I WILL, WILL YOU?

Sometimes the words just come out, and although I know where they come from I am inspired by how quickly they come and how much they impact me. My only hope is that they impact those they are spoken to and for! I was emotionally moved today to speak with our staff, after a great team building activity, a simple yet impacting message that could have only come from the Holy Spirit, began to transcend my brain and transform my feelings! I had not planned for those words to come to me, but when they did, I couldn't stop them from being shared with those that were being held captive in our meeting. Maybe those at the meeting don't feel the same way, but when the meeting adjourned a new sense of peace came to me! Not only a peace of mind, body, and spirit, but also a peace that I am in the right place doing the right thing. What was it that came to me ....No matter how tough the job gets, we must remember 2 things;

1) If you don't, who will? and

2) We are placed where we are for reasons beyond our knowing, we are not put where we are by chance. There is great purpose to why the great teachers of our school are where they are. If we don't take care of this responsibility who will.

After the meeting I finished my thoughts for the night as I sat in the parking lot of our Church before I met with the Southbrook Youth and had some quite time. I feel a need to share with those that were and were not at this meeting my final thoughts, if I don't get it out it will race around my brain for countless hours and I will be cranky tomorrow! I'm not looking for your response, but rather your silent reflection!

Who Will

If you don't make them smile,
Who Will?

If you don't make them feel welcome,
Who Will?

If you don't comfort them, console them in their failures or rejections,
Who Will?

If you don't wrap them in your arms when they need it most,
Who Will?

If you don't celebrate with them, tell them how proud you are of them,
Who Will?

If you don't encourage them, lead them, or show them they can reach their goals,
Who Will?

If you don't teach them to think, to explore, to take risks,to shape their own future,
Who Will?

If you don't share what you know, model what is right, speak what is true,
Who Will?

If you don't pray for them in the quietest times at night or before a new day begins,
Who Will?

If you don't stand up for them, protect them, or fight for their justice,
Who Will?

It is You Who has been called to do all these things. You are their promise, You are their protector, you are their hope, you are their opportunity!

You Are Their Teacher!


You have been placed in this position for a very special reason, this is the greatest gift of all!

Mark 10:16

And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

I will! Will you?

Mike

Clark W. Griswold!

One of my favorite Christmas movies of all time is Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase. You know the Griswolds! Many of you think that they live next to you with all the Christmas lights and the Walmart vomit on the front lawn.

My favorite character in the movie is of course Cousin Eddie! No matter how many times Cousin Eddie screws up or how many times his unique inability to be socially acceptable gets in the way, Clark W. Griswold unconditionally shows his ability to forgive and manage being around those that scratch the chalkboard with their finger nails when they are around.

One particular scene when Clark and Eddie are shopping, Eddie acknowledges that he has no money to buy presents for his kids. Clark as he usually does, submits to his kinder side, he volunteers to buy gifts for Eddie and his family. Eddie's response is for Clarke to buy himself something nice while he is doing his shopping for Eddie's kids with his own money. How thoughtful of Eddie.

What's the point right? Over these next few weeks we will be exposed to those that take our generosity for granted. We will come face to face with the socially inept. In each of these interactions we have a dilemma,our reaction. Let us all remember the very special reason for this season. Let's stop and think before we speak and choose an empathetic approach in our communication. Let's try to be more like the forgiving and understanding Clark. Let us share what we have with others, whether it be a smile, a kind word, a special message to children, or of course our Christmas lights!

Up Hill Both Ways

"When I was a kid, we had to walk to school...... and it was uphill both ways" How many times have we used those words? Today I met a lady that walks up hill everywhere she goes. She is in her 70's and is taking care of her grown daughter. At the Christmas party today, my friend Chris and I noticed this lady pushing her disabled daughter up the hill, she was really struggling. We offered our help, but she refused. All she really wanted was our prayers. We stoped and prayed with her "Voy a orar" - Which in Spanish means - let's pray. We learned later that she had walked from her home with her daughter to seek a Navidad bag and some of the food we were giving out at the party. As I began to pray, I thanked God that the younger women in the wheelchair was given to a mother that had so much compassion to take her and push her uphill to be certain she would eat that day. We held hands for what felt like 10 minutes. How weak and feeble I am to complain. How strong and determined this woman is. Please pray for this family and all the families that we spent time with today at our last Christmas party in Ecuador. May we all have the compassion for each other that this woman had for her daughter!

