It's been two weeks...

It's hard to believe that it's been two weeks since we were all last together.  Summer School has been going well, our kids and staff are still learning and having fun while they're learning, and Dawn and Stephanie are just plain amazing.  I hope that all of you have found a way to get some down time and unplug.  I need to be better at that, especially on the weekends.  If you ever want to stop in to say hi, especially on some of these cool, rainy days, please do!  I'll be out and about in classrooms so come and find me so that you can see the great things going on.  Here's a Summer School Quik video I made.

Calendar
When are you meeting as a grade level?  I would love to join you for a bit of the time.
Mary has created a shared Google calendar for us to use for Intermediate School events.  It will go "live" soon.  This will replace the spreadsheet that we used last year.  If you need a tutorial about how to use this calendar, don't hesitate to reach out to me.

Tweets, quotes, and blogs
The Teachers Tell Us... (from Pernille Ripp- This blog is the reason I thought I'd send you nuts and bolts this week.  It really made me pause and think about how we talk about our kids.)

Notes from Joe Sanfelippo's keynote at Summer Spark.  Joe is co-author, with Tony Sinanis, of Hacking Leadership.

#mertonint on Twitter

#MertonProud on Twitter

Merton Intermediate School Facebook page

mertonint on Instagram

What are you learning this summer?

I was fortunate to present at Summer Spark this week.  It was great reconnecting with my PLN while also growing and learning with and from new members of my PLN.  Here are links to many of the presentations from Summer Spark.  My favorite is "Thinking Outside of the Docs" which can be found here.  If you have time on a rainy day, why not check them out.

Enjoy the rest of June and I'll be back in touch in July.

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 a great year.
Thank you for believing in our kids.
Thank you for believing in one another.
Thank you for connecting with families.
Thank you for trying something new, and sharing it with others.
Thank you for visiting other classrooms to see your colleagues in all of their awesomeness.
Thank you for not holding back and for taking risks.
Thank you for letting me visit your classrooms.
Thank you for inviting me in to be a part of your lessons.
Thank you for doing your best every day to be just a little better than you were the day before.
Thank you for being you!

Great things I saw this week...
Kids biking in PE class, and helping each other out to relearn how to bike.
The decorations in the Commons.
Portfolio conferences in 6th grade.
Rocket launching in 8th grade Science.
Preparing for the final test in Math.
End of the year walking field trips.
Pinatas in Spanish.
Listening to you talk about the great students you've connected with this year.
Your posts on Twitter about the great things you're doing with our kids.
Sharing your student reflections with me.  You have made such great connections with our kids.
Listening to some 6th graders reading a play, with great emotion!
Our end of the year conversations.  I'm proud of the success of our students and your success, too!


Calendar
Intermediate School Special Events

Friday, June 7th
Last day of school- Half day

Tweets, quotes, and blogs
Believe in Them.  All of Them (from Allyson Apsey)

“The worst thing would be to ... look back and think of all the things that one could have tried and could have done and think - why didn’t I do that?” David Bowie | 1947 - 2016 | English musician

If you work harder than somebody else, chances are you'll beat him though he has more talent than you.

Bart Starr, former quarterback for Green Bay Packers NFL team 1934-2019

Success is a collection of problems solved.

I.M. Pei, architect 1917-2019

What does "better" mean to you and your students? (from George Couros)

What would life be like if we only did what is necessary?

Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda, three-time Formula 1 racing champion 1949-2019

To Our Daughter's 4th Grade Teacher (from Pernille Ripp)

#mertonint on Twitter

#MertonProud on Twitter

Merton Intermediate School Facebook page

mertonint on Instagram
My thoughts for our 8th grade class of 2019

Family smore from 6.7.19

Be the Spark!
The school year started with the motto "Be the Spark!".  It was at the end of every nuts and bolts (did you notice) and hopefully was in your thoughts as you prepared for a lesson or an activity or a conversation, whether in your classroom or outside of your classroom.  Maybe it was in the back of your mind, and maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.  But I can tell you that I noticed the spark you provided to our kids and our colleagues.  It was the twinkle in their eye as they talked to me about what they were doing in class, what they were learning, who they wanted to become.  I heard it in the conversations I had with students and their parents after graduation last night.  I started our final school year nuts and bolts with "Thank you" and that's how I'll end- Thank you!
Jay
Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell