Grin and Share It!

Writing comes more easily if you have something to say.

~Sholem Asch

Once again I found myself in the learner’s seat. Guess what kids? Today, I learned how to create a podcast! Bridget, a patient soul from our district technology department, walked me through the steps to set up the podcast. What an excellent communication tool. With her expert help, I was able to transfer the written principal’s message in our school monthly newsletter to an audio format with a couple of bells and whistles. I can’t wait to see where it takes us from here!

This is shaping up to be a busy week with the second grade musical concert tomorrow and the chorus and chimes concert on Wednesday. Thursday ushers in our annual Read 2009, whereas members from the community join us to read with each grade level. The mayor, postman, librarian, fireman, policeman, and our superintendent come in to share their favorite picture book. This is always an exciting day for the students and staff as we enjoy hosting local community members at our school.

Tomorrow I am meeting with both of the second grade guided reading groups and wrapping up Diary of a Wimpy Kid with our fourth grade students. Although it is bittersweet that our time together has ended, I am happy to report that all kids are on board for the third book in the series to be released in January.

Today, I found myself buried in a plethora of discipline issues. If only I was able to control those unstructured times a.k.a. bussing and recess. J

Overheard today… “A positive attitude is the new black.”

Grin and share it,

Anastasia

First Grade Follies

If students do not see their teachers work successfully together,

they may never see two adults work successfully together.

~Todd Whitaker

The excitement in the building today was almost tangible. Student after student was stating – Cool, xxx is my teacher today! Can you believe my luck – I get xxxx for a teacher today! The students were surprisingly thrilled with the prospect of having a different teacher for the day. Needless to say, today was quite the day! After spending an entire day in first grade I have a renewed appreciation for all that our teachers do for our students! To say I am exhausted is an understatement. Typically, after a day of school, I am emotionally spent - well now you can add physically too! Those first graders sure keep you on your toes. Hitting the pause button is not an option.

There were so many “best” parts of my day I don’t know where to begin. Welcoming the students to class this morning was a pleasure. They were so joyful entering the room, some of them were even singing. Their sense of responsibility and maturity was impressive. They knew what they had to do and immediately got to work. They took off their snow gear, moved their lunch magnet to the right choice, and started on their morning work. This was without one word of prompting from me. Throughout the day they were polite and engaging. The morning was spent on literacy and by the mid-morning recess I found myself lagging behind in the lesson plans and had to kick it up a notch to get in the second group of guided reading before we went on to writing. After lunch we tackled math and the students were quite engaged in a SmartBoard lesson on fact families. This was followed by a special (physical education). While the students were in PE, I stopped in the office to check the mailbox and was amazed at the sense of calmness that was present. Now, since I know what has transpired in the office all day – this genuinely surprised me and enlightened my thinking on how others perceive the office. No wonder it is such a popular perching spot. J

One highpoint of the day was definitely watching the teachers in their new found roles. The new “first” grade teacher across the hallway from where I was teaching was actually a fifth grade teacher who was a bit apprehensive about teaching first grade. By morning recess she was hooked on the little guys and by the time the day ended I would swear that she floated out of the classroom glowing with compliments of her “new” students. However, truth be told, this was not the case throughout the building. I have to chuckle at another “new” teacher who, when the day began was bounding with energy, but by the end, the day proved to be more of a challenge than she had anticipated. I am quite sure it had something to do with one of our little boys eating the contents of a marker. J

At the end of the day we had our “Not a Box” staff meeting and it was absolutely wonderful. Listening to the staff share their days – the good, the bad, and the ugly proved to be heartwarming and hilarious. Most of all, one of the benefits is that it gave us a glimpse, although just for a day, of what happens in other parts of the building. I think all would agree that the day was challenging, but rewarding and proved to be an excellent learning experience. After all, that is what it is all about – being willing to reach out of your comfort zone, continuing to be lifelong learners. There is no doubt that we all added to our schema today and our sense of community is much stronger because of it.

With a sense of commitment and renewal,

Anastasia

ELATION!

Teaching is helping young people believe the impossible is possible.

