Rolling Along...

"Beware the barrenness of a busy life."

Socrates

Socrates has always been one of my favorite philosophers. It's hard to imagine what daily life was like for him, but not hard to see and use his wisdom. Henry David Thoreau wrote about being busy, too. He asked that we be careful about being busy, for even ants are busy. Thoreau was careful to point out that it's more about what we're doing, what our focus keeps us busy doing, than that we stay busy. Socrates would have agreed. It all goes to being intentional, living within the Private Victory of the first three Habits, wherein the focus is on our person missions. Once again, we stay aware of the "Why" of what and how we live.

It's getting very busy at Cooper! Camp is next week, as is our first Open House/Curriculum Night. It's important that you communicate to your parents how you are providing information that evening. Many teachers do the curriculum presentations at 6:30 to allow parents the option of coming earlier or staying later to accommodate their family schedules. Also consider what you'd like them to do with their student who might be with them. WE've had issues in the past with students roaming unattended and disrupting other classroom presentations while their own parents are in a presentation with their parents. Let the parents know what their choices are for that time. If you have questions, of course, see one of us.

Staying busy as we do, we are sometimes forgetful about some things that make Cooper work better. We are still having issues during both lunch periods with noise in the halls. Please walk your students to the lunch line in a quiet line, and remind students that when they enter the school after their recess, their voices need to stop. Line behavior overall is wonderful except at lunch. We need everyone to help take charge of students, encouraging them to remember line behaviors even at lunch time. 

Camp is next week. Robin has been working furiously to get cabin and travel group assignments. We will be having camp meetings this week to speak with student and chaperones. We are almost ready! A huge thanks goes to Bill, Pam and Julie for all their work on Pizza Kits and Camperships. We have a lot of students in need, but more going to camp than most years. It's such a team effort to get camp to work! Thanks to everyone for helping! Remember, sixth grade teachers, to submit your team time plans prior to camp.

Bond renovations are still ongoing. While they seem never ending, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The punch lists are getting difficult to keep up on because so much is getting fixed! Please email items still not correct to me.

Tuesday LEAD Time is working in some ways, not in others. We need solutions to getting groups to the Cafe more quickly so we can start on time and end on time. Tuesday's assembly is on bullying and we have two videos we'd like to show. We will call the second group to the Cafe as a reminder, and it would help if the first group comes on their own, planning to be there as close to 8:45 as possible. This week, we'd like A lunch teachers at the first assembly with their accountability partner classes. B lunch and their accountability partners will be called to the second assembly.

We have a fired drill Monday morning right after announcements. This will be the last one until spring. We also have a lockdown drill at 9:15 on Thursday, using the same method for the drill as last time. It's a hide and wait drill. We will have one more lockdown drill later this year.

SO...Are we busy? Are we busy doing the things that matter? 

Calendar for the Week of October 6th:
Monday: Wear Blue for International Anti-Bullying Day!

               Fire drill at 8:50ish

Tuesday: LEAD time assemblies 8:45-9:35
                Volunteer Meeting for Family Fun Night, 6:00-8:00 in the Cafe

Wednesday: Camp Meetings, 1:30-2:15 for A lunch and 2:30-3:15 for B lunch

                      Chaperone Meeting, 6:00 in the Cafe

Thursday: District PD Day. All classroom teachers at Riley.

Friday: Staff meeting at 8:00 (Yes, it's on Friday)

            Lock Down Drill 9:15

            EPM (Yes, it's on Friday...) 1:00-4:30 at CO

Celebrate

"What would you do if you knew you could not fail?"

Many of us were able to join in the celebration of Mary Beth Lorenz's retirement on Friday night and what a celebration it was.  Surrounded by family and friends, people told stories, shared laughter, and honored her career as an educator.  We serve in so many roles in this job: teacher, partner, friend, team member, counselor, etc.  Last week, Terry wrote about our team potential.  Mary Beth was celebrated on Friday not only for the role she played in the life of all of her students but also for the role she played on our team.  She cannot be replaced.  Who else brings the treats to PD?  Donuts on Fridays?  Remembers your favorite candy/cake/pop and drops it on your desk at just the right moment?  Who could forget the story of how she refused to open her mouth for her dentist until he wrote a check for a camp scholarship?

Lately, we have been heartbroken to hear the many stories of fellow friends and educators who have gotten sick just as they retired.  We put things off all of the time thinking that we can do it later when we have more time.  We'll never have more time.  Start.  Just start.  When I first started teaching, I thought I had to wait to the beginning of the year to start anything new.  Yet, what I soon learned was that any time was a good time to start.  Try Daily Five in February?  Why not?  At least, I'd have some data and ideas about whether I would want to do it the next year.  What do you want to try?  New technology?  Student led conferences?  Join the Lighthouse Team?  Read a new book? Run a 5K?  As George Eliot once said, "It's never too late to be what you might have been."

