Reflection

During even my busiest of days, I find time to reflect.  It may happen when I'm running or driving, and sometimes it's while I'm sitting around the house.  One thing that caused me to pause and reflect was a comment I heard from one of our parents.  She had this to say, "The quarter 1 report card comments are worthless. They are generic and mean nothing if it isn't specifically about each student.  (Name removed) had two specific comments without "a" name being used to personalize it.  (Name removed) had nothing. I know it's more to do for the teachers but give us something that shows you know our child and not just the entire class."  It's tough to read and tough to share with you.  But it's important for us all to consider.  We don't need to provide comments only on report cards.  An email, phone call, voicemail, or text at any time during the school year are powerful.  Our Mustang Medals are hung on refrigerators and shared with families.  The reflective part for me about this is the kind of feedback I provide for each of you.  I need to do better, and not just with mini-observations and formal observations.  I need to leave more notes for you after I've been in your rooms- not every time, just more often.  That is my point for sharing the parent's comment with you.  Let's remember to provide more feedback to our families about how their children are doing.  The rewards from this will be unexpected and, I promise you, uplifting.

Calendar
Tuesday, December 15th          Training Tuesday- Wear your workout clothes!
                                                 Practice  4:15-5:15
Wednesday, December 16th     A-team meeting  1:30-3:30
                                                 Culver's Night  4:00-8:00
Thursday, December 17th         Thermal Thursday- Wear flannel, fleece, or sweatshirts
                                                                             PTO sponsored K-cup restocking!
                                                 Environmental Club  8:00-8:30AM
                                                 Practice 4:15-5:15
Friday, December 18th             Ugly Christmas sweater and jeans day (Kids vote for the winner!)
                                                 PTO sponsored Staff brunch!

Tweets, blogs, and quotes
"Innovation is not about saying yes to everything.  It's about saying NO to all but the most crucial features."- Steve Jobs, entrepreneur
"If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that.  Word of mouth is very powerful."- Jeff Bezos, entrepreneur
"If you have always done it that way, it is probably wrong."- Charles Kettering, inventor
The Real Influence We Have on Students (from @ajjuliani)
"The goal is not always meant to be reached, but to serve as a mark for our aim."- Joseph Joubert, essayist
"If you don't know where you're going, you might not get there."- Yogi Berra, baseball player and manager
"If you're bored with life, if you don't get up every morning with a burning desire to do things, you don't have enough goals."- Lou Holtz, football coach
Presentation for Wednesday's student assembly
@mertonint from Twitter
#mertonint from Twitter
Merton Intermediate School Facebook page
Family smore from 12.11.15

Just wondering what you think, and if any of you would be interested...
Mentorship program helps 5th graders feel at home in middle school (from Wisconsin State Journal)

Just so you know...there are dozens of students who say this about you every day. (LInk from our meeting on Wednesday)
http://my.happify.com/hd/surprise-visit-from-inspiring-teachers/

(from Jen via @twinkleteaches.blogspot.com)

(from Pixteller)

(from Pinterest)

Have a great weekend, rest up, and be ready to bring your best, like you always do, to our last full week before Winter Break.

Jay

December is here

December is here.  How did that happen?  Honestly.  One third of our school year is over.  Whenever I turn the page on the calendar, I reflect back on how the month has gone.  November had two big moments, one personal and one professional, for me- the NYC marathon on November 1st and Veterans Day on November 11th.  The marathon was an awesome experience because I spent 4 wonderful days with Jen and Lauren.  We had a great time even though my marathon time wasn't the best.  But that's OK.  Veterans Day was over the top.  The staff and students of our school put on a first rate celebration of veterans that will be difficult to beat next year, but I have a feeling next year will be better than this year.  What are your two big moments from November?

Did anyone feel like this on Monday?

