On a new journey, starting with AMLE Leadership Institute

I decided a while back that my professional and personal journey needed to combine efforts and I made the decision to move back to Ohio to be near family.  In addition to that, I also decided to look for a position that would continue my path of school leadership, but perhaps on a larger scale.  My job and home search have granted me the opportunity to go back to where it all started for me - Bowling Green, Ohio.  Effective in July, I will be serving the Bowling Green City Schools as the Executive Director of Teaching and Learning.  I am very excited about this opportunity and look forward to working with staff, students, and families.  I am also looking forward to building relationships with Bowling Green State University to help benefit both entities.

As if a wonderful job opportunity isn't enough, I have also been blessed with living less than 30 minutes from all of my wonderful family.  I feel like it's not very often that this gets to happen to us, so I am both appreciative and excited about this move.

As I returned from Virginia, I had a few quick days to get myself together before traveling to San Diego - I know, rough life.  My trip to San Diego is not only relaxing and filled with blue skies, it is my first time serving as faculty at AMLE's Leadership Institute.  I remember attending this conference as a first year principal and remembering just how much I learned and was able to take back into the school.  I couldn't get enough.  Now, I get to be a part of people's learning who attend!

Yes, this past month has been a little busy, and July promises to be no different, but wow am I lucky!  I am looking forward to forging the path forward on my journey and to all of the new things I will learn along the way.  

A New Year Approaches

As we look forward to the new year, what is it that we hope to accomplish?  What goals are you going to set?  Which ones will you keep?  I want this year to be about creating goals for myself that I know I can attain and will be a part of improving me and helping me maintain an attitude of gratitude.  I think in our busy schedules, we get away from realizing all of the good things in our lives.  We focus on continuous improvement which is not a bad thing.  However, I think we have to be mindful that this type of focus can keep us from enjoying our successes and celebrating things that are going well.  This year I intend to do just that.  One of the tenants of the PLC is celebration. We don't do nearly enough of that - big or small, we need to celebrate.  So I challenge everyone to keep your focus, remember that calm is contagious, and focus on being positive and celebrating.  Don't just make it about big events in life.  If you brought up your grades be proud of that.  If you made it to all of your classes on time be proud of that too - your teachers will appreciate both.  Be thankful for everything you have and maintain a positive outlook on life - it will make celebrating much easier.

Grading Final Projects

This week I have been grading the final projects from the GW Supervision class.  I am impressed by my students and the hard work and thoughtfulness they put into these finished projects.  I was worried that an 8 week compressed course on Supervision just wasn't enough - but the end result shows me that maybe it was adequate.  Kudos to my students in PG County!

I feel like you can't ever talk about supervision enough - and as administrators we are always improving our craft of providing feedback.  We must stay up on practices and really, really, know and be able to articulate what makes good instruction.  We cannot get fixed in one mindset and then continually provide the same feedback.  We really must embody ongoing learning and development - otherwise, we are guilty of not getting out of the time machine.  Our students are ever evolving - we have to keep up with them - and as instructional leaders, we have to prepare our teachers to keep up with (or ideally, stay ahead of) the curve for students!

Growing Leaders - Adult Development

While teaching the Supervision class at GW, I picked up this book to help guide my practice.  I have read several of her books and have found them all to be informative, easy to read, and most of all - relevant!  This particular book provides strategies and take aways, and most importantly, places for self reflection.  One of the most important tools we can use in our own learning is reflection - unfortunately, it becomes the thing we put to the side or neglect.  If you are working on  your own reflective practice and working with adults to "grow leaders" this is a great read that you can start using the day you read it.

The Beauty of the Anchor Chart

 

After completing an excellent lesson observation in an ELA class - I had a wonderful conversation with the teacher about going old school and using the paper anchor chart to aid in the lesson on predictions.  While I continually promote the use of technology, there is nothing like a reference tool to hand in the room to help students after completing a mini-lesson.  An easy way to decorate the room with learning tools that are helpful for students.  If you want to know more about these check out Laura Robb and the Reader's Workshop!

