What I Read in 2017

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Amy's Reflections

I love to read! Some days, weeks, months, or years I find more time to read than others.

When I was a teacher, I used to hang a blank chart on my classroom door every August. Every time I finished a book, I would add it to my chart. This was a great conversation starter with my students and colleagues, and my students often recommended books to me (and vice versa!).  I also kept a reading journal for years, as a way to improve my own teaching of reading and writing, and to jog my memory when I couldn’t remember a particular book.

I got away from that habit for a number of years. However, when I began blogging, I realized that it was an easy way to keep track of my reading habits. In 2015 I read 44 books, which was great considering my initial goal was to #read15in15.  My goal for 2016 was to beat my 2015 record, since I love to compete with myself. In 2016 I read 69 books, and I kept track of my reading experiences throughout the year.

My initial goal for this year was to beat my record from last year. I missed that goal, but I’m happy with what I did read.  Thanks to an 8-day cruise in December, I was able to read a lot in the last month of 2017.

  1. Someday Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham (audiobook)
  2. The Together Leader: Get Organized for Your Success – and Sanity! by Maia Heyck-Merlin
  3. The Case Against Sugar by Gary Taubes
  4. 1984 by George Orwell (audiobook)
  5. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
  6. The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist’s Notebook – What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love, and Healing by Bruce Perry  and Maia Szalavitz
  7. The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
  8. The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison
  9. All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda
  10. Without Annette by Jane B. Mason
  11. The Search for Baby Ruby by Susan Shreve
  12. Best Friends for Life by Andrew Norriss
  13. Faceless by Alyssa Sheinmel
  14. Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninger
  15. Bionic by Suzanne Weyn
  16. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (audiobook)
  17. You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott
  18. Night School by Lee Child
  19. Golden Prey (Lucas Davenport Series #27) by John Sanford
  20. Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
  21. D.C. Dead (Stone Barrington Series #22) by Stuart Woods
  22. Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson
  23. Unnatural Causes (Stone Barrington Series #23) by Stuart Woods
  24. Good as Gone by Amy Gentry
  25. Severe Clear (Stone Barrington Series #24) by Stuart Woods
  26. The Lying Game by Ruth Ware
  27. Social Leadia: Moving Students from Digital Citizenship to Digital Leadership by Jennifer Casa-Todd
  28. The Best Place to Work: The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace by Ron Friedman (audiobook)
  29. Collateral Damage (Stone Barrington Series #25) by Stuart Woods
  30. Unintended Consequences (Stone Barrington Series #26) by Stuart Woods
  31. Empower: What Happens When Students Own Their Learning by John Spencer and A.J. Juliani
  32. Conversational Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust and Get Extraordinary Results by Judith E. Glaser
  33. Balancing Acts by Zoe Fishman
  34. The Cove by Catherine Coulter
  35. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (audiobook)
  36. Break Your Own Rules: How to Change the Patterns of Thinking that Block Women’s Paths to Power by Jill Flynn, Kathryn Heath, and Mary Davis Holt
  37. The Girl Before by JP Delaney
  38. Doing Hard Time (Stone Barrington #27) by Stuart Woods
  39. Standup Guy (Stone Barrington #28) by Stuart Woods
  40. Learning Leadership: The Five Fundamentals of Becoming an Exemplary Leader by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
  41. The Rooster Bar by John Grisham
  42. Lovers at Heart (Treat Braden) by Melissa Foster
  43. Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brene Brown (audiobook)
  44. Shift This! How to Implement Gradual Changes for Massive Impact in Your Classroom by Joy Kirr
  45. Skipping Christmas by John Grisham (audiobook)
  46. Carnal Curiosity (Stone Barrington #29) by Stuart Woods
  47. Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich
  48. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
  49. Cut and Thrust (Stone Barrington #30) by Stuart Woods
  50. The Arrangement by Sarah Dunn

 

Here’s hoping to more great reads in 2018!

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My Word of 2018

Posted on January 1, 2018 by Amy's Reflections

happy new year

Each year, for the last three years, I have spent time in December reflecting on what I want my word for the new year to be. I go through a five-day journaling course provided by Susannah Conway. Not only does the practice ground me journaling, which I love, but it also forces me to reflect on my personal and professional goals and my aspirations for the upcoming 365 days.

Rather than set resolutions, I try to choose a word that will give me focus on a variety of goals and aspirations for the year.

In 2015 I chose mindfulness and it was exactly what I needed.

After a rough year physically, I chose rejuvenate in 2016 to help me heal.

