Thanksgiving is not just one day

As the school year continues, I have found that every day brings at least one thing for which I am thankful.  To be honest, I'm thankful for many things every day.  I'm thankful for my family because they are always there to support me, encourage me, or give me a swift kick in the pants.  They seem to know just what I need.  I'm thankful for each of you.  You take care of our kids and you take care of each other, and we all learn something every day.  I'm thankful for the concerns you share about our kids, the celebrations you have for and with our kids, and the direction that you provide our kids on a daily basis.  And I'm thankful that I get to go to school with each of you every day!

Staying Centered

I read my friend Jessica's blog on Monday.  She is a middle school principal who just a couple of short years ago was a kindergarten principal.  She is the co-author of Balance Like a Pirate and always provides great suggestions.  She is honest and in her most recent blog talks about how lonely it can be as an educator.  The thoughts in the visual below have helped her become more centered, and I hope that they will help you as well.  Practice one or more of these thoughts over the weekend and over Thanksgiving Week so that they become a habit for you and help you get back to feeling centered.

Calendar

Friday, November 20th    Material pickup/ Hat Day!

Tuesday, November 24th-Sunday November 29th    Thanksgiving Break!

Tuesday, November 24th    AM 30 minute grade level meetings (see below)

Monday, November 30th    School board meeting 7PM

Friday, December 4th    Material pickup

Wednesday, December 9th    Staff SEL meeting 7:45AM in the gym

Friday, December 11th    Material pickup

Wednesday, December 16th    8th grade PreACT at 9:15AM in the gym

From one of our guest teachers...

It's really awesome when people use the shared substitute drives and make sub plans with links to presentations, assignments, etc. But, please remember that everything that gets linked must also get its sharing settings changed so that whoever is subbing can access the linked materials.

Also, gold stars to people who include video lessons so things are explained as the students are used to!

Tweets, quotes, and blogs

Think about the AWE you are for our kids!

Let the Light In- a blog post by Todd Nesloney

"The day you settle for less is the day you will get less."-

Iman Abdulmajid, model, entrepreneur

I encourage each of you to take part in this Call To Action this weekend!

Next Tuesday morning

Next Tuesday morning I'll be meeting with 5th and 6th grade, either in person or virtually, from 8:30 to 9:00 and then with 7th and 8th grade, either in person or virtually, from 9:15-9:45.  Specials teachers can join either meeting or they can join both, the choice is yours.  Here are the questions that will guide our discussion.  Please look them over before we meet and prepare responses in advance.

What’s one success from this school year?

What’s one challenge from this school year?

What’s something you’d like to share that helps you make connections with your in-person kids?

What’s something you’d like to share that helps you make connections with your virtual kids?

Share one trick/tool/technique that you think one of your colleagues might find helpful.

What do we need to do to make sure that, if we need, we can make the transition to fully virtual smooth for our students and their families?

Normal vs mind-blowing

This week I got more than my share of emails, but two of them really made me smile.  It could have been about any of you.  It was about going above and beyond, again, for a child.  The parent wanted me to know how lucky we are to have you as a teacher in Merton.  And we are.  But the real lucky ones are our kids.  You do incredible things every day that may seem normal to you, but they aren't normal to everyone.  You've heard me say this before, but what is normal for you is mind-blowing for someone else.  On Tuesday you'll have the opportunity to share what you do for our kids, your normal, and I know that it's going to be someone else's mind-blowing idea.

Have a great weekend!  We've got one day next week to make a difference, and I know that you will!

Jay

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

I miss being in your classrooms

The last two weeks have been pretty awesome.  Aspire testing and family conferences have come and gone, although there will be some Aspire testing makeups next week at some point.  I'll work on that with all of you.  But with the craziness of testing and conferences, as well as the need for me to cover a class or two a day, I haven't been able to be in your classrooms as much as I would like.  My hope is that changes in the very near future.  I do still work here as the principal and being in classrooms to see you facilitate learning with our kids is what makes me go and keeps me going.  Juggling testing and classroom coverage has been fun.  This is how I think my juggling went for the last two weeks.

I'll keep practicing my juggling and maybe I'll get better.  In the meantime, if I can, you know I'll be getting into your classrooms more next week!

Calendar

Friday, November 13th    Material pickup/ Food drive ends/ Jeans for Troops/ World Kindness Day (Do you know your color?)

Sunday, November 15th    Online Book Fair ends

Monday, November 16th-Sunday, November 22nd    Culver's Week

Monday, November 16th    BLT meeting 4:15PM

Wednesday, November 18th    Team or individual planning 7:45AM

Thursday, November 19th    Virtual materials to include up to December 4th to office by 4PM

Friday, November 20th    Material pickup

Tuesday, November 24th    Half day- noon dismissal

Wednesday, November 25th-Sunday, November 29th    Thanksgiving Break

Monday, November 30th    School board meeting 7PM

Quotes, tweets, and blogs

American industrialist Henry J. Kaiser once said, “Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.” 

"The bottom line in all of it is that, in life, it's all about people ... the people who pass through your life, the people who have been kind and good to you, the people who have been inspirations to you, and the people who perhaps you didn't get along with. They all come together and make you who you are and what you are.”

