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

Plugging in

by Leave a Comment

social mediaHow many times have you heard someone say that they don’t have time to be a  ”connected educator”? It is the go to rationale for many.

Eric Sheninger spoke at #ASCD13 on the keys to initiating sustainable change and something he said that resonated with me was “I don’t find the time to learn and get better. I make the time to learn and get better.” While this did inspire a lively talk about unicorns, I completely understood what he meant.

Educators today are pulled in a dozen different directions daily. We’re expected to meet unrealistic goals and transform lives, daily, and most of the time? we’re able to do it. How can you fit any thing else in your day?

To me, being a connected educator isn’t an option, it’s how I’m able to function. I couldn’t possibly provide the answers, the options, the experience that I do without having a PLN of my very own. From conversations on the other side of the world to being able to ask 4,000 people their advice…being connected provides that opportunity.

I’m presenting at TEPSA this summer on being a “connected educator” and being able to articulate the value of what social media can bring to the table is almost overwhelming. I know how busy and stressed these administrators are. I’m busy and stressed too! Hopefully I’ll be able to show that we’re in a time where being connected isn’t an option any longer, and that the problem isn’t that education isn’t what it used to be…it’s that it IS what it used to be. Our students can’t afford any less than the most current, the most engaging, and the opportunities that being connected provides.

Plug in, you won’t regret it! Change can either happen to you or because of you…and what leader doesn’t want to be at the forefront of positive, impacting change?

 

suggestingly,

Amber

staarN 5th grade!

by 2 Comments

Our test that shall not be mentioned is a’coming.

(yes, the STAAR test…dum da dum dum…)

It will be here in just 4 school days. Think teachers are panicking? Think they are stressed? Nahhhhh….not these Lions!

Ventured down to 5th grade today to see how they were all doing. Came upon Mrs. Rapp’s reading class spread out all over. Students were in small groups reading out of a novel. (Not a basal in sight!) As her timer went off, I literally think I heard a gasp from the students as they waited to see what Mrs. Rapp was going to post on the screen.

IMG_2372IMG_2373

As soon as this slide went up, the students broke apart into different groups and started working. Each student already had a copy of the rubric for the assignment, so they knew what was expected of them before they even started.  Mrs. Rapp sat down on the floor in front of me and started with a group on different skills. (a small intervention group, perhaps?)

I went to the Lion’s den right next door to check out what the “challenge activity” was…although I was torn. I think the Q&A with the flip cameras was also a pretty neat activity.

The students each had an ipad and there were QR codes all over the den and in the hallway.

IMG_2375IMG_2374

The students kept track of their answers on the notepad. The codes scanned different questions that tied into her lesson and story. I know I’ve seen a worksheet that looked liked this before. It listed fact and opinion statements and the students had to write in their answer. Which do you think was most effective?

IMG_2378 IMG_2377The questions went from basic and an automatic answer to ones where the students had to figure out in context. Elated is the same as jubilant. Pop is an example of onomatopoeia. Fact or opinion. Fabulous.

The buzz was palpable. The students were engaged. And the best part? They were totally reviewing for what’s coming up. In a non- stressed, non-pressured, get it done like a Luna Lion way. Well done, Mrs. Rapp, well done!

And? Making their collegiate decisions even easier! #14. Texas Tech Red Raiders are awesome!

(fact.) 🙂

wreck’em,

Amber

A lesson in justice & passion…by Sandra Day O’Conner

by Leave a Comment

oconHave you ever applied for a job and didn’t get it? Wanted to go to a certain school and didn’t get in? How did that make you feel?

Would it make you feel better to know that you are in great company? Sandra Day O’Conner, retired Supreme Court Justice, couldn’t get a job right out of law school. In fact, it was so difficult for her to find something she went ahead and worked for free…sharing an “office” space with the firm’s secretary until they had enough business to bring her on staff.