~Todd Whitaker

One word – ELATION! I am so very excited to teach first grade tomorrow that I can barely contain myself! A full day teaching and learning with first graders is such a delicious treat! The first grade teacher for whom I will be “swapping” with for the Teacher Swap-O-Ramma E-mailed me a copy of the lesson plans after school and I have been refining them ever since that time. I just arrived home from a BOE Discipline Committee meeting, and although it is after 9:00 p.m., my mind is still whirling with the possibilities looming on the horizon. During the day today the students were chatting up who their teacher was going to be tomorrow – I can’t decide who is more excited – the teachers or the students. A fifth grade teacher got the lucky draw and will be the “principal” tomorrow. I need to run now so I can put the finishing touches on the lesson plans she will need for the second grade guided reading group plans.

Stay tuned…

Anastasia

It's All About Relationships!

Power in organization is the capacity generated by relationships.

~Margaret Wheatley

Relationships – pure and simple, that is what makes an organization a success. I am convinced on a daily basis that relationships are what truly matter and make an organization successful. Not just pedestrian relationships built on pleasantries, but enduring relationships built on trust.

Today was an exceptional day as the staff took our annual “Pink Photo.” The first Tuesday of the month is our official “Pink and Jeans” day for the staff of Sleepy Hollow. Staff may choose to wear jeans (accompanied with a pink top of their choice). They contribute $1.00 or more to our “pink” fund and all proceeds go to the Susan B. Komen breast cancer fund. The sense of community that this instills is extremely powerful and reminds us that we are all part of something greater and that, together, we can make a difference.

After the pink photo and morning announcements I had the pleasure of meeting with my additional group of guided reading for second grade. What a delightful group of young and talented readers! Working with students is always a highlight of my day. However, I did not have an opportunity to meet with the original group since we ran over the allotted time and I had a teacher evaluation scheduled. This caused some stress as I had to relay the unfortunate news to the second graders and the disappointed visage on one of the young readers made my heart sink. Therefore, I squeezed in some time to meet with the group for a brief five minutes prior to their lunch and then reworked my schedule to meet with them tomorrow. Since we have reconfigured all second graders into new groups, I will be taking two guided reading groups – this is posing all sorts of havoc to my schedule, but the kids are worth it!

The remainder of the day was captured by observation pre and post conferences, meetings, and other administrative duties. Fortunately, I was able to complete an informal walkthrough allowing me to touch base with the staff – a most enjoyable part of my day. I am definitely looking forward to Thursday, our official teacher Swap-o-ramma. This day will find all our teachers, including me, in different roles for the day. What a unique learning experience. I am thrilled to spend the entire day in first grade – what a treat!

Recently, I was informed that I, along with the two SAM’s at Sleepy Hollow School, will be attending the National SAM’s conference (gratis!) in New Orleans in February of 2009. This is an amazing opportunity and we are definitely looking forward to the trip.

With faith,

Anastasia

Hustle and Bustle - Celebrating American Education Week!

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us;

what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.

~Albert Pike

Eventful! That is the one word that succinctly captures the past few days. Sleepy Hollow is bustling with activities that support American Education Week. Tonight was our fifth annual Family Reading Night. The theme was Dogs, Dogs, Dogs! Author Craig Pierce joined us for an exciting tale of a day in the life of a greyhound. It makes one want to run out and adopt one of these adorable creatures! Additionally, over half of our staff was present to share a book with families – what a treat. We had close to 100 families that attended this well received event. As the author noted, Sleepy Hollow School is one big family. Hats off to our outstanding literacy teacher and the literacy team for coordinating this event to nurture a love of reading.

Tomorrow, I will be meeting with our second grade team to look at all of our second graders’ progress along the reading spectrum. Together, we will look at each of their guided reading levels to see if any students can transition into different groups for guided reading instruction during their literacy Power Hour Plus. Following that, I will be working with a first grade teacher with her class and my guided reading group on the SmartBoard. She is sharing how she scanned a book for an interactive presentation for students. Then, I will be meeting with the fourth grade “lunch bunch” to discuss Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Early in the afternoon I will be working in kindergarten working on assessments with the little kiddies. Oh, we will also be celebrating “Para-Professional Day” tomorrow. We are grateful to have such exemplary paras who truly give 100% day in and day out. They are the backbone to our success. The day will come to a close tomorrow night when I will be giving a presentation to our parents about our new report card. This will be followed by a PTC meeting.

