#beintentional — Page 20

Demonstrating learning doesn’t have to look the same for every student…

January 11, 2015 by Amber Leave a Comment

This post was originally written for Classflow. After you’re done reading, check out this webinar and blog post to learn how ClassFlow can support various ways of demonstrating mastery, too!

As important as it is to have academic goals, learning outcomes, and a decisive idea of where your curriculum road is going, how do you determine that a student has actually learned the content you have taught? Whether it be a formative or summative assessment, or assessment of any kind, you’re typically talking about a number earned. A score on a paper, right?

As any teacher knows, just because a student failed a paper doesn’t mean they didn’t “learn” anything, and a passing paper doesn’t guarantee mastery either. This is one of the more persuading reasons to leverage the technology in your classroom to allow your students to demonstrate their learning. Differentiation takes on a whole new meaning when you allow your students to SHOW you what they have learned, utilizing technology.

A first grade class last week was walking through the halls, using paper and pencil to list the different states of matter of materials they saw in the hall. What if, using an iPad (or any other type of camera), the student took pictures and then created an animoto for each state they observed? Students could create a presentation in Google or Prezi, they could make trading cards using Big Huge Labs, or create any other tangible ‘product” that not only allows their choice to shine, but also combines creativity and even collaboration with others students in a digital artifact.

When I taught fourth grade, convincing my students that writing a lab summary report was exciting was next to impossible. However, once I allowed them to create and share in any means necessary, AND let them know it would be shared on our classroom blog, I had students lined up outside my door at 7:30 a.m. to go over their reports. We had videos, podcasts, hyperlinked animations and more. The ability to choose how they shared what they learned meant they cared about WHAT they learned. When I had them fill in a worksheet or a lab template, it became about me and the minimum of what I expected to see. There were things gleaned that I didn’t assess, that I was unaware of, misconceptions I wasn’t privy to. By allowing my students to choose how they were measured, the results went off the charts. I was blown away by how much they DID know, and the depth with which they were able to share it all.

How can you make this happen in your classroom? Start with one assignment, one concept, and allow students to choose how they can demonstrate mastery. (Younger students can be given options.) Provide tools that you are comfortable evaluating and that can be completed fully in a timely manner. If that overwhelms you, start smaller. Allow one student to choose. Build out from there.

By leveraging the thousands of different ways technology allows the multiple methods of demonstrating learning, you’re not only teaching your academic standards but truly preparing students for a life beyond a classroom.

multiplying-ly,

Amber

Unexpected Expectations for 2015

December 29, 2014 by Amber 1 Comment

Making goals is easy…the challenge comes in actually making them happen.

My goals this year aren’t exciting. They aren’t earth shattering. They are, however, going to be accomplish-able, which to me, is the whole point. Some build on things from the fall semester. Some are in conjunction with accountability from my friends, my peers, my PLN. I like sharing my goals on the blog, it helps hold me accountable and allows me to reflect upon the past years (2104, 2012) to see where I have fallen short, and where I have had success. Both are important pieces to moving forward.

Here are my expectations for 2015:

Complete the Am-centered bucketlist created with Melinda Miller. (She’ll have an MM version!) This bucketlist will be full of activities and challenges that we’ll complete throughout the year that keep our energy and purpose aligned to what will keep us true to who we are. There’ll be just as many leadership tie-ins as there are mommy/wife ones. Balance! No more idle yes’s, or wasted moments. We’re going to be FOCUSED, and have a bucketlist to help keep it all in front of us. (we’ll share that when we are done!)
Read more. I dropped the Goodreads ball late in the year, but am excited to begin afresh with 2015. I expect to read more in 2015…and will document each book in Goodreads. Follow my progress here.
Document. Schedule. Write it down. I expect to STAY on top of things! One of the ways I plan on maintain this semblance of completing expectations is to utilize my Erin Condren planner. I have high aspirations of being a scheduling machine, and bought new colored pens just to make that more fun. Want an Erin Condren of your very own? Here’s a coupon!
Connect with friends, near and far. 2014 was trip and friend filled. I was so lucky to see so many of the PLN people I now consider friends. While I don’t have as many national events on my radar this year, I do expect to cultivate those relationships. Taking a page from one of my Voxer bf’s, surprise happy mail is a great way to make sure those I hold dear know that I am thinking of them.

