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

Sometimes leading means…get out of the way. #IMMOOC

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While walking around the week before spring break, I had the opportunity to visit a 3rd grade teacher’s classroom. As I watched her model and talk through the writing of an expository composition with our Wolves, and saw the energy in which her students attacked it, I had to stop and ask what the secret was. She passionately went on to explain how easy this graphic organizer was, how it simplified the process, and really set the stage for our 4th graders who would be assessed on expository writing on their STAAR exam.

I asked if she thought her students could come up with a handout “or something” that could explain what an expository paper looked like and how she was teaching it, so that parents could see what we were doing to prepare our students for this assessment.

Challenge accepted. 

I could have made a detailed flyer. Or I could have not engaged in her a conversation. Or I could have assumed the same trickle down way of learning could take place and I didn’t need to get involved. But really, I just needed to ask the right questions and then get out of her way.

 

I hope you are surrounded by innovative teachers like I am, and that you know when to get out of the way!

 

Amber

Differentiated PD, with a purpose! #taketwo

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This week we have an opportunity to meet with our staff while our Wolves have a day off. One of my goals as an administrator is to not waste my teacher’s time. I’ve written before about how I also recognize I need to always be moving them along their own growth path. By providing differentiated professional development, I can accomplish both! In the same way that we expect our teachers to provide differentiated classroom instruction, my expectation should be to do the same for our teachers. Providing differentiated PD shouldn’t be a choice, but we as administrators do. Model what ya want! Or as Jimmy Casas says, Model what you EXPECT. After reading this post from my buddy, Brad Gustafson, creating a choose your PD adventure came easy!

 

(Flyer!)

Differentiated PD is as easy as allowing teachers to have choice, input, and TIME to think and process the PD they’ve taken part in can allow for deeper implementation and impact student learning, which again, is why we do what we do.

Our plan for Monday is this. Teacher will have breakfast and then have the chance to choose 2 from 6 different choices presented from staff who went to #TCEA17. Choices were based on what most closely aligned with the bulk of our staff’s TTESS goals set in August. They are short sessions, meant to whet their appetite and give easy strategies to add in tools for learning here in the spring.

They then are going to spend time reflecting on their individual goals, and ensure they are moving down that path of a lifelong learner. After lunch, we have time set aside for them to work with their team, analyzing our MOY data and using it to plan for small group instruction. Strategic teaching based on individual student growth is going to be what moves Wolves, in every classroom every day.

And just as fun lil’bonus for reading this far…kicking off our day tomorrow I’ll share one or two of these “fun” testing videos…just to remind us how very humorous our spring season can be. One of my Voxer groups, who bless their hearts still include me, despite my MIA-ness shared these this weekend and they are so apropos!

Hope YOUR adventure is as fun as mine!

Amber

Help curb teacher burnout with Fab Fridays in February!

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Teacher burnout…it’s a real thing. This stretch in the winter/spring is a LONG chunk of instructional intensity. You’ve got middle of the year data, you have testing awareness creeping up on you, and spring break is just outta reach. The genius of Melinda Miller introduced me to Fab Fridays in February several years ago and I have loved coming up with fun things to do with my staff each year.

While it may seem like a lot of work, really, your teachers are doing the heavy lifting this time of year. And if your team is like mine, they easily over commit in order to help their students succeed. The benefits of building and supporting a positive school climate far out-weigh the time and effort required.  

I would also take a guess that a positive school climate can help bring the joy and fun back into teaching and learning.

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Who wouldn’t want to be part of a school like that?

Here’s what we’re doing this year! (You can also download it here!)What do you do to love on and support your teams?

 

FabFri loveN,

Amber

Can’t get to #ASCD16 this year? Have no fear! #thefirstyear

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It’s ASCD weekend!  ASCD is a global community of educators dedicated to excellence in learning, teaching, and leading. Thier innovative solutions empower educators to promote the success of each child. They’re also one of the BIG places I turn to for my own professional learning. From books to their Educational Leadership magazine…they are a great resource. I was also named an ASCD Emergent Leader last year, so that makes me even more invested in what they have to offer!

For the first time in 5 years I am not going to be there. (Carol Dweck, sadness! Mike Schmoker, eek!)

Whoa.

While I know my attention and focus is where it needs to be (#bestfirstyearprincipalinthehistoryoftheworld), I am super sad to be missing out on connecting with my PLN friends turned IRL friends, learning from the BEST speakers, and hearing high-quality sessions…I can take comfort in the fact it’s 2016, and I can STILL learn from home! Budgets are tighter than ever, and there are so many responsibilities on educators in the spring. Don’t miss out when there are many ways to connect and learn!

1st way I can learn from home- I can stay dialed into the #ASCD16 hashtag on Twitter. The thousands of twitter’ers that will be tweeting all their gems of greatness will be vicariously sharing their learning with me, far far away in Texas. I’ve set up an IFTT recipe that will send all tweets marked with #ASCD16 to an Evernote page, so I don’t have to worry about missing a one, and I can scroll with ease this weekend, knowing I am capturing it all! @ASCD will also be tweeting up a storm!

2nd way to learn from home- ASCD is on Facebook and Instagram. They’ll be sharing highlights, great quotes, and tidbits from the conference all weekend long. They’re a great resource year round, but their team kicks it up a notch during the annual conference!

3rd way to learn from home- If you look at the sessions being offered, many of them ar highlighted ASCD writers. Their professional development section has a plethora of titles, including the ASCD Arias’s which I love! Check out the session titles, connect with some great authors, and get to downloading!

4th way to learn from home- Have you used the app periscope? The amazing Steven Anderson wrote about it for ASCD several months ago. Search the app for #ASCD16 to see live what all is going on! I know many educators have been using this app to stream great things from PD they are attending and I doubt ASCD will be any different!

 

How else can you connect with a conference you can’t be there? Let me know so I can add it to the list of ways I’ll be tracking #ASCD16 this weekend!!

 

Amber