Organization

I'm learning how to keep organized when there are so many different things going on. Many of the things that are happening around the school are small, or don't involve me directly, but I need to know about them so I can help answer questions about them later. Often people catch me in the hallway to tell me about something and I need a way to remember to deal with it later.

I started working with the ical program, which is nice because it is all synced up between my laptop, school computer and iphone. I also used the google task list which I could also easily access from my computer and phone. But, I have realized over the last two weeks that nothing beats a paper calendar which can be taken everywhere (and I DO take it everywhere), where I can jot things down and cross them out instantly.

Moleskine makes the most amazing calendar that I've used in the past and has proven to be the very best possible organizational tool for me. See it here.

It's nice and big so I can list things day by day on the left. But it also has one page of lines on the right that serve as my running list. It has been working quite well for me. I have always been a list person, but the lists the last two weeks have been especially satisfying. Lots of things to cross off! I know, I'm a nerd.

You can see images of the completed last two weeks. I am, clearly, a very messy person when it comes to writing things down--but things get done. Most things, at least...

I like this job.

Typically I find a way to justify most things I do and find ways to like them. I don't remember having a job I didn't like. (Even as a magazine subscription telemarketer...) But--I really like this job. I think I may have written something similar in an earlier post, but I'm realizing how much my own skill set matches the skill set needed to enjoy (and, hopefully find success) as a school leader. Here's a top 5 list of reasons I like this job.

5) Problem solving. I've always enjoyed finding ways to weigh the factors and create unique solutions. I think this comes from my days of building go-karts, forts and games using random items like step stools and roller skates. Mom, I may have stepped on some nails, injured my brothers, and stolen household items--but it's all paying off now.

4) Talking to kids. I LOVE how often I get to have one on one conversations with kids. As a teacher, that happens often in a teaching setting, but it can be hard to have time to talk to the kids you want to talk to most about how they're doing--i.e, the ones who are having the most trouble. Now, they come to me and even wait for me in my office!

3) Making things happen that I always wished for as a teacher. I'm not doing it all, but I'm working to help create: Schedules that make sense, quick answers to simple questions, lots of thank yous, methods for feedback, follow ups with teachers about specific kids, quick response to tough situations in classrooms, welcoming proposals from teachers, parents and kids and actually looking at them

2) Setting my own schedule. I like setting up my meetings and being able to move around the building to see what's going on. Teaching is great, but the schedule is very set for you. I like change and choice--I do something different every day.

1) Having the big picture, and seeing behind the scenes. It was always hard as a teacher to try and think about ways to solve problems when the big picture wasn't always available. Now I can see it. It's fabulous. Perhaps it's juvenile, but when the fire truck pulls up. I always know why it's there. And today--I even watched as the fire chief pulled the fire alarm to begin the drill. That was a first. The fire drill went quite well, by the way.

Long days that fly by

On days like today, I feel like I've lived three days. At the same time, the days are flying. I'm hoping that both can serve as a decent excuse for not adding any posts for almost a whole week.

I often tell people I'm an assistant principal, and they say, "So, what, exactly, does an assistant principal do?" It's a valid question. Now that the days have settled into more of a routine, it's easier to answer that question. Most of the opening items have been settled: the schedule, the safety procedures, the various staffing issues that arise... Here is a sampling of the normal day to day issues. Following that, I've listed some of the things for which I've had to consider my personal philosophy. Many times as a school leader, there are just some things that come down to judgment calls, and my own personal beliefs as a school leader can be the final say.

