Happy File

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Amy's Reflections

happy writer

Do you have a happy file? What is in your happy file?

To me, a happy file is a collection of positive notes, emails, records, and pictures that celebrate the work I’ve done, the ways I’ve been appreciated or thanked by others, and the reasons that I am in the career I am in, with the passion that I have. Somewhere in the middle of my first year of teaching, when I was having a rough time with some student behavior, a colleague told me to start a happy file. There were times during my years of teaching that I would need to look through my happy file… just to get reconnected, reminded of my vision, and refocused on the positive despite some random negative of the day.

As a principal, my happy file grew quickly- an elementary principal is a rock star to young children, so I was never without cute thank you notes and pictures telling me how beautiful I am. 😉 There were some lonely, dark nights in my office when that happy file truly helped me be happy within the darkness.

Sunflower

After a recent stretch of some disheartening stress, I realized I hadn’t thought about my happy file in a LONG TIME. I love the work I do and have been blessed with an amazing experience over the last two and half years! There have literally been so many good moments and positive experiences that they have easily overshadowed a random bad meeting here and there. I work with a great team of hard-working, dedicated, smart leaders whom I admire greatly.

But every once in awhile, the negative can creep in slowly over time until it becomes a dark cloud over you that taints the overall picture you have every day. When I realize I have hit that point, I know it’s time to take out the happy file. Today, part of my happy file includes some outside leadership inspiration- quotes, articles, stories, blogs, books, pins- from other leaders who have overcome adversity or challenging times. It also includes pictures that just make me happy.

I will close with some of my happiness inspiration. I’d love to hear some from you too!

Confront Issues and Challenges – Not Each Other.
                                                                  – Suzanne Mayo Frindt

Accept the challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.                                                                                     – George S. Patton 

The difference between the impossible and possible lies in a person’s determination.

 

create your own sunshine Vessel quote

 

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[Abecedary of Reflection] Think Time

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Amy's Reflections

T: Think Time

Why pick one “t” word when you can pick two?!

CCC licensed work from Pixaby by geralt

CCC licensed work from Pixaby by geralt

As I move towards the end of this reflective journal, I am reminded of how fast time flies. There is never enough of it when you really need it. [Yet Mondays often seem to crawl, don’t they?!] I have written about time in relation to reflection before:

In S: “There is never enough time. We all have the same 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, and 7 days in a week.” Then I reminded myself to SLOW DOWN!

In O: “Often when I hear people talk about the reasons [or excuses] they do not reflect much, time is mentioned.” I went on to share how I organize my calendar to provide time for reflection.  

In M: “We can only truly think about our own thinking if we take the time.” 

In L: I mention the need to take time to truly listen to others.

In C: I discussed the need to make time to reflect, especially during times of change, which are often stressful.

In A: “I think it is important to take the time to stop, be grateful for what you have, and appreciate the hard work YOU put into getting to this point.”

Clearly, I have been repetitive over the last five months! But I think it is important to note that when you are trying to focus on reflection, you must consider time. Making the time to reflect, finding the time to close the door and read/write/ view/ think in order to enhance your leadership and learning. Regardless of whether I am blogging, writing in my private journal, or reflecting with colleagues, I will continue to add “Think time” to my “To do list”.

Reflective questions to consider:

  • How do you build in think time?
  • When you feel short on time, how do you prioritize?

Abecedary of Reflection

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What I’m Reading (Volume 4)

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Amy's Reflections

I love reading. I started these updates at the beginning of my doctoral journey, mostly to ease my personal guilt about having no time to read fiction or read for fun. Now my typical reading has expanded in so many ways.

Here is a round up of what I’ve been reading lately:

  • Twitter: I just discovered two hashtags that I am loving: #titletalk and #growthmindset. No matter the time of day, I can find wisdom and inspiration from colleagues near and far on these hashtags! Plus I FINALLY got myself onto Tweetdeck, which makes participating in chats SO much easier! Who knew it was a google app on Chrome?!
  • Collective Bargaining Agreements (aka contracts between unions and school districts): For my current HR doctoral class, we have to do an in-depth analysis of both the Certificated and Classified CBAs of our district. If you have never read an entire contract from front to back, it’s fascinating reading! If you are a site or district leader, it is necessary reading. I don’t recommend you ever go into a meeting with a teacher who knows the contract better than you.
  • Pinterest: I am a Pinterest fanatic! I love the pictures and quotes and inspiration I can find just in a few moments of  viewing. One of my favorite boards to add to lately is a board simply called “learning”.

