Motivating, encouraging, and celebrating life
(Photo credit: Tommy Brown) An active visible principal is a viable one. We’ve moved from the principal as a manager to one that is an effective education leader. But how do you balance those administrative business duties (office time) with making an appearance in the classrooms? I found the “Classroom Visitation Calendar” a valuable tool to document the principal’s time spent in classrooms. It was
Exit tickets or exit slips are a quick and easy assessment tool…and can be much more! They are essentially a closure or exit out the door after a lesson, meeting, the end of a unit, or the end of a term, etc. There are many ways to use exit tickets. They are useful for: Reflection Self-Analysis Checking workplace climate Boosting morale 1) Reflection Reflective exit
This post may contain affiliate links. See the full disclosure here. Early in my teaching career, my principal called a leadership team meeting. Sitting on top of the table in the conference room was a small pre-k size blue chair. The chair represented our students. I was told to keep my students first and foremost. Taking care of the needs of our students was to be everyone’s
If you’ve followed me any length of time, you know I like different! It can sometimes be tricky trying to find a staff activity that everyone will be engaged with. That’s why I created the “Paper Bag Book Staff Activity”. It’s different and lets your staff do the hard work while having FUN! Your crafty staff members will love it, however, it won’t intimidate your
Years ago I heard about a leader that would greet her staff with “Happy National ______ Day!” and hand them a piece of gum, sticker, or a small token to commemorate the holiday. I could imagine walking into her building with an expectation of celebrating something fun no matter how small…or how momentary. Different and FUN are my two reasons for the creation of the
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy for more details here. Photo by Zachary Nelson on Unsplash I was one of those principals who loved learning about temperament or character types. If you’ve been in the educational profession for any length of time you’ve taken them. Most tests have four different types (although the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® MBTI test® has 16). Perhaps you know
During my elementary school teaching years, I worked with students that came from great families and unfortunately some that did not. I had students that heard more negative than positive comments in their lives…and much worse. At times, my elementary age students would get grumpy and say something ugly (a Texas word for bad) to a classmate. I would tell them something along the lines
Busy, busy, busy!! For most of you, the school year has come to an end. Congratulations! I hope you are taking the time for reflection and looking at all the positives this year held. If you are in a leadership position, I know some of you are already planning for next year…or…perhaps the next big thing. But please, please, give yourself permission to rest first.
A few words that come to mind when I think of teachers. Hard-working, diligent, always-seeing-the-good, and LOVE! To me, teachers include everyone in a school that works with children. From the custodial staff, cafeteria workers, teachers aides, specials teachers…everyone! I appreciate those who are not teachers taking the time to THANK a teacher. I can’t tell you the number of notes, letters, or gifts I
Meet Luz, one of my more-than-fantastic custodians when I was an elementary principal. She was the first person on campus most mornings and quickly circled that whole school making sure all the inside doors were unlocked. And by the way, she was not the only wonderful custodian on campus. I was very thankful for my staff! I was especially grateful for Luz though one summer
A word spoken in due season, how good it is! Prov. 15:23 I don’t personally know of anyone that doesn’t appreciate an encouraging word, but when it comes at exactly the right time for them…what a wonderful thing indeed! How do you know when to speak words into someone’s life? I call it an unction or a nudging in your gut. It’s when you are thinking of
If you’ve visited this page previously, I’ve changed it up! I’m attaching a link to a FREEBIES category so that you can add to the cart and then have unlimited downloads for that product. That way I can update the items along the way without you losing the link. I hope that makes sense! And if it doesn’t, no worries…just click the link below for
