The right thing to do

This quote, found in a post from AJ Juliani, is all we need to think about this weekend.
One veteran teacher who has led the move to personalized learning and authentic assessment said to me, "I keep thinking things might get easier. But, they never do. I guess I'm hoping for the wrong thing. Instead, things are getting better for our kids. They are having new experiences we could never have offered 5, 10, 15 years ago. It's not easy for us, but it's the right thing to do."
Here's the rest of his post, with a pretty awesome video, too.
What It's Like to Teach and Lead in 2017 (Hint: It's Exhausting)

Great things I saw this week...
Lots of reading
Great discussions among small groups of students in lots of content areas
Students being challenged in Math and Science with problem solving and vocabulary
Our grade level meetings have been a great combination of talking kids, discussing data, and laughing
MAP testing environments that allowed kids a greater opportunity for success
Gaga ball games have been going well (stop on out and watch if you are able)

Calendar
Monday, October 2nd
I'm in Minneapolis recovering from the Twin Cities Marathon
Tuesday, October 3rd
8:00  Google Expedition training for all teaching staff
8:45  Boosterthon kick off assembly (Join me in the gym as soon as you are able!)
Adjusted schedule
4:15  Homework Club
Wednesday, October 4th
Boosterthon videos start today following the announcements (See link in team meeting agenda)
5th and 6th grade team meetings (Thanks for changing the meeting day!)
Thursday, October 5th
I'm in Madison for an AWSA meeting all morning
7th/8th grade team meeting
4:15  Homework Club
Friday, October 6th
NO OFFICE DAY!

Tweets, quotes, and blogs
11 Reasons Why Teaching Middle School is the Best Job Ever (from WeAreTeachers)

(from Pinterest)

Incremental Innovations #IMMOOC (from George Couros)

(from George Couros)

What to do when a student constantly refuses to work (from thecornerstoneforteachers.com)
#mertonint on Twitter
#MertonProud on Twitter
Merton Intermediate Facebook page
Merton Intermediate Instagram page
Family smore for 9.29.17

I know that Thursday is my meeting day, but the meetings never seemed to end yesterday.  I'll be in classrooms all day today, except during lunch and recess.  Invite me in if you have something new that you're going to try or if you just want me to visit to be part of an activity.  I look forward to having an awesome NO OFFICE DAY today.
Be the one!
Jay
Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell

"Hello, this is the Principal calling"

This post was co-written with Mark French, Principal at Gatewood Elementary School in Minnesota and Ryan Sheehy, Principal at Highlands Elementary School in California.

In the summer of 2015, I (Mark) was participating in a Twitter chat and was impressed when a teacher shared that she made a positive phone call home for one of her students every day. I thought, in my school I have 750 students and can certainly find one student a day deserving of a positive phone call home, thus #GoodNewsCallOfTheDay was born. That year (2015-2016) I created a spreadsheet and tracked my 130 different positive phone calls. Actually, I made more than 130 calls, I selected 130 different students that year. For some students I called both parents or other family members, whoever they wanted me to call. I also took a selfie with the student and shared the photo and reason for the call on social media. The following year (2016-2017) I continued my #GoodNewsCallOfTheDay making calls for 135 different students that year. I continued with the selfie and sharing on social media and I bought #GoodNewsCallOfTheDay wrist bands to give each student for them to remember and show others. This has turned out to be a powerful practice taking less than 15 minutes each day and using an easy technology tool, the telephone. Making my positive phone call home is the best part of my day.

During the 2016-2017 school year, I (Jay) had a goal similar to Mark’s- make one positive phone call home.  I failed miserably except for one beautiful Friday in April.  I had every teacher provide me with at least one student and made phone calls most of the day on that Friday.  It was one of the highlights of the year for me and, more importantly, it made our kids and their families feel good.  After a summer of learning and challenges by #principalsinaction, I renewed my goal of making a #GoodNewsCallOfTheDay but with a little bit of a twist.  I meet with our grade level teams every Thursday and one of our agenda items is to provide me with a name of a student to receive a #GoodNewsCallOfTheDay.  Those not on grade level teams have also provided me with names.  If there are any “extra” names, I encourage the teachers to make the calls themselves as it’s a great way to build positive relationships with families.  This week I added one more twist as I asked staff to nominate a colleague for a #GoodNewsCallOfTheDay.  They did, I called the husband of the teacher, and the three of us had a really good cry.  The relationships fostered by sharing good news to a student or staff member’s family cannot be underestimated.

When I (Ryan) became a vice principal of a high school, I knew that I needed to do something to make sure that I wasn’t only calling home for discipline issues or problems. I needed to get parents and students to understand that we care about the positive things that are going on as well. Thinking back to the first call I made, the parents were shocked. I had chosen a student that had been in trouble before, but on this day made a great decision and helped out a student who was down on their luck. As soon as I caught him doing something good, I jumped at the opportunity to spread the joy. As I transitioned into becoming an elementary school principal, calling home for good things was a must. These phone calls have established positive relationships with parents and with students.

