First week excitement!

That was a great week, and a quick one, too!  I don't know about you, but I sure enjoyed the first two days.  There were lots of moving parts and pieces, but everything seemed to work pretty well.  I appreciate the assistance I got from you before school and at lunch the first day.  If you ever want to stop down and visit again I'm sure the kids would enjoy seeing you.  If you have any suggestions to help make things run more smoothly, please let me know.  I'm already looking forward to next week, but not until I have a chance to relax, reflect, and recharge this weekend.  I encourage you to do the same.

Sunrise on the first day!

Calendar

Monday, September 6th    No School- Labor Day

Thursday, September 9th    8:00 All staff meeting in the Intermediate gym

Tuesday, September 14th    Contingencies 6PM/ Annual meeting 7PM

Wednesday, September 15th    Culver's Night

Monday, September 27th    Board meeting

Tweets, quotes, and blogs

Gratitude for Those Closest in Our Lives (from George Couros)

Introductory video

Thanks to all of you who shared your introductory video with me.  If you need some help, and not just a reminder, please let me know and I'll be happy to help you out.

Educator Effectiveness

If you visited your mailbox today, and I encourage you to do so if you haven't, you'll see an Educator Effectiveness checklist.  These will only be in teachers' mailboxes.  Please look over the checklist and let me know if you have any questions.  I'll be setting up a Google Classroom and inviting you to join.  The first item to complete is the self-review.  The due date is Friday, September 24th.  Once you've completed this, please set up a meeting with me to discuss how I can support you and to discuss the upcoming year.  Thank you!

Our weekly meetings will start theweek after next

I'll make sure to include the dates and times in next week's calendar.  If you want to meet next week, just let me know and I'll be happy to join you!

Thanks so much for all of your efforts in making this first week a success.  In all honesty, none of us is teaching or doing the same thing that we did last year.  As you know, I'm reading the book Mutlipliers by Liz Wiseman.  In the book she writes about a tightrope walker named Phillipe Petit.  In 1974 he walked on a tightrope strung between the twin towers of the World Trade Centers, 140 feet between the 1368 foot towers.  As he stood on the edge of the tower, one foot on the building and the other on the wire, he had to make a decision.  The decision was between staying on the tower or taking the first step onto the wire.  He made the decision to take that step and successfully completed walking on a tightrope from one tower to the other.  There was no safety harness.  There was no safety net.  I watched all of you take that first step this week and it was exciting.  You made the decision to do something tough.  And I'm so proud of you.  I might not be your safety harness or safety net.  But one of your colleagues sure is.  As Brian Fleischman would say, "We are our best resource."

Thanks for a great week, and make sure to enjoy your weekend.

Jay

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