As for the SAM project, Kerry and Jill (SAM I and II) prove to be an invaluable asset each and every day. I am thankful for their ability to “ground” me and provide guidance as needed. They assist in scheduling my time and also prompt me to be a reflective practitioner.

I am still struggling to figure out where my days go. Everyday, I hit the ground running and never feel “caught up.” Tonight, I walked out at 10:00 p.m. with the night custodian with a “to do” list when I got home. I do realize that this is the nature of the beast; however, it is my fifth year as a principal and it still feels as if it is my first. The “upside” is that when I think of Sleepy Hollow School I find myself grinning. I love my job and know that it shows! My energy comes from the students and staff and for them I will move mountains.

Be true,

Anastasia

The Story Continues...

Live your life from your heart. Share from your heart.
And your story will touch and heal people’s souls.
~Melody Beattle

I am always interested in the “story” and the story is alive and well on the SAM journey at Sleepy Hollow School. Over the past few days several events have transpired that give me pause for reflection and joy. The 4^th grade “lunch bunch” is a grand success. Most impressive was last Thursday morning, the day after the 44 students received their texts that the students, especially the boys, were coming off the bus and through the front doors with their noses glued to the book (Good thing they didn’t crash into anything). Seriously, several of them immediately updated me on their reading progress – most had read the assignment of 59 pages overnight and two young men finished the text. Several students told me today that they actually reread it! I also received positive feedback from several parents and teachers. Today, during our meeting time, we perused the author’s website and we will be competing in a contest to write a comic strip. The students were thrilled to hear that the top prize was a visit to the school from the author Jeff Kinney himself! I think winning the competition is possible – we have some talented students and great stories to tell. Now, for the reality of the “lunch bunch.” There was a snag in our central office ordering department that detained the arrival of the books and this sent me traipsing across the county looking for texts – always a pleasure. Finally, between two Barnes and Noble book stores and the infamous Costco, I was able to secure enough copies – whew!

The second grade guided reading group is going well. We are on to our second junior novel. Interestingly, when I plan lessons I find myself thinking of how to incorporate technology first (of course aligning instruction to standards). Each session that I have met with the group has involved technology – whether it is a website exploring “vocab” or onomatopoeias on the SmartBoard we have definitely become digital learners. Next week, I am working with the second grade to incorporate an interactive Thanksgiving project for all of our second graders.

A favorite activity of mine continues to be journaling with new teachers. The intimate and reflective relationship has provided a forum for trust and exploration. I am continually impressed and awed by their insight and energy.

Last week our superintendent, Dr. Ken Arndt, came to visit for the day. No dog and pony show, just a day in the Hollow and what a day it was for us! The students and staff welcomed us into their teaching and learning. We explored lessons on the SmartBoard, computers, and a microscope that functions as a type of document camera. We even had the opportunity to utilize the SmartBoard clickers (interactive response system) in the classroom and at the staff meeting. Remarkably, we were able to spend time in each of the classrooms and the experience provided a birds-eye view to the learning happening within the walls of the school. We are grateful for the time the superintendent spent with us. It is quite a gift when the superintendent spends the day in the schools.

Also, last week at our staff meeting, two of our innovative teachers (upon earlier consult with me) proposed a Teacher Swap-O-Ramma during American Education Week. There was a great deal of forethought and planning that went into the proposal and the idea was well received by the staff and next week, on November 20, each of us (yes, me included) will be teaching a different class for the day. Luck of the draw and lucky for me, I landed in first grade – too cool – I don’t know who is going to have more fun and learning opportunities on this day – the teachers or the students? Remarkably, that evening I received an E-mail from a twelve-year tenured teacher stating that it was the most fun she has had at a staff meeting. I’m thinking that teachers should present more often – Ha!

