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What Is The Most Important Aspect of Principal Leadership?

‘Our goal should be to create schools and communities that equip young people in developing skills, habits, and competencies that produce an educated citizenry rooted in healthy, personalized, and productive relationships.’ – Jimmy Casas

A college professor of mine once said that you can never make a bad decision if at the time you truly believe you are doing what is best for students. This statement has resonated with me through my 17 years as an educator from classroom teacher to Dean of Students to Instructional Coach. I have tried to maintain this mindset when making decisions that impact students. I believe the most important aspect of principal leadership is to be a champion for all students at all times and expect all stakeholders to do the same. In order to do that, a principal must develop relationships with all stakeholders. Relationships with students, parents, staff, and community are all essential components in ensuring success for students. I am currently reading Culturize by Jimmy Casas (again). This book reiterates how a leader is the key to establishing and maintaining the culture of a building through being a champion for kids and building relationships. Casas defines culturize as cultivating a community of learners by behaving in a kind, caring, honest, and compassionate manner in order to challenge and inspire each member of the school community to become more than they ever thought possible. How is this definition not in the best interest of our students? Creating an inspiring school climate may be a challenging task, however the benefits will be experienced not only by the students, but also the entire school community. So how do we make it happen? Maintaining a positive presence within the school environment/climate, establishing high expectations, and building authentic relationships is essential to meeting our goals. The same wise professor I mentioned before also said that while students are in the building a principal needs to be interacting with them and not be in their office. He said the majority of paperwork happens outside of the students day. All stakeholders need to see a strong positive principal presence not only within the school, but within the community as well. High expectations are crucial for student success. By not holding all stakeholders to a high standard, we are saying they are not capable or we don’t care if they contribute to our students’ success. I am often inspired by colleagues who speak of their expectations on what’s best for students and it makes me want to rise to the challenge. However, a positive presence and having expectations are nothing without relationships. Stakeholders want to feel valued and appreciated and when they do they are willing to take risks and do the work you as the principal are empowering them to achieve.

What is the most important aspect of principal leadership to you?

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Implementation of Wellness and Mindfulness in an Urban Middle School

As I sit in JFK airport typing this essay I am reminded of a phrase that started my journey to bring wellness and mindfulness to our middle school. What do you hear every time you fly?

“In case of an emergency, put your oxygen mask on first before you help others.”

How often do we relate this to teaching? We as educators are charged to inspire, empower, educate, and care for the students in front of us. How do we do that to the best of our ability if we are not taking care of ourselves? According to a recent survey of 5,000 teachers conducted by the The American Federation of Teachers, two thirds of educators usually feel stressed out, twice the level of employees in the general population. After spending my first year getting to know our school and the amazing people that fill it, I decided to start implementing wellness as part of our required 4 hours of PD a month. We had yoga classes, meditation, mindfulness, etc. The sessions were well attended. I was being thanked for offering these classes. I thought this was something that worked and I decided to take it up a notch. I applied for a grant for a book student on trauma-informed classroom strategies, knowing the book focused on self-awareness and self-care for teachers in order to effectively be trauma sensitive in the classroom. We were awarded to grant and planned to really dive deep into this book so we started in January 2017 and finished in May 2018. Together as a staff we learned about trauma and what it presents itself as in the classroom and strategies to address it. Again, we must know ourselves as educators before being about to impact those around us. The book took us through exploring who we are, talked about relationships acknowledging that they aren’t easy to develop but once it happens, the outcome far outweighs the struggle. We walked through our own belief systems about children who have had childhood adversities. These children are forever changed but not forever damaged. It is ok not be ok, we just need to give some grace to those students while still having high expectations. This applies to ourselves as well. Along with the book study we implemented mindfulness into our daily schedule. Every day for 15 min after lunch all students have mindfulness. We trained teachers and gave them resources. By the time our first early release Wednesday came in September (the only day in the month where there is no mindfulness in the schedule) teachers were asking if they could just fit it in because the kids needed it, as did they! I was thrilled! Another product of our book study is wellness PD every early release Wednesday. For an hour, teachers can sign up to go to a coffee shop, play basketball, hold a book study, meditate, do yoga, zumba, go for a run/walk, etc. The point is we value their wellness and want to give them time to practice self-care. You MUST take care of yourself before being able to fulling interact and impact others. After a year and a half, we still have room to grown for best wellness/trauma informed practices but I’m happy with the process thus far.

Mindfulness Video From RMS Students (work in progress but we are happy with the process so far!)

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#IMMOOC Week 3 (3 of 3): What if we took better care of our teachers?

I love the “What If” questions Couros laid out in Chapter 7 of his book, The Innovator’s Mindset. Several of these questions make the assumption that the teachers are healthy and taken care of, both by themselves AND by their district.

