Keep it up, but take a break!

It's been a great start and it's all thanks to you.  I've watched you get into the new swing of things- masking up, walking the room, and checking in on our virtual students.  That's new for all of us, and something that I really need to work on more.  It's time for me to make some phone calls to check on our families.  And thank you for reaching out to your homeroom kids who are virtual.  Learning about how things are going now will help all of us to adjust and be just a little better tomorrow for all of our kids.  My friend Lisa, who lives in New York State, shared this in our Voxer group this week.  I know that none of you have given up, or will give up, but sometimes just reading this out loud to yourself (try it in the grocery store and see the looks you get) will set you back on course if you start to waver a bit.

So the weekend is nearly upon us.  You've got four incredible days under your belt.  I love that you are reflecting on what you are doing well and what you might be able to do a little better tomorrow.  Finish the week strong, put your feet up tonight, spend time with your family, and take a break.  It's been great having you back in our school!

Calendar

Friday, September 4th    Alma Mater Day! Show your college or high school spirit!

Monday, September 7th    No school- Labor Day

Wednesday, September 9th    First day of Second Step with adjusted schedule

Friday, September 11th    Next pick up for virtual students

Wednesday, September 23rd    First official 7:45 meeting

Reminders

We'll still be doing drills as drills supersede the pandemic.  We'll do fire drills as a school but please practice and discuss our tornado drill and lockdown procedures with each class.  Thanks for being prepared for the unpredictable!

Please make sure that you are taking attendance for our virtual kids each hour.  If you notice a trend of absences, please let me know!  And keep up the amazing job of including them in your classrooms!

It's vital for us to be in the hallways to keep the traffic flowing.  Please remember to do this during every passing period.

Thanks for not stacking your chairs!  Jim was quite thankful and left me a message last night.  Please remember, especially with the long weekend coming up, that it's important to put your garbage out in the hallway each night.  If you need more garbage bags, please let Jim know.

Please check out this link to our family smore.  There are some important items in there, including something about lunch for our students.  I'm still going to be adding pictures to the smore, and might even steal a few from Twitter that you've posted.

I invited all teachers to the Educator Effectiveness Google Classroom and included your first assignment, the self review, due on October 1st.  I'll be stopping in to answer any of your questions some time today.

My one word for the year...

is grace.  It seems to be the one word many of my PLN are choosing.  We often give each other grace, or our students grace, or our family grace, but we often forget to give ourselves grace.  As the end of our first week back with kids comes to a close today, reflect on what went well and on one thing that you might want to be a little better at, and then give yourself some grace.

Thanks for a great first week with kids, enjoy the weekend, and I'll see you on Tuesday!

Jay

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