A New Learning Journey-Feeling Greater Accountability and Liking It!

As I started this school year, the second at my school, I felt excited and ready to continue working with my staff. Many of the faces remained the same, but there were a couple of new ones, which prompted me to think about what to do at our first staff meeting. I decided I would start the same as last year with stating my values and my expectations of the staff. By doing this, I had to look at my values and make sure they were still the same and they were, as were my expectations. I believe that sharing these two with my staff is an exercise in vulnerability, but I did this last year and I believe it has made for better relationships and hopefully less assumptions. Here is what I shared with my staff:

1.     My Core Beliefs And Values (In No Particular Order)

                                                                 i.     Reflection-learning from mistakes

                                                               ii.     Continuous learning - we are all learners, experts and leaders

                                                              iii.     All children can learn and be successful

                                                              iv.     Relationships are everything

                                                               v.     Start with the end in mind - where are we going and how will we know when we get there? Share this with the students; it’s not a secret!

                                                              vi.     The students are our purpose, what is best for them is at the core of what we do.

                                                            vii.     Honest and open communication - my door is always open

                                                           viii.     Technology can be our friend

                                                              ix.     Parents send us their best kid(s)

2.    Some Basic Expectations I Have Of All Staff

                                                                 i.     We may disagree, but we never argue or yell.

                                                               ii.     Check email once a day. Both your personal mailbox and lee discussions. This is how I prefer to communicate.

- use “reply sender” as opposed to “reply”

                                                              iii.     Please don’t make assumptions about my actions. If you have a question, just ask.

                                                              iv.     No surprises for parents or me.

                                                               v.     Step up.

                                                              vi.     Invite me in.

I am also asking that people complete a goal planning sheet for themselves this year. To introduce the activity, I shared the following video with them and ask them to think about the theme of "Shake the Dust" as they completed their goal planning sheet. 

Most people have filled in and handed in their goal sheets and true to my word, I did not look at them; I just pinned them to my bulletin board where they will remain until June when we look at them again.

Gratitude for the Boston Marathon

I ran the Boston Marathon today and as I was running; I was making a list of all the things about the marathon I was grateful for and that I would want to include in a blog post. Here are some of the things I was grateful for throughout the first part of my day:
- the people at the athlete's village who gave me duct tape to fix my bag check bag
- the porta potties right at the start line that provided me with relief when I needed it
- the cheers throughout the course; especially the Boston College gang at mile 21
- the fact that I have a life that allows me to train for a marathon and then have the means to travel to take part in these events
- being healthy and strong enough to carry me across the line
- having Scott at the finish line to have dry clothes, chocolate milk and a big hug of congratulations
How would I know that at the end of the day, what I was most grateful for was that the people who were there with me were safe and that I crossed the line safely.

This is a photo of Scott and I after I crossed the line, found him and told him that I had a PB!!!
About half an hour after this, we heard two loud bangs and weren't sure what it was and didn't hear anything about it for a long time. It wasn't until we saw my training partner Pat and heard her experience from the day that the reality of what happened actually set in. Pat did not finish the marathon because a bomb went off in front of her and one behind her. She is fine, shaken and unsettled but fine. We then found out that people had died and many people were injured, at a running event! As we walked back to our hotel, the sirens were streaming past as on a non-stop basis; there was chaos throughout the downtown and again, I was grateful that we were safe. We made it back to our hotel and are watching the news and seeing the scenes of what happened and again, I am grateful.

People trying to get out of downtown and the emergency vehicles in the background.

I am also grateful for:
- all the concerned friends and family members who reached out to us to make sure we were safe
- the power of social media that told us details of what happened and could let our family know we were okay
- being able to go home to a country where this kind of threat isn't a concern
I was asked by a media person if I would do this run again and I said I would. This is an exceptional and historic event and it is run in a beautiful, welcoming city. I would likely be nervous to run here again, but I wouldn't want the organizers of this event or the people of Boston to feel that this event is a reflection of them; it is not. We still don't know the details of who is responsible for today and I am sure we will know soon enough and it won't make sense as these things never make sense. I will wear my medal proudly and with gratitude.

"What do you do for a living?"