Dios le bendinga,

Mike

Choose Compassion

Many of you know the story in the Bible when Jesus fed 5,000 people with 5 loafs of bread and 2 fish. Maybe you haven't heard it this way though. We are learning this week to choose compassion. Today we, The Southbrook Team, chose compassion. You see in the story in the Bible, Jesus and his disciples wanted to be alone because they had just learned of John the Baptists death. As they set their boat on shore, more and more people started to show up, the disciples wanted to send all the people to town to get food for themselves before it got dark. However, Jesus knew these people were grieving and he chose for them to stay, and told his disciples what little food they had would be enough. He wanted these people to be with him so he could share his compassion with them.

Today at the Christmas party at the Quito Dump, there were so many children that did not get in. I would say there were over 2,000 that did not get tickets. Many left after several hours of waiting to see if they would be let in. As we were leaving I noticed the girl in the photo above crying her eyes out. She had waited over 6 hours to get into the party and get a food bag to take home to her family and a Navidad bag for herself. Not speaking Spanish, I asked Bob Seavey to talk with her and see if we could comfort her. The Southbrook team grabbed one of the Ecuadorian pastors and asked if we could give her a food bag. We lifted this 10lb bag of food and a Navidad bag over the fence for her. While she did not get to play the games or dance to the music, have her nails painted or have her picture taken with Santa, we can rest tonight knowing that she will have a meal. I am thankful that God has chosen me to go on this trip with these Godly people! I am continuously amazed at their compassion.

Thankful,

Mike

American International School

Today I had the wonderful opportunity of visiting a school in Quito. Tuesday when I arrived in Quito, I met a gentleman by the name of Tommy. He is a full time missionary and also works as a teacher at the Alliance International School in Quito. This is a Christian based school where many of the missionaries that live here full time send their children. Tommy is an amazing guy. A former marine, a father of two, a teacher and a man of God! I would love for him to come back with me and become part of the staff at our school because of his passion for working with children. He is a model of what every one of us should be, a servant to God. While connecting with him this week I have witness a servant's heart. Today I asked him if I could help him with anything. He told me he had to go to the Alliance school to get some things and offered me the opportunity to go with him. Would I ever!

When I got to the school I was amazed at what I saw. Students from 32 different countries with over 40 different languages spoken. I thought about the challenges we have at our school with students from Latin America and then again felt selfish is what I have complained about. What I found interesting about this school is that they too have a desire to serve God through working with children. The same as the people in Monroe, NC. I met the Principal, several teachers and the secretaries. They are wonderful people and they reminded me so much of the people that I get the privileged of working with each and every day. Thank you Tommy and thank you BHESA Staff.

Miss you all,

Mike

How can I ever?

I hope this post finds all of you well. I'm sending this before the start of our second day. Yesterday we were blessed to have been able to visit the garbage dump in Quito, Ecuador. While the parents work for $35.00 a week about 35 children play in a little house or daycare center. We were able to visit with these children and share some time with Pastor Jose, who leads 5 ministries at the dump. They are so fortunate to have such a loving pastor. Please pray for this man and his family. He has been doing this for 9 years. For Jose, Faith is not a weekend thing. He lives it and believes it every day. The children were so happy to see us and spend time with us. Our time there was short, but it will forever be tattooed in my brain. I felt selfish as I left there for all the little things I had ever complained about.

After our trip to the Quito dump we spent time preparing with other Extreme Response members for our afternoon Christmas party where we played games, met Santa, sang praise songs and delivered meals to all of those that attended. It was a great party we fed and ministered to almost 500 poor and homeless people. Thank God for allowing me this opportunity! And thanks to those of you who continue to pray and those that supported this outreach for me and the Southbrook Team!

Lovingly,

Mike

Back for the First Time

I'm back sitting in the airport in Charlotte, preparing for another trip. Usually I am flying to see family or friends. However, today I'm back for the first time. This time my trip isn't to make myself content, but to make others lives better. Am I worthy, can I do this daunting task? Of course, together with our team from Southbrook, and with God, we can do all things!

This is my first trip that was planned with a giving heart and not a receiving heart. You see usually when we travel we plan to get something out of it. Maybe seeing a place we have never been, or seeing someone we haven't seen in a long time, we always seem to want to get something out of it. Back for the first time, I realize there is nothing I want to get, but just something I want to share!

Back for the first time and about to leave .... see you on the other side of the equator!