Hearing her tell her story at #ASCD13 last weekend was so inspiring. Not only because of that fact but because of her passion that is still evident for what she does. Even from the bench she saw that there was such a misunderstanding of the court systems in America, that she feels it is her civic duty to continue to improve our nation in some fashion. She founded iCivics, designed to prepare young Americans to become knowledgeable, engaged 21st century citizens by creating free and innovative educational materials. Why iCivics? She wittily said we “have i-everything else, why not iCivics?”…earning one of many chuckles from the crowd.

Other tidbits of terrific-ness?

  • 2 out 3 students scored below standards on citizenship in middle schools, only 1 out 3 adults can identify the three branches of government
  • Her favorite way to get items discussed civilly? Over lunch at her house.
  • She feels that young people need to be aware of current events, be able to mix it all up and have a conversation.
  • There are great opportunities for males and females to be involved in politics, but that passion has to be developed while you’re young.

Her number one piece of advice to students? Be able to read fast and write well. The orator kept trying to steer the conversation to her impact on female success in this country but she wouldn’t go there, choosing instead to focus on what educators could do to ignite the passion in their students to love learning. She chose to go to law school because of one of her undergrad classes. That professor inspired her…and she became the first female supreme court justice.

What could you inspire your students to be? Hopefully about something so passionate that even when retired, they are still fighting for it!

 

civically,

Amber

 

 

Not App-ening!

by 1 Comment

At our last staff development day we spent the afternoon discussing ways to incorporate all of the new “tools” in the building. There are NOOK tablets, NEXUS tablets, iPads, iPad minis, & iTouches. Through grants & what we as a campus have added you guys are becoming techmazing! (Shout out to Tammy for attempting to get them all connected yesterday!)

 IMG_2343

We paused on our app purchases, not to make your lives more difficult, 🙂 but because with all the different options and opportunities, I really wanted to focus in on how to make all your “devices” could be productive and not just consumptive. Apps are easy, and I’m not saying that they aren’t amazing…but the power that you can put into student’s hands is only limited by your expectations.

Let them loose!

Watch this great video when you have a minute to see what I’m talking about and here is the menu of activities that your teams created.

 

 

appily sharing,

Amber

Making connections…being connected…

by Leave a Comment

The twitter verse is mighty. It constantly roars. It would almost be impossible to consider everyone in the twitterverse as  a close confidant…but what you can find in that subculture are connections that can guide you along your path either personally or professionally.

I have SkypeD with complete strangers. I have google hang outD with complete strangers. I have asked for advice and guidance from complete strangers. This is perfectly normal, 🙂

However, traveling to #ASCD13 literally knowing IRL NO one that was going to be there was a stretch even for me. I’m the girl who needs company walking to get tea, remember?

I knew that my first “meeting up” would be with @Principalj, aka Jessica Johnson. We were going to meet in the media room first thing so I knew that from there, hopefully, I’d find another familiar face. And by face, I completely mean avatar.

And I did, 🙂 I was able to put a face to many a name that I’ve spent years interacting with, but not actually known. Names that I’ve actively tried to emulate professionally, like @NMHS_Principal, @gcouros, & @web20classroom. Names that I’ve thought were witty and an outstanding educator example, like @thenerdyteacher. Names that I’d seen but have been too intimidated to “tweet” to, like @paulawhite & @tomwhitby.

Unknown

 

That was amazing.

That was my goal in being there…meeting the twitterati. Right?

What I didn’t anticipate were the connections I didn’t even know I could make. Random connections, from people who I wasn’t even “following” before the weekend….but now have texted every day since.

@erinklein, over at Kleinspiration is a teacher from Michigan.@Angela_Watson, from The Cornerstone for Teachers, is an author from New York. The thought provoking conversations and inspiration that these two were able to provide were  eye opening. Having dinner with them was like hanging out with my best girlfriends, except almost better. We all have a similar vision, passion, and a heart for technology & education. I truly feel that these two connections were the reason I went last weekend. To remind me of who I am and who I want to be. An educator, an assistant principal, who cares about her Lions and staff, and above all…relationships.

 

IMG_2262

I’m SO thankful that I get to add this one  to the list!

connected,

Amber