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!

#GAFESUMMIT reflection

I love google summit.  It is always so great to see my favorite presenters and to learn new things.  Coming of the the heals of #ISTE2014, I was worried about tech conference burn out.  I really was coming to socialize with my peeps and have a good time.  I also, of course, wanted to see my #googlecrush Jim Sill (@mistersill).

When you surround yourself with all these fabulous people, you have to learn a thing or two.  The first thing I learned was, I do know a lot.  I know I have a lot to learn, but I often doubt my knowledge.  I need to be more confident about this.

I need to put myself out more.  I have never presented at a conference, I am not nervous about it.  I present in my school, district and area all the time. Just never wanted to present at a conference, I am selfish and just want to learn.  After my ISTE and GAFE experiences, it is my turn to share.

Another take away I had was learning about Google Art Project, part of the google cultural institute.  This site is amazing! Over 70,000 pieces of art in the collection, virtual tours of museum, primary source documents, it goes on and on.  There is so many possibilities for use of this in the classroom.  You can take students on tours of museums and see art for the time period you are studying.  In science, you can look at the different materials art is made out of gold, bronze, metals, paint, and connect History to the metal.  Such as, why are most bronze pieces from a particular time period?  In Math, you can find art pieces that show fractions have students use this to demonstrate understanding. One of the most powerful things is you can create collections.  You can link videos to these collections or add text.  The possibilities are huge!! Here is a link to a math gallery or this example has a video in it.   Now, I have to figure out how to share with my staff.

The other big take away I had was about Google Maps Engine Lite.   This app allows you to create maps with data from lots of different sources.  You need to check this out. It can be used in any curricular area.
English: students collect locations, pictures and information from a story and plot it on the map
Science: students research earthquakes and volcanos and plot this on a map
History: Take a trip through the major battles in a war.
PE: Running logs with pictures
Math: DATA! (Need I say more).

I learned so much more.  But these take-aways are my "Top two".  Check them out.

My summer part 2

So, it is the first Friday of the summer I haven't work.  It is 10am, I am sitting on my sofa, with a cat in my lap, in my PJs, and what am I doing? Working!! I finally have some time to reflect on my #ISTE2014 experience.

One of the workshops I went to was the NASSP digital principals of the year.  They are Daisy Dyer Duerr (@DaisyDyerDuerr). Jason Markey (@JasonMMsrkey) and Derek McCoy (@mccoyderek).  I was so inspired by them.  They all have 1:1 or BYOD schools.  They are where I want to be in 2 years.

I heard this great idea from NASSP digital principal of the year, Jason Markey, called innovation time at #ISTE2014.  I loved it.  It was on the tails of a tweet one of my teachers sent me on June 9, three days after school was out.  She was at the #iesonoma event and tweeted "To admin: when teachers say they don't have time to collaborate, they don't."  This tweet really stuck with me.  At first, I was annoyed, because it was three days after students got out of school and I was in master schedule hell.  I was like "cut me a break".  But, hearing Jason talk about innovation time, brought me back to that tweet.  It showed me how I could support that teacher and all my teachers.

Basically, the nuts and bolts of innovation time is to create an innovation calendar, a Google Calendar that will have appointment slots displaying when either Bennett (my AP) or I are available to substitute for a teacher.  We plan on having 50+ periods available for teachers to choose from throughout the year when we will sub for their class to create a 20% release (1 of their 5 classes) from their teaching assignment for the day to work on an idea they have.  Teachers simply have to reserve the appointment slot on the calendar and then make an appointment to meet with us the day before to discuss their sub plans and share with us the idea they are working on.  

So, in my PJs, on the sofa, with the cat this Friday morning, I am making my presentation and working on the write up.  

Technology is my PD superhero!

My district has the hardest time getting our secondary schools to agree on PD.  All the schools are in such different places that it is hard to come up with a plan and do "something" together.

On Monday we had a district wide PD day.  The plans for this day changed a few times and finally, on the Thursday before, the district settled on teachers working together at their sites.  So, this meant I needed to be in 7 rooms at once and overseeing 7 different groups.  Here comes technology to the rescue!

