Jay's Journal

Family smore from 3.1.19

The last two weeks are perfect examples of what happens when we let kids lead. Some many of you have provided guidance and suggestions, but the National Junior Honor Society induction ceremony, the Student Senate carnival, and 5th grade community service projects were student driven activities that made me one proud principal. Thanks for all of you who helped with these students and their work. I am so appreciative of your work and their work.
Be the spark!
Jay
Take care of the kids. Take care of each other. Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell

Friday, February 22, 2019

Fighting through

This week started out with a head cold. I don't get sick very often, and when I do I just try to fight through it. I'm not sure it's the smartest thing to do, but that's what I do. I've seen each of you fight through things in my 12 years as principal. Sometimes it's sickness that you're fighting through. Sometimes it's a relationship with your own family or with a colleague or with a student. What I learned this week is that we notice when others are fighting through. We step up and support them, ask them how they are doing, and, in the words of Dr. Max Goodwin of New Amsterdam, ask, "How can I help?' Remember that we can't go at this world of education alone. Someone is there, and sometimes all you need to do is answer Dr. Goodwin's question.

Great things I saw this week...
Students working in small groups and partners in Science.
5th grade Making an Impact project.
Conversations during turn and talks during mini-lessons.
Table ball in PE. There was a lot of action!
Math meeting discussions that support our kids.
Conversations with staff and students of celebration and redirection. Both are great conversations!
The effort the 8th graders were putting into their post-assessments in LA.
The chance to show one of our basketball teams how proud I am of them, complete with picture home and sharing of an email.
Our students taken on the role of volleyball coach, and really doing a great job!

Calendar
Intermediate School Special Events

*Don't forget to schedule your mid-year SLO/PPG with me as soon as you have your mid-year results. (MAP tests completed or other in class assessment that was used.)

Monday, February 25th
4:15 BLT meeting
7:00 School board meeting

Friday, March 1st
Student Senate carnival

Saturday, March 2nd
#EdCampElmbrook
PTO Trivia Night

Tweets, quotes, and blogs
Empowering Students in the Day-To-Day Operations of Our Schools (from George Couros)

Whenever I danced, I danced for my mom and my people. Being the first, I was representing my people so I had to go out there and be good. I couldn't make a mistake.

Arthur Mitchell,
first black ballet dancer with the New York City ballet

Lost Wallet, Found Hope (from Allyson Apsey)

(from Math SmartBrief)

Learning From Mistakes but Not Allowing it to Hold Yourself Back (from George Couros)

(from Jessica Johnson)

Play with it. Improvise. Become more creative. Not because you have to, but because you want to. Evolution is the secret for the next step.

Karl Lagerfeld,
fashion designer
1933-2019

What Are They Trying to Say? (from Pernille Ripp)

Family smore from 2.22.19

Can you believe it? We had a five day week, including outdoor recess every day. I'm filled with pride as I walk through our school and into your classrooms every day. I know that you are proud, too, as you tell me about the great things happening with our kids in your classroom. There are struggles, but I never hear you giving up on a kid. It's just not in your nature. Keep on keeping on, and realize that at this time next week we'll be in the month of March.
Be the spark!
Jay
Take care of the kids. Take care of each other. Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell

Friday, February 15, 2019

What are you most proud of this week?

Although it was only a three day week, I know that some pretty great things happened this week. As you reflect on the week, what's that one thing you are most proud of from this week? Was it something one of your students did for the first time? Was it something that was unexpected? Was it something that you did with a student or a colleague? Was it something that someone in your family did? Was it something you did? I know that there is something, and I'd love you to share it with your family, or a colleague, or me. I'm most proud of the effort of our 7th and 8th grade staff in putting together an e-learning experience for Tuesday's snow day. It was a risk and we all learned from it. I ask you to take risks all the time, and you do. Thank you for that. I especially like it when you ask me to visit your classrooms to see something cool or new or, even better, those times when you say to me, "If you had only been here three minutes ago." The funny thing about education, you really never know when those three minutes might happen.

Great things I saw this week...
5th graders fired up about social concerns work in Social Studies.
Students working with clay in Art.
Great mid-year discussions about SLOs, PPGs, and mid-year LA coaching goals.
Our 7th and 8th grade students and staff giving e-learning a try on our snow day. I'm proud of them!
6th graders presenting their newscasts in Social Studies.
Focused students during a Math test on Wednesday, the day after our snow day.
Two part harmony in 6th grade choir.
The kids' effort during the skill check in Language Arts.
Listening to the 5th graders ask their classmates about their chocolate milk letters.
A meeting with one of our students and his teachers to make a plan to make Wednesday better than Monday.
The Great Chocolate Milk Debate in 5th grade (Yes, we will still have chocolate milk at lunch.).
Watching teachers working with individual students and small groups to provide them the support they need.
The joy on Michael's face as he shared with me that our 7th and 8th grade choir was selected by the Brewers to sing the National Anthem before a game this season.

Calendar
Intermediate School Special Events

*Don't forget to schedule your mid-year SLO/PPG with me as soon as you have your mid-year results (MAP tests completed or other in class assessment that was used)

Wednesday, February 20th
Culver's Night

Thursday, February 21st
4:30-8:00 5th, 7th, and 8th grade invitation conferences

Friday, February 22nd
2:00 NJHS induction ceremony

Tweets, quotes, and blogs

(from MindShift)

No Way! Way! (from Jon Harper- A story about a lesson or two that didn't go so well for Dave Burgess)

(from School Leadership 2.0)

The Importance of Not Stepping In (from George Couros)

24 ways to use Screencastify (from Matt Miller)

None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody -- a parent, a teacher, an Ivy League crony or a few nuns -- bent down and helped us pick up our boots.

