Be a Successory!

"Be a rainbow in someone else's cloud."

Maya Angelou

"Success is not the key to happiness.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."

Albert Schwietzer

A few weeks ago, I was trying to think of how I could improve my efficiency at work and home.  I do try to put first things first and begin with the end in mind.  However, since many of the things we deal with at school are reactive, we know this is a constant struggle to live the Habits.  I sent Jon Wennstrom, principal of Rosedale, a message asking him about a method a fellow principal had shared regarding coaching days and office days.  I briefly mentioned that I was struggling to find a balance.  Jon has often served as an accountability partner with technology and Twitter.  He is a strong listener and I always find his feedback and ideas valuable.  Jon told me that he couldn't recall the information I was searching for but would be on the lookout.

The following day was crazy.  Kristi was out of the building and multiple students were suspended in one day.  As I sat in my office and hung up the phone on the last parent call for the night, I opened my email.  There was an email from Jon.  "How was your day?"  I literally laughed out loud and looked around my office.  How could he know what kind of day I had?  Was he watching me?  That email was a small present.  A blessing that reminded me that I was not alone.  

At the beginning of the year, we wrote 5 words that we wished would describe our school.  The top word was fun.  Are we having fun yet?  We know that we have a nice school climate and culture but that we can always improve.  We would like to try a new idea called the "Successory Method."  A Successory is an accessory to success!  Jon has been one of my successory's in blogging, technology, and navigating the principalship.

In your mailboxes,  you will find a stack of successory forms.  On Monday, we will make a PA announcement to introduce this idea to the students.  Students will fill out their forms to thank a staff member who has helped them be successful at school.  Please collect the forms and return them to the office.  We will randomly draw at least one name for a prize!  Hopefully, this can be just one small step to motivate staff and share positive stories with our school and community as we begin another great marking period of learning!

Jon you are a Successory!

Big Rocks:

Report cards go home this Friday, February 5th.  The deadline for completion is midnight on February 1st and they should be in schools on February 3rd.  

Career Day is this Thursday, February 4!  We have another amazing group of people coming to speak to our students!  Thank you to the Career Day team (Judy, Julie, Mary Ann, Ron, Diane, and Robin) for all of their hard work in planning another successful day!

As we enter the 3rd marking period, please review the behavior expectations for the hallway, bathrooms, lunchroom, assemblies, technology and buses.  The posters are hanging around the building.  Thank you to Angie for having nice color printed posters made!  The Lighthouse Team discussed how to support this review of expectations, whether with an assembly, announcements, etc.  Kristi and I are going to be accountability partners for being more visible again in the lunchroom, hallways, etc!  

WIDA testing begins next week on February 8 for our English Language Learners.  They need lab time for this testing.  We have been informed that the WIDA test is the same as M-STEP with regards to protocols, accountability, and importance.  Our ELL teachers give the tests so classroom teachers do not have to do anything other than allow their ELL students to leave to take the tests and be cognizant that they may be tired or stressed from testing.  Thank you for being flexible!

A big thank you to our music teachers, Sandy and Karen, who never cease to amaze me with the wonderful opportunities they bring to Cooper students.  A big thank you to Sandy for organizing the Franklin students that came to speak to our students about band and orchestra on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon.  It was wonderful to see former Cooper students.  I was able to share with the Tuesday students that I had many wonderful experiences as a result of band.  I was the Brighton High School Drum Major to over 300 students and played flute throughout middle and high school.  Through band, I had many leadership opportunities and played in Disney World, Thanksgiving Parade, Cedar Point, and West Pointe Military Academy to name a few.  To the few of our boy football players who appeared "too cool for band," I was able to also remind them those high school football games wouldn't be quite as energetic without the band!

Calendar for the Week of February 1:

Monday: 11:15 Student Lighthouse Meeting

               1:00-4:00 OSS(Kristi)

               Report Card Deadline

Tuesday: 8:00 Reading Month Meeting

                3:45-5:00 Lighthouse Meeting

Wednesday: 8:00 IST

                    11:15 PTA Leader Meeting

                    1:00-4:00 DSIT (Kristi)

Thursday: 8:00 Staff Meeting

                 Career Day

Friday: Report Cards Go Home