First, you have to start the day on the correct foot.  I had bagels and coffee for everyone to enjoy while they visited from 7:30-8:30am.  This was great.  I saw so many teachers in the staff lounge I never see there. Then, the day began.

I emailed staff on Friday what my expectations for the day were.  I set up a schedule for the day.  On the schedule, I included a link to the backchannel run on todaysmeet.com.  I asked departments to post their goals for the day, evidence of their work, and resources other may find useful.  Then, I would comment back on the backchannel when I was in other rooms, always encouraging groups.  As I moved around the school, the departments were doing some great work around reading and incorporating reading in all the content areas.  PE was even working on a video lecture series about health and nutrition for their students to watch in a blended environment.

After lunch, I delivered milk and cookies to all staff members.  A little sugar in the afternoon is always helpful.  I also wanted to make sure people were still on track.  A whole day of PD without a devoted leader can get off track quick.  Everyone was right on schedule and were working towards their goals they set..

In my email on Friday, I also included a link to a google doc.  I asked departments to post their completed products for the day on this document.  Then I asked them to comment of their colleagues work.  I really wanted them to see what other departments were doing, so they can integrate with each other.

The departments did post of the google doc, but no commenting happened.  Upon reflecting on this, I decided to have another go at it.  So, I send out a thank you email to my staff for the amazing day.  I also included the link to the doc and reminded them to take some time this week to comment.  I need to remember that it takes time for teachers to feel comfortable commenting on others work in public.  However, if we want the students to do it, we need to do it as well.  I started the process by making a few comments of the doc, so no one would have to be first.

As I start planning PD for 2014-15, I will remember my #pearlofwisdom from this day.  Backchannels work!  Google docs work! Growing culture takes time, but can be done.

The best staff meeting...

We had a big decision to make at the staff meeting, whether or not to change the cell phone policy.  The seed was planted via twitter one Sunday morning at 7am.  One of my #eduawesome teachers tweeted me about cell phone policies and the remainder the day was a twitter conversation about how to make change in this area.

Making decisions as a large staff is a challenge.  I am always struggling to find a way to make sure all voices are heard.  My staff meeting last week was an example of a ¨principal win¨.

The first step was discussing it at the Principal advisory committee meeting.  I made sure that teacher who started this was there as well as a good representation of the staff.  This committee decide to move forward and take the issue to the staff.

A week before the staff meeting, I had done some research about cell phone use in class for educational purposes.  I sent out the staff meeting agenda with the links and information about different cell phone policies.  I asked my staff to inform themselves.

The cell phone conversation went well.  All 50 on my teachers logged onto google moderator (conversation that occurred is here) and wrote questions.  Then, I gave them time to vote on questions they wanted to discuss as a group.  The conversation was rich and deep, just what I was looking for.  However, the online conversation is what surprised me.  The "quiet" staff members felt open to replying online.  The "quiet" staff members asked great questions.  I finally figured out a way to hear from them!!! SO EXCITED.

I will definitely use google moderator again for staff discussions.  It was a great way for all 50+ teachers to work together and make an informed decision.  Thanks +Sergio Villegas (@coach_sv) for the google moderator tip!

Sacrifices we make...

This week was the #gafesummit in napa.  I love the #gafesummit.  It is the best PD I have experience in my professional career.  I have attended two summits in the past 18 months.  I was honored to attend the first #gafesummit ever in July of 2012.  I am all about learning and being a life long learner.  I am a google freak.  I can't get enough of google and all that it what's done to change education.

This week I sent 11 staff members to #gafesummit.  They had a blast and learned so much.  I chose to stay behind and make sure the 925 students were ok and that the school survived 1/4 of the teaching staff being gone.  Someone needed to stay, so I put on my big girl pant and did it.  I had to take one for the team.  At first I was bitter, I mean really bitter.  I refused to go on twitter and didn't want to answer text messages from people at #gafesummit.  I wanted to distance myself from the whole thing.

What I discovered after talking to my friend, I needed to get over it.  I was only hurting myself by avoiding my PLN and going into my cave.  So, I went over twitter.  I learned so much from what people were posting on the #gafesummit hashtag, it was great.  

I was reminded about two things from this experience:

1. I need to get out of my own way. (My pearl of wisdom)

2. You can learned anywhere with the technology we have now.  I am sure I would have learned a ton at summit, but I still got something out of it on my sofa at night.

But, I will be at the next summit, I can't miss two in a row!!!

And @mrsfadeji, thanks for the sunshine award.  I will work on that next :-)

A life long learner, I am

We never stop learning. One of my goals with the blog is to have time to reflect on my learning and record ways I can use it now and in the future.  There are many ways I have been expanding my learning opportunities this year that have helped me with this.

1. Twitter: I have become more active in curating content off twitter.  Finding a system to save and organize this information was a challenge at first.  It also took a few failures before I found a system that works for me.  Don't be afraid to try a few different curation tools before you find your fits. I suggested my method to a colleague and it did not work with her style.  What she does, did not work for my needs.

2. More twitter: Connections I have made from twitter have be huge in my professional life. They have answered questions, provide information and asked questions that have caused me to rethink or look at a problem differently.  Some even have come to my district/school to visit and help. Thanks to @mistersill, @awesomecoachv, and @frontrowceo.

3. Conversations: talking out issues with trusted colleagues is the answer.  Having a critical friend or two to chat with is powerful.  Thank you @lorideen for being this for me.

@awesomecoachv came to do a site visit right before fall break.  The conversations we had during the visit we powerful and force me (a good thing) to reflect on practices we are using at my site and how to reframe them.  Sometime having the face to face connect allows for those deep conversations that you can't have in 140 characters (even though I have seen a lot of powerful and meaningful tweets).

4. Conferences: Obviously the more traditional method of PD.  There is something about the energy of a conference that makes you excited, renewed and so tired all at same time.  You return from a conference full of ideas and want to implement them.  Then, the energy of the people and the collaboration about it ends and you don't get everything done you had hoped for.

This weekend I attended the #elearns conference.  I walked away with so many ideas to take back to my staff.  I also went to see some speakers I know are great (@CtuckerEnglish) just to hear new things and feed off their energy.  

5. Time:  What was great about this conference was it ended in the early afternoon and we stayed until the next day.  The gift of time to share with colleagues, socialize and have work sessions was great.  We were able to discuss a #PDparty we are having on December 16 and plan it in person. Other members learned how to make a GHO on air and other tricks.  

So, my #pearlofwisdom is blending twitter and conferences is the way to go. It helps keep the energy alive and the ideas following.  It also gives you access to help who were at the conference and may not live near you.  Using technology to move your own learning forward it just one of the many benefits of tech.  How do you blended technology with another resource to improve your learning?

I am going to add to my job description, Head of PR!

As I travel along this roller coaster ride of a job, I realized there is a lot I need to do that I am not "trained" to do.  In April, I had to learn really quick about spinning a message and PR.  Our school was one of the first schools to outlaw "leggings as pants" on campus and it was a media storm.  I spoke to ABC, NBC, the local papers, the TV stations, Time, and many more.  I was in Glamour Paris (which makes me laugh because I feel I have no fashion sense) all about leggings.  What I learned from this very trying experience is that we must create the message about our schools and get it out there.  The press only puts out the negative, we need to work harder (and smarter) to get the positive out to the public.

This year I have been on a "PR train".  We have Facebook, twitter, and instagram accounts for our school. We publish on them almost everyday (and usually more then one time per day) to get our message out. We blog weekly about events on campus and information to help parents navigate Middle School.  We are actively bringing community members, parents, and others onto the campus to show them what an awesome place school is.

Besides the social media sites, the other key item on the "PR train" has been using my iPhone.  It goes everywhere with me.  I can take a photo, post it to instagram and keep going.  I also have used ifttt.com to help with only having to post once.  I have set up recipes to have my instagram auto-post to Facebook and twitter.  Saving me more time. (Thanks @digitalroberto and #fallCUE for the tips)  I know there is so much more my phone could do to help me get the message out, I will be learning and experimenting more.

Today the PR train was on overkill!  @frontrowceo came to visit.  He saw our TV station, how we are using his products, helped out with a few issues, and gave us ideas.  Then a Professor from UOP came to tour classrooms and see what learning looks like in a middle school.  Finally, our city's Mayor came with the Public Access Channel crew and filmed a segment about the Woodshop making 175 Toys for Toys for Tots. I came back to my office after this third visit and told my secretary I was exhausted.  This was more exhausting then working with kids and teachers.

We get to do it all over again tomorrow when Chris Angotti, the director of the Young Writers Program of NaNoWriMo comes to visit our English classrooms as our 390 8th graders work on their novels.  I have let the local paper know this is happening.  Hopefully, they will send a reporter, but my iPhone will be with me to take lots of shoots and post them on social media.

The pearl of wisdom for the post is, get your message out there.  Show the world, one person at a time, how awesome schools are.  Use all the social media that is out there to put your message out, meet others who can help you and learn from others.  I went to a SCOE workshop last week by Matt O'Donnell and he share this Google Drive folder with helpful hints about Facebook and blogging. Remember to ask questions to those doing it already and learn from their mistakes too. Jump in feet first, it will be ok.

PD that works!

I  know that I have written about PD before.  It is a passion of mine.  As a educational leader, my job is to help my staff grow and push/pull them along.

I have a great staff!  They all want to grow, but some struggle on where to start.  Others jump in feet first and start swimming.  They all see the future and are jumping on the train (tugboat or jet plane) towards it.  They want to learn and apply their knowledge to the classroom.  They want their students to succeed.

Last night I helped organize a #brewCUE for @NBCUE.  It was great.  @awesomecoachv was a fabulous moderator.  He had a great venue and the group who attended was awesome.  It was the first time I had used Google Moderator ever.  The forum that Google moderator created (with the help of @awesomecoachv) was great.  The participates typed in questions and they everyone voted on what we would talk about.  What was awesome was the discussion the questions created.  It got me thinking about how I could use Google Moderator with my staff.  I have a new plan for a future staff meeting now, and it involved Google Moderator.

The biggest take-away I had from the evening was, teachers need choice and time.  I  know this, but sometimes we need to be reminded about what teachers need.  PD is not one size fits all.  Also, the size of the group participating in the PD is not important.  I had encouraged all on my teachers to attend this event. Six of my teachers did come.  They are at all levels of proficiency.  The conversations were also at all levels.  So, everyone was able to walk away with something.

What a great night! Great food, drinks, people and conversation! I can't wait for the next one!

The pearl of wisdom, leaders need to model for their staff what they want done in the classroom.  We also need to take advantage of the "teachable moments" that staff has as well.  Even through we have 14,000 things to do, we need to take advantage of the "teachable moments" and make that a priority in that moment.

It was better then I ever thought it would be...

So, I have to admit, the change to Common Core SCARES ME.  I love the idea of it.  I love what it brings to schools, but getting there is so hard!  I have 50  teachers and only 2 administrators to do the work of 100s.   I added Common Core days to our meeting schedule and thought, "I'm done.  I did my part."  So, the September meeting came and I did my thing in the office.  I left the departments to work and change things.  THEN I GOT THEIR NOTES.  They were so honest about their confusions and needs.  They were open with me about needing guidance or help.  I felt like a failure.  It was time to rethink my plan (of lack of plan).

So, I drove into the Common Core.  I had spent the last year learning Math because my Assistant Superintendent said "I need you to run the district secondary math committee to move us to CCSS."  So, I did and learned all about CCSS math.  The result, I know tons about Math and nothing about ELA.  I have spent the past month going to conferences, reading the standards (not as bad as I thought they would be), watching videos and webinars, and learning.  I spent time trying to figure out how I can help my staff.  We organized the meetings and then it hit me, I can't be everywhere are once.  How am I going to do this, help move the staff forward and meet their needs?

Thank you #fallcue!  Here is my Pearl of wisdom for the day. At one of the workshops, a presenter suggested using a backchannel during department meetings.  A light bulb went off!  I set up a Today's meet for the day and encourage participation.  I post some questions on it to get the departments started.  It took off.  The departments were using it to ask questions to each other.  They were setting up future meetings. They asked for help or advise from each other.  They gave each other shout outs! It was better then I ever thought it would be! (Hence the title of today's post).  I will totally use this again!