2017 was a year of challenge and I loved the push it gave me personally, professionally, and as an active citizen and seeker of social justice in our world.

As I began my reflection for this year’s word, I was focused on five potentials. One of the activities you do with each word is to define what it means to you and look up the dictionary definition. When I wrote my own meaning of these five words, one particular word kept popping up over and over again. But as I got to the final day, I still liked two of the words from my original list along with that sixth word that kept popping up.

One of the gifts of this idea, is that there is no right or wrong way to select your word (or words or phrase) for the year.  This is a personal activity meant to guide my own reflection.  Therefore, I decided I wold find a way to incorporate all three of those words into my 2018 focus.

My word of 2018 is… POSSIBILITY.  The supporting words to help guide my year of possibility are… ADVENTURES THAT STRETCH.

Possibility 2018

I look forward to all that this year will bring and to a year of possibility.  If you have a word or focus for 2018, I’d love to hear about it and your process in the comments. I plan to blog about my word throughout the year, so stay tuned to see what adventures stretch me!

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Another Year of Blogging- 2017

Posted on December 22, 2017 by Amy's Reflections

December is often a time for Top Ten Lists, reflections, and preparations for goals and aspirations for the new year. I like to use this time to reflect on what I blogged about and what I want my blog to become.

Two years ago I picked my favorite posts from 2015. Last year I created a mini survey about my blog stats for the year. This year I am updating that survey to capture more about my blogging habits for the year. Feel free to play along in the comments!

My favorite blog topics this year:

  • Challenge Check-ins (my word of the year)
  • Time Management for Leaders Series
  • Building Capacity

My most read blog posts from this year:

The month in which I published the most posts:

  • January – 6 posts!
  • May, September and October tied for second place with 5 posts!

The top countries where my blog readers live (outside of the US):

  • Philippines
  • Canada
  • United Kingdom
  • Australia

The reasons I keep blogging:

  • for my own reflection
  • to share my learning
  • to keep track of what I read
  • I love writing!

Blogging goals for 2018:

  • Keep reflecting!
  • Keep writing!
  • Keep reading!
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Tell Me More

Posted on December 19, 2017 by Amy's Reflections

I just finished listening to the audiobook version of Brene Brown’s Braving the Wilderness and I’m still thinking about an idea that she discussed related to conflict.  In her book, Brown cites conflict research by Dr. Michelle Buck. Buck uses the term “conflict transformation,” saying that it is about “creating deeper understanding” that requires “perspective-taking.” This is different from our typical view of conflict resolution – where one person usually wins or both people feel like they lose a little when they find a compromise. 

The idea of conflict transformation includes rethinking conflict as a way to get to know someone’s perspective on a deeper level.  When most of us are in the center of a conflict, our fight or flight instincts kick in and we either prepare to stand our grand and fight or we run away from the conflict. Buck’s research advises us to transform a conflict by saying one simple phrase… “tell me more.”

By asking someone to tell you more, you will learn their perspective, why they believe what they believe, and it might often help you come to a more natural place in your conflict. It also allows you get to know the person on a deeper level.

I use the phrase “tell me more” or “say more about that” in coaching conversations. Coaching is often about listening closely, and once you get someone talking, you want them to keep talking.  When we talk, we often solve our own problems, realize our own mistakes, and discover new ideas within ourselves. If I am in a coaching conversation with a teacher or a new administrator, I begin with an open-ended, reflective question. This usually provides the space for my coachee to open up about his practice. But after he feels he has answered the question, he will often look to me to for confirmation. Instead of adding my own thoughts, this is the perfect time to say, “say more about that”. This simple phrase gives my coachee permission to keep talking, keep reflecting, and to address his own challenges.

Whether in a conflict or a coaching conversation, I encourage you to use the phrase “tell me more” to provide someone the open space they need. You will both benefit!

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The Value of Reflection

Posted on December 10, 2017 by Amy's Reflections

While reflection might not seem like a relevant topic for my Time Management for Leaders series, stay with me for a moment!

One of the ways in which leaders often lose time, or get sidetracked, is when everything is done at the last-minute, forcing you to make split-second decisions.  Some of these decisions end up being the wrong ones, which then causes a leader to have to backtrack, apologize, fix problems, or spin their wheels.

When we take time to pause and reflect, we give ourselves time in the future. A simple dictionary definition of reflection is “serious thought or consideration”. I know that when I take the time to thoughtfully consider something now, it saves me time (in mistakes, errors in judgment, or just feeling rushed) later.

