See the Opportunity

Terry and I were at a professional development day at Schoolcraft two weeks ago where the speaker, Dr. Luis Cruz, said, "Frustration is the root of toxic culture."  One of the things we want most at the beginning of a new school year is a positive and safe school culture.  A school's culture is determined primarily by the values, shared beliefs, and behavior of all the stakeholders.  As a Leader in Me school, we have spent a great deal of time on defining our school mission, classrooms missions, and personal mission statements, as well as, reflecting on our values, beliefs, and adult behaviors that create our school culture everyday.

This has certainly been a unique start to the school year and it has been our fear that the heightened frustration about the state of the building leaves us depleted at a time where we need to be fully energized.  We need to be Marios with fully charged batteries and instead many of us last Thursday saw energy levels drained as we jumped over and under wires, dodged paint cans, and searched for that last gold coin in the piece of furniture we were sorely missing.

Winston Churchill once said, "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity.  An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."  The beginning of a new school year is filled with opportunity.  It's one of the things we all love about our profession.  What other profession gets a "do-over" every year?  We must see the opportunity in the new Cooper.  The few children that walked through the doors last week were so excited.  Let's not forget to look at new opportunities through the eyes of a child.  

It's going to be a great year!  Try new technology.  Refine your guided reading groups.  Collaborate with a colleague.  Don't say "just."  As Theodore Roosevelt once said, "If you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done."  GO DO IT!

As we start a new year, check out this video from Kid President where he surprises a retired teacher with her former students.  What you do matters.  Leave a legacy!

Big Rocks:
The first special schedule is being sent out but it is rough!  Feedback is welcome and we will try our best to make changes.  Thanks for being patient.

We still don't know who is showing up for Victoria Estes' room so any help in the morning would be very welcomed and appreciated.

There appears to be a need for a Lost and Found.  We will work on securing a place.  It seems like most items have ended up in the Media room.  A lot of that was apparently items that people were discarding but we need to make sure that is the case!

Thanks and Special Recognition:

A very big thank you to Jeff, Paul, Linda, and the rest of the LPS custodial staff for their hard work and dedication this summer.  They have been working non-stop and deserve many heart felt thanks.

Thank you to Colleen and Pam for getting us ready to start school from Hayes Elementary.  Being homeless is no fun!  We are still learning to use the PA so be patient with the office staff as we begin this week.  Pam did just figure out how to transfer and put people on hold with the new phones.  :)  This is definitely a learning curve!

Calendar for the Week of September 1, 2014:
Monday: Sharpen the Saw
Tuesday: First Day of School!
                Assembly first thing: 6th grade in Gym, 5th grade in Cafe
                Terry and Sarah will go over expectations and 7 Habits briefly and introduce teachers.
                12:15 Staff Photo in the Cafe
                 Call all absent students in the afternoon to see if they are drops.
Wednesday: Full Day
                     Fire Drill 10:00
Thursday: Staff Meeting 8:00
Friday: Lockdown Drill 1:15