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

Summer thoughts, :)

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By this, I mean I’ve taken quite the little blogging break as I’ve enjoyed my summer break. 🙂 Plenty of sunshine, snuggles, and sleeping…all good things!

But like a great book (also of which I’ve read a ton!) all good things must come to an end. This is my last week off and one of the things I wanted to do was kick off 2012-2013 blogging summer thoughts and preview some of the things I’m focusing on for this year.

 

Also, this ensures some accountability on my part to follow through, 🙂

#1. No office Days!

I heart my PLN and many of the administrators I follow (@Dwight_Carter, @datruss, @shiraleibowitz, @L_Hilt & @PrincipalJ@matthew_arend) participate in “No office days”. The concept is simple. Schedule some days when you DON’T stay in your office. 😉 You spend the whole day in classrooms, participating in lessons, grouping with students, and generally, just interacting with children. I can’t WAIT to do that this year! You’re not there to do walk throughs or “spy” but seriously just there to be out of your office and see what a day in the life of a student in your school looks like. I think it will be a great reminder just how hard teachers and students work each day.
#2. Don’t lose sight of what our goal should ALWAYS be…students!
Mr. Howard and I had the privilege of of attending a leadership conference in June called the “Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships” conference. Other than the ASCD conference in Florida with my fun techo girls P&J, this was the best. conference. ever.
***They’ll have their OWN deservingly separate posts later.***
We heard some amazing keynotes, some insanely apropos speakers, and really had the opportunity to refocus on what was most important to us as leaders. Luckily, JH and I are so similar in theory and thought that we were able to have some great conversations of what his long term vision for Luna was and how we could get there. It’s all about the CULTURE, the RELATIONSHIPS, and the opportunity to take advantage of the fact that as educators we get to CHANGE LIVES. That’s who I want to be. And this year? Conscious effort to be aware of it…
#3. Energy. Energy. Energy.

Remember this? I heard Jon Gordon for the first time this summer and have decided that between my bounciness and his books that there should never be a “bad” day in my world! Last year brought on some distinctive and challenging situations. I ended the year drained. Mentally, emotionally drained. There’s only one way to go from there and that’s UP. I’m not going to be a plate spinner, someone who waits until a plate starts wobbling before I give it more attention. Inevitably, it’s me, my energy, that I leave for absolute last. This year? I will prioritize every plate I am spinning. I will eliminate plates that accomplish nothing. I’ll evaluate how much time I spend on plates that are of little value. And lastly, I’ll plan on making sure my performance reflects my spinning. Thanks to Mike Metz and his great EC plate spinning summary, 🙂

Longest post in awhile, 🙂 but again, I’m counting on accountability from my PLN to keep me on track!
Listingly,
Amber

TEPSA #12

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These resources are intended for the TEPSA 2012 audience in Austin.
🙂
Here is the link to the initial “why” twitter question.
Here is the link to the prezi.
Here is the link to the “Flutter” video.
Here is the link to the Listorious site and the “educational” relevant lists.
Here is the link to the educational hashtag page, as well as a very basic “getting started” guide.
Here is the Connected Principals website, my profile page on Twitter, and an article on whyadministrators should tweet that I wrote for a member of my PLN.
Thank you for attending this session and let me know if I can answer any questions for ya!
a’Tweetssentingly,
Amber

If…

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If you knew I was next door….would you still talk to your students that way?

If it was your child…would you treat them like that?
If it happened to your grandchild, would you be calm & rational?
If you knew your coworker behaved that way, would you say something?
If you “liked” a student more, would you be more lenient?
It’s challenging as an adult to self-reflect. I think most people GENUINELY think they are doing the best they can. Are you able to see how you come across to your students? to your peers? to your students parents? or more challenging, have you asked yourself those questions?
I genuinely think as a first teacher I was proud of myself when my administrators saw me “getting onto” or admonishing students. Looking back now, I cringe. What I thought was effective was actually way more detrimental to my relationships than I thought.
The three words hanging in my office: energy, enthusiasm, and empathy are the three that are my compass. If i have a trying task at hand, or a daily situation I’m dealing with…I’m always hoping to use three words as my guide. If you knew that, would it make it easier to understand why I act the way I do?
ifN,
Amber

Mystery Thread

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I was contacted by Craig Badura, a K-5 media/technology integrationist, also known from the That Guy in the Library Blog. He was interested in collaborating with different classes on a mystery skype/Voice Thread project. We set up a three way project amongst classes of second graders.

Each student was asked to draw a landmark that could identify where we were from. Craig, Martha, Mrs. Bain and I communicated back and forth through a google doc where we got everything all situated. (Amazingly convenient!)
Today Mrs. Bain’s group added their comments, it was auh-dorable to see how excited the students were to share their “landmark”. It turns out that Ms. Lackey’s class is only 40 minutes away. I wonder how long it will take for our students to figure that out!

Not sure what a VoiceThread is? A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate pages and leave comments in 5 ways – using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). You can share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too. Instead of a parent program or assembly just for your class, you can create a VT and share with the audience of your choice!

 

Here’s several great “idea” banks to help you get started!

 

Some tips to get ya going?

 

 

 

  • Use your computer’s built-in microphone or a USB headset to record audio for your VoiceThread.
  • You can input your cell phone number onto VoiceThread, and the site will call you to record your audio.
  • PowerPoints can be easily uploaded onto VoiceThread. Save your PowerPoint slides as jpg files and upload them to your VoiceThread
  • Upload a variety of files to your VoiceThread including pdf, docs, etc.
  • You can record up to 15 minutes of audio per slide on the VoiceThread site.
  • The VoiceThread site will automatically scale photos so they fit the allotted space.
  • Allow anyone to view and anyone to comment on your VoiceThreads, but be sure to moderate all comments.
  • If you are concerned about sharing student work, you can opt to not allow your VoiceThread to be shown on the browse list.
  • You can create sharing groups to choose who can view and comment on specific VoiceThreads.
  • You can export your VoiceThread as a .mov file and burn copies for your class.
  • You can subscribe to VoiceThreads that you like.

I love this example of Math Strategies because it goes back to what we just talked about in staff development. Let students figure out their OWN way of solving a problem! (math + technology = happy Teamann!)

 

 

If you’d like to create a VT for your Lions…holler! Ask pain…quick and painless!

 

VT-ly,

Amber