Overheard this past week and lol funny... "I have a pothole in my schema."

Oh, and something else I learned this past week - The word blog is a conflation of two words: Web and log. It contains in its four letters a concise and accurate self-description: it is a log of thoughts and writing posted publicly on the World Wide Web. In the monosyllabic vernacular of the Internet, Web log soon became the word blog. (Source: Andrew Sullivan)

Thank you for journeying with me as I continue to strive to capture the SAM story with integrity. Your comments are highly valued and much appreciated.

Be well,
Anastasia

Another Fruitful Day!

After teaching all day, if you didn’t learn anything, you probably didn’t teach anything either. ~ Don Taylor

Today was such a fruitful day that I looked at my watch for the first time at 12:25 p.m. and that was only because I needed to know what time it was in order to make it to a 12:30 p.m. evaluation on time. The productive day began with meeting and greeting the students at the door this morning as they came off the busses. Greeting students at the door ensures that I see each child everyday and do my best to start their school day off with a “good morning” and a smile. This may seem trivial, but in my tenure as a principal, I have found that it provides a perfect venue for creating personal connections with each of the students.

After greeting the students, and taking care of morning announcements (including the announcement of President-Elect Barack Obama) I was off to the PTC executive board meeting. Our school is very fortunate to have the quality of leadership on our PTC board. There are many days I am confident that our hard working PTC puts in as many hours as the staff does investing in the future of our children. After the PTC meeting, I again found myself learning side-by-side with one of our new teachers. During her post observation evaluation last week, we talked about her students and their needs. This particular teacher has a cohort of gifted students, so I shared with her that my background was in gifted education and I would be happy to brainstorm some ideas together to help meet their needs. From that point, I arranged a half-day substitute for this teacher. This allowed us to work together today for a couple of hours to launch a few ideas to differentiate the curriculum to meet the students’ needs. I was quite impressed with the amount of energy and enthusiasm this teacher brought to the table. It was plainly obvious that she was passionate about her own learning as well as her students. We continued to bounce ideas off of each other and utilize some resources that I had gathered for our meeting. She walked away with a wealth of new knowledge and a strong foundation to build from. I can’t wait to see how she implements the ideas.

The best part of my day followed the meeting. If you recall, I was interested in starting a “lunch bunch” book club with our fourth grade students. Well, I sent out the cleverly crafted invitations last week and received 41 confirmations – almost half of our fourth grade population! So today, I was lucky enough to dine with 41 eager reader fourth graders – 20 of which were boys – giving up their lunch and recess to read a book! What a thrill! J I am still glowing! For the record, I purposefully chose the book – Diary of a Wimpy Kid – for two reasons: to attract male readers and to have a forum for talking about bullying. As an aside, the book has also been #1 on the New York Times best sellers’ list. Since the group was so large, I asked the students if they wanted to be split into two groups and I would meet with one on Mondays and the other on Wednesdays and the overwhelming response was no – so, we are one big happy family meeting on Wednesdays during their lunch/recess time for the next four weeks. What a joy!

After the book club, I was off to an observation for the next hour. This was followed by a principal mentoring meeting for my four new teachers. I meet with new teachers monthly to review upcoming events and troubleshoot issues. Today we discussed report card comment expectations as well as technology. One of our mentor teachers also joined us for part of the meeting. The valuable part of collaborating with the new teachers is that it helps to build relationships within and amongst us – a strong foundation for current and future growth.

Following the new teacher meeting, I met with a third-year teacher for a post observation. Instead of the traditional post observation meeting, we met and utilized the SmartBoard to extend her lesson for tomorrow. We will partner in the beginning of the lesson and she will take it from there. Talk about on the job learning!

I returned to my office around 5:00 p.m. to be greeted with 121 E-mails – ugh! It seems that I clear them all out and BOOM, they multiply like rabbits. I would like to talk with other SAM participants and see how they are managing this issue.