The day after Thanksgiving break video

Calendar
Tuesday, December 8            4:15-5:15  Practice
                                                 5:30 and 7:00  Holiday Concerts
Wednesday, December 9       8:00-9:15  RtI Wednesday
                                                 12:45-4:00  Math Committee
Thursday, December 10         Grade level meetings
                                                 1:30  Epi-Pen training
                                                 2:01  Coaches meeting
                                                 4:15-5:15  Practice
Friday, December 11              Lunch on Jay and Jen
                                                 7-9PM  6th grade Youth Night

Tweets, quotes, and blogs
"Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise."- Sigmund Freud, psychoanalyst
Crack the Code (blog about coding written by my friend, Adam Welcome (@awelcome)
7 courageous quotes to help you dream big before you go to bed (from @NancyTerryMath)
Teacher Harriett Glickman and the Integration of the Peanuts Cartoon (How a school teacher had an impact on potentially the most famous cartoon- from @coolcatteacher)
"I am not a teacher, but an awakener."- Robert Frost, poet
What's the worst that can happen? (from @jon_wennstrom)
Embrace what you don't know (my latest post with help from @JPo1992 and @jon_wennstrom)
"Everyone sits in the prison of his own ideas; he must burst it open."- Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist
"We cannot build our own future without helping others to build theirs."- Bill Clinton, 42nd U.S. president
"None of my inventions can by accident.  I see a worthwhile need to be met and I make trial after trial."- Thomas Edison, inventor
"You're never a loser until you quit trying."- Mike Ditka, football coach and commentator
"The mediocre teacher tells.  The good teacher explains.  The superior teacher demonstrates.  The great teacher inspires."- William Arthur Ward, writer
"When you study great teachers...you will learn much more from their caring and hard work than from their style."- William Glasser, psychiatrist
A simple way to encourage creativity (from @RACzyz)
"Our chief want in life is somebody who shall make us do what we can."- Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer
Principals' report for the 11.30.15 school board meeting
@mertonint on Twitter
#mertonint on Twitter
Merton Intermediate School Facebook page
Family smore for 12.4.15

Looks can be deceiving
As we continue to move through the holiday season, I have taken more time to really look at my surroundings and the people that I encounter.  I used to go shopping to go "people watching" and rarely stopped to think about the circumstances that others encounter on a daily basis.  I am blessed with a wonderful and loving family, friends who always are there, and a school community that gives me strength every day.  One of my PLN colleagues from twitter and voxer posted this video on Facebook.  Tell me you wouldn't think twice before opening the door, just like the woman in this video.

Innovation
As I prepared for this, the first week in December, I happened to see this blog post from Bethany Hill (@bethhill2829), a principal I met face to face in Chicago at the end of October. The Time is Now, a great blog about innovation.  I began to wonder, how often do I try to innovate?  How often do I encourage each of you to innovate?  How often do we allow our students to innovate?  So I began to think about the opportunities we provide one another and our students on a daily basis.  We give ideas and suggestions, and sometimes that's as far as we or the students can go.  What if we just said, "Here is the content I need you to learn this week.  I'll be here to support you and guide you, but I need you to take charge."  As Jon said in his post, "What's the worst that can happen?"  I would instead say, "What's the best that can happen?"  We've got three weeks in December to give it a try.  Anyone want to join me?  And speaking about innovation, sometimes it just takes using something old in a different way.  Just ask Jimmy Fallon, Adele, and the Roots.  We've got three weeks in December to give it a try.  Anyone want to join me?

(from Pixteller)

(from Pinterest)

(from Pixteller)

Have a great weekend, enjoy the holiday decorating weather, and I'll see you on Monday!
Jay

Embrace what you don't know

My wife sends me emails almost daily with quotes that are either made to make me smile or make me think.  She is a master at gauging my emotions for the day and knowing just what I need.  Sometimes the quote helps me focus on the good things in my day and sometimes they make me smile to get me back on track.  Recently she sent me the one above that made me think, and I like what I thought.

Often, we do things the way we have always done them because it's easy.  It's comfortable.  It's predictable.  It's safe.  Even more, we are in the days where doing things the way we've always done them just isn't good enough.  But trying something new can be scary.  You may even keep it to yourself until after you have made the attempt.  And that's alright.  Take a chance.  Try something new.  What's the worst that can happen?  (I must be honest.  I took that last line from the title of a recent blog, linked above, by @jon_wennstrom.)  The worst that can happen is that you have modeled how to recover from a failure with your students and your colleagues.  Don't we learn best from our failures?

So I challenge you to try something new this week.  Maybe it's joining twitter or voxer.  Maybe it's writing and sharing your first blog.  Maybe it's incorporating music or a brain boost into your class.  Just try something new, anything, and see what kind of impact it has on the learning of your students.  And then when you're done, reflect on it, share it, and learn from it.  I promise you that it will be a powerful experience. 

Why do I lead?- #SAVMP 1st assignment

Why do I lead?  It's an awesome question that I reflect on nearly every day.  I was never a formal leader early in my life.  I lead more by example and action and not by words.  I was never the captain of any of the sports teams that I was a part of, but I know that athletes followed me because of my attitude and work ethic.  As I told one of my basketball players many years ago, you don't have to be formally named a captain to be a captain.  Just work hard, keep a positive attitude, and people will notice that you are a leader.  That was the same advice I got from my high school coaches, and I think that it helped me get a scholarship to college.  I worked hard, had a positive attitude, did what I was told, and I got noticed.

As a teacher, I didn't have a formal leadership role, either.  I just did what needed to be done.  I taught from 1987-2002, a span of 15 years.  I taught 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades.  Some would say that I couldn't hold a job.  They might be correct, but it also gave me experience in working with a variety of age groups in a variety of schools.  I was also able to coach, both at the high school and middle school levels.  It was yet another opportunity to lead students. My final few 12 years of teaching were all at the middle school level.  I taught many content areas and worked with many teachers.  The best parts of my middle school experience were working as teams with teachers and lunch duty.  Maybe that's why I like my current placement as a middle school principal.  I have the privilege of working with teams of teachers and I have contact with the students every day during lunch duty.

I now am in my 14th year as a middle school administrator, 5 years as an assistant principal and now in my 9th year as a principal.  I work with the best students, colleagues, and families one can imagine.  I have the support of my family.  Every day is a new challenge and another chance to celebrate the awesome accomplishments of our students and staff.

Why do I lead?  I lead because it's my calling.  I lead because I have the chance to impact the lives of those I come into contact with every day.  I lead because of the experiences I have had in school and in life.  I lead because of the support of my family.  I lead because others follow me, have faith in me, and believe in me.

Honestly, all educators are leaders.  I'm no different than any of you who are reading this.  We all have the same characteristics I mentioned above- education is a calling, we impact the lives of others, we learn from our experiences, and we have the support of those around us.

So why do you lead?

Thanksgiving thoughts

It's Thanksgiving, an incredible time to reflect upon all that we have.  I am so thankful for each and every one of you.  You always put the needs of the kids first, even when it's not the easiest thing to do.  Thank you for that.  You share with your colleagues in order to learn from one another.  Thank you for that.  You step up to help each other out, whether for something school related or personal.  Thank you for that.  Take the time to thank those near and dear to you this Thanksgiving holiday season.  They will appreciate it and it will make you feel really good, too.

Calendar
Tuesday, November 24th           I'm facilitating #personalizedpd chat on Twitter at 8:00PM
Monday, November 30th           School board meeting (Did you get me names for the Showcase?)
Tuesday, December 1st             Practice 4:15-5:15
                                                    Merton tree lighting  7:00PM
Wednesday, December 2nd      A-team meeting  1:30-3:30
Thursday, December 3rd          Grade level meetings (regular times)
                                                    Practice  4:15-5:15
                                                    Beyond the Bake Sale book chat 7:00PM
Friday, December 4th               Half day (HG&D talks for 5th and 6th graders)
                                                    Where will you be? (Please complete this form.)

