#taketwo

The best way to be happy? Focus on relationships. #IMMOOC #IMMOOBC1

March 14, 2017 by Amber 2 Comments

I listen to sports radio on the way to work each morning. It is my happy place. Luckily, mixed in all the Cowboys news and such there is a lil’segment they do that highlights different musings. I thought it quite ironic that yesterday’s referenced a study out of Harvard, about happiness. Happiness comes from choosing to be happy with whatever you do, and strengthening your closest relationships. The 75 year longitudinal Grant and Glueck studies led by George Vaillant and Sheldon Glueck had one main finding that I thought really resonated with what Matt Arend and I discussed on Sunday night’s #IMOOC chat, “Good relationships keep us happier and healthier.”

What does that mean for you as a person?

Choose happiness in whatever you do. I quoted some of Shawn Achor’s book “The happiness advantage” with the tag #choosehappiness, on the twitters that I feel may be guiding principles in my days moving forward, both professionally and personally.
Strengthen your closest relationships. Relationships, relationships, relationships. This fabulous sketchnote shared from our hangout the other night really illustrates how this stood out to us four as well. (Thanks, Debbie!!)

What does this mean for me as a leader?

Focus on how your team members feel about what they are doing even more than what they are doing. Perception is reality. Do you care more about being RIGHT, or about the relationship? This one is a work in progress, I talked more about the grace needed in leadership here.
Invest in relationships with your team members. I love hearing from other principals on how they personalize this for their people, so please share!

Bottom line, happiness is a choice. An important choice. A life changing choice.

If there is no relationship, there is no trust. If there is no trust, there’s no foundation of transformational change.

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relationally,

Amber

Differentiated PD, with a purpose! #taketwo

February 19, 2017 by Amber 2 Comments

This week we have an opportunity to meet with our staff while our Wolves have a day off. One of my goals as an administrator is to not waste my teacher’s time. I’ve written before about how I also recognize I need to always be moving them along their own growth path. By providing differentiated professional development, I can accomplish both! In the same way that we expect our teachers to provide differentiated classroom instruction, my expectation should be to do the same for our teachers. Providing differentiated PD shouldn’t be a choice, but we as administrators do. Model what ya want! Or as Jimmy Casas says, Model what you EXPECT. After reading this post from my buddy, Brad Gustafson, creating a choose your PD adventure came easy!

(Flyer!)

Differentiated PD is as easy as allowing teachers to have choice, input, and TIME to think and process the PD they’ve taken part in can allow for deeper implementation and impact student learning, which again, is why we do what we do.

Our plan for Monday is this. Teacher will have breakfast and then have the chance to choose 2 from 6 different choices presented from staff who went to #TCEA17. Choices were based on what most closely aligned with the bulk of our staff’s TTESS goals set in August. They are short sessions, meant to whet their appetite and give easy strategies to add in tools for learning here in the spring.

They then are going to spend time reflecting on their individual goals, and ensure they are moving down that path of a lifelong learner. After lunch, we have time set aside for them to work with their team, analyzing our MOY data and using it to plan for small group instruction. Strategic teaching based on individual student growth is going to be what moves Wolves, in every classroom every day.

And just as fun lil’bonus for reading this far…kicking off our day tomorrow I’ll share one or two of these “fun” testing videos…just to remind us how very humorous our spring season can be. One of my Voxer groups, who bless their hearts still include me, despite my MIA-ness shared these this weekend and they are so apropos!

Hope YOUR adventure is as fun as mine!

Amber

Last minute gifts that an admin can give…freely! #taketwo

December 6, 2016 by Amber 1 Comment

It’s that time of year. Where everyone has their eyes on the holiday break. Where you may tempted to hit snooze just one more time. When maybe what you can gift a class of 30 or a staff of 60 just can’t seem to be found in a store. I have some suggestions that won’t break the bank, but that still may not be the easiest to give.

Give the gift of:

Affirmation: Make sure your people know that you see how hard they work. That you recognize the energy and the effort that they are giving. That you see they give up their conference time for ARDS, for meetings, for whatever you ask. That they work late. That they buy all the extras to make their classroom function the way you want it too.

