A Different Kind of Countdown

Principal ponderings...

We are in the home stretch.  It always seems like the time after spring break is a fast-paced race to the finish.  We have 40 school days left before summer vacation.  What?!  Only 40 days?!  How did that happen?  I feel like we were all just sitting in the cafeteria before the first day of school, and now suddenly, we are winding down.  I know that around this time everyone starts counting down.  People are making plans for what they will do over summer vacation.  The weather is finally getting nice, and kids and adults begin to stare longingly out the window, daydreaming about summer fun.

But we have 40 days left.  And I am proposing a very different countdown during these 40 days.  I want us to think of all of the amazing things that we get to do with kids over the next 40 days.  Do you have some students who you don't have the best connection with?  Well you have 40 days to work on that connection.  Do you have some students who love math and are eager for new math challenges?  Well you have 40 days to keep that math enthusiasm going and challenge them in new ways.  Do you have students who still need reminders about making the right choices and showing SPARK behavior?  Good news, you have 40 days to help them work on making smarter choices.  Do you have students who are not truly engaged in learning in your classroom.  You have 40 days to make sure that everyone is engaged in the learning going on in your room.

Yes, we are counting down the days.  But we need to make sure we making every single one of these last few days count.  Be sure and check out the staff room each day because I will have a special countdown chart in there with a new message each day for all of us.  Time definitely goes by too fast.  Let's make sure we are capitalizing on every moment that we have with our students.  Amazing learning, amazing experiences have been happening for them in classrooms, on the playground, in the cafeteria.  Let's keep adding to those experiences and interactions all the way until the last bus pulls away on the last day of school.

40 days left to be awesome for kids....starting today!

Currently reading:
I definitely used the break to catch up on some reading!  I was very excited to get some new books in the mail and from the book fair.  Here's a few great picture books that I read and hope to read in some classrooms...

This is the picture book that goes along with the book Wonder!

Love this book, great for growth mindset, positive thinking, etc! It's called Penguin Problems.

I finished reading Snicker of Magic - such a great book!  I loved the language in this book and the characters.  Let me know if you want to borrow a copy.  I am currently reading another Nikki Grimes book.  This one is a short novel called The Road to Paris.  This is a story about a young girl who is in foster care.  The author certainly wrote from experience for this book since she herself was bounced around to many different foster care homes when she was little.

Events this week:
Monday - Welcome back!!
Tuesday - Grade 4 ELA MCAS, School Council Meeting @ 3:30
Wednesday - Grade 4 ELA MCAS, several staff attending CPI refresher training at Prescott from 12-3:00, 1st grade Curious Creatures enrichment program in the afternoon
Thursday - Grade 4 ELA MCAS, K math PD session in the AM
Friday - Special Olympics!, Liz and Dianna at SLT in the AM

Great things I noticed last week:

• I had the chance to check out some amazing simple machines in a few of the 4th grade classrooms. 
  
• A big thank you to Mrs. Fulreader's middle school son for coming over to help some 4th graders build their simple machines. 
  
• I had fun eating lunch with these 2nd graders; we discussed our favorite and not so favorite vegetables! 
  
• Loved catching these two 3rd graders in the hall.  One friend was helping another one back from the nurse's office.  Kind kids at FloRo! 
  
• Did you see our new office help?  When you are hurt and can't go out for recess...time to fill in as an assistant! 
  
• Crafty, creative Kate in the nurse's office definitely put some smiles on faces with these signs! 
  
• What do you do when it's Good Friday the day before vacation and we have lots of staff out and not enough subs?!  You bring in the assistant superintendent to be a sub!  Thanks Dr. Novak! (And Karen Gartland and Luke Callahan!) 
  

Check it out:
A good reminder about the benefits of having a growth mindset in math: http://www.wbur.org/edify/2017/04/10/math-growth-mindset
And a great tweet I saw last night...

Also, on Tuesday night I am helping to moderate the #edchatMA twitter chat, all about inclusion.  We are combining with the #coteachat...a whole chat devoted to coteaching.  Even if you are nervous about chiming in...find the #edchatMA hashtag and follow along with the discussion at 8:00 Tuesday night!

#LoveMySchoolDay

Principal ponderings...

Guess what?!  Tuesday, April 11 is #LoveMySchoolDay!  What does that mean?  Well it means it's a day when we can tell the world why Florence Roche rocks!  I know it's an amazing school, and you know it's an amazing school, but does the whole world know?  Probably not, so let's tell them about all of reasons why you love our school.