Mike

Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope all of you that read this are having or had a great day with your family and loved ones. We had an awesome day at school on Wednesday providing over 160 families with Thanksgiving day meals. Over 100 volunteers showed up to help our community. Sally and Karen (our counselors) did a great job of organizing our lists, and the Benton Heights and Southbrook team really came together to get the job done. I said to the crowd, that sometimes I go home from work defeated and wondering if I'm worthy of such a tremendous task of leading this school and the challenges we face. It can be sometimes overwhelming. However, looking out and speaking to these volunteers reminds me that I don't have to do it all alone. I have you guys by my side! For that I am thankful.

Please share with those that you know my appreciation and the appreciation of our staff and our families for serving the community of Monroe. I have included a quote from one of our volunteers that was sent to me last night after the experience was over.

"Todays Thanksgiving turnout and delivery was amazing. I cant tell you how much joy we all got out of delivering those dinners to families of our own school. I wanted to thank you and Southbrook for allowing us the opportunity do this..it sure made my Thanksgiving! =)"

Another teacher brought one of her students with her, yes that's right, she went to his house on his day off from school and brought him along to do this community service project. In knowing this person I know her intent was for him to see all the good that is this world. By all the good I mean, the giving, the volunteers, the work effort, the caring, etc. etc. What this young man saw today will undoubtedly impact this young man for a long time. It just may be the experience that helps him turn the corner.

We having been talking about how things go viral (in a good way), you know something starts with one person and then spreads like wild fire among a community, or our society. Here's an example. You can check out when your done reading.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwRo0iCvoYE

Yesterday we went viral in Monroe! Thanks, for all you did!

I am thankful for a loving staff, a loving church, a loving family but most importantly a loving God!

What a great day!

Mike

Chuck E. Cheese

I find it pretty clever that Chuck puts a big E. for his middle initial instead of going with the obvious Chukie Cheese. It show's he comes from class. Last week I received a calendar request from my wife for Wednesday (Veterans Day). The subject line said "family day don't make any plans". I know better than to decline that invitation on my calendar. I may be 6'7" but when the 5'2" Italian says those words, I know to back off of my busy schedule and put in my time with the family.

Well for "family day" I had planned for us to go on a hike up to Morrow Mt. or possibly Cane Creek. As you know the weather didn't cooperate with our plans so we ended up at Chuck E. Cheese. What a way to spend a day off from an Elementary School Principal job, surrounded by 400 wild and crazed kids. We arrived around 12:00, the scene reminded me of our school each morning when we unload the buses and open the breakfast line. Organized chaos at it's best. The kids of course found all the bells whistles and must to be exciting. We found a table and gave Nick and Lily their tokens. Fifteen minutes later Nick was back and Lily had half of her tokens still in her little cup. You see Nick had found a game that was stimulating to him. He popped token after token after token into this game, he couldn't control his new addiction to this game. Ability to conserve, lost. Lily on the other hand was more curios than anything. She wandered and wondered what she wanted to do next. She tried a little of this and a little of that. Content on just a taste of each thing off the menu and not spending all of her tokens on one thing.


What does this have to do with school. Think of your classroom as Chuck E. Cheese for minute, specifically think of your literacy block. Chuck's engineers know how to set the place up. You provide a little of something for everyone. They even have a playground for those kids like Nick that run out of their tokens. Our classrooms are the same way. We have students that lose their ability to manage their time because they get so caught up in what they are reading or the project they are working on. In some cases things they shouldn't be doing right? These are the students that get caught up in the long chapter books they just can't put down. The kids that will write until we have to physically rip the pencil from their paws. We also have students that like a little bit of this and a little bit of that. For some that "little bit" we talk about needs to be a little bit longer. These our are student that love short stories or non-fiction. Neither is bad, one is not better than the other. We as teachers need to learn to mold and shape our students to have both habits of reading.

My point is balance. How are you finding the right balance for your students? Are you working to find the right books for your students to be in? Are you challenging your kids to try different activities to diversify themselves? Is your classroom library stimulating enough or organized enough that students can do the little bits and the big bits? Some of you are working very hard on the structure and consistency of your literacy block. I challenge you to continue to do this. I challenge you to know your students and make your literacy block like Chuck E. Cheese. Some thing for everyone!

I really like that "E."

Playfully Yours,

Mike

Authentic Excellence

Today we celebrated excellence. 84 Benton Heights Tigers were recognized for academic excellence in the first nine weeks of the 2009-2010 school year. With these 84 students came, parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and even a few friends of the family. Altogether we were blessed to have over 200 folks in our cafeteria this morning. So much so that I didn't even get a biscuit, I guess that was God taking care of my prayer to overcome gluttony today.