So, a rundown of the major categories of things that filled my time in the last week:
-Meeting with school counselors to run through lists of kids for which there are major concerns and creating follow up steps for each child
-Saying hello at every open house. At this school, each grade level has their own open house. I wish they'd do them all in one night--going to each is exhausting!
-Sorting out parking issues for teachers who come from other schools mid-day and need parking. I'm now supposed to be setting cones in their spots every morning. As I type I remember that I forgot to do that today. Crap.
-Deal with schedule issues, which means lots of meeting--the art teacher's schedule is too full on Fridays, the third grade needs more staffing for their small group math lessons, etc. etc. etc.
-Meet with members of the diversity committee to help them get up and running
-Make an appearance at the Special Ed parents breakfast to realize that no parents showed up--make a plan with special ed staff to find new recruitment methods
-Cover many lunch and recess duties to help ensure that both are running smoothly
-Deal with building usage issues--everyone wants to use the building after hours. Everyone. It's a blessing and a curse to have a newish (1994) building
-Our secretary is out for a wedding for a few days. We miss her!!!! We take on lots more paperwork.
-Attend a few IEPs meetings
-Meet with the math specialist from the district to talk about the new math curriculum--the math team isn't happy with it, so we wanted her take on their frustrations
-Sort out policies for after school activities. Should students be able to be in the after school musical if they are having a behavior issue during school? Everyone has an opinion.
-Prepare new maps, lists, etc. for fire drill and evacuation to the local church (the plan in case of a bomb threat or other emergency). The drill is tomorrow.
-Meetings with kids, teachers and parents about various behavior issues that must be dealt with
-Meeting about a student whose bike was stolen; follow up with police
-Finding the student who took the bike and determining consequences
-Interviewing new staff for the positions we still have in our special education classroom...
-Lots of scheduling of meetings and talking to people to solve little problems here and there
-Meeting with parents about their ideas and what they'd like to see happen in the school
-Meeting with a teacher about creating a plan for a student who is having trouble behaving.

For those of you who ask what we do all day...there it is! And those who are wondering if the job is for them, I hope that's helpful.

A few things for which I've had to consider my philosophy:

-Out of school suspension, especially for kids who like to miss school or are already behind

-Allowing participation in extracurricular activities despite poor grades, understanding that the extracurricular might be a struggling student's main area of strength and motivation

-Inclusion for special education students

-Sending kids to the office when they are in trouble

-Homework

...that's all for now. Too tired to proofread. Thanks for reading!

Questions answered in print

Lots of questions remain concerning a number of things--which has prompted me to write one-pager info sheets. I haven't started on them yet, but once they're done, they'll be the beginning of a revised handbook for staff and parents. There is no staff binder, and no updated handbook at this school. Here are some of the one-pagers I'll be working on:

Recess-rules and routines
Arrival/Drop off and Dismissal/Pickup Procedures
Evacuation details for safe dismissal from anywhere on school grounds
Organization of Homework Center
Behavior/Discipline policies to inform parents
Behavior/Discipline systems in place to support classroom teachers

...and those are just the beginning....

Progressing!

Hooray! Met with PTO chairs and they love the improved recess idea. See the proposal below...awaiting approval--and fundraising. The formatting isn't as organized--and there are some weird boxes popping up since I had to cut and paste to the blog...but you get the idea. I can't seem to get rid of those boxes.

A proposal for safer recess:
09/16/09

To: PTO
From:

Plenty of research shows the impact of recess on children—both socially and academically. There is a pressing need at our School for the following:

1) More trained adults on the playground who are interested in engaging kids in active choices, and who are trained to keep kids safe and having fun while they engage in active play. (They will also be trained for indoor options.)

2) More equipment and game options, which includes some new things painted on the sidewalks such as four-square lines, hopscotch, etc.

3) Communication between school and home about what is happening during recess

We propose:

2 Additional, trained staff members on the playground—particularly in the field area who are organizing games and engaging with students to ensure they are safe and having fun. $25/day each for two outdoor staff

$25 x 2 staff x about 180 days= $9000

Money for more durable equipment intended for long term playground use:
i.e. Balls, jump ropes, small soccer goals

$200

Money and materials to hire someone to paint new lines for games on areas of the concrete and the multi-purpose room

$300

Total= Safer Recess (priceless)
Total= $9,500


We believe this investment will impact all students. We believe safer recess will help ensure the academic day is more successful as well.

Attachment:


Recess Rules, a study about recess and its impact on kids
conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2007
www.rwjf.org/goto/sports4kids

First Staff Meeting

...It went well!

We started with a simple activity that went better than expected...

-Each person grabbed a green note card on their way in to the meeting and wrote down one "success" from the first week of school. We then had a brief, informal, shareout (one per grade level). Many of the successes were small and lighthearted, but it set a nice mood. I collected all of the cards and posted them on the window of my office, which is, conveniently, right near the copy machine. Many teachers will, hopefully, read them as they wait for the copy machine. And lots of parents walk by as well and should be able to take a look at some of the things we're working on.

