While reading more is not a New Year's Resolution for me, reading a diverse variety of texts is. The past years, I have been laser focused on reading educational leadership books and have felt guilty when reading novels and even memoirs. This week I asked leaders across the country to submit recommendations for my 2019 Book List and I chose the following 12 books. Which ones have you read? Which ones are you looking to read!? Happy Reading!

1. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
"An unforgettable memoir about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University. Educated : A Memoir is the story of Tara Westover, who started her education formally at the age of 17. This is a tale of survival and struggle." 
Click Here to See on Amazon
Recommendation from Obama's 2018 Favorite Book List & Bill Gate's Top 5 Books of 2018

​2. Dare to Lead by Brené Brown
"Dare to Lead repels common myths about modern-day workplace culture and shows you that true leadership requires nothing but vulnerability, values, trust, and resilience."
Click Here to See on Amazon
​Recommendation from multiple principals including Beth Garcia, HISD. ​

6. The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups by Daniel Coyle 
"The Culture Code examines the dynamics of groups, large and small, formal and informal, to help you understand how great teams work and what you can do to improve your relationships wherever you cooperate with others." 
Click Here to See on Amazon
Recommendation from Brent Allen, Scott County Schools

7. Como Curar Un Corazon Roto (How to Heal A Broken Heart) by Gaby Perez Islas
"Every day we encounter different types of losses: from objects which we grow fond of, divorce, death of a loved one, change of residence, loss of employment, loss of a pet, addictions, dietary changes, kidnappings, suicide and dreams not reached. How to Heal A Broken Heart is a manual of healing and daily, personal growth."
Click Here to See on Amazon

8. Lincoln on Leadership by Donald T. Phillips
"Lincoln on Leadership is the first book to examine Abraham Lincoln's diverse leadership abilities and how they can be applied to today's complex world."
Click Here to See on Amazon
​Recommendation from ShaMika Ann

9. The Power of Positive Leadership: How and Why Positive Leaders Transform Teams and Organizations and Change the World by Jon Gordon
"We are not positive because life is easy. We are positive because life can be hard. As a leader, you will face numerous obstacles, negativity, and tests. There will be times when it seems as if everything in the world is conspiring against you and your vision seems more like a fantasy than a reality. That’s why positive leadership is essential! Positive leadership is not about fake positivity. It is the real stuff that makes great leaders great."
​Click Here to See on Amazon
Recommendation from Jennie Mathews

10. The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy by Jon Gordon (I can't believe I haven't read this one yet #ShameOnMe)
"The Energy Bus, an international best seller by Jon Gordon, takes readers on an enlightening and inspiring ride that reveals 10 secrets for approaching life and work with the kind of positive, forward thinking that leads to true accomplishment - at work and at home."
​Click Here to See on Amazon
Recommendation from Dana Newell Church Organizational Leader, Houston, TX 

I received tons of wonderful suggestions from the Facebook Group Principal Principles Leadership and highly recommend you join! 

You can also see Obama's 2018 Top Book List and Bill Gate's 5 Books I loved In 2018 by clicking on the hyperlinks for more ideas! 

FEEDBACK

If you're someone who says, "I love feedback", I honestly can't believe you. Giving and receiving feedback can be an uncomfortable situation. When giving feedback, we have to consider the right time, what the impact/outcome of it would be, and how strong the relationship with the other person is. 

​For me, giving feedback is WAY easier than receiving it.  I don't know about you, but it's way easier for me to come up with a 1,000 ways someone can be doing something different versus hearing 1,000 I could change. However, recently I read a quote that has helped the way I view receiving feedback and has honestly made the process much easier on my own self-esteem. 

The quote is the following: Who you are and what you do are separate from each other. 

This is how I interpret this thought... 

Who I am is determined by my values, my work ethic, and my personality. I, Margarita, am loyal, trusting, honest, straightforward and caring person. I am an extremely dedicated and passionate worker, and am emotional and introspective. 

What I do is my profession: I lead students, teachers and community members. More specifically, I oversee the Reading and Writing department in my elementary. I appraise teachers and handle their parent discipline concerns. Amongst other tasks that are assigned to me, I believe these are the most important of my list of obligations. Now, while WHO I am clearly plays a role on how I solve and deal with people, it does not mean that a criticism on my work is equal to a criticism of my persona. 

I truly believe that the more we think of our profession as an ever evolving craft we should be open to feedback but never let it define US. Take feedback as someone else's perspective on the work that you do, not as someone's perspective on YOU. 

I've recently had the life changing opportunity to read Brene Brown's Daring Greatly. If you haven't read any of her books, please invest in your emotional well-being and pick up a copy, whichever one you'd like! While this book is not about education, my educator hat can never come off, especially in this case. 

The main topic discussed in Daring Greatly is vulnerability. If someone is the queen of running away from being vulnerable, IT'S ME! This blog is the curation of thoughts that make it through a very rigid vetting process into writing...it takes a lot for me to open up. However, Brown posts a great argument that has made me see pain and adversity in a new light, especially when dealing with struggling students.

Everybody has adversity. But, like everything, there are levels of adversity and pain one goes through. At my school, I have found purpose in the cards life has dealt me. The students that I serve are faced with early deaths, incarcerated family members, extreme levels of poverty, and the list goes on. Being a leader doesn't come with a manual. Furthermore, giving consequences is one of the most complex situations a leader faces. Nobody trains you on how to address misbehaviors and while there's the "Student Code of Conduct" it is up to your judgement to not only give the student a consequence, but to investigate and attempt to find a solution to impede this from happening again. It's easy to go around handing detention slips and in-school suspension forms. But in order to fully make long-lasting, impactful change, we must get to the root of things. Why are the students lashing out? How are we influencing these behaviors? Here's where empathy and vulnerability come in. If you're an educator that cannot be empathetic, you cannot serve to your fullest potential. Brown says, "Being empathetic doesn't mean going through the exact experience, it simply means letting the other person know their pain is acknowledged and they are not alone." As teachers, we cannot hold on to grudges, every day we have to push our reset button when working with our kids. As leaders, we have to empathize not only with the teacher, but with the student and their family. Being vulnerable can make a day and night change when having conversations with students/parents. Many times, our struggling students think that nobody understands the pain they're going through. When talking to parents, they sometimes feel judged and inferior simply because your title suggests you're educated and in a position of power, and they're not. Being vulnerable about our backgrounds and our experiences levels the playing field and builds trust. It is only with trust that one can begin understanding what is really triggering behaviors in our students. 

This year I am grateful to be working hand in hand with a counselor that understands the complexity of the issues we face. Through a restorative approach, Ms. Menephee guides students, parents and even myself to find the best, whole-hearted solution. 

I invite you to be courageous in sharing and using your adversity to create change. Happiness and sadness are emotions that unite us. We tend to be surrounded in a world that inundates us with joy, even if it’s artificial. We open up our Facebook and see all the fantastic things happening to our contacts and we tend to compare our lives to the highlights of others. But, what a difference it makes to read how someone has overcome adversity and pain. Whether it’s starting a blog, or simply sharing stories that show you in another light other than “perfect”, embrace the pain and use it to connect. Your challenges can help a student, a teacher, a parent or a friend understand that they are not alone, this too shall pass, and they will be stronger because of it. 

