Choose Kind

We live in a world of put downs, reality shows that encourage name calling and fist fights, gossip magazines and television programs that highlight celebrities making poor choices. News reports highlight crime and wrongdoing. Negative headlines are the norm.  Even most comedy programming is based upon making fun of others.  Our kids are inundated on a daily basis with images of disrespect, violence, and generally uncouth behavior. So how are our youth supposed to view their world? How are they to determine how to treat others?

Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all made a conscious effort to "choose kind?"  As I reread RJ Palacio's Wonder this weekend, I hoped that Palacio's story would have a meaningful and positive impact on the students in our fifth grade classrooms. All of my fifth grade teachers chose to begin the year with one of my all-time favorite books as their first read aloud. 

In Wonder, Auggie Pullman's unique differences are a daily battle for him.  He experiences the stares, the name-calling, and the lack of tolerance first-hand.  This book is a portrayal of how cruel society can be when someone is viewed as "different."  It is my hope that this book can help our students learn that those who can look beyond appearances and choose to treat others with kindness will help make the world a better place. 

Each day in our building, we say our school pledge that includes "Today I will do the right thing and treat people right."  It is our hope that we can help our students internalize those beliefs and practice them daily.  I am proud of my fifth grade teachers for choosing such an inspiring story to start the year with.  As our fifth graders become familiar with the wonder of Wonder, I hope that they can begin to see the world from Auggie's perspective and make a conscious effort to "Choose Kind."

 

 

 Book Trailer for Wonder by RJ Palacio via youtube.com

 

 

Kicking Off the Year Promoting Reading

This summer,  as I was contemplating the goals I would set for myself for the new school year, one idea kept rising to the top.  I set my sights on becoming the lead reader and number one promoter of reading at my school.  Why?  I want my students and staff to love books and reading just as much as I do.  I want all of my students to be successful readers and lifelong learners.  If I am not the lead reader in the building and setting an example for others, how can I expect my staff and my students to be avid readers?

Here are 5 things I have done to kick off the school year promoting reading at Mayflower Mill.

1.  Summer Reading
This summer I decided that I was going to buckle down and do a lot of reading in preparation for the school year.  I had set a goal for myself to read at least 20 professional, children's, and young adult books.  I surpassed that goal, also reading some best selling "grown up"  novels.  I made reading a priority in my summer plans and was excited to share my summer reading picks with others.  When I returned to school in mid-July, I began creating a collage on the door to my office to advertise the books I read this summer.  It's been a hit with both students and staff, and I have great recommendations to pass along. 

2.  180 #bookaday Challenge
To get students excited about books and reading, I announced that I would be doing a 180 #bookaday challenge.  I will read one picture book a day for each day we are in school.  Each morning on our daily announcements,  I give a brief review of the book I read the day before.  I include the title and author of the book and end my review with some type of hook that I hope will make everyone else want to read the book too.  I created a bulletin board in my office for a monthly display of the books I am reading for my #bookaday challenge. I am also strategically placing myself in prime locations to read the books so that students see me reading.  One day I sat near the entrance to the lunchroom as my second graders were entering.  They got really excited, and I heard many whispers of, "Look!  Ms. Higgins is reading another book!" 

3.    Staff Book Study:  The Book Whisperer
One of the books that inspired me to be a bigger promoter of reading was The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller (@donalynbooks).  I was so inspired, in fact, that I purchased this book for all of my teachers.  We will be reading it and discussing it during our morning professional development time.  I am hoping that many of them will feel just as inspired as I did after reading it. 




Currently Reading: About the Authors: Writing Workshop with Our Youngest Writers by Katie Wood Ray

4.  Currently Reading:  Promoting Books Via Email
I saw this idea on Twitter.  I added a line at the end of my email signature that identifies what I'm currently reading.  I update my signature each time I begin a new professional book.  This is a great way to advertise to everyone I communicate with that reading is important to me. 

got stamina?



5.  Stamina Challenge
Mayflower Mill is a Daily 5/CAFE school.  Therefore, we begin each year with building our students' reading stamina.  "Read to Self" is the first component of Daily 5 that we teach to all students.  This is done by the teachers working with the students to identify what it should look like, feel like, and sound like during a time they are reading to themselves.  Then, teachers allow students to read independently and train them to increase their stamina so that they can build up the amount of time they can stay on task with their reading.  One way we promote increasing stamina is by having a Reading Stamina Challenge.  I have the teachers chart their students' daily stamina time and then collect the average number of minutes each class was able to read independently for the week.  I then announce their average reading stamina times on the morning announcements and congratulate them on their efforts.  This challenge is a fun way to get the students excited about being independent readers. 



So, there you have it!  5 ways that I am building excitement for reading this year.  There are many more plans in the works, so I will provide updates as the school year progresses. 

Are You Ready?

"Are you ready for school to begin?"  It's one of the most popular questions we educators get asked by friends, relatives, acquaintances, students, parents--pretty much anyone who knows what we do. If I had a dollar for every time I had been asked this question, I would be well on my way to purchasing a second home in the South of France.   As I have been asked about this over and over again during the past few weeks, my answer has never wavered--Yes!  I am so ready for school to begin!  I can't wait!

Don't get me wrong, I love my summer vacation.  It is a time for me to relax, reflect, and re-energize.  However, by the end of July I start getting antsy.  I come down with "Back-to-School-itis."  I begin to get excited about all of the promising possibilities a new school year brings.  I begin thinking about my wonderful students and staff and long to be back with all of them, witnessing the miracle of learning.  For me, this is the most exciting time of the year. 

I wonder...how do you answer that question?  Regardless of how you answer, the first day of school is just around the corner.  You have the power to set the tone for your school year by being excited it's here. Or you can choose to begin the year feeling depressed that summer has come to a close.  I choose to set myself, my staff, and my students up for the best school year ever--because I truly am ready!  I hope you feel the same sense of joy and excitement as I do!

I can't wait! Let's do this!

To the Twitterverse and Beyond! (A Tweep is Born)

I guess you could say I am still a Social Media "infant."  I've only existed in the "Twitterverse" for 6 months.  Why did it take me so long to get on board?   Well, I was one of the many Twitter hold-outs.  I just couldn't understand how Twitter could possibly be useful to me at age 40+.  Heck, I'm not even on Facebook!  Wasn't Twitter the younger generation's "thing?"  Well, according to two of my teachers, Twitter was becoming a great source of professional development for them.  It was giving them inspiration, and they began encouraging me to check it out.  Still, I was hesitant to put myself out there.  I had no clue how to "Tweet!" However, seeing their excitement began peaking my curiosity.  So one evening last February, I finally decided I was going to give it a go. 

Much to my surprise, I found setting up my Twitter account to be fairly easy.  The site walks you through a simple step-by-step process.  I had heard that picking your screen name was pretty important.  Since I knew that I was going to use this account as a professional tool, I decided to go with the handle @MMEPrincipal.  Knowing a few of my teachers and principal colleagues were already connected helped me begin choosing who to add to my PLN.  (Personal Learning Network,  for you newbies!)  Once I got all set up and sent out my first official tweet, I was welcomed into a whole new world that would transform me in ways I could never have imagined.  It took me a while to get the hang of mentions, hashtags, and chats, but it's like anything else--you learn by doing!

Though I've only been on Twitter for 6 months, in that short time frame I feel like I have been reborn.  A whole new world of learning has opened up to me.  I have learned so much from other people all over the world.  Not only have I made connections with fellow principals and teachers, but I have also connected with Twitter friends who are authors, bloggers, librarians--and generally just very smart people!  I have become a voracious reader--of blogs, of books, of ideas being streamed non-stop through my Twitter-feed.  Most importantly, I feel I have truly become the lead learner in my building.  Social media has inspired me and given me the vehicle to navigate this important role!

One of the first smart people I followed was @PrincipalJ.  One of my fifth grade teachers, @MMEGrade5, had forwarded something to me that she had written about her school's  journey into implementing Daily 5 and CAFE school-wide.  This really resonated with me because we were doing the same thing at my school.  It was a great feeling to know there was someone else out their leading her building through this process.  As soon as I realized @PrincipalJ also shared many of her other ideas and reflections via a blog, I decided I wanted a piece of that action as well!  I caught the blogging bug,  and A Principal's Pensieve was born. 

