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.

Spring Reflection

Spring Break is here!!! I want you all to take the well deserved break next week to reenergize for the stretch run. Throughout this year I have tried to challenge you to grow as teachers. We all have different strengths that we bring to the table and areas that we can definitely grow in. This year we have focused on three main areas: integrating technology, increasing the amount of small group instruction and becoming more culturally proficient.

Take some time over break to think about these three areas. Have you grown in these areas and if so how much? Just as I say with the students "it is all about growth". We all began this year at different places in each of these focus areas. take some time and reflect on your starting point and the growth you have made. This will be the same focus areas we will have next year, but we should be further down the path than we were this fall.

I want you all to know that I have spent some time reflecting on what I have been seeing this year and I am happy to say it has been impressive. I see technology bringing the classrooms alive. I see small groups from kindergarten to 5th grade. I see teachers trying to "meet students where they are". All of these make me proud and al confident we will see the results this May. When we return we only have 25 school days until the testing season begins and we need to stay focused. As I keep telling Ryan at baseball practice "keep your eye on the ball". We are in the home stretch of the year, but we can not relax yet. When we return come back prepared, focused and ready to push through the end of the year, our kids deserve it.

I am proud of what I am seeing and you all deserve the break. I hope you all have time to relax, rest and enjoy yourself and your loved ones. The picture is just to remind you how wonderful you job will be in July:) and because I am excited about opening the pool this week.

Never Underestimate an Underdog

I know some of you think I refer to sports too often, but this week I can't help it. I look forward to March Madness all year and today a huge underdog almost ruined my bracket in the first round while another made me look brilliant. Today, Robert Morris a 15 seed took Villanova a 2 seed to overtime before losing a heartbreaker. Shortly after that a 13 seed Murray State handed a 4 seed Vanderbilt a first round loss. Then later in the evening my heart was stepped on when Ohio (14 seed) dominated Georgetown (3 seed).

This only happens if the players and coaches believe it can happen. When we talk about meeting our students where they are that includes believing in them. We must believe they can succeed and they need to know that we believe in them. It will not be easy to overcome the baggage many carry with them, but we need to convince them that they can overcome any obstacle if they believe in themselves. Take the time to build them up and to convince them that they can be the underdog that beats the odds.

It is easy to coach a team loaded with talent, but any coach will tell you the most rewarding years are those that their team outperforms expectations and overcomes challenges. Take the time to "coach" them up and beat the expectations that were set this fall.

Get Ready, Get Set, Go

I know you all have heard me say "180 Days of Purpose" so many times it probably makes you sick. That is fine, but I believe it and we must live it each and every day we come to work. It is our job to shape the young minds we work with and we don't have any time to waste.

A coupe of weeks ago I had the privilege to sit down with the superintendent of CMS, Dr. Peter Gorman to discuss leadership. He spoke to my class one Saturday morning. He said many great things that I hope to model for you all about leading a school or a school system. One comment that he made jumped out at me as another way to stress the importance of utilizing every moment.

He spoke of the school year as a 180 lap race. Then he discussed the students that run 20 or 30 laps over the summer with their parents. These are the students that read with the parents every night, someone reads to them, and they most likely gained some great experiences over the summer to help improve their schema. Then he talked about the students that don't even have the track shoes to run the race. This took me back to our cultural proficiency training from a weeks ago. What are we doing to help these students, so they can successfully complete the race? Please remember what we talked about in our training session. Equal treatment does not necessarily mean fair treatment. Meet your students where they are and help them to run the best race possible.

Stay Out of the Way

The past few weeks have been amazing to watch. Not only have I witnessed amazing instruction in practice, but I am seeing teachers step outside of the SCOS to teach our students about being quality citizens.

Earlier this fall our 3rd grade students helped to raise money for UNICEF and over the past few months many others have also stepped up. Our TAs raised money to help Anita's family. Our students have helped to "Stuff the Bus". Our 4th graders conducted a coin drive to help those affected by the earthquake in Haiti and our 5th graders had the opportunity to show our support to a 20 year old soldier who put his life on the line so we can all lead the wonderful lives we lead. The 4th grade teachers have spent time teaching their students about segregation and equal treatment. This unit has been amazing to see and hear about. The students have been pushed into uncomfortable situations and forced to discuss and reflect on the feelings they encountered (sound familiar).

I am so happy to see that you all are not only teaching the SCOS, but you are also helping to mold better citizens. Never lose sight of the fact that we must jump on teachable moments and run with them. The SCOS is important, but the most important thing you do is reaching a child where they are and pulling them forward. Help them grow academically, socially, and emotionally. Keep up the good work!!

Meet Your Students Where They Are.

As we talked about in the cultural proficiency training yesterday it is essential that we figure out who our students are. We began this journey a couple of months ago talking about ourselves and explaining what has shaped us into the people we are. We have also participated in an activity that forced many of us to feel the isolation that many of our students feel each day they walk through the doors at Antioch. Yesterday, we focused on how to meet our students where they are.

I challenge you all to take a minute out of your day to look at your class roster and think about the baggage the students you serve may be carrying. Take the activity we conducted and do the same for your students. Do the policies and procedures you have in place hinder these students' success? If so, what changes can you make to help them feel comfortable at school? Ask your students the questions Adam talked about. How do they feel at school, what do they think you value, what do they think their parents value? All of these questions should help you to better understand where they are. If we don't know where they are how can we meet them there?

I hope that the training was beneficial and you took what we discussed to heart. As Adam stated it is our job to prepare our students to be successful citizens. We need to reach them and pull them as far as we can. If they come to us with baggage, which many do, we cannot dump more baggage on them. Take some time and reflect and make sure we are helping to lighten the load of baggage the students are carrying. Go and meet them where they are and do the great things I know you all can do.