Colin Powell | 1937 - | American statesman, former U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Don't judge me by my past. I don't live there anymore. - Petteri Tarkkonen

If you are, or would like to be, an AT&T customer, I wanted to make you aware of this offer.

P.S.- I get nothing for passing this on to you!

Thank you for the last two weeks.  I'm writing this as conferences are winding down.  I know this.  Our families are incredibly thankful for each of you.  You might not get an email from them.  They might not leave you a voicemail.  They might not send you a handwritten note.  But I had amazing conversations with many families about the great work you are doing with their children.  Your communication with our families in Skyward, in emails, on the phone, and in Google Meets is beyond compare.  Thank you for doing such great work on the front end that your work at conferences was a chance to share the joys of the students with their families.  It means the world to them, and it means the world to me.

Have a great weekend!

Jay

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

Tomorrow

Every day I get emails that have interesting articles on education and always end with a quote.  As I was proctoring the 8th grade Aspire test on Tuesday, here's a quote that hit me hard.

You might be thinking, "What's the big deal with the quote, Jay?"  Here's the big deal.  Every morning when I come to school, I flip the two calendars that are on my desk.  One I got from Stephanie Janquart long ago.  One I got as a present from one of my 2nd grade students back in 1989.  The quotes aren't the same and sometimes they don't mean much to me, at least that year.  Then there are times when the quote completely changes my outlook.  The quote that I shared above had that impact on me.  Maybe it had something to do with the election or maybe it was just that I realized I had started Tuesday in a really positive way.  I put the old nonsense from Monday behind me when I got up on Tuesday.  And when I read this quote on Tuesday morning, I thought to myself, "Why can't I just leave yesterday behind?  I can't change it.  I need to focus on today."  I can tell you this.  I'm going to have this quote somewhere prominent as a daily reminder.  Tomorrow is done.  Let's focus on today.

Calendar

Friday, November 6th    Shorts day!/ Material pickup

Tuesday, November 10th    7th grade Aspire AM/ 5th grade Aspire PM

Wednesday, November 11th    Staff meeting 7:45AM (Onward Chapter 5)/ 7th grade Aspire PM

Thursday, November 12th    5th grade Aspire AM/ Virtual materials to office by 4PM/ 6th and 8th grade conferences

Friday, November 13th    Material pickup/ Food drive ends

Sunday, November 15th    Online Book Fair ends

Monday, November 16th-Sunday, November 22nd    Culver's Week

Monday, November 16th    BLT meeting 4:15PM

Wednesday, November 18th    Team or individual planning 7:45AM

Thursday, November 19th    Virtual materials to include up to December 4th to office by 4PM

Friday, November 20th    Material pickup

Tuesday, November 23rd    Half day- noon dismissal/ Jay creates a virtual assembly to start the day

Wednesday, November 24th-Sunday, November 29th    Thanksgiving Break

Monday, November 30th    School board meeting 7PM

Wednesday meeting rotations

I wanted to make you all aware that there is a rotation for our Wednesday meetings.  The first Wednesday of the month will be a building meeting.  The second Wednesday of the month will be our WIN Wednesday district meeting.  The subsequent Wednesdays will be used for team and personal planning.  With that being said, please use the time next Wednesday to prepare for our upcoming family conferences.  Having materials in place to discuss with our families is really a powerful way to communicate the progress of our students.

Reminders for all of us

Although I wasn't able to get into as many classrooms as I would have liked this week, I still had a chance to stop in once in a while.  The one thing we are all doing well is wearing our masks.  This is true of our students and of us.  Reminders will be needed of our kids, and we must remind each other, too.  The one thing that is concerning to me is group work.  We need to make sure we are 6 feet apart.  The times we aren't doing well with this is when our kids are working in groups or when we are working in groups.  I use comments like "stay on your dot" or "use your own M" or "you're too close".  I used a term called "slippage" when I was a basketball coach.  In practice I was a stickler about positioning on defense so that if there was "slippage" during the game we would still be alright.  Let's get back in the practice of making sure that we're 6 feet apart.  That, along with wearing masks and washing hands often, will allow us to stay safe to stay open a lot longer.  Thanks for addressing this with the kids, and each other, today and the rest of the year.  I'll be adding it to the announcements today and Monday, too, as a reminder for us all.

Twinning on conference night (totally by accident)

Conferences and Aspire

Thanks for all of your efforts with conferences and Aspire.  Just so you know, I split up the weeks that each grade level had these.  I don't know if it was the best idea or not so if you'd like to give me some feedback, please do.  You have created incredible learning environments for our kids so they have a chance to really focus on what they are doing in class.  You have also communicated with our families in a way that keeps them informed with no surprises.  The conferences have become a time for families to meet you, the teacher, or to thank you for all that you are doing to make sure our school stays open.  Keep up the great work!

Moonrise over the millpond following conferences

Spiritwear order due today!

In case you are interested, here is the link to order.  My hope is that we receive the order before Thanksgiving.

Have a great weekend!  Enjoy the weather!  Take at least a day off from school work.  Go for a walk in the woods.  Call a friend or family member you haven't spoken to in a while.  Do something for you because you deserve it.

Jay

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