Big Rocks/Weekly Focus:

Count Day is Wednesday!  Pam will have a roster sheet in your mailbox Wednesday morning

Please work on walking quietly in the halls this week.  Remind your class of the expectation that classes walk on the right hand side and stop at intersections.  If a class is already crossing, that class has the right of way.  It has been especially loud and chaotic during lunch transitions.  As you are bringing your students down to lunch and picking them up, this is a good time to practice hallway expectations.

Calendar for the Week of September 29th:
Monday: Lighthouse Team Leadership Training 8:30-3:30
                Bond Furniture Meeting @ CO (Sarah) 1:00-3:00

Tuesday: LEAD time 8:45-9:35
                Technology meeting 8:00 LMC
                 Peer to Peer meeting (Sarah, Terry, Sally, Annette, Shelly) RCR 11:30

Wednesday: QAR Meeting @ (Sarah) CO 9:30-11:00
                    Count Day
                    Foundation Grants Due

Thursday: Extended Staff Meeting on Website Training 3:45-4:45

Friday: DAC Meeting @ CO (Terry) 8:00
             PTA Clean Out 4:00

What is our Team Potential?

"You don't climb mountains without a team, you don't climb mountains without being fit, you don't climb mountains without being prepared and you don't climb mountains without balancing the risks and rewards. And you never climb a mountain on accident - it has to be intentional." Mark Udall

The best thing about Cooper Upper Elementary has always been the team-aspect of our processes. We are the school we are because of the team potential we created nine years ago and continue to use. We have teams for everything we do, and the teams are responsible to the whole.

We've had a break down of some of these processes with the renovations and the "recovery" from the renovations. The work lately has caused most of us to get into our rooms and get ourselves setup as we get things put back in order. The break down has not stopped all team functions, but it has slowed us down a bit.

Not it's time to renew the team aspects. Our Lighthouse Leaders are rotating out, and we need people to join this leadership group. It's time for new people to take the reigns and lead us as we move forward with our vision of a true Leadership School. The intentionality of our efforts will be the determining factor for our success.

What is your intention for Cooper? How can you help us continue and grow our team processes?

We need to thank all the people who have been on the Lighthouse Team through the first three years.  Eventually, we rotated out some. Nicole, Lauren and Kathy T. have joined. We will need more people to step up as Judy, Robin, and Sandy move over to give more staff leaders the opportunity to make a difference. 

The commitment we make is to each other and to the processes that create and maintain a great school. Please let us know your interest!

Our team potential is only as strong as our team commitment.

Calendar for the Week of September 22, 2014

Monday:  Administrative PD meeting (Terry), 8:00 with CO

Tuesday: 8:00 Center EPT
               8:00 Tech Meeting in LMC
               8:45-9:45 LEAD time
               3:45 Lighthouse Meeting

Wednesday: 8:00 IST meeting in conference room
                    3:45 Planning Team

Thursday: 8:00 Staff Meeting-Leadership Teams
                 EPM 1-4:30

Friday:      ASSET data due
                 Retirement Party for Mary Beth, 4-8:00 pm

Question Everything

"Knowing the answers will help you in school.  Knowing how to question will help you in life."
Warren Berger

"Children enter school as question marks and leave as periods."
Neil Postman

"The word 'why' not only taught me to ask, but also to think.  And thinking has never hurt anyone.  On the contrary, it does us all a world of good."
Anne Frank

Terry and I receive the Marshall Memo on a weekly basis but I personally don't make it a priority to read it every week.  I should because Kim Marshall has already done the work for me by summarizing the major articles in education that week.  Stuck at Jungle Java on Saturday night, I pulled up the articles on my phone.  I became slightly obsessed with one of the articles on helping students become better questioners.

Marshall summarized an article by Warren Berger entitled 5 Ways to Help Your Students Become Better Questioners.  Berger believes we need to make questioning safe, cool, fun, rewarding, and a habit.  It wasn't so much the article I loved but several websites that were included as resources.  I would highly recommend checking out the websites A More Beautiful Question and Right Question Institute.

We've been hammering home the idea of understanding our "why."  Perhaps, that's why I love the Anne Frank quote.  As much as I like a good answer, sometimes asking the right questions provides us with a much clearer picture of our direction in life and helps us understand our personal mission or "why."  I was the student who always had the right answer and it wasn't until I got older that I understood the power of mindset.  I often worry that my oldest, Carys, is too fixed mindset.  I mentioned to her this idea of always knowing the right answer and she replied, "I know, Mom, it's about asking the right questions."  Smart kid. :)

So how do we create a culture of inquiry in our classroom and our school?  How do we encourage students to spend more time on a question?  How do we create a path for students to get from a question to a more meaningful result?   Between the ages of 2 and 5, children ask 40,000 questions but after that we kill it out of them.  Take the 3 minutes to watch the following video, What Kills Questioning? and then let us know what questions you have.

Big Rocks

A big thanks to Julie Juenemann for sending out the email about the Universal Precaution videos.  Please watch them and turn in your form by October 1.  We do have students with severe health issues this year that could require the use of Epi-Pens and Diastat.

As you work out your personal classroom schedules, please turn in a copy to Terry and/or Sarah.  We realize they may still be in the works but they are helpful for us when scheduling observations and walk-throughs.

Camp is just around the corner!  We are not sure what numbers to expect yet due to the change in camp dates.  If you have any students who are not going due to financial restrictions, please see Terry, Sarah, and/or Julie.  Camp money is due September 26 but we have already fielded some calls from parents who do not get paid until the 1st of the month.  If you have a parent who is in this situation, please touch base with us in the office.  We want every child to have the opportunity to attend camp.

The Book Room is unpacked and ready for use thanks to the hard work of Robin, Kathy, Christine, and Shelly.  Please use the sign out sheet as they continue to update the spreadsheet and to ensure accurate inventory.  At this time, please do not re-shelve books.  You may return them to bin on the rectangular table.

The Young Adult Book Club will be meeting this Friday at 8 am in the lounge to discuss Loki's Wolves.  I hope everyone had the chance to read it.  I think our Rick Riordan fans will really enjoy this new series.  I found the book slow to start but then couldn't put it down.  In my opinion, the second book, Odin's Ravens, is even better.

Calendar for the Week of September 15, 2014

Monday:

Tuesday: 8:00 Tech Meeting in LMC
               8:45-9:45 LEAD time
               10:15 Tornado Drill
               1:15 Inservice on the PA (Sarah, Terry, Pam, Colleen, Jeff)
               3:45 Lighthouse Meeting

Wednesday: 8:30 Terry LEADS meeting at Emerson
                    3:45 Planning Team

Thursday: 3:45-4:45 Extended Staff Meeting on Student Led Conferences
                 6:30 PTA Meeting

Friday: 8:00 Young Adult Book Club Loki's Wolves

Much to do, much to plan!

“Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic” 
― Stephen R. Covey

We are just now getting to know our students while, at the same time, we're getting to know our renovated building! Sweet surprises are all over the place. We finally figured out how to turn the Cafe lights on and off (the switches are int he lighting panel on the stage). Jeff is labeling all the new switch boxes in the hallways and the gym. We're getting the sinks repaired that weren't working, and at the same time are so grateful the plumbing is working so much better than before!

Four students came to have lunch with me (Terry) on Friday. They were amazing! They already love Cooper and their teachers. They already want to get busy on decorating the white hallways. They are all fifth graders and they are all Cooper students after just a few days with us. The excitement within them was palpable! Now we are set to honor their feelings and their ambitions for Cooper with some work-a-thons, which I hope we will schedule soon.

Looking at the Covey quote above, we can find a lot to think about regarding our students and our renovated school. We've been trying for three-plus years to envelop the 7 Habits into our lives. Habit 1, Be Proactive, says we have choices about all of our actions. Our actions are based on our beliefs. Our beliefs are based on our perspectives, which may or may not be correct. Our perspectives (our paradigms) are based on the ways we see things. That includes our personal weather. If we're to be a light, not a judge, we need to "show" students and parents what we are about. If we're to be a model, not a critic, we need to "have the character" we're teaching others to have. It's not enough to tell them the expectations' we needy to be a light, be a model.

I have to keep these things in mind everyday. It's so easy for me to be sarcastic; I am trying to be funny. Most of our students do not understand sarcasm and can be hurt by it. I want to model positive interactions with everyone when students are there learning from me. I'm still working on this, and I know the 7 Habits are helping. I am using my accountability partner to help, too! How is this going for you and your accountability partner? 

There is much to do and much to plan! We have camp coming up soon. So is open house! What do we want to do to show off Cooper? To communicate to parent and the community all we do?

We'd love to hear your comments! Click on the comments section below each post; you can write a word or a line or two!

Big Rocks:
Foundation Grants are available again this year! Forms are on line. The due date is October 1st, so get your ideas together and fill out the application! If you have questions, see Sarah, Terry, or Judy.

EveryDay Math testing window is extended to September 19. Our labs are almost all functioning, so sign up and let the testing begin...

Annoucements can begin. We will start with Sarah and Terry doing them at first. We'll work the students in. Sue is planning to train students again this year. Thanks, Sue!

Our LEAD time assembly this week will be on a more detailed explanation of the 7 Habits for our students. The meeting times and places (within the LEADS time) will be determined Monday and we will send out an email for you. Please don't fret too much about LEAD Time. It is an evolving concept. We will begin to make best use of planning for them soon and will be able to give you more time to plan as well.

We can't thank all of you enough for your patience and flexibility as we continue to get everything working in the school. The unusual hot weather and the tough start without printers was bad enough, but communication was difficult with no PA or phones. We will get lists of phone numbers and extension information as soon as we can. Computer and phone hook ups are being completed as quickly as can be done. Thank you all for your understanding, tolerance, and cooperation as the renovations continue! 

Lost in the busy-ness of getting the school up and running has been how great it is to see everyone again! The summers are wonderful, but we also have a great time working with all of you! Cooper is such a fabulous place to come to work!

Calendar for the Week of September 8, 2014:
Monday:  Terry has dentist, then Randy meeting at 7:30
                EDM Testing window begins


Tuesday:  LEAD Time: TBA how we will meet (see above)
                Terry and Sarah will do 7 Habits in some detail.
     
Wednesday: Learning and leading

Thursday: Staff Meeting 8:00...CPS Reporting
                  Elementary Principals Meeting (EPM), 1:00-4:30
                  Student 6th grade Camp Meetings (Time to be determined)
                  Parent Camp Meeting, 6:30 in Cafe

Friday:   Camp forms due (6th grade)
              Fire Drill 2:00

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

Welcome to the 2014-2015 School Year!

“And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.” 
― Rainer Maria Rilke

Wow! You should see Cooper! It's no where near ready for us to occupy it!

Really, what's completed is really nice. We will be so happy when it's finished. However, there is much still to do in the three weeks or so left for them to complete the work. This will indeed be a year  full of things that have never been!

We will be starting with some staff changes for 2014-15. As you all know, Mary Beth retired, as did Pat. We will be getting new teachers to replace them. Emily Hiser has been placed in our Resource Room in Pat's place. In addition, Lisa Tanner has been transferred to Cass and we will be getting a different teacher. We will keep you informed as to other changes as they occur.

We will have two long-term subbing positions. Angie, who has not had her baby as of this writing will be off, and Victoria whose son, Nathan Kenneth, was born July 24 (9 lbs., 21 inches) will also be on leave.

On a very sad note, we are reporting that Susie Schnettler has been hospitalized for the past three weeks. She has breast cancer again. Her prognosis is not yet determined. She is at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. We will try to keep you informed of her condition as best we can. At this time, we do not know her teaching status. Susie is such a strong person and such a fighter, there's no way to know how she will do. Cards and letters of encouragement can be sent to her home:

Ms. Susie Schnettler

2911 Metamora Road

Metamora, MI 48455

Susie's daughter, Katie, will make sure she gets your letters. Let's all keep her in our thoughts as the hospital figures out next steps.

Sarah and Terry are both back to work, using Hayes as a base of operations until Cooper is open to us. We will be in meetings and such this week. Next week, secretaries will be back (working at Hayes) putting class lists and packets together for the pickup on the 22nd.

The following week, we are all back. We will be meeting at Riley Upper Elementary on Monday, August 25, 8:00 to 3:30 for building based PD. Breakfast will be provided and lunch is 11:00 to 12:30 on your own. 

Tuesday, we will be having out technology integration PD at Churchill High School from 8-3:30. Lunch is 11:00-12:30. You will have options for lunch. You can go out. You can bring your lunch. You can purchase lunch from food vendors who will be there. We will post more about these options when we learn more about them on Thursday.

Wednesday is another district PD day. 5th grade will get training in MAISA reading units. Sixth grade will get math training. Jan Richardson will meet with both 5th and 6th grade for part of the day. Again, we will get more information to you after our meeting Thursday.

Thursday is a workday. At Cooper. At Cooper? We are hopeful!!! Friday is a day when the district has promised you could get a half-day pay at your daily rate if you work at Cooper for at least three hours (meaning 8-11:00). More on that later, too.

Well, that's our post for now... Lots more to come! Sarah and Terry are working hard on specials schedules and all the other fun things to be completed. Enjoy your final weeks of summer!!!

"Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together."
~Vincent Van Gogh