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Reflection is personal power… & other people might grow too! #LeadLAP #IMMOOC, week 5

April 2, 2017 by Amber 2 Comments

I started blogging in 2005. It was something new, something different to engage my 4th graders. I didn’t even contemplate the power that using it for reflection would do later in my career. Permission from my parents was the easy part. More difficult was convincing the technology powers that be that it was safe and also purposeful. I had to present the whats and whys to the district’s technology department and convince them….awkward is an understatement. At the time, literally, they told me, “We don’t think anyone will actually read it, but as long as you don’t mention our district/your school, it should be fine.”

Can you even?

Thankfully, I did it anyway. And whether anyone read it then or not, is irrelevant. I used my blog with my students, through David Warlick’s hosting tool, and it was amazing. I had to upload pictures to separate hosting site, and then code the HTML to get the picture to share to the blog. My fourth graders loved it…we used it for our version of homework and I tricked them into writing the best lab reports ever by promising to share the best ones with the whole wide world.

While much has changed, including the transition of my blog to being a tool used to teach/guide teachers while I was in the tech department, or administratively through my leadership roles, I still use it to share, to reflect, and to connect. The ability to chronicle my growth through the posts and experiences is irreplaceable. The comments and people I have met through this space has made me better.

Reflection allows continuous improvement, with both personal and professional implications.

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It’s what I want for our staff, and our students. Of course I should expect no less for myself. By putting it out there, in a space that allows for feedback, and or criticism, it allows me to process in a completely different way than just talking to my peers when we have time. (ha!) Life is busy, and the days are long…I don’t see many of the people who push my thinking on a regular basis, but through blogging, I can definitely feel more connected, and vice versa. It’s where I genuinely hold fast to that the things I tweet or share, are aligned to my true thoughts. I never want to share something that isn’t aligned with my philosophy or vision…and my experiences via my blog back that all up. That matters to me. It’s why I don’t mind writing as casually as I do, because my favorite thing ever is when I interact with someone and they say that I am just like they thought I would be from reading my blog…(hopefully, that’s a good thing!)

How does that connect to #LeadLAP? I bought “Lead like a Pirate” while at #EMPOWER17 last week. (To say I read it quickly is an understatement. I devoured it.) I so wish I’d had it my first year as an administrator and think there were so many valuable nuggets that resonated with me on a professional level. I highlighted and tabbed so many places…again makes me wish I could figure out the darn #booksnap wave! How this connects to this blog are the powerful words Burgess and Houf used in talking about reflection, “…as leaders, we often rob ourselves of this much-needed time to stop, slow down, and improve our own practice.”

Just b/c we’re in the roles that we are in doesn’t mean we should be satisfied in staying where we are.

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If I want our teachers to move past “proficient” in TTESS (our state evaluative system), my word, shouldn’t I also have growth expectations for myself? I use my blog to set those goals, and to hold my self accountable. It’s the only way I know how to do this thing we call leadership, and I am thankful that there are others out there that are doing the same.

Blog writeN & accountability seekN,

Amber

Sometimes leading means…get out of the way. #IMMOOC

March 15, 2017 by Amber 3 Comments

While walking around the week before spring break, I had the opportunity to visit a 3rd grade teacher’s classroom. As I watched her model and talk through the writing of an expository composition with our Wolves, and saw the energy in which her students attacked it, I had to stop and ask what the secret was. She passionately went on to explain how easy this graphic organizer was, how it simplified the process, and really set the stage for our 4th graders who would be assessed on expository writing on their STAAR exam.

I asked if she thought her students could come up with a handout “or something” that could explain what an expository paper looked like and how she was teaching it, so that parents could see what we were doing to prepare our students for this assessment.

Challenge accepted.

I could have made a detailed flyer. Or I could have not engaged in her a conversation. Or I could have assumed the same trickle down way of learning could take place and I didn’t need to get involved. But really, I just needed to ask the right questions and then get out of her way.

I hope you are surrounded by innovative teachers like I am, and that you know when to get out of the way!

Amber

The best way to be happy? Focus on relationships. #IMMOOC #IMMOOBC1

March 14, 2017 by Amber 2 Comments

I listen to sports radio on the way to work each morning. It is my happy place. Luckily, mixed in all the Cowboys news and such there is a lil’segment they do that highlights different musings. I thought it quite ironic that yesterday’s referenced a study out of Harvard, about happiness. Happiness comes from choosing to be happy with whatever you do, and strengthening your closest relationships. The 75 year longitudinal Grant and Glueck studies led by George Vaillant and Sheldon Glueck had one main finding that I thought really resonated with what Matt Arend and I discussed on Sunday night’s #IMOOC chat, “Good relationships keep us happier and healthier.”

What does that mean for you as a person?

Choose happiness in whatever you do. I quoted some of Shawn Achor’s book “The happiness advantage” with the tag #choosehappiness, on the twitters that I feel may be guiding principles in my days moving forward, both professionally and personally.
Strengthen your closest relationships. Relationships, relationships, relationships. This fabulous sketchnote shared from our hangout the other night really illustrates how this stood out to us four as well. (Thanks, Debbie!!)

