This Week at AES
9/19 - 9/23
It's going to be a Crazy Week
I want to say thank you in advance for your work to handle the nuttiness of this week. We’ve got all kinds of crazy happening this week, but I am certain that you will all see the challenges this week as opportunities for our students. Your grit will definitely be on display for our students.
Grandparents Lunches are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. In the past we have had over 400 guests this week. Say a prayer for Sherry and the Gang in the cafeteria.
Due to Grandparent Lunches we will have an alternate lunch schedule on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
High Attendance Day is September 20th. Please work on a plan of how your grade level would like to make it a special day for your students (PJ day, Hat day, kick-ball, extra recess, board games). Once you have your plan, please email it to Kelly May.
September 21st is Picture Day
In honor of the crazy week, Monday will be Crazy Week Jean Day
Linda is working to arrange a Monthly Audubon Night Out Fundraiser. Basically, we will have a night at local restaurants to serve as a fundraiser. The proceeds from these fundraisers will greatly impact our school. If you are available to attend the fundraisers, let your students know. Many of them will show up just to see you. Our first event is Tuesday, September 27th at Orange Leaf.
I apologize for the many Fliers coming home on Non-Mondays. If you are a person who is sending home a flier, please remember that we try to send all of that information home on Mondays.
Below you will find the link to the Grandparents Week Schedule. There are only a few tweaks to regularly scheduled specials time. If you are impacted by the changes, you received this schedule earlier this week.
Shout Out!
Thank you Lainey Johnson for being flexible and determined to meet each challenge.
Thank you Nancy Hamilton for always taking all the crazy in stride and caring for our kids.
Thank you Sherry Phillips for seeking out ways to meet the needs of our families.
The Power of Habit
Our Habits make us who we are. In fact there is research that suggests that our brains are working on autopilot through habits about 40% of the time. So if you sleep for 8 hours a night you are on autopilot for 6.4 hours of the day. That is not a problem if your habits are all great habits. You reach for the carrot instead of the cookie; you pick up a book to read instead of looking at the Facebook. Though we all have good habits all of us have a bad habit or 2.
Charles Duhigg in his book The Power of Habit talks about the Habit Cycle; Cue, Routine, Reward. Our brains go into habit mode once a familiar cue is introduced. For instance, how many of you as you stand and wait have a habit of taking out your phone and looking up something or seeing who’s doing what on the Tweeter? The cue in that instance is the spare moment/boredom, the routine is checking your phone, the reward could be the entertainment you receive by seeing your friend’s duck lip selfie or the feeling of being connected.
So how do we use habits in education? Well that is a grand question. After reading about habits, I first thought about how to change the students and the parents. Mr. Duhigg says that to change a habit you focus on the routine and reward. You first identify each part of the habit cycle you want to change. Then you change the routine and provide a reward that is similar to the the previous reward. Another way to impact our kids is by focusing on our own habits. We all have habits that impact us here at school and thus our students. Do we call on students to quickly and thus not provide adequate wait time? Do we like to talk and rob our peers of their voice and of the opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas (I’m looking at myself here)?
Habits Matter. Though I’ve talked a lot of changing habits, I want to recognize that we have many positive habits that our students benefit from. Each morning all of you have a habit of smiling and saying good morning to our students. Each day you have a habit of pushing our students to reach their potential. But most of all you have the habit of caring. A colleague once told me that schools should use the assembly line model. Basically they thought that each person in the building should focus on one area and provide that service to students then move them forward. Assembly lines mean routines, which breed working on autopilot. You are focused and engaged with your students; autopilot is not an option for you with our kids. Thank you for loving and caring about each of our kids.