Friday Focus
August 17, 2017
Cold Reads
Homecoming 2018
September 21 is the PHHS homecoming. We will once again have an entry in the parade. The social committee will be sharing more details. I hope all of you are able to join us on the hay wagon, enjoy the parade, and go to the football game. Your ID will get you into PHHS home athletic contests at no charge. Come out and support the Arabians at the best homecoming around.
August 31, 2018
We have added some components to our safety training on August 31, After we leave PHHS to come back to MRE, we will be joined by the Ingalls police and fire departments to assist in our safety training.
Certified Staff
PT Conferences
School Safety
Yesterday an assistant encountered a security concern while coming into the building. She took the right steps by reporting the problem immediately and the problem was diffused. If you sense that something is not right, please speak up and let’s get the problem investigated. We have had several custody challenges walk in our office this year. People often want to use the school as a vehicle to access children that they are not allowed access to by the courts. Audra and Jaymee to a great job of screening parents that come into the building but need all of our eyes to assist in detection. If you see suspicious cars or individuals near our playground or parking lots, please speak up.
Valerie's Vision
Making New Habits
During our Reading and Math Leadership Team meeting earlier this week, I had the opportunity to work with a group of Kindergarten teachers. We were looking at the Kindergarten standards and aligning them with standards that will be focused upon in third grade, on the ILEARN assessment.
During this work session, three items stuck out in my head:
#1 I really don't know anything about Kindergarten standards- all of my teaching experience has been in upper elementary
#2 Kindergarten standards encompass a broad, but important range- (Teaching a child how to read? That's a pretty big deal!)
#3 (Sometimes) More important than standards are the items that are taught but not defined by the state.
In our conversation, the teachers shared that they have to teach the standards, but there's so much more. Here's a small snippet of the unspoken, but much appreciated, items that they teach:
-they teach students their gender. Some have never been taught if they are a boy or a girl.
-they teach students how to ask to go to the bathroom, to shut the door when they go to the bathroom- and wash their hands when they are done.
-they teach students how to stand in a line
-they teach students how to take turns
-they teach students that it's ok to be away from their parents
-they teach students how to hold a tray in the cafeteria
-they teach students how to hold their paper down with one hand, while erasing with the other hand
-they teach students that rules at home and rules at school are sometimes not the same
As a 5th and 6th grade teacher, I expected that my students could already do all of these things and so much more. This week, don't forget to give a shout out to those teachers who teach the basic, but essential skills- and don't forget it takes time to create new habits for all learners, young and old.
As I walk the hallways in the morning and continue to shut some classroom doors, I was reminded by a staff member that "old habits die hard".
We are all new learners in one way or another every year. Let's remember that new habits take some time to develop.
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."- Will Durant