New Beginnings

New Workday View

It has been 12 years since I have started the month of July as something other than an elementary principal. It has been an amazing journey that has allowed me to serve a few thousand students and over 300 staff members. As a principal I have been a proud Warrior, Eagle, and Sabre (the sword), as well as a Panther and Charger as a teacher for another nine years. It has been 21 Falls that started with kids and staff being excited to get into their classrooms and kicking-off the school year.

This fall will be different though. Yesterday I started a new position as a Principal Leadership Specialist for a Regional Center of Excellence. The new role will have me facilitating Professional Learning Communities, providing 1-1 coaching/mentoring, and/or providing large group professional development for principals in southern Minnesota. It will have me spending time in many different schools and districts across the southern third of the state, but I will not have a school building that I will call home. It will definitely be a different start to the school year as I will be functioning for the first time in my adult life from a home office (see new office view in picture above). I am excited for the new challenge, but will definitely miss the day to day relationships with students and staff.

As part of the new start, I am also going to re-brand this blog to focus on things I learned throughout the week(s) as I navigate my way through this new journey in life. The learning to be shared will be both professional and personal. Hopefully my ramblings will connect with others as leaders and parents, as well as provide an opportunity to ask others about their learning too.

Things I learned in the last month:

1. Saying Goodbye Was Hard--The last student day was much harder than I had ever expected. I have changed positions before, but I had always moved to a new group of kids. The emotional toll took a lot out of me and I was not prepared for it. Watching the buses roll for the last time brought tears and a ton of memories. The last staff meeting was equally as hard. I realized that I had spent more waking hours in Oak Ridge than I did at home. The staff was family! We experienced personal and professional highs/lows together. I chose the path of "Until we see each other again" instead of "goodbye."
2. My focus will need work--This is my first morning working from home as yesterday was orientation items with cooperative I will be serving and I have already been distracted by items within my house. The part that tells me my focus will need help is that my kids are not even here this morning! I would love to hear tips/pointers from others that work from home. How do you keep your focus on work tasks?
3. Family Rocks!--This is not really new learning, but it has been re-emphasized over the last two weeks. I was able to lock up my office at school over two weeks ago because we had worked really hard to get everything in place for next school year before staff left in early June and I had two weeks of vacation still available. I spent an awesome week in San Diego with my family. We were able to hit up many great places including Torrey Pines, Coronado Beach, the USS Midway, a Padres Game, Sea World, and Legoland. My kids were such troopers and really made the trip enjoyable for each other. Make sure you find balance because family ROCKS!

   

   Lynk Family Selfie Before Harbor Tour