The Bailey Times
February 10, 2020
February is Black History Month. The link that is below is to the national archives website and there is a ton of great information you can share with your kids this month!
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away."
The telephone rang. It was a call from his mother. He answered it and his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday."
Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.
"Jack, did you hear me?"
"Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said.
"Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mom told him.
"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.
"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said.
"He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important. Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said.
As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.
The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time. Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house was exactly as he remembered.
Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture...Jack stopped suddenly...
"What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.
"The box is gone," he said.
"What box?" Mom asked.
"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most,'" Jack said.
It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.
"Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said.
"I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."
It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read.
Early the next day Jack went to the post office and retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention.
"Mr. Harold Belser" it read.
Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope.
Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside.
"Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filled his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch.
Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved: "Jack, Thanks for your time! -- Harold Belser."
"The thing he valued most was my time!"
Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days.
"Why?" Janet, his assistant asked.
"I need some time to spend with the people I love and say I care for," he said. "Oh, by the way, Janet, thanks for your time!"
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away."
Think about this. You may not realize it, but it's 100 percent true.
1. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
2. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.
3. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
4. You mean the world to someone.
5. If not for you, someone may not be living.
6. You are special and unique.
7. Have trust sooner or later you will get what you wish for or something better.
8. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good can still come from it.
9. When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a hard look: you most likely turned your back on the world and the people who love and care for you.
10. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.
11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.
12. Always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much better when they know and you'll both be happy.
13. If you have a great friend, take the time to let them know that they are great.
To everyone who read this just now....
*"Thanks for your time."
Please think about the 13 things you just read that you may not have even realized are true but everyday it is 100 percent true! My purpose for putting this into the Bailey Times is just as a reminder that there is more than just the trials and tribulations of being in the classroom or the craziness of keeping up with life at home. You each make a difference everyday! Don't minimize your importance in this world!
Thank You!
I wanted to tell you how appreciative and humbled I was reading all of your comments on the teacher perception survey as it pertains to me! I was so blown away by your words and feel like I really did make a difference! Your responses for the question that asked you to describe one area of the principal's leadership that, if improved, could have the greatest impact on the school. Your answers were spot on! I will share some of the areas that you addressed in the survey with the next principal so that they can work on those areas or make sure that they are communicating what we are doing in those areas!
One area that many of you feel that if improved would have a great impact on the school and that was to be visible as much as possible, to have more personal interactions with our students, to come into the classrooms more so kids can get to know me better and I could get to know them as well! I agree! That is the one area that I have always wished I had been better at, but truthfully it is one of the hardest areas for me even though it seems so simple!
So, again thank you for affirming who and what I am! Thank you for being the great teachers that you are and will continue to be!
Love you,
Cindy
** I could almost cry and hug some of you! The operative word is "could" and I feel sure that Coach Williams will agree! I feel sure that I will be hugging a lot of people and probably shedding a few tears as we come to the end of this year! Should be fun to watch!
Empathy.....a few thoughts!
Sometimes I wonder if society really understands the word empathy. Empathy is not just about letting people know that you understand and are compassionate about their needs or situations, but it is also about WHAT you do to be empathetic!
Example:
One thing as a school we have tried to get rid of is having all our students walk at recess. Back in the day I used this type of punishment because it was easy and it was a way for me to make sure my class knew who was boss! I would make sure they knew that if they did not do what I asked then they would either lose recess, put their heads on their desk or have to sit out at recess. The thing is, I did this ALL YEAR LONG and even though they were missing recess or sitting out, their behaviors never changed! I never really thought through what I was doing because that was what everyone else did! God bless those innocent students who really did not do anything, yet had to stand with the class on the wall all the while knowing who really deserved to stand on the wall!
I started to think through my management process and why my punishment methods were not working for "those" students. I was using all the techniques handed down from the more experienced teachers and never really thought about ALL the children and how they felt standing on the wall or putting their head down on their desk. In reality, I had such poor discipline skills that it was easier to just lump everyone in the consequence because it would take more time and effort to deal with the real behavior issues! I needed a better skill set!
I started my quest to get better at managing my classroom after self-reflecting on my own behaviors toward discipline. I was sent to a reading conference in St. Louise and even though the conference was about reading I found a session on classroom management called "Choices" and decided to attend. Rick Morris the presenter of "Choices', changed my mindset. I took back the new information I had learned and over the years developed it into something that actually worked for me and my students. I finally realized classroom management was not about punishment, but about figuring out the "why" for these difficult students and giving them the opportunity to make better choices as well as working one on one with them to make sure they understood that I cared but that I was giving them a choice to do better. It changed the whole dynamic of my classroom and the keyword for me and my students was EMPATHY. I learned that talking about and showing empathy are two different things! Actually, putting empathy into action is what made the real difference for my students and for me. I needed to have real empathy for my difficult students but I also needed for all my students to develop this skill, so that hopefully these difficult students would not be isolated and branded as the "bad" one. This did not FIX every behavior issue I had, but it did take care of 95% of my day to day issues that were causing me time and effort and missed instructional time.
