#thefirstyear — Page 5

Making PD perfect… #thefirstyear

September 5, 2015 by Amber 3 Comments

PD has come and gone. We are now in our first three weeks. I wanted to reflect on our PD week however, just to remind us all how very important it when we have the chance to pull together all of our staff. While most had dropped in and out throughout the summer this was the first BIG welcome back. Knowing that I want this to be the best first year in the history of the world, I had high expectations for everything I wanted to fit into this one week. While there were several district related events, I’m going to share what we did to make sure there was a feeling of celebration and welcome.

I contacted several of our partner churches and local businesses to see how they could support our staff this week. Everyone likes food, right?? Nestle Tollhouse donated the largest cookie cake I’d ever seen, Walmart gave us a cake, and we had three churches donate breakfast! Wow! That’s a lot of love & support.
One of our goals was coming together as a family to truly fulfil the mission statement the campus developed last year. The first word is “together”…so we focused on a lot of togetherness! A hashtag crowdsourced by all. a new staff shirt, and an awesome staff picture that we are going to get hung up for the hallway when everyone walks in.

What do you have hanging in your home? Celebrations..accomplishments…and pics of your family.

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We want the same to be seen in our halls. #wearewhitt
Knowing that we were setting on an ipad initiative journey this year, who else would I welcome onto my campus to talk tech than the Matt Gomez? He inspired, he mitiviated, he included lots of pictures of Troy Aikman. I’m calling that a win!
Time. Differentiation. Support. We made it a point for us to have conversations, to get to know one another, for them to share with me what they loved about our school, what they thought we could be more progressive on, and something they wanted me to know about them. We used this 3-2-1 and it has been so valuable as I am getting to know them all.

Note: Proof Matt Gomez’s presentation next time

Our last activity of the week was a candlepass. Yes, completely sorority girl of me, but it served a purpose. In ADPI, we have a tradition that is very fun for anyone that is engaged. Everyone in our sorority comes together. We sing a song as we pass a candle around the circle. Everyone anxiously waits to see who the candle stops on and the individual who is engaged blows out the candle and then tells everyone the story of their engagement. This candlepass obviously was not about that…but instead was about coming together and sharing in something important. As the candles were passed out, I asked everyone to think about the opportunity that we had coming together this year. This would be the only time our students got to experience this year, this 2015-2016, in their classrooms. We have this year to make an impact in their lives, at this point. I asked them to think about the words of the song I was going to play as it applied to our campus, to these students, and that I hoped that this would be the very best year…in the history of the world. I hit play, we completed the candle pass, and just like that, we ended my very first week of PD as a principal. 🙂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJYXItns2ik

I hope all of your starts have been amazing! I really will figure out this blogging balance as the year goes on, 🙂

proud principal,

Amber

Blogging the unbloggable… #thefirstyear

August 12, 2015 by Amber 5 Comments

We all agree that the educational system may need some tweaks and adjustments, and I will always voice those concerns/ideas. Am I just wrong to think that there is more to what we do than just doing the fun stuff? As a public educator you can’t just do the fun, and ignore the rest. That’s not what is best for kids…right?

As I prepare my back to school professional development with my amazing team, I am seeing starting to clarify some of my “instructional” thoughts. Why when I am searching for data plans or an agenda to deliver the nuts and bolts for the school, am I not finding anything? Where is the #reviewingdata hashtag? I can find meme’s making fun of the required video list…but I don’t see curriculum vertical planning guides.

Where is reality?

Fact: There is more to being an administrator than just motivation and supporting innovation.

I think it is a disservice to also not talk about some of the realities that are (or should be) be a part of our day to day.

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We get to experience instruction in every teachers classroom, potentially impacting how every student earns. We have to evaluate instructional strategies and then EMPOWER our teachers…but also help make them better.
We have to look at trends in data; we have to assess how our students are learning. NO, I am not someone who defends or supports the pressure standardized testing. It is still a reality. We in Texas are measured on student growth in addition to baseline scores. Growing learners…that is what we do. That means the data has to be analyzed, discussed, & evaluated.
We make hard decisions. Sometimes unpopular decisions. Decisions that have to be made to ensure the fidelity of the system…the system that we all become a part of when we committed to becoming an educator.
We teach kids how to learn. Little five year olds, including mine, come to us not knowing how to read…not knowing how to add or subtract. I need her to be taught how to do that. I need her to learn. We are responsible for TEACHING them how to learn. For ensuring that happens.

Now, do I think that there should be innovation and building relationships with students? Of course, I do, and if you know me, you know how much I value both of those things. But there also needs to be conversations about data, and handbooks, and district initiatives. There needs to be analyzation of assessments, both formative & summative. And then training provided to help support your teachers to be as effective as possible. And I think we should be blogging about THOSE things too.

I’ll be blogging those unbloggables, if no other reason than to make sure some administrator who is new to the position knows those things should be talked about. I am so thankful to those admin who have been transparent and helpful in their journey, like George Couros, Curt Rees, Melinda Miller and Tony Sinanis. Voxer conversations, blog posts, & friendships have all made me a better leader/person. My goal is to be that for someone else!

PD planning,

Amber

Do less better… #thefirstyear

August 6, 2015 by Amber 1 Comment

I can’t sleep at night. My to do list grows hourly. My pinterest boards are over-flowing.

I HAVE SO MUCH THAT I WANT TO DO!!!

