Well, so, it's been ten months since my last post. What's been going on out there?
In that last post, I wrote about ebbs and flows in our work... and boy-howdy, has it been one big ol' ebb in my blogging for the last year! I'm not sure if that's a result of the other things that have been on my plate; my time-management processes; an indicator of whether or not blogging is really a right tool for me; or some combination of the above. Several of those things have changed for me greatly in recent weeks, so let's see where it takes me.
At work, the biggest thing off my plate is our construction project. With the exception of punch lists and some final purchases, we're essentially finished with what has been an almost four-year-long process. I sat in a set of construction contractor bid presentations on August 10, 2006...and on April 5, 2010, our final building was reopened to the public. Our campus went through a three-stage, construction and renovation project, entailing almost 200,000 square feet of new or renovated facilities. EVERYONE on our staff of more than 100 moved at least once during the process, and most moved two or three times. There were portables, craters, temporary parking, packing, unpacking, packing, unpacking, packing, unpacking... weekly design meetings, then weekly construction meetings, then weekly furniture & equipment selection meetings. Deliveries, color selections, fabric selections, etc. The project took me far away from the typical duties of a principal running an established campus, and put many additional stresses on our staff and students. Throughout it all, people were absolute troopers, pitching in, working extra, and mostly grinning-and-bearing it all. And now, we have a facility that is finally as amazing as the programs, staff, and students that have always been in it.
I wouldn't change the experience for the world (although, of course, there are some things I'd change about the facility choices if I had it to do over again). It's been an honor and a privilege to lead this process, an experience many principals never have the opportunity to experience, and I have learned *so much* through the experience - not just about facilities, and construction, and purchasing, and equipment, but also about people... how to help people deal with pressure situations... how to coordinate massive projects... and about myself, as well. Some newfound strengths, some realizations and perspective, and some areas I want to continue to grow and develop in. I'm proud of our staff and students, I'm proud of our facility, I'm proud of myself... and I'm glad it's done.
Outside of work, the biggest thing off my plate is my doctoral coursework. Three years of coursework, with weekly assignments, texts to read, papers to write, projects to complete. All of it finished about three weeks ago (how weird that the timing of the construction work and the timing of my coursework has been so aligned!). What a relief to have the coursework done. Over the next month, I've got my comps to complete (written comps the next two Saturdays, then oral comps in June). Assuming I survive those, I then am an official doctoral candidate, and my work on my dissertation will be what remains. That will be an enormous item, of course, but the removal of week-in, week-out deadlines is a welcome change.
Just as these two major commitments have been wrapping up, I've also begun a new approach at work in my time and schedule management. In late March, my secretary and I, along with two other of our campus administrators and their secretaries, attended a seminar known as The Breakthrough Coach, and it was a very powerful experience. I won't go into great detail here (although if I manage to maintain this whole blogging thing, I'll discuss it more in the future), except to say that the seminar helps school (or district) administrators and their secretaries examine what they do, and how they do it, in terms of managing their daily schedules, paperwork, email, phone calls, even their physical environments. The goal of the approach is to get administrators into classrooms more, while at the same time helping them be more effective with the time spent in their offices, in order to accomplish more, in less time... and, most importantly, in order to more fully serve in their role as instructional leaders for their staff. I attended because some fellow principals of mine had attended, and all used the word "transformational" to describe it. I'm in the early stages of making the changes outlined, but I already see progress. I've spent more time in classes, more time with staff and students, more time on walkthroughs, in the last month, than I'd spent in the last year. Granted, part of that would have happened naturally due to the conclusion of the construction project, and the worth of this experience in helping sustain change will be demonstrated over time, but I feel very encouraged.
I'm spending less time at work, feeling more organized & in control, more effective, and more optimistic.
So that brings me to today, and to another re-entry into the world of blogging. Time has blurred over the last months, but things are finally slowing to a manageable speed, which is a good thing here in the always-insane last month of the regular school year.
We've had induction ceremonies, teachers and staff honored, celebrations, our first grad night (our inaugural high school class, which started in August 2006, is finally graduating this year). In the coming weeks, there will be awards nights, pinnings, our campus's first prom, and graduation, the school's first postsecondary-and-secondary joint ceremony. We'll regroup through the summer, but it will be the first summer in four years in which there has been no construction, no addition of a new grade level or curriculum, no major staffing changes - so it should be a powerful opportunity to move from Emerging phase into Improvement phase.
I'm excited about it... and we'll see if I manage to share it here.
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