Short week, and a challenge

Sometimes with short weeks there can also be a shortage of learning.  That was not the case this week.  Fortunately my schedule permitted me to visit classes all day on Monday and Tuesday and I got to see you all in action.  My goal was to complete the first round of mini-observations for everyone and I came up just short.  I did get to visit almost every class (sorry about not getting into 5th and 6th grade PE as they were at the Primary School this week) and I saw students learning to weave, learning about the Revolutionary War, learning about linear equations, learning about Peru, reading, learning about sketch cubes, picking up a student at his house, using evidence to support thoughts, building hot air balloons, and having conversations with some students about behavior.  And that was all before lunch on Monday.  This is just a snapshot of the great things I have the opportunity to witness every day.  When will you find a way to visit a colleague's classroom to see what they do?  I know a guy who would be happy to cover your class so that you can.

Reminder!  Your SLO/PPG is due today before you leave.  I'm in school and available most of the day if you have any questions (9:00 webinar on the new licensing procedure and 10:00 meeting with a teacher is all that's on my calendar right now.).  You can find the SLO/PPG forms in Google Classroom.

Great things I saw this week...
Balloon building in 5th grade
6th grade students helping each other out with sketch cubes
Staff stepping in to help one another for a variety of reasons (flu and root canals come to mind)
Staff wearing bow ties on Tuesday and the great announcement by the kids
School board voting to move ahead with our 7/8 learning lounge

Calendar
Monday, October 30th
7:30-8:45  CESA #1
Tuesday, October 31st
3:00-4:00  cover Megan- IEP
4:15-5:15  Homework Club
Wednesday, November 1st
8:30-11:30  Math meeting
9:00-9:45  cover Patrick
12:22-1:03  Social Studies planning
12:30-3:30  TILT meeting
6:30  Principals' Chat with Mike
Thursday, November 2nd
8:55-9:40  6th grade meeting
9:45-10:30  5th grade meeting
12:22-1:03  7th/8th grade meeting
1:30-2:00  Specials meeting
4:15-5:15  Homework Club

Tweets, quotes, and blogs
10 Ways to Get Your Mojo Back (from ASCD Education Update)

The Stress of Learning (from George Couros)

I am not worried about the future at all. I don't like to run it down. I don't like to think of it being too dark, because I expect to spend all the rest of my life there.

Charles Kettering, inventor and business leader

#mertonint on Twitter

#MertonProud on Twitter

Merton Intermediate Facebook page

Merton Intermediate Instagram page
Principals' School Board presentation 10.23.17

Family smore for 10.25.17

There are often times as an educator that things don't go exactly as planned.  This week was one of those days.  You know what I mean.  I was able to be a lot of different people this week and it gave me a heightened sense of all that you do every day for our students and each other.  I left school tired, either physically or mentally, every day this week, but it was a good tired.  It's tiring when you are doing great things for our kids.  But remember, we shouldn't be doing all the work.  Our kids should be tired, too, because they have put forth a great effort.  Check over your plans from this week to see if you provided opportunities for our kids to be as tired as you were.  If not, think about how you can change that for the kids.  They will appreciate it, and so will you.
Have a refreshing long weekend.
Be the one!
Jay
Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell 

Can you change?

I subscribe to three blogs which I mention in no particular order.  One is Pernille Ripp's, another is Dave Burgess', and the final, is George Couros'.  You have probably noticed that as I share at least one of them each week with you.  Last week Friday, George posted this blog- Change the World or Simply Maintain It?  Please take a few minutes to read it.  If you don't read the entire blog, please read the last paragraph.  It's the change we need to make in our classrooms and our school.  Are you ready to go there with me?  After conferences last night as well as some of our discussions during team meetings yesterday, I think we are.  No, I know we are.  The question is, can you find just one thing to do a little differently to make a difference for our kids?  I know you can.

Great things I saw this week...
Our BLT. like all of you, is looking out for all of our kids and all of our staff.
Our kids helping each other out in the STEM lab while learning Inventor.
Mark Flynn speaking to 5th graders about his knowledge of South Sudan.  Best thing- Mark asked the students what they thought about when he said Sudan.  The first answer was Sweden.  It caught Mark off guard, to say the least.
How much our staff takes care of each other.
How much our staff cares about our kids and their families as evidenced in conferences Thursday night and grade level meetings on Thursday.
An 8th grade student helping a 7th grade student, who was using crutches, carry his lunch tray to his table.

Calendar
Red Ribbon Week
Monday, October 23rd
Wear Red!
School board meeting  7PM
Tuesday, October 24th
Wear team gear!
Homework Club  4:15PM
Wednesday, October 25th
A-team meeting  1:30PM
Thursday, October 26th
Professional Development Day
Friday, October 27th
No school- You better hang out with your family and friends!

