Melinda S. Miller

Lead With Appreciation: Fostering a Culture of Gratitude

What is your number one struggle for more staff appreciation? My good friend Amber Teamann and I have the solution for you! Here you will find many ideas to lead with appreciation at work. Lead with Appreciation is HERE! Learn how positive recognition and appreciation can transform your ... Read More about Lead With Appreciation: Fostering a Culture of Gratitude

The Ultimate Blog Birthday Party! New Blog on WordPress

Just like kids celebrate their birthdays at school with birthday treats, I am celebrating my new blog birthday with treats for you! But not the sticky, sugary kind. How about a digital birthday treat? See below to claim your treat and start following my new blog on Wordpress!It's been a long time ... Read More about The Ultimate Blog Birthday Party! New Blog on WordPress

4 Biggest End of the Year Mistakes

Ahhhhh the end is near. Only one more week of school. It's bittersweet but more sweet than bitter if you know what I mean. But it's A LOT! Hopefully sharing my experience will keep you from making the same end of the year mistakes I always make. The last week of school is a mixture of many emotions. ... Read More about 4 Biggest End of the Year Mistakes

5 Tips for a Successful Teacher Appreciation Week!!!

Ready or not here it comes! I have always loved Teacher Appreciation Week. As a teacher I remember how special our PTO and students made the week. Now as a principal I have enjoyed being a part of the planning process.Over time our process has changed and families and PTO members have come and gone. ... Read More about 5 Tips for a Successful Teacher Appreciation Week!!!

Confessions of a Forgotten Fabulous February

I didn't do it! Nope! No Fabulous February for Willard East this year. Before February(2019) started I told my "Culture Club" we are not doing it. As the leader it is my job to look ahead and filter things that are on the calendar or would like to be on the calendar. When I looked at February ... Read More about Confessions of a Forgotten Fabulous February

Principal Planner – Complimentary Copy

Happy Sunday friends! I was able to get quite a bit done on some of my creative projects this weekend. Of course there are tons of other things to do but on a dreary day there is nothing better than coffee, clipart, and chillin' with my kids! Can be digital or paper. I currently use as paper ... Read More about Principal Planner – Complimentary Copy

Fall Break & Freebies

Hello Friends! Is there really anything better than a fall break inserted right at the end of "Shocktober?" Perfect timing! Especially for my teachers. I know October is tough and I try to do everything to keep the humor alive and support teachers. Just knowing a break was coming up was a big ... Read More about Fall Break & Freebies

Challenges of Goal Setting

Have you ever talked yourself out of goal setting because you knew wouldn't meet the goal? That's me every time! Over the past few years I have gone through some challenging things in my life. Trying to find my purpose again. Asking, "Why?" a lot. Just trying to get my groove back so to speak. It ... Read More about Challenges of Goal Setting

Daily Private Victory – Because it’s October

How exhausted are you? Noticed I didn't even ask "IF" you are exhausted. I already know the answer to that. In the world of education October is a bit of a transition month. The honeymoon is over, grade cards are due, parent/teacher conferences, discipline, and you can list all the rest. This is ... Read More about Daily Private Victory – Because it’s October

Who Blogs Here Anyway???

I love blogging although you may not know that since I haven’t blogged here in a while. So let me tell you why that is...I can’t keep up! Oh I know, believe me. “You make time for what’s important.” Blah blah blah. But what if it’s all important? I’m being serious here. It really is all ... Read More about Who Blogs Here Anyway???

Trying My Hand at Vlogging

I am obsessed with YouTube lately! Teacher Tubers especially. I think my roots will always be in the classroom because I totally got hooked on classroom set up videos this summer. It was crazy! I tried to stay on the "subscription" tab on my iPhone but the app always opens on the YouTube ... Read More about Trying My Hand at Vlogging

Facebook LIVE – Summer Series, Bullet Journal Review

Live on Facebook on Tuesdays in June! Seriously Tuesday is the ONLY night we do not have games, camps, open gym, scrimmage, etc. Summer School and summer chauffeur-ing keep us quite busy. However......In order to collaborate, share and get ideas I couldn't pass up an opportunity to connect with ... Read More about Facebook LIVE – Summer Series, Bullet Journal Review