I recently heard someone say that today's excellence doesn't equal excellence from 10 years ago, or 20 years ago. That for one to be truly excellent there must be some authenticity to the honor to which they are receiving. He went on to say that sometimes we are quick to reward for merit or achievement and it becomes a norm and we are not truly recognizing excellence. I related this to making sure every child gets a chance to be the line leader or the terrific kid. This is not a slam on any of these things. I do have a part of me that says everyone should get a chance to be those things. However, I agee with the statement of authenticity. Bottom line, some rewards are not for everyone. I will never be the MVP of the NBA, I'll never make the cut on the PGA tour. Just because people like me and that I'm a good person doesn't mean I should get these awards. I don't think honor roll should be given out like trick or treat candy, and I'm not saying it was. Our students should have to get A's the old fashion way, "earn them". (Remember that commercial?)

Let's get to the point. How do you recognize authentic excellence in your classroom? Did you recognize your students that were on the honor roll in some special way today in your classroom? Did you tell them how proud you were of them? Did you build them up in front of their peers? Excellence begets excellence, translation - this special attention will spread fast throughout our building. When students see us recognizing these positive things in an authentic way they will work harder to achieve these great things. Not every student is an honor roll student; however each student has the opportunity to be authentically excellent. Maybe it's Johnny's first day that he turned in his homework today. Have you recognized Johnny for this? Did you tell him how proud you were? This is authentically excellent for Johnny, he should get a reward for this, but there should be some type of recognition.

I had a conversation with a good friend of mine the other day. She told me that she thought she was going to get a promotion in her job. She felt like she had worked hard to do all things her boss had asked her to do. She didn't get the promotion. Why? doing the things you are supposed to do isn't authentically excellent and should not be rewarded. Doing something out of the ordinary that goes above and beyond is what should be rewarded.

I want to personally congratulate those of you that go above and beyond and are authentically excellent. I also personally want to congratulate all of our students for their authentic academic excellence for the first nine weeks. One last thing, as a coach I would always say that big plays are contagious. Translation ... if one of our players, made a great steal and went in for a dunk, and that was followed by a great stop on defense then surely another great offensive play would happen, because excellence begets excellence. More times than not this did happen, a great possession, taking time of the clock and scoring, a big three point shot, or getting fouled and going to the line after making the shot (and one). This is true in your classrooms as well. Keep pushing your students, have high standards and celebrate the opportunities when authentic excellence is witnessed.

Authentically,

Mike

One Size Fits All

Yeah right! I was 6' 2" in the fifth grade and have had a few embarrassing encounters with the whole one size fits all craze. I have to say, for the typical kid growing up the one size fits all approach is a great way to buy clothes, you typically can't go wrong. But does the same hold true in other arenas as well? No!

Most parents will tell you that what worked to get one of your children to sleep at 2:00 in the morning did not work for the second. Or that because your son ate the whipped up sweet potatoes, doesn't necessarily mean that your daughter will eat them.

I'm learning this all too quickly. For Nick, school comes easily, he doesn't really have to work at it. He became a reader naturally, it seemed that one day he came home and could read. For Lily it's different. We are working with her to identify letter sounds and to use that strategy to decode unfamiliar words. She has a great site word vocabulary, but struggles with unfamiliar words because of some phoneme challenges.

I have continually been asked, or should I say told, by some people who are very close to me in our building that there is a fear of what exactly consistency and structure translates to. Do all the Who's in Whoville need to be whoing the same way? No! That is not how consistency and structure is applied in this situation. There is no one size fits all.

I do not expect to see the same lesson going on in all six classrooms with the same vocabulary. I do expect everyone to be teaching similar standards, from the same adoption (Investigations), with similar strategies. However, it very rarely looks the same, and that's a good thing, because all of our students are different. They all have different needs. Even in your own classroom what you do for one child should be much different than what you do for others. Think of Bill Murray in Ground Hog's Day or Jim Carey in "The Truman Show". These scenarios although very dramatized are not what help us become better educational leaders.

Please don't take this message to mean that we can now be wild and free. My stance is still the same and we are making some great strides to make our instructional day more meaningful for all our students. With Structure, we need to be providing the framework for our students to be successful each and every day. With Consistency - there should be no surprises for our students when they walk into our classrooms. Should my classroom, mirror that of my grade level colleagues? Yes, but it's a carnival mirror. You may be stretching in one direction that is different than your neighbor.

In all my four years as Principal at BH I have not seen as much teacher growth than I have seen in these first 12 weeks of school. I thank you for that and encourage you to continue to seek ways to improve and try on some new things, no matter what the size.

You Carry Me Through!

