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

Final few days to score your FREE @TCEA membership!

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I’ve been a TCEA fan from way back in my teacher days, and they just keep expanding and adding more resources to their memberships to make it worth your while. Every so often they offer FREE yearly memberships and this week, they are again, until October 30th!

I’ve long preached the importance of having a community to be connected to, and @TCEA is a great one! It is so very important it is to have a variety of voices, in a variety of roles sharing perspectives and experiences.

Especially during a global pandemic, we need MORE educators sharing.

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We need our “edtech” voices in other spaces. Take advantage now for free and get your voice out there!

Conferences are offered regularly, support is at a variety of levels, and so there really is no reason not to take advantage of a FREE membership!

Your Benefits:

Educational, Easy to Access Webinars – Learn how to use Google Calendar to optimize your time, discover YouTube features and content that can enhance your classroom, or stay in-the-know about the latest trends like esports, STEM activities, and how to discuss digital citizenship with your students. They also have a PD library of all recordings going back three years!

Access to Experts and Peers on the TCEA Online Community – Wish you had a veteran colleague on hand to answer your tech questions? Or are you looking to share your own discoveries about how to enhance the classroom experience? The TCEA Online Community has over 30,000 of your peers ready to listen and help!

Professional Development – From the TCEA Annual Convention & Exposition to the Lunch and Learn Webinars, we empower educators by providing professional development opportunities tailored to your specific needs and learning styles.

Online Resources – Learn about the latest iOS and Android apps, evaluate recent discoveries on their TechNotes Blog, or explore fresh ideas for educators on their TCEA eBook Library.

Go here to join!

 

TCEA fanN,

Amber

Valuing on (and off!) campus relationships, while #pandemicprincipaling

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Hey there. Remember me?

Goodness, gracious. It’s been a while. Quick update…we’re back at school. All my staff. Half my Wolves are here, half are doing remote learning.

If you’re interested in what our district is doing, peruse our back to school website when ya have time.

It is beyond amazing to have our students back, in either capacity. While we may have felt the stress and definitely had some decision making fatigue during our inservice days, once the kids walked in the door, everything became secondary to what we do here. Which is love and learn up our Wolves. My people have been…beyond amazing.  We’re at the two week mark and all is well.

That being said…

I feel like I am principal-ing two different schools, at the same time. Having to look at every activity, celebration, shout out through both lenses has been a dualing, pervasive thought each day. From walk-throughs to announcements…I’m doing my best to make sure every Whitt Wolf knows they are a part of the pack.

What we’re doing differently, plus what we’ve always done…

  • Announcements are filmed live on FB, but now done early. Each teacher is now “showing” them at 7:30, and virtual teachers are mirroring their screen to show their at-home learners. Protecting instructional time is always important, but I needed to make sure we were SUPER consistent with these this year.
  • Mailouts each month…in addition to all teachers giving me a celebration to write a postcard home about, we’re sending home a monthly “hey, you!” postcard. Here is our August version, and you can download an editable version here!

 

  • Everything we do, we do in two versions. One directed to remote learners, one to on-campus learners. From the brag board to calling home with celebration calls, the number I do for one is the number we do for the other.
  • Spirit days, think college tee-shirt days…we post pics of students on campus and invite families to share theirs from home via email or Facebook. We created a google form where parents can send us pics and ask questions weekly as well.
  • Campus communications are obnoxiously loaded with all the details, for all the things. I want them to hear as much as they can about well things are going here, because, at the nine-week mark, Wolves can change their mind and come back.

 

Last but not least…I created an admin version of a balance checklist. I’ve got a big copy on my desk AND a smaller version in my planner for September. I am determined to model balance and healthy habits for my people. I also shared this with my admin team and fellow principals. As much as we are leaning on each other right now, I feel like we all need the balance! (editable version)

I hope that YOUR start, whether it be in person, or online, has gone as smoothly as ours!

 

Hanging in there with ya &

5 Undeniable Reasons to Join the Secret Princi-Pal Gift Exchange

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It’s back!! One of the most fun things that MM and I have ever done is this principal gift exchange!

I’ve shared her post below. Come play with us!

 

It’s a secret principal gift exchange! What started as a small event between 22 people has grown into a national secret gift exchange. School leaders from all over the United States and Canada exchanged gifts in celebration of principals everywhere.

Since this event has grown to over 400 school leaders, my online principal BFF Amber Teamann decided to put together a blog post on how this gift exchange works. Even with hundreds of players, this is the easiest secret pal event ever. You can even use this with your staff!

Before I share the undeniable reasons you should join, let me be frank. The success of this exchange lies in YOUR hands. We can’t MAKE people send and do. But it sure is fun to watch it happen!!

