#admin — Page 25

It’s the little things…how to bounce back from a bad day!

December 4, 2013 by Amber 3 Comments

We all have bad days. We all have days where things didn’t go right…or as planned. Days that derail even th most positive of attitudes.

The real question is what you do when you have them. As a teacher, your mood affects the class. As an administrator, your mood affects the building. (When the principal sneezes, the whole school catches a cold.) So what do you do?

You could:

** Take a page from Venspired and just let it go.

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**Appreciate the little things on your campus, like the funny jokes your SPED teacher posts each day outside his room.

(seriously, I chuckle.every.single.day.)

**Have someone you can Vox with that will give great “chin up, butter cup!” advice! (High five, @mrmacnology!)

** Borrow cheetos from your school counselor.

** Walk from classroom to classroom and be amazed at the incredible learning that is happening around you each day. That’s why we’re here. That’s why we do what we do. We didn’t get into this profession for money, for a fame, or for a campus rating. We got into this because we wanted to make a difference, and make education better. For all these kids and our own.

And you can’t do that if you’re being a Mr. or Mrs. Grumpy Pants. So put that smile one, channel your inner Mrs. Ripp, and get into those classrooms.

Who knows who is looking to you to be their sunshine?

Smilingly,

Amber

Voxer: an Edcamp on my phone

November 24, 2013 by Amber 2 Comments

What do you get when you combine a free walkie talkie app, a New Yorker, some Wisconsins, a Missouri-an, and a Texan?

Day after day after day of professional advice, personal support, and a LOT of smiles.

Jessica Johnson introduced me to Voxer while planning our Indiana Leadership presentation. I have to admit, I didn’t quite get the point…why couldn’t we text? or email? or tweet?

Did I really need another techie tool?

Thank goodness she was persistent! Daily now I am in conversation with Jessica Johnson (principalj), Curt Rees (@curtrees) Tom Whitford,(@twhitford), Leah Whitford (@leah_whit), Jay Posick (@posickj ) Joe Sanfelippo (@Joesanfelippofc) Tony Sinansis (@TonySinanis) and Melinda Miller (@mmiller757).

From the crazy events that happen throughout our days to the how would you handle this moments, we have a group to add ideas,thoughts, and advice. Tony mentioned today that these convo’s have become mini edcamps on our phone and I completely agree. We throw out random questions or thoughts and get feedback from in a safe, non-judgmental, different perspective environment.

What have I gained from random, when we have time, less than a minute each (Curt’s rule) messages? Well, considering that this is a group of rock stars…a lot. All principals and a superintendent….I’m literally hanging with the cool kids!

“That’s me!” An activity in whole group settings where you ask questions and the participants all say, “Hey, that’s me!) A great way to show that we all have more in common than we think…
How to handle staff situations gone awry
Instructional writing programs, a debate on a package versus organic teaching/learning
Inspirational videos on demand
How to get out, take a break, reflect on difficult situations
Ways to support our teachers and provide communication tools to help them connect with parents
Social media management, handling multiple accounts for a campus and a personal one
That the FC crickets are THE team! (And I have the tee shirt to prove it!)
That seasoned, experienced administrators struggle, that we all have bad days, but that we do all LOVE our jobs!

I am SO thankful that I have this group daily to hear from, learn from, and laugh with. Considering that I’ve only “met” Jessica, it sure is ironic that I talk more with these “online” peers than I do some of my closest friends.

Thank you, Voxer fam, you are such a great addition to my PLN world!

beep beep,

Amber

Three ways to keep your head above water! & an Erin Condren Giveaway

November 17, 2013 by Amber 29 Comments

Have you ever felt like things were moving too fast? Like things weren’t getting your full attention? Like you were overwhelmed and didn’t know where to start?

Three “strategies” I’ve employed this year to help me “manage” the workload have made a difference in keeping up with my whirlwind of a world.

The first mental saver has been placed email efficacy. My email in box is my todo list. If I have 30 emails in there, that means there are 30 items that require some kind of action, which will stress me out completely. I’ve doubled the amount of folders I have, because I am now sorting them into clearly named folders, as soon as I read them. It makes it so much easier for me to find things if I’ve filed them appropriately. I’ve added sub folders to help! As an example, within my 4th grade folder, I’ve got a field trip folder & a parent contact folder. No more “missing” or “where I’d put that” searching! I’ve also started making items that require a follow up within my inbox. Things I may have sent out but need to make sure we’re taken care of, I change to a different color using the “categories” feature within our email system. At a glance, my inbox is kept current and color coded so I can immediately evaluate what needs to be done.