A few years ago, one principal decided to take on the challenge of getting the word out about how awesome his school was.  Now there are schools all over the country who will be participating in this challenge and spreading the positivity about their schools.  Read more about this at the following blog: http://leadlearner2012.blogspot.com/p/lovemyschoolday.html

On Tuesday, let's share all the reasons why we love FloRo!  You can either post on Twitter and be sure to use the hashtag #lovemyschoolday, as well as #gdrsdchat, or you can send pictures or messages to me and I will post them for you on our @FloRoElem Twitter page.  We want people talking about our school, and we want that discussion to be all about the positive things happening in our classrooms and throughout the whole building.  Let's make sure we are telling our story!

What great things will you be sharing on #LoveMySchoolDay?!

Currently reading:
With the MA Reading Conference last week and the Book Fair and just my regular Amazon shopping...I have lots of new books!!  At bedtime tonight, Emerson and I enjoyed the book The Last Stop on Market Street.  This is a picture book that has been getting recommendations all over the place.  In a time where books about diversity and discussions about diversity are crucial, this is an important and necessary book.

I was really excited to get this book in the mail and start reading it.  I am actually in a Voxer book club with educators and principals from around the country.  We just started discussing the book this week.  If you have read the book Teach Like a Pirate, this is another inspirational professional development book.  

Events this week:
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week at FloRo!
Monday - 3rd grade ELA MCAS testing begins in the am
Tuesday - 3rd grade ELA MCAS testing continues, School Council Meeting @ 3:30
Wednesday - 3rd grade ELA MCAS testing continues, 3rd grade chorus practice @ 2:25
Thursday - Elementary curriculum half day, 12:15 dismissal, no lunch served, PTA luncheon, optional parent conferences in the afternoon

**Enjoy your vacation week!

Great things I noticed last week:

• On Monday, we had an amazing principal for the day, 2nd grader Micah.  He came dressed for the part and even brought his own name badge!  
  
• I loved going shopping with students who have been radiating respect! 
  
• As I mentioned in the staff meeting, the 4th grade co-taught room has been rethinking and redesigning their classroom environment.  Check it out and talk to Angela and Ellen about the different possibilities of flexible seating and moving away from traditional classroom furniture. 
  
• On Thursday, I was excited to attend the MA Reading Association Conference with several FloRo staff members.  I was even more excited that I had won a chance to sit and have a meet and greet session with Donalyn Miller!  We talked about some of her book recommendations, reading conferences, and a book that she is working on about classroom libraries.  It was also great to listen to Mr. Schu speak; he is the Scholastic Reading Ambassador and also an elementary school librarian.  He talked all about great new books out now, and he also read the first chapter of Kristina Applegate's new book, Wishtree.  Can't wait until it comes out in October! 
  

Check it out:
Anyone else feel this way?  Anyone else ready to relax and rejuvenate over the vacation week?

And in preparation for vacation week next week...I hope you will do what Kid President says and give your families and yourself your undivided attention next week!  I know I plan on doing exactly that with my family. :)

Roll Up Your Sleeves

Principal ponderings...

This weekend, I wasn't feeling well.  Another bad cold appears to taken control of me.  But I still had things to get done this weekend.  There was a sink full of dishes piled high.  So I rolled up my sleeves and got to work.  And for now, there are no more dishes in the sink.

My sister-in-law had given us a giant container full of hand-me-down clothes for Emerson.  I have been driving around with that container in the back of my car. I finally brought it inside and knew that I needed to go through her dresser and get rid of clothes that were too small to make room for some "new" clothes.  Lucky for me, Emerson got to her dresser before me, and threw every single piece of clothing on the floor in her room.  So I rolled up my sleeves and got to work.  And for the moment, she has an organized dresser with just the right size clothes in it.

During the week, there were several days where we were short staffed and did not have enough coverage during recess and lunch and on some days in classrooms.  So I rolled up my sleeves and got to work.  I was a 1st grade teacher because that was what we needed on a certain day.  I wiped down tables in the cafeteria because that was what we needed on a certain day.  I was a 1:1 paraprofessional in the art room because that was what we needed on a certain day.  I spent time in a kindergarten classroom because a meeting ran longer than expected and that was what we needed on a certain day.

Lots of different scenarios, but always the same step...I rolled up my sleeves and got to work.  Yes, there are days when I am tired and there are days when I am sick.  There are days when I have other things planned, but my plans get changed.  There are days when I think maybe someone else will do that for me.  There are days when I am so productive and I love checking things off my list.  But it always comes back to my mantra...I rolled up my sleeves and got to work.