The last time I wrote a blog post was a little under a year ago... what a difference 11 months can make... From the moment my assignment started, back in June 2017, until today, there hasn't been a day where I have felt stagnant, unchallenged or unmotivated. Becoming an assistant principal at a turnaround school has not only molded me as a leader, but grown me as a person. I could write a book about the many lessons learned during my experience, but I'll begin with these five lessons that have forever changed my life:

1. Do not underestimate your capacity for CHANGE. There is never a right time to do a difficult thing.
When going into leadership there are many factors that will determine your ability to obtain a role. Some factors include your personality, your vision, your grit, your credentials, and of course, your experience. However, one factor that you cannot completely control is the belief others hold about you. Different schools have different needs. Similarly, different leaders look for different characteristics in their assistant principals. I found a leader that took a risk in hiring someone who would have the character and persistence needed to work at a turnaround school. However, many times I questioned if I was ready. MANY people questioned my decision to work at a low performing school, and of course, many more questioned my principal's decision of hiring me. 
I have had the privilege of working in high performing schools all my educational career, and while the internal thoughts of, "Is this the right fit for me? Am I ready? Will I be efficient in my role? Will I fail?" kept me up many nights, and still do, I always knew that if something challenges you it must be something worth experiencing. 

2. You are a product of your environment, surround yourself with the best. 
It takes self awareness and honesty with yourself to accept that you don't know everything. Accepting this was difficult but necessary. I was blessed to be in a school that had resources and the people to support me at every step of the way. My principal trusted and taught me important concepts on managing a budget, the hiring process and even the maintenance management piece. Having her as my leader was the second biggest component on my success during my first year (I will talk about the first in lesson 4). Our math & data specialist were imperative in mentoring me through desegregation and interpretation of data. We would talk for hours on the phone after work, hang out during the weekend to discuss plans, and many times walked out together way after the custodial staff was gone. Our reading specialist was a knowledge-tank filled with resources, experiences and ideas on reaching our struggling students. Not only that... personally she was my person. Everybody needs a person, and if you watch Grey's Anatomy you know what I mean by that. She was my balance, she provided emotional support for me when I needed it the most, and ALWAYS, ALWAYS gave me honesty. I appreciate you Errica, you're a light to all that have the pleasure of knowing you. 
The teachers I met through my first year taught me the importance of being PRESENT. As I reflect on the closing of this school year, I wish I would have done several things differently to get to know them better. When working at a turnaround school, everything is important. We must not forget that its the people who teach our kids the ones that make the impact at the end of the day. How are we motivating them? Are we appreciating them? Are we supporting them? Teachers from turn around schools experience difficulties that no one else does in the classroom. It takes a strong heart to dedicate your life to our students. 
Finally, the students you serve change you as well. If you read through my posts, you'll see that my life wasn't always easy. Working at Dogan has made me aware of how good I had it, even in my darkest times. Our children are deprived of so much, therefore we owe them THAT MUCH MORE. 

3. Working at a turnaround school is not for everybody. 
I have met many people that want to be in school leadership and begin interviewing for roles at several schools. I do not mean to undermine the challenges faced in high performing schools at all... every organization has its difficulties. I have learned though that in order for people to succeed in turnaround work they must be willing to commit to long hours, a fast-paced environment, budgetary constraints that will test your resourcefulness skills, and emotional maturity to withstand the discipline issues, the insults, and the weight of performing well on state tests. 

4. You will not always agree with your principal, and that is okay. 
Your job as an assistant principal is to carry out the vision of the building leader, therefore it is important that you and them share the same values on leadership and education. You will both have different ideas, you will have different methods, and even different styles to dealing with situations. The MOST IMPORTANT component of your success is YOU. Your ability to take feedback, your ability to change, your ability to make decisions when being trusted to do so, your ability to learn and be flexible. People always say, don't take it personal... but it's hard not to when your job is your passion and your craft. However, strong crews are able to point out each other's weaknesses to get closer to their strengths. A professional relationship without honesty cannot succeed!

