Try 3 Before Me {Free Printable!}

So, school starts on Monday and I'm ready to hit the ground running for the 2nd year in the principal's office!

As a former classroom teacher (who is always a teacher at heart!), I would ask my students to ask three friends before coming to me for assistance.  Now that I am wiser... fine, older too... I see that I missed a huge opportunity by asking them to check with 3 before me.  I wasn't helping my students become THINKERS... I was enabling them to rely on others for information that they should be able to gather on their own.  This is definitely one of those things that I would do differently now if I were back in the classroom!

I had this very conversation with a colleague today and this sign was born!  I have printed (on bright blue paper) and laminated a copy for each member of my staff and have asked them to display this in their rooms as we encourage our students to display tenacity to solve problems!  This sign gives students options and teaches strategies for continuing on when stuck and encourages independence.

Enjoy a free copy on TpT and have a great school year!

Oh... and don't miss my newest product on TpT either!

This set of 40 png files are the perfect pick-me-ups, messages of inspiration, and reminders to educators just how important our job is.  I print these every few weeks and put them in my teachers' mailboxes.  You can also attach the image files in an e-mail or insert into a document- which I sometimes do too for staff meetings!

Happy 2017-18 school year... may it be the best one yet!

Teachers' Lounge Decor

Since I don't have a classroom to decorate now that I'm in the Principal's Office, I enjoy decorating the lounge at school.

Today I spent time putting up new bulletin boards and decor on the walls.

One thing that I want is for the stuff in the lounge to serve a purpose... not just be STUFF on the walls.  I know my teachers may want to kick back and relax when they enter the lounge, and I want it to be a place that is cozy for them... but I also want to keep things that are important up where everyone sees them every day.

Check out what I added today!

Everyone needs a birthday display.  I got the "Hip Hip Hooray" stickers at Target in (duh!) the Dollar Spot.  {On a side note... NOTHING makes me miss being a teacher more than that Dollar Spot!  My brain spins with educational possibilities every time I go past it!}  I also got the mini-party hats in the Dollar Spot and made the month pages on the computer.

I also bought the adorable printables on the bottom from TpT.

Click to see the banner on TpT

This year I'm trying something new... I bought a calendar (Target Dollar Spot... but was actually $5) and went through and wrote every event on the calendar for the year... every meeting, every fire drill, every family event, every day off... and have it hanging in the lounge so the staff can see EvErYtHiNg going on.  They are also encouraged to add events as they come up (like field trips, etc...).

The banner above is one that I made and is in my TpT store.  I hung one in my classroom for holidays for an instant holiday decoration!  I'll use them this year in my lounge and change them for holidays.

I also have a display up of our School Improvement goals.  It goes one step deeper, though, and shows what the teachers' and my responsibilities are in order for us to meet our goals.  You can find an editable version of this visual display HERE on TpT!

Last, we are focusing on data displays this year so I will be hanging up grade-level assessment data when we give our benchmark assessments throughout the year.  This will help us as we work toward having honest conversations about data and using it to make decisions.  The "Talk Data To Me" comes from a spoof on a Jason deRulo song that one of my colleagues and I recorded last summer... still working up the courage to share that one with you and my staff!

Looking for more ways to spruce up your teachers' lounge?  Click HERE to check out some more things out on TpT!

Feedback for Teachers {Administrator FREEBIE!}

How is it that summer is more than HALF over?!

I'm getting prepped and ready to start my 2nd year in the Principal's Office and, though there are going to be a few changes, one thing will stay the same: providing loads of feedback to my teachers.

When I was in the classroom, I loved craved feedback from my principal.  What was I doing right?  What needed work?  What did she/he notice that I did not?  How can I be the best that I can be in the classroom?  I have had principals who were good at this, and some that didn't spend enough time in the classroom or who didn't know how to help me become my best teacher me.

I try to be in classrooms as often as possible.  I visit every classroom every day after the morning announcements and I pop in and out throughout the day.  Sometimes I just stand outside of classroom doors and listen (how creepy does that sound?!) or just peek into doorways.

One of the things that I do is provide my teachers FAST FEEDBACK every few weeks.  I sit down in the room for about 10 minutes, tally positive and negative oral feedback, jot down feedback, and ask questions.  When I leave the room, I drop the form off on the teacher's desk.  I don't require meetings afterwards, but we usually end up having informal conversation at some point.

I believe my staff has enjoyed the feedback this year.  I love that I see these papers hanging in their rooms.  I love that, as the year went on, things I jotted down on these forms I could see action on in subsequent visits (stalkings outside the door).

How would you like to be able to provide quick an easy feedback to your teachers?

Here is an example of what this form might look like after a classroom visit.  Bonus points if you get the name on the teacher line!

You can click HERE to download this for free at my TpT store.

If you are in the market for other "Principal/Administrator" stuff... I also have some morale boosters on TpT.  We used each of these items with huge success in my building this year.  It was fun to see the competitive side of my teachers when we did the monthly match-ups (that's the one with the Santa on the cover- it's a bundle with activities for different holidays)!

And this one is actually FREE!  A printable award you can give to teachers.  I give one a month at our end of the month student awards assembly!

Ok!  Enjoy the rest of your summer... it's going quickly!

Keeping Staff Happy

I just need to put it out there... the teachers and staff at my school are AMAZING!  I try to let them know how much I appreciate them with notes in mailboxes, daily classroom visits, lots of feedback, and treats too.

One thing I have done this year is some sort of "match-up" for each holiday- Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentine's Day with two more coming up for St. Patrick's Day and Easter.

I put a card in each person's mailbox and they have to find the staff member with the card that goes with theirs.  When they find their match, they come see me for a prize!

For example...

At Halloween, each staff member had a joke or the answer to the joke.  They had to find the person with the joke that set up their answer or the answer to their joke.

For Thanksgiving, each staff member received part of a Thanksgiving meal.  They had to match up in groups of 4 to make a complete dinner.

I loved the Christmas match-up.  Everyone got song lyrics and had to match up.  Most even sang their complete lyric to me!

For Valentine's Day, we made "perfect pairs"...

There are two more coming up, but I'm keeping those under wraps just in case anyone from school stumbles across this blog.

You can find all of these packs on TpT!  Just click the picture above to check out all of my products for boosting morale!