Welcome to students

Being a new to the school, as the Principal, is hard.  Lots of new names and faces to learn.  Lots of new information to take in.  It has been super fun, but overwhelming at times.  I needed it to slow down.  I needed to focus on relationships and culture.  I needed to start with heart.

So, I stole!  Yes, my best ideas come from others.  I want to be @mandyellis when I grow up.  She has so many great ideas.  I stole "Popsicles with the Principal."  I hosted a play date at the school from 3-3:45pm for students and parents.  They arrived and got to meet some great kids, siblings and their parents.  It was neat to start putting names and faces together.  I was impressed that I had over 60 students come.  I just wish I had remembered to take pictures!

I also decided that a hand written note to all new students would be great.  I would be able to welcome them and their families.  I would be able to start building positive relationships with the families.  I also was able to start learning names of students too.  Over 80 cards later, I may have taken on more than I needed to.  But, I had a goal and did it.  They were mailed yesterday, 1 week before school starts.  I wanted to make sure they arrived in time.  I had them made on vistarprint and used our logo.  However, I stole a future post card from Amber Teamann (@8Amber8) and modified it.  Here is a link to my modified version that I will print on vistaprint soon.   I have also rewritten a message for next year so that in July I won't have to think as hard.

Lovin' this roller coaster ride...

Spread kindness like confetti!!!

Glitter and confetti can drive me nuts.  It sticks to you, you find it everywhere and in the weirdest places. When I am around glitter, I always seem to find it on my face, in my shoes, on the steering wheel of my car.  It is crazy how it gets everywhere!

However, I love how shiny, sparkly and fun it is.  I love how kids' faces light up when they see confetti or glitter.   I have a colleague, @Mrsfadeji (Amy Fadeji) is the glitter/confetti queen.  When I see things that have glitter or confetti on them, I always think of her.  Amy's personality can be described by the word, Glitter!!  I wish I had a little more of this in me.

While scanning Pinterest the other night, I came across this picture.

My first thought was to share this with Amy.  Then, I got to thinking that it would be a great poster for my school's office.  I was so excited.

The next day I was directing traffic in front of the school.  A Mom with her 1st grader and Kindergartner pulled up.  I could tell that this Mom did not feel well and it had been a hard morning.  I opened the door and helped get the kids out of the car so she would not have to.  Her Kindergartner  was crying, he wanted to stay with mom.  I held his hand and we walked into the school,  waving goodbye.  As mom drove away, I saw tears coming down her cheek.

Of course, as soon as mom left, the kindergartner was fine.  So, I took a quick video of him reading and sent it to mom.  Here is the text stream. 

Unbeknownst to me, this mom had posted something on Facebook about the morning.  When a parent showed it to me, I started to tear up.  I am so grateful that parents share their students with us every day and that I get the opportunity to learn and grow from of these students.

A few days later, we had a PTA meet and greet.  One of the PTA Mom's came up to me and said she had seen me with the little kindergartner a few days ago.  PTA Mom said that she was watching me patiently walk with the crying student and my words were so sweet.  I was touched by her words.  The PTA mom went on to say that she thought it was so kind of me to send the Mom a video of her son.  I questioned how she knew that.  The PTA Mom said that the Kindergarten Mom posted on Facebook that I had sent her a video.  How sweet is that?

I guess kindness really is like confetti and glitter.  It lands up in the weirdest places, where you are not expecting to find it.  I also have some glitter in me, I just need to work on making it a little more shiny and bright!

#NASSP15 day 2 reflection

Day 2 was equally as fabulous as day 1.  I started my day with Todd Whitaker talking about What Great Principals Do.  My favorite take aways of his presentation were:

• Treat every student with respect and dignity every day, all the time, 10 out of 10 days. Great principals.
• Great principals know they have to teach the teachers.
• Great principals know that people are the problem and the solution.  Programs will not fix this.
• Great principals don’t let things happen randomly.
• Great principals know to teach all the teachers at once so “They know that THEY ALL KNOW”. This way they hold each other accountable.
• Great principals know that they are responsible for the culture in the school.

Such powerful thoughts about what are role really is as a site principal.

Then, I attended a workshop about online PD. The ideas I got were amazing. Creating teacher written online PD for teachers to participate in an a cohort using sophia.org or google classroom. I am inspired to spend some time working with my district to create this.

There was a makerspace workshop. I saw the potential of what the library could be. I can't wait for my library to be a place for students to collaborative, creative, critical think, and communicate. It is a place for students to tinker, play, relax, think and invest.

The final presentation was by Jason Markey (@JasonMMarkey) and Jimmy Casas (@casas_jimmy) about Leading Change in School. The big take away was this quote “You will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety.”-by Maslow. We need to be gentle disruptors to the system. We do this by:

• Be Courageous
• Embrace Failure
• Model Expectations

I also appreciated Jimmy's quote "You can’t let anyone take away our excellence.

You also get it back every morning." No one got into education to just be "good", everyone wants to be "great". As leaders, we need to help everyone get to their great.

Jason also talked about this concept for staff. Concept: Start, STOP, share: Tell me something you are going to start this year, stop this year, and share with your PLN. With everything we are adding to teacher's plate, the need to take items off their plate. This is a good reminder for them.

We need to remember that the only barrier to our own learning is our own willingness to learn. This is what we, as site principal, need to remember

Finding balance

I have been a Middle School principal for 3 years now and I still struggle with finding balance between work and my personal life.  I love my job, but it can't be the only thing that defines me.  I love to work hard and play hard, because being a principal is not the only thing that defines me.  With the demands the world places on educators, finding balance is a challenge.

I have tired many things to help me create a balance between work and personal life.  I am a planner, so I write workout times, lunch dates, etc into my calendar.  Sometimes, this doesn't work for me.  I want to do my best and I struggle with leaving my desk with work still to be done.  I also struggle with taking me time.  There are times we need a break, whether it is a mental health day or you are truly sick. I am one of those people who drag themselves to work even when they are dying.  I need to remember that the school will run without me there.

Some tips that have worked for me (but if you have some, please share):    I started bring my exercise clothes to work to change before I leave, hoping I get to the gym.  I schedule my "Mental health" afternoons in advance so that I know the school is covered.  I try not to say no when colleagues ask me to go out for drinks, we need this connection with others.  I don't take work home, it will be there the next day. Plus, at home is where I do most of my PLN work for me.  My home time is about me and my loved ones.  The weekends (mostly) are my time.  I don't check email (except for Sunday nights so I am not surprised on a Monday) and I do my thing with my family and friends.

I wish someone had a magic spell to help me with this answer.  How do other principals handle this?  My County office of ed is starting a Middle School Principal breakfast 4 times a year.  I hope that one of the topics we discuss others do this.  I know there is a way.

The Pearl of wisdom for the post, laugh every day at work.  Nope, no tech tip this time.  Just enjoy life and smile.