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

Holiday season…keep your head above water with these 3 tips! (And a give away!)

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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 marking 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 is the 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. Want one of your very own? This link will get ya $10 bucks off! Merry Christmas to you! You can also sign up for her newsletter right now and get an additional 10% off! #everylittlebit

 

post itsLast 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.

These stick on my desk next to my keyboard but I can always stick them on a notebook/binder if I am heading into a meeting. It keeps it visible, helps me keep it current, and gives me that oh so goo feeling I get when i get to cross it off! 🙂 It’s the simple things people!

 

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

What strategies help you stay focused?

Comment below and enter to win your very own multi pack of post its pads courtesy of Office Depot!

 

Give away giveN,

Amber

 

12 days of giving…kindness! Paying it forward, #taketwo

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Instead of my usual 12 days of giving, this year I’m taking a page from the ever so smart Matt Arend, and focusing on being kind and paying it forward. There are a million different things you can do to brighten someone;s day and if we can help model that for our students, that would be better than any gift under a tree, or gift that fits within my budget. While I still have a couple of candy canes up my sleeve to show my staff how much I think of them, we’re going to share out this calendar in the spirit of the season. I also plan on sharing with my Wolves, and encouraging them to complete as many activities as they can. If they print it out and bring it in with the acts of kindness they’ve completed crossed out, I’ll give them a lil’holiday surprise!

Here’s the blurb I share in my “Get Whitt it” today:

Instead of the 12 days of Christmas this year…let’s have 12 days of kindness! I had a REALLY great conversation with one of you over the break about what kinds of gifts as adults we enjoy giving/getting…and she was laughing about how mine was love of gifts. MT thinks its made up love language…but I swear it’s not! One of my most favorite things is GIFTING people with something that is just perfectly them or comes at just the right moment. That is as much fun as getting something myself.

With our Wylie Magic theme, how fun would it be to come up with different ways to “gift” others with kindness this next three weeks? We are blessed!! Brainstorm with your class some things that you could do that would focus on being kind, and paying it forward. We’ll begin on Dec 1st and I’ll have cards for you to share your ideas in PLC this week, 🙂

Below is a calendar to give you some ideas, but feel free to make it your own! If following a calendar is not your thing, create a kindness chain- it’s a great way to see how much good you’ve done. You can even do both, check it off on the calendar and add a link to your chain. Or choose a chain link to do and record it on the blank calendar.

Do whatever works for you–kindness rocks no matter how you organize it!

1216

 

Link for download!

 

What are you doing with your staff or classroom this year? I would love to hear it! 🙂

 

 

Frosty the Snow Am

 

A leader is a team player or…be more like @tonyromo #taketwo #RTIAW

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We all know I am a football fan and have written about the parallels between leadership and both the quarterback and coach before. This week I had the parallels opportunity to attend an RTI conference by Solution Tree. One session, by Brian Butler spoke to the need for collaboration of philosophy and resources to support your struggling learners, as a member of a strong TEAM.

Our role as administrator SO closely resembles that of a coach or a team leader. Did you see Tony Romo‘s message this week? Primarily delivered for those who wanted to create controversy around the starting quarterback position,  he eliminated any and all talk of his not being a servant leader, and his role as the starting quarterback.

Tony Romo is 15-5 in his last 20 starts. That is pretty darn good. (Just ask Cody Kessler.) Yet he is able to evaluate his own place on this team that is 8-1, and say that he can see he should step back. With uncertainty comes unrest. Romo easily could have tacitly endorsed the quarterback controversy that’s been discussed so much this season.

Instead, he put an end to it.

What this speech helps reiterate for me is that the team as a whole is bigger than any one person, including the leader. It is a campus’ collective responsibility to ensure ALL students are learning. Not mine vs yours…not my way because I’m the principal…not because I read a book that said…but because our students are all of ours. That doesn’t mean teacher autonomy is sacrificed, just that we are all on the same page for “WHAT” is being taught, the “how” can vary.

Also known as…

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Still a Romo fan (but also wearing a DAK ATTACK tee shirt),

Amber

Ways to keep growing as a leader… #taketwo

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I’ve mentioned before that one of the things I think that impacted my leadership last year was that I put all of the “me” things on the back burner, including my own growth as a leader. In years previous, I was very active on twitter leader chats, participating in conversations, I was more involved with my local and state leadership opportunities, and would attend several conferences throughout the year. These opportunities helped me stay connected to my PLN (aka: peer friends!), helped me stay abreast of current and emergent leadership trends, and even grounded me as an administrator.

This year, more determined than ever to not lose sight of those things that I truly think help me maintain balance, that myth that we as educators all strive for, I’ve added more to my plate. Contradictory, isn’t it? Last year taught me however that when I spend too much time on the things I HAVE to do, vs the things I enjoy or WANT to do, I am not very good at anything. 

