It is natural to feel let down when we see our fellow humans behaving badly, return the focus to your own life.
BY MADISYN TAYLOR
From time to time, we may all feel fed up with humanity, whether it's from learning about what's going on around the world, or what's going on next door. There are always situations that leave us feeling as if people are simply not capable of behaving in a way that is coming from a place of awareness. Often it seems as if people are actually geared to handle things in the worst possible way, repeatedly. At the same time, none of us wants to linger in a judgmental mood about our own species. As a result, we might tend to repress the feelings coming up as we take in the news from the world and the neighborhood.
It is natural to feel let down and disappointed when we see our fellow humans behaving in ways that are greedy, selfish, violent, or uncaring, but there are also ways to process that disappointment without sinking into despondency. As with any emotional response, we honor our feelings by feeling them fully, without judging or acting on them. Once we've done that - and we may need to do it every day, as part of our daily self-care - we can begin to consider ways that we might help the situation in which humanity finds itself.
As always, we start with ourselves, utilizing our awareness of the failings of others to renew our own commitment to be more conscious human beings. We are all capable of the best and the worst that humanity has to offer, and remembering this keeps us in check, as well as allowing us to find compassion for others. We may find ourselves feeling compelled to serve people who are suffering injustices at the hands of other people, or we may begin to speak out when we see something that we don't think is right. Whatever the case, the only thing we can do is pledge to serve the best, rather than the worst, of what humanity has to offer, both in the world, and in ourselves.
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Week at a Glance
Monday - All IAs Report to Front Office at 8am for assignments
K-1 Empowering Writers - Brule Library - 8am-4pm - Argueta will be in Attendance
Problem Solving in Math - Grades 2-5 Math - Room 208 at Admin - 8am-11am - Short will be in attendance
ELPS Training - Grades 2-5 ALL - Webb Gym - 1pm-4pm
Nesloney will be in an ARD from 8am-1pm
Tuesday - All IAs Report to Front Office at 8am for assignments
2nd-5th Empowering Writers - NJH - 8am-4pm - Short will be in attendance
Problem Solving in Math - Grades K-1 - Room 208 at Admin - 8am-11am - Argueta will be in attendance
ELPS Training - Prek-1st - Webb Gym - 1pm-4pm
Wednesday - All IAs Report to Front Office at 8am for assignments
Text Structures with Dr K - Prek-5th - Webb Gym - 8am-4pm
Thursday - All IAs Report to Front Office at 8am for assignments
Worrall Baby Shower - Library - 8:30am
Work in Rooms
Meet the Teacher - 5pm-6pm - All Staff
Friday - All IAs Report to Front Office at 8am for assignments
Work in Rooms
ALL Staff Meeting at 1pm - Webb Gym
Staff Birthdays
Kheli LaBlue - August 20
Jessica Schutzenhoffer - August 22
Sarah Martin - August 25
Be On Time
My BIG constant reminder for you this year will be to be on time. I had that in the scavenger hunt, but we still had people late on Tuesday and Wednesday to different events, with no explanation. This is the year I will really start to have consequences for arriving late to work or late to meetings. Remember on time for an 8am meeting does not mean walking in at 8am. On time for an 8am meeting means being there before 7:59am. I know for some of you this may seem trivial, but if we can't arrive on time to where we're asked/expected to be, how can I truly believe that we are completing even more complicated tasks?
I am also holding myself and the admin staff to arrive on time to duty stations and meetings.
Meet the Teacher
Meet the Teacher is this week!! WOW! It's finally that time to welcome the families we will serve this year. Please make sure that your letters have been mailed out. If you're struggling with that let someone in the office know.
We want to go all out this year with Meet the Teacher. We want to set the tone from before day 1. Remember our theme this year is "Creating the Magic" and that's exactly what we want to do, we want to create some magic.
Also remember, I'm asking ALL staff to dress up in some form or fashion to go along with our Disney/Pixar/Marvel/Star Wars theme. You don't have to go all out but I do expect everyone to participate in some way! Let's truly surprise the kiddos and bring some smiles to their faces.
Teachers please have a sign in sheet for parents and turn those in to Puentes on Friday.
Community Walk
Thank you to Desern, Ambrus, Brak, Short, Argueta, Musick, Day, and Stenseth for attending the community walk. I'd be remiss if I didn't express the pang of embarrassment I felt for having the largest campus in the district, and the one that ALL eyes are on right now, we had even less people show up than a campus almost 1/3 of our size. This was our introduction to a new year to the community. I know some had gotten with me beforehand to let me know they couldn't attend, but when we are a campus of 85 strong, it definitely was disappointing to only have 8 attend an hour long event. I know you all have families and plans, and I never expected all to be there, but less than 10% was upsetting. We can do better.
Friday Meeting
We will have an all staff meeting at 1pm on Friday to make sure we're good to go for Day 1.
Thursday/Friday
Thursday and Friday will primarily be your time to work in your rooms and plan with your teams to finalize everything for your first week. If you need any help or assistance please let me (or any other admin) know.
Instructional Aides
All IAs please note in our week at a glance that you need to report to the front office each morning this week for job assignments. Please also remember that when you finish a task come back to the office for another task.
Teachers, if you have things you need help with (cutting, laminating, designing, etc) please let the office know
This applies for ALL IAs (SPED, Life, PPCD, PreK, Instructional)
Houses
I know we have new staff who haven't been assigned a House yet. I am working on it and will have them a house by Wednesday! We will also have some upcoming and exciting adjustments/changes/alterations to all-things Houses that will make things easier and better than ever before!
Recognizing Others - August
I spoke with your team leaders about us as a campus taking the time each month to recognize the hard work of others we see in NISD. They have been informed who are "targets" are in August and should have informed you! Next month we'll spend time celebrating/thanking/recognizing a whole new group of people!
Book Study
Don't forget to being reading our campus wide book study book, For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood: And the Rest of Y'all Too. It's important you make the time to digest this book, it can at times be very heavy. We will discuss our first reactions on Friday. We have time for what we make time for. This book is important to helping us begin to close even more gaps and connect more deeply with our students. This isn't an opportunity we can throw away. Please make the time to read this book with us.
Team Leaders
Team Leaders, your Field Trip requests were due Friday of last week. I think I only received two grade levels. Please get those sent to me ASAP.
Tell Your Story
Here is a great conversation with Jofee Tremain. She shares her story (and the story of her son) when she found out her son was cutting himself and their journey through pain and addiction.
Blogs/Articles
In Closing...
I love the opening thought by Madyson Taylor. Sometimes we can get so caught up in what's happening our world or community that we forget that we are the only ones who have control over only ourselves. And as my mom always said, "No one can make you angry Todd. You are in control of your emotions and when you're angry/upset/sad that's a choice you are making and allowing their behavior to control you.". We can only be our best every day, and for some days that means just working to be better than you were yesterday. I am a work in progress, growing every day, and we make mistakes, we learn, and we work to be better. No one expects perfection, but we do want to continually learn from our failures and focus on the goal at hand. Together we can do this. Never alone.
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