AmberTeamann — Page 27

Be flexible… #thefirstyear

July 30, 2015 by Amber Leave a Comment

One of my goals this year is to blog regularly about what is happening, what I’m thinking, what I am learning, and how I am growing. These won’t be long posts, but truly intended to help me reflect on where I am and be able to look back and see the growth.

Already I am learning what a valuable skill flexibility is as an administrator.

Being flexible can be what lets you have a good day, or a completely stressful day…and knowing that it is YOUR choice in how you handle it is even more important.

Staffing is an ever-moving target. When you think you are done, you just might not be. I’ve saved an email response to the emails I get when we are, for the time being, staffed to be able to respond to every person who emails me. I remember what it felt like to be seeking a “forever” spot, and always to encourage those who take the risk to email me personally about a possible position. Plus, again with the flexibility, I might need to contact them again soon!
You are the person. You are the one who has to get it all done. Surround yourself with a team who can handle delegation. Be ok with delegating.
- BUT make sure you have also clearly communicated what your expectations are! I am going to consistently say, “Our goal here is…” or “I’m hoping this accomplishes…”.
Flexibility makes every one easier to get along with.

If you are rigid and unwavering, you are going to be hard pressed to find those who want to deal with you.

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And we’re in the people business!
It’s ok to be quiet. I’m the new girl, I want to sit back, observe, get a feel for the personalities, strengths, and potential elephants in the room. Not knowing the history of conversations or attitudes can be dangerous grounds to jump in on and offer a hot sports opinion. It’s ok to sit back and get a feel for things.

shhhhhhh’ing,

Amber

What leadership lessons are you taking away?

July 25, 2015 by Amber 2 Comments

credit: Brian Tracy

I have worked under some amazing principals. In my five years as an AP, I worked under three very different, very lauded administrators, in three completely different environments. Looking back now, I am SO thankful for how different they all were, because I know I am even more prepared than your average bear, er, I mean, principal.

I’m a big note taker…so I have kept a list of the traits I felt made them so successful and hope to emulate this year. My top traits to focus on in year 1?

servant leader- the boss who puts everyone else’s’ needs before their own, who is willing to do what it takes to make others feel successful
big pictureR- one who sees the vision, who knows what they want the educational experience to be for their students
willing- willing to dance, willing to be Batman, willing to let teachers try
teacher friendly- someone who cares how decisions and changes affect teachers, not in the sense that they don’t make changes or tough decisions, but in that they care
tradition minded- recognizes what it looks like to build a legacy and maintains traditions that matter to students, parents, & staff
fun- from funny announcements, to jokes and stories in staff meetings, to running jokes with teachers from years ago
confident- able to step in and handle all different situations, with purpose, with heart, with decisiveness

They were more than just my boss, they were people who inspired me, who taught me, and who modeled what being a leader looks like.

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I hope to be that person too!

starting a new list,

Amber

Leadership lessons from “The Karate Kid”…

July 19, 2015 by Amber Leave a Comment

Did you know that it takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one unresolved negative experience? How does that apply to your upcoming school year? More than you think!

Source: “Understanding Customers” by Ruby Newell-Legner

Our 2015-2016 has already kicked off with a bang!!

We received an email last week inviting all of our administrators and central office staff to celebrate our 2014-2015 school year with an afternoon at the movies. We were going to see “The Karate Kid” in anticipation of it being our theme for convocation, and had free snacks and drinks. It was an incredible welcome back and provided a huge leadership lesson!

Not only did we feel appreciated and celebrated, but there were several moments in the movie that I could directly apply to my new principal-ness…it’s like they picked it just for me! (Confession: I’d never before seen the movie!)

When Daniel-son was hesitant to start cutting on the bonsai tree, he was cognizant of his own lack of experience. He was hesitant to just jump in and start. Mr. Miyagi walked him through a visualization, and again told him to start. Daniel’s question of how Mr. Miyagi know if his visualization of the tree was right? (which has most certainly occurred to me as I take on this new role!)…if it comes from inside you, it is always the right one. As a new principal, I need to have faith in my vision. I do know what to do, I know what our campus goals and mission speak too. Creating our blue print for the year will be much easier if I just have faith in what our system, and that I know what I am doing.

Balance. As I watched Daniel trying to balance on the boat, I knew exactly how he felt. Life, work, marriage, mommying…it is all a balance. I did an interview with the @thenerdyteacher, and that was a question sent in by a listener. How do you balance it all? My answer was honest…I don’t know that I know how to yet! Mr. Miyagi said that balance isn’t just about karate, it’s also about life. Everyone works better when there is balance. Do you have a plan for how to maintain (or achieve) balance for your 2015-2016 school year? For myself, I am building quiet time in. I am blocking out windows of reflection, of appreciation. I am committing to NOT answering email at night on my phone. (gulp.) I am going to come home, take my phone upstairs, and LEAVE it, until my girls are asleep. I challenge you to BE INTENTIONAL in finding your balance.

This movie as a whole just relates to educators. I hope that you have a Mr. Miyagi in your life. Someone to offer you pearls of wisdom that challenge you and keep you grounded.

