BARBER BULLETIN
Week of April 1-5 Creating Joyful Leaders and Learners
Carrying Your Own Weather -an excerpt from Leader in Me online
A friend of mine recently told me about Chuck, her favorite college math professor. A short, rotund man, he routinely stopped to greet students while walking across campus, coffee in hand. Chuck seemed incapable of being in anything but a good mood. Early one spring morning a thunderstorm broke. Having forgotten his umbrella, Chuck made his usual walk to class. Soaked to the bone, he remained happy as ever while annoyed students peeled off their layers of wet gear, complaining about the unexpected downpour. “Hey Chuck, aren’t you at all bothered by the rain?” my friend asked. Smiling, the professor replied, “Sure, but I benefit from my lack of height—it takes longer for the rain to reach me.”
No one had control over the weather that day—and many felt victimized by it. They allowed the dark clouds, unexpected moisture, and temperature drop to negatively affect them. But Chuck made a different choice. Rather than react to the weather, he carried his own weather. He chose how to think, feel and act based on what he valued rather than on external circumstances. He loved teaching math and creating a positive learning environment for his students. What was a little rain compared to that?
If you believe that external things (like other people or situations) are the source of your unhappiness or happiness, life will always happen to you. You’ll feel powerless, like a victim—finding reasons to blame others or justify your knee-jerk reactions. In time, “martyr”, negative, or “difficult” becomes your brand. Your ability to influence plummets.
When we’re triggered emotionally, we can temporarily forget that we have a choice as to how we will respond. But as the late Dr. Stephen R. Covey says, “Between stimulus [what happens to us] and response [how we react to what happens to us] there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose.” If you want to have more influence in your life, or if your emotions are getting in your way, you can choose to carry your own weather.
Practice the freedom in this space with the following exercise:
- Think of a person or situation that irritates you and triggers your reactivity.
- Imagine the next time you encounter that person or situation, and choose how you will handle it—using the ideas below to guide you:
- Take a deep breath, count to ten, or tell the person you need a little time to reflect before you respond. In that “space” connect to what you value and the long-term outcome you want.
- Write an email, to the person who has triggered you, with the intention of not sending it. Get out all of your negative feelings and reactive words. Let it sit overnight, then read it again and see if it accurately reflects what you value and how you feel the next day.
- Construct a do-over. Imagine responding in a better, more effective way next time, and answer this question: What would the outcome be if you responded in this new way? How might it affect the quality of the relationship, your feelings, and your ability to influence in the future?
Carrying your weather can be as simple keeping a pleasant or professional disposition or as challenging as consistently living by what you deeply value. At the heart of it, however, is always a choice, and that power can never be surrendered unless we allow it.
Let's make April the best month ever for our students and for each other! I am so proud to be your principal and excited of all that is to come this month!
The Student Sponsor Action Team needs your help
The Student Sponsor Action Team brainstormed some leadership roles for upcoming events. A student leader helped to create a display board and it is up near the mailboxes. If you decide to sponsor a leadership role, it is really up to you in regards to what you would like these leaders to do. We put suggestions on the back of the monkey to help you brainstorm ideas. A few things to keep in mind:
- What grade level of students will you target for this role?
Depending on the job you are sponsoring, you might find it necessary to narrow down your search/recruiting tactic. Instead of promoting this available role school-wide you might get more out of it by targeting students within your grade level or a specific grade level who have not yet held a leadership role.
- When will you need to start promoting this role?
Depending on when the event is, you might need to go ahead and start the process. Keep in mind that you want to give yourself along with the students who are serving plenty of time to prepare.
Thank you for helping us to provide more leadership opportunities to our students!
Culturally Responsive Classroom Management
Our district Behavior Interventionists are offering a PD session in culturally responsive classroom management on Tuesday, April 2 from 3:15-5pm at R2i2 for teachers in Classroom 4. Teachers can sign up in PD express. This will be the last district behavior PD offered this school year. Please consider attending!
A message of gratitude from the Butler family:
Dr. Barber,
PLEASE tell your staff THANK YOU SO, SO, SO MUCH for their continued love and support!!! My heart was smiling so big as I walked the halls this afternoon and saw all the superheros!!! I know this is a crazy time of year for us all, COME ON SPRING BREAK, and a dress up day on a Tuesday can be tough....the amazing support doesn’t go unnoticed!!! Thanks again to you all for loving my girls. We love our Pontiac family so much!!️️
Thanks for all you do!!
The Butler Family
Our first week of APRIL!
Chorus students at district auditorium
3:30pm Staff meeting in media center
Tuesday:
Chorus students at district auditorium
6:30pm Turnaround Recognition and Chorus program at RNE auditorium
All certified staff are asked to attend to support our students!
Wednesday:
3:30pm Parrot Prep
Thursday:
Grade level collaboration
Angel Brown will observe ELA instruction in classrooms instead of meeting with grade levels to give you collaboration time instead of PD this week! Hope that is helpful to you!
Report cards distributed!
6:30pm PTO meeting
Friday:
8:30am Pancakes with the Principal
1pm Movie Incentive for March Media Reading Challenge (approx includes 75 students)
7pm Fireflies baseball game