Thurgood Marshall,
US Supreme Court justice

Where do you focus your attention for the growth of your organization? (from George Couros)

Master Teacher, Master Learner

Family smore from 2.15.19

It was a three day week, and I'm getting kind of annoyed by them. We have a series of 5 day weeks ahead of Spring Break so we can get back into the routine you have created because of your expectations and procedures. But expectations and procedures alone don't create the routines. Your classrooms are built on relationships. So spend the next 5 weeks fostering and improving on those relationships. It takes effort and caring and hugs and high fives and fist bumps. And sometimes it just takes a smile or a listening ear. We might not be able to make everything better for everyone, but listening and smiling are a great start to making things better.
Be the spark!
Jay
Take care of the kids. Take care of each other. Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell

Friday, February 8, 2019

Always getting better

I subscribe to George Couros' blog and he sent out this gem on Friday. Please take a moment to read it.

If made me think of all of you, the work you do every day, the learning you do every day, the effort you put forth to make great learning opportunities for our kids. I honestly believe that you are all like Tammy, and sometimes it brings a tear to my eye, just like it does for George.

Calendar
Intermediate School Special Events

*Don't forget to schedule your mid-year SLO/PPG with me as soon as you have your mid-year results (MAP tests completed or other in class assessment that was used)

Wednesday, February 13th
WIN Wednesday

Friday, February 15th
PD day

Thursday, February 21st
Invitation conferences

Friday, February 22nd
NJHS induction ceremony

Great things I saw this week...
When you are with kids, you are so focused on the kids. I notice and so do they!
Spikeball in PE class.
Vex construction and design in Science.
A pair of students doing independent Lego robotics. Very impressive!
Your flexibility with our group yearbook pictures on Wednesday was impressive.
Teachers involved with a discussion about student behavior with the kids.
The kids.
The laughter during our BLT and grade level meetings. I hope that you found the time to laugh while I was gone, and maybe even at me.
All of you willing to help cover lunch/recess and Homework Club while I was gone.

Tweets, quotes, and blogs

4 Tips for Becoming More Observant in a World Full of Noise (from George Couros)

You don't appreciate home until you leave it and, let me tell you, you can't appreciate life till you've almost left it! Some people hope and die with their song still in them.

Patsy Cline,
singer

Driving a Stick Shift Car video (Comparison of manual and automatic transmission to explain dyslexia. It's well worth your time!)

Two Positive Ways to Look at Change (from George Couros)

What is your why? (Robert Blessington shared this at a session at the state principals conference.)

Conflicts may be the sources of defeat, lost life and a limitation of our potentiality but they may also lead to greater depth of living and the birth of more far-reaching unities, which flourish in the tensions that engender them.

Karl Jaspers,
psychiatrist and philosopher

(Jen shared this with me.)

Family smore from 2.8.19

I appreciate you all taking the time to read through this blog every week. I hope that you find something that resonates with you or at least makes you reflect a bit.

See you this afternoon!

Be the spark!

Jay

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

Friday, February 1, 2019

It's definitely Winter

Winter is here. The snow. The bitter cold. The windchills. Indoor recess. Sometimes we get what we asked for. I admit I was sick of the brown grass, hard ground, and uncertainty of whether to wear my snowpants at recess. This week there was no uncertainty. What was interesting is that the conversations I heard weren't about the joy of missing school. The conversations that I heard were that you were missing out on our kids, and they were missing out on you. The routine of school is one thing, and sometimes the routine can be too much. The real part of school that is most important is the relationships. As I look at the upcoming weather, I doesn't look like there's another snow day in our future. We will get back into the routine of 5 day weeks with a normal bell schedule, but don't take for granted the importance of fostering the relationships we have with our students and one another.

Great things I saw this week...
The focus of you and the kids on Tuesday, even knowing that there was an impending deep freeze.
Table ball in PE.
Stitching in Art.
A limited number of emails from me to you, except for yesterday.

Calendar
Intermediate School Special Events

*Don't forget to schedule your mid-year SLO/PPG with me as soon as you have your mid-year results (MAP tests completed or other in class assessment that was used)

Monday, February 4th
BLT meeting 4:15PM

Wednesday, February 6th
Group yearbook pictures in the AM
Jay leaves for AWSA after lunch

Thursday, February 7th
Jay at AWSA all day (GOOSE pass for those covering lunch duties)

Friday, February 8th
Jay at AWSA until after lunch (GOOSE pass for those covering lunch duties)

Wednesday, February 13th
WIN Wednesday

Friday, February 15th
PD day

Thursday, February 21st
Invitation conferences

Friday, February 22nd
NJHS induction ceremony

Tweets, quotes, and blogs
Four Ways to Support Colleagues who are Supporting Students in Crisis (from Allyson Apsey)

(from staff bathroom at Fred Lynn Middle School, Hamish Brewers' school)

Creating an Environment Where Innovative Teaching and Learning Flourish (from AJ Juliani)

(In case you missed it. Mike and I need singing lessons, Michael!)

4 Thoughts to Help You Move Beyond Harsh Self-Criticism (from George Couros)

(One of my all time favorite videos- Lollipop moments)

(from Kristine Klodowski, a family friend)