An Intentional Leader

This has been such a busy month...but we survived!

I'm so excited with all the things that our leadership team is putting in place for our students.

Ms. Craven, Literacy Coach

Mr. Courtwright, Principal

This week, my Principal, Literacy Coach, and I created a schedule to listen to each of our students read for at least one minute. 

This week we listened to all 1st grade classes and part of our 2nd grade classes. It was such an eye opening experience. To know some of our students in 1st and 2nd grade can not read, was a wow factor for us. 

In this moment, I realized why I wanted to be an administrator. I want to make a difference...impact change. In my role, I have an opportunity to ensure students are provided with an a chance to be successful. 

Our leadership team is working together to create opportunities for students who can not read. Intentional tutoring, interventions, teacher workshops, programs...whatever it takes. 

This week gave me a new goal as an administrator...I want to become an Intentional Administrator. My goal is to identify moments where I can make a difference or impact change with our students, staff, and parents. I want to be an administrator that takes every opportunity as an opportunity to provide hope to our teachers, students, and parents.

Being an intentional leader will require me to always be able to make each situation an opportunity for us to learn and grow. Everything will have a purpose...good and bad moments will become an opportunity to teach, lead, model, inspire.

I'm excited...

To Do Lists

Another week under my belt. This week was filled with observations and Title 1. I started back with my weekly To Do List...Managerial Monday's and Title 1 Tuesday's. Having a few days to focus on certain things has given me sanity.

So what are my theme days... See an earlier post New Year Vision.

Monday is Managerial Monday where I spend as much time in the office doing paper work, filing, emailing, organizing, etc.

Tuesday is Title 1 Tuesday, as Title 1 Coordinator, I spend this day updating our digital crate, planning events, working on the budget, etc.

Wednesday is our Walkthroughs. Due to the window for formal observations, I am doing observations for the next couple of weeks, so this will start again near the end of October. Our admin team spends at least 10 minutes in each classroom and provide teachers with feedback on ways to grow and ways to glow.

Teacher Empower Thursday will begin back this week. It will be an opportunity to ensure I empower our staff.

Friday Flashback Data is looking at the weeks data...assessments, programs, walkthroughs, discipline, to see what we can do to make a difference.


I enjoyed successfully getting through  this week and checking off my To Do List. As an administrator we have so much on our plate, sometimes we are not able to get everything done. I've learned that the key is prioritizes and making sure you have that list.













And this week couldn't have been better without participating with our 5th graders study of clouds:

Going Goo Goo for Google - Part 2

This has been a looooooooooong week. As I write this week's Friday Flashback I am excited to say...we made it!

This will was filled with the usual #AdminLife things...discipline, walkthroughs, parents, IEPs, PD, testing, and more. The things that make me grateful for the opportunity to lead, inspire, motivate, encourage, and more.

As an administrator, I've come realized the importance of organization...staying on top of things...and prioritizing. One thing that helps me is using Google. I use Google for my calendar, To Do List, and gathering data, surveys, and more...

There are earlier post of how these can be created, so I will just dive in to how we used Google on our Early Release Day PD...

First a Sign-Up Form was created for the staff to sign up for at least two sessions, one was a mini face-to-face session and the other an on-your-own session.

After the PD, each staff member completed survey that asked them what they participated in and their next steps. 

From the data, a pivot table was created to organize the information. The key was looking to see their next steps. Learning their next steps will help the administrator team understand what we need to provide to them individually.

The last step was providing feedback to each staff member base on their next steps. 

If you haven't tried Google Forms out yet, boy you are missing out!  

Walkthroughs

Oh wow...it's the end of Week 2. It was definitely a busy week. Let's take a look back at my memorable moments for the week...



Walkthroughs began this week by observing teachers how their Blended Learning Procedures and Routines. Our admin team used a Google Form to complete the observation and each teacher received feedback using Google's Add-on Autocrat. If you have not heard of this dynamic duo...check out by post: Our Walkthroughs with Google Forms





Sometimes the many things on your To Do List can have you sitting in your office until it's time to go home. When I need a great pick me up, I can always find a few classes during Brain Breaks with Go Noodle. We all need a brain break at least once a day and I enjoy doing it with our students.

This was a Brain Break while we were doing our walkthrough...Perfect Timing!

Having fun in @edudaye pic.twitter.com/3FmFG9SMGF

I love Google because it makes many things in your life and on your To Do List, just easier. But when you see your staff using Google for Restroom Passes and Parent Information, it just makes your hear belt. Can't wait to share what a few of our 5th grade teachers are using Google Forms for! Stay tune!

The week ended with a few celebrations for students. I visited Ms. Rossi's 5th grade homeroom and they rapped for me their time tables, each with a fun beat...SWAG! As a reward, I provided them with doughnuts and juice. As a former math teacher, this is how you get students interested and engaged in math...with FUN!

 

34 more weeks to impact, inspire, and motivate students, teachers, and parents. 34 more weeks to provide HOPE (Having Opportunities to Pursue Excellence) to all. I'm pumped and excited to be on this journey! 

Career Bucket List

We have officially completed our very first week of school. So excited! This is year 2 for me as an Assistant Principal. I really love my school, admin team, staff, and students...this have really made being an Assistant Principal amazingly awesome.

One of the things on my 2016-2017 Career Bucket List is...blogging. 

(Found on BER Facebook Page....)

For my blog, I will do a Flashback Friday to reflect on my week, sharing my week in review.

This week's most memorable moments...

First day back at school was Monday...YAY! This is my 15th year in education. I have completed about 782 weeks...5475 days...131,487 hours...7,889, 238 minutes... This year is my second year as as an administrator and I am super excited. My daughter is going to 8th grade and my son is going to 2nd grade.

 

Reading to our Kindergarten students. 

Our Kindergarten and Enhancement teachers had to go to a training, so I took their classes. I really enjoyed spending time with them. 

Learning Fun Ways to Spell with Ms. McNeil's 3rd Grade Class

What an amazing and fun way to learn spelling words. It is important teachers are making school fun for our students. I love going in our classrooms because it's engaging, fun, and a lot of learning going on. I can't wait to begin my walkthroughs next week. I love being in the classroom. As an administrator it is important that we are in the classroom making sure our students are learning.

And I can't forget yesterday's amazing news...I'm just going to sit this right here...

Our school Exceeded Growth for the 2015-2016 school year. 

🐾Bobcat Pride🐾

Here's a little fun:

http://youtu.be/fKE2XEsBEQI