Team Spirit

Well for three years you have heard me speak about being a team player. I have used countless sports analogies that some of you still don't even understand, but it was all in the name of team spirit. I try to lead by example doing everything I ask you all to do. If I see trash on the grounds I pick it up, in the morning I am out front with the TAs on car line duty, and I have tried to teach as many lessons as possible this year (still not enough). I try to be the best team player I can be.

Who knew all I had to do was start a little contest to help build team spirit. This past week I saw a competitive spirit in some of you that I never knew existed. It was so much fun to see you all let loose and enjoy yourselves. Catherine "Kung Fu Fighting" on the table is just one great example of team spirit. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard at work. Maybe never.

The team spirit I saw last week is exactly what I want to see throughout the year. I saw colleagues doing good deeds for each other. I witnessed team members picking up the slack for those that could not get to a specific task and I received some great suggestions for improvements (and some ridiculous ones). It should not take a contest to motive you to do nice things for your peers or to open up the line of communication from the staff to principal. I hope this activity was just the jumping off point for our growth in team spirit and collaboration. I am hoping to begin the school year with a low ropes team-building activity in August and possibly another more challenging one later in the year. Those of you that know me well understand that everything is about competition and being the best you can be. As we approach the end of the year stay motivated and use every minute you can to push our students to be the best they can be. Go Team Antioch!!!

The final stretch

Can you believe we have 37 school days left? Yes, I said 37 school days left. As we begin the final push we need to take a minute and reflect on where we have come from and where we are trying to go. Wednesday we talked about the cultural proficiency training and we discussed meeting our kids where they are. As we push forward don't ever lose focus on that.

As you reflect on the year I hope you keep coming back to the reason we are here. The picture to the right shows you why. The kids should be the 1st thing that comes to mind when you ask yourself why you are here. The students we work with need us and we need to use ever minute we have left over the next few weeks to prepare them for their future. This begins in kindergarten and we need to be sure when they leave us after completing 5th grade they have the skills to succeed in this ever changing world.

Throughout this year I have seen you all stepping outside your comfort zones to meet your students and I thank you for that. I have all the confidence in the world that we are doing a great job of preparing our students for success. Keep pushing yourself and your students to grow and to reach new heights. I have been in education for 13 years now and the classroom looks very different today then it did when I first began teaching. When I went to college I did not have a computer and next year we are looking at all 6th and 9th graders in Union County having laptops to help them discover the world around them. These are just a couple of examples of how quickly things are changing and we need to be sure we are changing with the times. Think about the year and what you did with your students. Would you do it all the same again if you had a second chance? If not plan ahead and make the necessary changes for the future. Remember we must continue to grow ourselves if we are going to meet the needs of our students. You can do anything for 37 days, so raise the bar for your students and yourself for the stretch run.