Tweets, quotes, and blogs

(from Pinterest)

#EdCampLI sessions from Saturday, October 14th

Making the Most Out of Conferences with Families (from Bethany Hill)

(from Joni Stevenson, a principal friend of mine from Idaho)

Curiosity Leads to Growth (from George Couros)

Who Do You Need to Thank (from Dave Burgess)

#mertonint on Twitter

#MertonProud on Twitter

Merton Intermediate Facebook page

Merton Intermediate Instagram page

Family smore for 10.20.17

You gotta love your family...
I'm sitting in one of the last conferences last night and my watch started to vibrate to let me know of an incoming phone call.  It was my parents, but I didn't answer my phone.  I just finished up the conference.  Once the conference was over, I called my parents and their first question was if I was watching one of our family friends playing the organ in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.  It's kind of a big deal and they wanted me to be able to hear him.  I told them that I couldn't due to conferences and then our discussion went to their trip to Connecticut, the state where I was born and where almost all of my parents relatives live.  I asked how they were getting to the airport and they said they were driving and parking there.  As my mom said, "It was cheaper than taking a Huber."  We then had a discussion about the difference between an Uber and Huber.  It was just the laugh I needed after an exhausting and exhilarating day.

I hope that today you find one thing that makes you smile and can share that smile with the students or one of our Merton family.
Be the one!
Jay
Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell

All kids

Take a close look at this slide I found on Twitter while following the AWSA Elementary Principals Conference going on this week in Green Bay.  It's circled in yellow and I dare to say that we all believe the statistics.  The question is, "What are we doing every day to bring that potential to life?"  Each one of you has a different answer and no answer is wrong.  There are also easy answers as well as hard answers.  Please think of answers in both categories.  Share these answers with our BLT representatives.  It will be an agenda item for our BLT meeting on Monday.  I see the potential in each of you and I know you see the potential in each of our kids.  So, what else are we willing to do to bring that potential to life?

Great things I saw, and heard, this week...

Positive comments and conversation during an IEP meeting that made all on the team smile.

Laughter coming from the 6th grade lounge while I was covering a study hall.

5th grade band learning to play together, and sounding pretty good, too.

A group of educators came together to figure out the best ways to meet the needs of kids (Actually happens more than I can even keep track of every day.).

Watching 5th graders using the Google Expedition goggles in Science.

The jazz band sounded awesome on Thursday morning!

The color run was just plain awesome, and the slime was much easier to clean up from this year.

The 6th grade band practicing outside after the color run was really cool.

I enjoy our grade level meetings more than you will ever know.  There are too many reasons to even explain.  And the reviews are mixed on me bringing fruit instead of donuts.

Calendar

Monday, October 16th

BLT  4:15

Tuesday, October 17th

Homework Club  4:15

Wednesday, October 18th

MAPs staff meeting (LA, Math, and Special Education teachers only)  8:00 in the Little Theater

Culver's Night 4:00-8:00

Thursday, October 19th

Grade level meetings (Specials meeting at 1:30 in the art room)

Homework Club  4:15

7th and 8th grade invitation conferences  4:30

Friday, October 20th

5th grade interviews  1:00

Tweets, blogs, and quotes

"I Got To" versus "I Get To" (from George Couros)
Less Work, Deeper Learning (from George Couros)
Our Perfectly Average Child (from Pernille Ripp)

(from Pinterest)

 

(from Pinterest)

(from Pinterest)

(from Pinterest)

(from Pinterest)

(from Pinterest)

(from ASCD K-12 Leadership Brief)

#mertonint on Twitter

#MertonProud on Twitter

Merton Intermediate Facebook page

Merton Intermediate Instagram page

Family smore for 10.13.17

Thanks for all that you do every day for our kids that no one will ever know about.

Be the one!

Jay

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

A Boosterthon week thank you!

It's not always easy to change what you're doing in your classrooms.  But this week you did just that.  Please know that I recognized the adjustments you made.  Showing videos, reminding students to log on, creating pledge-o-meters, and on and on.  The benefits of this one fundraiser will definitely offset the little bit of time you will lose in your classrooms.  Thank you for your flexibility and willingness to go with the flow this week and next week.

Great things I saw this week...
Staff stepping up to help out in a variety of ways, including covering for me when I was out all day on Monday and Thursday morning.
Students including students other than their friends in group work.
Students reading and writing independently, without redirection.
Students helping one another at Homework Club.
A 6th grade student sharing his story, and a song, with his Science class, and everyone celebrating with him.

Calendar
Monday, October 9th
8:45-9:45  cover class

Tuesday, October 10th
4:15-5:15  Homework Club

Wednesday, October 11th
TILT and Math meetings
Picture retake day

Thursday, October 12th
Grade level meetings
1:30  5th/6th grade Color Run
2:45  7th/8th grade Color Run
4:15-5:15  Homework Club

Friday, October 13th
Hoping for a NO OFFICE DAY

Tweets, quotes, and blogs
Inspiration in Front of Your Eyes (from George Couros)

If you'd like a good laugh, here's one from Gerry Brooks about his homemade teacher bags.

Anyone interested in giving this a try?  Just make this sign and post it outside of your classroom!

#mertonint on Twitter

#MertonProud on Twitter
Merton Intermediate Facebook page
Merton Intermediate Instagram page
Family smore for 10.6.17

Telling our story

I'm asking for your help.  I was out Monday all day and Thursday morning.  When I checked what was being shared about our school, there wasn't much there.  I know that we are busy but it only takes a moment or two to share something about your classroom.  If you don't have a Twitter account, you can still take pictures and send them to me and then I can post them.  I'd appreciate any assistance you can provide.  I want #mertonint and #MertonProud to be our story, not my story.  We have so many great things to share.  Thanks for your consideration.

Be the one!

Jay

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