What a day!

I know I started my last post this way, but, I LOVE MY JOB!!!  Today was an epic day for me.  I am a huge fan of Google.  I think that the introduction of Google tools to schools and what those tools allow us to do in the classroom will change education.  They are a key part of moving from teaching facts to teaching thinking.

Today was a Common Core early release day.  We sent the kiddos home at noon and the teachers went to trainings.  I really felt we needed to bring someone into the district to help all of us, teachers and admin, see the connections between technology, creativity, and where our students are today.  Jim Sill was our guy.  I should make the disclaimer that, yes, I do have a Google crush on him.  However, what he did today will help us make a culture shift in our district.  

We started the day with a workshop for principals.  He walked us through different Google tools and how to use them.  He pointed out how technology and Common Core are connected.  It was great.  Then I got to have my "starstuck" moment and have lunch with Jim.  Then he taught a workshop before being the closing speaker for the day.  Afterwards, a bunch of admin and a few board members went to a restaurant for happy hour and appetizers.  It was great networking.  Having this much time with Jim, I am going to be on a Google high for easily the next week.

During workshop time, I taught 2 workshops.  I told my staff, not to come, they have heard me too much. They need to go see other people.  It was really interesting working with teachers from other schools.  They are at all levels, demonstrating that as a leadership team, we have not come up with a plan to help all our teachers learn.  Some were afraid of the technology where others were eager to learn more.  There was the fear of  "what do I teach" if students can look up the information.  We had a long talk about teaching them to think, not facts.  It was very enlightening for me and made me appreciate my staff even more.  

The pearl of wisdom for this post is mixing "expects" and "teacher leaders" makes for great PD.  Having different teachers lead classes with Jim finishing the day, was perfect!  A big shout out to Jim to for making this day great!

Every day is something different...

I love my job! I love that I get to hang out with middle school kids and watch them learn/discover new things.  I get to help teachers better to themselves. I get to show people that we appreciate them.  I love how I laugh everyday at least once.  I love that I work with crazy people like me who don't remind dancing around the office at 7am because a kid's cell phone went off and the alarm made me want to dance.  I love how everyday is different. I love how I can have a plan, and it can go sideways and it is still all good.  

Today went a little sideways.  We received a call that a former students committed suicide last night.  Our school has outcome much tragedy including the accidental death of a 7th grade rancid the murder of the student's mother who also was a teacher in our feeder elementary district.  I had the task today of going around the campus and letting this student's 8th grade teachers know before they heard it somewhere else.  She was a 4.0 GPA superstar and the teachers were crushed.  One teacher knew the student well and her own daughter was a friend with the girl.  She needed a break to gather herself together.  I had a free "hour" and I decide I would cover the class.  I walked in to 8th grade SDAIE science.  I was so excited.  I was a middle school science teacher for 5 years before going into admin.  I had a blast.  I was using engagement strategies, checking for understanding, visual cues, asking the students to communicate and collaborate on the assignment.  I was a rock star teacher!  I came back to the office on a kid high! 

After thinking about what happened, I realized, this is why we need to break down the walls at schools. Teachers need to go into each others rooms and learn.  I was a much better teacher that day then I was when I actually was in the classroom everyday.  My years of observing about 100 different teachers and 1000s (hopefully) of classes, made me a better teacher.  I walked from that classroom of SDAIE kiddos to a meeting with a new teacher.  I kept pulling from my experience in the past 60 minutes to try to demonstrate how important it is to breakdown the walls and watch all types of teachers. I was trying to get this new teacher to go and observe other teachers in their department and elsewhere.  In my 7 years of being an administrator, I have seen the good, the bad, the ugly, the fabulous and much more in the classroom. Each other these observations taught me something and made me a better teacher then I was before I watched them.  

The pearl of wisdom for the post, get out there and observe/learn.  This could be watching others, developing your PLN, taking a class, attending a conference or who knows.  Think outside the box! I'm going ask to attend other principals staff meetings to see how they run their meetings and learn from them, the more tricks in my toolbox, the better.

Good PD? It can be done!

