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

Principals are people too…or why there should be more smiling!

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While at ISTE this week, I met several people whom I hadn’t yet had the privilege of meeting f2f . People like John Spencer, whom I admire and respect for being able to articulate and defend ideas on not just education, but living life. People like Tom Murray, who is ya know, was just testifying before Congress about what is really happening in education. Or like subway navigating Bill Selak, who just may be the coolest guy I’ve ever hung around with. His facets of fascination make me cringe in inferiority!

It always reminds me when I meet these twitter “friends” how much more there is to them in real life. They’re not just a bio and 140 character message. Voxer has certainly helped, adding nuances and full personalities to those screen names I know so well. (Ahem, Tony Sinanis.)  But there is more. They are husbands, they are wives. They are teachers, they are administrators. They have personalities, and they can be hurt.

Today, Nick Provenzano, another virtual stranger turned friend shared an incredibly personal piece about dealing with anxiety and depression. Many people may claim that technology is dehumanizing relationships, but to me social media is the gateway to a connection that would have never existed. My heart just broke as I read what the amazingly effusive “nerdy teacher” was going through. We couldn’t walk to lunch this past week without being stopped by people wanting to take pictures with him or meet him in person…yet inside he was struggling.

My point here is one that I have, especially this past year, internally crystallized. Please don’t forget that we are all in this together. No one will thrive in an environment of criticism and constant critiques. Regardless of your role in education…say good morning to others! Be positive!   There is more to doing what we do than making a point or always being “right”. Know what? Being right isn’t a change agent. Remember that we are in a people business, no matter what part you play in a school day. If your role is to support teachers, do it from a place of mutual respect and appreciation. If you are dealing with an administrator you disagree with, guess what? We ALSO have feelings. Being able to effectively communicate without alienating your coworkers is crucial for a cohesive working environment.

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Just because you disagree with someone, doesn’t mean you have to disrespect them.  As an extremely (albeit unhealthily) sensitive person, this was was a huge wake up to me. How can I deliver leadership in a way that I myself, the super sensitive sassy girl, could handle? It’s a daily challenge!

Adam Bellow challenged us all this year to post an instagram tagged with #TYIW (this year I will) and my resolve now, post ISTE, is to remember that everything I share, think, say or do, impacts PEOPLE. Not just strangers on the internet…but someone who may just be a conversation away from being a friend.

Use your power for good, people! (go crickets.)

 

For other Principals are People Too posts, see these from…

resolvedly,

Amber

 

Conferencing this summer? Don’t forget….

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I am super excited about the opportunities I have to be at a variety of learning spaces this summer. From ISTE to Region X, my “summer” is full of learning! (I love my job!)

As I read through all of the recent posts about what not to forget and things that you “have” to have/know/pack when thinking summer learning, I keep coming back to something I read in “Leverage Leadership”.

Regardless of where you go or what you do this summer, the most important things happen AFTER you leave. If you don’t walk away with an ACTION PLAN of how to implement or start moving towards the sustainable changes you want to see happen, chances are you won’t see them take place. Have you seen this quote?

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That fired up, inspirational feeling will likely fade when you get back to the realities of your to do list and every day tasks. While you’re at your conference, (or your couch, if you’re hashtagging!) be sure you reflect on what or how you can make these happen in your building. I always like to write a “reflection” piece, documenting what great ideas I’ve seen and how I imagine it looking on our campus. I pick a “big” three to focus on and try to make happen. Why three? Because one is not enough and five is too many!

By narrowing it down and being more intentional, I am more likely to apply the most important take aways I have learned, turning each conference not just into a 5 hour energy drink, but an entire year of inspiration!

How do you make sure your excitement and energy carries over?

 

change craver,
Amber

 

Initiate change? Of course you can! #R10tech

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I had the opportunity  today to present at the Region 10 technology conference. As always, I come away amazed at the work of the Region X team. This conference has evolved over the years into a must attend the event for the Region X area. From session flow to strategic sessions, to participant size to the addition this year of FOOD TRUCKS…they are doing it right!

 

The conversations today with educators from around the area was so refilling. I appreciate so much the passion behind what they are all doing. Some are in district level positions, some are campus administrators, and some are classroom teachers. What I’ve found is that those who are willing to miss a day and all that entails are the ones willing to have the conversations that are going to initiate change.

I said in my presentation today that if you think you need a title to be a leader, then you may not yet be ready for that responsibility.  Anyone can make a difference…after all, even the biggest wave started out as just a breeze!

Classroom teachers can make change happen by adopting genius hour, by becoming connected to other learners, to challenging the status quo. Differentiate…get creative, turn the power to choose how they  learn over to your students. Not completely, oh naysayers of mine, but even just a lesson a week can start a wave….its ok not to do what you’ve always done. 

Building leaders can make changes by modeling what it means to be a lifelong learner, by allowing teachers to TRY new things, and to feel comfortable in FAILing if that’s what happens.  Encourage conferences, encourage learning, be the LEAD learner not just by title, but in action.

District support staff can initiate change by offering support, encouraging new ideas, by asking different questions. Offer to be in classrooms, or do more research on an idea…help a teacher make connections with innovators in the area at hand.  There’s no need to recreate the wheel if some other awesome educator has tried it  before.

Edupeeps in district level positions can initiate change by being willing to be transparent in their own learning, to open up and be flexible in what good ol’traditional teaching has to look like. Get to an edcamp, attend a national conference…let yourself break free from the educational silo you may find yourself in.

