hope you can find it beneficial as well! And if you’re reading something different, share with me so I can add it to my list!

NYFlowchart

 

Unexpected Expectations for 2015

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Making goals is easy…the challenge comes in actually making them happen.

 

My goals this year aren’t exciting. They aren’t earth shattering. They are, however, going to be accomplish-able, which to me, is the whole point. Some build on things from the fall semester. Some are in conjunction with accountability from my friends, my peers, my PLN. I like sharing my goals on the blog, it helps hold me accountable and allows me to reflect upon the past years (2104, 2012) to see where I have fallen short, and where I have had success. Both are important pieces to moving forward.

 

Here are my expectations for 2015:

  • Complete the Am-centered bucketlist created with Melinda Miller. (She’ll have an MM version!) This bucketlist will be full of activities and challenges that we’ll complete throughout the year that keep our energy and purpose aligned to what will keep us true to who we are. There’ll be just as many leadership tie-ins as there are mommy/wife ones. Balance! No more idle yes’s, or wasted moments. We’re going to be FOCUSED, and have a bucketlist to help keep it all in front of us. (we’ll share that when we are done!)
  • Read more. I dropped the Goodreads ball late in the year, but am excited to begin afresh with 2015. I expect to read more in 2015…and will document each book in Goodreads. Follow my progress here.
  • Document. Schedule. Write it down. I expect to STAY on top of things! One of the ways I plan on maintain this semblance of completing expectations is to utilize my Erin Condren planner. I have high aspirations of being a scheduling machine, and bought new colored pens just to make that more fun. Want an Erin Condren of your very own? Here’s a coupon!
  • Connect with friends, near and far. 2014 was trip and friend filled. I was so lucky to see so many of the PLN people I now consider friends. While I don’t have as many national events on my radar this year, I do expect to cultivate those relationships. Taking a page from one of my Voxer bf’s, surprise happy mail is a great way to make sure those I hold dear know that I am thinking of them.FullSizeRender

 

May your 2015 be filled with your goals, your expectations, and all the things YOU want to accomplish. Anything I can do to help with your expectations?

 

Mission minded,

Amber

No second chances on a first impression…make your welcome worth it!

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This school year marks a new beginning for me in my professional career…the enormity in changing of districts. I spent my first twelve years in the same place, so each back to school season was one of comfort and familiarity. I knew faces, I knew places. I knew language, I knew priorities. I am lucky enough to have landed in a place that handles their newbies with understanding and grace.  If you’ve got new team members, or new to your area students, think about integrating some of these pieces into your back to school routine. I wrote about our C&I retreat where our higher-ups went through a  timeline of the district curriculum implementation. This was such a huge piece for me. Knowing the history of what had been tried and planned will be so helpful as we move forward. I now know the reason why we are things “this” way or why it isn’t happening “that” way. Your new people need a synopsis of where your campus been in addition to where its going. It will help solidify in what direction they should be moving. Another amazing detail about this district is the pride they take in the local community. I had lunch with the namesake of our campus, Wally Watkins. It was so humbling to sit and talk with a man who has contributed to so much to the area, that I was now working in the school they honored him with. He and his lovely wife Nita cemented my devotion to making them proud of what we do each day. IMG_2320 For new teachers to our campus, there was a special breakfast. They were given a goodie bag, a campus tee-shirt & magnet, and an opportunity to meet with key members of our staff. Two of our veteran team members were there to talk them through what it means to be to a Watkins Wrangler. They shared the campus vision and the mission, as well as a glimpse into what it means to work here.  One of our teacher leaders who opened the campus shared that before carpet was laid on the floor, the teachers were encouraged to come in and write what they wanted to see achieved on their  cement classroom floor, or a scripture. Each room has a message written on the floor. Knowing that every room was so intentional in their student focus just warms my heart! How can you not walk through the halls and feel a connection to student success? They then took the new staff members on a tour of the school, showing them in the in’s and outs. New district members were invited to a luncheon, held on a high school campus where local vendors and businesses shared their services and gave away little goodies as a welcome. From calendars with local sports teams schedules to a Race Trac cup with a free coffee coupon, you saw the faces that made our lil’ community what it is. It gave new meaning to “shop locally”, after seeing the support they provide for the school district. how could you not want to shop local first? They also donated enough “goodies” that EVERY single new hire recieved a door prize. Mine? My word. IMG_2409   Finally, the first day of our teacher in service, each teacher was given a tee shirt, a welcome note, and a cookie for each of their students. Our teachers then used Optimap to develop a round trip map and they went and visited each home for their homeroom. My principal and I drove the attendance zone and watched the expressions on those lil’Wranglers faces as they opened the door and met their teachers. The teachers and families absolutely loved it.  This is the #WylieWay!

Whatever method you choose, take some time to make your new team members & make sure they know you’re glad they are there. The best way to get someone to buy in to your purpose is to make them feel like they are a part of the campus family. I am so blessed to have experienced such a welcome!   Wrangler lasso’d, Amber     PS: Feel free to follow our campus throughout the year, you can like the Wally Watkins Elementary School Facebook page or on twitter, @WatkinsElem! (why yes, social media and communication IS encouraged!)

