It's been a while...

March 12, 2020.  Do you remember that day?  I sure do.  And to be honest, we've all been preparing for this school year since that day.  I cannot tell you how proud I am to go to school with you every day.  You have asked great questions, shared how you're feeling, and want to do all that you can to make sure that we keep our kids, and ourselves, in school.  As I mentioned on a Twitter chat last night, I have a new mantra- Wear your mask, stay 6 feet apart, and wash your hands.  In the same chat I also mentioned that I have become comfortable with saying, "I don't know" as well as "That's a great question.  We'll figure it out together as we go along.  But I want you to think about this.  Have you ever started a school year where you didn't have all of the answers to your questions?  I know that I have, and we were able to figure it out together.  Make sure you unplug this weekend, connect with your family, get some rest (I love Saturday and Sunday afternoon naps, but I'm also older than I used to be), and don't forget to eat breakfast on Tuesday.

BLT notes from 8/27/2020 (Hand sanitizers were added upstairs. Thanks, Jordan and Mike!)

Calendar

Monday, August 31st        School board meeting 7PM

Tuesday, September 1st    1st day of school!

Monday, September 7th   Labor Day- No school

(A parent shared this with me for our new motto)

Reminders

Emergency sub plans should be uploaded into your substitute folder but they will only be used if we are 100% virtual.

You will need to collect the signature page from the student handbook from each of your homeroom students.  When they have all been collected, please put them in a manila folder and give them to me.

We need to remember to wear our masks when we are in the building.  If you are in your classroom alone, you don't need to wear your mask but if you are with a colleague or colleagues anywhere in the building, please make sure your mask is on!

Make sure that you've completed the three mandatory trainings.  Bloodborne pathogens records automatically but the mandatory reporter trainings need to be emailed to Jennifer Peterson.

Per Waukesha County guidelines, we will not be notifying families or staff about COVID cases in our district.  Merton is in zone 3 with a requirement of 6 feet of social distancing and required face masks.  A student with symptoms will be in virtual learning for a minimum of 10 days without a negative test.  A student may return with a negative test and symptom free for 24 hours.  Refusal to wear a mask on the bus will mean students lose bus privileges.  Refusal to wear a mask in school will mean students will be virtual.

It's the last weekend before the kids return, so...

make sure you unplug.

make sure you spend time with your family.

make sure you spend time with your friends.

make sure you get some time alone.

make sure you break in your new school shoes.

make sure you spend time outside.

make sure you get some sleep.

We've got this!

Have a great weekend!

Jay

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

How are you doing?

I'm sitting in my office, thinking about the school year and I have a smile on my face.  It's not a nervous smile.  It's an excited smile.  I'm excited to get the kids and you back in the building.  I'm excited to hear the sounds of learning.  I'm excited for the conversations.  But I must admit, I'm not always smiling that excited smile.  I sometimes am asked questions and the only answer I  have is "I don't know".  I'm getting more comfortable saying that.  So with this realization, I have two questions for you.

• How are you doing?
• What questions do you have for me?

If you'd do me a favor and you feel comfortable, please call/text/email these questions to me so we can start some conversations.  If you'd just like to chat in person, we can do that, too!  Don't forget to be BRAVE- remember that from my last post?  These questions will help guide me in creating a staff meeting that will answer your questions, talk about Intermediate School procedures, and reconnect as a family.  Together we will continue to support one another throughout the school year.

Calendar

Monday, August 17th

School board meeting 7PM

Tuesday, August 18th

Online registration

Wednesday, August 19th

Summer Academy 8AM-4PM

Thursday, August 20th

Summer Academy 8AM-4PM

Adult tour of Learning Spaces 5PM-8PM (Staff should not attend)

Monday, August 24th

Summer Academy 8AM-4PM

Tuesday, August 25th

Summer Academy 8AM-4PM

Wednesday, August 26th

Open House 11AM-7PM

Thursday, August 27th

Summer Academy 8AM-4PM

Flex day responsibilities

Here is a reminder of our flex day responsibilities.  If you have any questions about any of these, please let me know.

Summer academy information

Here is a document that will help guide our summer academy work.  This is a draft and will be adjusted to meet your needs as we move through the days.  If you have any questions about any of these, please let me know.

100% Staff Virtual Learning Expectations

Here is a document to clarify our virtual learning expectations.  We will discuss this in greater detail during summer academy but we felt it was important to share this so that you could come with any individual or group questions.

Thank you is not enough...