I am a true believer that things that last in schools are organically grown. 

Ideas that start with teachers and grow with their colleagues support, encouragement, and skills are the easiest to sustain.  Educational Leaders need to know when to get out of the way and let their people go and when to guide them.  After doing a lot of research about the best ways to provide PD, I have created my go to list of items.

• I make every effort to say "Yes" to teacher ideas.  We don't fail, it is our "First Attempt in Learning".  As leaders we can not be afraid of the unknown. 
• During PD, I am always checking in with staff members.  I encourage, cheerlead (not well), get supplies, pay for time (when I can), provide treats and water (so important),etc.
• Encourage collaboration by using words like "Yes and", "what if", etc. I avoid discouraging staff by saying "Yes but" or "That doesn't make sense..."
• One size fits all does not work in the classroom and it does not work in PD.  You need to be able to differentiate PD just like you differentiate in a classroom.
• We don't want students to just collect "points", why build a culture where teachers play the same game to just collect "hours"?  Make sure they are receiving something they value, GIVE THEM CHOICE.  Treat Teachers like they are the professionals we know they are.  Sign in and outs just remind people they have to be there, we want them to WANT TO be there.  This is when the most learning will occur.
• Attitude is the key ingredient for professional development - if they don't want it, they won't "get" it. Make sure, again, the interests of the group of are met. Establishing a culture of trust and respect is key. This begins with building relationships with your people.
• Plan early and often. No one wants to attend something that was not planned well and don't show thought. Your teachers are taking time out of their day to learn, make it meaningful and show them you value it.

The big focus is what did you learn during the PD and how are you going to apply it to the learning in your classroom?

Make sure you PD circles back to time. Give time during PD to plan and create a product. Teachers are much more likely to use the PD if they can apply it the next day.

Finally, reflection is key.

Give people time to reflect and think about next steps. Teachers don't have time to do this when they leave. Build the time into the PD. Ask questions that lead to more questions. PD should not be a "one shot deal". It should be something built on over time.

My pearl of wisdom for the post: Find a webinar about PD and listen. I sort of stumbled onto one today with Bright Bytes (http://www.brightbytes.net/) and it was a great 30 minutes. So much information. Make sure you participate in the backchannel discussion. It was even better to help clarify thoughts and have discussions.

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.

My compass was needed this week...

I have been writing this post since Monday and it has been all over the map.  I have need a compass to make it through this week and to help guide my thinking.  It started on Monday with the "education high" I was on after finishing my class at Sonoma State.  Eight principals from the district are take a seminar class together and it has been great.  Not only have the content inspired me, I have been able to get to know the other principals better. One of the outcomes I have had from this class is organizing inspiring guest speakers and trainers for our district's two upcoming Common Core trainings for secondary.  However, as I was leaving the class on Monday, I was in need of my compass to direct me and refocus me.

My Asst. Sup. texted me that the Common Core planning committee went a different direction on Monday and did not want the guest speakers.  I was crushed at first, I wanted them for myself.  They are fabulous presenters.  Besides my personal feelings, I knew they have a message that the teachers and secondary admin, in my district, needed to hear.  My friend quickly grabbed my compass and came to my defense.  She called the Asst. Sup as we were walking to the car.  I was lost in my own thoughts at this point in time and decided to just drive home to think.  After getting home, my friend called my with an update on her talk with the Asst. Sup. After taking in all this information, I realized that many of the people planning this day don't fully understand the common core.  This just reaffirmed my thoughts that the guest speakers were needed even more so than before.  I needed to grab my compass and help lead the way again.

On Tuesday, I went and found staff members who were attending the Thursday planning meeting and I  lobbied for what I wanted.  I talked to my colleagues who I knew would agree with me and lobbied them. Finally, around 4pm, my compass lead me to my Asst. Sup's office and we had a great talk.  She understood my points and also helped me to see where I needed to reflect on my own practice to continue to improve.  I left her office knowing the speakers are back on and that my compass had not been pointed in the wrong direction, it just took me on a side trip.