I may have told you about the Turk before, but in case I haven't I want to share who he is. Y0u know the voice in your head that tells you that everything is going wrong, that you're no good, that you can't handle the situation? That's the Turk. The Turk has been challenging me all week. We have had some interesting things happen to us all week. I'm drawn to my faith in God to get me through these times through prayer. But I've also found that I have surrounded myself with good people that can help me get through any situation. I am blessed because they are part of my life. It reminds me of a great song, here's part of the Chorus, and if you can tell me who wrote it, I'll give you a fish pass.

And when my mind is free
You know a melody can move me
And when I'm feelin' blue
The guitar's comin' through To soothe me

Thanks for the joy that you've given me
I want you to know I believe in your song
And rhythm and rhyme and harmony
You help me along Makin' me strong

Oh, give me the beat boys and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock n roll
And drift away
Give me the beat boys and free my soul I wanna get lost in your rock n roll
And drift away


Translation - Verse 1 -

When the turk is challenging us and our minds are wandering freely, the melody of our school gets me back on track. The melody of a great teaching, students laughing and having fun, hugs, smiles, laughter, etc. etc. This music that we make crushes the turk and reminds us of our missioin and purpose.

Translation - Verse 2

Thank you for guiding me along this week and reminding me it's the strong melodies that we need to focus our attention on. We can all be guided by our common belief, our common vision, this will carry us along through the times that the Turk is challenging us.

Translation - Verse 3

Keep giving us the beat of what we know and hold true as important for our students. Focus on that and we will get lost in what is great rather than what is overwhelming for a few minutes of our day.

Driftin Away,

Mike

Do You Know Me?

This week we were challenged by Dr. Dudley Flood to know all of our students as individuals. He later said that once we felt like we knew our students as individuals that we should compare our original beliefs to our previous beliefs. In my personal experiences, I admit that I have passed judgment on people before knowing them. I think if we are all honest with our selves we do the same thing. This is especially true when we look at individuals from other cultures. Point in case, how often when you get your class list do you ask others about the students you will have in your class. We race to think about how many students from each ethnicity or how many boys and how many girls we have. Before we get to know them we have a perception of who they are, how they behave, and worst of all how much their parents value the education of their child.

I learned this week that the power of knowing our students as individuals helps make the school as a whole a better place. Think about the mosaics our fifth graders created and hung in the cafeteria this week. Our fifth graders taught us that by knowing how each piece fit individually on the mosaics a masterpiece could be created. Each person had an individual role, knowing when and where they fit, they felt valued to be part of the creation of something great. Each of our classrooms is a mosaic. We are all creating this years work of art. Let's not have any Van Goghs out there.

The same is true of our school. If we work to know each of our students as individuals like each piece of the mosaic our finished product will be a masterpiece. One that is not measured by test scores, but a positive learning experience that motivates higher education and productive citizenship. If you don't trust this, look at the pictures to the right of your screen and what our students created this week. This type of work was not done by students that are low achievers. This was done by great kids, with a determination for success. Guiding them down that path is our challenge. How do we do that? Get to know who they are! Challenge your perceptions. Go deeper with the students on a personal level than you ever have. We had a teacher in our building that became a great assistant principal that used to do a home visit with each of her students before the school year began so that she could get to know them. It's not by accisdent that she always had the best scores in her grade level.

I read a story with a first grader today. The title of his story was "My Favorite Vacation." My inferencing skills were way off, by the title I thought we would be talking about Disney World or the Beach. His vacation was to his teacher assistants house last year, when he got to feed the geese and play at her house. It's not by coincidence that this child is having a greater year this year than last! How many of us talk about our favorite vacations the same way. Do you understand the power and influence you can have? A phone call, a special note, a visit to a baseball game, or a dance recital. These lessons go beyond the classroom, and raise the learning capacity of our students.

Thank you Dr. Flood, and thank you Ms. Crosier. You have motivated me this week to understand our students as individuals, because the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.

Humbly Yours,

Mike

The Apple

My grandfather joined us on one of our families trek's up to watch my brother swim at Fredonia State University. I was in high school and I didn't really want to go. After a lecture from my father about how to keep Mom happy I fell in line. Because if Momma isn't happy, nobody's happy!

Unbeknown to me, my parents planned to stop on the way there and pick fresh apples. How could they do this to me. We spent about an hour filling bushels of apples and piled back in the car. My grandfather kept a few in his flannel pocket. He polished the apple and handed it to me. With his pocket knife he carved slices of his apple and ate it right of the flat edge of his knife. I ate mine in large chunks, right down to the core.

