Reflection

During even my busiest of days, I find time to reflect.  It may happen when I'm running or driving, and sometimes it's while I'm sitting around the house.  One thing that caused me to pause and reflect was a comment I heard from one of our parents.  She had this to say, "The quarter 1 report card comments are worthless. They are generic and mean nothing if it isn't specifically about each student.  (Name removed) had two specific comments without "a" name being used to personalize it.  (Name removed) had nothing. I know it's more to do for the teachers but give us something that shows you know our child and not just the entire class."  It's tough to read and tough to share with you.  But it's important for us all to consider.  We don't need to provide comments only on report cards.  An email, phone call, voicemail, or text at any time during the school year are powerful.  Our Mustang Medals are hung on refrigerators and shared with families.  The reflective part for me about this is the kind of feedback I provide for each of you.  I need to do better, and not just with mini-observations and formal observations.  I need to leave more notes for you after I've been in your rooms- not every time, just more often.  That is my point for sharing the parent's comment with you.  Let's remember to provide more feedback to our families about how their children are doing.  The rewards from this will be unexpected and, I promise you, uplifting.

Calendar
Tuesday, December 15th          Training Tuesday- Wear your workout clothes!
                                                 Practice  4:15-5:15
Wednesday, December 16th     A-team meeting  1:30-3:30
                                                 Culver's Night  4:00-8:00
Thursday, December 17th         Thermal Thursday- Wear flannel, fleece, or sweatshirts
                                                                             PTO sponsored K-cup restocking!
                                                 Environmental Club  8:00-8:30AM
                                                 Practice 4:15-5:15
Friday, December 18th             Ugly Christmas sweater and jeans day (Kids vote for the winner!)
                                                 PTO sponsored Staff brunch!

Tweets, blogs, and quotes
"Innovation is not about saying yes to everything.  It's about saying NO to all but the most crucial features."- Steve Jobs, entrepreneur
"If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that.  Word of mouth is very powerful."- Jeff Bezos, entrepreneur
"If you have always done it that way, it is probably wrong."- Charles Kettering, inventor
The Real Influence We Have on Students (from @ajjuliani)
"The goal is not always meant to be reached, but to serve as a mark for our aim."- Joseph Joubert, essayist
"If you don't know where you're going, you might not get there."- Yogi Berra, baseball player and manager
"If you're bored with life, if you don't get up every morning with a burning desire to do things, you don't have enough goals."- Lou Holtz, football coach
Presentation for Wednesday's student assembly
@mertonint from Twitter
#mertonint from Twitter
Merton Intermediate School Facebook page
Family smore from 12.11.15

Just wondering what you think, and if any of you would be interested...
Mentorship program helps 5th graders feel at home in middle school (from Wisconsin State Journal)

Just so you know...there are dozens of students who say this about you every day. (LInk from our meeting on Wednesday)
http://my.happify.com/hd/surprise-visit-from-inspiring-teachers/

(from Jen via @twinkleteaches.blogspot.com)

(from Pixteller)

(from Pinterest)

Have a great weekend, rest up, and be ready to bring your best, like you always do, to our last full week before Winter Break.

Jay