BARBER BULLETIN
Week of Dec 3- 7 Creating Joyful Leaders and Learners
Exhausted Educator, I See You. Excerpt from Lead Like a Pirate
Exhausted educator, I see you.
In your classroom teaching, working hard to meet the needs of all your students. Engaging, motivating, educating, empowering all the while being thrown obstacles that could easily derail your best laid plans.
I See You
Pouring your heart into the mental and emotional needs of your students. Intervening, worrying, researching to figure out how to help in situations you had no part in creating.
I See You
Struggling to keep your sanity and calm. Smiling bravely even though you want to cry at times. Volunteering to help, even though you are behind because you know our kids need it. Staying positive even though you feel anything but.
Exhausted counselor and student support personnel, I see you.
Seeing and hearing things that take your breath away. Balancing multiple responsibilities while being ready to handle an emergency at any moment. Barely keeping up with the endless demands and expectations.
I See You
Putting your needs behind others. Helping families navigate systems of support. Sitting in endless meetings. Putting together plans of support and then tweaking and then tweaking again until it’s just right. Leading with a smile, every single day, although you feel the weary slipping in.
Exhausted nurse, I see you.
Some days running triage that resembles an ER. Taking care of the physical and emotional well being of so many.
I See You
Smiling through the sickness. Caring and loving our kids. No matter what.
Exhausted custodian, I see you.
Getting to school before everyone and staying after, just to make our building shine. Creating a warm and safe environment that you know becomes home to so many.
I See You
Seeking out that student at lunch that was alone. Checking in and developing relationships with students.
I See You
Never complaining, no matter which call you may receive. Cleaning messes you didn’t create, with a smile.
Exhausted paraprofessional, I see you.
Helping students that need that little extra. Having patience beyond measure.
I See You
Staying positive when times get tough. Trying any strategy at all to find student success.
Exhausted food service staff, I see you.
Keeping our kids nourished. Smiling and greeting students, even when manners aren’t returned.
I See You
Making a difference and building relationships outside of the classroom. Seeking out those students sitting alone and ensuring they have a connection.
Exhausted administrative assistant, I see you.
Answering the phone, the door, the buzzer and walkie talkie in rapid fire mode at times.
I See You
De-escalating the concerned parent, teacher, student, principal. Trying to support everyone.
I See You
Keeping our school going by doing all the behind the scene things that most people don’t realize get done. With a smile. All day, every day.
Exhausted bus driver, I see you.
Getting our kids to school safely, no matter the weather. Managing behaviors while driving. Noticing when things aren’t quite right and letting us know.
I See You
Celebrating our students. Developing one more positive relationship so our kids know that they are supported. Going above and beyond.
Exhausted speech/language pathologist, OT, PT, school psychologist, therapist, I see you.
Trying to support and find your niche. Working to always find ways to help kids be successful. Attending PD that doesn’t always quite apply, and making it work.
I See You
Being flexible and doing whatever it takes for all students to be successful.
Exhausted administrator, I see you too.
You give your all every day. Trying so hard to be everything to everyone. Staying strong when times get tough, to help be the strength for others.
I See You
Responding to support students when they may be at their worse. Loving them through it. Realizing that fair and equal aren’t the same.
I See You
Staying calm in difficult situations. Smiling when you want to scream. Saving the tears until the door closes. Learning that sometimes people are just angry, and you are the one receiving the message.
I See You
Trying to find that balance between instructional leader and manager. Giving feedback. Showing appreciation. Finding ways to bring positivity into the schoolhouse. Realizing you are the emotional guide for others. And trying to ensure you are being that positive model. Even when inside you aren’t feeling it.
We are all one team.
We are all trying our hardest and bringing our best each and every day.
Realness? Struggle? Frustration? Heck yes, but life is too short and our work is too important for blame, shame and negativity.
Our kids matter.
Our staff matter.
You matter.
Take time in the spirit of the holidays to be giving to yourself.
Rest.
Recharge.
Rejuvenate.
Thank you for being a life-changer!
COURSE OFFERING!
Have you ever heard of Jennifer Serravallo? Of course you have! She is the author of dozens of books around teaching reading and writing! She offers an online course for $200, worth 30 credit hours if you need recertification. The class is called " Strategies in Action: Reading and Writing Methods and Content.
https://www.heinemann.com/products/dcocnrws00.aspx#fulldesc
This on-demand course will help you understand how to find goals for your readers and writers and how to support them over time in individual, small group, and whole class lessons as they work toward those goals. Jen's new online course will guide you with over three dozen videos designed to help you learn both content and methods, so you can bring strategies to life in your classroom.
If you are interested in taking this course, please let me know! I will help cover the cost for you! What a great way to strengthen your teaching skills in this area!
A message from our school counselor:
Hello teachers,
We will not have our typical classroom guidance lesson during the month of December. Instead, I will be conducting individual "Minute Meetings" with your students in the hallway during our regularly scheduled time. Please plan to conduct business as usual in your classroom as I conduct brief check-ins with each of your students. It does take, on average, an hour to complete these meetings for each classroom. Since our typical time slot is 40 minutes, these will run over our normal time! If your class is off to lunch, recess, or global right after our scheduled time, please let me know so I can plan to come a few minutes early. Thanks for your help and flexibility!
If you are curious what I talk to students about during our minute meetings, here are this year's questions:
How are you doing today?
How is your school year going?
What is the best thing about school?
What is the worst thing about school?
What are you a leader in? NEW THIS YEAR
Who makes the decisions in our school? NEW THIS YEAR
How do you know you are loved? NEW THIS YEAR
Is there anything else you want to talk to me about?
While I cannot share individual student responses due to confidentiality, I am happy to share class-wide data and anonymous responses with you about your students upon request.
Thank you, as always, for your support!
Meet Ashley Neal
WELCOMING THE MONTH OF DECEMBER!
Holiday shop opens! 7:30am-8:30am and 12pm-2pm
3:30pm Staff meeting
Tuesday, December 4: BREAKFAST in the conference room
Holiday shop will be open! 7:30am-8:30am and 12pm-2pm
3rd grade Lunch N Learn with TLC
3:30pm Loren Carmon's baby shower
Wednesday, December 5: Wear your favorite holiday socks!
Holiday shop will be open! 7:30am-8:30am and 12pm-2pm
3:30pm Parrot Prep for teachers new to our building
3:30pm Courtney Lybrand hosting informational session for FRECKLE
Thursday, December 6: SNOWMAN day - wear white top (and jeans!)
Holiday shop opens: 7:30am-8:30am and 12pm-2pm
Child Development field study to Koger Center
DATA meetings held in Brainforest during planning for K-5
3:30pm Focus group in Brainforest for Culture/Climate
6:30pm PTO meeting
Friday, December 7: CHIPS AND DIP in the workroom for you!
Holiday shop open from 7:30am-8:30am only
BARBER BUCKS shopping 9:00am
Data meetings held in Brainforest for Montessori
Chorus to auditorium
Mentoring Day of Service - details will be shared from Mr. Williams