The thing that strikes me is how vivid I can remember this, how I wished that apple didn't have a core. This was not an ordinary apple, it was one I was sharing with my grandfather, one that he had picked and hid in his pocket for us to share on our adventure to see my brother. To this day every time I eat an apple I think of that day. To be honest, I've tried to think of a story about my grandfather all week and this one will not leave my mind. It was meant to be shared.

You see, you never know when the memories you will recall 20 years from now will happen. I'm sure many of you, like my children, and myself, have many fond memories of your grandparents. I think of all the things my children get to do with their grandparents, and how much it will mean to them 20 year from now. I encourage them to always spend time with them, I invite them to share our special moments with us as a family.

This week we have the opportunity to shape some special moments for our students and their grandparents. I encourage you to make this opportunity special for all your students, you see when are emotions and attitudes about school are filled with excitement our learning and memory becomes incredibly strong.

An Apple A Day,

Mike

Safe Zone vs. Faith Zone

Every Monday I get up a little earlier than most days and meet with a group of my friends at the Sun Valley Cafe. This week our Pastor invited all of our Mens groups, or anyone looking for a group, to meet at our central campus in Weddington. His message was on leaving the safe zone and entering the faith zone. As I sat their and listened to this message I drew an analogy to our profession. Sometimes we teach in the safe zone, sometimes we teach in the faith zone, and sometimes we teach in the danger zone, (another message, another day).

When I say we teach in the faith zone, I'm not saying we expect divine intervention in our lesson plans. What I am saying is that we have faith in ourselves, faith in the curriculum staff and faith in the leadership of our grade levels, of our school, of our district, and of our state. When we can all committ to a common goal and a common way to get to that goal, we call it faith and sometimes faithfulness. With faith, their is no fate. We have faith that what we are doing will lead to what we want. Think about it without faith in the way we educated children in a formal system of schooling where would we be. Here's an example, not long ago we believed that only men should be educated, furthermore only white men. We committed, through faith, that this was an injustice and as teachers we did something about it, becasue we committed to it. Now, in the United States we educate every person regardless of income, gender, ethnicity, etc. etc.

When I say we teach in the safe zone, I'm saying we are comfortable. I do my lesson plans, I come to work, pack my lunch, grade my papers, pull out last years test, and move on to another day. We are safe, affraid to try a new program, affraid to abandon one of our old lesson plans. We are safe in our routine, what time we teach reading, what time we do word work, changing that would challenge our sense of security. I think of Linus and his security blanket.

I am committed, through faith, to making our students, our school and our teachers successful. I have faith that this will happen. When we add up all of our faith, we create a powerful force. Never doubt that power, committ yourself to the mission of this school. I'm already beginning to see the great things that this committment can do for our students.

Faithfully,

Mike

Now You're Thinking

Growing up my Dad would always challenge me to come up with the answers to the questions that I asked rather than just giving it to me the easy way. Kids ask their Fathers and Mothers questions because at the time we think they are the smartest people around. My Dad is the player you hate to play against in Trivia Pursuit. He is a Jeopardy Snob, no one can answer any of the questions because he doesn't let Alex finish the answer.

When my father and I would go on short or long trips together, I would inevitably ask him questions, I was a curios and nosy child, rather than give me a one word response he would lead me to the answer by challenging me with another question. At the time, I figured he was just giving me a hard time or teasing me. Inevitably what should have been a two minute conversation in the car always wound up taking 10 or 15. Like clockwork when I did come up with the right answer he would always use the line "Now You're Thinking." I think this was from one of his favorite T.V. shows at the time, but right now I can't remember which one. (I would love to learn which show this comes from so I can reference the show in a more appropriate way.)

What I've come to realize is that my Dad has helped me become a problem solver, he has forced me to be a critical thinker so that I can challenge the status qua of what ever career I chose. For 12 years now I have found myself challenging the status qua of an Elementary Title One School, and cutting my hair more often to hide my Grey. Thanks Pop!

I think about my son Nicholas and how quickly he can get information. Google, Wikipedia, Cha Cha etc. etc. What did we do B.G. (Before Google) and who did we ask before Jeeves came along? There is even a new service you can call on your cell phone that you can ask a question and the response will be sent to you via text message in minutes (Cha Cha). All of this is great, and a great resource to our students as learners, but what about problem solving and critical thinking. Are we crippling our minds by the instant access we have to all types of information?