Let’s get started!!!

Reason #1: All the cool kids are doing it.

Usually, we don’t get caught up in FOMO. However, this is super fun! Is there anything better than gifts? (FYI – My “Language of Appreciation at work is…..GIFTS! Buy me all the things.)

Last year this event received national attention from Elfster. Elfster showcased our exchange in their blog. Obviously, you want to be a part of this epic journey this summer.

Reason #2: Learn a super cool gift exchange app.

I mentioned Elfster. You are not going to believe how easy it is to be a part of this secret pal gift exchange. Our past members have gone on to use Elfster for personal and/or family gift exchanges. Have you ever wondered how to do your annual Christmas gift exchange online? Elfster is the app that’s going to solve all your secret pal problems for life.

Reason #3: Make new friends

Principaling is hard. We could all use more principal friends. What better way to make principal friends than to buy each other presents?

More than likely you’ve never met or heard of the person you will be paired with. Your secret princi-pal is going to fill out an online wishlist and profile so you can get to know them. By joining this event you will be forever connected to a supportive and fun group of school leaders.

Reason #4: You GET presents!!!

Like I mentioned above, my language of appreciation is receiving gifts. For those of you who know me or heard me talk about the survey my staff completed, you know how much I. LOVE. GIFTS. Maybe this is why I started this project. I need gifts.

Finally, as much as I love to receive gifts, I enjoy giving even more. GETTING gifts makes me feel good. GIVING gifts not only makes ME feel good but the person receiving the gift feels great. Win, win!!!

So how does this work? Below are the rules.

Rules/Shmules!

  • Principals, Assistant Principals, Central Office preferred. Other people may sign up. However, we try to stick to school leaders.
  • VOLUNTARY – This is a fun end of the year celebration for principals. Boy, do we need an end of the year celebration this year! Once you sign up you are agreeing to purchase a gift for your secret principal. However, we cannot force anyone to do anything.
  • If you are not able to send a gift, you forget, or you change your mind and do not want to play. YOU need to reach out to your person and let them know.
  • The spending limit is $35 + shipping. You are welcome to spend more or just a bit less. Try to keep in this range. If this is too much please do not sign up.
  • Download the app “Elfster” or sign up online. All sign-ups will happen digitally!
  • Exact exchange title is “2020 Secret Princi-PAL Gift Exchange”
  • The spending limit is $35 + shipping. You are welcome to spend more or just a bit less. Try to keep in this range.
  • Create your wishlist! The app Elfster allows you to create a wishlist that your secret principal can see and order from. We recommend you choose about 20 items they can pick from.
  • The past two years most principals have ordered directly from the Elfster app. It orders straight from Amazon. You do not necessarily have to go out to shop and mail your gift. However, I think sending a fancy package is fun and I usually do it that way:)
  • Mailing gift cards are also an option.
  • This year there is an option to choose if you are willing to ship outside the United States.

Important Dates…

 

  • June 19th is the LAST DAY to enroll. This is a hard stop! The app automatically draws names the next day and we will not add any more participants.
  • July 17th is when your secret principal should receive his/her gift.  In other words, you have about a month after you receive our principal’s name to send your gift.

Hopefully, I have covered all the rules. Use the comments section of this blog to post questions and/or suggestions so everyone can benefit.

 

Hope to see you there, princi-pals!!

Favorite fonts & where to find them…

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It’s no secret that I love a good font. When I taught technology classes back in the day I always started with the caveat that secondary people loved my classes for their content, but my elementary people loved me for my fonts and clip art. #both

One of the hardest things about doing any presentation for me is choosing how I will deliver the message to the audience. I typically present on content that supports what I believe and actively do, so it is easy to “say” and deliver. What isn’t easy is choosing the accompanying visuals. I spend a ridiculous amount of time choosing just the right pictures, layout, and yes, font. Why? I think those details matter.

When looking at an iconic product you typically see the whole package. How market pervasive would Apple be if they didn’t spend just as much time on their logo and marketing as they did on their product? Watching “The Last Dance” and I was blown away at how carefully even a documentary stayed on point as far as the MJ message. Movie sets are meticulous in their staging & arranging. Musicians know that lyrics matter as much as the musical arrangement. Authors spend days on finding the right words to describe a crucial scene, to help recreate their story in your mind. Why? Those details matter.

It seems so simplistic I know…but it’s the small things that help paint the big picture.

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Anywho. Back to fonts! I’ve been asked to share where I find my fonts and how I go about creating images that we share as a campus. These are a few of my favorite font designers that are well known and sell their bundles on TPT. A couple of these I have chosen to buy the bundle, which means you get all the fonts that were released AND any that they release in the future.

