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

Meet the Teacher…more than a fly by! #thefirstyear

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Meet the teacher is also a crazy hectic afternoon. You’ve beon in PD all week, your classroom is frantically ready, and you’re about to welcome in all of your new students.

*shivers*

This is typically your FIRST FIRST with these new babies! Especially in elementary school, this is such a big deal! We really wanted to make sure everyone felt welcomed, invited, and were excited to start off their year with us. Adding in a “few” new things can make a world of difference. Several of these ideas were shared by Matt Arend and Todd Nesolony, and given a lil’Teamann twist. I am so thankful for experienced, PLN friend who are supportive and sharing! 7

 

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We had a photo booth right when families walked in the door, with a staff member to take pictures so they could get in. Our art teacher is amazing. She freshened up some props, added grade level sticks, and decorated a frame our fabulous 3rd grade teacher had previously used. End result? Family fun while creating a memory. My lil’bit is starting kinder and this picture may have actually make me cry. 6

Parents were asked to leave a “wolf wish” for their student for this year. We had post its and pens that coordinated with the wolf, so even when the notes were up, you still saw our Wolf. (again, awesome art teacher!!) These wishes? So inspiring. 12

 

 

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Our end result was a fun night and hopefully, a start that made these Wolves ready for Monday!

 

Side note?

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This office staff? Makes my heart so happy. Their willingness to jump in, tolistent to me, to get to know me…has just made this new school year SO much better. We have these crazy text streams that go on and on and on..and are full of hystercal gifs. I hope that you all have a staff like this to work with!

 

 

proud principal,
Amber

 

 

 

 

 

Expecting vs extending grace…

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cop

Have you ever been pulled over? This may surprise you, cough cough, but my driving style is a lot like the way I talk…and write. Fast and furious, always trying to get somewhere. Last weekend, with an unexpected afternoon of sunshine, I was out running errands, and inadvertently didn’t pay enough attention to a new posted neighborhood speed. My first immediate thought was, “Ohhhhhhh, MT is going to kill me!’ The second was, “Ohhhhhhh, please don’t give me a ticket! Just a warning, just a warning!”

Luckily, I did just get a warning that day. As I was driving away, I thought how ironic it was that as administrator, working with both adults and students, I am a big rules/policies girl. I like to know the parameters of an environment/situation and think that they are in place for a reason. I’m quick to want accountability and feel that individuals should be held responsible.

But when I get pulled over, my first instinct is to want grace. I want to explain, to rationalize, to make sure you understand the circumstances.

I was so much more cognizant of my speed this week. I was appreciative of the chance to do better. I was respectful of the officer’s power of a punitive action, but that he chose to give me the benefit of a learning experience. Had I gotten a ticket, would I have reflected on it so objectively? Or would I have been bitter and resentful? Been annoyed as I watched others fly by, getting away with their hurried pace, while I sat as the “one who got caught”… been focused on more of the consequence, than the actions that I had done to get myself there?

I don’t know for sure.

 

It was a very poignant reminder that as a leader, 

I have the opportunity to give grace, and that more can actually be accomplished by doing so.

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Reminded,

Amber

Success shouldn’t be the goal.

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Sarah Lewis, the first keynote at ASCD this year, was simply incredible. She shared many, many stories that resonated with me on failure and why our perspectives needed to shift on this thought. The main one is the thought that there is a difference between success and mastery. She talked of archers…archers aren’t shooting for success. They don’t hit the target once and quit. They work until they are to a point of mastery…where they hit that target over and over again. We should strive for MASTERY with our students. Success one day on one test does nothing. But mastery…which would look like a love of learning, or a true understanding of a concept, THAT is what we should want to see from our students.

Mastery transcends grade levels and test scores. It is a LIFE trait.

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 I LOVED her point that the mountain climber that reaches the top of the mountain can look over and see another mountain to climb. His journey is never complete…you can’t climb ALL the mountains. She related it back to that the smartest people in the world KNOW how little they know. How mind blowing is that?

Fringe benefits of failure….you have a rock bottom to build on.

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This also connects to Angela Watson’s “Truth for Teachers” that I listed to too this week. She talks about the need to let go of searching for the elusive search for perfection. Be ok staying in beta. Put out the most viable product that can get the job done, instead of stressing yourself (or your family!) trying to be perfect in every way. Enjoy that you can always tweak or define as you go along, with support from yours students. Be ok staying in beta.

I ordered Sarah’s book, “The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery”after talking to her backstage. She was as down to earth and eloquent there as she was up in front of us all. She paused before she spoke, each word carefully constructed to articulate the exactness of what she was trying to convey. I know that I wanted MORE of what she was sharing. Her book is excellent.

My favorite passage is a story from Sara Blakely, the entrepreneur who developed Spanx, valued at one billion dollars in 2011. Each night at dinner when growing up her father would ask, “What did you fail at today?” Those conversations helped recondition what she thought and how she felt about failure. Failure became not the outcome, but the refused attempt.

Let’s encourage our peers, our teaches, our students to be deliberate amateurs. You never know what you will find out or be able to answer.

Failure pushN,

Amber

Being gritty…what does that look like to 4th graders?

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This post is written for my 4th grade students that I meet with each week. We talk math, we talk leadership, and this week, we talked GRIT!

 

 

WWW,

I hope you enjoyed the video today! We had a great conversation about what having grit could LOOK like FOR 4th graders. Please remember to use your screen names below and share with me what you think it means for YOU to be GRITTY, :):

 

 

Mrs. Teamann

 

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

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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