The Joy of Work

     One thing I keep trying to emphasize during the course of this school year, both for my faculty and for myself, is the need for enjoying our daily work. We spend between 8-12 hours at our schools, and we must fill those hours with laughter and joy. Students must see the joy in our lives as we are often the only successful role models many of them will see. It is critical that we make learning fun and build opportunities into our schedules for celebrating the fun part of life. With the requirements of our state standards and other curricular mandates, teachers feel that there are always so many things to do and so little time to do them. As a whole, educators feel more and more pressure to get things done. However, we can not forget the medicine for our souls that fights stress. Whether we experience corporate stress or personal stress, stress is unhealthy and should be released. Let go of the stress and look for innovative ways to plug in some F-U-N.
     Our school media specialist is very talented, and she often injects fun into learning. She has hosted family reading nights for our campus and has the entire crowd answering puzzles about Harry Potter and Hogwarts. For instance, to increase the motivation to read, she has built a year long motivational reading program around exciting themes. This year, she chose the superhero theme to get students reading interests stimulated.  SHE ABSOLUTELY MAKES READING FUN. Every Friday, on our morning announcements, I assist in energizing the students to join in the fun. The excitement is contagious, and most of our faculty will wear superhero t-shirts on Fridays. Here is a picture of some of our wacky antics on the morning announcements.

This is from left to right:

Jeremy Centeno, Bay District School's Staff Training Specialist as Wolverine

Ema Rinehart, Student Anchor for the morning announcements just being cute

Yours truly, Principal Carol Rine, showing off her Spidey Sense

Talking through the full face Spider Man mask is not much fun, but if I get the students, teachers, and staff to laugh, then I have accomplished much! 

I believe having a sense of humor is critical in the art of enjoying our work. It often helps us to interpret events that occur in our daily lives. The way we perceive the events we encounter determines whether our perceptions will greet these events as a challenge, a threat, or as opportunities for growth-- leading us to ultimate satisfaction and joy. Humor provides us with necessary and different perspectives on issues. If we can bring levity to our situation, it no longer appears negative. If you encounter a tense situation, that is where you need to laugh the most. I wish you -- the joy of work.

The Search for Balance

Finally, our school system has reached its first true break. It is such a relief to have some time to rest and refresh. I look back on my BLOGGING history from the past few months, and I am disappointed in myself because I have not kept up with my goal of writing an entry at least every other week. I have not done a good job of maintaining BALANCE. I recall in my last position as assistant principal at Mosley High School, the talented reading coach for our school gave me a gift. It was a beautiful canvas painting that said, "SEARCH FOR BALANCE."

So here I am on my Fall Break wondering...where has my balance gone? Why do I feel so wonky? One of my fundamental lifestyle beliefs is to always try to balance my life between what Covey calls the  four dimensions of life: Spiritual, Social/Emotional, Physical, and mental. 

Since shifting gears in my career and taking over the leadership of a school I have been neglecting two quadrants: Social and Physical and apparently my own personal mental dimension. All of my mental energies have been committed to the learning that is required by moving to a new campus, learning a new curriculum, and learning the nuances of a new faculty.  I am hoping that this break is going to provide me with the time and energy required to RESET. I need to add back into my routine the exercise and nutrition that keeps me healthy. I also need to return to my personal goals of excellence outside of work. I want to be an excellent wife, an excellent mother, and an excellent student of life and the pursuit of happiness.

So I close this BLOG with a beautiful fall day before me. I hope to exercise today and to call a friend and talk just for the sake of talking. Wish me luck!

A Good to Great Remembrance

As I explained in an earlier post, I am trying to stretch my wings a bit and model the use of technology as a leader for my school. I am certainly enjoying the fun that Blogging has become for me. It is a good opportunity to reflect on my own learning as I grow a little more each day.

One struggle that I am having is MAKING the time to post the blogs weekly. Every day, I will think to myself, I need to post my latest Blog, and it gets pushed down the to-do list until I conclude my long day, head for the house, and go to sleep thinking..."I will do that tomorrow. I promise myself. I will."

My gap between posts has been weeks. Now that I am finally sitting down to do it, I think I feel guilty doing something so creative when there is so much real work to be done. What am I thinking? I have to cater to my creativity and the gift of ideation (A term from Strengthfinders). Even more important, I need to always reflect on the growth I am making--the progress toward my goals and how to make the move from Good to Great. I just ordered that book this week after hearing it referenced three different times by other educational leaders. It rolled in today from Amazon, and I couldn't put it down.

