B & K Tiger Update
May 26, 2020
What a year!
This year has been a drain for all of us, so I encourage you to think over the next couple of days about what you need to recharge. I plan to take as much of the month of June as possible as a way to disconnect a little from screens. I plan to keep my #Rustreak going. As of the publishing of this Smore, I'm on day 71. I also look forward to time with the family where we don't have to be concerned about whether or not the kids are done with their eLearning, or when the next Zoom call is scheduled.
I hope that you figure out what it is the helps you stay sane! Go for walks (or runs, paddles, sails, boat rides, bike rides, etc.), read, get sleep, make and create, stay connected with loved ones and friends, eat healthy meals, read, be a parent or friend to those who matter, read (personally or professionally - whatever makes you happy), or anything that I didn't list here that makes you feel good. Make sure to take care of whoever you are outside of teaching. I know this has been extremely stressful for all of us. Before we know it, the 2020-2021 school year will be here. It will most likely be an entirely unique start of the school year as well, so let’s prioritize our own wellness so that we may come back stronger than ever!
I wish I could tell you about the plans for the return to the school year. I wish I could tell you about my hopeful plans for our first time back together to start the year (trust me, it's going to be awesome if it works out!). But at this time, I can't.
As plans become available, I will pass that along. I hope that you all disconnect from your email for a while but maybe check in at least once a week to see if there are any updates. Also, stay in touch using our GroupMe chat. I'd love to hear about the awesome things that you all are doing throughout the summer.
Thank you again to all of you for making this the most memorable year of my career in education. I love being a part of the Fishers Elementary family, and I appreciate what all of you have done to help impact our students and the greater school community.
BB
Quote we're contemplating this week:
"Covid-19 has proven:
Accountability is not the driving force behind great teaching.
We've removed state tests, teacher evaluations, and even grades in some cases. What happened? Teachers are working harder than ever!"
Weston Kieschnick
https://twitter.com/Wes_Kieschnick
My thoughts (from Brian): Here's what is interesting to me about this quote - I'd argue that we're still extremely accountable. We're accountable to ourselves and being the best we can be. We're accountable to our families in making sure that their children achieved to the best of their abilities. And most of all, we're accountable to our students and their success.
I think the extrinsic motivators that have been placed on education in the form of tests, evaluations, and grades are not the things that motivate teachers to work hard. It is the intrinsic motivation of knowing we did our very best for the kids, families, and community we serve!
The Science of Happiness
- Research-based Concepts and Strategies to Impact Personal and Professional Wellness
- Self-Paced, Reflective Format for Low-Stress Completion
- Engaging Materials With Variety of Resource Formats
- Earn 45 Professional Growth Plan Points
Summer Chats with Allie
Summer is here! First, I hope you ALL take some time to relax and refresh over the break. You have all worked at a high cognitive load this past quarter, trying to learn and incorporate a new way of teaching your students. Your brain needs time to surface from the deep thinking and process what it has learned. Please give yourself permission to unplug for a bit!
That being said, I also realize you might start thinking and planning ahead for the upcoming school year at some point during the summer. I'm more than happy to "meet" with you or your team to start thinking about the future. Below are a few things that you or your team might be interested in discussing:
- Goals, ideas, or strategies that you want to try out or dig deeper into during the upcoming school year- basically anything that you are thinking about trying but want someone to talk to about it 🙂
- Using reflections from emergency remote learning to incorporate into classroom practices
- Units of Study: guides and resources, unpacking the first units, mapping out a draft of when you want to start and finish each unit, creating reading and writing tool kits
- Ways to start the school year and help students adjust (once we have a better idea of what that might look like)
- Books! Professional, read aloud, or book club books
Which would you rather? A job that pays $48,000 or $25 per hour?
School Safety Update: Suicide Ideation, Abuse/Neglect Guidance
https://hsek12inus.sharepoint.com/:w:/s/FES/ESsSuUQSaNBBkD-zpC8OS_8BWDtY_M9gAD7o6xECgXzHhA?e=MaJcVq
Our legal obligation to report abuse is not lifted during remote learning. Please do not hesitate contacting DCS and contact Brian or Katy to share information about the situation.
Shout out to you... Thank you FES crew!
This year please share the good news and good deed of you and your team members. Please email me your celebrations, so I may share them here each update!
- Kudos to Brittany Schaefer, Jen Miller, Peggy Savin, and Stephanie Jones. Each received a nomination for the Hamilton Southeastern Schools Foundation Professional Honor Roll through the Thank an Educator Program.
PGP Form Below
Fishers Elementary School
Website: https://fes.hseschools.org/
Location: 11442 Lantern Road, Fishers, IN, USA
Phone: (317) 594-4160
Twitter: @FESTigersHSE