In a not-work-specific example, I am currently reflecting on what my word for 2018 might be. Each year around this time, I begin a journaling activity designed to help me select a word that will represent the coming year. Knowing that this word will be a focus for 365 days, I take the process seriously and I don’t rush to pick the first word that comes to mind. For anyone interested in this task, I use the materials created and provide by Susannah Conway. I want to select a word that will help provide me direction both personally and professionally.  My previous words have been:

  • 2015- Mindfulness
  • 2016- Rejuvenate
  • 2017- Challenge

Bringing us back to the topic of Time Management for Leaders,  I encourage leaders to practice this important phrase:

I’m going to have to think about that and get back to you.

This is something I learned to say as a Principal, when it felt like people were constantly coming to you, expecting immediate decisions, about 150 times a day. Some decisions are easy and can be made in the moment. Other decisions should never be made without serious thought and consideration. A leader needs to distinguish between the two, and learn to take time for reflection when it matters.

For more thoughts on how leaders can built-in reflection as a habit, from A to Z, feel free to visit my Abecedary of Reflection.  I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas about reflection in the comments. And stay tuned for what my word of 2018 will be!

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Time Management for Leaders Series

Calendar 911

No More Inbox Ailment

Making Time for Classroom Visits

Organizing Resources to Share

Working with an Assistant

Taking Time to Build or Strengthen Relationships

Good Leaders Don’t Do It All Alone

 

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A Year of Challenge

Posted on December 2, 2017 by Amy's Reflections

My word of the year is challenge. In January I wrote this about the focus this year:

Here is what challenge means to me and what I hope it will bring in 2017.

  • Professionally, I want to challenge myself to continue to expand my skills and grow as a leader
  • Personally, I want to challenge myself as a writer, to get more focused on writing a book and using my writing as a form of action
  • As a citizen, I feel we will face many challenges in the coming year and I am ready – I feel like these challenges will be a call to action and I’m prepared to take action

In September I reflected on how challenge had manifested itself professionally, personally, and as a citizen. Since that post,

Professionally, I have challenged myself:

  • to serve in a formal mentor capacity.
  • facilitating new experiences, such as our district’s creation of a new mission and belief statements  as well as teacher leadership opportunities.

Personally, I have challenged myself:

  • to slow down! After an unexpected leg injury, I have spent the last month in a walking boot, forced to slow down, ask for help, rely on others, and develop more patience.  This was a big challenge for me, but I feel stronger for having lived it!
  • my book has a few more pages written, and a new outline, but it’s been a challenge to get refocused on that after the injury.

As a citizen, I have challenged myself:

  • to continue to communicate with my government representatives about my beliefs.
  • to take a greater interest in educational advocacy through various organizations.

I continue to appreciated that challenge was the right word for 2017. I haven’t thought about a new word for 2018 yet, but I am looking forward to that process in the coming weeks.

challenge-1

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November ’17 Reading Update

Posted on November 30, 2017 by Amy's Reflections

This month I read 5 books, bringing my annual total up to 41. My goal was to beat my 2016 record, but that is far away, so my new goal is to just enjoy whatever I read between now and December 31, 2017.

  • The Girl Before by JP Delaney – I saw this book recommended on Julie’s blog and knew I needed to read it. I love stories told from different character’s perspectives, and I love mysteries, and this was a good combination of both.  The chapters were told from the perspective of Emma (past) and Jane (current), two different women who lived in the same house at different times.  The mysteries of the house, the architect, and the women all unfold in bits and pieces and this was such a quick read I finished it on one Sunday. I haven’t done that in a while!
  • Doing Hard Time (Stone Barrington #27) by Stuart Woods – This story was a carryover from the last one, with some Russian mobsters out to get Stone, this time by trying to kill his son. Stone’s son, along with two friends, graduated college and moved to LA to begin their movie-making career. The Russian mobsters make this tricky, as Teddy Fay, former CIA man in hiding, saves the say over and over again!
  • Standup Guy (Stone Barrington #28) by Stuart Woods – While I enjoyed this book, I was surprised by how much of the story was about characters other than Stone and Dino, such as a recently release prisoner with a ton of money to hide and spend. I was surprised by Stone’s stupidity in this one, getting conned a few times by a woman he was attracted to; he doesn’t usually get fooled so easily.
  • Learning Leadership: The Five Fundamentals of Becoming an Exemplary Leader by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner – I loved The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner during my doctoral studies, so I was excited to this book by them recently. I found this to be practice advice for new leaders wanting to grow. I appreciated the self-coaching actions with reflective questions at the end of each chapter, and I forced myself to complete many of them in my own leadership journal (which I’ve kept for many years now). I learn well when I take time to reflect on my learning, so this forced me to pause and reflect throughout the reading. The five fundamentals, which are explored in detail in the book, are: believe you can, aspire to excel, challenge yourself, engage support, and practice deliberately.
  • The Rooster Bar by John Grisham – I can’t remember the last Grisham book I read, though I loved them for years and years.  This was a fun read, and different than my usual quick mysteries.  Mark, Todd, and Zola decide to quit law school in their final semester, after coming to the realization that their school was a pay-for-degree program with little success in helping students pass the bar exam and become real lawyers.  Their story is one of twists, turns, and lots of law breaking as they navigate their way through crushing student loans, deportation, and a friend’s suicide.  I found myself routing for them to succeed, even as they broke law after law for their own benefit.  It was an interesting story!
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October ’17 Reading Update