As I continue to reflect on the SAM journey, I am convinced that the best conversations, centered around teaching and learning, come from walkthroughs in the building. Yesterday, as I was perusing the hallways checking in with staff and students, I noticed one of the grade levels was at lunch. As I walked by one of the classrooms, a poster chart piqued my curiosity and I walked into the darkened room to read the students’ predictions from a chart on “what good readers do.” I was surprised to see the teacher in a far corner of the room working. I promptly greeted the teacher and told her I was sneaking in to get a peek at the poster. An informal conversation followed and the teacher stated that her literacy block was really coming together this year. J There was so much pride in her voice and I was proud of her too. What a great thing to hear!

All right, this entry is becoming a novelette and I still haven’t told you about teacher “swap-o-ramma” that two staff members are proposing – guess I’ll save it for tomorrow – I’m beat.

Wishing you a goodnight’s sleep,
Anastasia

Keeping Parents in the Loop - Principal's Newsletter Update - November 2008

Greetings,

Sleepy Hollow School is a hub of activity these days. Each school day vanishes quicker than the one before. As a staff, our Power Hour Plus is in full swing allowing us to intimately focus on literacy for the first ninety minutes of each day. Power Hour Plus consists of modeled reading, shared reading, individual reading, word work, and guided reading. These components provide an opportunity for us to individualize and differentiate reading instruction to meet the varied needs of our students. We are also entrenched in a whole faculty book study ~ Mosaic of Thought, second edition. The book study provides a forum for us to learn about new strategies, utilize them in the classroom, and discuss the lessons. Being reflective practitioners keeps us learning and growing each day.

As digital dinosaurs, we continue to challenge ourselves to become as technologically savvy as our digital natives. We are thrilled that our PTC is supporting the purchase of four additional SmartBoards ~ thank you! I, along with several staff members, have found the Boards checked out and unavailable when we would like to use them. Having additional SmartBoards will allow more learning adventures with our students. As an aside, this weekend I noticed the hosts of Discovery Channel’s MythBusters using a SmartBoard to review the results of an experiment that they were doing – very cool.

As an instructional leader, the SAM project continues to be a gift that I enjoy unwrapping daily. I am passionate about teaching and learning and visiting classrooms provides a perfect venue for both. Current classroom initiatives include: teaching a guided reading group, hosting a “lunch bunch” book club for students, facilitating instruction through Lexia (computer-based literacy instruction), and daily support of student and staff development. If you are interested in “what I do all day” feel free to checkout my daily blog (well, almost daily blog) where I attempt to capture the SAMs experience – http://principalepstein-samproject.blogspot.com – If you do peruse the blog, please let me know your thoughts/suggestions. J

Looking to view pictures of our sensational Sleepy Hollow School students and staff? Please visit www.schooltube.com – keyword Sleepy Hollow. SchoolTube is a premier website to safely showcase our school. All videos and pictures on SchoolTube are approved by registered teachers, follow local school guidelines, and educational standards before they can be viewed. If you have pictures that you would like to share – send them to me at anastasia.epstein@d300.org and, provided we have D300 media releases on file for any student in the picture, I will put them on SchoolTube for your friends and family to view.

As you well know, 2008 is a National Election year. Sleepy Hollow School will be hosting a “mock” presidential election for all of our students on Tuesday, November 4. Each student will go to the “polls” (a.k.a. media center) and cast a ballot for their choice for president. All ballots will be counted at the end of the day and a winner will be announced before the students depart from school. These days are educationally stimulating days indeed!

All in a Day's Work!

The last couple of days were busy ones leaving little time to breathe let alone blog.

On Thursday, I received the following E-mail from a teacher, and as you can tell – those little things do mean a lot! “I wanted to thank you for grading my cursive papers the other day. Not only did it eliminate some grading for me but it also reminded me to comment on the positive I see. The kids were so excited when they saw you graded their papers and sometimes I just breeze through the papers and overlook the good they are doing.” This comment inspired me to return to the teacher’s classroom on Friday (yes, Halloween Friday) and help correct spelling tests. I also offered my services to another teacher at the same grade level and she readily accepted the help. What impressed me was that both of these teachers differentiate their spelling lists for their students. I was correcting four different lists of words in each of the classes that were differentiated for our low level learners as well as our high performing students. Learning is alive and thriving at Sleepy Hollow School for students of all ages.

