Reset...again!

Alright, so the blogging hasn't been as frequent as I first had imagined.  But I still think it's important.  For me, it helps process the day, the week, the month, what have you.  So, I'm going to effort to continue, but I'm making no promises, especially since I have committed to blogging weekly on the school's webpage.  There will be a difference, more reflective here; more philosophical there.

In any event, last week was busy.  Monday thru Wednesday were meetings, Thursday included a few meetings at school, and Friday was a pure work day.  Monday and Tuesday I was able to pick up a lot from Randy Allison in regards to the Supervision of Special Education.  Wednesday I took part in the School Administrators of Iowa (SAI) New Administrators Institute.  Wow what a great training.  Phenomenal presenters covering topics concerning "Entry Plan", Legal Issues, How to Conduct Productive Meetings, Being Proactive Towards Discipline, Observation & Evaluation Recommendations, & How to Avoid Rookie Mistakes.  I can not express enough how helpful these sessions were, all common sense - good reminders - easy to implement sessions!

Thursday was productive.  Included a few meetings, the Sup. and I were able to sit down and chat.  Likewise, the AD and I talked too.  But perhaps more "stress-relieving" was getting authorized to become a "Google School."  I had left the previous week with a terrible feeling in my stomach because I had to "delete" the Google Apps account I had established.  Yet by Thursday I was able to "re-activate" it and get the 88 members of our staff registered.  This means, our staff will all have a common email account.  Something I was shocked that was/is not the case currently.  For example, many are simply using their "personal" gmail accounts.  Which means the district is potentially "exposed" if a records request is made.  In any event, by establishing the district as a Google School we open ourselves to a wide variety of options for staff and students.  Something that I think can help us improve communication, instruction, and hopefully engage more students in what's occurring in the classroom.

Friday started early and I had the office to myself.  As the Sup. and Bus. Manager were both out of the office.  The big accomplishment was interviewing two individuals interested in our cheer coach position.  Hope to review the process with the Sup. tomorrow and let the ladies know the direction by the end of the day Monday.  I was able to do a document review, went file by file and cleaned a few things up and hand off a few more to the AD.

I spent the afternoon working on formalizing my "Entry Plan."  One of the suggestions from Wednesday's SAI institute was that it's important to write it down.  I've been asked by a few different people in preparation for my first day on the job, "How do you know what to do?"  I never really knew how to respond, I guess I just figured I would do the job.  To me that meant getting to know the people (teachers, staff, students, parents, community members), familiarize myself with what had been going on (academically and culturally), and then plan for "pre-service"/back-to-school meetings.  But, I hadn't written any of it down.  So Friday, I wrote it down.  I think it's a good plan, but I'm sure I'm missing something.  Regardless, here are my three goals:

1. Build Relationships
2. Open Lines of Communication
3. Focus on Instruction

As I began to write this down, it surprised me how much had been accomplished already.  I've met many of the teachers and support staff members I will be working with already.  Likewise, I was able to "tentatively-schedule" a host of meetings I would like to hold with key stakeholders - students, teachers, staff, parents, and community members.  And by focusing on instructions, I have been able to clarify my own philosophy and beliefs that I hope to community during our back-to-school pre-service meetings, and reiterate throughout the school year.

Another aspect of Wednesday's meeting that became abundantly clear to me, was the reminder that I need to be a "leader" not just a "manager."  As a leader, it is my job to be visionary, focus on the "big ideas," and always take the "systems" approach to issues.  It was clear to me that during my first week and a half, I was managing rather than leading.  As the leader, I need to stay above the daily grind, and focus more on the how and why we will be doing things.  I need to provide that vision so that there is purpose.  And, to an extent, I have started to do that.  With focusing on the district's mission statement, to inspire and develop responsible, life-long learners, I hope to "ignite passions and develop strengths" in both the staff and students of the district.  So my "theme" for the year will be to ignite passions, something that I have to thank John C. Carver for doing.  He consistently spoke about discovering students' passions.  As for strengths, I have to thank my wife.  A few years ago, her team at work read and discussed the book "Strengths Finder 2.0" by Tom Rath.  She suggested I purchase the book and take the self-assessment.  I loved how the book's author suggests we should spend more time focusing on our "strengths" than our "weaknesses."  In the world of education, I think it is often far too easy to focus on our student's deficits and plan, develop, and implement programs to fixing those deficiencies; instead of celebrating, and building on the strengths our students and employees already have.  So, during the "pre-service" I will be providing the 7-12 staff with the book and request that they take the online self assessment.  Then as the year progresses, we will revisit each others strengths, the strengths we see in our students, the district, and community.  I hope this serves as a good vision for the school year!

