Keep focused!

Today is the final Friday of the calendar year.  Next week is our last four days of the calendar year.  That being said, it's important to keep the expectations up for ourselves and our students.  It's important that the students recognize that you take each learning experience with them as a gift, a special moment that comes only once, a chance that you might provide an "Ah ha" and not an "Oh, no".  Find a chance to sit down with a student you haven't gotten to know as well as you'd like so far this year and make a connection.  It may be the one bright spot of their year to this point that they will always look back on.  We started the year with three words of challenge- BE THE ONE!  Look back on your year to this point.  Who considers you to be their one?  Who is your one?

Great things I saw this week...

• Students and staff learning together on Wednesday.
• Staff stepping up for one another and our kids.
• Kids reading and writing in all areas of the school.
• Former Merton students stopping in to help out with Homework Club.
• The Giving Tree

Calendar
Monday, December 19th

• Wear Red and Green
• School board meeting at 7PM

Tuesday, December 20th

• Ugly Sweater and Jeans Day
• PTO brunch in the lounge

Wednesday, December 21st

• Workout Wednesday
• Holiday Hats for the students, too

Thursday, December 22nd

• No grade level or specials meetings
• Raffle gifts
• Pajama Day for the students (Polar Express- Join in if you'd like!)
• Last 15 minutes of the day we'll be in the gym.  Jazz band will play and we'll sing some holiday songs.
• (Adjusted schedule for 7th/8th grade will be provided next week. Each hour (6th-9th) will be 4 minutes shorter.  Thanks to Jonathon and Michael for agreeing to do this.)
• Staff get together after school (location to be determined)

Tweets, quotes, and blogs
Look for the One (from Pernille Ripp)
"So many dreams at first seem impossible.  And then they seem improbable.  And then when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable."- Christopher Reeve, actor and director
The Forest for the Trees #kidsdeserveit (from Todd Neslony)
"Strong, deeply rooted desire is the starting point of all achievement."- Napoleon Hill, writer
"Every child is an artist until he's told he's not an artist."- John Lennon, singer and songwriter
The Basement or the Balcony (from @benjamingilpin)- I hope that you know I am always in the balcony for you!
"A belief is not merely an idea the mind possesses; it is an idea that possesses the mind."- Robert Oxton Bolt, screenwriter and playwright
@mertonint on Twitter
#mertonint on Twitter
Merton Intermediate School Facebook page
Family smore for 12.16.16

In discussing Wednesday's DeSTEMber speakers and activities with most of you the last couple of days, two things came out loud and clear.  The first was that Mary did a fabulous job planning, organizing, and implementing a great day.  It was amazing.  The second was that people who aren't educators don't realize the magic that you do each and every day.  I witnessed speakers going to lunch a session early (I helped her get reset for her final session) and heard speakers saying they couldn't imagine being with our kids all day, every day.  I heard speakers say they were scared of our kids (I'm sure that it was fear of the unknown) and honestly telling me that you are all saints.  It's nothing that I didn't already know.  You amaze me.  You amaze each other.  We have five more days, including today, to keep making magic.  I know that you can do it!

BE THE ONE!
Jay
Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell