Motivating, encouraging, and celebrating life
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
Are you looking for good team-building and problem-solving activities? Here are a few I’ve tried as an elementary school principal. If I thought it was accomplished with a good amount of success, I gave those activities a “thumbs up”. I’ll also share a few that I thought fell short! Look for the “thumbs down”! MAKE YOUR BED I call this one, “Make your Bed” as
The professor at my first administrative class had just asked the formidable question, “Why did you want to become an administrator?” I shrunk down in my seat while scanning the room making a quick assessment of the seating order. Maybe this professor wouldn’t see me or solicit everyone’s input. I could only hope! After a few minutes, I realized with dread that I was going
(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
As a former elementary principal, I was crazy enough to send weekly staff memos. It was grueling at first to keep up until I developed a few tricks (e.g. Boomerang for Gmail to automatically schedule, jotting down notes or taking pictures as events occurred, etc.). Eventually, it became routine. I also made the rule not to beat myself up if I missed a week! The
Last week I was with my daughter and grandson when we dropped him off at his elementary school. So fun! My daughter made the comment that they were always trying to hurry everyone through the line. I had to stifle a laugh. I was reminded of the signs I ordered from a sign company (no longer in business, sorry!) when I first started as an administrator.
All classroom teachers have had the thought. Every administrator should go back to the classroom…at least once! Teachers: Hey, maybe administrators will remember how hard it is! What about how much MONEY we pay out-of-pocket? Or how much TIME (not to mention “BLOOD, SWEAT, and TEARS”!) it takes to run a classroom? So I did. For one whole year. The long, gloomy hallway As a classroom
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
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
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
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
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