Is it such a crazy question to ask, “What if we took better care of our teachers?” Should we start there? This year we modeled our professional learning around the statement, “Put your own mask on first before you are able to help others do the same.” Every time we are on a plane we are reminded of this. We are no good to those around us unless we ourselves are taken care of. As a staff we looked at this from several angles. We started the year learning about how we perceive our students and one another and how we are perceived. It’s all about perspectives and experiences that shape our thinking. Now, we are working through the importance of self-care while working with students who’ve experiences trauma. In this work we are being forced to evaluate our own trauma and recognize the coping skills, or lack there of, we have developed. I have been focused on teacher care now for several months. Here is an article to read more: The Elephant In The (Staff) Room

We always put kids first and of course that goes without saying but may I ask, “What if the teacher doesn’t have his or her mask on, can he or she really help the students around them?”

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#IMMOOC Week 3 (1 of 3): 25 Ways to Build Trust with Teachers

When I taught women in prison, trust was a four letter word to them. It took patience and hard work but it happened! One day as I was passing out markers, I was in the middle of saying, “The first person to ask for a specific color is the first person to NOT get that color,” when I was interrupted by a woman asking me for the blue marker. I finished my statement and gave her a different color. HOWEVER, the next day when I passed out the markers, without saying a word I handed her the blue marker. Later she told me, that was a turning point for her to starting trusting me.

Here’s a few more ways to build trust…

1.) Listen

2.) Be authentic

3.) Pop in their room to just say, “HI”

4.) Ask about their weekend

5.) Be transparent

6.) Listen

7.) Bring them a cup of coffee

8.) Do what you say and say what you mean

9.) Support them

10.) Trust their judgement

11.) Listen

12.) Involve them in decisions

13.) Make mistakes with them

14.) Ask for feedback

15.) Self-reflect in front of them

16.) Listen

17.) Empower them

18.) Do something outside of school

19.) Always have candy in your office

20.) Follow up with them

21.) Listen

22.) Say when you’re wrong

23.) Share resources with them

24.) Thank them

25.) Give them the blue marker

 

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#IMMOOC Week 2: Staying Positive with an Innovator’s Mindset

I’m struggling.

I’m struggling to stay positive while trying to, what seems like, moving mountains and making change. Teachers are begging for change. They want to reach ALL kids. They want to have high expectations. They want kids to know they are cared for. They want to do right by their students day in and day out, but they also want to be less stressed. They want to find the joy in teaching again. They want less compliancy and more empowerment. They want to be treated as professionals that are able to make decisions as to what is best for kids.

So when you are trying to change things and make things better, there is a heavy weight on your shoulders. There is a level of skepticism and if you have the honor of teachers actually coming around and believing in you to create that change, you better come through.

I have hope though…

I am rooted in what makes someone an innovator. I refer to George Couros’ 8 Characteristics of Innovators to help me keep on keepin’ on the path of change.

1.) Empathetic – I am empathetic to Teachers’ needs, at least I genuinely try to be.  Sometimes I might take on too much of teachers’ feelings. I go to bat for teachers and have their back on so many issues. I find positivity in the fact that I have administration that is willing to listen to what I have to say.

2.) Problem Finders – I pride myself in being able to bring people together to discuss problems and find solutions. And if we don’t find solutions we find positivity in the process.

3.) Risk-Takers – For me if I take a risk I usually go big. So when they risk fails I take it hard. I take it personally. I know this about myself so I do my best to talk myself into a good mindset and I try to remember how thrilling and exciting it is to take risks. I find positivity when my risks pay off. I understand and accept that not all things will work out on the first try so I keep going!

4.) Networked – I find ENERGY is being networked. I turn to my colleagues, my mentor, a friend, or my PLN to talk through and process. It’s an energy like no other! What’s not to love!?!? So much positivity!

5.) Observant – I watch. I listen. I don’t miss much. I notice when someone seems off. I notice when teachers are not saying a word but saying so much. I watch what people are doing, how they are doing it, and most importantly WHY they are doing it. I watch for trends. I watch for successes. I watch for ways to support.  I find the positivity in having the opportunity to continually learn and support.

6.) Creators – This is my favorite characteristic. I am an idea person. I NEED people to take my ideas and process with me until I can get it out and create a plan. It is exciting. I find positivity in empowering others to join me in my creations making it OUR creations!

7.) Resilient – I am ALL in! Work hard, play hard, right!?!? This is what makes me want to push out the negativity! I find the positivity in being strong enough to bounce back and if a massage or a pedicure (#PDicure) helps me bounce back then so be it!