Example: Be an example. Be selfless. Be positive. Be tireless. Be an encourager.

Encouragement: Reassure your team that they are doing the right things. Ask their opinion, value their input, and give them opportunities for decision-making. Make sure they know you support them in their decisions and choices.

Patience: Be patient. Allow discourse. Recognize that you should always value progress, and not be looking for perfection.

Rest: Teachers are tired. Teachers work hard. The same is true for our students. Don’t add unnecessary meetings when you can email. Don’t waste time with unnecessary fluff.

Inspiration: There’s a thin line between overwhelm and inspire, but this time of year you can definitely share stories or videos that can remind a teacher why we do what we do. Here are 6 to start with! Fill their bucket, and make them GLAD that they work for you or are in your classroom. Close out your semester positively…you can do this and still not sacrifice an instructional focus.

These universal gifts are ones that won’t cost you an extra penny, but may require time and reflection of your own. In a time when you are all stressed with the demands of the principal’s job, you need to remind yourselves that you have great power to make a difference in your teachers’ lives. Teachers who feel encouraged and comfortable with your support will stay with you in a positive climate of learning. You deserve to have that kind of school…and these gifts can make it happen!

What are you doing for your staff this year?? There’s still time to make it happen!

Amta Claus

A leader is a team player or…be more like @tonyromo #taketwo #RTIAW

November 17, 2016 by Amber 2 Comments

We all know I am a football fan and have written about the parallels between leadership and both the quarterback and coach before. This week I had the parallels opportunity to attend an RTI conference by Solution Tree. One session, by Brian Butler spoke to the need for collaboration of philosophy and resources to support your struggling learners, as a member of a strong TEAM.

Our role as administrator SO closely resembles that of a coach or a team leader. Did you see Tony Romo‘s message this week? Primarily delivered for those who wanted to create controversy around the starting quarterback position, he eliminated any and all talk of his not being a servant leader, and his role as the starting quarterback.

Tony Romo is 15-5 in his last 20 starts. That is pretty darn good. (Just ask Cody Kessler.) Yet he is able to evaluate his own place on this team that is 8-1, and say that he can see he should step back. With uncertainty comes unrest. Romo easily could have tacitly endorsed the quarterback controversy that’s been discussed so much this season.

Instead, he put an end to it.

What this speech helps reiterate for me is that the team as a whole is bigger than any one person, including the leader. It is a campus’ collective responsibility to ensure ALL students are learning. Not mine vs yours…not my way because I’m the principal…not because I read a book that said…but because our students are all of ours. That doesn’t mean teacher autonomy is sacrificed, just that we are all on the same page for “WHAT” is being taught, the “how” can vary.

Also known as…

Still a Romo fan (but also wearing a DAK ATTACK tee shirt),

Amber

Generic doesn’t count…or why principals should be SPECIFIC! #taketwo

October 12, 2016 by Amber 1 Comment

My beast, who is a freshman this year, is taking a heavy course load. She has all Pre-AP or AP classes..has added three clubs to her plate, in addition to playing high school basketball. She is loving it, but…

High school is hard ya’ll. I had to get her two different Cliff’s notes to help support her Biology world, just to supplement what she is covering each day. She has page after page of notes that she prints off religiously, in addition to what she covers in class. I contacted a learning specialist and her teacher earlier in the year to get some tips and tricks, and they helped, but didn’t seem to be what she needed. I then had the specialist follow up with her personally…he went through HER system, HER notes, and got HER thoughts. He was really able to identify where she was struggling.

It made SUCH a difference.

It made me realize how much more impactful advice and suggestions are when they are PERSONAL, tailored to the individual. I send out a weekly newsletter and it’s full of generic advice/reminders. My new goal is to figure out how to communicate growth and coaching tips in a manner that either IS personal or makes it feel that way. Love languages are real…and can ensure that your message is received and heard. I sent a survey to my staff asking how they like to be celebrated, so I know best what makes them valued. I can write happy notes all day long but if it’s a public shoutout that fills someone’s bucket, I’m never going to get through to them the way I want too. Knowing that any change needs a relationship as its foundation…this needs to be our focus.

Bilingually,

Amber