-We went through a bunch of procedures for fire and evacuation drills. The page that I worked on and photocopied had some misinformation on it about the ways that some classes evacuate. It's very hard to get every single detail right. Thank goodness for the patience of the teachers. I think it helps that we're solving a lot of other issues. It makes the little things seem less important. Although, I suppose, evacuation routes shouldn't be considered a little thing...

--Last week we asked teachers to prepare (during their common planning time), some sort of simple poster presentation which presented at least one common team goal. We had no idea how much effort teams would put into this task. A couple of groups got really creative and made some great posters, which they wanted to hang up in my office. It did remind me a little of teaching--you know, when the kids give you their work and you say, "Thanks! I'll hang it right here...." But really, it was a great way of creating community. Many teachers shared aspects of their work that others were interested in. Great setup for a year of staff meetings, hopefully.

Each group will put their goal on a card and hang those on the windows of my office as well. And as we meet those goals, they'll move them over to the "success" side of the window. It will be important to follow up with these postings and keep them fresh. I'm wondering if the green cards activity would be a good way to start each meeting--at least for a while.

Recess

Recess needs more attention that it gets.

Here are a few reasons:

Recess can influence the whole day, week, year or even school experience for some students. Recess can be a scary time for kids who are shy or have trouble constructing their own ways to interact and make friends.

Kids will push and shove as they play to create their own excitement if the choices we offer don't offer enough excitement.

Recess can be a great time to teach kids about problem solving, sharing, conflict resolution, social norms and self advocation.

A couple of cones, a soccer ball and an engaging recess "coach" can do wonders for kids who have trouble at recess.

In my work at schools, I want to treat recess almost as a class--not as a "duty." I hate the attitudes around recess "duty." It's an incredible missed teaching opportunity in most schools.

Safety First

The next couple of posts might seem a bit boring, but are for those who are interested in the nuts and bolts of the startup in a new principalship or vice principalship.

Safety stuff:
We are 5 days in, and I'm already a bit antsy about what would happen in the event of an emergency: fire, bomb, lockdown, earthquake, nuclear war...All are highly unlikely, but who wants to be caught unprepared?

It's pretty amazing how much time can be spent getting all of the prep work done for an event that is very unlikely to happen. At least we know that the fire/evacuation drills will make us feel like the preparation has been worth it.

The balance between compromising safety and maintaining a learning environment can be complicated. The wording from our policy handbook: "Paper of all types...are to be removed from all walls and in all corridors and stairwells, except on bulletin boards....to help prevent possible rapid spread of fire."

This is an interesting challenge when one's school (designed in 1996) has cleverly made all wall surfaces a bulletin board style material that can be thumbtacked at any point. Very clever. Very handy. And, apparently, dangerous.

Our building is at 115% capacity, which means that much of our storage space has become office space--even classroom space. Which means hallways and staircase landings have become impromptu storage. Unfortunately, that breaks fire code. Nothing may sit in these areas. So where does all that stuff go?

The beginning of this week is devoted to safety. TM was out yesterday, so I didn't have as much time to devote to it as I would have liked. But, I did manage to walk around to every classroom checking to make sure that there was a clear set of directions for evacuation for that specific classroom, and that there were two papers posted. One, giving directions for a lockdown and the other giving direction for evacuation. The lockdown page is nice and simple, and would come in handy. The evacuation page is in 10 point font and is unlikely to ever be consulted in an emergency--especially since it hangs on the wall. That needs to be updated.

This is an extremely boring post. The job of preparing for evacuation is kind of boring, too. So, I guess that's appropriate.

Challenges, Surprises, Random, Successes, New Projects

Challenges:
Asking a parent to move her car, getting yelled at, apologizing after she explained her son was walking across the street to her (I didn't see him) but not succeeding in making amends

Inspecting all fire doors. 75% are blocked with extra storage of teacher stuff that won't fit in the classrooms. Mind you, they're not COMPLETELY blocked--just too blocked to pass inspection.