Tweets, blogs, and quotes
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.  Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved."- Helen Keller, writer and activist
Brainboosts (from Jon Samuelson)
"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."- Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist
Presence- Our families might not tell any of us this, but know that it's true. (from @Jonharper70bd)
Let's change the world with our students (This could be something really cool! from @ajjuliani)
Good enough (Don't forget the Mustang Medals for our kids! They do things like this every day. from @Jonharper70bd)
@mertonint on Twitter!
#mertonint on Twitter
Merton Intermediate School Facebook page
Family smore for 11.24.15

Staff blog
Please don't forget about the form for our staff blog.  It's here again for your convenience.  It only takes a few minutes to add your thoughts, either as an individual or a group.  It's important to share the great things you are all doing with each other, with our families, and with the community.  Thanks for your consideration.

Social Emotional Learning chats
It was an interesting couple of twitter chats last week on Thursday (#mschat) and Saturday (#satchat).  Both of the chats were about social emotional learning.  They made me think of what we do here, especially in terms of building relationships and developing a positive learning culture.  Here is a link to a graphic from Saturday's #satchat.  Here is the reason I'm including this today.  The holidays can be difficult times for our students.  Let's keep in mind that for some of our students, school is the safest and most loving place they can be.  When students leave us for extended periods of time, they may start to behave differently before the long break.  It's still important to hold student expectations high, but please be aware that they may act out more or become withdrawn.  A couple of extra minutes, a kind word, or a warm greeting when they arrive to class may make all the difference in the world.

(from Jaime Casap, Google Global Education Evangelist)

Jen sent this to me.  She always sends me something to think about that has a connection to school.  She gets it and pushes me to be better.  If she was telling the story, she would tell you that she wants me to write a book.  I'm really thinking about it and may put together a draft proposal to share with you after Thanksgiving.  But that's a different story.  As we move forward this school year, think about the main point of the above quote- Don't ask kids what they want to be but instead ask them what they need to learn to be able to be what they want to be.  It changes the focus, doesn't it.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.  Enjoy your time with family and friends, relax, take some time off from thinking about school, and just have some fun.

Jay

Talents

"Hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a tragedy."

Robert Half, businessman

I saw the quote above on Friday evening when I stopped into my office in between dodgeball and karaoke (supervising, not participating) during our 6th grade Youth Night.  It made me think of the talents that each of us have and in particular, the talents that we see in others that they don't see in themselves.  I have seen some of you do things that are incredibly difficult only to discount them when someone points out the greatness of the activity.  It reminds me of the line in "Teach Like a Pirate" by Dave Burgess that really bothers him.  One of his colleagues said, "It's easy for you.  You're creative."  As Dave goes on to say, nothing is easy.  It takes a lot of work to be creative, and everyone is creative.  Keep working on your talents, those sometime hidden gems that make you who you are.  It's hard work to be as good as you are every day for our kids, and I know that.  As I say on Twitter from time to time, keep on keeping on.  It's awesome to see you bring your best for your kids every day.  Remember, they give us their best every day, too.

Calendar
Monday, November 23rd                Meeting 1-4PM
Tuesday, November 24th                Staff meeting 8:15 (Staff recognition awards)
Monday, November 30th                Board meeting (Student Showcase- Veterans Day)
***Friday, December 4th is a half day with an AM schedule!

Crisis team
I am looking for 3 people to serve on a medical crisis team.  This team would receive training on medical emergencies and be our "first responders".  Please let me know by our December 3rd grade level meetings.

Tweets, blogs, and quotes
**You can't miss this- A teacher compliments his students every day (from Huffington Post)
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?"- Vincent van Gogh, artist
"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self."- Ernest Hemingway, writer
"When you see a good person, think of becoming like him.  When you see someone not so good, reflect on your own weak points."- Confucius, teacher and philosopher
"All life is an experiment.  The more experiments you make, the better."- Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer
"You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore."- William Faulkner, writer
How to teach the "on demand" generation (from @ajjuliani)
"The great secret of power is never to will to do more than you can accomplish."- Henrik Ibsen, playwright
"Hard work spotlights the character of people: Some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."- Sam Ewing, baseball player
"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear--not absence of fear."- Mark Twain, writer
If a child doesn't know how to behave we... (from @EricEwald_Iowa)
@mertonint on Twitter
#mertonint on Twitter
Merton Intermediate School Facebook page
Family smore for 11.20.15

