You deserve a break!

Sometimes, three days make a full week.  This was certainly a full week, and we still have some learning and planning to do today.  I'll have the chance to connect with many of you today and some of you are at conventions so I won't see you until next week but we'll all be learning and planning  something today.  I'm going to encourage you to try something this long weekend- take a day off from school stuff.  Spend the day taking a hike or hanging with family and friends or binge watching your new favorite show or reading a book.  Sometimes it's that day away from work that gets you all fired up for the week to come.

Great things I saw this week...
Students and staff participating in spirit days
Taco lunch by the 7/8 team
Holly sharing about the brain with 5th graders
The testing environments for our kids
Halloween themed activities in PE
7th grade boys helping to bring gym mats from the Primary to the Intermediate during the windiest of times (One almost even got airborne!)
8th graders in cooking, and I get to taste test!
5th grade interviews and all of the volunteers that came in to interview our kids

Name it.  Claim it.  Explain it.
Thanks to Becky for playing along last week.  Here's the one for this week.

Calendar
Please continue to review the Intermediate Special Events Calendar at our weekly grade level and specials meetings, too.

Thursday, October 24th
PD day- No students

Friday, October 25th
No School

Monday, October 28th
School board meeting

Friday, November 1st
End of 1st quarter

Monday, November 4th
7/8 Aspire testing

Tuesday, November 5th
Jay at CPI training all day
8th grade Manufacturing field trip

Wednesday, November 6th
Jay at CPI training
7/8 Aspire testing

Thursday, November 7th
Jay at CPI training
Arena style conferences

Friday, November 8th
Jay at CPI training
Veterans Day ceremony

Tweets, quotes, and blogs

The automatic things you do are basically those things that keep you from doing the better things you need to do.

Bill Murray, actor

Spend More Time Planting Seeds and Less Time Measuring Vines (from Jon Harper)

Well it's hard to be yourself, it's the hardest job there is.

Bill Murray, actor

A somebody was once a nobody who wanted to and did.

John Burroughs, naturalist, nature essayist

(shared in Dave Burgess' blog post)

#mertonint on Twitter

#MertonProud on Twitter

Merton Intermediate School Facebook page

mertonint on Instagram
EdCampWalkersPoint sessions
Family smore from 10.23.19

In thinking back on the three day week with kids, there is so much I am thankful for.  I'm thankful for kids being respectful and owning their behavior.  I'm thankful for the conversations we have about the kids, both concerns and celebrations.  I'm thankful for the chance to drop into your classes at any time to see you learning with our kids.  I'm thankful for the honest way you speak with me about things that may not be easy to talk about.  I'm thankful for so many of you sharing the great things going on in your classroom and in our school.  Thank you for all that you do for the kids, for each other, for our school, and for me.
#JustInspire
Jay
Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell