Bailey Bear News
October 2018
How do schools receive the reward school designation?
Principal Blog: My thoughts on educating our students
Over the years people have tried new programs, new teaching methods, scripted lessons, new administrators with new ideas, etc. The problem is there is not a program, a teaching method, or a scripted lesson that is going to make a student learn better it is the TEACHER and what she/he does each day that will make or break the learning for a student. It is teaching children how to have a growth mindset and model it every day as a teacher. Every child comes to school wanting to learn and somehow as parents and teachers we tend to squash that love of learning because we get too fixed on grades, how they measure up to other students, their state test scores, etc. We forget that every child does not learn in the same way or at the same speed as other children. Children are unique little individuals and learn best when given a teacher who makes a relationship with them and finds new ways to help them learn when they are not "getting it" and at the same time reassures them that learning is a process and they will succeed. This is where the job gets even harder! This is where teachers stay up at night trying to find ways to help a student so they can be successful and feel good about themselves, they reflect and look at what they are doing and change if needed, they throw out scripted lessons and teach to the needs of their class which means a lot of work on their part because it is not all packaged and pretty. Teachers deal with parents who want their child to be an A student and who have no idea that an A really means nothing in the big scheme of things! Teachers want parents to focus more on how their child is progressing because growth is much more important than a grade. During my teaching career, some of my highest students in the classroom were afraid to step out and try something that was hard for them because they were afraid of not knowing something and did not want to expose themselves to that type of struggle. They came into the grade level pretty much able to do all the work and they made great grades but as a teacher I wanted to push them to take on the next level of learning and sadly they choose to not move forward but wanted to stay were they were because I believe they were conditioned to focus on grades and not on growing themselves and learning new things.
I think as parents and teachers we want to help our students WANT to be a part of their learning and to spread the message that it is okay to struggle or grapple with learning, that through hard work and perseverance you will get better and succeed! This is the best life lesson we can give them. Those students with a growth mindset will many times surpass their straight A peers because they have learned to love the process of learning which involves struggling and not always knowing the answers! Our job force of the future will be looking for people who are able to think, be creative, are tech-savvy, and are open to a lifelong approach to learning! NOTHING is off limits if you have embraced learning and have a growth mindset! It is the secret that at some point everyone who has a say in education will figure out and will begin looking at kids as individuals and not as statistics on a test.
Please check out my principal blog at bseprincipal.blogspot.com and follow if you would like!
Please call on me if you need anything! My email is ctesreau@colliervilleschools.org and the school number is 901-853-6380.
Cindy Tesreau
In the August/September Bailey Bear News I shared my feelings and thoughts about grading in my BSEPrincipal blog. I received great feedback on this blog topic and just found a Ted Talk Video that does a great job discussing why grading does not really predict a student's success!
Grandparents' Day was a big hit!
BEAR FAIR - What an awesome night of fun!
Thank you to everyone who supported our Bear Fair! We are now ready to start building our new playground because of your generosity!
We have now collected $77,651.38 as of 9.21.18. The money has come from the following fundraisers:
Playground Donations since August 2016: $7,948.67
PTA Donations from 2017 and 2018: $35,299.57
2016 Bear Fair: $6,592.36
2017 Bear Fair: $12,345.75
2018 Bear Fair: 15, 465.03 (money is still coming in from Auction)
Total = $77,652.48
The playground quote from Play Power through Mid-South Recreation is $77,937.00. We are in the process of updating this quote but I feel quite certain that we are able to go ahead and get started once the quote is accepted by Collierville Schools. We were $285.62 short of our goal of $15 750.65 to be 100% funded but with the money that is still coming in I feel confident that we will have all the money that is needed!
I have heard some negative discussions on Facebook about how long this process has taken, that their child/children will not get to play on it if we don't build it soon, etc. Last year I sent out a letter to all parents explaining the process of getting a playground and answered all the questions that had been given to me. In that letter, I said that there will always be some students that will not get to use this playground because they have gone on to middle school. We cannot do anything about that because we had to raise the money first and we actually have raised the money in a very short amount of time but not in time for every student that contributed to this playground to enjoy. It is a legacy that those students and parents have left for other students to enjoy. I am grateful for those that understand this process and have not tried to make this process something that it is not and spread negativity about a great school. We started raising money in September of 2016 with our first ever Bear Fair. That is two years ago which is quite a short amount of time for the large amount of money that was needed to be raised! Thank you to everyone who has made this possible and given your time, your money and your enthusiasm for our new playground. Stay tuned for more updates!
OPEN HOUSE - November 8, 2018
Take a moment and read through the articles or blogs that I have been reading! Maybe one will be of interest to you!
Calendar of Events at BSE
Oct 8 - 12th: Fall Break
Oct 16th: Safety Poster and Citizenship Contest Begins
Oct 19th: Bailey Bear Boogie!!
Oct 20th: CEF Fall Fest
Oct 22nd - 26th: Red Ribbon Week (look for the flyer) and Health Screenings
Oct 29th - 31st: One For Books
November 3rd: Shelby County Foundation Race For Education
November 8th: Book Fair 5:00 - 7:30, Open House 6:00 - 7:00
November 12th: Veteran's Day Program
November 14th: Run Club Awards Ceremony
November 15th: PTA Bingo Night 6:00
November 16th: Kindergarten Pow Wow
Nov. 19 - 23rd: Thanksgiving Break