Principal Walder's Tuesday Memo
For the week of September 9th
Valuing Communication
Yesterday, I spent the day with a friend from my days of waiting tables in high school. Melissa and I worked together at Perkins for almost 4 years on and off, while living on tips and chicken tender melt sandwiches.
Now, her daughter and my son, Martin, are the same age and are both Kindergarteners. To hear the perspective of a first time Mom's Kindergarten experience is very enlightening. Especially as she is one of the friends that I know the very best, she really doesn't hold back (we all have one of those friends- right? The kind that lets you know your pant leg is caught in your sock or you have something between your teeth.).
She shared with me every concern that she had about the school... in only three weeks.
- The principal sent the wrong date of the open house via email three times before it was correct.
- The teacher said they would call if a student forgot their lunch, but she did not call when her daughter forgot her lunch. Instead, they gave the Kindergartener a hot lunch of something the little girl did not each (a cultural choice). So, the Kindergartener went home hungry and the lunch box was left in the child's backpack.
- The teacher sent an email to the whole class that she needed parents to help her out. The Kindergarteners are "all breaking crayons" that are "supposed to be shared school supplies" and pretty soon there will not be any unbroken crayons left.
- She has not heard anything from her child's teacher except the two emails above. She has not received any newsletters, emails, and her teacher is not using any other way to communicate.
I shared that it is easy to take something out of context or to accidentally send out the wrong date in the rush of a new school year. We have all done it... ahem... my Remind message from last week... we all make mistakes sometimes. I encouraged her to visit with her child's teacher as most of this is probably a misunderstanding.
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Now as I reflect on practice as an educator, all four of the concerns above are not about education, they are all categorized as errors made to school communication. And, as it is coming from an old friend of mine, I know she cares about her child's education. She genuinely wants to know how her child is doing and if something isn't going well, she will certainly discipline her child at home as well.
Unfortunately, the message about her child's education is being told by the five-year-old and by a lack of any communication. And, as Jon Gordon says, in the absence of communication, negativity will fill the void. In Melissa's situation, that certainly has happened. I am not telling this story to condemn another teacher, principal or school, but rather to exemplify that Jon Gordon certainly is correct. Negativity quickly filled the void. The teacher is giving up one of the most valuable tools he or she has to support her students-- the power to give parents a window in the world of their child's learning.
I know many of you do a fantastic job of supporting parents through excellent communication and we all know we can get more ideas. This week in PLC we will review (in brief) some of the research behind school communication and how it ties to student achievement, the communication survey families completed in our district last November, and ask you to share your best tips and techniques for connecting with families.
Thank you for all you! It's going to be a great week at Legacy!
Legacy PLC Topic for the Week
Agenda: This week you will bring examples of items that you are using in your classroom to share with your teammates.
- School Communication -- We will be discussing effective school communication as a grade-level team. Please bring what you are currently using for school communication as well as any examples of what you are doing.
- Fact Fluency Follow-up -- Bring the examples of what you have started doing in your classroom for fact fluency at your grade level.
We will be in the Meeting Room.
Dr. Walder's Schedule
Monday: NWEA Testing Window Open
- 7:30 am Meeting with Individual Teacher
- 8:40 am Meeting with Individual Teacher
- 9:00 am Student Meeting at Legacy Conference Room
- 1:00 pm Instructional Leaders Meeting at DEC
- 5:30 pm Board Goal Session at DEC
- 6:30 pm School Board Meeting at DEC
Tuesday:
- 10:00 - Noon (may be out for a portion of this time -once confirmed, Heather will know)
- 1:00 pm Student Meeting at Legacy Conference Room
- 3:30 Meeting with Mrs. Lear
Wednesday: NWEA Testing Window Closes Today
- 8:00 am Parent Meeting in Dr. Walder's Room
- 11:50- 12:40 2nd PLC in Meeting Room
- 12:45- 1: 35 1st PLC in the Meeting Room
- 1:45 Monthly Library Meeting in Dr. Walder's Office
- 3:40 Meeting with Mrs. Brinkman at DEC
Thursday:
- 7:40- 8:10 GOLD Team in Meeting Room
- 10:15- 11:05 4th PLC
- 1:35- 2:25 3rd PLC in the Meeting Room
- 2:25- 3:15 JK/ K PLC in the Meeting Room
- 5:45 pm TAPTO Meeting in Middle School Band Room (All teachers are invited to attend.)
Friday:
- 7:30 Building Instructional Leadership Goal Team Meeting
- 9:20- 10:10 5th PLC
- Bring Legacy Gold Classroom winners to Heather.
- 2:45 First LEGACY GOLD Drawing - Send students to Mr. Binde's Room
Contact Dr. Walder
Email: Samantha.Walder@k12.sd.us
Website: https://www.teaschools.k12.sd.us/
Location: Tea, SD, USA
Phone: 6058817381
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeaAreaLegacy/
Twitter: @swalder7