May your 2015 be filled with your goals, your expectations, and all the things YOU want to accomplish. Anything I can do to help with your expectations?

Mission minded,

Amber

What’s your big three as an admin?

November 20, 2014 by Amber 1 Comment

Tony Sinanis recently blogged about his big “three” as an admin and challenged me to write about what I think might be my big three. While I completely agree with his three: “be the ears, be the voice, and be the culture”, it would be redundant to say mine are the same.

Instead I’ll share three gems of greatness that I think compliment his nicely. (Such a team player, aren’t I?)

1. You don’t always to be right.

As an administrator, it is crucial to be able to see the value in losing the battle, but winning the war. It doesn’t do anyone any good to win every argument if you alienate or isolate the people you work with while doing so. When meeting with teachers or parents, there is something to be said for allowing other’s viewpoints to be given weight and be heard. Someone who can communicate You can be the right-est person in the world and yet have no one on your side, which would a rather ineffective leader, wouldn’t it? Employ your inner empathy skills here. What distinguishes average to mediocre leaders from those who excel at leading others is how the latter group understands that their focus shouldn’t be simply directed to whether goals are achieved or not. Nobody wants to be on the same team with someone who has to win every argument, never giving any credence to other’s points of views.

2. You don’t always have to make everyone happy.

In fact, thinking that you CAN make everyone happy would be a mistake. No matter what idea you have or what positive motivation you have fueling your movements…someone will not agree. This has easily been the most challenging part of being an administrator for me. If decisions are made on what is best for kids, how could someone disagree with you? It’s easy to forget that people view decisions or actions through the same lens they view the world in. Never take it personal when someone disagrees with you! Use it as an opportunity to get to understand that other person and find out what lens they are using. Really listen to what they have to say…and at the end of the day, even if they still disagree with you, at least they can respect the fact that you gave them a chance to discuss their point of view. It’s also so important to have relationships with your team, so that they know what your vision is. You can disagree with how I might go about accomplishing something, but if you know my heart is always making decisions based on whats best for kids, then I am ok with you being unhappy.

3. You don’t always have to be in charge.

Delegation is a lost art. I don’t know if some leaders don’t like to delegate because they don’t trust the people they work with, because they are controlling, or if they truly don’t understand what empowered leadership looks like. I had a teacher I worked with who was an incredible event planner. She rallied teachers behind her, had terrific connections in the community, and was a natural at the detail oriented focus required to pull off a big school event. Early on I was intimidated by the fact that she was such a natural, but I learned how much easier it was to let her run with her passion, because at the end of the day, she was going to make it happen, and make it awesome. And wasn’t that what I wanted? It allowed me to step back and focus on other pressing matters…as soon as I relaxed and appreciated her strengths. Know your team and know their strengths. Maximize those strengths to benefit your campus! It really will make a difference when your whole team is invested in your campus vision.

What did we leave out? Can you elaborate or add? I would love to know what your big three would be!

Leadingly,

Amber

If the blog title fits…goodbye, Technically yours, Teamann!

November 7, 2014 by Amber 7 Comments

The evolution of this blog has come a long way. It began as a tool I used in my fourth grade classroom. It then became a place I could share all of the great things I was seeing in classrooms and share techie resources as a technology facilitator. It then became a place to share weekly happenings as an administrator. It became less and less about “technology” and more and more about leadership…about quality instruction…about all the things I am passionate about.

Did you know that there are Texas standards for principal efficacy? There are!

The leader is responsible for ensuring every student receives high-quality instruction.
The leader is responsible for ensuring there are high-quality teachers and staff in every classroom and throughout the school.
The leader is responsible for modeling a consistent focus and personal responsibility for improving student outcomes.
The leader is responsible for establishing and implementing a shared vision and culture of high expectations for all students.
The leader is responsible for implementing systems that align with the school’s vision and improve the quality of instruction.

Do you notice what is missing from those standards?

The leader who tweets and blogs.

There is much, much more to being an administrator, and much, much more than that to me.

The leader who tweets and blogs is simply using a tweet and blog vehicle for helping accomplish the goals of the principal. It’s not bad. It’s a choice. The standards are standards. They don’t define the tools used to address the standards.

