First Impressions

Starting a new job is tough and one of the reasons is that you are the only one the job is new to.  As I was prepping to head into work for the first time yesterday I was thinking about how I want to be know at my school.  How do I want people to see me and what ideas do I want them to associate with me?

1. Look like you want to be known

I dressed up in my full "teaching outfit."  I don't know about you, but I have a teacher uniform (shirt that is almost fully ironed, bowtie, slacks and a great pair of shoes #shoesinedu).  I even grabbed one of my sport coats to really look put together.  This is a jedi mind trick, the professional attire and the bowtie make people think "This is the geek I have been looking for." 

2. The first conversation is key

I had a bunch of first conversations yesterday and they followed a pattern.  After intros and greetings there would be a question like "How is tech class going to work this year?" or "Why did you decide to do tech instead of English?" or "Why elementary?" or "Did you leave your high school by choice?." This was an invitation into explaining myself and my choices.  In each of these conversations I shared my story and experience.  I focused on the big ideas that excite me.  I also made sure to provide a snapshot of how I want to be known and what I see my job as.  I used the phrase collaborative partner and talked more about pedagogy than technology.  Each of these conversations felt like a mini-interview and it was.  Most of them ended with the other person asking me for help or talking about their class plans, so I think they went well.  My greatest win was when a teacher asked me if I could help her print labels and I was able to.  I really want to be known as a helpful and accessible person and this first success was a great start.

3. Own your space and make it communicate your mission

When I walked into the lab with my boss he said "This is your space, although other people will use it."  I looked around and it was very grey.  the walls are off white, the bulletin boards are grey, cabinets grey, and there are white boards at the front.  I immediately thought "This does not look like a creative learning space, this looks like a training center.  I want the tech class to be a place where we learn, create, reflect and share. My challenge is to make the room communicate this.  Step one is cover those bulletin boards.  At first I thought there were only 2 boards in the room, one on each side of the white boards in front.
I covered these with yellow paper and put up some great monster boarders. (thanks Mom!)

 Then I looked around the room and noticed the upper cabinet doors were actually bulletin board material also, so I set about covering them.  As I was doing this I realized the space under the cabinets was also made of bulletin board material.  My room is practically lined with board space.  I needed more paper.  I raided the supply room and found red and green paper to complement the yellow, I was hoping for blue to go all "Google" on it, but no luck.

cabinet faces and under cabinet boards

As I was working a number of teachers stopped by to chat with me and introduce themselves.  Each of them looked at the paper I was putting up and said "I never

knew these were bulletin boards."  This was exciting for me because I could tell that I was transforming this space.  This transformation will help support me as I do things differently than the last person who worked in this lab.  The change is visible and exciting.  My next step is to figure out how to use the die cutting press and make slogans to post on the boards.  I want to use "before you post T.H.I.N.K." I also will use "you are what you share."  If you have any great ideas about inspirational quotes or phrases that will fit on a narrow cabinet door please include them in the comments.