Well, it's been two weeks...

Good morning, Merton family!  I hope that you have been enjoying your first two weeks of summer.  I have had the pleasure of seeing or tweeting with many of you so far and hope that our paths will cross often over the remaining days of summer.  As you probably know, I have participated in two fantastic learning opportunities since our school year ended.  I participated in #summerspark on June 15th and 16th and had the honor of presenting a few sessions with my good friend Tom Whitford (@twhitford) as well as suggesting an administrator session for the EdCamp that concluded the conference.  Our very own Heidi Jones also participated and presented.  Way to go, Heidi!

Earlier this week I participated in the National FCE (Family and Community Engagement) Conference in Chicago.  To say the least, I was completely blown away.  I met my #ptcamp PLN (Somewhat explained in this blog), the same people who signed a copy of "Beyond the Bake Sale" and had it hand delivered by my good friend Geniene Delahunty (@GenieneD).  If you want to know more about this experience, please stop by.  I'll be at school from time to time over the summer and would love to talk to you about my ideas and how you can support improving family engagement in our school.  I am meeting with our new PTO president, Mrs. Payne, next week to discuss having our own book chat of "Beyond the Bake Sale" with families and staff.  I am really excited about this and know that it will help to make our school an even better place for our students, our staff, and our families.  Neither of these opportunities would have been possible if it weren't for the connections I've made on Twitter and Voxer.  So what can I do to help you get connected?

Here is a graphic from this blog (tea@chtought) about the 27 things teachers do well.  I know that it's difficult to read all of the words so please check with in the blog link if you are interested.

Here is a link to the Meemic foundation grants.  It's a very simple process that I hope you all take advantage of this school year.  Who doesn't like "free" money?

Quotes, blogs, and tweets

"When a thing is done, it's done.  Don't look back.  Look forward to your next objective."- George Marshall, military leader

"I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it."- Audrey Hepburn, actress and humanitarian

"The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise.  It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us."- Ashley Montagu, anthropologist

How to change a from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset in 4 easy steps. (from @TraceyKracht)

(image from www.flickr.com)

So I leave you all with this image, and a request.  As the summer continues, find something that you struggle with, either personally or professionally, and try it again.  The ideas in the growth mindset link above the image may assist you with this.  You can choose to share your struggle with others so that they can support and encourage you or you can keep it to yourself.  The choice is yours.  But please, take the challenge.  You'll be glad that you did, and so will your students and family.

Have a happy 4th of July.  I'll blog you all again after the holiday.

Jay