8.) Reflective – Sooooo, I mean, I started a blog. What more do you want!?!? Seriously though, blog or no blog, some days I feel like i reflect more than I breath! (Wait, is that a good thing?) When the reflections becomes negative and becomes a comparison or a shoulda, woulda, coulda, and I feel that weight on my shoulders, I know I need to stop myself and go back and focus on the positive.

Soooooo… I do it all over again.

1.) Empathetic…

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#IMMOOC Week 1: I’m Starting From Scratch and I’m Gonna Break All the Rules

After reading the intro and chapter 1 of The Innovator’s Mindset my head just kept spinning. Well, actually it was already spinning it just starting spinning faster. So much so it forced me to really take a look at what needs to change and I actually became quite overwhelmed! Sooooooo, I’m gonna start from scratch!

Starting from scratch involves questioning all stakeholders. Community, district, administration, teachers, parents, and students. What learning opportunities can each of the stakeholders create for one another and even themselves? (Ok soooooo this wasn’t helping my feeling of being overwhelmed! WHERE DO WE START?) Ok, ok, like I said before, we are gonna start from scratch so let’s do just that! I wanted to look at all the things we as educators are asked to do and start to weed some things out to get down to the essentials so we could start there.

About 2 weeks ago, I decided to scrap my PD I had planned for the teachers and decided to have a climate check in. I had them sign on to Padlet and asked them to simply type any and every task they do as teachers in a day, in a week, in a month, in a school year… I asked that the tasks be kept as judgment free as possible. So instead of “Hang my lesson plans on the door even though no one looks at them,” we would type, “Have lesson plans in folder on door.” I reminded them that this activity could get negative but that was not the point and we wanted to keep things as positive as we could so if needed, I could take this data and have a constructive conversation with administration. It took a minute or two but then the juices were flowing! I did this with all three grade levels (6th-8th) in their grade level teams. I rarely get thank you emails for PD and that day I got 4 emails thanking me for allowing them to get things out and recognizing their struggle. Yep, I needed to keep going and do something with these lists…

In Chapter 1, Couros references a TEDx talk by Carl Bass, “The New Rules of Innovation.”  Bass says innovation is about, “taking risks and breaking the rules.” Two things I was about to do… At that moment I had to ask myself, “What is best for these learners?” Do I continue on and do a close reading strategy PD or do I BREAK THE RULES and actually talk, in an open space constructively, about the OVERWHELMING tasks that come along with teaching. So I took a risk and started planning next week’s PD. With the help of a fellow coach I have SO much respect for and a former boss that happens to be a certified Life Coach and therapist, I feel innovation coming on… (Is that even a thing?) I was stoked! “Stressed brains can’t teach and stressed brains can’t learn!” Here goes nothing to help alleviate some of the stress.

I started the PD with having teacher journal about what made want to be a teacher and what the best part of teaching was. I then went into a lesson on external and internal barriers and looking at exactly what we have control over.  We do not have control over WHAT we are asked to do but we do have control over HOW we receive it and react to it. Keeping in their minds what they journaled and knowing what they have control over, I took out the lists they as a grade level typed the week before. I reminded them that looking at the list of 80+ tasks might get them feeling some kind of way but again to be rooted in what made them want to be a teacher. At the moment, nothing was coming off the lists. I asked them to look at the list with know what is best for kids; label each task E for essential for learning, I for Important for learning, G for good for learning. I had them do this individually for their own personal reflection. As teachers were finishing I had them highlight their E’s on a master list and their I’s on another master list. These were for me to keep. It was awesome to see that so many of them agreed on the essential tasks! That was it. We didn’t solve the world’s problems but we took another baby step in self-awareness. Again I was thanked throughout the day via conversations, emails, and text messages. The best comment was probably from a teacher that is getting ready to retire next year. She said, “I’ve been around for a long time and at least someone is listening to us. This is the first time I feel like someone is listening to us.” Feeling like I have a HUGE responsibility to follow through on this, I called my principal and said I needed at least 30mins at our next leadership meeting. He said ok and I felt empowered.

I took the lists, without saying which went along with what grade level, and presented to our leadership team. The lists of 72-94 tasks took them aback. We had an amazing discussion around things like leadership vs. management, compliance vs. engagement, the reasons behind asking the teachers to do certain things and did it forward our mission. Again, nothing was solved but there was a sense of empathy and it was a bit of a gut check.

Couros says, “Any time teachers think differently about who they teach and how they teach, they can create better learning opportunities.” I would like to challenge leadership to read that quote as, “Any time leadership thinks differently about who they lead and how they lead, they can create better learning opportunities.”

I’m done with status quo… I’m starting from scratch and I’m gonna break all the rules! #innovatorsmindset