So, that's what last week was all about.  This week, "fingers-crossed," should be less hectic.  I'm in the office the entire week, and don't have much "scheduled."  So I hope to begin to focus on our "pre-service" agenda for new teachers and the entire staff.  Likewise, this will force me to review and revise the "staff handbook," and continue my document search.  I know already, I need to focus on bullying and harrassment procedures, the acceptable use policy (staff & students), along with a host of other items.  I'm happy to have my first "intern" coming on Monday.  She's going to be a big help.  We'll walk the building in an attempt to number each room so that the "intercom" guys can correctly route the wiring, we'll also check out the safety procedures - another suggestion from SAI - since we're both "new to the building."  After that, I've got a couple other items on my list I hope she'll be able to assist me with.  But on Wednesday, August 1, the secretaries report.  This means it's go time.  These ladies will have lots to prepare for registration on the 9th, but they'll also be able to provide guidance for me as things come up.  But, as I have quickly learned, they'll also be able to take a lot of the management items off my desk, so to speak, so that I can focus on the leadership items.

So, this got a little longer that I had anticipated.  But it was good . . . to process.

Starting Over

Okay, okay - maybe I didn't commit as much to this blogging thing as I had hoped, but a guy's gotta sleep too, right?

Anyway, another long Monday for PJ.  I was in Adel today for a Special Ed Supervision training put on by the AEA and taught by Randy Allison.  To my delight, the day flew by.  You never quite know how these trainings are going to go, but Randy was phenomenal.  He did a great job of keeping the day moving, keeping everyone involved in the conversation, and adding just the right number of stories to keep it interesting!  I'm looking forward to learning more tomorrow!

Also to my delight, I was able to make it home for dinner with the family.  Amanda prepared an awesome tilapia, rice, and fruit dinner and I was glad to spend nearly 45 minutes chatting with Lil and Ben.

Then it was off to the School Board meeting.  Started promptly at 6:00 with a tour of the PK-3 addition.  Timelines suggest the punch list will be issued on Aug 7, and teachers will be able to start moving their stuff that day.  Lilly is going to love the PK room, "commons"/cafeteria, playground, and much much more about her new school.  The touches (paint, cabinetry, carpet, etc) are going to make that building a great learning experience for the young people of CRB.

The official meeting started at 6:30 and didn't end until 9:15 or so.  Good discussion was had and good decisions were made.  I got to present my Powerpoint, "Who is Brent Jorth?" and believe it was well received.  Likewise, I ran through the calendar items between now and the start of the school year, what meetings I had been apart of last week, and my recommendations for changes to the student and family handbook for 2012-13.  Much discussion was had in regards to the hiring of a Director of Technology, but a decision was made to move forward; but now the tough part falls to the Sup., negotiating what was authorized to be spent.  I hope we're able to get the individual we want, as I see him as key piece of the puzzle!

For the next 1:15, the Sup and I got a chance to talk.  Great learning here about loads of information.  Feel like our relationship is growing.  Hope the honeymoon continues!

I suppose I should try and run through the last couple days of last week, but I'm not going to.  Gonna turn the tube on, maybe read my novel a little bit, but then it's off to bed.  Another day of Special Ed training, but no requirements/meetings to attend to after I'm done.  Hope to run to Best Buy and perhaps get a new modem or "amplifier" so that we can get access in the bedroom.

Until the next time.

Neglecting my Commitment

So much for commitment, sorry to my loyal followers - I've fallen asleep the last two nights prior to getting my blog done.  You know who you are :)

Day 3 & 4

Both exciting, productive days!  Day 3 was my first opportunity to be in my office, without any meetings, and I was able to get some things checked off my list.  Probably due to the fact that the Sup. was at a finance meeting in Ames.

After Day 2's meetings in regards to technology, I spent the morning on the phone trying to confirm the delivery of computers and a server that were awarded to us by REACT.  It's a round-about process, but I was able to get the specs that our IT consultant needed and feel like we made progress there.  Now it's just a matter of getting ahold of REACT on Tuesday - when they return from vacation - and ironing out the logistics so that we can get the server here ASAP - hopefully by Friday.  If that means we've got to send someone to go pick it up in Cedar Falls, transport it to Cedar Rapids, and then bring it to Coon Rapids - that's what we'll do.  In any event, mission accomplished.