Grab-n-go Snack Bin – #momhack

Usually my posts are about "principal-ing." However, this post takes a dramatic turn to being a mom. Well, not so dramatic but working on my writing "hooks." LOL There is a selfish reason for this post and I just can't help it. I listened to a podcast last week about sharing fearlessly. What ... Read More about Grab-n-go Snack Bin – #momhack

Productivity Facebook Group Update

Click here to join! Learning from the smartest principals in the world, yes I said WORLD, has been amazing! If you have not joined our Principal Productivity Facebook Group you don't know what you don't know. Why a Facebook group? I am so glad you asked! This is a specific group of people. It's ... Read More about Productivity Facebook Group Update

Motivation BINGO – #Leaderinme

Games make everything more fun! Right? Different versions of staff BINGO make their way around the interwebs all year. I probably love 99.9% of them and want to use them all. However, I really do want activities to be relevant to my staff.Last year my social media BFF Amber Teamann and I created a ... Read More about Motivation BINGO – #Leaderinme

10 Year Blog-A-versary & Makeover

Anyone out there been blogging for 10 years?!!! (I feel like I am asking if you're out there in outer space. Um...NO. You know what I mean.) I cant' even believe it myself! My blog was seeming dated and I had noticed that other bloggers had updated their designs. I thought what the heck! ... Read More about 10 Year Blog-A-versary & Makeover

Notifications Poison Productivity

Turn off your notifications! I dare you! Turn off the badges, banners, sounds, lock screen, previews etc. Turn it all off! I bet you are having an anxiety attack right now just thinking about this right? It will be okay. It's not like you are going to forget to check your email. Maybe ... Read More about Notifications Poison Productivity

Principals Aren’t Perfect – It’s ok!

This image was making it's way around my principal friends' Facebook pages recently. Let's face it...We are "supposed" to be perfect-ish. Never make a mistake. Have all the answers. Solve all the problems. Know all the things. You know, principals can really tick people off. Kids, parents, ... Read More about Principals Aren’t Perfect – It’s ok!

Holiday Planning for Your Staff/School – Join our group

The holidays are quickly approaching. Don't wait 'til the last minute! (Ok, some of my best ideas have come at the last minute.) This is my 15th year as an elementary principal. I can't even believe it myself. I know you are all thinking, "WOW! You look so young!" You don't have to ... Read More about Holiday Planning for Your Staff/School – Join our group

Practice Makes Perfect – Lunch Doodie

Posted in cafe-a-gym-natorium 200 children sitting side by side(touching) at a table with food and sharp objects....Now that you have that picture in your mind you understand why I changed the word duty to "doodie." You might only understand if you have ever had lunchroom ... Read More about Practice Makes Perfect – Lunch Doodie

Progressive PD for Teacher Workday

Who doesn't plan events around food? I mean really. If you feed them they will come. Friday was a 1/2 day teacher workday. The kids were here for the morning and then teachers worked in the afternoon. It is the end of the quarter and time to work on Report Cards but our report cards ... Read More about Progressive PD for Teacher Workday

Space Saving Hack for Photos and Google Drive

How much space on your smartphone is used up by photos? I am guessing quite a bit. Photos take up almost all the space on my phone. Some are photos for work and some are personal photos. Get your mind out of the gutter! Personal photos mean pics of my kids, screenshots of funny/not funny ... Read More about Space Saving Hack for Photos and Google Drive

My Photo and Image Creation Apps

Downloaded free camera cliplart. Created in Phonto. LOTS of you have asked about apps I use to create my images. Of course I will share! Phonto and Photofy are my favorites! They are the first two apps I go to when creating most of my images. I take that back a little bit. If I can just take ... Read More about My Photo and Image Creation Apps

Balancing Text vs. Using Images

Over the years I've learned a lot about communication with my staff and school family . A lot especially about social media communication. I would rather over communicate than leave anything to chance. It's so much easier for me to create graphics/images/etc. from my phone than wait to get back to ... Read More about Balancing Text vs. Using Images