LIM Symposium

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.  Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” 

Roald Dahl

At the Leadership Symposium, I had the privilege of watching everything unfold with glittering eyes.  I didn’t have to speak or give tours because the students were leading.  I stayed mostly behind the lens of my camera and watched the magic unfurl.  If staff or students were nervous, it didn’t show.  The hours appeared to pass seamlessly.  Our students were so excited and their energy and passion radiated off them.  Chris K, a fifth grade student host in the café, told me, “I feel so honored to have this job.  I don’t know how I got nominated.”  Gabby W, in her opening introduction, told the crowd, “I wish this school went from grade 5 through college.”  Teachers told us how amazing the day was, how well organized, and how many ideas they would take home with them. 

And it wasn’t all perfect.  One student told a guest, “I hate the 7 Habits.  I don’t use them at home and I’m forced to use them at school.”  Thankfully the guest gracefully told our teacher, “I understand.  It’s real.  You have a few handfuls and you can’t get to them all.”  The student panel in the LMC was apparently stronger than the panel in the Café.  One student in the Café told the audience, “We don’t use the Leadership Notebooks in my class that much.”  However, when Emily E was asked how the school tries to help ensure all students are on board with the 7 Habits, she talked about how her class has accountability partners and they check out with each other at the end of the day.  Gabby was asked about LEAD time which is a specific time set aside for LIM which many schools do.  She responded very eloquently with, “well we don’t have a specific time but my teacher just weaves the 7 habits into everything we do.” 

What we do here is real.  It’s not perfect.  It’s not even really magic.  It’s hard work.  Yet, I wish everyone here could have the opportunity to see the students in action because if you did you wouldn’t have doubts about Leader in Me.  You too would see through glittering eyes the secrets and magic our students are capable of.

Checking out Data Walls!

 Sharing Leadership Notebooks in Tyranski's Class

Kimballs' and Websters' students "Reach for the Stars" by setting personal and academic goal.

Licata's Class uses exit slips to reflect on their use of the habits.

Mr. Backiels' students ask, "What's in your toolbox?"

Ms. Wise's student shares her Leadership Notebook.

Big Rocks:

• ·      The Human Growth Parent meeting will be held this Wednesday, March 26 at 6 pm.  A big thank you to Lynn deCarli, Bill Lietz, and Nicole McGlinch for presenting.
• ·      The 5^th Grade Seussical Musical will be held this Thursday, March 27 at 7:00.  Singers are to report at 6:30.  Karen has sent out a Google Doc to sign up for a morning show on Thursday.  She will need the 5^th grade vocal students from 8:45-10:10.
• ·      Friday, March 28 is a teacher work day.  Happy Days! 
• ·      Sally, Sarah, and Judy all attended conferences last week.  We have lots of information to share and will be sharing it soon with all of you!
• ·      The district has moved up the deadline for F & P to be entered into Class A by May 16 instead of May 30.  This is due to the evaluation summary of student growth data being due on May 20.

Thank you to…

• ·      The entire Cooper staff for serving on a team for TLIM Symposium and the Lighthouse Team for their continued support.
• ·      Judy Bowling for pulling off another fantastic Battle of the Books.  As Judy says, this is definitely a huge example of synergy and whether you were a coach, a scorekeeper, a paper organizer, a photographer, a provider of Diet Coke for Judy, every thing was definitely appreciated.  It was a momentous event!
• ·      A big thank you to Bill Lietz, Lynn deCarli, Shawn Webster, and Ron Mark for attending the Data Analysis Session.  They learned a lot about this year’s MEAP scores and had an opportunity to spend a lot of time taking and analyzing the Smarter Balance Assessment for Math and ELA.  This test is no joke.  Terry and I have many concerns about the implication of this test on instruction and teacher and student morale.

For the week of March 24, 2014:

Monday:

Tuesday: IST 8:00

            Afterschool clubs 3:45

                6^th Grade Variety Show Practice 3:45

                LPS Parent Fair 6:30-8:30

Wednesday: EPT 8:00

                    Bus Meetings

                    Sports Club 3:45

                    5^th Grade Variety Show Practice 3:45

               Human Growth Parent Night 6:00

Thursday: Staff Meeting 8:00

            Seussical the Musical 7:00

Friday: Work Day