Next I moved on to research on Google Schools, and called, tweeted, and emailed a few different individuals.  My first call was to Deron Durflinger, my previous boss at Van Meter and now newly hired Superintendent at VM, in regards to how quickly we could get CRB established as a Google School.  He thought it was doable by Aug. 17, but put me in contact with Andy Crozier, a leader in Google Schools adoption as Superintendent of Andrew CSD in Iowa.  Andy and I exchanged tweets and emails and he suggests it would be a "tight" timeline, but definitely doable.  In the meantime, I also contacted the AEA, and will be meeting with Wade Andersen in person today (Friday) to discuss Google Schools the benefits, logistics, and tech support related issues involved.  As you can see, I believe Google Schools is the way to go - and our tech team is in support of it.  Now it is just a matter of pulling the trigger.  In my opinion, we need to do it!  I hope it's ready when school starts, but if it's not up and going until after Labor Day or by the end of the 1st quarter - so be it, it just needs to be done.

In the process of researching Google Schools, I made contact with our AEA Regional Director, for those of you who do not know what the AEA is, check it out here.  She just so happens to double as a parent in our district, which means she's entirely invested, which is great for us.  She was able to answer two questions for me, the first of which will require Sue Ford - our districts Professional Learning and Leadership Consultant - to visit with me in regards to establishing a Building Leadership Team (BLT).  I believe that it is vital that one is established, but I need to do some "selling."  So my hope is that Sue is able to help me adopt a charter, mission statement, and objectives for this team so that I can take it to the Sup. and CD.  In addition, I inquired about the purchase of the book Strengths Finder 2.0.  I have many reasons for wanting to obtain this book, but more than anything I want to use it to kick off the season with my staff, and establish our theme for the year "Igniting Passions...Developing Strengths."  In attempt to be visionary, I would like to use this book to focus on the positive.  All to often in education it is about the negative, what can we do to improve our test schools, Johnny needs to change his behavior because of xyz, there's not enough money for abc.  So what I like about this book is that it suggests that we focus on the positive.  It's a really short read, and it's interactive.  It comes with an online self assessment that identifies five areas of strength, and then provides action plans for how to go about capitalizing on the strengths we already have.  So, the Sup. gave me the go ahead and now it's just a matter of ordering the books.

The remainder of Day 3 was spent reviewing the Student and Family Handbook.  Something that needs Board approval Monday night, and something that is painstakingly hard to read.  So I spent the afternoon reading the first half of it, highlighting questions and identifying items that need to be updated (mainly dates and names).  In any event, I also spent a good majority of Day 4 finalizing that work - so now it can go to the Board Monday for approval.

The excitement of Day 3 occurred in the afternoon, when the power went out and the fire alarm went off.  And as they say, bad news comes in threes - so as a result of the power going out, the copy machine in the office went haywire.  But in any event, the fire alarm going off was a blessing - I got to call the alarm company and "practice" that protocol, and feel that was not all too difficult.  Oh, for those wondering why it went off, paint fumes in the elementary wing where construction continues.

On to Day 4.  Another workday.

In an attempt to get more accomplished I started my day an hour earlier, so when I arrived at the school at 5:45 am, walked to the front door and tried my "Grand Master" key - to my surprise I was unable to get in to the building.  So I drove around to the back of the building and was able to enter in the "Receiving" door and no alarms were "tripped."  Come to find out, the front door was never rekeyed and only a couple keys still exist - one of which I later obtained.  Anyway, later in the day, when asked to gain entrance to an closet within an office that was locked I was denied a second time by my "Grand Master", but was lucky to find the key in the box labeled "misc", and wouldn't you know it, the first key I tried from that box worked!  Like finding a needle in a haystack, and I've got the witness to prove it.

In the morning I was able to clean/organize my office to an extend - something that I had not done since Day 1 when I had unloaded my boxes.  I started an organizing system of files, shuffled through old files and organized simultaneously.  In the process I stumbled upon the bullying and harassment forms, referral forms, detention letters, and a wide variety of management documentation documents.  All good stuff, and I've got an accordion waiting for me this morning.  But it felt very good to work through those items.  In addition, I found files on students and staff alike.  So as you can imagine I spent a good amount of time looking through those too.

Yet the main objective of the morning was completing my first Board packet.

Sorry but my little man just woke up, so blogging will cease so Ben and I can watch the British Open.  Until later.