Recharging the Battery

We remember to do this with our electronic devices; however, we often skip our own, and decide rather to run on fumes.  But what is our productivity rate if we are tired, sluggish, and our judgement is less than 100%?  Staying rested, fueling our body with healthy items, and keeping fit is a key to remaining successful in our busy lives.  One of my favorite authors frames his life like this when considering whether he will do anything - "Will this (insert anything) help me become the best version of myself?"  So do I take a nap or go for a long walk?  Do I eat veggies or french fries?  Do I watch TV or read a good book?  It seems simple enough when you think about becoming the best version of yourself.  So this weekend, I decided that recharging my own battery would be the key to helping me be back on the road to being the best version of myself.  Nothing like a three day weekend to relax, catch up on life, and get in some great exercise.  Don't let your battery get into the red warning sign - take the time to charge up!

A New Endeavor

Last night marked the first milestone in my Adjunct Professor Career.  This term, I am teaching Supervision of Instruction for George Washington University to a wonderful cohort of teachers from Prince George's County.  After last night, I know there will be great discourse regarding leadership and the important role the evaluator plays in the cultivating teacher leaders and improving instruction.  I am looking forward to our continued journey tomorrow.  And I have to give a shout out to the excellent course I had at Ohio State - because we are using the newest version of the Glickman Book that I used there. 

It's That Time Already!

This week has proven to be busy, challenging, and most of all invigorating.  The feeling of the school building just isn't the same without the teachers there.  It gets even better when the students arrive.  I am so proud to be the leader at WMS with such a fantastic and eager faculty ready to help students learn and become contributing citizens.  Our theme this year: Keep it Simple and Have Fun!  Seems quite perfect for middle school.  Looking forward to seeing all of our incoming 6th grade students tomorrow at PALS day!

Summer: Back to Blogging

Last week I attended the AMLE Leadership Institute - which had an excellent technology interface - forced a lot of people out of their comfort zone.  However, for me, it was a reminder of how much I needed to get back to using the digital tools I have used in the past.  One of the best sessions I attended was about Online Learning Environments (David Hayward).  His perspective was so broad on this subject that it really opened my thinking.  What really makes an online learning environment?  If you are reading this right now, you are in one.  Chances are that you searched something, then something else, landed on this, and here you are reading about my post from the conference.  What about Twitter and YouTube?  These are more than just tools to put out thoughts and funny videos.  What an excellent way to get the most up to date trends and create ideas.  Technology has expanded our audience to be world wide - we are no longer just limited to the people sitting in the room, but rather we can open it to anyone who wants to know.  Think about your online environments.  Where do you go for news?  How do you find out what is the best of the best for your school, vacation, shopping deals? - the list goes on.  Engaging with material is learning - now think about that!

Spring Break is Quickly Approaching

Spring Break is just a few short days away.  8th grade students are taking their Writing SOL tests this week, and 7th & 6th grade students are busy trying to keep the hallways busy.  After three days of a flipped schedule, no library because of testing, and having to be quiet - these middle school students are going to need a break!  I hope everyone enjoys their time away and gets some rest!  I know that I will.  Have a great break Wolves!

Researching and Writing

I have been working on a collaboration project and the research has brought me to a greater understanding of the work and time that is needed to really make collaboration happen and be successful.  The question becomes, how do we find the time to make it happen.  Collaboration happens in almost every work setting.  How do we find easy ways to maximize the power of two or multiple brains and talents to get one thing done.  The one definite I can tell you now is the first step - lose the ego!  More to come................

Long time, no blog.

It is time to get back to business with blogging. I had a wonderful conversation with some colleagues today and it inspired me to get back to writing and reflecting here.  I am always encouraging my teachers to reflect, and this has been a great way for me to do that.....so not it is time to practice what I preach.  Today's conversation centered around the needs of teachers and administrators and how we meet all of the mandates while exploring new initiatives.  Just that thought alone can make your head spin, but we manage to make it happen.  So now, more than ever, reflection is important!