I will say that I have done a much better job keeping up with my Twitter account than my blog.   After over 1,000 Tweets and having the very surprising honor of being named one of 48 Indiana Educators to Follow by @StateImpactIN, I'm  feeling pretty comfortable within the confines of 140 characters.  However, I am less confident in my ability to write with enough finesse to attract readers to my blog.  And I thought I was putting myself out there via Twitter!  I had no idea how daunting writing lengthier pieces for the entire world to read can be.  Blogging really exposes you and makes you feel extremely vulnerable.  However, I'm happy to say that I've finally come to the realization that I just need to get over it!  I realize that I need to have this outlet to reflect and write about things that are important to me.  My posts do not look like they are professionally written , but they do contain my thoughts, my reflections, my opinions, my hopes and dreams, and they also help express who I am. As you are reading this,  I hope there will be a small part of this born-again social media geek that will resonate with you, just as so many terrific bloggers have done for me.  (A small sample of some great blogs is listed on my homepage.) 

If you are one of the hold-outs who has been hearing the buzz about Twitter or other social media outlets but you're still afraid to give it a try, I urge you get out of your comfort zone and just dive in!  If I can do it, anyone can!  You will not regret granting yourself access to a professional development portal that is open 24 hours a day/7 days a week.  There are great minds out there who love to share their knowledge and continue to help all of us remain a committed and cohesive group of lifelong learners.  So don't miss out--get connected!  You'll be glad you did!

Preparing Classrooms for Another Year of Learning

I started back to work this week, and I am impressed with the number of teachers who have already begun working in their classrooms.  We had quite a bit of construction in the building over the summer, and many of them have been chomping at the bit to get into their classrooms and begin setting up for the big day--August 14.  It will be here before we know it! 

This is an exciting time for me too because in addition to preparing the school for students and staff to return, I also have a classroom to prepare.  I am fortunate to have an extra room in which I can hold all of my Instructional Improvement Blocks (IIBs).  IIB is a daily time block in which we meet as an entire elementary staff for a 30 minute professional development session.  This summer all of our textbook deliveries were placed in this room, which meant I spent the entire day on Tuesday unpacking boxes and delivering books to the classrooms--I lost count after box number 124.  Yes, that's a lot of books!  Now that the books and cardboard boxes are out of there, it is up to me to create a welcoming environment in my classroom.  Hmm...what to do?

Last year, I put up a CAFE board and Daily 5 choice chart as focal points in the classroom.  We are school-wide with both, and I wanted to keep the staff focused on them throughout the year. I created cute little strategy cards for the bulletin board and hung them under each letter of CAFE, thinking it would be a great visual.  I referenced the board a few times during our IIBs, but I didn't give my teachers any ownership in this display.  There were countless days that we spent honing our skills in D5 and CAFE in which I would show videos, share teaching strategies and expectations, teachers would share ideas and collaborate, and we would discuss our progress.  However, I kept forgetting about that wall!

This year, I plan to have the teachers create the strategy cards as we are focusing on them in our sessions.  Just as the teachers have the students create them as they are taught, I feel it would be meaningful to do the same with my teachers.  I have devoted one day per week to CAFE/D5 so that we stay up to date and current in our instructional practices.   Just as I expect my teachers to refer to their interactive CAFE boards during instruction and have their students take ownership, I will be doing the same with them.

So, in setting up my classroom, I will have the CAFE board and Daily 5 choices posted, but I will wait for my "students" to take this journey with me and record our learning as we go.  Even though we have been doing CAFE and Daily 5 school-wide for more than a year, there is always room to grow.  Plus this year we have 5 new teachers that will take this journey with us! 

As far as the rest of the room's decor?  Well, I have decided to leave the rest of the bulletin boards "bare" so that my teachers will have opportunities to show ownership of this classroom.  My goal will be to have them create items based on what we work on throughout the year.  I want it to be OUR classroom, not MY classroom.  As you reflect on decorating your classrooms this summer in preparation for the beginning of school, I urge you to think about whose classroom it is and how you can create a sense of ownership and community with your students. 

Will any of your bulletin boards be bare?