It describes effective leaders as those who look outside themselves for factors to credit when things go well--a mix of personal humility and professional will. I think back to the first real message I sent to my faculty, and it was through a VLOG or Video Log. I made one version and then made another and another. I labored over what to include in the video because I was so uncomfortable talking about myself, but I wanted to introduce myself to the faculty in a cool, technology-driven, and engaging way. In retrospective, I am glad that I have to exert myself to be out in front, because as this book tells me, it is okay to be humble. I should always credit others, even if it is purely good luck AND I should always accept responsibility.

As I close out this third Blog posting, I will post my video for a remembrance of that feeling of strain I sensed while doing something that could have been viewed as promoting myself. It was not self-promotion, but it was an undertaking of what I am doing tonight....modeling the use of technology as I etch my citizenship in the digital world.

True Grit

As an educational leader, I am certainly asking that my teachers continue to stretch themselves and learn continually. With advances in brain research and all the data that accountability has provided us, teachers can truly examine their craft with an eye toward improvement. Since I place this demand on my faculty, I will also demand this of myself.

To help me continue to improve my craft, I have two projects that I am working on at this time. First, as I have transitioned to my new school, I sent out a SurveyMonkey (http://www.surveymonkey.com/) 17 question survey to my staff. The survey was called "The New Principal Wants to Know." The data that came from this survey was exceptional and has helped to confirm many of the notions I have developed about the school I am tasked with leading. For example, I asked them to rank the top 3 things they most want from their principal. Here is just one instance of the excellent data I have gathered to help me navigate the waters that lie ahead.

Another learning project that I am in involved in is a book study with other principals. I have privately named it Team Willis after one of the principals in the group who is the de facto leader. I learn a lot from the books we read, but I learn even more from the conversations we have at each meeting. Currently we are reading, Frey and Fisher's, The Formative Assessment Action Plan. The book describes on page 23 the value of "grit." This concept is described as "...one's persistence and passion for long-term goals..." The book further goes on to say that, "Interestingly, grit has been found to be a primary factor in National Spelling Bee finalists, West Point graduates, and successful teachers (Duckworth, Petersen, Matthews & Kelly, 2007).

Our book study leader challenged us to take the Grit Scale that is available online. There are numerous versions, but after taking the 12-Item Grit Scale, I rated a 4.6 out of 5. This probably results from my having experienced colon cancer at age 41 and from some other set backs early in life that I had to "push through the pain" to overcome. 

What is my take-away from both of these learning experiences? I know that 1) Now my task is to really listen and learn from what my staff tell me through the survey. I should then make some decisions and lead. 2) I do have the strength to do this job based on my GRIT.....even when it feels like I am completely overwhelmed and faltering. I DO have the determination to do the very best job for my faculty, my leadership team, my students, and my community.

In the Beginning...

It's 4ish in the morning, and I just finished reading Education Rethink's Blog, Advice for New Bloggers. I keep running into articles about Blogging as an Educational Leader, and until now I have been hesitant to do so. You see, up until early this winter, I have been an assistant principal. I was comfortable following my principal, as she led us down the halls of our school. I was just following along as one of the members of the line. But, thanks to the encouragement of a close and very wise friend, I anxiously decided to MOVE TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE.

I am the new principal of a small elementary school in our city. With this new role, my struggle is probably very minor to some; however, I am struggling with being the one everyone is watching. When I was following my principal, I could often move up to second place in the line. I could even back off (rarely) and move to the end of the line. But now, when I would like to move back into the almost anonymity of the line, I turn to see everyone following me. Everyone's eyes are watching me for guidance, for vision, for support, and for direction. 

I need to get comfortable in this new skin, and I believe that one of the ways to do so is to embrace this place I now occupy. I have read article after article about how leaders should Blog, and I am giving it a try.

I have learned as I begin to transition into this position, that in elementary school, being the Line Leader is a pretty cool thing. I am learning to appreciate its coolness. Before I was always the one working in the background like good software. I was the one who made my boss look amazing. I don't necessarily want to look amazing, but I sincerely want to do a great job for the students, parents, and teachers of my school. I have a lot to learn, as I move to the front of the line.