I posted photos celebrating Halloween – Sleepy Hollow Style – after all, our logo is the headless horseman – www.schooltube.com - Enjoy!

One Fine Day!

Whew! What a day, what a day. Working with all of our second grade students was exhilarating, but left me completely exhausted! Hats-off to our fine teachers who give it a 100% - day in and day out. Today I heard five little words that always inspire me, especially when they come from a teacher – “Will you show me how?” I cherish these words as they allow me an opportunity to “teach” and that is my one true passion. So, this afternoon found me learning side-by-side with a teacher previewing and downloading SmartBoard activities for our new science curriculum. Also rewarding was meeting with the fifth grade team to catch up on things and to plan for our all school, mock presidential election next Tuesday. Oh, and I was able to sneak in a Halloween story to our afternoon kindergarten students. I read to them earlier in the year and WOW, what a difference a couple of months and an exceptional teacher make – they were attentive and eager to learn. I will be returning to their classroom tomorrow to read to them again. These are busy days indeed!

The Gift of Time

Whirlwind, that is the one word that describes today – and what a day it was!

Today was definitely an instructional day. I taught a second grade guided reading group this morning. This was followed by conversations with the second grade team and tomorrow, I will be working with the teachers to lead a similar lesson on onomatopoeias with all of second grade. I have always believed that was is good for gifted kids is good for all kids. Of course, wanting to enhance the lesson with the SmartBoard, tonight, after the spectacular third grade musical, I found an exciting, interactive extension activity about onomatopoeias that we will introduce to second grade tomorrow.

After meeting with second grade this morning, I made it a point to visit each of our four third grade classrooms. In the third grade classrooms I was put to work perusing and commenting on cursive worksheets. I also was read to by three of our students during the literacy power hour plus (Boy these kids are sharp!). From that time on, I “popped in” to several different classes and grade levels to check in and touch base with staff and students.

The highlight of my day was reading a journal entry from a new teacher in our building. One of the most rewarding activities that I have implemented this year is that I journal weekly with the four new teachers that we have at Sleepy Hollow School. In one particular journal, a teacher who is experiencing some challenges with a parent commented that she was thankful for the SAM program due to the fact that I was in her classroom through several different learning activities throughout the year – not just evaluations. Her comment gave me energy and a feeling of “helpfulness.” Continuing to re-evaluate the importance of being in classrooms is definitely at the forefront of my mind every day. What greater gift can we give than that of the gift of time to nurture and sustain our students and staff?

Thank You for Making My Day!

At 3:22 p.m. this afternoon, I was halfway in and out of my office doorway when a teacher, who was checking her mailbox said, “You know Anastasia, I was going to write you a note, but since I am here, I will just tell you.” (At this point, I didn’t know what would follow). “You hold the bar really high for us and there have been a lot of changes this year. However, I want you to know that because of you I am a better teacher. Last week, as I was observing my students in class I thought about you and where my class is now and I just needed you to know that. Sometimes it is hard to see the forest through the trees, but you need to know that you do make a difference.”

The sincerity of the teacher and the impromptu conversation made my day. I wish I had a tape recorder because I am certain I missed some of her inspirational words. I thanked the teacher profusely for her sharing her thoughts with me (especially in front of another staff member) and reminded her that it was a team effort, of which it truly is. I also shared that change is difficult, but we all will be in a better place after the first reporting period is under our belt.

Later tonight, I found myself reflecting on some of the turbulence that we have experienced this school year due to a multitude of reasons, most of which are out of my circle of control: a new social studies curriculum, a new midterm report, a new standards-aligned report card, AIMs Web benchmark testing, RTI, and the implementation of a literacy power hour plus (this last one was in my circle of control). This brought to mind a quote by E.C. McKenzie ~ A good leader inspires men to have confidence in him; a great leader inspires them to have confidence in themselves. As the instructional leader of the school, I not only have the opportunity to watch students grow; I have the pleasure of watching the teachers grow too!

