The Hungry Educator

1. "It's just the kids and I." After my last post in February, I set out to make some changes because I realized that the staff did not feel empowered  and that change was necessary in order to move forward. As I searched for ways to empower the staff it became evident that some teacher's strengths were being overlooked. The methodology and pedagogy behind technology in the classroom are new to many teachers in my school.  It turns out that there are several staff members that can give digital literacy & pedagogy workshops to their colleagues. Their willingness to do so provided opportunities for staff to feel empowered and proved to be successful. Why did I bring this up? Well, it opened the lines of communication amongst staff members and enabled them to collaborate. Unit planning no longer takes place in isolation; collaboration is becoming more common place. If someone would have asked me if this kind of collaboration could occur two years ago I would have ...

This month's question was "What are ways that you are INTENTIONAL in allowing your staff to feel empowered?" To be honest, I have not spent much time thinking about that previous to this post. My days seem to be filled with putting out 'fires', making plans for students/staff/parents, and supporting learning from one moment to the next. So I asked a few staff members what they thought. Two questions came to mind: 1) Do you ever feel empowered? If yes, when? How do you use the power or leadership opportunity that has been made possible? 2) What can I do to facilitate opportunities for staff to feel that they are empowered? Interestingly enough, the majority of the responses for #1 stated that they do not feel empowered. The responses were sad, but sadly not shocking. I thought that I had given a few staff members opportunities to assert themselves as leaders, but this did not come across from their perspectives. A hard pill to swallow, but definitely food fo...

As a new administrator I keep wondering, "How can I do all that needs to be done in the hours that I have? Is it possible to get everything done? How do others do it?" Late hours, lack of sleep, and paper work seem to pile up. I am sure that many of you have been in this position at one time or another. Making lists, scheduling activities, and doing work during non-student hours are great strategies but, in the end I was still unable to achieved all that I set out to do by the end of the day. I then decided to refelct on how I spend my time. I quickly realized that I was becoming a "Yes-How-Can-I-Help-You-Right-Away-Leader". This was the main reason that I was not achieving my daily goals. I needed to come up with a better system that did not require me to do everything, all the time, right away. This means that I would need to look beyond the list to come up with a viable solution. Basically a prioritizing system that is basic enough for me to put into practice...

Why should I give you a chance? Can I rely on you? Why should I trust you? Have you ever felt like those questions were/are the unsaid or unheard 'elephant in the room'? Over the past 3 and a half years I have been on a journey to build credibility with my staff and colleagues. I entered the school not only as a new addition to the staff, but new to the position. It seemed like I would never get to a place where people could trust me or feel like I was able to help support the staff effectively. I have to say that this has been a difficult blog for me to write. I am not sure if I have figured out the formula for credibility. At this stage in my career I find myself reflecting on my practices weekly and wondering what areas need to change. With all the recent changes,  my credibility is definitely on my mind. The more articles I read and the more people I spoke to, made me realize that I need to hone in on specific areas if I want to grow in terms of my leadership. I ...

This year I want to focus on enhancing my pedagogical development and learning how to encourage positive change within my school. Just like my first teaching post, I entered administration excited and feeling like I could help everyone all the time. Then, reality set in and I realized that I could only affect change with the students, teachers, and parents who wanted to accept my help. My second realization is that positive change (in terms of school climate) does not necessarily mean big impressive projects or initiatives. So I asked myself, what is the backbone of change? There are so many components that make effect change effective within a school. I narrowed down three that I thought that I could work on this year. 1. Consistency. This means no surprises. Staff, students, and parents should have a general idea of what decisions will be made based on their rights, responsibilities, and agreed on school guidelines. The  school community should expect me to be equi...

I have to confess, upon receiving this blog challenge I resorted to research. There was a lot of literature about why parents should get involved. There were also suggestions given as to how you can get parents from middle-upper  class communities involved. Gaining parent involvement in a low socioeconomic community has always been a challenge for me (and my research did not result successfully in this area). I have been very fortunate to work with an incredible staff. Our staff continually forges relationships with the students and their parents. Keeping the lines of communication open through positive feedback and social media seems to have increased parental awareness of school information and activities. It is great to have parents commenting on facebook posts of activities in the school or even ask questions about school life. This has proven to be an open door to communication. In order to further forge relationships with parents we had to get creative. We invit...

I use to dread serious conversations with staff. I always felt like I needed to handle everything right away. I have learnt that time is not always my enemy. I can report an incident to a parent and explain that I will call them back when I have fully investigated; only then will I come to a final decision on the matter at hand. In the same respect I can let a staff member know that I will be addressing the issue at a later time so that they can reflect on what took place. I find that this helps me achieve the best outcome possible. Another misconception I had was that administrators operate in isolation. Brainstorm solutions to tricky/uncomfortable situations with other administrators. Doing the latter has allowed me to tap into   wisdom, knowledge, and experience that have been invaluable. In most circumstances others have faced similar situations or can give a different perspective because they are looking in from the outside. When it finally comes t...

Professional development can be a sticky issue at times. Many teachers and administrators want to enhance their best practices, but there a plethora of obstacles that tend to get in the way. Time is a major one that many people concern themselves with. On occasion something special/interesting crosses my path (e.g. I just got back from the Google Summit in Montreal #gafesummit) and all I want to do is continue the Google training... But when? The second major obstacle is the professional development itself. If I manage to obtain a few sacred hours or a day or two(if i am really lucky), my expectations of the training are high. I want to walk away with a new idea/thought that I can use to further my growth and the growth of others around me. With time and relevance setting the mood,  I try to place myself in my teachers shoes. I wonder, 'Why would/should teachers journey with me down the professional development path?' Today I am trying to enhance myself as a digital ...

Where did the time go? Is that a question that you ask yourself as well? Three are 24 hours in a day which should be plenty, but sometimes it seems like the day has simply escaped me. Let me give you an example of what I experience from time to time. I wake up early and get a head start on my day. A list of to-dos is neatly placed on my desk. I start chipping away at the list and get into a rhythm. The list is diminishing. Then, a visitor appears at my door. We chat momentarily, and that becomes the beginning of the steady flow of traffic to my office. The day is filled with classroom visits, hallway discussions, emails, visits to the office and so much more. Before I know it, the last bell indicating the end of the day is ringing. A plethora of extracurricular activities begins, students linger, parents call and my list is long forgotten, until my 2 hour commute home. How can I get everything done? Here are a few of my tricks. 1) Dealing with the urgen...

I think that we can all agree that TRUST is something that is valued within our school walls.   How can a new administrator work towards building trust with a staff?  I wanted to think of a great response to blog about, but I simply can't. I am that new administrator (new to the school and new to the profession), so I am trying to slowly earn my staff's trust. Instead of fumbling through this I decided to ask some staff members what they thought. This blog entry is their answers to the question. Michèle "Being open minded, non judgemental, being a good listener, appreciative and above all, accept them the way they are and work on making the best out of them.  Make them feel that you are all part of the same team." Amanda "I base my trust on actions and consistency. In terms of how to work towards building trust, I guess it means making yourself vulnerable at times, and allowing yourself to put people in situations where you see how the deal with said s...