never stop learning

  • The Boy on the Porch by Sharon Creech: After seeing someone tweet about this on #titletalk, I knew I wanted to read it. I love everything Creech writes and Memorial Day weekend was the perfect time for a quick, YA novel. This is a sweet story told in very short chapters that often include very long, detailed, elaborate sentences. When I finished it, I was happy and yet I wanted more, which is a sign of a great story to me!
  • Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate Dicamillo: Another author whose work I love, this book won the 2014 Newbery Medal and caught my eye as I was searching for another young book to enjoy. My cape-wearing friend Barb will love the superhero idea within this fun story.

What are you reading these days?  Any recommendations?

 

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When Worlds Collide

Posted on May 24, 2014 by Amy's Reflections

This summer I am taking two non Curriculum and Instruction (C & I) courses in my doctoral program. We are studying Human Resources and School Law and Finance. When I took similar classes in my Master’s program, I had a focused interested: learn the basics of what a principal needs to know to run a school. Now that I’m in a different position in my career and my studies, with new aspirations for my future, I have a very different focus. I want to learn how to bring these worlds together.

Most districts are split up into some version of three areas: C & I, HR, and Business. Working at the district level, I now know how important it is to have your HR and your Business departments work in collaboration with your Curriculum department. Curriculum leaders often feel like the stars of the world- making key decisions about what and how student learning will occur, improve, and change. But if we do not have the support of our HR department, to ensure we have high quality teachers and leaders in our schools, we cannot be as successful. In addition, without the financial support from the Business department, curricular goals cannot be met.

I believe that a Superintendent plays a critical role in ensuring that her (or his) Cabinet members work together in conjunction, all in support of a common vision centered on equitable educational success for all students.

I’m looking forward to a summer of learning more about leadership in HR and Law/Finance.

Scales of balance

  • Have you ever considered a leadership role in HR or Business?
  • How are these departments connected and supportive of one another in your school district?
  • How important is it for a Superintendent to have knowledge and experience in all of these areas?
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Things I’m Loving Friday, Volume 5

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Amy's Reflections

I enjoy sharing a quick list of the learning and leading (and some fun) “things” that are capturing my attention, sparking my curiosity, or pushing my thinking. I love reading Barb’s versions as well! I would love it if you would play along by adding the things you are loving this week in the comments section.

This week, here are the things I am loving:

Firefighters: I live in Southern California, and though I was not directly affected by all of the wildfires that broke out last week, they still impacted me. The pictures were frightening, the idea of arsonsists disheartening, but the bravery of firefighters… outstanding! During 100+degree heat, with 9 fires raging across our county, firefighters from all over came to fight these fires and save homes and lives. I know I speak for so many when I say THANK YOU!

 

Twitter: I have spoken of my love of Twitter before. This week, I love that Twitter helped me get immediate information about the SD wildfires quicker than any other outlet. I also love that a Twitter chat with my colleagues sparked some recent tweets by them. In addition, I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the connections I make through Twitter. Whether I’m tweeting about blogging or my dissertation or social justice, I can find a colleague near or far to expand my thinking in new ways. I’m still trying to convince others (colleagues and professors, most recently) to find their own professional value in Twitter.

Feedly: I was very sad when Google took away the Reader feature. I thought my favorite daily blog reading would disappear or get lost in the shuffle. Once I made the transition to Feedly, my sadness disappeared. It’s been a long time, but I still love how easy Feedly is to use.

  • What are you loving lately?
  • What blogs are in your daily must read lists?

Previous Things I’m Loving Friday posts:

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[Abecedary of Reflection] Slow Down

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Amy's Reflections

S: Slow Down

As I get closer to the end of the alphabet and this abecedary journey, I am reminding myself of the power and importance of slowing down. While I had a list of possible “s” words ready for this post awhile ago (share, strength, success, systems), the idea of slowing down is most important to me at this moment of reflection.

There is never enough time. We all have the same 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, and 7 days in a week.  What we choose to do within those minutes, hours, and days is what counts in the long run. And sometimes the best thing I can do with my time is slow down and reflect on where I’ve been and where I want to go next.

