Summer thoughts, :)

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

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