Personal Best Staff Bulletin
Volume VIII Number 2 December 5, 2019
Can you go 24 hours without complaining?
I’ve been given the opportunity to facilitate a book talk as part of the PTA Council - Open Meeting - January 27. We’ve chosen the book, The Positive Dog by Jon Gordon. It’s an awesome little book that you could read in just under an hour, but it presents many powerful reminders of the importance of positivity as well as practical strategies to strengthen this attribute in our own lives. Here is a video of Gordon talking about the book.
One of the elements of Gordon’s action plan, “Turn complaints into solutions” reminds me of a Twitter challenge that I have periodically tried unsuccessfully to do: try to go 24 hours without complaining. Because I’m a New Yorker, I don’t know if this is even possible. For people raised here, complaining is like breathing out, I’m not sure we can survive without it. I have a friend from Boston who visited me once and remarked that New York is the only place where, while driving, people will honk their car horns at you if you fail to honk your horn at a slow car in front of you. Complaining is the currency of conversation in New York, and this reaches an apotheosis amongst Long Islanders (having been raised in Brooklyn I won’t attempt to parse out the difference in this respect between Nassau and Kings counties; as my daughter in fourth grade recently discovered, “Did you know, Dad, that Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island are all on the same island?”). Nevertheless, Gordon makes the point that complaining clearly contributes to stress which depletes the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin and accelerates aging. My eyes glaze over when I read content-specific vocabulary about brain chemistry, but I certainly don’t want to age any faster; so I’m going to give it another try. I invite you to do the same; try to go 24 hours without complaining. Ask me how my experiment went! Maybe we can start a movement.
Consider reading the book. I ordered 10 copies for our professional library. Heading into the winter break, it’s a great reminder of how we can change our own lives and the lives of those around us by being positive.
Best Practice
Lauren Douglas tried an idea she saw on Twitter, First Chapter Fridays. The teacher reads the first chapter of a book to students that the students would likely enjoy and choose to read independently. Lauren read the book Ghost by Jason Reynolds. This was a great choice because not only is Reynolds a fantastic young adult author, this book is part of the series, so if students enjoy this one, they are ready for the next book. I am not exaggerating when I say that after she read the chapter, kids literally ran to the bookcase to borrow Ghost and the other three books in the series, Patina, Sunny and Lu
Ask Konsantine Kovoros about the powerful work he has been doing around the topic of Race. This aligns with the study of Reconstruction in grade 8. Every time I visit his classroom, students are engaged in a courageous conversations surrounding this important topic. He has curated some amazing videos and primary source documents to help students wrestle with this. He invited representatives from the Long Island-based group, ERASE Racism to speak to his class about housing inequities and segregation in Nassau and Suffolk. This is an ongoing conversation that we will continue to have.
Talk to Carly Bock about “Marshmallow Catapults”. Science doesn’t need to be expensive! And what kid doesn’t love marshmallows.
Links and resources
Impact of Slavery and History of Racism in the U.S.
Cause that's helpful
This letter from a parent in a neighboring district...
Dear Principal Gately,
I wanted to let you know that the jr high girls swim team displayed fantastic sportsmanship tonight at their meet against Cold Spring Harbor. They cheered on the girls who were dragging behind from our little team (we are generally outnumbered 3-1 at these meets). It was wonderful to see. Thank you for a wonderful experience with your girls...what a great example they set!
Best wishes,
Kristin Provisero--CSH parent
Principal's Staff Bulletin
Email: dgately@jerichoschools.org
Website: dfgately.com
Location: 99 Old Cedar Swamp Road, Jericho, NY, United States
Phone: 516-2-3-3620
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JerichoMS/
Twitter: @Donald_Gately