No time for lunch until 3 again.

Surprises:
Dead mouse in my office

A 1st grader calls me "Cookie" something my 6th graders used to call me...but as a vice principal--wasn't quite expecting that from a first grader.

A teacher left a mug filled with Hershey's kisses on my desk.

Lots of kids say goodbye to me by name when they leave for the day. I feel so popular! Now, I just need to learn THEIR names....

Random:
Hung out with some triplets after school while they waited for a pickup. It's really odd--looking at all three at once...

Wondered why the bus was parked near the school, but not coming up to the circle to pick kids up. Walked down to check it out--bus driver had taken the mirror off of a parked car. Tight squeeze on that street.

Successes:
Conversation with kids at each lunch time about playing safe at recess, followed by intense policing of violators pays off. By the end of each lunch time, kids are using "light touches" almost 90% of the time rather than shoving the heck out of each other.

Put an evacuation plan in place for a complicated student who needs extra assistance. Safety first.

Pulled off the new morning routine, with good results.

Introduced some new recess equipment which made kids very happy

New Projects:
Finding someone to run a program similar to Sports4Kids at our school. They teach conflict resolution and help organize/coach recess play. This is a major need at our school and has proven successful elsewhere--including the school I used to work at. They worked wonders....THIS IS AN UNTAPPED MARKET, for someone who wants to make some cash!!!! Start a business. We don't qualify for Sports4Kids because it's not in our district and we are less than 50% low income.

Figuring out how a before/after school homework center can be staffed with no additional resources

Creating indoor recess boxes before it rains on Friday

First Day

Today was fantastic. A really wonderful first day of school. The day was quite simple, really, and it's only 6:30 and I'm actually home. I am exhausted--but the exhaustion is well worth it.

Here's how the simplicity was enough to fill up a whole day.

7AM--photocopy daily news, schedules and put those and candy in every staff member's box. Prepare signs for each class so they know where to meet. We had three meeting locations in the school where students met their teachers.

7:30--Head outside to greet the early arrivers.

7:45--Welcome each child and parent as they come into school.

8:15--TM leads the 6/7/8 opening assembly. The big pep talk thing isn't my style--I will go to classes one on one to meet kids instead. I make sure all classes have made it upstairs and answer questions for parents who are in the office. Thank goodness for the most amazing office staff in the world.

8:15-11:00--Visit every classroom and say hello. In the kindergarten, the teacher says, "Here's Ms. Cook, my very special friend. Does anyone know what her job is? It's very important..." "She works in the kitchen!!!" they said, "since her name is cook!" Makes sense. And when we explained my real job, they weren't nearly as impressed.

11:15-11:30--Attempt to sort out the situation of overbooked music space with the music teachers, but don't solve anything

11:30-1:30--Be a visible and strict presence for all four lunch and recess blocks. Take some time to turn some double dutch ropes and vow to go to Target to buy some recess supplies. How did we forget about that? There was one soccer ball outside. Shoot. One detail I forgot--I shouldn't have assumed there was an overflowing recess bin with all sorts of ropes and hula hoops and balls. Oh right, that's our job to make sure that bin exists.

1:30-2:00--Quick check in with TM about what needs to happen for tomorrow. Make a decisions to call it a fairly early evening. We're tired!

2:00- Head outside to greet the buses as they arrive and attempt to direct traffic around the poorly designed circle out front. If parents park on the circle, buses can't get in and out. This is a recipe for crabby parents. "Hi! I'm Ms. Cook. Move your car!"

Say goodbye to almost every student and family as they leave.

3:00-- The last, late, bus has left. Hand out locks to a couple of students and teach them how to use a combination lock.

Eat my lunch.

Meet with the music teachers and solve the overbooked music space issue.

Write the morning routines document to ensure a smooth start tomorrow and from here on out. Write the daily news for tomorrow. Email both.

Drive to Target and buy 2 playground balls. They don't have anything else. Lame.

6:30...home!

It's coming together

The post-its from the timeline activity will remain up by popular demand. We will decide what to do with all of the comments soon. You are looking at the posts for the past few years in the timeline.

Above that is the bulletin board with staff pictures. It turned out well, I think...

