Our Specials Teachers are Special!

I have a daughter that is one smart cookie and does well in school, but she LOVES her specials classes.  She loves to come home and tell me what she did in Art, Phys. Ed., or Music class.  To her, these classes are just as important as reading, writing and math.  I agree!  They are helping to make her a well rounded person and exposing her to new ideas and ways of thinking.

At my school I am blessed to have amazing specials teachers.  They care about kids, energize students, and are awesome at what they do.  This year, I have been overwhelmed by what a great job they have done collaborating with one another.  They work on projects, brainstorm grants, and bring their classes together for great experiences.  It is amazing!

One more thing I have to brag about them . . . All 3 have worked hard to share what they are doing with families.  When you teach 600 kids a week, it's not easy to communicate with all of your students' families.  These teachers however have harnessed the power of technology to share their classrooms with our families.

• Our Art teacher has a great blog: whyiloveart.blogspot.com
• Our Music teacher puts pictures, videos, and games on her webpage: http://www.amherst.k12.oh.us/harris/teachers/perry/
• Our Phys. Ed. teacher maintains a Facebook page for his class: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Harris-Elementary-Gym

They are an amazing group!  

The Lone Blogger In the Room

Over the weekend, I attended a leadership seminar for school administrators.  One of the speakers spoke to us about tech integration and asked how many people in the room were bloggers.  I raised my hand, looked around, and realized (gulp) that I was the only one with a hand raised.  I didn't know whether to feel proud or foolish.  After much thought, I've decided to go for pride.

I think blogging has allowed me to become more reflective.  It has given me a venue to share my ideas, and it has helped me to grow professionally.  When I go to write a blog, I know that whatever I write is going to be out there for my co-workers, parents, and the world to read.  So if I'm going to write it, I better live it too.

I'm hoping that some of the other administrators that were in the room this weekend will join me in the blogging process.  It reminded me of a video I saw at last year's seminar about how leadership really happens when the second follower joins in and acts as the spark.  Check out the video below.  Will you be that spark?

Stick-It Notes & Reading

I have two loves (besides my husband and beautiful children) - stick-it notes (I go through them like nobody's business) and reading.  Feeling inspired by Principal Jessica Johnson's Twitter posts (@PrincipalJ), I have merged these two loves.

Principal Johnson recently tweeted pictures of how she decorated her door to show her students what books she was reading.  Since my office door is tucked away, this didn't work for me.  However, our awesome librarian allowed me to use some space in our library instead.  I created the poster below to show students what I finished reading, what I am currently reading, and to get their suggestions of what I should read next (enter the stick-it notes).  Here's a look at my poster.  On the finished reading section, I included a summary of the book.  On the now I am reading section, I put some information about why I picked the book.

Then the most awesome thing happened.  Just a few hours after the poster went up, our librarian told me the kids were loving writing recommendations.

After two weeks, I have received over 130 book recommendations.  I'm not really sure how I'm going to read that many books, but I'm really excited that the kids are talking about reading.  Many of the stick-it notes have explanations of why I should pick their recommendation, and often kids are working with friends to write recommendations together.  Which means they are talking about the books together.  Awesome!

Enough typing.  Time to get back to my reading.  I have quite a long list.

I Lied to a Girl Scout Mom

I admit it.  I did it.  I lied to a perfectly nice, lovely Girl Scout mom.  I didn't mean to do it.  It just slipped out.  It wasn't a mean lie, but it was still a lie.

What is this horrible lie you are probably wondering?

The mom commented on what a good reader my daughter was, and I responded with something about how we were "lucky" that she "just happened to love reading."  Not the big, juicy lie I am sure you were anticipating, but it was still a lie.  My daughter does love reading, but it wasn't a result of luck.  It happened because we read each night together as a family.

Why didn't I tell the mom this?  I didn't want to brag.  This is something that I think happens with a lot of educators.  Whether it is with our families, our classrooms or our schools, we have good things happening, but because we are humble, we don't talk about it.  We don't want to appear to be too boastful or full of ourselves.

What can we do to change this?  After all, we should change this attitude right?  If something is working, we should share it.  We need to change our mindset.  Sharing our accomplishments shouldn't be viewed as bragging.  It should be seen as sharing.   

I think social media is helping us learn to share our successes.  Through Pinterest, Twitter, and blogs, more and more educators are sharing with one another, and this is great.  Let the sharing continue!  Now I just need to be brave enough to share face to face.  No more lying to Girl Scout moms for me.

Nine Words

"To the young lady with the loud, clear voice."  These were the words that my 4th grade teacher wrote on the back of a school picture many years ago.  I have no idea where that picture and note are now, but I can see the words as if they were in front of me.

I was a shy, quiet student, but Mrs. Putman had me read aloud at mass, and she praised me for my efforts.  She made it clear that she thought I was a good public speaker.  To this day, I still think of her words, and I am positive they have given me the confidence I possess in my public speaking skills.

I tell this story, because I have been thinking a lot lately about the power of words.  Mrs. Putman's words gave me confidence that I have carried with me for years.  I imagine she doesn't remember writing those words, but they will stick with me forever.  It makes me wonder what words my children and students will remember coming from me.  Will I leave them with memories of confidence and encouragement?  I hope so.  Out of all the things that Mrs. Putman taught me that year, the math, the language arts, the science . . . what truly stuck with me were those nine words.

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Raw Emotion

When you live with a toddler, emotional outbursts are a part of everyday life.  Sometimes these outbursts break my heart - my daughter's slow, silent cry because she colored the last page in her coloring book.  Sometimes they annoy me - really do we need to scream over Barbies?  And sometimes they just make me shake my head - this weekend's episode of screaming, crying and jumping around like an angry jackrabbit at the park.  Seriously not cool.  

I often find myself saying, "Use your words."  I am trying to teach both my daughters the value of talking about what's upsetting them, instead of having these emotional landslides.  I have to admit though there are times I am jealous of their ability to show such raw emotion.  Whatever they are feeling - joy, sadness, anger, it just all comes out.  Wouldn't it be great to do this sometimes?  Someone doesn't share something with you at work and you look them in the eye and scream, "You're mean!"  Okay, maybe that's not very productive, but I bet it would feel good.  

I tend to be very guarded with my emotions, although I am told that when I am having a bad day, my face tells it all.  I have recently realized though that I need to sometimes get in touch with my tough girl side.  I went to listen to a principal from another school district speak recently.  He talked about how his building has implemented an intervention program.  He was a great speaker, and the program his school implemented is having wonderful results.  I walked away from the session with the realization though, that I need to be tougher.  Not mean, there's no way I could pull that off, but I need to not be afraid to say, "this is good for kids, and so this is what we are doing."

I pride myself in being a service leader.  If my staff or students need me, I'm there.  If they need something, I'll try my best to get it.  I'm now realizing though that every leader needs to be willing to take a stand for what is best for kids, even if it means rocking the status quo.  That seems like an obvious statement, but as a second year principal, I'm realizing that too often I worry about keeping people happy instead of encouraging us all to grow.  My new personal challenge, is to lead through service while giving my staff the tools we need to grow.  One of those tools needs to be me and my expectations.

Cuddle Up and Read

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Fall parent teacher conferences are quickly approaching.  One question I am frequently asked at conferences is about how parents can help their students improve in reading.  My suggestion . . . make reading part of a family's regular routine.  To become better readers, students need practice and the way to do that is to read.

At my home, we read every night before bed.  It's part of our normal schedule.  My kiddos brush their teeth, put on their comfy PJs and we all settle in and read together.  Each child picks one book and if we have more time, we read more.  For my youngest, we read to her.  For my oldest, some nights she reads to us, some nights mom and dad read, and other nights we take turns.  This is a fun time.  We cuddle up and enjoy our time together.  It has helped to grow a love of reading in my children, and I encourage all families to try it.  As I sat there tonight with one kiddo in my lap and one next to my hip, I wished I could freeze time.

What if your child hates to read?  Read to them.  Pick a book that is interesting to your child.  Hearing you read is really important.  Children need to hear how fluent readers sound.  As you read, make sure your child is sitting next to you and point to the words as you read.  This helps them to make the connections between the written text and the words they hear you reading.

Give it a try.  You will help your child's reading skills and get some amazing quality time together.