Thoughts for a New Year

     As I reflect over my first completed semester as an administrator, I realize this job is more invigorating and stressful than I had first imagined.  Working at a large high school in Oklahoma City, I didn't realize how much discipline would eat up my time even though I had been told that prior to my entering administration.  I also didn't realize how little time I would have to be an instructional leader - which is my love. 
     Nonetheless, I love my job.  I have learned so much more working in OKC than I would have working in a smaller school.  I have learned how to work with differing personalities within the faculty, how to squeeze a spare minute into something worthwhile, how to stay calm when dealing with discipline issues no matter how crazy, and how to make time to be an instructional leader whenever possible. 
     I have learned the value of being in the hallways during passing periods - that being visible is just as important to the teachers as it is to the students.  I knew, and have seen it proven, that teachers are hard workers who do not care if my day is good or not.  I don't mean that in a harsh way; I just mean teachers are the hardest working folks in schools, and their focus in on what they are doing.  That is why having a PLN of other administrators is so important.  One needs to have other administrators to share daily happenings with, to bounce ideas off of, to listen to other ways of accomplishing goals, and to generally support each other.
     I have learned making changes after school starts, if it is in the best interest of the students, should be made.  Sometimes this means changes occur in the fifth week of school or the ninth week.  We must always make what's best for students our motivating factor - not what's best for teachers. 
     I have learned PLCs are most effective when they meet 3 - 5 times a week.  I am blessed to work at a school where our teachers have a PLC plan and a personal plan.  This gives our teachers the responsibility and ability to meet daily to do the work they must in order to achieve what we have not achieved previously.  Watching our teachers in their PLCs analyze data by standard, by student is a beautiful thing.  Our teacher know what standards their students have mastered and which standards they still need to focus on.  They use the SDE Blueprint to guide their focus on standards, and they make each moment count. 
     I have also learned that relationships are at the heart of leading.  In order to lead my department, I made connections, spent time listening to my teachers, I valued their opinions, and I honored their requests whenever possible.  By building relationships with my teachers, I was able to have tough conversations and walk away with a positive outcome; I was able to ask my teachers to join me in moving in a direction I felt would improve the department, and they would comply even when they had doubts; I could ask teachers to move teaching assignments in the middle of the semester, and they would do so knowing I was asking because I was focused on what was best for the students.
     I have so much more to learn, but this first semester has been a blast - an exhausting, exhilarating, educating blast!