Our custodial team is doing amazing work.  Katie and Mary and Martica and Abby are doing amazing work preparing for our Summer Academy.  Heidi, Carey, Joanne, Michelle, Brian F., Patrick, Colleen, Jackie, and Jonathan have all moved classrooms (sometimes more than once).  Jennifer and Brian V. are in spaces that are new for them, too.  I've been lucky to have the support and encouragement of Lori, Becca, John, Jim, and Ron as we prepare for an amazing school year.  I'm sure that I'm forgetting someone, and I apologize for that, but I wanted you to know that I thank you for your efforts.  It's an honor to go to school with all of you every day!

A new hobby

During the summer months, I became focused on taking pictures of the outdoors.  The three pictures about are all of Fox Lake.  The top one is of many sunsets in Fox Lake this summer.  The middle one was taken in June and includes just a bit of my brother in law's house.  The bottom one is a surprise lilly taken the morning of Jen's mom's funeral.  Why am I sharing this with you?  Although my brother in law's girlfriend would disagree with this statement, it's not to brag about the amazing quality of my cellphone camera (Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ if you want to know.).  I'm sharing these photos with you because I've never been one to slow down enough and enjoy a sunset or a blooming flower.  Because of the stress of these last months, I've purposefully stopped and noticed things I haven't noticed before.  It has helped my relax and think about something other than six feet of physical distance or face masks.  Don't get me wrong.  Six feet and masks are important, but so are sunsets and flowers.  With school quickly approaching, take time to breathe and notice things that you might be taking for granted.  That's all for now.  I'm going home to run and have a pizza with Jen.

Have a great weekend!

Jay

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

This is the only year our students have in this grade~George Couros

You may not know this, but I'm a huge fan of George Couros.  He makes me reflect on lots of things, and some of them are even school related.  Today I got my weekly video from George.  Below is a link to the blog in his email.  If you have some time, it's definitely worth the read.  One of our Merton alumni is even in the video about checking in with Google forms.

4 Ideas for Building Relationships During Remote Learning

The title of today's blog came from George's blog.  The quote really made me think about the things that we can do to make our students' year the best that it can be.  Will there be celebrations?  Yes, just like there are any year.  Will there be bumps along the way?  Yes, just like there are any year.  Regardless, this is going to be the best school year ever!  We've got this!

"The upcoming school year might be one of the toughest ever to be an educator.  It also might be the most exciting and revolutionary year ever.  Mindset will be critical."

Author unknown

I found this quote in a blog or Facebook post (not sure which one) and the comments were quite interesting.  So what do you think about this quote?  I know this.  We all have some sort of trepidation when it comes to the school year.  Frankly, we have some trepidation before the start of any school year.  We can't do this alone.  We need to do this together.  Don't keep your questions to yourself.  Ask them of your colleagues, your family, or me.  Have conversations about how these questions can be answered or addressed.  Yes, we are all here for the kids, but we also must be aware of ourselves.  Do I have all of the answers?  No way.  I don't even have all of the questions.  If you need something, ask.  If you don't ask the answer is always no.  Even if you have the most positive mindset, there's always the possibility that doubt will creep up.  That's human nature.

Some answers to your questions-

• Open House will be on Wednesday, August 26th from 11AM-7PM.  Families will schedule times to meet with their homeroom teachers (15 minutes), but please consider how you might be able to have families get to at least see each of their grade level teachers.
• The emergency lesson plans that you are creating (5 for each content area) will only be used if we go 100% virtual.
• Becca and I are working on new EE rubrics for virtual learning.  We both feel that the Danielson rubric doesn't really gauge how well you are providing instruction.  We will be sharing this with you during our Summer Academy time.
• You need to take complete the Second Step training program by September 1st.  There is an update scheduled for August 27th that is supposed to take a couple of days so doing the training before August 27th might be the safest bet.  You don't need to do it all at once, which is good for people like me. Overall, it took me about an hour and a half. And please let me know if you thought every video started out blurry. They sure were for me.
• You will get a draft of our Summer Academy plan some time next week. Abby, Katie, Martica, and Mary have put a ton of time into learning and activities that will prepare us for the upcoming school year. I cannot thank them enough.
• As of right now, the schedules that I provided you this week are still accurate and the ones that are still in place. I appreciate our discussions and your flexibility as we develop schedules that we feel are best for our students and staff. If you'd like to talk more about schedules, don't hesitate to ask!

One final thing...

You know that I enjoy an acronym every once in a while.  Here's one I think will benefit each of us this school year.

BRAVE

Be honest with yourself

Reflect on your day (or hour or minute)

Ask questions of your colleagues and me

Verify that you understand what we are doing

Evaluate for success or adjustments

That's all for now, except for this one thing.  Find time this weekend to just sit and relax with nothing on your mind.  Maybe it's on your patio, deck, or porch.  Maybe it's in a boat.  Maybe it's under a tree or on a golf course.  It doesn't matter where you relax: just relax.  And if you're still and silent, this might just happen.

Have a great weekend!

Jay

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