To me, the issues wasn't just about getting to see great speakers (and they are great speakers).  It is about the need to educate ourselves and help others to see where they need to grow.  The workshops that were being planned were not going to accomplish this

The best reward for my struggles this week was a text that my friend.  She sent to me the picture to the left.  It is of the brainstorming from the CCSS committee she ran today created while discussing next steps in Common Core implementation.  The picture speaks for itself!  The bottom bullet made me feel validated.  Way to go compass!

The pearl of wisdom for this post: Change is hard.  Common Core is forcing us to change the way we do things.  We can roll with it or be the wall the tries to stop it.  I like to roll...compass continue to guide me.

Take time to smell the roses...

Sometimes we forgot in education to open our doors and let people in.  We get so wrapped up in what we need to get done and shorting our "todo lists" that that the world passes us by.  The Elementary Principals in my district have been the example for me of what a good admin team can look like.  They get together, accomplish big goals and have fun.  Those of us in secondary have not "played nicely" like the Elementary Principals.  This changed tonight.

We have a new admin team at the middle school level in the district.  I am the "veteran"(not old)

principal now.  We hired two new principals this school year and they are fabulous.  They are full of ideas, are funny, and care about making a difference.  They also want to collaborate (thank god!) with other Middle School principals and other schools in the district.  Tonight we met at a local brewery and talked for over 2 hours.  We invited our Assistant Principals to join us and it was great.  So many ideas and thoughts came up.  We also got to know each other better.  We told stories, reflected on kids and policies.  What a great time!

As I reflect on, build on my PLN and take personal PD journey, I need to remember to include face-to-face time with my colleagues.  It is so good just to hear that you are on the right track and that others agree.  It is also great to hear other viewpoints and ideas.  We decided to make this a monthly meetings and one member has sent out google invites for the next 3 months to us.  This was a great remember to "take time to smell the roses."

I want to include a "Pearl of wisdom" every post.  I don't know if anyone is reading this, but at least I can go back and reference it in the future.  This blog is suppose to be for my growth, and if others benefit, that is even better.  Here is my Pearl of Wisdom for the day:  follow Richard Byrnes on Twitter, @rmbyrne.  His posts have great resources to share with staff and are full of short bits of information.

It's almost Friday......

Pearl(s) of wisdom

I hated writing as a child.  I was one of those children who would read everything they could, but I threw tantrums when it came to writing anything.  I remember full-on crying fits with my mother sitting there, waiting for me to get tired, and helping me through it.  To this day, I dislike to write.  The fear of writing and being judge for my grammar, sentence structure, etc (I was a science and math teacher people!) is overwhelming but I can't let it stop me.   So, why is this "hater of writing" doing a blog? I blame Kristen Swanson.

I have been reading her book, Professional Learning in the Digital Age, and it is inspiring. I have been feeling lost about my personal PD and how to get my secondary admin team on board to do anything. Kristen spends the first chapter talking about the cycle of professional learning (User Generated Learning) in today's digital world.  The cycle is (paraphrased by me) gathering information, reflecting, and applying.  I realized after reading Chapter 1, I am really good at gathering information.  I love twitter! I would say I am addicted at times.  I love reading blogs, books and articles (I am sure this is shocking from the girl who just said she loves to read).  But, I was skipping step two, reflection, and moving on to step 3, implementation. I am great at reflecting orally with friends, colleagues, etc.  However, after reading the first part of her book, I realized my reflection needed it to be more formal.   So here is my formal attempt on reflection.  Let's hope I can keep it up.

On page 4, Kristen references a website to help you organize all the resources you find on twitter (and yes, I am past page 4) called pearltrees (www.pearltrees.com) .  This is your #pearlofwidsom for the post.  You have to get a pearltrees.  To the right is a start of my pearltree.  I used to mail myself tweets that I found interesting.  Then my inbox was full of emails from myself of things.  I have a little OCD about my inbox, so then I created a folder for emailed tweets. This site is cleaning up my inbox and folders big time.  There is even a chrome extension to allow you to post to your pearltrees without leaving the blog/page you are on.  It makes my twitter so much more organized.  This OCD girl is happy!

My last taken away from chapter 1 of this book is a quote.  "Learning with technology is more important that learning about technology."  We have to remember that tech is there to help us, not be the reason we don't use it.