As an educator, I hope you also recognize that you are someone’s Mr. Miyagi.

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Whether it is a room full of 6 year olds, 16 year olds, or a staff of all ages…you have the opportunity to be the voice of wisdom. Take advantage.

This movie also challenged me to really think about how I began my year with the most awesome Wylie ISD staff. I want them to have a POSITIVE beginning, as I did, so that they are as fired up and excited to get the year going as I am.

Karate chopN,

Amber

Is your school run like a business? Or why mine won’t be…

July 14, 2015 by Amber 1 Comment

My husband and I are celebrating our ten year anniversary this September. Making it ten whole years is a huge accomplishment in my eyes. I’m not easy to get along with, 😉 To celebrate we chose to go St. Thomas for a week. It was amazing. Right up until the final morning when I received an email from our airline (Spirit) letting us know our initial flight out had been delayed by 2 ½ hours. To make it even more fun, that meant that we would miss our connecting flight to Dallas from Ft. Lauderdale.

Very stressful.

What were we to do then? How does that even work? I called 800 number after 800 number trying to find someone who could help me…all I was told was that I needed to speak to the gate agents. You know, the ones AT THE AIRPORT. That didn’t help me! Despite not leaving until late afternoon, our whole last morning was super stressful. We drove to the airport to learn that the solution was to fly us to Chicago from Ft. Lauderdale, spend the night, and then fly back to Dallas the next morning. It took over two hours to be told what our plan was going to be.

Very stressful.

At the ticket counter, I felt sorry for the young ladies checking us in. Everyone was cranky, it was hot (no air conditioning! Huh??) and nobody liked the solutions being offered. I asked when it was my turn if it stressed the workers out when they learned about delays or cancellations. Her response? “No, you just get used to it.” She was very matter of fact, un-moved by everyone’s stress and situations. The couple in front of me had arranged for their animals to be dropped off at their house, now no one was going to be there. The couple behind me weren’t going to be able to get back home until Saturday! Yikes! One lady had very strict, dire almost, instructions that she’d better be at work the following day. There were no allowances made. Luckily, I had grandparents on standby, and thankfully, my fire fighting husband had an extra day before his next shift. None of these situations impacted the gate agent’s willingness to help or be empathetic to the situation. It was what it was. There was no apology given, or even an explanation shared. They very indifferently went about their business.

One of the refrains I’ve heard is that education should “be more like a business”.

I hope that my campus never loses its ability to connect and empathize with our students and parents.

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I hope my staff is always able to maintain eye contact, provide a smile, and do what we can to help who is front of us. I hope I am always seen as someone who is solution focused, and open to listen and help. I hope they walk away feeling heard, supported, and encouraged. May we never become immune to the circumstances and situations our parents and students end up in…never should we “just get used to it”.

We are more than a business. Especially THAT business.

Home sweet home,

Amber

The three foot rule…

July 1, 2015 by Amber 2 Comments

This isn’t post about proximity…unless you mean proximity to things that stress you out!

I read a great book this week from the perspective of a navy SEAL. He detailed several missions (some heavily redacted) and went through what key lessons he learned from each one. There were general suggestions about being a team player, what that meant to a SEAL, and some that were were specific.“No Hero: The Evolution of a Navy Seal” was written by a SEAL, and it makes for easy reading.

Mark Owen (pen name for Matt Bissonette) who is just worth googling himself, had a fear of heights but went to great lengths to overcome it. He was aware that his weakness, any weakness, could compromise a mission at any given moment. One of his early training exercises was to climb a giant rock wall, whose” shadow of this wall seemed to stretch on for miles.”. While climbing, he decided to do it in his own way. They were told to place their cams, the tools jammed into crevices that would catch them if they fell, every ten feet, but Mark placed them every 5 thinking that if he were to fall he would only fall those few feet.

Having used entirely too many camming devices he ran out and was essentially, stuck, not quite half way there. He then made the mistake of looking at something other than the rock face in front of him, and realized how high up he was. Starting to panic, his struggle was obvious. Luckily his guide had noticed what he had been doing and he scampered over all the extra cams he’d collected from below him. He then offered him a brilliant piece of advice.

“Stay in your three feet. Don’t look up, don’t look down. Stay right there in the three feet that you can control.”

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He completed the rest of the climb easily, by only thinking about each three feet in front of him as he finished.

You can’t do anything about what is behind you. You can’t worry about what is ahead of you. The best thing you can do is worry about where you are RIGHT now. It is liberating once you let go of things you can’t control. This advice seems to work for just about every situation.

Transitioning this summer from AP to Principal, I completely feel the panic of the wall ahead of me. Am I going to know what to do every day? What about tricky situations? How do I be the very best first year principal in the history of the world?!?

But that advice…”Stay in your three feet world.” is so powerful. I need to focus on the now, on preparing, on learning all that I can about my new campus, on getting situated…and then when the future gets here…I’ll handle it in the same “three feet world” style.

Wall climbing,

Amber