Reflections

Summer is often a time of reflection, organization and professional development. Hopefully, and rightfully so, it also includes some periods of down time to just be. Today wasn't one of those days. I spent the better part of 8 hours with an incredible administrative team today. We were assisted by our wonderful Instructional Coaches. In our own version of an Admin Camp, we tackled multiple topics including supporting Reader's and Writers' Workshop and Reading in the Content Area. We began conversations around guiding principles for elementary instruction and secondary instruction. We practiced our skills around look fors within a workshop model. We stepped out of our own zones to share with the group about what we were most proud of instructionally from the past year and where we thought we needed to improve individually and within our buildings. We linked those improvements to domains from the Multidimensional Principal Performance Rubric and gathered ideas from each o...

Sometimes, I know better than I act. It was a particularly busy day. I was juggling multiple plates in the air. The phone was ringing and I rushed to answer the call. I barely mumbled out a hello and there was a short silence on the other end. I knew in that second I had messed up but the brave caller politely confronted me on it. He let me know I should have sounded more enthused and he was right! He deserved better. If I really wanted to be that leader I've written about before ( AND have even been on some days! ), I need to walk that walk consistently. I know how to do it and know leadership isn't about 80% some days and 100% on the easier days. It's about 100% to the best of my ability every day. And, every day, I can meet each colleague with enthusiasm and an open heart. It's the least they deserve from me. https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7652/16883234185_fc398beeed_z.jpg Each of those interactions become deposits into the memory banks of colleagues. An...