This is why I love our new math program. As I walk from room to room during your math block I feel like I'm in a disco lounge with strobe lights. I see the light bulbs of your students brains going off at such a rapid pace I feel like. I feel as if I need to go get my disco shoes, butterfly collar and gold chains. We are starting to make them critical thinkers, problem solvers, connoisseurs of questions and I love it. Our students need these skills so they can take their technology skills to new heights. If we continue to provide them with the structure of a program that challenges them to think critically and find more than one way to solve a problem, we will undoubtedly experience higher growth results than we have ever seen before.

Why is this important? We are training our students for jobs, that don't even exist. Check out this video which is also on our moodle site right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q75KhAeqJg


Stayin Alive!

Mike

Lily's Big Day

Please allow me to take a break from wearing my principal hat and allow me to wear my Daddy hat for a while. This was a big week for us at the Harvey house. My daughter Olivia, A.K.A. Lily, has decided to put three exciting events into one week.

Tuesday, August 18th, my daughter turned 5 years old. I rushed home from work to be a parent and not a principal, and I do demand the same from you on these precious occasions that we can only witness once. We celebrated with her friends and our family, and while I was happy for her, and in awe of her energy, it was saddening to realize that her days of calling me Daddy and sitting in my lap are going by way to fast.

On Thursday when I got home, she had decided to show me how she had learned to ride her two wheel bike all by herself. Allow me to share a proud Dad moment, it only took her a day. Check out this video of her riding for the first time on two wheels.



On Monday, Lily starts her first day of school as a Kindergarten student at Rea View Elementary. It will be an emotional morning for me when I watch her go off to school, but I know she will be under the care of some of the most special people who walk the face of this earth, TEACHERS!

Remember:

Treat your students as you would want your own child to be treated.

Treat others as you want to be treated.

And Treat Yourself every once and a while to some special time with the ones you love.

Ready Set Know

We had a great response from our first PTA function of the year. Ready Set Know! This approach was different than how we have traditionally done things for our open house event. If you're a parent, I hope you found this meeting beneficial, if you're a teacher I hope you found this easier to manage the communication with so many people. As an administrator, I can say that this was a positive experience for us as well. We were able to share information in a way that met the needs of our entire population in an effective and efficient way, and at the end.....we ate!

The word feedback comes to mind when I reflect on the process we used to organize this event. We have used the feedback we have received over the past few months from our staff and from our parents. We took the feedback put our heads together and came up with a solution to meet the needs of our customers. Are you taking the same approach in your classroom?

We sometimes forget to take the instructional feedback we get from our students and utilize them to the fullest potential. I encourage you to think about this. As you are getting to know your students and realize their strengths and needs who is the first person you share them with. What tone do you share weaknesses in? A teacher told me today that she was always up for a challenge, but needed help to climb the mountain. We decided that we would come up with a plan that will help not just her up the mountain but the other people and our students up the mountain as well.

Other grade levels are doing the same thing. I have noticed in our weekly meetings with you that you are starting to have the important conversations. I have enjoyed your data meetings, your working on the work meetings, and now your model classroom meetings. I have enjoyed the conversations about students more so than I have ever enjoyed the conversations about jean days, fish passes, discipline or duty free lunch.

I encourage you to focus on our legitimate educational needs or our students. To continue to climb the mountain, to get in the game, don't just be a spectator at your meetings, to seek the feedback, accept the feedback, then act upon it. When you get to the top of the mountain, enjoy the view. The journey will be a challenge, but the view at the top will be worth it.

Just Ask

Have you ever wanted something so bad, but were to afraid to ask for it? We're often too afraid to ask for things because of our fear of being told no. Funny thing is, most times when we work up the nerve to actually ask for it, in more cases than not we've received what it was we ask for.

Working at a title one school I've heard over and over that we need parents to get more involved. We have special budget codes, because across this nation we have assumed that parents from low income families don't want to be involved. This is not the case, we have assumed they don't want to be involved. Rarely, have I asked a parent for help and been told no. We are finding out this year that this is still holding true.

At the first fourth grade parent meeting this year we had 90% of our parents in attendance. Some may say it was because of the doughnuts, but I disagree. Our fourth grade teachers took the time to call the parents of the students they serve and they responded amazingly.

100% of the parents you don't ask to show up will never show up. We were challenged at Church the other week to invite someone to attend one of our Sunday services. The pastor said the same thing, 100% of the people you don't ask wont show up, but at least ask.

Our PTA executive board met tonight and one of our parent volunteer coordinators reported that she had every class covered with a room mom. Her biggest fear was that some of the teachers were uncomfortable with having a room mom. I want to share one of the greatest lessons I know to be true; When parents are in the school, children know that all adults, not just the teachers, want them to be academically successful, whether its their parent or not.