You can check out the Twitter hashtag #GoodNewsCallOfTheDay to see other educators making positive phone calls and smiling students. Make it a practice to share the positive and recognize the good things happening in your school. Remember, If you're not telling your school’s story, someone else will.

Are you in a rut or a groove?

We are in the midst of our third week of school.  Procedures should be in place, with a tweak here and there and a reminder from time to time.  When that happens you might find yourself in a groove or a rut.  Which describes where you are?  It is great to get into a groove as an educator, but doing the same thing over and over, even if it's good stuff, can get you into a rut.  And if you stay in the rut long enough, it might look a bit like the car above.  So how do you stay in a groove without it turning into a rut?  Here are some suggestions.
*Challenge yourself not to do the same thing every day.  For example, Kahoots are effective but not all of the time.  Have the kids develop review games sometimes instead.
*Don't talk to only the same staff or students every day.  Make a connection with someone new every week, or day, so that you get to know more of the great people in our school.
*Open your classrooms to others, and visit other's classrooms, too.  There are amazing things happening in our school every day.  Stop in a classroom and check it out.
*Connect with educators outside of school.  We don't know what we don't know.  Sidle up to someone at a conference.  Connect on a Twitter chat, or two.  Join a Voxer group.
Let's make it a "groove"-y year!

Great things I saw this week...
Students congratulating each other in the hallway after a soccer game in PE.
The work of two staff members, and a dad, to ensure that a student was taken care of.
Conversations among students about the books they're reading.
Grade level meetings that focused on kids, and what's best for kids.
The words on the walls above the lockers!
Conversations about the new learning lounge plans for the 7/8 floor.
The three family information nights- I really appreciate this extra effort by all of you!

Calendar
Monday, September 25th
Kids Deserve It Monday- wear your Kids Deserve It shirt or Merton blue
Board meeting 7PM
Tuesday, September 26th
Homework Club 4:15PM
Wednesday, September 27th
Workout Wednesday
BLT 7:30AM
A-team meeting 1:15PM
Thursday, September 28th
Packers Day!
Grade level meetings
Homework Club 4:15PM
Friday, September 29th
I'll be out of my office all day!  Invite me to be a part of your class.

Tweets, quotes, and blogs
Questions of Compliance or Empowerment (from George Couros)

Two Things That All Parents Want for Their Children (from George Couros)

(from Jessica Johnson's Facebook post)

Small Change, Big Difference (from George Couros)

#mertonint on Twitter
#MertonProud on Twitter
Merton Intermediate Facebook page
Merton Intermediate Instagram page
Family smore for 9.22.17

Our work with kids is so important.  You do it daily with a smile and a caring attitude, for our kids and for each other.  In my discussions with you, getting to know you better in our individual meetings, I can just see that you are doing your best work.  I notice that.  Sometimes, even when we are doing our best work, we need to do something different to make our work even better.  Work together to make this happen.  Teams are made up of all sorts of people.  That's what makes teams so good.  If we were a basketball team and had 5 identical players, I promise we would not be very good.  The fact that we have a variety of players makes our team pretty phenomenal.  I hope you have a great day with our kids today and I hope that you have a wonderful weekend with family and friends.

Be the one!
Jay
Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell

Expectations

As we continue with another strong week of school, I begin to consider the expectations that we have for our students and for each other.  The moment we let the expectations slip a little bit, the more they are going to slip.  Let's keep the expectations high for the students, reminding them of our school procedures and acknowledging those who are meeting or exceeding the expectations that we have for them.  The same should be true of one another.  Starting next week, I want to make sure that we start looking at data from classrooms.  Let's see where our kids are doing well and where they need support.  And then lets find ways to get those supports into place.  It's been a great start, but we can always get better, for our kids and for each other.

Great things I saw this week...
Students and staff showing school spirit at our assembly
Staff joining lunch and recess from time to time
Workshop and interventions and conferring happening in all sorts of places
Kids excited about learning
I got a hug from an 8th grade boy who needs more hugs than we can give him, especially on his bad days
Kids inviting our new students into groups
Clean hallways- the kids are really taking pride in the new look of our building
Words going up in the hallways
Staff stepping up to do what's best for kids, and each other
The 5th grade band's first note together

Calendar
Monday, September 18th
5:30  5th grade FIN
6:30  7th/8th grade FIN
Tuesday, September 19th
4:15  Homework Club
5:30  6th grade FIN
Wednesday, September 20th
8:00  Boosterthon staff meeting
Thursday, September 21st
Grade level meetings
4:15  Homework Club

Tweets, quotes, and blogs

(from Pinterest)

"One" is Not Enough (from George Couros)

You're More Than a Letter Grade: Letter to a Discouraged Student (from Danny Steele)

Every Day is Awareness for Survivors: It's How We Use It--Suicide Prevention Week 2017 (from Sarah Johnson)

(from Pinterest)

#mertonint on Twitter
#MertonProud on Twitter
Merton Intermediate Facebook page
Merton Intermediate Instagram page
Student assembly 9.13.17
Family smore for 9.15.17

PBIS reward suggestions
Thanks to the 7/8 team for sharing their PBIS ideas with us on Wednesday morning.  If you are looking for some ideas for rewards, this website is chock full of them.  Please let me know how I might be able to support you with this.

