If last week reminded me of anything, it was that we have a lot of damaged children at our school. We have a lot of students who are hurting, and the only way that they know how to deal with their pain is to act out. And we're so stressed out and exhausted from the thousands of things on our plates that sometimes we react to their acting out in not the best of ways.
My encouragement for you this week is this....I have seen the work you've been doing. We're making some incredible headway with some difficult students, but there is still much work to be done. Our issues can seem so big in the moment, but sometimes we need to take a step back from the situation. Sometimes we need to take time for ourselves too and get rejuvinated by doing something that we love. That lights our fire. That builds up a passion in us.
We all have rough days. We all have much more going on in our lives that what is seen on the surface. The best thing we can do for each other is be patient and show love. I love this quote I saw this week... "Healing does not mean the damage never existed. It just means the damage no longer controls our lives."
This week I encourage you to...
1. Contact a parent you haven't spoken to since meet the teacher.
2. Find time to appreciate a co-worker this week!
3. Give lots and lots of high fives and hugs.
Book Talk
This Wednesday we have our newest book talk! Make sure you're reading the chapter before our discussions so you can add some of your own individual input!
Staff Meeting
There will be a staff meeting on Monday (tomorrow) at about 3:45pm in the Cafeteria.
Team Planning
Here's this week's Team Planning Schedule
Monday - 5th Grade
Tuesday - 4th Grade
Wednesday - Kinder
Thursday - 2nd Grade
Friday - 1st Grade
We will also have a MATH vertical meeting on Tuesday at 3:15pm in the library. Please make sure the assigned representative for you team is present.
Lesson Plans
Lesson Plans should be updated through October 2nd.
Weekly Video
Here's this week's weekly video!
PD Opportunities
EdCampKaty (October 24) and TCCA (October 17) are coming up quickly. EdCampKaty only has a few spots left! If you've signed up to go let me know, as I will also be at both events and if we need to carpool we can!
Technology Calendar
I will be sharing the technology calendar with you today! You can reserve a set (15) of MacBooks or iPads for a day, or the computer lab by hour. We have TWO sets of Macbooks and TWO sets of iPads. If you're unsure of how to reserve a spot, let me know. We will also discuss at Staff Meeting.
Ratter Time
Rattler Time should still be being used. We will discuss more specifics at the Staff Meeting. Becky Harrison (our PSP) will be here on campus on Wednesday to observe alongside me to make sure it's taking place.
Twitter
Here's three awesome people to follow/connect with this week! I will start giving out weekly prizes as well for teachers who are utilizing Twitter to share the awesomeness going on in their classrooms! (the first 10 people who tweet their favorite part of the school year so far, will get put into an extra drawing for a gift card to be given out tomorrow. Must tweet today and use the #WebbElem hashtag)
Gary Abud - Educator in Michigan
Kayla Delzer - 2nd Grade Teacher in North Dakota
Louise Morgan - Instructional Technologist in Fort Worth
Blogs/Articles
Rockstar Educators
We have two more rockstars to recognize this week! Make sure you remind them of how awesome they are!
Brittney Taylor - Brittney is our nurse aide, and she is amazing. Always a source of positivity and sunshine. She works incredible hard and has such a huge heart for children. This week she was faced with several different extremely difficult situations and she handled them so professionally. I am honored to work alongside someone like Brittney!
Melissa Neumann - Melissa is truly one of a kind. She's incredibly intelligent and passionate. She works tirelessly to find the best resources and she is such a great leader on her 4th grade team. Melissa also has such a great sense of humor and quite the cupcake chef as well! So thankful to have someone as incredibly talented as Melissa on our campus!
Every single day we're given a choice. We can choose to complain, to pout, to talk about how things aren't working, how terrible the kids are, how unsupported we feel, of the supplies we don't have, it's too hot, it's too cold, our internet doesn't work, it's raining, and so on.
Or we can choose to focus on the little moments. The child who for the first time can write their name. The teacher who finally feels like they belong on a team. The brand new educator who for the first time feels like their head is above water. The fact that unlike other schools across the world, we do have air conditioning and wifi.
It's so easy to complain. I'm so guilty of it too. I often find myself getting lost in the things that have gone wrong. I challenge you this week to smile more. Laugh more. Find even the littlest of things to celebrate. Together we can do this. Together we must.
I love this video below. We never realize the impact we have. Make a difference.
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