Maverick Minutes
Week of 4/9-413
An open apology to my staff...
This year was the year to finish and I knew it would be a rat race to do so. You got the weaker Liz. You got the principal that may be talking to you, but thinking about limitations, summaries, statistics and charts. You got the Liz that had a million ways to help, but would move those ideas to the middle of the list between Chapter 4 and the grocery list. All the while, you all have carried on a kept going. I got the strong YOU! I say all of the time that this is the best staff that I have worked with in my 21 years. This is the staff that I want to continue with for many years to come. My cup runneth over for all of you and the work you have carried on to do.
With all that said, it is my sincerest apology if you have felt on an island, but my boat just docked! Spring is here and we are on the home stretch of this school year. I hope that you are rested and ready to hit the ground running. We have a lot to get discussed: final merit trips, field day carnival, EOG review and prep, just to name a few.
Below are some tips to finish the year strong. As always, we are here to help...really here! We are glad to pull groups and help with remediation. Please see Mrs. Warr to get on the calendar!
Welcome back for the rest of the year!!!!!
Liz
HOW TO FINISH THE SCHOOL YEAR STRONG
1. Don’t coast; instead, be more intentional. Don’t allow yourself to go on autopilot. Instead, choose to be intentional about making these last days count. Set one or two end-of-the-year goals and make it a priority to do all you can to influence your students during these last few days.
2. Keep first things first. When you’re overwhelmed and there are a million things to do, remember to keep first things first. Focus on what really matters and realize that the rest will get done eventually. (You might also want to try the intentional procrastinating to-do list system.)
3. Draw on relationships you’ve built. You’ve spent a whole year building relationships with your students and their parents, and as a result, you likely have more influence now than you ever did before. You may never get another chance to inspire them, believe in them, guide them, or counsel them. So take advantage of every opportunity you get to speak the truth and impact their lives.
4. Strategically prioritize what to teach. If you’ve got way more material to cover than you have time to teach, don’t just keep plodding along. Instead, sit down and decide what is most important for them to learn. Then focus on that.
5. Don’t plan to finish teaching too early. For those of you who are right on track and are about to finish your curriculum, I have a word of caution for you – don’t finish too early. One of my first years I finished my math curriculum a week early, planning review games for the last week. The problem was that once I told the kids we were done with the book, they turned into crazy people. Well, not really, but it was definitely much harder to keep them focused. Since then, I’ve scheduled the final test closer to the last day of school.
6. Communicate with parents. Don’t just turn in your final grades and walk out the door. Take the time to have one last communication with the parents of kids who have struggled in your class. Give them suggestions of things they can do over the summer to help prepare their student for the next year. Even if you don’t think they’ll heed your advice, taking a few moments to send them a final email shows them how much you care about their student.
7. Try to leave things as organized as possible. Notice I said try. Yes, there’s a bazillion things to do, but the more organized you can leave things now, the smoother things will go next fall. So take a few moments to jot down notes for yourself of what worked and what didn’t. And maybe even to tackle those disastrous desk drawers. (Do I dare even mention the closet?)
8. Decide to enjoy these last days. Simple but profound. Instead of counting every moment till you’re done, choose to enjoy these last days you have with this group of students. Soon school will be over and you’ll be relaxing. But this opportunity – your time with these students – will be done. So choose to enjoy these days while you have them and to view them as a gift. This one mental decision will impact everything else you do.
So teacher, this is your chance. This is your moment.
Take a breath, pray for strength, and make each day count.
And if you can somehow manage to wrap up the year without thrusting a pencil in your eye, that’d be even better.
Source: https://teach4theheart.com/how-to-finish-the-school-year-strong/
Important Dates!
4/9-13 - Black Out Lock Down Drill week of April 9-13 w/ admin/staff/students-- we will announce via email and intercom prior
4/9-7th grade ENCORE presentation in the gym 9:35 start
4/9-6th grade ENCORE presentation in the gym 2:45 start
4/10-Track/Baseball/VB home vs NWM—Liz
4/10-Soccer away at NWM
4/11-Special Olympics Day across CCS
4/12-Baseball/VB at KMS
4/12-Soccer home vs KMS—Bill
4/13-Grab and go breakfast provided by the PTO—Admin. Conference room
4/13-Students vs Staff VB matches during ENCORE—see Kelly Morton for more details
4/13-Module 2 Communications Styles due—all CCS employees—see 12/12 email for log in instructions
4/14-HiRMS Band to Carrowinds
NEXT WEEK
4/16-19-8th grade field trip to Washington DC
4/17-TLT (Benchmark reviews)
4/17-Rising 6th grade visit/tour
4/17-Track away at NWM
4/18-Rain Date Special Olympics
4/18-Report cards go home across CCS
4/19-Teacher of the Year Award Ceremony 6PM at the Cabarrus Arts Council office
For the Month of April, there will be the following DRILL activities:
Fire inspections of schools by the Fire Marshall—scheduled by the Fire Marshall—no disruption to school day—will have custodian and or CCS employee with them on the inspection
Fire drill w/admin/staff/students—Date TBA—we will announce via email and intercom prior
Bomb drill—Date TBA--students and staff must evacuate the building and report to designated areas-- we will announce via email and intercom prior