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak to the Indiana Principals Leadership Institute with Tony Sinanis on what being a “digital leader” looks like. It was a great group of inspiring leaders and I was so impressed with the program. They have a grant from the state to develop and cultivate the kind of leaders we WANT to see in our schools. They bring in great speakers (cough cough, ;)), complete an action research project, provide mentors…it’s just an incredible labor of love from their directors. It makes me think wow, we could have something similar, in our district, in our regions, heck in our state. I COULD TOTALLY HELP CREATE SOMETHING LIKE THAT!

I have a voxer conversation going with my friend Angela Watson. I see organizational administrative from Stephanie McConnell on Instagram. I see Chris Kesler post his new interactive science notebook resources on facebook. I make fun stuff! I mean, I love good fonts and am creative! I COULD TOTALLY MAKE MY OWN PRODUCTS!

The new Adealphean comes in the mail, showering me with Greek life. I see a new ADPi shirt on Pinterest I completely need. I make plans to hang out with my sorority sisters, which makes me want to be more involved with our alumni group. I NEED TO RECOMMIT TO MY SISTERS!!
Do you see a pattern here? I could go on and on. There’s literally not enough time in the day to do all the things I think I want to be amazing at. On Sunday before church, I was catching up on a podcast by Erik Fisher, “Beyond the To Do List” and his episode called “Do less better” really resonated with me. The guest, John Bell, is a retired consumer packaged goods CEO and global strategy consultant to some of the world’s most respected blue-chip organizations.

He talked about how companies that specialize tend to make more money with less product than a company who has multiple products. How “In & Out burger” with their limited menu comes comparatively close to McDonalds bottom line despite their 100 item menu, or a litigation form that has ONE focus can outshine those that take on a ton of cases..because they do that ONE thing better than anyone else.

There is something to be said for being intentional and focusing in on something specific.

It’s not that you can’t do it all, it’s that maybe you should some things REALLY WELL.

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I want to remember that this year, this first year especially. I can’t do it all. I shouldn’t try. I should just make sure I choose to do SOME things, and do them well.

Be intentional.

List cutting,

Amber

Using Canva to communicate

August 2, 2015 by Amber 2 Comments

One of the first things I scheduled for August was face to face’s with three pretty important groups of people.

I used Canva to create invites to each of these “events”, which now that I am actually USING it, have decided it may be my new principal best friend. You can create flyers, facebook covers, invitations, etc. It is classy, EASY, and I can customize it in oh so many ways. I’ve already got some GREAT ideas to create graphics for my weekly staff Smore, 🙂 AND did I mention it’s free??

First, my office staff. I decided to have them all over for a “grill and chill”. Just an easy casual night of fun and fellowship where our families can meet and mingle. We’re going to grill chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, and just hang out. I want them to see me as a mom & wife, as well as their new principal.

I used a template from Canva, added in some Scrapping Doodles clip art, and discovered a great new background removal tool to get rid of that unattractive white background on clip art.

Second, our PTA board. There is nothing better than a big’ol group of moms who WANT to be involved in our campus! I have heard so many great things about our PTA so I want to meet these women who are behind the scenes making it all happen. Knowing that I love a good “theme” I decided to have “Teatime with Teamann“. We are going to have specially ordered cookies, mini cupcakes, and of course, tea.

This was a simple background from Canva, and I used clip art from Etsy. Such an easy download and share! Isn’t that so much more inviting than just an email??

Lastly, our leadership team. We have team leaders and PLC leaders that I can’t wait to get to know. Their input and perspective will be most important as we finalize our PD plans.

I’m hoping this day will be full of conversations, insights, and action steps for our 15-16 school. I still haven’t decided on an all-encompassing “theme” but maybe it will come out of our work & learn session!

Do you have any new communication tools that you are using? If you need something “new”, I think Canva could be your new go to!

invitingly,

Amber

Be flexible… #thefirstyear

July 30, 2015 by Amber Leave a Comment

One of my goals this year is to blog regularly about what is happening, what I’m thinking, what I am learning, and how I am growing. These won’t be long posts, but truly intended to help me reflect on where I am and be able to look back and see the growth.

Already I am learning what a valuable skill flexibility is as an administrator.

Being flexible can be what lets you have a good day, or a completely stressful day…and knowing that it is YOUR choice in how you handle it is even more important.

Staffing is an ever-moving target. When you think you are done, you just might not be. I’ve saved an email response to the emails I get when we are, for the time being, staffed to be able to respond to every person who emails me. I remember what it felt like to be seeking a “forever” spot, and always to encourage those who take the risk to email me personally about a possible position. Plus, again with the flexibility, I might need to contact them again soon!
You are the person. You are the one who has to get it all done. Surround yourself with a team who can handle delegation. Be ok with delegating.
- BUT make sure you have also clearly communicated what your expectations are! I am going to consistently say, “Our goal here is…” or “I’m hoping this accomplishes…”.
Flexibility makes every one easier to get along with.

If you are rigid and unwavering, you are going to be hard pressed to find those who want to deal with you.

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And we’re in the people business!
It’s ok to be quiet. I’m the new girl, I want to sit back, observe, get a feel for the personalities, strengths, and potential elephants in the room. Not knowing the history of conversations or attitudes can be dangerous grounds to jump in on and offer a hot sports opinion. It’s ok to sit back and get a feel for things.

shhhhhhh’ing,

Amber