my version of transparent, collaborative leadership...with a Teamann twist
 |
Don’t forget we also have: Principal Productivity Group <– Click to join Over in the productivity group, we are sharing tips on saving time doing everyday things. Lots of suggestions for grocery shopping made easy and meal planning! |
| Hope your world is moving along! What’s keeping you up at night?
|
TECHnically yours and celebration ready,
Amber
This blog has always been a place of reflection and a sharing of my professional growth and struggles. It started as a tool within my 4th-grade classroom, became a place that exploded with my tech integrationist days, and then where I shared all I learned as a campus leader. Adding another change to the pile will allow me (and thereby, you!) to share a different perspective and once again, catalog what a different lens in education can teach us.
When I was named principal in 2015, I was very clear in my 3-5 year plan and knew even then that my next step would be off of a single campus. I thought that 3-5 years would allow me enough time to see if I was any good at it, but also, to be able to create systems that were sturdy enough, and grounded enough, that they would last past my tenure. That being said, I had no idea what the next step would be or how it would come about.
Sheesh, y’all. It’s been a month. Bear with me as I document this, if no other reason than to be able to look back on it later and think, o\h yeah, that ALL happened, 😉
August 23- made a joke to one of my softball momma friends that we were thinking about listing our house
August 30- started packing (it escalated quickly!)
September 11- House goes on the market
September 16- Hey Amber…there’s a position in Crandall ISD, you should apply!
September 25- Interview. 2 pm: house goes under contract; 3 pm offered the position
September 28- Tell the Wolves. (cry, smile, cry some more)
October 6- Say goodbye to Wylie ISD! Say hello to Crandall ISD!
So now this journey has taken me to this new role, the Director of Technology and Innovation, which seems kinda apropos, doesn’t it? It takes all my techie-ness, all the years of supporting and working with teachers on #ALLTHETHINGS that made my lil’tech heart happy, and combines it with my leadership experiences, and ta-da! A whole new district to support, empower, and engage!
In the same way that I felt my teachers were my “students” in my class, this central office role feels similar.
Learning all new systems, verbiage, all while only seeing 1/3 of people’s faces has made for some fast-paced days, but it has been fun! I look forward to supporting campus leaders (and all y’all!) with ways you can support your staff, but on-campus and virtually…in a pandemic and hopefully, out!
For those who read this far…yay you! Here’s a FUN & FREE Thanksgiving activity you can use with your staff! A turkey hunt! Get creative and let teams decorate their turkey with feathers found in their classrooms or homes if you are virtual!
I’ll still be sharing admin friendly tips, tricks, and of course, make sure I share all the thing that go wrong, 😉 so you can learn from me as we go along!
Here’s hoping this Wednesday finds you thankful!
Gooble GobbleN & oh so
You have almost made it to the end of 2020!!! I know this is true because we are getting ready to shut down one of our Facebook Groups and re-open the HOLIDAY group.
If you are a principal, assistant principal, director, and or district administrator then this email applies to you! You are getting this email because you might be in one or both of our PRINCIPAL Facebook groups.
Staff Motivation and Appreciation – Click here to ANSWER questions and join if you are a campus administrator.
Principal Productivity – Click here to ANSWER questions and join if you are a campus administrator.
If you are already in one or both of these groups, when you click JOIN GROUP you will automatically be added to the HOLIDAY GROUP without having to answer the questions!
SATURDAY OCT. 31st the Staff Appreciation and Motivation group will be ARCHIVED until Jan. 1st. YES! You will still be able to access it and see it, you just can’t add anything to it. You can only add to the HOLIDAY group.
There are already a bazillion ideas for the holidays in the HOLIDAY group. You don’t even have to think about the holidays! Just scroll the group and BOOM!
If you are completely confused by this PLEASE reply/comment and ask me! I am confused most days this year, there has been a lot going on in my world! (at some point I’ll blog and document all those changes, :))
Alrighty then?! Let the holidays begin!!!
Appreciatively sharing &
*** Are you looking for a COMPREHENSIVE tool to help you tackle ALL your appreciation needs? We wrote a book about it!!
Hey there. Remember me?
Goodness, gracious. It’s been a while. Quick update…we’re back at school. All my staff. Half my Wolves are here, half are doing remote learning.
If you’re interested in what our district is doing, peruse our back to school website when ya have time.
It is beyond amazing to have our students back, in either capacity. While we may have felt the stress and definitely had some decision making fatigue during our inservice days, once the kids walked in the door, everything became secondary to what we do here. Which is love and learn up our Wolves. My people have been…beyond amazing. We’re at the two week mark and all is well.
I feel like I am principal-ing two different schools, at the same time. Having to look at every activity, celebration, shout out through both lenses has been a dualing, pervasive thought each day. From walk-throughs to announcements…I’m doing my best to make sure every Whitt Wolf knows they are a part of the pack.
Last but not least…I created an admin version of a balance checklist. I’ve got a big copy on my desk AND a smaller version in my planner for September. I am determined to model balance and healthy habits for my people. I also shared this with my admin team and fellow principals. As much as we are leaning on each other right now, I feel like we all need the balance! (editable version)
I hope that YOUR start, whether it be in person, or online, has gone as smoothly as ours!
Hanging in there with ya &
One little month away from the blog and literally everything has changed. What are you doing as a principal right now to help your people stay calm in this pandemic, while also taking care of you? I’m about ready for our structured, regularly stressful, typical work world to return. (Remember when STAAR test stress was the worst stress? Ugh. I miss those days!)
I’ve seen much on the Facebook or the twitters about what we “should” be doing or what “actually” matters right now. I’m just trying to not kick my children and husband out of the house, 🙂
That being said…I have seen some really good ideas come across and wanted to share some of what we’re doing with you…it’s definitely helping me stay sane and feel productive. There’s nothing worse than an unproductive enneagram 3!
Taking care of my people is LITERALLY one of my favorite parts of my job, so not being able to get to them has been hard.
We are lucky enough to have an engaged community via social media, so I am able to utilize Facebook and know we’re getting exposure. Because I’ve read so much about the different ways Facebook links the algorithms of views and their feed, I know that the more engagement a post has, the more it is going to show up in people’s feeds. That means every time we post something, and we get a comment, the page comments back. This has raised the average view of what we’ve been sharing post-pandemic by 150%. Enlisting some of our professional staff who may not be as busy with our online learning has been a win-win for this strategy. 🙂
Anything that we do live, you could also just record and send links out!
What are you doing to avoid #PrincipalPanic right now?
It’s ok not to know. And if I could convey peace and assuredness to my people right now, then I can turn everything else off, and hopefully, communicate what is most important…which is that we’re going to be ok.
Thinking of you &