Out of the mouths of babes...

I was out of the building on Friday due to a medical issue. However, I did receive the following E-mail from a parent. The E-mail put a smile on my heart.

Hi Anastasia,

As my son ambled into the kitchen this morning, he wished today was
Tuesday instead of Friday for he looked forward to doing Guided
Reading with you.


Mom (changed for anonymity)

The Voyage Continues

Chronicling the day on paper is nearly impossible, but through this blog I am attempting to capture the essence of the journey of the SAMs project. Today found me arriving at school at 6:00 a.m. – why? you may wonder, well I had to depart by 3:15 p.m. for a doctor’s appointment and, as you well know, the paperwork and planning still has to be addressed. Getting to school early allowed for an hour of uninterrupted office time (punctuated with two cups of coffee!) and then I was off to visit a teacher who had requested to talk with me. With the SAMs project, it is rare that a teacher will schedule a meeting with me since they know they will see me during the course of the day, so I knew the meeting was important to this teacher. The basic premise of the conversation was that the teacher felt that she and I were not as “connected” this year as we had been in the past. After some thought-provoking discussion, it became clear what the issue was. This year, when the teacher had her plan time, I was in classrooms, thus reducing the opportunity to touch base. Through our intimate conversation, we addressed the issue head on and worked on some alternative times to meet or for me to spend time in her classroom. Most importantly, was my realization that if this person – a seasoned, self-confident teacher – was feeling disconnected with me was that I have to make a concerted effort to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the future. There were additional sidebar conversations about students, instruction, etc. The conversation ended with a hug and a new depth of understanding on both of our parts. I am thankful to have a staff that trusts in me, themselves, and the importance of open and honest communication. There is no doubt in my mind that the trust factor is one of the underlying tenets of the success of the SAMs project.

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking a new landscape, but in seeing with new eyes.” ~Marcel Proust

Another Day in Paradise?!?

Tonight as I walked out of school at 7:40 p.m., I had to take solace in the fact that today wasn't completely "managerial." Although, it was quite challenging to remain focused on instruction. The first hiccup was the PTC meeting running over which had me straining to "catch up" the rest of the day (Is there truly such a thing?!). Two observations later, two post conferences, a couple of classroom visits, a surprise visit from a reporter from the Chicago Tribune writing an article on Sleepy Hollow for Halloween, and a few raging fires - I found myself at my desk inundated with E-mail and paperwork for the next couple of hours. The highlight of the day was planning for the second grade guided reading group tomorrow and sharing the lesson plans with the teachers. Also rewarding was working with a new teacher, during a post conference, searching for SmartBoard lesson plans for our new social studies curriculum. So, all in all, not a bad day - and there is always tomorrow to improve the craft. I look forward to greeting the students in the morning (always adds to the energy level), visiting classrooms, and meeting with the guided reading group. One of my future goals is to host a "lunch bunch" reading group with intermediate students during their lunch hour. I hope to have the invitation ready to go my Monday. Where does the time go? Peace...

Today was a Great Day!

The SAM Project is really beginning to take shape and this has encouraged me to set up a Blog to share the innovative project with others! Today I kicked off a guided reading group! I have been working closely with second grade and today met with a small group of students. I will be working with them on Tuesday and Thursday for the next two weeks and then will work my schedule to meet with them three days each week. They are a talented group of students and the time I spent with them was the most exciting part of my day. Additionally, I learned how to use the "clickers" for the SmartBoard and will present to the PTC general assembly tomorrow. Hopefully, we will be able to garner their support for four additional SmartBoards. It has been a productive week already in that it is only Tuesday and the two times that I have went to use the SmartBoard it has been checked out by teachers and is being utilized with students in the classroom. Most rewarding, is seeing that technology is being seamlessly incorporated into the curriculum - not as an "a side." All this in addition to attending Culver's Night, completing two evaluations, one post conference, two preconferences, and an impromptu meeting with teachers about report cards. I laugh when people ask me what I do all day. Day, what day? Life is good...