5. No item on your to-do list is more important than building relationships. 
I once heard someone say people in the morning paperwork at night. This was not only my first year being in this school, it was the entire leadership teams' as well. That meant that the learning curve for all of us was HUGE. We all had systems from the different schools we each served in, therefore selecting what would work best and implementing it at Dogan was challenging. I knew the paperwork requirements would take up a large part of my time, therefore I knew that at least for my first year I was going to have to put long hours if I wanted to get to know the students, their families and the staff. 
During the day I invested my time in content and teaching, getting to know the custodial staff, working with behavior students, meeting my observation/coaching requirements and planning with the leadership team. When the students left, however, it became time to work on emails, creating forms etc. If my day was not structured this way, those small tasks would eat up my entire time. 
At the end of the day I had to keep in mind who I was doing this work for: the kids. Being in leadership, there will always be adults that will have their opinions on your decisions and your abilities, it comes with the job. However, as an educator you HAVE to be connected with kids. Kids know your true intentions, they know if you care for them or not. They know if you're interested in their dreams and if you know their virtues. I decided to form the Dogan STEM Club to enrich Science on Friday after school. The days we met were some of my most memorable afternoons at Dogan. Of course I was tired, of course we were often the only ones in the building until their parents came, but the bond I formed with those 15 students was stronger than any other bond. It is my goal to continue doing at least one after school activity for the students that I serve. 
This week we celebrated our kids' accomplishments in their promotional ceremonies. The smiles on their faces and the pride they held were heartwarming. I can't wait to see our little ones throughout their years at Dogan, and wish nothing but THE BEST to our graduating fifth graders. I hope life lets me see the amazing adults they become! 

My heart is filled with joy of the possibilities that a new school year brings. Summer 2018 planning BEGINS! 

 LITERACY 
  As we grow up, we begin learning that certain things have a high priority in our parents' lives. Whether it be money, good manners, school or never, EVER, removing the plastic cover from the new sofa set. One of the things that I knew was important for my mother was literacy. 
  A little back story so you can understand the amazing human being that my mother is, she immigrated from Mexico leaving her job as a nurse, her home and family to give us a better life. She was lucky enough to survive an entire week walking through the dessert and managed to get a job that payed for my sister and I to finally live in the US. She worked multiple jobs, cooking in Burger King, waitressing and later became a lunch server at my school: Treasure Forest Elementary. 
  Having your mother be part of the cafeteria staff was difficult, I must admit. Many classmates made fun of the fact that my mother was a server, even though what they didn't see was that she always managed to give me an extra chicken nugget, or an extra scoop of mashed potatoes! Take that bullies :P ! After work, she would come to my class, give me a little snack and our journey began. Every day we walked about two miles to the Ring Neighborhood Library. It was the BEST part of my day. There were huge teddy bears and comfy places where I could lay down and read for what seemed like an eternity. Meanwhile, my mom would use the computers to practice English. That was our routine for some time until one day, coming back home, a car full of young guys passed and threw something at my mom and I. My mom always walked on the side of the road, so the object only hit her. It was an egg. Part of me was confused, the guys seemed to be laughing, my mom actually smiled after the pain was gone. However, a pain that never left us was the shame of walking somewhere, it's silly but it's true! 
  After that incident, I for SURE thought we would never be walking to the library again...and I was right. The next day my mom came to pick me up and said, "Are you ready?". I figured she meant ready to go home, nope! She said, "We are not walking to the library, we are taking the Metro". WHAT?! We had NEVER ridden the Metro. The entire situation seemed too complicated for us. 1. You need to know English to be able to communicate in case you get lost or to see if the bus is the right one. 2. You need a route map to know which bus to take. 3. We didn't know the form of payment. And 4. Who was allowed to ride on the Metro? All of these things made it a scary situation for my mom and I to immerse ourselves in. However, she seemed determined and confident in the research that she had done by asking around. We walked to the bus stop, we payed our dollar and received a ticket, and off we went! We did that for the remaining of my elementary years. 
  Unconsciously, those afternoons spent in the library saved me from realizing how poor we were and the lack of love that existed between my parents. 
  Her persistence in not giving up this time regardless of the challenges made me think...literacy... yeah... it must be important. 