Tomorrow is the first day of school--

I sent an email out to all staff with the "daily news" attached. The Daily News will give quick reminders for the day. Tomorrow's daily news is especially important because it contains the most important aspects of the first day: where kids should go when they arrive, where teachers should be, who is covering lunch and recess, how attendance is handled, how dismissal is handled, how after school care is handled. There is a special welcome and offer for help for the new teachers and some congratulations for the veterans.

With the help of a parent, I finished the staff bulletin board. There are lift up flaps under the pictures so parents, students and staff can test their knowledge of staff names...

Time for a good night's sleep.

Earned the weekend

The other night I had dinner with my principal mentor from last year. I was exhausted from the school day--a good kind of exhausted--but exhausted nonetheless. We had a quick dinner and headed home early since we were both so tired. She said, "you'll learn to hate Friday nights. Everyone will want to go out and you'll be so tired and you'll just want to go home and sit." Well, here I am sitting on my couch, watching Groundhog Day and completely vegging out. I do intend to find a more balanced approach to working so that this isn't the weekly picture, but for this week--the couch is the perfect Friday night spot.

The top 5 challenges this week:

5. being very nervous at the podium in the auditorium in front of the staff on the first staff day

4. realizing that we are 15 lockers short--and that no teacher wants their students to share

3. Finding lots of important school documents that need to be updated but can't be found in digital format and need to be retyped.

2. Realizing that I have overbooked our music spaces--can we build a new music wing by Tuesday?

1. Finding out that the very popular "Homework Center's" funding has been cut and must be found elsewhere

The top 10 great moments of the week:

10. Getting an unexpected hug from a teacher I had just met when I told him he didn't have recess duty

9. Watching first year teachers set up their rooms

8. Listening to kids and parents come into the building for the classroom visits on Thursday

7. Watching teachers interact and laugh about moments in the history of the school during the timeline exercise

6. Taking photos of groups of teachers for the bulletin board

5. Leaving the building after dark on Wednesday, but pretty much finished with the schedule

4. Leading meetings that are respectful of teachers' needs to meet with their teams and prepare their classrooms

3. Framing, hanging, and talking about the pictures of kids I've taught in the past 7 years

2. Meeting with teachers one on one to alleviate or at least listen to their concerns about the schedule

1. Receiving feedback from our senior staff that the atmosphere of opening days was better than it has been in a long time

Artifacts from today

Another successful teacher day today. I think one of the most important things we can do for teachers in their first days is to give them time to set up their rooms, talk to each other about the first week and acclimate new teachers to the profession. That's what we did.

I did the above, among other things. Here is an appropriate artifact from the day:

my notepad list as it stands

I thought about posting my new business card, but decided against it because I have about a million of them. I'll just send you 50 to give to your friends instead.

This is what tired is.

7:00--Arrive at school

Prepare agenda

Prepare opening remarks trying to keep them simple but strong

Ensure that all papers are in order

Hang up string for timeline activity

Decide against using string and instead use pushpins to stick cards to the wall with years ranging from 1969-2009 all the way down the front hallway in preparation for the timeline activity.

Thank the custodian for letting me get in her way to do this while she is trying to clean up.

Drink some coffee. Should have eaten breakfast instead of thinking I'd actually make it in time for the pastries at the district staff meeting.

Check in with principal and take a deep breath.

Walk over to the high school for the district meeting.

8:30

District Meeting

I smile and wave when introduced. I'm the only new vice principal.

I am in the group of people who leave during the teacher's unions meetings now. Weird.

10:00

Back at school

Finalize the welcome poster and position it in front of the door.

Post agendas, prepare opening day folders for easy collection on the way into the theatre

Gather tools for timeline activity

10:30

Teachers arrive

Welcome teachers as they come into the theatre for our schoolwide opening meeting

Listen as TM gives opening remarks for about 25 minutes.

Open with simple remarks:

-Kids first

-I'm open to feedback if it means you can teach better

-The classroom is where the magic happens, so I'll support you to ensure you can work that magic--which isn't really magic, but hard work

Ask teachers to write their name and year they came to our school along with a statement about when/why/how they came. Ask teachers to write important events in Lincoln's history on small cards--including small events, large events, funny events, personal memories, etc.