I challenge all of you to have this attitude no matter what you encounter this week.  Did you give a math assessment and you realize that many students did not get one of the concepts?  Time to roll up your sleeves and reteach that concept.  Did you somehow come across a difficult situation in the hall or on the playground with students who aren't even in your class?  Time to roll up your sleeves and help them solve the problem.  Did your plans last week look one way on paper and something totally different when you taught your lessons?  Time to roll up your sleeves and rethink how you will plan out your instruction this week.  Did have a parent meeting that did not go the way you had hoped?  Time to roll up your sleeves and figure out how to mend that important relationship.  Did your students write some amazing pieces or blow you away with their reading progress this week?  Time to roll up your sleeves and plan for how you will help them continue to grow and learn even more this week.

We are in the business of educating kids, and it is hard work.  No one said it would be an easy job.  No one said you wouldn't be exhausted by the time the end of each day comes around.  Molding future minds takes lots of strength and determination and hard work.  Whether it's one student, your whole class, the kid who you walk by on the way to the staff room, the younger grades that you haven't met yet or the older ones who you almost don't recognize because they have grown so much.  All of them need us to do the tough job we signed up for.  The job that certainly did not have everything we would need to do listed in the job description.  Our students need us to do our job.  That job can take all forms and can require us to do all sorts of things.  We all need to have that can-do attitude.  Our students need us to have that attitude.

So today I am going to roll up my sleeves and get to work.  Who is with me?

Since it's National Poetry Month, I thought I would kick it off with this poem.  I thought it went along well with my message in this post.

It Couldn’t Be Done

Related Poem Content Details

BY EDGAR ALBERT GUEST

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done 

      But he with a chuckle replied 

That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one 

      Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried. 

So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin 

      On his face. If he worried he hid it. 

He started to sing as he tackled the thing 

      That couldn’t be done, and he did it! 

Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that; 

      At least no one ever has done it;” 

But he took off his coat and he took off his hat 

      And the first thing we knew he’d begun it. 

With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin, 

      Without any doubting or quiddit, 

He started to sing as he tackled the thing 

      That couldn’t be done, and he did it. 

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done, 

      There are thousands to prophesy failure, 

There are thousands to point out to you one by one, 

      The dangers that wait to assail you. 

But just buckle in with a bit of a grin, 

      Just take off your coat and go to it; 

Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing 

      That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.

Currently reading:

I was excited to listen to Big Magic during my drive to and from work during the month

of March.  This book was all about not being afraid to be creative which was the message 

I needed to hear as I wrote daily for the slice of life challenge.  Now I have just started 

listening to Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman.  To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my all time 

favorite books so I am hoping I will enjoy this book.  Plus, I love that the person

narrating the audiobook is Reese Witherspoon!

Last week, I spent the day at a writing workshop in Boston with Zoann, and we enjoyed listening to authors such as Alma Flor Ada, Lois Lowry and Nikki Grimes.  Of course there were books for sale there, and of course I bought several!  I started reading one of the books by Lois Lowry which she talked about during one of the sessions.  It's called Looking Back and it consists of black and white photos from her life where she writes a little bit about what was going on in the photo and then often relates it to one of her books she has written.  

I bought several of Nikki Grimes' books and since it is National Poetry Month, I am excited to be reading her novel written in verse called Words with Wings. 

Events this week:
Book Fair will be in the library all week!
Monday - 2nd grader Micah is Principal for the Day!
Wednesday - Liz at DESE in Malden in the am, Laser Science Show assemblies in the PAC in the pm (K,1, and 3 at 1:00, 2 and 4 at 2:00), 2:25 3rd grade chorus, Staff meeting 3:30-5:00
Thursday - Grace, Holly, Jill, Marcia and Liz attending MRA Conference
Friday - Liz and Dianna at SLT from 8:30-10:30 @ Prescott
*Reminder - 3rd grade ELA MCAS will take place next week

Great things I noticed last week:

• I happened to catch some very excited 2nd graders as they were headed out the door, ready to board buses and drive to the New England Aquarium! 
  
• You probably heard from Mrs. Lanctot's class...big news...Crayola is retiring dandelion yellow and her students were writing opinion pieces about which color should be its replacement! 
  
  
  
• I loved spending the day with Zoann hearing from authors and talking about writing at the JFK Library in Boston! 
  
• I caught Mrs. Benkley and her class doing a little movement break using GoNoodle! 
  
• Snow on Saturday meant the Science Fair got moved to Sunday.  I enjoyed seeing all of the awesome experiments and research done by our students.  It's also great to see both elementary schools come together for this event. 
  

Check it out:
In case you need a smile today...here is a short video about social stories for teachers...the copier one is my favorite! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMhcSWiF5hs