Bryce Canyon, UT

On a recent hiking trip to Zion and Bryce Canyon in Utah (with two of my loyal blog readers & relatives!), I had the opportunity to slow down. We were hiking every day (and reaching 25,000 steps a day!) and it felt like we were moving all the time. However, out in nature, without the daily stresses of work, school, and life, my mind was able to slow down. It is rare that my mind’s warp speed (similar to my speech speed!) decelerates. Not only was I able to recognize this rare feeling, but I was able to reflect on the benefits.

  • My back pain was surprisingly non-existent throughout our entire trip.
  • I slept better than usual (I must attribute this more to the physical work I was doing than the mental reflections!).
  • My daily allergy cough was not its usual bother.
  • I had an amazing time, in both the beautiful weather of Zion and the snow, hail, and 32 degree weather that surprised us in Bryce!

Now if only I could build in vacations more often… 😉  For now, I will add reminders in my calendar to “slow down” as I do to “reflect”.

Zion- Top of Angel's Landing

Reflective questions to consider:

  • How do you slow down?
  • What do you notice about yourself when you are able to slow down?
  • How do you quiet your mind to help with deeper reflection?

Abecedary of Reflection

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[Mentor Text Monday] Tweets

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Amy's Reflections

I haven’t posted a Mentor Text post in a while, due to most of my reading being dense research articles. I remind my readers that research articles are not the type of writing you want students or teachers, or most normal adults, to use as models of great, intriguing writing. However, I have also been reading a lot of tweets lately.

A study of how tweets are written would be beneficial for anyone new to twitter. 14o characters does not provide you a lot of space in which to share a powerful message. But there are ways it can be done.

Take this tweet for example:

This person, who I had never heard of before she was retweeted by someone I follow, has a show on the OWN network called “Fix My Life”. Notice how she turned her show title into a hashtag (that is a phrase following the # sign) at the end of her tweet. Her use of capitalization calls attention to her point. You can also tell that she was running out of space because there are no excess spaces after punctuation!

Here is another tweet:

Love how this promotes a GROWTH MINDSET! “This is helpful” via @RCNowellVP #geniushour #edchat #edreform #sd36learn pic.twitter.com/aCx2lfrJGZ

What I like about this tweet is how much information is crammed into such a tiny space. First there is the author’s opinion, including CAPS for emphasis (and FYI, growth mindset was a trigger for me to read this one closely!). Then he gives credit to @RCNowellVP who obviously shared the original picture (which didn’t show up when I embedded the tweet above, but which is seen when you are viewing this directly on twitter). Next the author adds in four hashtags to clue in others he feels might find this information useful. Finally, the picture is attached for all to see.

And here is a more personal tweet in response to one of my own:

@DirectorAmy 🙂 Made my day! Happy discussing to all!

Elena Aguilar is the author of The Art of Coaching, a book I have been using as a professional resource with the coaches with whom I work. Whenever we have a twitter chat about our reading, I reference her at least once. It is still a thrill when she responds. But to read her genuine, authentic response above, with no ego or agenda, made my day right back. 😉

Tweets can include:

  • words
  • phrases
  • hashtags
  • pictures
  • graphics
  • links to blogs, articles, references, sources
  • lots of meaning
  • lots of fluff

What kinds of tweets do you enjoy reading?  Please find me on Twitter (@AmyLIllingworth) so we can discuss mentor tweets more!

Does your classroom, school, or district have a Twitter account?

How do you teach students and teachers about valuable Twitter messages?

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[Abecedary of Reflection] Resiliency

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Amy's Reflections

R: Resiliency

CCC licensed work on flickr by Alan Levine

CCC licensed work on flickr by Alan Levine

Leadership is often about resiliency… standing up in the face of adversity, getting back up after being pushed down, planting the seeds of hope in what appears to be a field of rocks or concrete or unturned stones.

To me, resiliency is not something that can be taught, but is something that must be learned, through experience. As a new principal, I often struggled with not only the big challenges, but also the day-to-day frustrations. Being an elementary principal can be isolating and lonely. Over time I developed the leadership skills to handle the ups and downs. I also developed my own resiliency.

Was it always easy  Absolutely not!

Am I a stronger leader today because of the adversity I have overcome  Absolutely!

I hope that today we develop resiliency in our leaders, our teachers, and our students. The first Mathematical Practice called out in the Common Core State Standards asks us to help our students learn how to “Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.” Wouldn’t it be great if all of our students, teachers, and leaders had this skill? It is not easy, and it is not taught in one lesson. But it is valuable and necessary as we move forward in a global society where the answers won’t always be handed to us by an “expert”.

Reflective questions to consider:

  • How do you develop resiliency in others?
  • What challenges have you overcome?

Abecedary of Reflection

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THE Debate

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Amy's Reflections

Common Core.  Common Core State Standards. CCSS.

In some circles, these are dreaded words  I have read the rants, heard many complaints, held my tongue, and waited. I have also responded when I felt it appropriate. I have come to a place now that I feel confident in sharing my own personal opinions about Common Core, especially in light of all the misinformed statements I have seen come up recently.

To me:

  • The CCSS are a set of rigorous, academic standards.
  • The CCSS are not a test.
  • The CCSS will be assessed by a variety of tests (SBAC and PAARC are the two main consortiums). Liking/hating the standards and the test are two different things and they should be separated.

The Common Core State Standards have potential:

  • To be successful IF implemented by a system that designed a clear, focused plan for implementation that includes communication, support, and TIME for teachers to learn and plan with understanding!
  • To be completely unsuccessful if implemented without all of the above (as I have sadly seen/heard of happening in districts across the country).
  • To help us close the achievement gap and provided more equity in systems where students of color and students from poverty have consistently been left behind.
  • To open the doors for nation-wide discussions about our public educational system.
  • To enhance national collaboration among educators.

ALL of our children deserve to leave their K-12 education ready for either college or a career of their choosing. All of our children deserve the opportunity to read a variety of texts, think critically, write analytically, and speak eloquently. I know many adults who still need practice in some of these areas.

When I think about social justice, or the reasons that we in California have the Williams Legislation, I think of all of the students who have been under-served by programs with no standards, with poorly implemented standards, or with low expectations for certain student groups. While the Common Core State Standards are by no means perfect, nor the magic bullet we need to fix the problems we have within the education system, they give us a new, common ground from which to start.

My colleague Barb shared her own opinion about the recent debates in this eloquent blog that says it much better than I ever could!

What are your thoughts? I’d love to continue the discussion with educators who are experiencing CCSS roll-outs.

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[Abecedary of Reflection] Quotes

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Amy's Reflections

Q: Quotes

I just said to a friend the other day, “I could sit and read quotes all day!” One way that I like to push my own thinking is to reflect about quotes I read from other leaders and learners.

“There are only two ways of spreading light- to be the candle or mirror that reflects it.” ~Edith Wharton

I enjoy this quote because of the meaning of reflection via a mirror as well as via what we put out into the world for others to see. I think leaders need to be be both- sometimes the candle shining the light for others to find their way and sometimes the mirror highlighting the light of others.

“Happiness depends upon ourselves” ~ Aristotle

This is so true, but in the heat of a stressful moment I have to stop and remind myself of this. I am in control of my reaction to the people, events, challenges, and successes before me. I have the ability to see the good in people and situations. I can choose to be happy despite the unhappiness of others. I do not have to let others’ negativity affect me. This was a hard lesson for me to learn as a young leader, but with time and experience and relationships built on trust, I am in a better place with this idea.

CCC licensed work by www.pittillapr.co.uk

CCC licensed work by http://www.pittillapr.co.uk

“What I like most about change is that it’s a synonym for ‘hope’.  If you are taking a risk, what you are really saying is, ‘I believe in tomorrow and I will be part of it.‘” ~ Linda Ellerbee

In challenging situations, you can hear many peoples interpretations of synonyms for hope. I like this perspective because it comes from such a positive place. As an organization is embarking on a large initiative that means big changes (i.e. Common Core implementation!), how amazing would it be if all stakeholders jumped on board and said, “I believe in tomorrow and I will be part of it”?  What a powerful, collective statement that could be.

“If the person who talks the most learns the most, who is doing the most learning in your classroom [or workshop]?” ~ Anonymous

I can still remember the first time I heard this quote. I was a part-time teacher and a part-time Literacy Coach. The meaning of these words had an instant impact on me both as a teacher and a professional developer. I became acutely aware of how much I was talking instead of my students or participants. I made a dedicated effort to find a better balance in all those situations from then on. I am reminded of this when I visit classrooms and see teachers in our district working hard to find a 50/50 balance between teacher and student talk. I am also reminded of this when I attend certain workshops where the presenter spend the entire time (be it one hour or six!) talking AT us, instead of interacting WITH us.

quote jar

Reflective questions to consider:

  • What is your favorite quote?
  • How do you use quotes to inspire or reflect?

Abecedary of Reflection

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