Fearlessly Authentic

 Principal ponderings...

Last week, I had a Dove chocolate and loved what I discovered in the wrapper.  Be fearlessly authentic.  As I think back over my four years here at Mayo, and actually all my years as an administrator, this is what I have strived to be.  I only know how to be me.  To be fearlessly authentic and real.  I hope that I have inspired all of you to be you no matter what.  Over the past several years, educators have been pushed to their breaking points.  And many of us have been broken.  What I hope more than anything to leave you with...stay true to you, be real, be fearlessly authentic.

People might not always agree with you.  School leaders.  Other teachers.  Community members.  Parents.  People will try to change you.  You might even think you need to change yourself.  You might think you need to fit into someone else's mold.  But our kids need us to be fearlessly authentic.  Kids have the best "fakeness" radar.  They know when adults are not being real.  And they will tell you!

As I savored my Dove chocolate and reread the wrapper, I also thought about how much courage it takes to be fearlessly authentic.  One might even go so far as to say you must be authentically fearless to be fearlessly authentic.  You like what I did there?  I can't help but play around with words.  Remember, words of affirmation is definitely my love language!  Don't be afraid to be you.  It takes courage to be an educator these days.  Between the pandemic and the racial crisis and the equity issues and communities divided and politics and school shootings and high stakes testing and...well you can Mad Lib your own fill in the blank endings to this sentence...but between all of that stuff educators have to suit up and wear their emotional and mental armor every day.  While at the same time making sure that they leave a crack in the armor for their students to see them and connect with them.  We have the incredibly difficult challenge of being brave AND being authentic.

As you finish up this extremely difficult year (who knew it was possible for this year to be more difficult than last year), make sure to find yourself under your armor.  Reconnect with your students before we send them off on their own for the summer.  I know I lost myself a little bit this year, but I am fighting my way back out into the open.  I am trying to find that balance of being authentic and also being brave in the face of all the things in education and our world that are trying to change me.  

Be brave.

Be real.

Be fearless.

Be authentic.

It will be the most important lesson that you teach your students this year.  (And it will take the least amount of planning time.)

Currently reading:

I have been enjoying reading the sequel to Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper.  The book is called Out of My Heart and has the awesome main character Melody, who is a young non verbal girl confined to a wheelchair.  

I was also excited to get Donalyn Miller's newest collaboration with Teri Lesesne...The Joy of Reading.  Of course I dove into that one as soon as I took it out of the box when the delivery came! 

Events this week:

Monday - Happy Memorial Day! No school

Tuesday - STAR Window opens, Panorama for 3rd-5th Window opens, Grade 5 Transition Meetings w/Mountview @ 3:30

Wednesday - Final Staff Meeting @ 8:00, Kindergarten Author's Tea @ 2:00

Thursday - CST Meeting @ 8:00 and 8:30, Kindergarten Author's Tea @ 2:00, Girls' Night @ 6:30 in the library

Friday - 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade concerts, 5th grade slideshow celebration, Kindergarten Author's Tea @ 2:00, End of the Year PTA Party and BOGO Book Fair from 6:00-8:00

Great things I noticed last week:

• Loved catching 1st graders reading aloud to each other in the library. 
  
  
  
• Representatives from DESE asked to visit Mayo and see our awesome teachers at work.  They are rolling out a new "look for" tool that combines early learning best practices, like playful learning and collaboration, with content standards and SEL guidelines.  They were thrilled with what they saw happening in our 1st grade and 3rd grade classrooms.  Thank you teachers for opening up your rooms on a Friday before a long weekend! It was an added bonus when the principal for the day told them..."yeah, I love going to this school." :)

  

  
  
• Principal Collins totally represented this month's core value of courage so well on her day.  That kids is fearless and loved visiting students in all grades!  She also was quick to tell people that no they couldn't have a raise, but they could have Monday off for Memorial Day! 

  

  
  

  

  
  
• Lots of tears on Friday as 2nd grade said goodbye and good luck to Mr. O.  He starts physical therapy school this week.  And we sure hope he comes back to visit! 

  

Check it out:

Seems appropriate as we enter the month of June...

After the tragedy in Texas, I couldn't agree more with this that a friend posted...

See the Worth, Be the Light

 Principal ponderings...

When the video below came across my social media feed, I was listened to the commencement speech over and over.  Talk about inspirational.  A non verbal young lady with autism using her voice, a text to speech resource, to give the commencement speech at her college graduation.  It made me think of Melody, the character in the book Out of My Mind.  She was trapped in her body, not able to communicate at first, but then she found her voice, a way to communicate and was able to compete in the school trivia bowl.  It also made me think of many of the students I worked with in my early years as an educator.  I taught several non-verbal children with autism or traumatic brain injuries.  I used to imagine who those amazing kids would grow into.  Would they find their voice?  Would they make their mark on the world.  As a young, naive, hopelessly optimistic beginning teacher...I believed in them and believed that they were more than their disability.  