What does this mean for me as a leader?

Focus on how your team members feel about what they are doing even more than what they are doing. Perception is reality. Do you care more about being RIGHT, or about the relationship? This one is a work in progress, I talked more about the grace needed in leadership here.
Invest in relationships with your team members. I love hearing from other principals on how they personalize this for their people, so please share!

Bottom line, happiness is a choice. An important choice. A life changing choice.

If there is no relationship, there is no trust. If there is no trust, there’s no foundation of transformational change.

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relationally,

Amber

My growth is in a different place: self efficacy as a leader #IMMOOC

February 28, 2017 by Amber 6 Comments

Reality check: Through your evolution as an educator, you will find yourself at different stages of growth. Recognizing and owning that your needs and strengths are going to evolve is critical to maintaining not only your sanity, 🙂 but also your trajectory as a professional.

An easy example… Early on as a teacher, I couldn’t get enough of books,resources, websites to support my lessons and instruction. I just couldn’t wrap my mind around creating my own resources from scratch. Over time, I found myself reaching less and less for all of those amazing Scholastic books, and developing what I felt like my students needed for success. When I am supporting teachers now, I use a whole different strategy of support and creation.

While attending a conference recently, I made the comment to a favorite principal peer of mine that I had guilt for not attending of the “how to’ or “try this tomorrow” sessions, and found that my deepest thinking came now from reflection of conversations…whether they be at 3am over a laptop and laughter or over a shared dessert at lunch…those were the moments that stretch who I am and what I believe. Instead of needing to sit and get, I find myself in need of conversation and reflection. Sessions didn’t grab me and hold me like they had in the past. She responded with what may be one of the smartest lines ever, “Your growth is just in a different place.”

My growth is in a different place.

I am at a professional stage where the lens in which I view things is different. When beginning my “technically Teamann” journey, I wrote about classroom technology integration. I gave handouts, I created how to videos, I was very detailed in my processes. My growth was in a different place. Now I am in a thinking/leading/principaling stage. I need to hash out thoughts and strategies. I need perspective and thoughts from peers in my administration trenches.

Recognizing where my campus is and what our expectations are, I have to be careful not to be guilted or feel pressure from other admin about their challenges and needs., that look different than mine. I also have challenges. I also have needs. My growth is in a different place. Not an easier place. Not a harder place. There is enough stress and enough success to go around. What looks like a win to you, manifests and looks differently as a win for me. And that is ok. My growth is a different place.

Last year I isolated myself. I didn’t go anywhere, I didn’t participate in my voxer chats, or twitter chats. I silo’d myself. I focused solely on learning my building, my people, and all my Wolves. Which is ok. My growth was in a different place. Now that I feel like I have a grasp on what this principal job, somewhat can/should look like, I find myself thirsty to get back out there, to continue my growth. Taking part in George Couros’ s IMMOOC this time around is just the jump-start I need to keep pushing myself.

Know who you are. Know what you need. Reflect on where you are in your journey. Own that. And then? Get where you need to be to grow. If you’re on autopilot, or don’t feel challenged or don’t feel that you are successful, get in a different place, a place where your growth IS.

growth focused,

Amber

Expecting vs extending grace as a leader…

February 24, 2017 by Amber Leave a Comment

Have you ever been pulled over? This may surprise you, cough cough, but my driving style is a lot like the way I talk…and write. Fast and furious, always trying to get somewhere. Last weekend, with an unexpected afternoon of sunshine, I was out running errands, and inadvertently didn’t pay enough attention to a new posted neighborhood speed. When I saw those lights, gulp. My first immediate thought was, “Ohhhhhhh, MT is going to kill me!’ The second was, “Ohhhhhhh, please don’t give me a ticket! Just a warning, just a warning!”

Luckily, I did just get a warning that day. As I was driving away, I thought how ironic it was that as administrator, working with both adults and students, I am a big rules/policies girl. I like to know the parameters of an environment/situation and think that they are in place for a reason. I’m quick to want accountability and feel that individuals should be held responsible.

But when I get pulled over, my first instinct is to want grace. I want to explain, to rationalize, to make sure you understand the circumstances.

I was so much more cognizant of my speed this week. I was appreciative of the chance to do better. I was respectful of the officer’s power of a punitive action, but that he chose to give me the benefit of a learning experience. Had I gotten a ticket, would I have reflected on it so objectively? Or would I have been bitter and resentful? Been annoyed as I watched others fly by, getting away with their hurried pace, while I sat as the “one who got caught”… been focused on more of the consequence, than the actions that I had done to get myself there?

I don’t know for sure. But it definitely made me think about how I handle situations on my campus. Do I want the reflection, or do I want the finality of a judgement/consequence?

I know what I want for students…and myself. That surely transfers…

It was a very poignant reminder that as a leader,

I have the opportunity to give grace, and that more can actually be accomplished by doing so.

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Reminded,

Amber

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