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Amy's Reflections

This month I read 4 books, bringing my 2017 total to 36. I’d love to hear what you are reading lately.

  • Balancing Acts by Zoe Fishman – This was a cute, fiction, chic lit book I found on sale for my Nook, and it was the perfect vacation read! Four women meet up at their 10-year college reunion, and strike up a deeper friendship than they had in college, centered around developing a new yoga practice. Each women is in a different phase of relationship and career struggles, and as their friendships blossom, they find clarified in their lives.  It was a sweet story.
  • The Cove by Catherine Coulter – This author is new to me, and this story was one of two that I bought in an e-book package. It is a series and I’m excited to read more and see which characters continue in the series. The Cove is about a young woman, Sally, who escaped an abusive father, a twister husband, and being locked up in a sanitarium, only to find more danger awaiting her when she arrives at her aunt’s quaint town in Oregon. She soon connects with an FBI agent, Quinlan, who was searching for her, but realized he was looking for something bigger. There were a lot of secondary characters, including the bizarre town, and some danger throughout. I enjoyed the story!
  • The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood – I listened to the audio version of this book, read by Claire Danes. I haven’t yet watched the TV series based on the book, but I want to now that I know the story. I have always loved a good dystopian novel, though they are usually more in the Young Adult realm. This was eery because it was about adults, because it was written so long ago but reminds me of 1984 and other connections to some modern-day politics, and because it wasn’t exactly what I expected. It was great to hear the story from Offred’s point of view, a handmaid in the middle of this bizarre new world order. The novel gives you hope that the times change or that she escapes, since we are listening to her retell the tales. I appreciate the end chapters, one told by a researcher who found her tapes years later and transcribed them, and one by the author explaining her thought process as she created this vivid world.
  • Break Your Own Rules: How to Change the Patterns of Thinking that Block Women’s Paths to Power by Jill Flynn, Kathryn Heath, and Mary Davis Holt – I received this book at the culmination of Women in Leadership initiative I participated in last year. As part of that initiative, I had a mentor I worked with virtually, I attended the AASA annual conference, and I interacted with the 19 other mentees and 9 other mentors in this national initiative. What I appreciated about this book is how the authors, who are women leaders who coach other women leaders, lay out the mistakes women often make, and then line them up with new rules. These new rules help you change your mindset about your role within your own organization, your career aspirations, and how to achieve your goals. The section on politics really resonated with me, because I’ve always been someone who said, “I don’t do politics”. In reality, we all DO politics. The authors explain very clearly how to get to know the way decisions are made in your organization and how to become a part of that world.

*I also reread most of The Innovator’s Mindset, since I’ve been participating in #IMMOOC.

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Empowered Leaders Empower Learners (#IMMOOC Season 3, Week 4)

Posted on October 15, 2017 by Amy's Reflections

I am participating in a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) with hundreds of other educators across the globe, about The Innovator’s Mindset by George Couros. These are my reflections for Season 3, Week 3 of #IMMOOC, and the prompt:

Relationships and collaboration are crucial to innovation, but what about working in isolation? Where does that come into play?

As I reflected on George’s words, and this prompt, I was thinking about the importance of the relationships between a teacher and his or her principal/ administration. If a teacher wants to take a risk in her classroom, to try to innovate, she needs to know that she has the support of her administration. If a teacher feels she might “get in trouble” if she steps out of the typical box, she will be less willing to even consider taking a risk. And if that is how a teacher feels, how will her students feel about innovation?