In her speech, she encourages everyone to see the worth in everyone you serve.  As Mr. Rogers shared, she also encourages everyone to "live a life of service."  As educators, that is exactly what we do.  We are living out our life of service.  Even though this has proven to be an extremely hard year in education, we are all still showing up everyday to serve the little humans in front of us.  We must see the worth in each and every one of our students.  Some days that is easy to do.  On other days, that is a challenge.  Sometimes we need to remind ourselves or remind each other to "be the light," to see the worth in each student.  

My first year in education, at the end of the year, I wrote a letter to the parents of each of my students.  I was the para who became the long term substitute teacher in a language-based classroom.  I had nine students ranging from severe ADHD (think eating through pencils and chairs severe) to traumatic brain injuries to autism and seizure disorder.  In the letters, I talked to the parents about all the amazing qualities that I saw in their child.  And I painted a picture of what I imagined they would be when they grew up.  The little girl who was mostly non verbal unless music was involved, I imagined that some day we would see her performing on stage with a piano.  The boy who had a traumatic brain injury as a result of an injury at birth, I imagined him as a scientist discovering new medicines and also keeping everyone laughing with his jokes that you sometimes had to wait a while for the punchline.  I remember the parents were grateful that I saw the worth in each of their children.  I saw beyond their disability.  I saw their strengths.  And most importantly, I saw the their potential future success.  

This is the time of year in a normal year when we begin to run out of steam.  We might lose our patience with our students and with each other.  We are beyond exhausted.  And our students, no matter their abilities or disabilities, are gearing up for summer which means we see all kinds of behaviors and issues surfacing or resurfacing.  So watch the video.  Remember that we are living a life of service as educators.  We get to be the light for so many.  It is our responsibility to see the worth in every student.  

What will you do this week to see the potential that is in front of you every day?

Currently reading:

I started reading a new book this weekend and couldn't put it down.  I am halfway through it.  It's called Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted.  It's about a young woman who has leukemia and survives, but has to learn to live after cancer so she goes on a 15,000 mile road trip. It was a book that I would have just stayed in bed reading all day, but I realized I needed to do things like feed my children and shower! 

I got a new professional book in the mail that I was excited to start skimming through this weekend.  It might be my favorite title...Rebellious Read Alouds: Inviting Conversations About Diversity with Children's Books.  Basically the most perfect book for me!  It's full of lesson ideas so let me know if you want to borrow it. 

Events this week:

Monday - 4th grade enrichment canceled - Raptor Lady sick, PTA Meeting in the library at 6:30

Tuesday - CST at 8:30, 4th grade Math MCAS

Wednesday - Liz in PLT meeting from 9-10, Half day dismissal at 12:20, Play Day! Working on placement in the afternoon

Thursday - Optional meeting w/Dr. Reilly @ 8:00am in the library, 4th grade Math MCAS, Finalist Public Interviews from 4-7 in the library

Friday - Paws Pantry Spirit Day! Collecting money for MBB Foundation and ALS

Check it out:

Check out this blog post from The Six Shifts authors about decodable word lists and activities to try: https://thesixshifts.com/2022/05/independent-practice-with-decodable-word-lists/?utm_source=getresponse&utm_medium=email&keywords=&utm_content=Independent%20practice%20with%20decodable%20word%20lists&utm_campaign=Reader-Centered%20Classrooms

Check out this publisher, https://www.boystownpress.org/audience/children-teens/storybooks/, Thank you Kate White for sharing, they publish some great picture books covering important SEL/Executive Function topics.  I will be ordering several sets for us!

2-4-6-8...I Know Who I Appreciate!

 Principal ponderings...

I am sorry to be missing Teacher Appreciation Week.  I hope the PTA makes sure to treat you extra special this week.  And I hope that your students and parents find ways to share their appreciation with you all week.  

I hope you know that I appreciate each of you this week.  But more importantly, I appreciate you every day of the year besides this week.  I appreciate you on the Friday afternoons before vacation weeks.  I appreciate you on the Mondayest Mondays.  I appreciate you on the days that caffeine helps you get through after worrying about students kept you up all night.  I appreciate you on the days when you have an awesome lesson win and on the days when you have epic lesson fails.  Thank you for today and all the days that came before and all the days that will follow until the last day of school.

As Josh Funk, the author, said so perfectly in a tweet...

It’s #TeacherAppreciationWeek - but if you’re not appreciating your teachers EVERY week, you’re doing it wrong.

— Josh Funk (@joshfunkbooks) May 3, 2022

Here are some coupon codes for you if you are looking for new books...

 

A perfect message for all of you...

Currently reading:

While recovering, I have had time to do some reading.  I loved reading Dear Student by Elly Swartz.  She is a MA author, and I have had a chance to connect with her through Twitter.  She would be a great author to bring to the school next year.  

I am currently reading Rescue by Jennifer Nielsen.  I read her other books...Words on Fire and Resistance.  I love her historical fiction books.  

Events this week:

Monday - Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!  1st grade enrichment - Birds of Prey

Tuesday - 4th grade enrichment - Sound

Wednesday - 3rd grade Math MCAS, Team time from 8-9am to begin placement work - Lindsay will be putting placement cards in your mailboxes

Friday - 3rd grade Math MCAS

Monday - PD Day, No school for students

Check it out:

I have been missing being in the building.  Hoping to get back next week and hear laughter...