Friday Reflections

The following quote is from Sam Ewing, a former baseball player, who knows how hard work shapes a person:   “Hard work spotlights the character of people: Some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.” Well our janitors showed up this summer! Hats off to you, janitors - you did the heavy lifting of fixing broken “stuff”, moving big and little pieces, relocating entire sections, disinfecting what needs to be disinfected, dusting high and low places, putting a gleaming “spit shine” on almost every inch of the building!   And, even though we weren’t here to notice - we are noticing and appreciating all of it now. Teachers are commenting on how their classrooms are put back together – with furniture in desired spots!   Crew, do you know how much a teacher values just that?   Teachers have to create displays, plan lessons, organize materials and more; they value all that you do in terms of getting the physical c...

Teacher Appreciation Week - In honor of teachers, I’m using some of the wisdom from Robert Fulgham’s All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten -  From the first day we stepped into school, good teachers taught us how to do the following: Play fair. Be honest. Don’t take things that don’t belong to you. Say you’re sorry when you hurt someone. Hold hands. Stick together. Clean up your mess. Put things back where they belong. Believe that you can do it. Try again. Don’t give up. Stand up for each other. And, of course, thank you for teaching us how to read, write, calculate, reason, debate, persuade, problem solve, analyze, evaluate, etc.  You know that we need these skills to succeed and contribute to a better world for all. And when teachers give our students these strong academic skills and weave them into the above positive people skills, you are forming future citizens who will make this world a better place. Teachers…I lift your work up du...

We kicked off Thumbuddy project this week.   A little background on Thumbuddy.  They were formed 30 years ago by a group of special education teachers and physical therapists who saw a void in the lives of some needy kids. Thumbuddy’s mission is “that all children have the right to live to their maximum ability. We purchase adaptive equipment such as adaptive bikes, wheelchairs, strollers, computers and ramps. We also sponsor Special Recreation programs.” And our own physical therapist Mary Ellen Connelly is the star performer in this non-profit organization.  She has given countless hours of her time and talent to bringing the “extras” that are not paid for by insurance companies or by families without insurance – to provide better quality of life to deserving kids.  I have been in her basement before for several Christmas holidays wrapping presents for our struggling kids.   It is inspiring to witness Mary Ellen’s passion to this cause.  She saw ...

It’s Secretary Week!  I thought of getting Superhero capes for Kathy and Pat - Wonder Woman for Kathy and Captain Marvel for Pat.  But I didn’t pull it off – maybe because our two Super Heroes are always the ones that do such favors for me!   Our Superhero secretaries have a half century of working together at Irving.  Two women working side by side - sharing so much - they must be able to finish one another’s thoughts. All of us know that the fact that they have pulled off such a close working relationship is no small feat - bet their working relationship  could play in some Seinfeld episodes! There probably isn’t anyone in school who has more daily interaction with the biggest cross-section of those served than Kathy and Pat. There is not a thing that happens at Irving that they do not have their fingerprints on. They see and hear it all - from kids, parents, volunteers, janitors, teachers, district bigwigs, administrators, police officers, crossing guar...

Jim Collins in his book Good to Great puts forth the “stuff” of greatness in any profession – he coins the adjective humble-boldness: “A burning, passionate, obsessed ambition for the cause , for the work – not for themselves – and utterly stoic will to make good on that ambition”. I’m calling out Trish Stevens - she’s passionate about her students. Isn’t that the “stuff” of a great teacher?  – teachers who are passionate about helping the neediest of students. We all know a student who is a “handful” - Trish has taken a very “challenging” student and found ways to affirm this student, unlock the key to this student’s behavior and gradually put the jumbled puzzle of what makes this student tick and what will help this student grow and make valuable contributions to her class. Let’s circle back – “burning, passionate, obsessed – for the cause” –the case for Trish is for the respect and success of each of her students and most definitely one of the most challenging students she h...

On Monday our SIP committee met.   The majority of the meeting dealt with a discussion of how our students are performing in terms of reading achievement, and the vision we have to keep reading achievement levels high – and move them even higher.   So many of the SIP members offered valuable insights – your voices are much needed.   Together, and only together – we will move the needle further and further.   Several solid books/authors that I am trying to absorb – piece meal, I have to admit. I have earlier mentioned Notice & Note with a subtitle Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst – and Mike Schmoker’s Leading with Focus. All three educators share common insights about reading i.e., what we are teaching and what and how we need to teach and also what we are doing that is sometimes counterproductive to equipping our students with the literary skills they need to become better readers. Their work offers us prom...