I’m choosing to rename this blog, and the domain (henceforth to be www.amberteamann.com) to ensure the clarity of not being a technology driven administrator, but instead as an administrator who sees the importance of technology to help accomplish my goals as a leader. Just like I see an importance in having a strong system to work in, a focus on relationships, and a level of accountability for high academic expectations…it all meshes and melds together into a modern, effective, collaborative leader.

I am thankful for leaders like George Couros, who model so well what I hope to emulate for my staff, my district, and the PLN that has grown right along side me. As a leader, it is not just teaching “stuff”, but it is helping people to see why it is so importance to embrace the change needed in schools today. Whether that be through the Fundamental 5, instructional rounds, or literacy circles, this is a space where I share what I’m doing, what I’m thinking, and how that relates to education.

This blog is an investment into the kind of leadership that will allows teachers to be the very best that they can be, ensuring each student gets the education that they deserve. Pre-social media (pick your noun- Twitter, Google +, Blogger, Tumblr), many administrators were actively learning and enhancing their craft, but it was hard to really show that one was a “lifelong learner” that we promote so actively to our staff & students. We now have a variety of tools at our disposal. We can not only share our expertise, we can share it in a much more open example of transparent leadership.

This is a space of collaborating, of communicating, of creation. It also happens to be a blog.

Focus on the verbs, not the nouns.

Verb-ish,

Amber

#EDUDO: Giving feedback…easy ways to make it happen!

November 2, 2014 by Amber Leave a Comment

Taking part in the #EDUDO movement, I thought I would share a couple of tips and tricks discussed in our admin meeting last week on providing feedback. There was an ASCD post recently from Robyn Jackson that highlighted 4 ways to give effective feedback. There was a post in the Washington Post that came to the conclusion that feedback was a crucial part of the walk through process.

“Although the researchers suggest that their results should be considered exploratory, they do suggest a general principle of instructional leadership that fits well with one overarching principle of learning: feedback is essential. Instructional leadership activities that offer meaningful feedback to teachers may help. Those that don’t, will not.”

How then can you give quality feedback when you have so much else on your plate? By planning, making it a priority, and having the right tools!

1. Plan to be in classrooms to actually GIVE the feedback!

We use Eduphoria which has several tools to help me keep track of how many walk throughs & observations I have done for each teachers. (You could easily make a checklist in Evernote, which I’ll come back to in a moment. Put that in your pocket, save it for later.) Each week I get an email telling me how many I have completed. Within the system I can I easily check to see how many i have done for each teacher. I also have it sent to email me each every other week when there are teachers that don’t have a certain number of walk throughs.

I also, with the greatness of Melinda Miller, have made it a point to write down on our calendars exactly who we plan on visiting. If not by specific names, then at least with a number of rooms per day. It sounds completely simple, but it has been surprisingly effective!

2. Go old school with a note!

I’ve used this form and it’s been my go to for several years. It’s template based but allows me to personalize. I print multiple copies each week and commit to sharing them. Being intentional in looking for the good…I never run out of good things to brag on! Print your own at “Technology rocks. Seriously.”

3. Tech it up a bit with a suggestion from the greatness of Jessica Branch. I like taking pictures when I see something happening in the classroom, but she suggested combining the Red Stamp app and the picture to send a teacher a visual “wow!” instead of a paper post it. You have the option to even email it straight from the app, so it’s easy!

4. Remember that Evernote from earlier? Pull it out of your pocket to enjoy it now! Evernote is a tool that I’ve used in the past to keep a running record of the classrooms I visit. I’m able to create a page for each teacher, and take notes of what I see happening. Our standard walk through form doesn’t allow for a longitudinal record of my visits, but in Evernote I can make simple notes of what I am observing and be able t track feedback over the semester/year. Teachers have access to what I’ve written and know what I’ve seen each time I’ve been there. This is valuable to help keep me in line with visiting at different times and making sure I am seeing different subjects and teaching styles. (whole group, vs small group, etc.) there’s also a handy checklist option! You can read more about that here.

Feedback needs to be timely and relevant to the learner’s needs in order to be effective. Keeping that in mind, be ready to share something timely, something constructive, and something positive. Without feedback of any kind, we would not learn at all, period. We would end up doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again…but it also ensures that teachers (or students!) feel as if we know what is happening with each teacher (or student!) individually. Their lead learner should be the person who delivers that feedback as well the one who can help them move forward.

feedbackN,

Amber