Ask teachers to walk to the main hallway and tack their cards on the wall.

Stand and watch as teachers laugh and talk and walk along the wall to take a look.

Ask teachers to return to the theatre.

Finish with a reading of the school goals.

Ask teachers to choose one word or phrase that rises to the top for them

Ask each person to say their word or phrase in succession so that we hear everyone's word--kind of like a poem. Words like thrive, equity, and balance come up a lot.

Lunch. Thanks for the pizza, PTO!

Quick lunch with pre-K folks.

Take pictures of small groups of teachers for staff bulletin board. Get to know teachers names a little bit more this way.

1:00

Staff come back together for required paperwork. Sexual harassment, Swine Flu, etc.

1:45

Release teachers and keep paraprofessionals. Try to make recess duty sound exciting and get people to sign up.

2:00

One on one meetings with staff about schedules, needs, moving offices, particular students, IEPs.

4:00

Get tomorrow's agenda ready

4:15

Meet with TM about tomorrow.

Prepare materials for tomorrow.

Sit at desk and talk to Justin on chat for 5 minutes.

5:00

Rush out to the BBQ celebrating the summer reading program I ran this summer. Eat. Think about what I really should be doing--finalizing schedules.

Gather with summer staff from reading program after dinner to look at amazing growth of high school readers' scores and feel glad I came to the BBQ after all.

10:00

Get home

Begin work on schedule

Answer emails

12:16

Finish blog.

12:18 Proofread blog. Actually, nevermind.

Tomorrow--the big day.

Tomorrow the teachers come. It occurs to me that documenting some of this work could be important in the future. Clearing my head by writing every once in a while might also be important.

Assistant Principal.

Tomorrow, the show is really on. The last couple of weeks have been spent prepping, preparing and tomorrow, the teachers officially arrive--ready to begin another school year.

I'm realizing how important the balance between honoring history and leading change with focus and purpose.

One of the things I have been working on is the schedule. I've been spending about 85% of my time on that. And I'm glad I have. I remember how frustrating it was to get my schedule, hoping that it will be possible to fit academics around all of the other programmatic elements that go into the school day. One veteran teacher, Paula, asked to sit down with me about a week ago to discuss some concerns with her schedule. I invited her into my messy office (I hadn't even unpacked yet!) to sit down and talk. She expressed her concerns--all valid. I showed her the flexibility in the schedule that was possible and, together, we came up with some changes that she was able to make after looking at how all of the pieces came together. In the end, I did my job of ensuring that the constraints of the schedule were adhered to, and she did her job of ensuring that kids had what they needed to do their best work. I'm so grateful to her for coming in--because that meeting convinced me that I should be doing the same with ALL teachers. And so, I have. I've met with teachers one on one as they've been in the building and sent each one out of the office feeling like they have control over their classrooms, and they have the best schedule possible for their students. This process, while extremely time consuming, will be the foundation for the finalization of my scheduling practice in the future. This might seem, to non-educators, to be a simple solution. But, those who have taught know that this doesn't happen often. The schedule is often set from a management perspective--just to ensure that everything fits. But we should be going a step further if we want to students to be successful--it must fit. It also must work for kids.

Tomorrow--we have the first meeting with the full faculty. Here's the plan.

Tim, our principal will open with a few words.

Then, I will lead an activity where I'll put a long timeline labeled with years out in the hallway. I'll ask teachers to take a post-it and write down their name, when they joined the staff, and something about their connection to the school when they came. I will also invite staff to write down significant events in the history of the school on the post-its. Then, all staff will head out to the hallway where they will put their post-it on the appropriate place on the timeline. The staff will then do a "gallery walk" and take a look at what has been posted. My hope is that this will quickly but effectively acknowledge the history of the school, and the experience of long-time staff members. We'll see if it works.

We'll also begin a goal-setting activity that will continue the next day.

I'm exhausted so that's all I'm writing for now. I was at school from about 7:30AM until about 8:30PM tonight getting things ready.

If someone is actually reading this post--please forgive typos and bad sentence structure. I'm not proofreading--well not tonight anyway.