Every Kid, Every Day

Principal ponderings...

Every kid, every day.  Seems like a pretty simple statement.  Four words that are going to help guide us all this year.  The statement "every kid, every day" is a simple one, but the meaning behind it is powerful and the work that it will require from all of us is great.  Are you ready to help us achieve this goal this year?  Our theme that we will continue to revisit all year is "Every Kid, Every Day."

I can tell you that I think we are off to a great start after listening to all of you debate about the Kids Deserve It quotes during our "quote off" at the first staff meeting.  There were so many good quotes, words that made us stop and think about why we do what we do every day.  Words that inspired us and motivated us to have an amazing start to the year.  I loved listening to you passionately fight for the quote that you felt was the best.  And so we had a three way tie...even better.  Let's see how these 3 quotes tie into our theme of Every Kid, Every Day:

1. "Our most important job is to love kids and convince them they are absolutely incredible and unique -- to remind them they matter.  Academics are a bonus!"  I know I heard many people mention that they liked the line added on about academics being a bonus.  Here's the best part...if you have kids who know you love them, who feel special, and who are encouraged to celebrate their differences and uniqueness...they are going to want to learn with you.  They are going to want to be share their learning with you and their peers.  So yes, academics will be an automatic bonus.

2. "Kids want to know they matter to you.  They want to know you see them, hear them, and believe in them -- unconditionally."  This is so important at the beginning of the year and throughout the whole year.  Sometimes we are rushed to get through everything we have planned for the day.  Sometimes we are tired and we don't always feel like giving kids our full attention.  Sometimes we all have bad days, kids and adults, and we might for a second forget about that last word in the above quote...unconditionally.  We can't forget about that word.  Last week, I surprised a bus stop and showed to ride the bus with them.  This made a big impact on some of our extra nervous kindergarten friends whose tears changed to smiles (or more surprised looks!) when they saw me on the bus.  But what I remember most about that bus ride was sitting with a 3rd grader.  She was a new student last year so I did not know her that well.  In that ten minute bus ride, I listened to this 3rd grader tell me about her plans for Halloween which turned into a discussion about her love for Paris, France and wanting to visit there and how she knows some words in French but is trying to learn more.  I taught her how to pronounce je t'aime which means I love you (benefit of having a best friend who lives in Paris!) and she was saying it over and over as we were getting off the bus.  I hope that our conversation, really mostly me listening to her, helped her to feel like I was really hearing her.  And now imagine if we took that time for all of our kiddos and based our teaching off of their passions?!

3.  "You never know the power of a simple word or action.  The smallest stone dropped into the largest lake will leave ripple felt miles away.  We can't undervalue our impact, our reach, and our potential." Many of you have students who come back year after year to visit you.  Those of you that are brand new, this is the time to start dropping those small stones and starting those ripples.  Your actions everyday have a lasting impact.  Everything you say, everything you do...you never know what kind of difference that will make for any one of our students.  Remember this thought.  Think about the potential that is always there, every single day.

Thank you all for an amazing start to the school year!  Kids and staff were excited, eager to get the year started.  Let's keep that enthusiasm going.  We want all of our students begging to come back for more each day.  And the way we are going to do that?  Remember this: Every Kid, Every Day!

How are you going to accomplish this mantra this year?

Currently reading:
I am finishing up reading Start.Right.Now.  I was lucky enough to attend a session given by two of the authors this summer at The National Principals Conference in Philadelphia.  This is an inspirational book for teachers, leaders and teacher leaders!  The mantra spelled out through the book is that excellent leaders and teachers: know the way, show the way, go the way, and grow each day.

This summer, one of the MCBA books I read is called Roller Girl.  It's a graphic novel and a great read about friendships, bravery and perseverance.  I gave my niece a copy on Saturday for her 10th birthday.  When I stopped by on Monday morning, she had already finished it! 

Over the summer, I started trying out the Audible app.  I was always going to the library to check out books on CD but not always able to get the ones I want.  Now with Audible I can buy a book and listen to it on different devices.  I can get some free books through my Amazon Prime membership or I can return the book I downloaded and get credits to use on other books.  Right now, I am listening to The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines.  If you like to watch the show "Fixer Upper", then this is a story that you might want to listen to. 

Events this week:
Monday - Happy Labor Day! No School
Wednesday - Wellness Wednesday! Staff Meeting 3:30-4:30
Friday - Melissa and Liz at SLT from 8:30-11:00

Great things I noticed last week:

• We added another class to kindergarten lunch time!  That made for some excitement during our first 2 days of K.  But the best part?... Reading notes from home! 
  

• Congrats to everyone for the awesome Breakout Edu adventure!  Way to go 3rd grade for breaking out first!  And way to go K team for persevering with a malfunctioning lock! 
  
  
• I loved all of the buzz and enthusiasm and passion at our first staff meeting!  
  
• My new favorite thing is confetti cannons!  Loved our countdown to start the year! 
  
• Melissa and I rode the bus on Thursday and Friday.  The kids were very excited to see us on the bus! 
  

Check it out:
Who is interested in doing the Superhero/RockNRoll 5K?! https://www.jmbigheart.org/superhero-5k