Don't forget our Thanksgiving Email Challenge
Pick at least one person on the staff (maybe more than one if you have time) and send them an email shairng something you value in them and thanking them for their work.  It doesn't have to be a long email- just specific, kind, and thoughtful.  I think if we are all able to send at least one of these emails between now and next Tuesday, we will start the Thanksgiving holiday off on the right foot!


Here's a challenge for you...
Pick one of the following "posters" and reflect upon it for our staff blog.  If you aren't already a contributor on our staff blog, please consider it.  There is still the opportunity to share your classroom, grade level, or content area excitement on our staff blog using this form, too.  Give it a try!

            (from designbolts.com)             (from my wife, @JPo1992. She gets it!)

               (Jen sent me this one, too!)                             (from Pinterest)

                    (from Pixteller)                                      (from @gcouros)

Thanks for another great week.  Enjoy the weekend.

Take care of our kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.

Jay

Exciting times!

The excitement of the week caught up with me this morning.  I realized that there was a great deal of planning, flexibility, and pride in two major activities this week- Veterans Day and conferences.
Veterans Day was an emotional day full of smiles, tears, hugs, hand shakes, and high fives.  Thanks to Heather, Megan, and the myriad of staff and student volunteers who made the day a special one for veterans, guests, students, and staff.  Here is a link to Mary's animoto of the day.
Conferences are vital to the success of our students and you all always are prepared with an attitude of teamwork, celebration, and goal setting.  You find the good in every student and every conversation and it doesn't go unnoticed.  Thank you for all that you do every day for our students and each other.

BrightBytes
Please remember to have your students take the BrightBytes survey.  You need to take it as well.  Please find the links in emails that were sent to you by Tina.  Thanks!

Calendar
Monday, November 16th               4:15-5:15  BLT meeting
Tuesday, November 17th               4:30-8:00  Conferences (5th and 6th grade only)
Wednesday, November 18th          1:30-3:30  A-team meeting
                                                         4:00-8:00  Culver's Night (Anyone want to be a server?)
Thursday, November 19th             Tweetdeck Thursday (8:00AM in the Library- Bring Chromebook)                                                              Grade level meeting day (Bring great work to share!)
                                                         4:15-5:15  Practice resumes in the Library

Great things I saw this week
*Students and staff helping out our veterans and guests on Wednesday and the set up crew of volunteers to make our Veterans Day celebration something we will long remember.
*Smiles and tears from our veterans, and an uncountable number of compliments of our students and staff by the veterans and guests during and after the morning.
*Book fair volunteers speaking highly of our students and how nice and respectful they are.
*Parents excited to share conference news with me and the proud look on the faces of the students who attended.

Tweets, blogs, and quotes
Believing in our students, when it's hard to do (from @gcouros, a thought leader in education)
"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for."- John Shedd, writer
Are you on the bus? (from @benjamingilpin, a principal and friend from Michigan)
"Show class, have pride and display character.  If you do, winning takes care of itself."- Bear Bryant, football coach
"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed."- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President
"Persistence and determination are always rewarded."- Christine Rice, opera singer
@mertonint on Twitter
#mertonint on Twitter
Merton Intermediate School on Facebook
Family smore for 11.13.15

What do you think?
As you look over this graphic, how often do you do this with our students?  How often do we do this with each other?  How often do I do this with you?  I encourage you to keep this graphic in mind as we continue learning with our students and each other.  Thanks to Dr. Laquita Outlaw (@DrLOutlaw) for sharing the graphic and for George Couros (@gcouros) for creating it.

Thanks for an awesome week!  Enjoy your family and friends this weekend.  Relax and recharge so that you are ready for our last full week of November.

Jay