This week I had two unusual encounters with random strangers that really made me think about how I answer the above question. The first was when I was getting my morning coffee at my local coffee shop. In the process of chatting about my weekend with the young woman who served me at the counter, she asked what I did for a job. I answered with, "I'm a principal at an elementary school." She paused and then said, "What do you really do? What is your job?" She said, "I kind of know what you do, but what is it really you do." Before I responded, I thought, here it is, it's the moment to give your "elevator" speech, about what you do. I really wasn't sure how to respond in a meaningful way that would capture all of what I do, so I answered with, "It's my job to keep everything moving forward. To make sure that students are safe, that staff are focused on learning, that parents know what's happening and that we are all moving together in the same direction." I then ended with what I always say, " I love my job and I think I have the best job."As I left, I realized that rarely do we get this opportunity to explain to strangers what we do for our job and I found I was grateful to the woman asking me the question as it really gave me pause to think. 

Later that evening I was at the Vancouver Canucks hockey game when a very chatty (and slightly nosy) fan next to us asked me what I did for a living and when I told him that I was a principal he asked what district and long story short, it turned out he is a parent in our district. What was interesting about this exchange was that he wanted to talk about the great experiences he children have had in Richmond schools. It made me very proud to talk about how terrific our schools are. He asked me for a bit more detail about my background and why I decided to become a principal. He seemed surprised when I said that I had never actually wanted to have the job I have and that I really enjoyed being a teacher and that I was glad that I still got to teach a fair bit. He was genuinely appreciative of the job all teachers do and it was gratifying to hear his thoughts.

Both of these exchanges were interesting in that it occurred to me first of all how seldom we actually chat with strangers and take the time to find out more about each other. We are so consumed with the importance of what we do that we don't often wonder about others. I think that is more of a comment of society that may be left for another blog post. 

What made me even more reflective is that I had an opportunity to share what I believe is so amazing about what I get to do each day and to give a first hand account of what happens in our schools. My goal is to continue to look for more of these opportunities and perhaps have my "elevator speech" in my back pocket so that I am more prepared the next time I am asked, "What do you do for a living?"

Rainy Day Ramblings

Already November and my last post was July. Pathetic, but doesn't mean I haven't been thinking, just means I haven't been sure what to write about; how to choose which of my rambling thoughts do I want to put into some form of intelligent writing. I am at a new school this year and I am still settling in and getting a lay of the land. Coming to a new school is an opportunity to reinvent myself or to do all the things I had intended to do at my previous school. I think what I have discovered is that I don't actually want to reinvent myself, I like who I am, but I do still want to do things differently and be my better self. I heard a quote today that I like: "Complacency breeds mediocrity." I want to be better than mediocre as a leader at our school. And I hope that the people at our school would want the same for themselves and our students.
I told staff at our beginning staff meeting what my beliefs and values are and here they are:
 1.     My core beliefs and values (in no particular order)

                                                                 i.     Reflection-learning from mistakes

                                                               ii.     Continuous Learning-we are all learners, experts and leaders

                                                              iii.     All children can learn and be successful

                                                              iv.     Relationships are everything

                                                               v.     Start with the end in mind-where are we going and how will we know when we get there? Share this with the students; it’s not a secret!

                                                              vi.     The students are our purpose, what is best for them is at the core of what we do.

                                                            vii.     Honest and open communication-my door is always open

                                                           viii.     Technology can be our friend

                                                              ix.     Parents send us their best kids

                                               I want to live these values and show they are really what I believe. I also want us as a staff to say what we believe for ourselves and for our school; these are difficult conversations to have, but extremely important ones. I also told the staff that my personal goals for the year are: model, inspire and celebrate. Easier said than done, I'm finding.  I just finished Brene Brown's book, "Daring Greatly"and she talks about being vulnerable and how to embrace vulnerability. I think I will add this to my goals, to not be afraid to try, to not be so hard on ourselves when we do try and fail and to realize that everyone is really just trying their best. I am looking forward to a great deal of learning this year, lucky me!

Thank You

5 years. A lot can happen in 5 years. There can be births, deaths, marriages and divorces. Children learn to read and write and run and play basketball and walk down the hall in a line. People form close bonds and learn to trust and count on each other. All of these things have happened over the last 5 years during my time at Thompson. As I said in my last post (yes, I know it was a long time ago), I have many, many memories of the last 5 years of the children, staff and parents I met and worked with at Thompson. The group  above is quite the exceptional group of people. They sang me a song yesterday that made me laugh and cry and confirmed for me yet again, how grateful I am to have been able to work with them.
When I think back on my 5 years, I hope I have left a legacy, although I am not sure what that legacy might be. I hope it would be a legacy of caring and learning. When I reflect on my time at Thompson, I have great pride and no regrets. I know I learned a tremendous amount about how to work with a group of people and I hope I have learned from the mistakes I have made. I did make mistakes and at the moment I made some of the decisions I made, I thought they were the best decision at the time. With time and reflection, I probably would make different decisions when confronted with the same situation. I also have great pride for the things I added to the school and I hope they will also be part of my legacy.

I am still sorting out what it means to me to be a leader and what my leadership style is. What I do know is that one person alone does not lead a school. I believe one person guides others to lead and provides encouragement as needed. I like to get out of people's way when they are on a roll and to be there to provide support. I think the same applies to the students we work with. They are leaders and can be given many ways to show that leadership. We need to listen to them and to really hear their stories.
As I move on to be a Lee Lion, I will continue my learning journey and will do my best to continue sharing my learning.
But now it is summer, which for me means a time for rest and reflection... and sleeping in!

Starting to say good-bye

My First Terry Fox Run-2007

About six weeks ago, I had the difficult task of telling the staff, students and parents at my school that I would be moving to a new school for the next school year. I felt sick as I was telling people and saw the sad eyes looking back at me. I know the school will be fine, and the new principal will be loved by all, and I will very soon be a distant memory, but I'm still sad and my reasons for feeling sad are actually quite selfish. I am sad because I feel like this school is my home; I love coming here everyday, I really do. This is the school where I became a principal.
When I arrived at the school 5 years ago, I had the title of principal but I didn't know what that really meant and I now I am beginning to learn what it is to be a principal and I have the community here at Thompson to thank for teaching me how to be and guiding me when I forget. I have had enormous challenges here and I have learned how to brave, to stick by what I believe and to really realize that what we do everyday is about building and maintaining relationships. If children feel loved and cared for (I believe these are two different things), then they will learn and they will be happy. Over the next few weeks, I will share my memories and my gratitude. In my head, I am beginning to make the transition to my new school, my heart will follow soon.

Kes and Emerson-2007-They Are Now Both in Grade 6

Learning to set goals...

When I began this blog, I was super keen and thought I would do all kinds of writing and I think I did an okay job. I had stories to tell about iPads and new learning, but now that school has gotten quite crazy busy, I've realized that writing is not something I naturally turn to when I want to communicate what is happening in my world. I think I also probably thought that I didn't have really anything interesting to share. So, to get back at it, I thought I would share something that happened in my personal world that also crosses over into my school world.
I am a fairly active person and I like to talk to students about my athletic pursuits so they can see that even old people can be active and especially that even old "girls" can be active. I also like to talk to them about goal setting and that I am always setting goals and I typically have a plan to help me achieve my goals. I also tell them that I need to have a team of people to help me achieve my goals and I ask the students to think about their own goals and who their team is that helps them achieve their goals. For some students they can relate very easily to me, like Matthew, who is 10 and a swimmer and his goal is to go to the Olympics. I am quite convinced that he will make it there and he knows at this early age that he will have to work very hard to get to the podium and that he has to set short term goals in order to get to his long term goal. I love having these kinds of conversations with students because we are relating to each other as athletes and not as principal and student.

The most recent goal I set for myself was to achieve a personal best at the Vancouver Marathon. I had a bad bout of injuries last year and this year I wanted to see what my recovered body could do. I told the students in Mrs. Dow's Grade 5/6 class about my goals and that I actually had three goals for the race. My first goal in any race is always just to finish. My second goal was to get under 3:45, which has been my goal for the past 4 years. My "the stars aligned" goal was under 3:40. Well, the day came and went and I did achieve all my goals: I finished and I went under 3:40. I suffered some minor trauma to my foot: I actually loved showing this photo to the students because it is sooo disgusting!!! I also was pretty proud to tell them that I had achieved my goal with the help of a lot of people, including them.