Pirate Fun!

My brain has been on OVERDRIVE these last few weeks, as I try to wrap my head around the new job. One thing that is crazy important to me is building positive relationships with everyone in my building.

As I've been brainstorming ideas for how to do that--reading a ton of books--reading a ton of blogs--connecting with other principals on FB and Twitter--I really want this next year to be FUN and engaging! Since a big word in my new building is "crew" (based on a critical phrase in EL Education: We are crew, not passengers), I am going with the nautical/pirate theme this year.

First crew members: KIDS! I have 630+ of them, and I can't wait to meet them. To help me get to know them better, I want to see every one of my students on their birthdays. So, my "pirate designing" began!

My hope is they will either come see me that day, or for my littlest learners, I will hunt them down on their special day to give them a card. This gives me face time with each kid in my building. With so many of them, it will take me a little while to know all of their names. Every little bit helps! 

In addition to the birthday card, I wanted to give them a little something else. Enter Stephanie McConnell. She is an awesome Principal/Speaker/Designer that always has wonderful ideas on her blog Principal Principles. She made some AWESOME scratch-off tickets for her staff and for kids. I decided to borrow this idea and make my own pirate-themed ones!

I came up with rewards for them like: a pencil (pirate-themed, of course), lunch with me, picking out of my "treasure chest" (filled with dollar store goodies), and more! The stickers were super affordable on Amazon (they come in silver, gold, and rainbow!!) 

My next crew members: STAFF! I loved the scratch-off idea so much, I'm going to use them with the staff, too. I'm struggling with a few ideas for them, but so far I've come up with: $5 gift cards (to coffee shops/delis in the school vicinity), no recess duty (I'd take their duty for them on a mutually decided day), 30 minutes of prep (again, on a mutually decided day to ensure I'm available), and.....? What else? Do any of you have other great ideas to add to that list? I'm not sure the staff would want a prize out of my treasure chest or lunch with me ;) I'm hoping to use them as birthday "rewards" and as special "thank you's" for going above and beyond. I am joining an incredibly hard-working staff, and I want to make sure they know how much I appreciate all the extra effort they put in.

Another summer "created" item was a generic "observation" notepad. 

(Our staff logo will go under the P3 symbol) These are "on order" from Office Max and will about 4.25" x 5.5" in size. My staff is not accustomed to their principal being in their classrooms often. There is not a "formal" walk-through process/tool. The staff did make it clear that they definitely WANT an instructional leader, and they WANT me to see them in action--that being said, it can still feel a little uncomfortable at first. Many times, teachers fear/feel that if their principal is in their room, it MUST be evaluative. I want to take that stigma away. This notepad allows me to write something positive I saw every time I'm there. Similarly to the kid birthday cards, it gives me face-time with each staff member, and will hopefully support building those critical positive relationships.

What things are you working on this summer? Any fun staff/student reward ideas to share? I'd love to learn with you!

Feeling Inspired,

Angela