A NON-TRADITIONAL PUBLIC SCHOOL
  When I graduated from fifth grade, my mom insisted in me enrolling in a charter school. I did everything possible to not turn in the applications, not give my mom the acceptance letters and I abused the fact that I was her interpreter to keep her from knowing the status of my enrollment. Oh, how I regretted my choices later. 
  I went on to the feeder middle school and high school just to realize the reality of my environment. My mom didn't work in those schools anymore, she wasn't there every afternoon to pick me up and take me to my safe haven. I had a culture clash with my own culture. I became aware of drugs and how easy they are to sneak in to schools. I witnessed friends drinking vodka straight out of a Sprite bottle. I saw how a Coke can could be used as a pipe to smoke marijuana. I learned how you could smoke a joint while your professor was turned to the board and simply spray some Febreeze after each puff to avoid them from smelling it and many other fun activities involving drugs. All. In. School. I came to school feeling like I didn't belong. I wasn't pretty enough or agile enough to be a cheerleader, I wasn't athletic enough to be good at sports, and I didn't show enough skin to have any sort of boy interested in me! I felt that my strengths, being intelligent, weren't worthy of recognition. You might be thinking, "Ugh, she's so needy!" and to that I say, ABSOLUTELY. You see, when you grow up without a strong parental figure you develop a need for attention. Trends these days like to refer this condition as "Daddy Issues". Anyway...I didn't feel important.
  My sophomore year I enrolled in a program at the Guthrie Center. This center allowed high schoolers from around the area to attend courses such as Graphic Design, 3D Animation, Cosmetology, Photography and ROTC. During one of my courses I saw a guy reading a book that caught my attention at the time (I honestly don't remember the title and don't want to make it up). Most of our conversations from that day forward revolved around him telling me all about how amazing his school was. I decided to take matters into my own hands, researched the school, got my mom to sign the application and within a month I was transferred and on my way to Westchester Academy for International Studies, a Spring Branch ISD public charter school. 
  The first day that I arrived I felt something different. Everyone looked happy, the classrooms had desks together and I realized that literacy was also important to them. Not only was literacy valued, creativity was PRAISED, ENCOURAGED and EXPECTED. My art teacher pushed me to create art that was mine, and not copied like everything else I did prior to WAIS. There was a mix of cultures that inevitably contributed to the vibrant atmosphere. It was an international school and we often received exchange students who kept us learning about the world beyond our walls.
  As I became an educator, I've made it my mission to incorporate many of the values that were instilled in me during my years at WAIS. I honestly believe that the only way to move our urban youth forward is to provide them with experiences that foster their creativity, uniqueness, and curiosity to expand their knowledge beyond the limitations of their environment.

ACCOUNTABILITY 
I've always been fascinated by the clips in movies or commercials where little kids come up to their parents and show them a piece of artwork and the mother praises the child and hangs up the work on the fridge. That was never the case for me. If I came home with a drawn portrait of myself, family member or any other person mom would take a moment to analyze it, and would often give it back to me with detailed feedback such as "Hmm..looks great, how about you keep working on that shading though?". B's were never good enough for her, I was always expected to earn nothing less than an A. Although I suffered from extreme first world problems by never earning the verbal praise from my mom, I knew I meant the world to her. I loved when others would ask about her daughters, because that is when she would speak volumes about me. 

Today I understand that I have to fight with issues such as being a people pleaser, I obviously have trust issues and feelings of never being "good enough"...but I value accountability and knowing that people always rise to the standards that you set for them. I value honest feedback and cherish the feeling of working hard to EARN your stripes. My mother's accountability saved me from making mistakes that I would later regret in life, all while pushing me to become the best version of myself. 

This ended up being a Thank You letter for my mother, and I'm feeling nervous about sharing this out. However, if you were kind enough to click on this link and cared enough to read until the end, you learning a little bit about my story doesn't bother me at all! 

The end. 

