Monclova Primary
Weekly Bulletin
Events for Week of January 7 - January 13
Welcome Back!
Monday, January 7
Tuesday, January 8
Social Committee - 8:00 am - Susan's room
Wednesday, January 9
Character Wheel - 9:00 am
Thursday, January 10
Friday, January 11
End of 2nd quarter
Primary Night at BBBall Game - 6:00 pm
Announcements
Thank you:
Dan, Ron, Becky, Michelle and Pearl for all your work over the break. The extra cleaning and repairs look good even amongst the construction! Your dedication to Monclova does not go unnoticed!
Reminders:
Please help spread the word about Monclova's Primary night at the boys basketball game. On January 11, any Monclova student with the flyer will get in free to the boys game.
Final grades will be due Friday, January 18. Teacher workday is Monday, January 14. On Teacher Workday, Dr. Fritz will be holding his State of the Schools address at 8:00 am. THIS IS MANDATORY FOR ALL STAFF ON DUTY THIS DAY. It is expected to last 30 to 40 minutes, refreshments will be available before the meeting.
Winter benchmarking will begin the week of January 21. The tutors will hopefully get it all completed that week. With them benchmarking, kids will not be pulled for intervention groups. You will need to give STAR assessments and writing assessments between Jan 21 - Feb. 1. RtI meetings will take place on Feb. 5 for any student in Tier 3, moving to Tier 3 or those that you need assistance in writing RtI plans/goals.
Reminder the 2 hour delay scheduled for February 19 was moved and Board adopted for April 22. Please update your calendars and communicate with families through your newsletters.
Words of Wisdom and Action..............................
As we begin a new year, reflection and planning takes place. As a staff we have focused on our One Word and Our Why. Sometimes it remains the same as there is still work to do or you are ready to move to the next level to achieve your goals. No matter what your situation is professionally, we are here to make a difference in the lives of kids, I saw all of you do it in 2018 and look forward to your work in 2019! Below is an article about what motivates us as educators, it touches on our One Word and Our Why and our motivation. We all get bogged down with the "extras" of our jobs but the motivation is much bigger than that and that is why you are successful educators and difference makers!
5 Things That Motivate Teachers
26th February 2018 James Manwaring
...........There are so many things that motivate me and so I thought I would share some of them with you.
Here are my top 5:
1. The school environment
There is something about the school environment that I love. The way a community of staff and students come together to learn, play, rehearse, practise, eat, run, discuss and analyse.
I love walking around at break times and seeing everyone interacting. I love those moments in between lessons as everyone moves to the next lesson. I just really enjoy the community feel of school, the feeling that you are part of something.
2. My classroom
I love my classroom and it is one of my favourite places to be.
You might think that rather sad, but over several years it has become a huge part of my life. Sure I wouldn’t choose to spend my holidays in my classroom, but when I am at work I am glad to be in that room.
There are so many memories from that particular space and I look forward to making more and I love to think about all the lessons I have taught in there.
3. My colleagues
I love the staff I work with, they are such a wonderful and diverse group of like minded people.
Every staffroom has its characters and I love working with everyone. I like the challenge that they offer to me and I love the fun and enjoyment. It is great to work with a body of people who are all striving for the same thing. If you stop and think about it, everyone fundamentally wants the same thing. I love that aspect of teaching and I love it that I have a great support network.
4. The joy of teaching
I love teaching because there is always something to work towards, an end goal.
This term will be dominated by coursework and exam preparation. It is challenging, but I like the challenge. I like to push myself and try to improve on last year. It motivates me to think about the students.
5. Young people
Fundamentally, I love working with young people. I think they are brilliant. They are all different, with diverse personalities and possibilities. Of course some are more challenging than others, but they are there and need us teachers.
Some of them come from challenging background and situations and they need us to be role models and to help them get the best shot in life.
Some are highly academically driven and need us to challenge them and motivate them. But young people are great and we have the privilege of speaking into their lives and helping them mould themselves into a someone ready for the world. There is of course only so much we can do in the short time we teach them, but I am motivated every day by the thought that I will make a difference.
And finally…
Now, I am not sure if I have motivated you at all. But maybe I have given you cause to stop and reflect on why you do this job.
It might be that you have fallen out of love with it all. Well I urge you – forget Ofsted, Targets, Date, Planning, Reports & deadlines. Just forget those things for one minute.
Now remind yourself what you love about this job. Remind yourself why you started it. Put that as your motivation. Things will come along and get in the way and there will be frustrations, just like in any job. But I motivate myself by thinking about my clients – the students in front of me.
I want to do the best I can for them and that won’t happen if I stop remembering that I am there for them. I want to go into next term motivated!