Bobcat Bulletin
Staff Edition
January 21, 2020
Keeping you Informed
Good Morning! I hope that you had an enjoyable long weekend. I was Indio with my son for a lacrosse tournament on Saturday and Sunday watching his club team play, but the highlight of my weekend was getting to see Jocko Willink last night with my son. Jocko Willink is a former Navy SEAL team leader and also was in charge of training all of the SEAL teams, for more about Jocko click the link. He is an intense individual who looks the part with a square jaw and muscular build. During his presentation of his new book, there was time for Q&A from the audience. One question hit home for me and how it related to YLMS. The question was about having a group or team that is at the top of their profession how do you continue to stay at the top and not be complacent. The first thing out of his mouth was "Run Up the Score!". At first, I was taken back by the simplicity of the message but as it sank in it was true. How does this apply to YLMS your asking, well this last year we had the top test scores in Language Arts, Math, and Science for our district middle schools. With that type of success, it is easy to sit back and rest on our past performance. The culture of YLMS is about Running Up the Score, but not in a bad way as we would think with sports. It is about continuing to set the bar higher and set it so high that others will never touch it. Continuing to hold strong PLC's, setting essential standards to guarantee that every student will have a viable curriculum, and lastly continuing best practices using proven strategies to enhance student learning. As we wrap up the 2nd quarter and first semester it is time to figure out how can we Run Up the Score the second semester. The practice of self-reflection about your first semester is a powerful way to strengthen your practices. Attached is an article about self-reflection for teachers. I have also included a video by Jocko which might be a bit intense but very motivational when things are not going to plan and it comes from a different lens than you would expect. Lastly, I attached a poem below that I have hanging in my office behind my desk which is about self-reflection. Have a great week!
The Den- A one-stop-shop for YLMS resources for staff.
https://sites.google.com/pylusd.org/theden/home?authuser=0
Wednesday PLC- Teacher Planning Day
Calendar
January 23- End of 2nd Quarter
January 23- Nancy Blade Visit
January 24- No Students, Grading Day for teachers
January 27- Start of the 3rd Quarter