Back in October I made a decision to begin blogging more frequently! Obviously, after four months and only three entries, I haven't kept that promise so well. Fortunately, there's the wonderful world of Twitter. I was introduced to the #EduBlogsClub challenge by @MsTaraDye and I couldn't be more grateful for it! 

Certainly, coming up with ideas or taking the courage to bring your thoughts to the world is a big challenge. I'm sure many struggled with the decision of what to make your blog about. I went back and forth on whether I simply wanted to talk about education or general ideas. I've decided that I'm just going to blog about anything that makes my heart happy :)

Recently I decided that my #OneWord for 2017 would be CONSISTENCY. Amongst many things I'd like to be more consistent on, blogging is one of them. I will continue to blog about quotes that inspire me. I will also continue sharing successful and not so successful life events.

I can't wait to read the posts that this challenge will inspire!

Until next time,
- @MaggyTamez 

Dear future leaders of America,

Yesterday you took part in a class activity by participating in an election! As you sat down in our carpet, you learned how we would vote for our favorite class book and the way our election would go. I saw the excitement through your eyes as you patiently waited in line for your turn to voice your choice. I heard side conversations and whispers held between each other about your passion towards Pete the Cat and The Three Little Pigs. 

Today, when you came eagerly through the door, the first thing you asked me was, "WHO WON MS. TAMEZ?!". I told you that after much counting, the winner had been chosen. Many of you clapped, some of you said, "Aww!" with a sad look on your face. A lot of you remembered who you had voted for because somehow there was still a little mark on your hand with the color of your choice. 

Now, when you're old enough to read this, if you ever do, you probably won't remember the importance of this lesson and what came out of my mouth as I was teaching you. So...for the kids who magically find this blog entry somehow, let me tell you this... As you were voting for this class election, America was voting for their 45th president at the same time. While in the world there were many different opinions and mixed feelings about the outcome, you gracefully accepted your loss and cheered for the winner. 

Science tells me that you won't remember many of the things that occurred to you before the age of five. Faith however, tells me that you will remember this, and if you don't it's here posted for you to revisit. 

My wish for you is to always voice your choice, to always read and be knowledgeable about your options, to gracefully accept differences, and most importantly, to always remember you are powerful and you are what makes this country a fantastic place to live in. 

Your teacher,
Ms. Tamez

P.S. Pete the Cat took the win :) 

So here goes nothing, attempt #33405 in starting a blog. If you notice the date, and care enough to search what day this was, it's a Thursday night. It's one day before our famous parade and I'm sitting here, just wondering, "What is keeping me from blogging?". I'm self-conscious about my accent already, why am I being self-conscious about my thoughts in writing? Many other times I've decided to just start on "Monday" or in August for a fresh new school year but all attempts have failed. Here comes one last chance to try and make myself feel good about my failures: I simply hadn't found what to write about. 

As I was looking through my Pinterest feed, I realized one of my most used boards is my quotes board. I LIVE FOR QUOTES. No, seriously, I do. I'm not sure if it's the shortness and bluntness of them, or the graphics added that make such a simple statement so powerful...but I love them. So, I've decided to base first entries on quotes. Boom. Problem solved. 

Out of the hundreds of quotes pinned on my board, this one stood out to me because of how much I live by it and constantly revive it. There are quotes that fit at a certain moment of your life, and then six months later you don't relate anymore. No matter how much time goes by, I still feel thankful for those who have said no to me. Mind you, after much therapy, I'm able to be thankful. At one point in my life I wasn't though. There are still moments when I suddenly feel resentment, but it all goes away when I dust myself off, and try again. (Yes, I'm a 90's kid, sorry). 

There's a wonderful book called, "The Gift of Failure" by Jessica Lahey that talks about letting children fail in order to teach them grit, endurance and perseverance. It's as if those people in my life that neglected me once had read this book too. 

Many people say, "I'm unapologetically...me, fearless, etc,.". Well, I'm unapologetically marked by those who've rejected me or my ideas, BUT much stronger because of it.

​