They're back!

(from the Nerdiverse)

In just a few short days, our students, our kids, the reason we come to school every day, will be back in our school.  The building looks amazing (thanks to our custodial crew).  Your rooms look amazing.  And you look amazing.

(from BuzzFeed)

I'm sure the students will look amazing, too.  Take time this weekend to relax, go over your plans for the first day once today and then again on Monday.  Take Saturday and Sunday to make that one last connection with family and friends.  They are your support and it's important to put a deposit in the bank for the year as often as you can.  You will need them next week and they will be there for you.

They're back, and I've never been so excited!

Calendar
Intermediate School Special Events

Tuesday, September 4th
First day of school! (Let's wear our Merton baseball jerseys and meet the kids outside!)

Wednesday, September 5th
Merton biking club after school

Thursday, September 6th
Grade level meetings (Family Information Night dates/best story of the first two days)

Saturday, September 15th
Choir car wash and grill at Hartland Piggly Wiggly

Tuesday, September 25th
Boosterthon kickoff

Thursday, October 4th
Boosterthon fun run

Tweets, quotes, and blogs
Important Questions to Ask Your Students (from edutopia)

(from @danieldmccabe)

10 Tips for New Teachers (...but the tips are good for all of us!-from George Couros)

(from Daniel Bauer's blog)

One Caring Adult (great video from Josh Shipp)

ShakeUpLearning Quick Start Guide (from Kasey Bell on a Twitter chat Saturday morning)

Without laughter, life on our planet would be intolerable.

Steve Allen, TV personality and comedian

All Toward Supporting Students (from George Couros)

The smile is the shortest distance between two people.

Victor Borge, comedian, conductor and pianist

(from Dan's room)

Focusing on the Time You Have, Not How Much You Have (from AJ Juliani- a heart warming story about his brother)

(from George Couros' blog)

That This Year... (from Pernille Ripp)

#mertonint on Twitter
#MertonProud on Twitter
Merton Intermediate School Facebook page
mertonint on Instagram
Family smore from 8.31.18

Don't forget your "assignment"...

I hope that you have an amazing weekend.  You've worked hard the last two weeks and I appreciate your effort and attention.  Get outside, when it's not raining, or get outside and play in the rain.  It's fun to get back to being a kid, and it will get you in the proper mindset for our kids.
Be the spark!
Jay
Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell

Thank you!

Thank you for your time these last 4 days.
Thank you for your attitude these last 4 days.
Thank you for your conversations these last 4 days.
Thank you for your willingness to try something new these last 4 days.
Thank you for connecting with others you didn't really know these last 4 days.
Thank you for putting time and effort into making your learning space welcoming these last 4 days.
We have 4 more days next week that include a cookout at my house, Open House, a chance for me to do a little facilitating of CPI, and the opportunity for all of us to learn about trauma sensitive practices.

Calendar
Intermediate School Special Events

Monday, August 27th- Thursday, August 30th
Summer Academy
Please remember to fill this out and to set up your 5 minute meeting with me.

Tuesday, August 28th
Staff cookout at Jay's house (address included in this email)

Wednesday, August 29th
Open House

Tuesday, September 4th
First day of school!

Tuesday, September 25th
Boosterthon kickoff

Thursday, October 4th
Boosterthon fun run

Tweets, quotes, and blogs
6 Strategies to Help Introverts Strive at School and Feel Understood (from Mind/Shift)

3 Phrases I've Been Rethinking (from George Couros)

On Airplanes (from Pernille Ripp)

Direction not Speed (from Jon Wennstrom)

What's best for kids

I've been involved in a number of conversations these 4 days.  What I keep realizing is that every conversation revolves around our kids.  We talk about IEPs, 504s, and the like, and I wonder this...After the first month of school, do you think that you and your team could develop an IEP or 504 for each of the kids in your grade level?  I really think that you could.  And along those lines, if you are having a difficult time reaching a kid, connect with their teacher or teachers from last year.  If you need me to cover your class, you know that I will.  If you are connecting with a kid, and they mention their teachers from last year or previous years, connect with their teacher or teachers from last year to let them know.  Again, if you need me to cover your class, you know I will.  Let's remember to always do what's best for kids.

Enjoy the weekend!  We'll be back at it on Monday with more opportunities to learn together, grow together, build our teams together, reconnect, and prepare our learning spaces for the kids.

Be the Spark!

