There is no doubt that school educators are busy every minute of the day. Effective task management can be quite a challenge, especially when dealing with complex assignments or projects, each with its own specific requirements, deadlines, and deliverables. Thankfully, I geek out in organizational tools! I can't wait to share with you a few tools that will make your life so much easier. In the end, your every day tasks get less complicated and you are more efficient. HOW TO GROUP YOUR TABS Do you have 250 tabs open on your computer's search engine?  If so, I bet you are often clicking th ..read more

I'm excited to share with you our district's Academic Showcase Night.  One of my best friends shared this idea with me a few years ago.  I was finally able to bring it to life in my own district.   We started planning back in October for this event.  I formed a committee and shared this idea with the team, and they helped me bring this to life.  The committee helped me make it better than I had ever imagined.  We created a presentation to share with the rest of the staff to let them know about the event and how to be prepared for our big showcase night.  ..read more

It's the time of the year where all the school leaders stress over how to show appreciation to your staff but not break the budget in the process.  From the secretaries, co-workers, cafeteria workers, and teachers, it is easy to become overwhelmed with anxiety.   I have put together a few ideas that I hope you find helpful.  If you funds are limited, maybe consider purchasing one item just for the campus to enjoy all year long.  I have some suggestions for that too.   If you are looking for a wide variety of ideas to spread the holiday cheer all through the ..read more

I have had the great pleasure of sharing WIN Time with you many,  many times.  However, I am excited about the opportunity to share with you amazing school leaders who believe in WIN Time.  These leaders know the importance of the system and see the results.  Help me welcome Crystal Mayes, Susan Hankins, and John Weaver to the platform today.  I hope you enjoy their story. CRYSTAL MAYES, ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL, TEXAS Crystal Mayes, Elementary Principal (Texas) How do you collect data? Every three weeks our teachers give students common assessment on a spiral readin ..read more

What is WIN Time?  WIN Time stands for What I Need.  WIN Time is a 45 minute period on Monday-Friday embedded in the Master Schedule for students to self-regulate and prioritize their learning. WIN Time acknowledges that students lead busy lives and navigate competing demands for their time in and outside of school. WIN Time provides students the opportunity to self-direct and engages in their own learning. While some school-wide initiatives might occur during WIN Time, teachers will not be teaching the new course material. Teachers will be accessible to students for additional help ..read more

Empower your students in their learning, step back, and watch them thrive. Student Data Trackers help students develop ownership, motivation, and a growth mindset. After all, how does a student know where they are and where they need to be unless we give them the tools to engage in their data. Research confirms that educators in schools with a focus on learning promote a strong sense of self-efficacy in students. It also shows that one of the greatest factors of student motivation and engagement is data tracking. WIN Time Student Success Tracker™ is a tool that will empower students in self ..read more

 Create stunning graphics to make your reports, slide deck, social media, and your dashboards come alive with real-time data.   The process couldn't be any easier either.  Simply sign up for INFOGRAM and connect your data to begin building charts and graphs.  For me, I connected our Google Spreadsheet to it, and my charts will automatically auto-populate with the data.  As we update the Google Spreadsheet my charts will also update.  Take a look. 1.  I started with Google Sheets which we update throughout the day. 2.  Within a few minutes ..read more

Recently, I traveled to 5 National Parks in the United States for our 2021 summer vacation. We absolutely love visiting National Parks.   This picture was taken at Arches National Park in Moab, Utah.  This week of travel helped me to detach  from school life and the business of running Principal Principles.  The hubs and I had great conversations.  One of which is the inspiration behind this blog post.  As we traveled through a forest area we noticed that a fire had taken place many years earlier.  The land was beginning to show life of new pine trees. &nb ..read more

There aren't enough hours in the day. I find myself sleeping less and eating more meals in my car than around the dinner table. Often I feel the day flying by, and by the end of the day- I can't really tell you what was accomplished. That isn't great for me or my health.   Recently, I stumbled upon some new tech features that allow me to eliminate some unnecessary tasks.  So today, I thought I would take the time and share one with you.  I hope you find a blessing in this as I did! So a little of my thought process in moving to this next tech feature... I had multiple chats ..read more

Today I reflect on Principal Principles and leadership. It's been eight years since I started this blog. I reflect on how I never realized how sharing a day in a school leader's life would help me become better as a leader. As a result of me getting better, those around me are stronger educators too. I also never dreamed of how a hobby of blogging transformed into a business and a brand. Even writing the words - business and brand- are still hard to acknowledge many years later. This week, I sat in a conference room with some new friends who will join the Principal Principles team and help m ..read more