So, why am I talking about this.... I don't think teachers always equate EMPATHY with how they manage behavior in their classroom. There are still teachers at BSE that have their students walk before recess, not just one or two students but the whole classroom. Do you think that everyone actually deserved to walk at recess? My thinking is probably not. My bigger worry is how the other students feel about these disruptive students. I know that I would be upset if I was being punished for another child's behavior every day. On the other hand, the students that are having behavior problems are probably getting a double whammy.... first from the teacher giving the consequence and then from the kids being mad at them and deciding to not play with them and isolating them at group time, playtime, recess, lunch.... which is not what we want!
Most of the teachers at BSE make it their mission to help our most challenging students. It does not always go the way they want it to, and no matter how hard they try; the student continues to act out. The key part is that these teachers are trying, they are showing all the other students the importance of treating each other with dignity, with kindness, and showing compassion. The student may not be a star student, but hopefully by experiencing kindness, compassion and empathy from their classmates and are included in class interactions and not shuned as the 'bad' one, hopefully they will be a better person having received this grace!
These are my thoughts! If you have your kids walk at recess or have them sit out, I understand, you need something! The only thing I want you to ask yourself is, "Am I punishing everyone or just those that deserve the punishment?"
** You can discipline your students by having them walk or sit out, you can also have your students put their heads down on their desk to give you a breather! I only ask that you think through your punishments to make sure that you are not disciplining the whole class for the sins of the few and that you are not using these discipline techniques as your 'go-to' technique every day!
With something to think about!
Cindy
SEL Article Study for February!
I have attached three articles below that follow along with our goal this year of introducing SEL to our school. I would like you to read each article and be ready to discuss at our faculty meeting the afternoon of February 17th and again on February 27th.
CEF Trivia Night – The Collierville Education Foundation’s Annual Teacher Trivia Night is less than eight weeks away. This year’s theme is “Hollywood,” and participation is limited to sixty teams of eight participants. In addition to trivia, there will be food, raffles, costume contests, a dance competition, and a table decorating contest. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. See the attached flyer for registration information and further details.
Please make sure that you send out an email clarifying that school will let out on Feb. 14th at 12:15 for students and parent conferences will start at 1:00!
February 14th Absences – Friday, 2/14, will be an abbreviated day for students, followed by three hours of parent-teacher conferences at each school. For payroll purposes, this date will count as one and one-half workdays for teachers. Absences will be reported as follows: Abbreviated instructional day absence = 1 day; P/T conferences absence = ½ day; Full day absence = 1.5 days. This formula applies only to school-based, instructional personnel—not to classified or other 12-month employees.
Medicare Information Meeting - March 10th
All staff is invited whether you are retiring or not! This is just good information!
Presidents’ Day – Monday, 2/17, will be a holiday for all students, a paid vacation day for all full-time classified employees—except plant managers and Central Office employees—and an unpaid day off for all part-time classified employees. All certificated employees will report directly to Collierville High School for a keynote address at 9:00 am. The work day will end at 4:00 pm, with a one hour break for lunch. A final schedule with assigned afternoon locations for selected groups will be published soon.
Please take a moment to look at some of the articles/blogs that are below! You might find some great information that can help you in the classroom or in this profession!
a ** by a change as a reminder. I know that some of you do work before school and try to plan accordingly with the calendar given, but I cannot guarantee that there will not be changes so you will need to be flexible with that.
February & March 2020
February
Tuesday 2/11
Best Seller's Club @ Barnes & Nobel 6:00
Valentine Grams on Sale!
Wednesday 2/12
Principal's Meeting
Valentine Grams on Sale!
Coffee Chat for Textbook Adoption options at 8:00 in the library
Thursday 2/13
Data Meeting 7:45 in library for Data Team
Valentine Grams on Sale!
Friday 2/14
1/2 day for students - will leave at 12:15
Valentine Grams will be given out to students
Parent Conferences 1:00 - 4:00
Monday 2/17
Professional Development Day - no school for kids
Friday 2/21
Fourth Grade Pioneer Day
1st grade 120th day
Tuesday 2/25
5th grade visits WCMS at 9:15
Wednesday 2/26
Derrick Barnes Author - 9:15 - 12:00 for K and 1st
Thursday 2/27
Faculty Meeting 7:30 in library
March
Wednesday 3/4
Principal's Meeting
Thursday 3/5
PD & Popcorn 4:45 - 6:15
Faculty Meeting 7:30 Library
Friday 3/6
5th Grade Bio Tech Day
Tuesday 3/10
4:30 Medicare Meeting in the library (all staff is invited)
Thursday 3/12
CEF Trivia Night 5:30
Friday 3/13
Vocabuary parade
Mon - Fri 3/16 - 3/20
Spring Break
Monday 3/23
Dress Down for Downs
Tuesday 3/24
PTA Board Mtg. Cafeteria
Wednesday 3/25
Wear Green for Cerebral Palsy
Thursday 3/26
Spring Pictures
Tuesday 3/31
Rotary Teacher of the Year 6:00 at National Golf Course