Our school leaders need to be empowered in order to empower innovative learning in their school systems.

“Demanding compliance will not effectively prepare learners for being productive citizens today, nor in their future.” ~ p. 103, The Innovator’s Mindset

The quote above jumped out at me, not just about K-12 students, but also about educators. If administrators demand compliance from educators, they will demand compliance of students, and we will perpetuate our current system. If teachers feel supported and empowered to take risks on behalf of student learning, student and adult learners will benefit!

So as I work with and coach administrators, I hope to inspire them to empower teachers, through collaborative, trusting relationships. Taking risks is… risky! I want to create systems where learners feel confident that they are not risky anything life-shattering by trying something new and different. And as I talk about in my video reflection, posted to Twitter earlier today (and linked below), I hope that my young nephews end up in classrooms where they are empowered in their own passion-based learning!

My video reflection on engaged vs empowered learners and my hopes for my 3 & 4-year old nephews! 

 

 

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Good Leaders Don’t Do It All Alone

Posted on October 14, 2017 by Amy's Reflections

In my Time Management for Leaders Series I try to share advice for new leaders, leaders in new roles, and leaders who are working to get organized and efficient with their time, in order to serve as instructional leaders. In order to coach like an instructional leader, you need to control your time and not let it control you! You can see the entire series at the end of this post.

Today I want to be transparent about something that might be a secret to new leaders – good leaders don’t do it all alone. You may see a good leader and think:

  • she is always so together!
  • he is so organized!
  • I wish was as efficient as she is!
  • how does he do it all?!?!
  • I could never be as good as she!

The secret is that most of the good leaders you admire have a strong support system behind them. You may not see all of their system, but know that a system is there, supporting each and every strong leader. None of us can do this amazing and challenging work alone.  Here are some of the support systems that you can develop to help you grow as a leader. The stronger your support system, the better you will be able to manage your time.

  • An assistant – I dedicated an entire post in this series to working with an assistant. Please read it here for more details. Your assistant can and should be a huge part of your support system, keeping you organized, on schedule, focused on the work, meeting deadlines, and available for your community.
  • A way to keep notes – Have you ever walked down the hallway, had a teacher ask you something, and by the time you got back to your office you forgot what you needed to do? Every leader needs a way to keep notes, so that deadlines are met, communication happens consistently, and you are known as reliable. I personally use Evernote, because it is an app that I can access on any device at any time. I often only have my phone with me when I am visiting sites. I can take notes in Evernote on my phone and review the notes on my computer when I return to my office.  I know other leaders who carry one notebook with them everywhere. They have color codes and post it notes to help them find their To Do lists and keep track of the notes they keep. Where you keep your notes is only important to you; how you use and access them to follow through is important to those you lead. If you don’t have a system to keep notes yet, ask other leaders what they use.
  • A mentor – Very few leaders have gotten to their positions without the coaching support of a mentor (or a few!). Mentors can provide us with constructive feedback, advice, and support in our current roles and development to help us achieve future goals. I have found it helpful to have mentors in the positions to which I aspire, as well as long-term mentors who have watched me grow as a leader.
  • Job-Alike Peers – Your peers, in job-alike roles, can provide you support in how to do specific tasks, how to handle challenging situations, how to work with a difficult colleague, and they can cover for you when you need to be in two places at once. When I was an Assistant Principal, I worked with number of other AP’s. Having a positive, trusting, working relationship with the other people in your office can help you, as a leader, continue to manage your time and be organized. You can also rely on peers in other schools to help you better understand your role or the day-to-day challenges. Sometimes it is helpful to hear how someone else handles the same situations you face in your role.
  • Family & Friends – I hope that every leader has family and friends he or she can rely on. These are the people you are happy to see at the end of the day, the people who encourage you to take time off during the weekend to play, and the people you want to spend your free time with.  If you work 24/7, you are not making time for family and friends. Your life can be richer thanks to these people.
  • Physical & Mental Health – A good leader knows that in order to take care of others, you must take care of yourself. While many of us struggle to find time for our own physical and mental health, this is important. Part of time management is carving out specific times for you to engage in activities that support your physical and mental health, whether they be trips to the gym, walking dates with friends, meditation, exercise classes, mindful coloring, art classes, or anything else you need.

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What else is in your support system? 

Time Management for Leaders Series

Calendar 911

No More Inbox Ailment

Making Time for Classroom Visits

Organizing Resources to Share

Working with an Assistant

Taking Time to Build or Strengthen Relationships

 

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