Welcome back this past week, Mrs. Grimm!!
Welcome back Shelley Parker on Monday!!!
Say goodbye to Ms. Swyter today and hello to Mrs. Weatherall on Monday...or Tuesday. :-)
Data Collection Follow-Up - I'm in the process of reviewing feedback from PD this week to see what the next steps need to be - BLT will be involved in this process. Also, Leslie and I will be working on our SMART goals for our own supervisors and we both believe we will tie our learning and work in to assessment so we can better serve our collective goals/vision here at MGE. As it was mentioned to you yesterday, the data collection elements that are tight are part of an on-going process. No one expects you to have all elements in place on Monday. Rather it is something we are working toward and we want to support the entire staff in this process. When we are finished with our SMART Goal, we will be sharing them with staff!
ITPDPs - Are due in my office by 8:00 am on Monday morning. Please print an individual behavior and academic/content SMART Goal Action Plan (ITPDP) and sign/date both. Your team can email me one copy of the goal. Benchmarking data should be entered onto the data sheets by then too. If you need extra time, see me ASAP.
Conference sheets are due in the office today (Friday) before you leave!
Start Somewhere Walk will be held across the state next Friday, October 7th, at noon. A schedule from Kara will be in your boxes/email sometime Friday. Please note that we are encouraging all staff to participate in this activity.
Fundraiser Kickoff will also be held on Friday, October 7th, at 3:00 pm. There will be no early out schedule run. Related Arts teachers and those 2nd grade teacher affected have been contacted as to procedure to follow. Kindergarten students should head to gym at 2:50 pm so we can begin as close to 3:00 pm as possible and we will open the lunchroom wall to help move students in and out quickly. We will announce grades following grade levels. I will ask the rep to keep them no longer than 20 minutes and we will open the lunchroom wall so we can exit quickly. :-)
Parent Email Reminder - When sending an email with classroom information to more than one parent, you need to include the email addresses in your "Bcc:" (Blind carbon-copy) line to protect parent information.
After School Procedures - With nearly 125 more students this year and many more students riding the bus than previous years, we need to take a look at how things are going after school. EVERYONE WITH ANY AFTER SCHOOL DUTY should complete the following short survey http://bit.ly/qH2ese sometime prior to Monday so we can continue to make some positive changes if needed.
Staffing Update - We are down one recess associate (remaining is Cherie & Katharine!) and I hope to fill it early next week!!
At Bat September Winning Team is Related Arts with 8 out of 10 correct!! Your prize is in your box, but be sure to keep the wrapping on them as I hear they are worth more in the original wrapping!! Please don't get jealous everyone else....just get even (the score, not personally)! Totals for the month and answer key (two tabs at the bottom) can be found here. 5th grade has their work cut out for them...although I'm thinking of a couple songs I'd like to hear from that pod. :-) ...didn't have to use the tie-breaker this month, but just in case you're wondering, I sing a mean version of this little ditty and cannot hold a tune on this one.
Final Thoughts for the Week
Where I keep typing/talking and you
don't necessarily have to keep reading/listening.
Be warned - this "Finals Thoughts for the Week" is a bit wordier.
...choose joy. Sara passed away Saturday night after battling Ankylosing Spondylitis for nearly 20 years and being confined to her apartment for almost 4 years. From the tiny confines of her 2 bedroom apartment, she networked, influenced and changed the lives of 100's, if not 1000's of people with her witty and engaging stories and her mission to choose joy every single day. Although the content of many of her posts have a religious base to them, I'm not promoting that piece of it necessarily (remember you were given permission to stop reading/listening above). I want to highlight how effective communication and the promoting of a positive message can change lives. Through being her friend and reading her blog, I've been able to apply some new learning that I can promote in the public education of young lives...
This job is too stressful not to Choose Joy - I encourage you to read Sara's defining joy post when you have a spare moment. The post may be more for me, but just like laughter is needed in education, joy is needed by every single child who walks into the building, your classroom, the gym, the cafeteria, onto the playground this year. You hold the key - you have the power - to create a classroom full of joy, full of laughter and full of learning. No one else has this power. I've seen time and time again one person in the building 'choose joy' and the contagiousness of this choice is evident throughout the day and building. Yesterday's experience made me track down a Winston Churchill quote last night that I had heard long ago and wanted to share:
The effect and impact social media can play in our lives and the lives of our students today. Sara's blog has received over 1 million hits from all over the world. She became good friends with people who shared her illness or similar illnesses and/or shared similar interests. Several of whom traveled great distances to attend her services this week - some who had never met her in person. Our "community" is so much more than Maple Grove and Waukee. We need expand our community beyond the walls through the use of technology. We need to let our student attempt to make an impact on the world they live in through their writing and through opportunities for them to learn from other kids and adults around the world. I really enjoyed the 1st grade conversation and excitement I heard during PLC+ today as we talked about some possibilities. It is exciting!
Being consistently positive attracts other positive people. At the funeral on Wednesday, Sara had people from all parts of her life (hometown, high school, college, work and her social media community). Every person I met was just as positive as her and several of us questioned after the service whether she just attracted positive people or whether she made us positive people. I believe it was the latter...as I often have to throw her "Choose Joy" picture in front of me to make me realize my current "pain" is not really that big of a deal in the whole scheme of things. You are the captain of your classroom or your team meeting or your department - you attract what you give off. We have lots of game-changers in our building who can bring that positive mo-jo to our students, parents and school!
If you've read this far - I appreciate you sharing in the celebration of life of my friend, Sara. I hope I can use her examples to be a better colleague, principal and community servant for each and every one of you. Enjoy your weekend and celebrate the joys you've been given.
This job is too stressful not to Choose Joy - I encourage you to read Sara's defining joy post when you have a spare moment. The post may be more for me, but just like laughter is needed in education, joy is needed by every single child who walks into the building, your classroom, the gym, the cafeteria, onto the playground this year. You hold the key - you have the power - to create a classroom full of joy, full of laughter and full of learning. No one else has this power. I've seen time and time again one person in the building 'choose joy' and the contagiousness of this choice is evident throughout the day and building. Yesterday's experience made me track down a Winston Churchill quote last night that I had heard long ago and wanted to share:
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity;
an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
The effect and impact social media can play in our lives and the lives of our students today. Sara's blog has received over 1 million hits from all over the world. She became good friends with people who shared her illness or similar illnesses and/or shared similar interests. Several of whom traveled great distances to attend her services this week - some who had never met her in person. Our "community" is so much more than Maple Grove and Waukee. We need expand our community beyond the walls through the use of technology. We need to let our student attempt to make an impact on the world they live in through their writing and through opportunities for them to learn from other kids and adults around the world. I really enjoyed the 1st grade conversation and excitement I heard during PLC+ today as we talked about some possibilities. It is exciting!
Being consistently positive attracts other positive people. At the funeral on Wednesday, Sara had people from all parts of her life (hometown, high school, college, work and her social media community). Every person I met was just as positive as her and several of us questioned after the service whether she just attracted positive people or whether she made us positive people. I believe it was the latter...as I often have to throw her "Choose Joy" picture in front of me to make me realize my current "pain" is not really that big of a deal in the whole scheme of things. You are the captain of your classroom or your team meeting or your department - you attract what you give off. We have lots of game-changers in our building who can bring that positive mo-jo to our students, parents and school!
If you've read this far - I appreciate you sharing in the celebration of life of my friend, Sara. I hope I can use her examples to be a better colleague, principal and community servant for each and every one of you. Enjoy your weekend and celebrate the joys you've been given.
He who laughs, lasts
Doug