ASCD 2014 literally rocked my world!

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20140314-135640.jpgThe 2014 ASCD conference , Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, was held in Los Angeles this past weekend. With keynote speakers like Daniel Pink and Sir Ken Robinson, you knew going in that this conference was going to make you think…and it didn’t disappoint. My big take aways from this year:

#5. Educators are persuaders. That is what we do. Teachers persuade children to learn. Administrators persuade staff to engage and teach. We’re “selling” people, moving them from point a to point b. Education is a form of persuasion. If we are the sellers of what we do, believe in, and are passionate about…who is the buyer? Staff, students, and families. We have to embrace the fact that we have a product to sell, and we want their buy in. No longer can we say that we have all the answers and know what’s best without having to prove it. Informational parity is alive and well. Make a statement and you can be instantly fact checked from a phone in the audience. We have to embrace this new reality and use it to our advantage.Persuading/influencing, not making something, takes up 41% of adult workers time. Standardized test prepare for this…right? Gulp.

For more about the “always be selling” theory and educators as persuaders, check out Daniel Pink’s latest book, To Sell is Human.

#4, DNA is not your destiny. Good teaching trumps genes. Eric Jensen was AMAZING. The research he shared during his session was jaw dropping. His session was on how poverty impacts student engagement and learning. “That kid you think sucks? You’d be surprised at whats happening in that kids head.” Some of my tweetable quotes from him:

  • The stress we experience is our reaction to a perceived loss of control over an adverse situation. KIDS NEED MORE CONTROL! Ss don’t need more discipline when struggling – rather they need more control in their own lives. Help them!
  • Risk factors in an environment suppress IQ.
  • My favorite line: If you think a student is just like “his/her mom/dad” you used to teach…ask yourself if it’s because you’re teaching them the same way.
  • How we feel is whats real. It’s the link to what we think.

#3, The culture makes a difference for the whole child. Top to bottom, this ASCD conference spoke of the whole child. It was SO incredibly refreshing to see how many sessions were centered around loving, teaching, and growing a child. There is more to a great educational environment than high scores.  There were even comments directed at administrators to think about the WHOLE teacher. Principal Sharon Jacobs, from the Washington Montessori School of Greensboro in North Carolina, winner of the 2014 Vision in Action award spoke briefly at a keynote, (I could have listened to her ALL day!). She spoke so highly of her team, and how as a leader it was your responsibility to nurture your staff, & that enthusiasm was contagious. When she came on stage she took a selfie of herself with the ASCD audience in the background. Can you imagine learning in an environment like that? My tweetable quotes from her:

  • Proficiency is just one component of educating children…and not necessarily the most important one.
  • See children as more than a proficiency number. Take care of basic needs and the proficiency will come, more importantly, Ss GROW!
  • Vision, not just seeing things what they are, but what they can be…that’s what what vision in action should be!
  • It can be done, we did it, and you can do it too. #educationalmantra Principal Jacobs

#2, Don’t confuse compliance with engagement. What is engagement? What does actual engagement look like? When you have students raising their hands in class…are they engaged or are they just compliant?Self-efficacy and collective efficacy are critical pieces to increasing student engagement. How do we show support for this in the classroom? Robyn Jackson had the statement that “we lament that we want students to be engaged, but our policies and procedures suggest we don’t really want that.” Raise your hand before speaking. Sit quietly. Work independently. Real engagement encourages non-compliance! My tweetable quotes from the Robyn Jackson and Allison Zmuda session: 

  • Being taught something b/c it’s on a test is not a compelling reason to learn it!
  • Goal clarity does not equal posting a LO on the board. Takes more than that for Ss to get it and want it…
  • We tell teachers you need more engagement and we end up with teachers entertaining, not engaging.  <—–Isn’t this SO true!?

#1, Be a learner, be a sharer, be connected. Compared to last year, there was a definite hum of “connectedness”. There was a presence of technology and social media all throughout. Not a lot of nouns (Twitter, Vine, etc.) were necessarily mentioned…but the verb of being “connected” permeated throughout. Even the president of ASCD gave a shoutout for getting on Twitter. He challenged the audience, saying if he could do it, then anyone could do it! It’s about relationships, it isn’t about a tool. Whether it’s twitter, facebook, instagram, or even any asynchronous community, get connected. Grow with your peers. Admins, great leaders are part of the group as a learner! Set an example for your staff! Michael Fullan had a great line, “Pedagogy is the driver, let technology be the accelerator.” Connections can stimulate conversations and help relight that fire that makes all your energy and efforts worthwhile. Reflecting on our activities, our classrooms, asking for feedback, is an important piece of what we do…and finding a community is where that begins. 

If you think about other professions…what would we think of a doctor who discovered a cure for some disease…but doesn’t share it?

 

I enjoyed every single minute of this year’s ASCD conference, even during the earthquake that hit Monday morning. Leave it to ASCD to literally rock our world, 🙂  Learning from others, being involved in conversations that inspire me, meeting authors that change the way I do business…what an incredible four days! Next years conference is in Houston, so ya’ll come on down Texas way, 😉 You won’t regret it!

ASCD appreciative,

Amber