Just so you know...
I have heard from families this week.  They stopped me in the hallway to share with me how much their kids love this year at the Intermediate School.  They weren't shocked that their kids were enjoying their experiences.  I believe it was expected.  They just wanted me to know that they appreciate all that you do for their children.  Sometimes I don't tell you enough, because the little things sometimes go overlooked when they shouldn't.  You spend time in class getting to know the kids.  You spend time outside class getting to know the kids in a different way.  They notice, I notice, and their families notice.  Keep reaching out to families.  They want to hear from us, the good stuff and the bad stuff, so that they can celebrate with us and support us.  Try to make one good phone call or send one good email each week.  It will make you feel good, I promise.

Be the one!
Jay
Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself- John Gunnell

Reflections

I celebrated, and dreaded, September 5th.  It was our first day of school- a real celebration- because the kids were back.  We're in education for kids, not for the adults.  And I don't mean for that to sound negative or offensive.  The kids are why I'm an educator.  End of story.  I also dreaded September 5th as it was the day of a funeral of one of my friends, Johnny.  He was not a close friend, but when we were together, he had time for me, he listened to me, he told great jokes, and we ended every meeting with a hug.  I knew that he was suffering from cancer, but I didn't take the time to reach out to him, and before I could, he died.  It's not a very upbeat message, but it does make a point.
Our kids look up to us, every day, whether they show it or not.  Do we take the time to recognize them, each of them, every day?  It can be a daunting task, but it sure is an important one.  Think about your interactions with kids this week.  Did you find the time for them or use time as an excuse?  Did you head into the hallway between classes?  Did you stop down into the lunch room or go out for recess?  Did you greet them at the door more than just on Tuesday?  Did you walk them to the buses?  If you did, they noticed.  If you didn't, they noticed that, too.  Please find a way to reach out to the kids that is a little different than just classroom interactions.  It will build relationships that will pay dividends throughout the school year and beyond.  Because some day it may be too late.  Just like it was for me with Johnny.

Great things I noticed...
7th and 8th grade staff performing the Merton Way rap
Kids reading
Relationship building activities (too many to mention)
Patrick reading aloud the whizpopper section of BFG
Kids reaching out to our new kids to make connections
The gaga ball pit is a hit
Procedures are being established and practiced
The family atmosphere in our grade level meetings
Discussion of penny wars to help support a school impacted by the hurricanes

Calendar
Tuesday, September 12th
Homework Club  4:15-5:15PM
Annual meeting  7:00PM

Wednesday, September 13th
Merton Blue Day!
Staff meeting 8:15
RtI Wednesday assembly  8:40 (All staff will sit with their homerooms.)

Thursday, September 14th
Grade level meetings!
Homework Club  4:15-5:15PM

Friday, September 15th
Coaches meeting  8:00-8:30
7th and 8th grade dance  7:00-9:00PM (Want to chaperone?  You will be compensated!)

Tweets, quotes, and blogs
Finding the Good in the Bad (from George Couros)

(from Pinterest)

What are the Expectations for Your Classroom? (from George Couros)

(from Pinterest)

A Phone Call Home Makes All the Difference (from Edutopia)

(from The Minds Consciousness via Facebook)

@mertonint on Twitter

#mertonint on Twitter

mertonint on Instagram

Merton Intermediate School facebook page

Family smore for 9.8.17

Positive phone calls home

Don't forget about sending one student to me per grade level this morning, along with the reason or reasons for the phone call.  Please don't tell them why you're sending them to the office.  If you have more than one student per grade level, find a moment or two to make the phone call home yourself.  You'll be glad that you did.

My hat is off to you for a great first week!

Be the one!

Jay

Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell

Attitude

The school year is upon us.  What is your attitude about it?  Can you change your attitude?  It's quite a question, isn't it?  Here is a blog post from Tim McDermott, a principal in my PLN.  Please take a moment to read his post.  Maybe this is a thought for later in the year, but maybe it isn't.  If we can think and take the time to change our attitude to something positive to start the year, it would be beneficial for our students, our colleagues, our Merton families, and our own families.  Are you up to the challenge?

Calendar
Monday, September 4th
Labor Day- Enjoy time with your family and friends!

Tuesday, September 5th
First day with students!  Yay!  Everyone meet them outside by 8:30!
I cover Geometry 10:19-11:00
I leave for a funeral right after school

Wednesday, September 6th
Nothing planned, so I'll be in classrooms all day!

Thursday, September 7th
See Wednesday

Friday, September 8th
See Wednesday

Tweets, quotes, and blogs
Because of the power of these blogs, there are only two blogs for you to read this week.
What's Your Rush? (from Ben Gilpin)
Make Someone's Day (from (Mark French)

Thanks for your time this morning!
Let's be the one for our students, each other, and our families this year!  Here's the presentation, if you're interested.
Be the One!

Have a great weekend!
Jay
Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell