Mustang Message
January 11, 2019
A Principal's Perspective
I follow George Couros' blog, Connected Principals. He is also the author of The Innovator's Mindset. I wanted to share his January post with you. It made me think not only of my personal goals but my professional goals as an instructional leader and for our school as well.
Blog January 10, 2019- Are You Focusing on the Race or the Training?
"I have run a few marathons in my life in what seems like an eternity ago. They are as much a challenge to the mind as they are the body as any negative thought that you might have will creep into your head on a long run.
After completing a marathon, someone said to me, “I can’t believe that you ran a marathon…That seems incredibly hard.” My response at the time was that the marathon was easy; the training was arduous. Because I trained so hard and consistently, by the time I hit the race, it was much easier than it looked. It wasn’t easy overall, but preparation led to me being successful, not merely showing up on race day.
This is something that I do my best to remind people of when jealousy creeps in because they feel someone accomplished something because they are just a “natural.” The reality is that we often see the race, not the training.
I have written about 1500 blog posts, a book, and over 100,000 tweets, yet am known for a handful of quotes over the past ten years of writing in this blog. The reason people know those few quotes are because I have stayed consistent with my writing.
When I see someone that I perceive as having immense success, I don’t assume anything. I do my best to connect and ask them questions on what they have done to get to the point that they are at and where they hope to go.
Don’t think someone just showed up to success. Ask them about the training to get to that point."
As we "hit the race" achieving our personal goals, teaching a unit or lesson, planning and working with your team or working towards the success of your students, grade level and school what challenges to your mindset do you have to overcome? How do you consistently prepare for a successful "race day" so that your training efforts pay off for you and/or your students?
Be innovative - Design the possibilities!
Donna
George Couros
January 25, 2018 Blog - The Work Behind the WorkI thought it was interesting to compare Mr. Couros' blog from last year to this year's blog. I love the quote, "The work behind the work is often the hardest part of success."
"Currently, I am training for a half-marathon race. I don’t have a particular race in mind, but I am training for one. As someone who has run marathons before, a half-marathon is daunting, but I also know that it is doable for my current health goals.
When I was asked what race I was going to do on Instagram, I simply said that my goal was to do the training. The ability to finish a marathon is an accomplishment, and when I used to do it, people would say, “That is so impressive that you finished a marathon!” My response was that the marathon was easy, it was the training that was hard. If you properly train, the dedication and consistency to work hard when you don’t want to can be mind-numbing.
Excellence is created from a formula; consistency plus high-quality effort over time.
That thing you see someone else doing is just a glimpse into that day, not the hours behind it to get to that point.
I have always loved this quote:
"It takes twenty years to become an overnight success." Eddie Cantor
I don’t know if “20 years” is accurate, but that person you see in the gym that is incredibly fit didn’t just show up that way. An effort was not only given to doing things that were hard but also in not doing things that were hard. This goes for many other things in our life as well.
If you see someone and you admire what they are doing, ask them what it took to get there. Then ask yourself if you are willing to do the work to get where you want to be when no one is watching.
The work behind the work is often the hardest part of success."
Morning Duties for the Week
Gym & Morning Assembly (7:20-7:45): Knight
Word of the Week: 1/14 resolution 1/21 procrastinate; 1/28 responsibilities
Tuesday Book Share: Tutt & Knight
Gym (7:20-7:45): Lake
Parent Drop Off Direct Traffic (7:20-7:55): Owen
Parent Drop Off Car Doors (7:20-7:55): Herzog & Grant
Cafeteria (7:20-8:00): Marshall
Bus (7:15 - 7:55 Buses/ Cafeteria after all buses arrive): Bartosh
Counselor Schedule: 1st & 2nd Guidance - Responsibility
Librarian: GP
Week at a Glance
Monday: Report cards sent home; Birthday in Dec or Jan? Wear you jeans in honor of your birthday celebration!
Tuesday: 4th Grade Lunch with the Principal @ 12:30; Faculty Meeting @ 3:30 - Professional Staff (Agenda: Proethica #2 Conversations)
Wednesday: PTO Crockpot Potluck Lunch for staff in science lab
Thursday: UIL
Friday: PTO awards teacher grants in Morning Assembly; PTO Author, Crystal Allen, Visit 3rd (8:10-9:10) & 4th Grade (9:20-10:20) in cafeteria
Monday: Staff & Student Holiday
News & Notes
Schoology Roll Out Updates: To find out more about the district's roll out plan for Schoology, see link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/123zoG0kLSu_-LnM1KlbA_vDlM8OKr72hS4_WNwIysgM/edit
Schoology: Schoology Parent Codes were sent out to all parents on August 31st. If for some reason a parent cannot locate their code to create their parent account, they have been instructed to contact their child's teacher to get their code. All teachers have access to their student's Schoology Parent Access Codes. Link for "how to" locate the parent codes for your course: https://tinyurl.com/y6ufde3g
Nearpod: The district has purchased Nearpod for every teacher in CSISD! Want to know more about Nearpod? See Tech Time sessions below for Nearpod workshop. See link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P2fo1f_BM9IiDCQD449P27McLeqTxFLNUJkLZcVkuIk/edit
School Safety: Just a reminder that we are all responsible for the safety of our students, parents and staff while on campus and school sponsored events. Please make sure we are following procedures outlined in our handbooks such as keeping the outside doors closed especially when going to recess, lock/prop classroom doors, making sure all visitors have a tag, etc. Most importantly, be observant and address anything out of the ordinary. While every situation cannot be outlined in the handbook, please use your professional judgement and that gut feeling when something concerns you. If in doubt, report to the office.
Reindeer Games Follow Up: 3rd grade was the team winner for the candy cane reindeer game. The SPED team edged out a victory with their antler toss skills! Team leaders, please get with me to schedule your prize lunch logistics.
Kids Klub: Allison Klein is the new Kids Klub supervisor. She was the assistant director at GP this fall semester. If you have suggestions or concerns regarding Kids Klub, please see Allison.
Tech Time
Our next Tech Time opportunity will be Thursday, January 24th, from 3:30-4:15. Remember if you attend not only will you learn some amazing tech tools and applications to use with your students, but you will also get to wear jeans on Tuesday, January 29th! Sonic drinks on Friday, January 25th, if 100% of your team attends. Tech learning, jeans AND Sonic! Gotta love it!
Tech Topics:
Smartboard Bells and Whistles
Nearpod Exploration
Seesaw in Stations
CSISD Campus SUB Incentive
The district has outlined a campus sub incentive plan to hopefully decrease the sub demand across the district. Please see proposed plan below. The plan will begin in January
Each month, campuses will have an opportunity to earn $1,000 for the highest rate of staff attendance
Sick leave and district required activities are excluded
There will be a winner for both Elementary (PK-4) and Secondary (5-12) each month
Campus staff will have input on how to use the money - get creative!
Happy Birthday
This Week Birthdays:
No birthdays this week!
Mustang Yee Haws!
Congratulations to Jennifer "Jenna" Ferguson who is expecting a baby due in July!