Monday Morning Musings: Everybody is Going Through Something

Principal ponderings...

It is National School Counseling Week, where we recognize the contributions all of the counselors across the state, but most importantly, the ones in our own building. This year, we are lucky enough to have Cassie working with kids on a part time basis. We are also fortunate to have Jess here working with kids on the days that Cassie is not here. Thank you both for jumping in this year and helping all of our students and staff whenever they have needed you.

But the reality is, it's not enough. We all have to do our own version of counseling, especially after the last two years. I was thinking this weekend about the level of social emotional need in schools. Students need help with emotional regulation, anxiety, stress, interpersonal skills, family issues, the list goes on and on. And as adults we also need help with all of those items and more. As the principal, I know a lot about what people are experiencing or what struggles they are having. And here's what we need to remember...

Everybody is going through something.

There are marriages dissolving. There are weddings being planned. New family dynamics being created. There are pets dying. There are grandmas dying. There are moms and dads dying. There are new siblings being born. There are parents losing their jobs. There are parents getting new jobs and moving their families to new schools. There are kids joining new neighborhoods. There are kids leaving neighborhoods. There are kids hearing inappropriate things on TV. There are kids hearing inappropriate things on the bus. There are kids listening to older siblings. There are kids dealing with mental illness. There are adults dealing with mental illness. There are kids with big emotions. There are adults with big emotions. There are people that hide their feelings and there are people that share their feelings.

Everybody is going through something.

Back before I had kids and could spend Saturday afternoons sipping tea in a bookstore (what was that like? I think I used to have 'me' time!), I used to love to people watch. And I would turn the people I saw into characters. I would sometimes imagine, sometime jot down notes, sometimes sketch out their lives and what they were dealing with. Creating stories about why they were wearing a certain facial expression or what they were hiding from the rest of the world. The thing is...the reality is we could all benefit from a little people watching. Mainly to remind us that every person that we work with, every student that we teach has a whole bunch of things going on, a whole bunch of stories that they come to work and school with. We all wear our facial expressions or our armor or our outer appearances differently. But we are all going through something, good or bad, happy or sad, relaxed or stressed.

Everybody is going through something.

Why am I sharing this message with you? Because I think we all need reminders about this. When a staff member is unusually quiet or responds differently than normal or when a student performs poorly on an assessment or a kid is overly wound up...remember everybody is going through something. When someone forgets to do something or forgets to turn something in...remember everybody is going through something. When someone just needs a hug or three or when someone doesn't want you to draw attention to them....remember everybody is going through something. And when we are all going through something, it's helpful for us to remember that for ourselves. Give ourselves grace. And when we remember that others, adults and kids, are always going through something, we need to give others grace and be a support in any way that we can.

Take some time this week to people watch in our school. What stories are the people around you coming to work and school with? How will your interactions change knowing that there are stories and situations that you don't know about? How will you support them?

Currently reading:

I was excited to purchase a new picture book called Our Table written and illustrated by the amazing Peter H. Reynolds. It's a simple story about the importance of time together as a family. I will make sure to record a read aloud to share with you or you are welcome to borrow it to read to your class.

I was also excited to get a new professional development book in the mail. It's called She Leads: The Women's Guide to a Career in Educational Leadership. One of the authors is a friend of mine and she asked me to contribute a story to the book. Is it a surprise that my story is in the chapter titled "The Power of Emotion" where I wrote about embracing emotions as a female leader?

Events this week:

Monday - Kindergarten enrichment program in the library - Pumpernickel Puppets @ 12:30-2:00

Tuesday - CST Meetings @ 8 and 8:30, 100th Day of School!! Kindergarten 100th Day Parade around 9:15

Wednesday - Staff meeting @ 8:00, Liz meeting with visitors for the Special Education Tiered Focus Monitoring @ 9:30

Thursday - Aidan Alexander is Principal for the Day! Trax from the Railers will be visiting Mayo during arrival

Friday - Motoko, Japanese Storyteller, is working with 5th graders all day

Great things I noticed last week:

I popped into a few different 5th grade science classes...all sorts of new learning going on! Mrs. Greene was getting her students excited about some energy research.
I caught some 4th graders enjoying partner reading in the stairwell. They were so into the book they didn't even see me!
1st graders working hard on those foundational reading skills with Mrs. Letts.
Loved getting this picture sent to me of Mrs. Kalinowski's class enjoying a virtual read aloud that I recorded.
So many fun photos of staff and students celebrating 2/2/22!