The second mental saver was the adding an Erin Condren planner to my plate. Rather than try to articulate the greatness that is this planner, just watch this.

While it may seem contradictory to “add” something to help me simplify, this planner has made a huge difference. Our campus calendar can get so crammed, sometimes with activities that don’t involve me, so I needed a place where my responsibilities were clear & detailed. Even the items that did require effort on my part on the campus calendar didn’t have “all” the details I needed. This planner solved that problem.

post its Last but not least, prioritize a to-do list. I keep a stack of the longer lined post it pads on my desk at all times. As I’m asked to do something or have a project in place, I add it to a list I have going. Task completed? Cross it off. Decide there are multiple steps/tasks to a project? Create a new page. One of my mental stressors is that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I have something that needs to be completed. Writing it down, identifying what needs to be done to get it completed, and keeping track of my progress takes the stress level way down. When my list gets ragged, I transfer it over to a fresh new page and seriously, it takes away my feelings of things being unmanageable.

Education is hard enough these days. Not letting our organization get out of control is an easy way to regroup, refocus, and recommit.

Here’s your chance to win a $50 Erin Condren gift card to get YOU on the path to be fabulously organized!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Keep calm & organize on,

Amber

Short on Time? an ASCD arias

November 2, 2013 by Amber 1 Comment

While preparing for my upcoming edWeb.net webinar, (which is free and open for registration!) “Become a PD Pro! Best Practices for Administrators” I decided to tackle a couple of books in my ever growing stack of “must reads” I came across William Sterrett’s “Short on Time” and thought it seemed applicable. These new publications are GENIUS. (Now, I’ve only read this one, but I am hooked!) Why?

These Arias are billed as “providing concise answers to challenging questions that you need solved today”. I read it during one setting, just 40 pages, but it was chock full of information and the research to back up what it was offering. It wasn’t overrun with references and heavy facts, but VERY practical. It also referenced Lyn Hilt and Dwight Carter. There are some powerful tips from those two heavy hitters.

The book discussed time management, tackling your calendar, staff meetings, and communication. Each hot topic was explained, evaluated and then provided a couple of excellent “management” tips. My favorite? When Mr. Sterritt discusses teacher growth he quotes Maya Angelou, ” I’ve learned that you can’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands, you need to be able to throw something back.”. We we have to be willing to catch (identify areas where we need to grow) and throw (share our strengths) with colleagues. As an administrator, I have to model this as well as build time for my teachers to be able to DO it.

I like this kinda book reading!

always short on time,

Amber

How busy are you? #SAVMP

October 27, 2013 by Amber Leave a Comment

I wrote about managing time over on the School Admin Virtual Mentoring Program blog this week and it really resonated with something a couple of assistant principals’ and I recently discussed.

We’re all working late and we’re all working hard. I think that’s just educators as a whole in this trying time of national pressure and low morale. How much of this pressure do we put on our self? & is it even effective?

I’ll never forget a teacher I worked with a number of years ago. He stayed late every day. He came in early every day. He held his own extra sessions of Saturday school. I remember watching his students take their lunch trays down to his room each day and working through recess and thinking wow, this guy is SERIOUS.

When his test scores came back that year, imagine all of our surprise when only 1/4 of his class had met standard. How was that even possible??

Easy. Activity does not equal achievement.

If you’re constantly working and never seem to get caught up, or stay afloat, or feel like you’re drowning…maybe you should take a step back and re-evaluate what you’re doing. Spinning your wheels isn’t going to get you ahead. It’s actually only going to frustrate you even further.

If you don’t get your priorities in order, someone else will do it for you. If you fall behind in your lessons because of let’s say, an assembly, or some random computer based testing…don’t stress yourself out cramming everything in. Figure out what the TEKS of the lessons are and focus on those! Get the big picture across and don’t stress over whether you were to take grades on every suggested activity. At the end of the day, or er, grading period, that’s what matters. what the students were able to learn.

Think about all that you say you “have” to do…and before you stress out to the point of regretting your chosen path of impacting children each and every day…change those words to what you “choose” to do. You are the owner of your time.

Choose to have achievement, not just activity.

Choosingly,
Amber