Mrs. Cromer: Leading & Learning

We all know those people who never respond to the question you ask, almost never return an email unless you hit them up a second (or third) time, and generally do not follow through on their statements.   There are a million reasons why these questions go unanswered and emails do not get a response, but the bottom line is that it is frustrating for those of us who are trying to accomplish the many tasks at hand.   While organization has always been one of my strengths, as an educational leader organization has now become paramount to my very survival.  The days are too hectic to spend time searching for that lost paper or to read two emails from a teacher because I forgot to respond to the first one.   If you are struggling with the never-ending demands of the job, I strongly encourage you to do two things.  First, sign-up for the Instructional Leadership Challenge .  The suggestions offered are simple, easy to implement tools that will giv...

This morning I officially completed The 21 Day Instructional Leadership Challenge. It only took me 30 days.  :) If you have seen/heard about the challenge through your PLN, I HIGHLY encourage you to take part.   Justin Baeder shares time-saving resources and tips that will get you in classrooms more often and giving purposeful feedback that will help your teachers grow. What you can expect... Daily emails that highlight the video and accompanying action steps.  The videos are short (3-7 minutes) and detail research-based practices that help instructional leaders get organized and create habits that will give them more time in classrooms.  (There is also a transcript if you are unable to watch the video at that particular time.) Baeder does promote the use of the TeachBoost program, but I found the challenge just as beneficial without getting the free-trial that was offered. I already find myself in more classrooms and getting more tasks completed during th...

February has left everyone in our building exhausted.  Unlike years passed, this winter has been mild and only two snow days have been used since Christmas Break.  Snow days allow everyone to take a break, rest, and gather the strength to finish out the year.  Where were these days that we so desperately needed to give everyone relief?! The need for a break was overwhelming.  Teachers, aides, janitors and secretaries all talked about needing a snow day.  Even the principal was heard wishing for winter weather. Wishes were granted as a major snow storm and chilly arctic temperatures have kept students out of school for the past week.  At this very moment, snow and sleet are once again pelting my windows.   Everyone should be happy now.  The relief has come and the time off has allowed us to catch up on the long list of tasks on our to-do lists.   But my gut is still reeling from the punch driven home by the first few pages of m...

The scene outside my window allowed me to finish a book today. It is a well-known fact that I am a huge fan of educator and author Todd Whitaker  ( @ToddWhitaker ).  Not a day goes by that I don't find myself using a tip or idea from one of his books.  One of the most-used books in my Todd Whitaker library is The 10 Minute Inservice , which he co-authored with Annette Breaux. So I was ecstatic to see that Whitaker and Breaux had teamed up to write another gem, Quick Answers for Busy Teachers: Solutions to 60 Common Challenges .   The book did not disappoint.  It was loaded with tips for dealing with students, adults, classroom management, instruction, and professionalism. In classic Whitaker style, it is straight-forward and easy to apply to current practice. Our school hired five new teachers this year and two more are teaching a new grade level for the first time.  I have marked several pages to share with these teachers, as well as those who ...

Twenty-four days into the new year and I have finally narrowed it down to #oneword. I love words, quotes, and all of the wonderful blog posts that members of my PLN have written sharing their #oneword for 2015.  I appreciate  the thought and effort that went into those posts and the wheels that turned in my head as a result. I appreciate  the fact that I am just now reflecting on my own word because it means that my life is full of activities that keep me busy. I appreciate the phone messages on my desk, students and teachers waiting outside my door, and the emails that steadily poor in because it means that people are interested in what I have to say. I appreciate the noise in the Cafeteria because it means our students are happy and enjoying the time with their classmates. I appreciate the mud in the hallway because it means it was warm enough outdoors for our students to enjoy recess. Throughout 2015, my goal is to pause and appreciate more.  It is...

Last Wednesday Education Week ( @educationweek ) showcased the daily activities of building administrators by encouraging principals to tweet and post images to Instagram about their day using the hashtag #APrincipalsDay .  Here is a sampling of the photos from my day:     It was hard to remember to photograph or document all of the things that were happening that day. Just like any other day as a building administrator, multitasking is the norm and many actions could not be shared with a tweet or photograph.  Student discipline, IEP meetings, phone calls to and from parents/central office/maintenance/transportation (LOTS of phone calls fill a principal's day), and a truckload of emails are just a few of the activities that were not shared Reviewing the posts from that day it was awesome to see the many similarities to my day in rural southwest Virginia.  Although hundreds of principals are in my PLN, I enjoyed the glimpse into their daily routines...

The word "vision" was prevalent throughout my educational leadership coursework.  I actually got quite sick of hearing it and could not understand why it seemed to be something every professor wanted to talk about.  At the time I was finding lots of success in the classroom of a school that lacked a vision.  I couldn't quite grasp why it was so important that a vision be present, much less "shared." Fast forward four years and it is all I can think about. Vision, vision, vision, vision. Such a small word that means so much for schools, businesses, organizations, even families.  Where are you headed?  What direction should you take?  What do you stand for?  How will you grow and get better?  What unites us?  How do we move forward together?  What's our target? I frequently wake up in the middle of the night wondering if I am taking our school in the right direction.  Have I made sure every...