Feedback. Don't freak out.

I love this quote. Every day, I try to live this quote. I click buttons fearlessly. I try things I have no idea how to do. I will dance in front of strangers. I embrace the mess. But one thing was freaking me out a little. A lot. Feedback. Mostly receiving it. I feel a little like Scooby and Shaggy when it comes to asking for feedback as a school leader.

I recalled things that I had said before to others. "There's no such thing as bad data!" "We're just looking for strengths. Areas for growth." But still I struggled with asking for feedback about ME. What questions should I ask? What if they are HONEST? What if they don't like me?

And then I read this book. It's all about assessing your school and how feedback can help you transform your school culture, and includes tons of great questions for teachers, leaders, and more.

       

I kept thinking. Listening to colleagues like Jon Corippo and Eric Saibel helped me. I wanted a short survey. I wanted to start with ME. If I could be open and transparent and share the data about me, could that help to open conversations about other areas of our school?

Jon Corippo

Eric Saibel

But still I was a little scared. Then Eric posted this on Twitter. Feedback about him and his leadership team. Public. AWESOME.

Inspired by Eric, I created my survey that day. Seven questions. About me. Okay, six. (I accidentally asked the same question twice!)
I used a 1-10 scale and left space for comments after each question.
I sent it out before I could change my mind.
Thanks for the push, Eric.
The results from my survey are below. I love having the data.
All of it. I'm excited to talk about it. To ask more questions. To keep learning.
I'll be posting it on the wall of our staff lounge when we return from Spring break.

 Some results from our family feedback survey.

Things I learned.

Looking at this data, what questions might you add? How can I improve? What does it tell you about our school? Our culture? I can tell you that I think I work with an amazing team of teachers who are passionate, creative, and kid-centered. I feel so fortunate to lead our school!

Feedback. It's a good thing. Ask questions. Put the data out there. You'll be glad you did.