I've tried really hard not to use any cliches, but here goes, "it takes a village to raise a child." Sorry, I could not resist. I encourage you to actively enlist the parents of your class to join our PTA, to be at the functions our school sponsors, to be part of their nightly reading, to help out with the little things that need to get done, but you just don't have time for. Who knows, you might just get what you ask for........

A Week of Firsts

Monday we welcomed the class of 2022! 134, four and five year-old students entered our doors for their first week of school. There are very few things I remember from my days as a Kindergarten student. However, writing helps me relive some of the profound events that happened during that year.

When I went to Kindergarten we only went for half days. We played blocks a lot. Ronnie Jenkins jumped out the bathroom window and ran home. I was the tallest student in my class, and at 5 years old was almost as tall as Mrs. Glickman, my teacher. My mom would have triangle cut peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ready for me when I got home from school, and by the way, we walked to and from school, uphill both ways, and in 6 feet of snow (I'm from Buffalo), it was really 30 below zero with the windchill.

Back to the point. Our theme for this year is Structure, Consistency and No Excuses. Many of the children that populate the class of 2022 will have significant challenges. Many will have resource challenges, some will have language barriers, many will come from broken homes, some have been through trials that the grown ups in our buildings have not seen before. We have a choice to make; 1. Make an Excuse or 2. Open new doors. The law of attraction states "if you truly believe in your success and what you will be, it will happen." You've heard this from me before, and you will hear it again. We cannot make excuses for our students, we can not allow our parents to make excuses for their children. We must find a way for each child to experience success.

This week our students will have their first taste of success in reading, their first collective cheer for problem solving in math, the first celebration of publishing their first written word, their first expression of creativity through dance, or drama, the first creation of a masterpiece of art that will surely make Mom and Dad proud enough to hang on the fridge for all to see.

To me this is one of the greatest opportunities and adult could ask for. The opportunity to be the first person to introduce so many exciting new things. I get emotionally charged when I read the drop out rates for students in school. I wonder where or when it was that this young man or young woman realized that dropping out of school was better than enduring the challenges of adults who want to open the doors of success for us.

This week; let's open that first door! Welcome class of 2022!

Open Dream Ensemble

What a great experience, for our BHESA tigers today! We were visited by the Open Dream Ensemble. They did a performance for our students on the Wright Brothers and the trials of learning to fly and build an aircraft. They used our students as their test drive (not literally). The producers writers and cast performed two shows and afterward asked our teachers and our students what they could do better. WOW! What a noble thought. Professional artists asking kids what they can do better and actually listening to their audience. Artists asking non-artists about how they could improve.

I thought about the parallel to our profession.

Do we listen to our audience? Do we ever ask our students what they thought of our lesson, or our performance? Did they get it? Did they like it? The approach these performers took today reminded me that we are never above asking the two most important questions in the field of education. What can we do better? What can we do different? Often times we satisfy our own need to teach, but miss the students need to learn, because we don't ask the question. In teaching it's what did you learn today? If they can't answer it then we should re-think our performance. We should re-cast our crew. We should re-write our script. However often we file our production into the vault of lessons to be re-produced to next year's audience.

Remember to take time to think about what it is you want to teach, what it is you want your students to learn, ask the questions and perform as if you were on stage seeking the response you have worked so hard for, the silent applause of a mind that has just learned something new.

And Action.......................................................

Structure, Consistency, No Excuses

Structure, Consistency and No Excuses

I know you probably expected the old football coach in me to start with No Excuses. I'm t throwing you a curve ball here, keep you on your feet and let you know which one of these three words I feel is the most important. I would like the focus of our time this week to be spent thinking about consistency. Consistency is defined as, - steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc.

How does one have a steadfast adherence to a course that has not yet been embarked upon? Simply put, you can not be consistent on something that you have not yet started to do. Monday will be the first day of your journey on the course you plan to take this year. I encourage you to stick with that course as long as it is the course you and I can agree will take our students to the place they need best.

I had the privilege last week to interview the President of Football Operations for The Carolina Panthers, Mark Richardson. I asked him questions about employee development, customer service, public relations, team building. He responded to me that these things were established at the onset of this organization. They have deliberately maintained a consistent approach to how they do things, why they do things, and a litmus test that has withstood the test of time. Their test is based on a similar principle that I have shared with you in the past. We treat our customers as if we would want our granddaughters treated if they were to go to a football game. There is no Grey area, the lines are very clearly drawn.

Draw your lines, start your routines, and do it everyday.