I have the privilege of having been named an ASCD Emerging Leader last year. ASCD has incredible resources to support educators overall, and in particular, those who want to GROW. They’ve been doing the ASCD Learn Teach Lead Radio podcast with BAM Radio for several months now and it’s getting extremely popular. There are great conversations with educationally centered authors on the show, and they are quick and easy to listen too. I’ve begun listening to one each Sunday as I get ready for church. All episodes can be found here. If you’re a teacher, looking for the same kinda knowledge, I can’t recommend Anglea Watson and her “Truth for Teachers“podcast enough. These are 10-15 minutes of PRACTICAL teaching advice, that both newbies and veteran educators can grow from. From genuis hour help to procrastination, she covers the #realtalk part of your world.

Professional reading can take a bad rap, but I again contend that when it’s something I WANT to read, it makes a huge difference. I blogged over the summer about what I was reading to grow, and that hasn’t stopped, even with my busy elementary fall world!

Three books you should stop and get NOW are:

  • Renegade Leadership, by Brad Gustafson. The title is enough, but Brad makes me want to be a better principal. Centered in student learning, he makes it sound SO easy to also be a renegade and push the status quo. My favorite part is that he doesn’t expect you to stop ALL the other pieces that we know being a leader means…the HR side, the finance side, the paperwork side. He shows you to be a renegade in spite of all those necessary components.
  • The Starter Guide to Makerspaces, by Nick Provenzano. Makerspaces are one of the things that I just don’t get. Thankfully, “The Nerdy Teacher” has written a book to help me! I definitely plan on leading my staff this Spring to a place where we can MAKE and MAKE confidently!
  • ROI powers ROI: The ultimate guide to think and communicate for ridiculous results, by Michael Rose. For $9 on Amazon, you can download this book. It just makes me think differently about what I try and communicate to my people. Sometimes the WHAT loses all its importance if you don’t master the HOW. Please see #thefirstyear for more on that! This book has made me pause before I speak and that is a good thing.

Last but not least…conferences. There is such power in connecting, not only myself, but also my teachers. I sent several to go hear George Couros a week or so ago, and EACH ONE OF THEM  have come in to me and asked, in different ways, how they can take a risk or lead differently. It doesn’t matter that I push them WEEKLY, it was hearing him speak that made them step up..and out. GO to a conference. SEND your people to a conference. No money? Find an #edcamp near you.  On my radar for the spring/ summer?

  • TCEA– Haven’t been in several years and am looking forward to presenting with Matt Arend on Snapchat in Schools, and also with him and Sanee Bell on Leadership through Failure.
  • ASCD– Missed last year, and won’t make that mistake again! Early Bird rates are still available!
  • ISTE- Local this year (ish!) and I’m taking a team of teachers…ISTE has come a long way with integrating academic best practices with emergent technology ideas, it’s worth attending every few years!

 

How do you maintain the “growth” part of your role as an educator?

 

Always learning,

Amber

Calm the storm…you’re the principal!

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Last spring we had a pretty ferocious hail storm that decimated many a home in our little Wylie, Texas. Literally, entire neighborhoods were inhabitable for a time and every roof on my street had to be replaced. Softball sized hail will do that! Now, every time we have thunder and rain, I have students who come down to the office crying, worried about their families and homes. It’s a natural by-product. We’ve combatted that as a staff by being overtly calm and reassuring. We’ve lowered lights, we’ve had conversations, and have even pulled up TV reports or radar to help show students exactly what is happening outside when they hear  a storm.

What I have learned, through that example and several others, is that students (or grown-ups!) are going to take their cue from the way others are acting/reacting around them.

When we get data that comes back lower than what we want to see, how I disseminate it impacts how my teachers react& handle it. If I go in, gun a’blazing, there is a defensive tone in the air. It becomes me against them, which is NEVER good for anyone. If I come in ready and willing to discuss and help with a plan of action, the air of willingness and collaboration is practically tangible.

When we thought that the very last minute that we may be adding an 8th (yes, 8th!! section in a grade level, the level of panic was high. When I was able to be outwardly calm and talk my way through what/how we would handle it if came to be, everyone calmed down. My AP literally said, “If Amber’s not stressed about this, then I’m not going to be stressed about it either.”. It was a huge eye-opener for me. People are looking to leadership to see how they should act/react. Luckily, it didn’t happen, but if it had, we were ready.

In any given situation, the principal is the one who is steering the ship. Without a calm steady hand, that ship will straight up crash. Be calm leaders, be calm…be transparent. Over communicate. Talk your campus leaders through what you’re thinking. OVER communicate.

 

Channeling my inner Dahli Lamma,

Amber