We all have the power to make change…we just have to be willing to “be more dog”.

 

Educator proud,

Amber

Take it up a notch…just a notch! Easy lesson upgrades…

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How can you easily take an assignment you’ve already got in your lesson plans and kick it up notch? Here are some easy ideas for those who need a spark to kick it up a notch!

 

  1. Pick three – five students to ask to create a lesson on what you’re learning about, instead of completing your assessment. Let them choose the grading scale, manner of delivery. Allow them then to pick three – five students to share it with, while you’re going over what you had planned to assess with the rest of the class.
  2. Vocabulary Expert: Let students choose vocabulary words from the lesson you’re about to teach that they feel they know so well they could teach them. Match partners and allow them ten minutes to teach what they know. (What better way to start a lesson then with students feeling successful?)
  3. Let Ss create their own assessment. One of our amazing teachers let her students do this as a cumulative activity and she was blown away with how well they did. She then let them exchange their assesments to keep the lesson going. Check out their question formats!
  4. Take the five different activities you were going to do for the week and turn them into centers. Upper grades should be scaffolded this way as well! This is a GREAT way to make sure that differentiation occurs in your classroom. If students are broken up into “centers”, it will be more difficult for each student to know what others are doing. You can work remediation lessons into the students who need it, and allow your higher performing students to work on extension skills/concepts.
  5. Turn whatever activity you’re working on into a classroom jigsaw activity. Give groups of students the different questions to answer separately and then come back together as a group to debrief.
  6. Think flexible learning spaces and environments. How can you mix it up, even just for a class period? Let Ss move around, go into the hall, computer lab, library…an opportunity for your “rock stars” to get a change of (s)pace!
  7. Recognize that lower level types of questions only have one answer, but higher level questions can have several “right” answers. Watch this video and evaluate the power of the “correct” answer.

 

 

 

Lesson upgradeN,

Amber

What Principals can (and should!) learn from Kliff Kingsbury

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Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury is a fan favorite, partly because he’s a former-player-turned-coach, but also partly because he bears a striking resemblance to Ryan Gosling. He also holds the distinction of being the first coach in Big 12 history to start his career at 7-0. With an impressive track record of grooming athletes in his previous positions, notably Houston Cougars quarterback Case Keenum, and then there was, what was his name? Oh yes, the Texas A&M Heisman winner, Johnny Manziel, Kingsbury’s first season at Texas Tech led to a palpable air of “swag” in West Texas.

A head coach is in charge of developing his players, ensuring that as a team, you get overall success from individual strengths. Isn’t that just like the role of principal? How impactful is the catalyst of a dynamic leader on a team? Well, according to Red Raider players, very instrumental.

“Really, a team gets its personality from its head coach. Coach Kingsbury is a very strong person. I think the way he conducted himself…made us a stronger team.” 

— Texas Tech senior RB/OLB Kenny Williams

12 games in, it looked as if the wave of momentum of the Raider Nation was about to crash. You’d have never known that from Kingsbury’s demeanor. It didn’t change the whole season. Not when they started 7-0, or lost the next five. He got to the field house at 4 am, every day. He worked out twice day. He refused to dwell on the past. He refused to let his players do that, either. Many educational theory books point to the principal as being the tone setter for the campus. Todd Whitaker says that when the principal sneezes, the whole campus catches a cold. A leader doesn’t dwell on the present, he looks to the future. 

 

Kingsbury brings an air of excitement to his team. He relates to them. A dance off amongst players that he participates in? Genius. Not only is he showing his team that he can still relate to them, but Kingsbury is showing them that you can work hard and still have fun. We are losing the FUN in our edu world! It is up to the administrators to remind both our staff and students that you can have fun and learn. We can model that in a variety of ways…no dancing required!

In Leverage Leadership: A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools, my favorite chapter details the importance of timely, effective feedback through regular observations. It also details how the single most important attribute of a principals’ role is coaching. At Texas Tech, Kingsbury coaches each player to get to a level of success as a team. He recognizes that you’re only as strong as your weakest link and that you always want your best players on the field. Effective observation and feedback isn’t about judgmental evaluation, it’s about coaching. The primary focus of observations shouldn’t be used to judge your teachers, but to find the most effective ways to COACH them to help improve student learning.

Kingsbury also brings resiliency to the Red Raiders.

” That’s how you build for the future. Because it’s not always going to be going well. It’s not always going to be fall in your favor. But you gotta keep fighting.”

—Kliff Kingsbury

With ever-changing paradigms in education, administrators have never faced more changes and challenges day-to-day. Resilience and unwavering optimism is necessary as a leader. You become resilient by CHOOSING to be resilient. Believing that you are making a difference in the lives of children is motivation enough to keep moving forward. Leaders must bounce back, choosing self efficacy over feeling powerlessness. It doesn’t matter if you lose a game, Kingsbury says “learn from the loss”. We all know that things don’t always go our way. Teachers can harness this power in their classrooms as well, recognizing that while every student may not be the “best”, there is something they are the best at.

Kingsbury has been called the “quarterback whisperer”.  He doesn’t want his players to be so afraid of failure that they can’t be loose,  can’t reach their potential, can’t have fun. While I’m no Robert Redford, I do think there is much to learn as an administrator from a coach who chooses to lead fearlessly, in his on way. #ourcoachiscoolerthanyourcoach, indeed.

KK

Guns up,

Amber