Jay

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

Just a few days

We will be back together in just a few days.  I honestly can hardly wait!  There is so much excitement to start the year, and I'd love to find ways to keep this excitement at a high level all year.  This year I'll be challenging all of us to be the spark for at least one student.  Are you ready to take the challenge?  I know you are.  But there are still three days before we are together.  Do your best to fill them with family and friends.  It's how we can make sure that are buckets are full to capacity so that we can be ready for our colleagues next week.

Calendar

Full School Year Calendar can be found here

Monday, August 20th- Thursday, August 24th
Summer Academy

Monday, August 27th- Thursday, August 30th
Summer Academy

Wednesday, August 29th
Open House

Tuesday, September 4th
First day of school!

Tuesday, September 25th
Boosterthon pep rally

Saturday, September 29th
EdCampMiddleLevel at Concordia University

Thursday, October 4th
Boosterthon fun run

Tweets, quotes, and blogs

The Manifesto We Should Read to Students Every Day (from AJ Juliani)

In the Presence of a Hero (from Tom Murray, a friend I admire even more after reading this post)

A Reminder for Those Tough Moments with Students (from George Couros)
The Power of Being Seen (from edutopia)

The NYC skyline from the Brooklyn Bridge

Lessons from the "Bad" Kids (from Pernille Ripp)
Every Opportunity- great video
How to live the life you never imagined- another great video
Take a breath (from my blog)

A great opportunity

The Scholastic Book Grant from Meemic is due September 30th.  It is honestly a super easy grant process for free books from Scholastic for your classroom.

Team time and individual meetings
Either Monday afternoon or Tuesday any time following our meeting, I'd like to meet with each of the grade level teams, the specials team, and all individuals.  The length of the team time is up to you.  I'd like to discuss norms and a few other things with you as well as setting our meeting days with you.  The individual time will only take 5-10 minutes.  I'd like to just catch up, and ask you my three favorite beginning of the year questions- what should I stop doing, what should I continue doing, and what should I start doing.  Here is a link to a Google form that I'd like for you to fill out before our individual meeting.

That's all for now.  I'll be off grid this weekend until at least Sunday night as we're celebrating Jen's birthday.  Powering down to connect face to face with Jen, our family, and our friends.  I suggest that you do the same.
Be the one!
Jay
Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell

Take a breath

Last weekend, my family and our close family friends went to New York City. We were all excited for our 7AM flight, but as our pilot Dan said, "Mother Nature isn't cooperating right now." Our 7AM flight was delayed so we spent time at the airport Chili's and talked about what we would be

After the first delay, we reboarded the plane only to be told that we would be delayed a little longer. We left the plane again, headed back to the airport Chili’s, and readjusted our plans to visit the 9/11 Memorial and created new plans.  We just had to go with the flow.

When we re-boarded the plane the second time, my daughter, Lauren, with a little prodding from my wife, Jenifer, asked to see the cockpit.  Low and behold, not only did Lauren get to see the cockpit, she got to sit in the pilot’s see while speaking with the co-pilot. Always intrigued by flying (Frankly, I don’t really understand how an airplane can get air born and stay air born.), I asked to have a seat in the cockpit and converse with Lauren and the co-pilot.  Jenifer captured the moment in these pictures.

There are times when we need to step back, recognize how lucky we are, and just go with the flow. This was one of those times for me. Mother Nature was in charge, as she often is, and we just had to deal with it.

When I think about education these days, and life in general, I often think about how often we expect something to happen right now.  I know that I get irritated when the wifi doesn’t seem as fast as it should be, or the person in front of me is driving slower than I would like, or the line to get food at McDonald’s isn’t moving fast enough, or I don’t get a response to an email or text right away. Sometimes I just have to wait, because it’s really not that important to have fast wifi, or to get somewhere faster, or to get fast food a little later, or to give someone the benefit of the doubt when responding.

It’s alright to take a deep breath, have a conversation with your daughter and the co-pilot, and just savor the moment.  New York City will come fast enough. Enjoy the time with family, and friends, and strangers who are doing their best. Once the moments are gone, they’re gone, never to be repeated.

P.S.- As luck would have it, our return flight was canceled on Tuesday night. Fortunately we found out in the early afternoon. What did we do? We ate lunch at a cafe owned by our friend's relative, canceled the car we had scheduled to take us to the airport, booked a new flight, found a new hotel, traveled back to our first hotel and took an Uber to the new hotel, visited Times Square, and spent time with our friends at the hotel Sky Bar. And the view was amazing! As the saying goes, we just made lemonade out of lemons.