Warner Update
Making a difference, one person at a time
Super Sunday...
As we enter into February a few things have been occupying my brain. At the forefront is pedagogy. This is an interesting time of the year. At this point you have a pretty solid understanding of your class. Your students know the routines and procedures. However, this can also feel like a time of survival. Maybe you are struggling with balance. Maybe you don't feel confident in the subject matter. Maybe the Winter doldrums have you down. Whatever it may be this time of the year has the potential to be the best...yet we often enter into survival.
What does it mean? What I know is that survival mode means this...
- We develop a habit of teaching to the middle. We know we are better than that, but we are surviving.
- The energy and enthusiasm seems manufactured, not real. Survival mode has a tendency to make us fake it. Which, let's be honest, is really tough day in and day out.
- We dodge critical conversations because when you are in survival mode you don't want to invest the emotional energy.
- We don't focus on best practice, we focus on what we've always done. This can often look like a heavy dose of worksheets or busy work. This is the very definition of survival.
The tough part about survival mode is that you may not even realize you are in this mode. It is critical to reflect, evaluate and be honest with yourself. Here are three ways to defeat survival mode.
First, show gratitude! When you arrive each day write two positive notes to someone that you are grateful for. This gesture will lift your spirits and the person you give them to.
Second, stop complaining. In all likelihood this won't make things better and you'll be bringing down the people around you. People prefer to listen to problem solving, not negativity.
Third, shake it up. To snap out of survival mode we need to take a risk. Something that will get the blood pumping. Why not try a new project? The best way to snap out of it is by waking up your own creativity, exploration and passion.
Next week is conference week. Now is the time to find the joy in what we do. Let's kick survival mode to the curb and focus on making a positive difference in our students' lives.
NEXT WEEK AT A GLANCE:
Monday, February 5th: Mrs. Kelly plans to take students sledding at SAU
Tuesday, February 6th: Move This World planning session
Tuesday, February 6th: Panther Pride Lunch
Tuesday, February 6th: Mrs. Kelly plans to take students sledding at SAU
Wednesday, February 7th: Grades K-2 morning assembly
Wednesday, February 7th: Oklahoma cast comes to Warner to perform (time TBD)
Wednesday, February 7th: 2:45 PLC in the Library with Dan Luciani discussing SBG
Thursday, February 8th: School Improvement workday
Thursday, February 8th: CP Federal Credit Union 2pm
Thursday, February 8th: 4-5pm School Improvement Quarterly Meeting at Admin
Thursday, February 8th: PTO Meeting at 6:30pm
Friday, February 9th: 8am Staff Meeting in Miss Kolb's room (Guest Gary Tripp from Horace Mann returns)
Reminders:
- All support staff please schedule a mid-year conference with me
- Any teachers interested are welcome to schedule a mid-year meeting
- 2nd round of observations is on-going
- Updated IRIP plans will be started this week
- If you are interested in helping with our Move This World visit please let me know this week. At this time we have 16 guests and the number continues to climb.
Info from Alaina Sharp:
The Idea Slam is a fast-paced "pitch fest" and networking event for educators. Four educators will have the opportunity to pitch their idea, a project that is near and dear to their hearts as educators. The audience votes, and the winning project is funded with $1500. The METS Group and the REMC Association of Michigan are sponsoring the $1500 prize.
I encourage any teachers who are interested to apply here: bit.ly/ideaslampitch. You can also see the rubric and the video from the 2017 Idea Slam at metsgroup.org, under the Idea Slam page.