Bundles!

My fave fonties:

APL Fonts bundle 

All the volumes are also listed below the bundle info if you just want to get a couple of volumes! (I like Volume 4 in particular, b/c I use those on crafty crafts as well, and those lend themselves well to my Silhouette.)

Babbling Abby

 

Individual volumes are listed out below her package info. She has some really good cursive ones, to mix and match with a bolder blocky font.

 

Amy Grosbeck Fonts

This is probably my most used collection if I had to pick just one. “I can’t”, “I can’t even”, “Fat Pants”, “I woke up like this”…are all in heavy rotation around here!

Looking for free and fabulous fonts?

Kimberly Geswein

 

 

It would be easy to start with these two and see how proficient you can get on mixing and matching before you start buying collections. Once you start, it’s hard to stop!

I’m a fan of using PowerPoint to create the images we share and use on campus, but my principal BFF, Melinda Miller has a great post on the apps she uses. Most of my tricks come from the greatness of Jessica Travis and her bloggy blog,  Creating Images and Fun with Fonts.

Yes, I am a font snob. I want you to get “me” so that you understand what I am passionate about. In the same way, I wouldn’t dress in a suit and wear tennis shoes…I won’t allow “details” to derail our overall intent. Instead, I want them to support it!

This also explains why you won’t ever see me without lipstick, ????

Why? Details matter.

Happy Fonting!

 

Strategies to avoid #PrincipalPanic in the pandemic…it’s a thing.

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One little month away from the blog and literally everything has changed. What are you doing as a principal right now to help your people stay calm in this pandemic, while also taking care of you? I’m about ready for our structured, regularly stressful, typical work world to return. (Remember when STAAR test stress was the worst stress? Ugh. I miss those days!)

I’ve seen much on the Facebook or the twitters about what we “should” be doing or what “actually” matters right now. I’m just trying to not kick my children and husband out of the house, 🙂

That being said…I have seen some really good ideas come across and wanted to share some of what we’re doing with you…it’s definitely helping me stay sane and feel productive. There’s nothing worse than an unproductive enneagram 3!

 

Things I am doing for Amber:

  • waking up and working out, just an hour and a half later than usual
  • watching things I don’t usually have time to watch b/c I go to bed at 9pm like a 7th grader
  • walking the dog twice (TWICE!) a day
  • having a “schedule”…even if it’s a made-up in my head schedule that nobody knows about but me
  • eating snacks

 

Things I am doing for staff:

Taking care of my people is LITERALLY one of my favorite parts of my job, so not being able to get to them has been hard.

  • phone calls. ACTUAL voice calls to check in and say hi. I ask how they ARE, not what they’ve been doing. 
  • Sunday night motivation texts to teams, just an image or a gif
  • Keeping emails brief, supportive, and appreciative
  • Letting go of unreasonable expectations, just being REAL PROUD of a pivot none of us saw coming
  • Respecting that some are parenting, wife-ing/husband-ing, and teaching…all at the same time
  • weekly staff meetings, to see all the faces via google meet–trying to make these short, sweet, and involve something FUN!
  • I’m going to mail, as soon as the OCD fireman allows me to, one of these out to everyone

 

Things I am doing for lil’Wolves and families:

We are lucky enough to have an engaged community via social media, so I am able to utilize Facebook and know we’re getting exposure. Because I’ve read so much about the different ways Facebook links the algorithms of views and their feed, I know that the more engagement a post has, the more it is going to show up in people’s feeds. That means every time we post something, and we get a comment, the page comments back. This has raised the average view of what we’ve been sharing post-pandemic by 150%. Enlisting some of our professional staff who may not be as busy with our online learning has been a win-win for this strategy. 🙂

  • Coach Kyle, our PE coach, jumping in twice a week with fun workouts for Wolves
  • Read aloud each day at 9 am by a surprise guest reader (Alpha Phonics, ESL, Art…all our people want a turn doing this! Even our lunch lady signed up!)
  • Friday we go live with jokes on Facebook with our assistant principal and myself
  • Our music teacher plays the flute, sings, or has her son play the piano as she announces all the day’s birthdays
  • teachers are making posters/signs for us to share in a video, set to some sappy song I haven’t chosen yet 🙂

Anything that we do live, you could also just record and send links out!

 

What are you doing to avoid #PrincipalPanic right now?

I hope that you are modeling what it looks like to be calm in an absolute season of knowing nothing.

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It’s ok not to know. And if I could convey peace and assuredness to my people right now, then I can turn everything else off, and hopefully, communicate what is most important…which is that we’re going to be ok.

 

Thinking of you &

Technically, yours Amber Teamann