Conferences

It was nice to see all of the parents who came out for Arena Style conferences over the last two days. So far, we have received very positive feedback from teachers and parents! 

PLC's and Pyramid of Interventions

What do we do when students don't respond?  What happens when our normal day to day instruction doesn't produce the results we were hoping?  As educators, we are faced with the fact that students (and adults in my opinion) learn differently and at different rates.  At times, this can create a divide in our classrooms which makes it difficult to meet the needs of all students.  So what do we do and where do we go?  In the PLC model, we consult with our colleagues and plan for when students don't respond.  Collaboration and intervention together are a very powerful tool.  This book highlights the use of the PLC model to provide intervention to students who may struggle with learning concepts and may need a bit more help in the classroom.  PLC's and implementing the pyramid of interventions has huge implications for positive change in schools centered around student learning and growth.  This book is a great read for anyone looking at either or both.

New Year

For those of you who have followed my blog, you know that I typically celebrate new year with the start of the school year.  I think most educators do.  However, this year I decided to celebrate New Year on the first day back to school at Williamsburg.  It has been a great start to the year, but change is never easy.  My resolution, let's make 2012 our year.  We started our year off with a breakfast celebration in the lounge and toasting teachers with sparkling cider and orange juice.  It was a great way to say welcome back and let's have a great year.  I am looking forward to the rest of this year, but eagerly anticipate our next full year together - to which the planning really starts this spring!!!

Working with Michael Rettig!

Both today and tomorrow I have the pleasure of working with Michael Rettig - the block scheduling master.  I thought reading his material was phenomenal, but working with him in a room is even better.  As we get ready to be one of the pilots for block scheduling, we couldn't be in better hands.  Want to know more about him and his work?  Check out him out here.

Vocabulary Instruction!

Did you know that kids who "read a lot" learn about 8 words per day.  Kids who "do not read a lot" learn about 2.  While 2 and 8 don't seem like huge numbers, take that over the course of a month and now you have 60 words vs 240 words.  While it is not a new concept or idea, direct vocabulary instruction has gained a lot of attention over the recent years by education researchers and practitioners.  So the question becomes - how do we take what we know and translate that into learning for ALL students?  In this book, Beck and McKeown provide some very easy vocabulary instruction activities that can be done across all content areas.  We know that the adolescent mind is in high gear most of the time, but one of its struggles is to make meaning and connections in its world.  Therefore, teaching vocabulary across all content areas can help our students make those connections.  Who says that only the Math teacher can teach about tessellations?  My money is usually with the Art teacher.  But thing about what a powerful combination it would be if both were teaching the same concept and vocabulary!  Powerful!

Busy Start

So I realized this weekend that it has been a long time since my last entry.  That is directly correlated to the business in the new job!  Williamsburg Middle School has kept me very busy.  We have already had 1 parent outreach off campus, a PTA meeting, Back to School Night, and right on our heels are student led conferences.  Needless to say, things are busy.  This past week I have been engaging in wonderful conversations with the teachers about their Professional Development Plan goals.  It is always great to sit down and talk about researching aspects of pedagogy to improve student achievement.  I am looking forward to seeing all of our plans come alive.  Perhaps we can take a breath at Thanksgiving.

Thank You

Thank you to all of the WMS teachers that came in this week to chat.  It was great getting to know people.  Time to gear up for our social at Harrison Park to meet parents.  I hope many families are able to make it on Saturday August 13.  It will be a great event with lots to do for the kids at the park!

Building Relationships

This week I am meeting with various teachers at Williamsburg to begin building relationships and gaining their insight to the school. I challenged them to answer these questions: What do we keep doing? What do we stop doing? What do we start doing? My experience has taught me that the teacher perspective is so very important and vital to effectively running the school - their job is not very thankful, not very glorified, and extremely difficult. Therefore, the knowledge they posses and can share is invaluable to school administration. While holing informal meetings with the teachers, I get to know their personality and passions just a bit more. What a great way to get to know the school. I am looking forward to the rest of my open meetings!