The Audacity of Hope

Today was an inspiring day as we ushered in our 44^th president. Our students and staff gathered together as a community in our gymnasium to watch the historical and profound event. I was particularly pleased when the students, without prompting, began clapping and cheering at the right moments during President Obama’s inaugural address. Seeing the awe and wonder, and witnessing first hand the promise of a new tomorrow in a new generation, is a memory I will cherish for years to come. With an enduring spirit ~ Yes, We Can!

Following the inauguration, Sleepy Hollow School hosted its fifth annual spelling bee. I am always awed at the abilities of our young people. We went 11 rounds and, in the end, after exhausting four previous lists, had to use the high school list of words to determine a champion. The evening rounded out with a trip to Buffalo Wild Wings, one of our PTC family fund raising efforts. It was wonderful to see so many of our families during this event.

Friday, I had the opportunity to join our kindergarten teacher at a workshop. What an exciting day full of learning experiences. Since this was technically a “snow day” for the staff and students, due to the frigid weather we are experiencing in the Midwest, I was truly impressed that she gave a day up with her children to put herself in the learning seat! I can’t say enough about the high quality of educators we have on staff at Sleepy Hollow School, we are genuinely blessed.

The highlight of last week (all three days thanks to the cold temperatures) was while I was completing a state of the campus walk through, a first grader came up to me, gave me a hug, and said that I was “fuzzy” and “warm.” When I said, “Well then, I must me a mammal,” she cracked up laughing and then went about her business of completing a classroom task. Talk about a much needed boost in the middle of the day, she definitely “filled my bucket.”

Speaking of filling my bucket, the staff has really taken to the picture book that I shared with them at the last staff meeting. Several teachers have read the book, or have invited me to read the book, to their students. “Bucket” bulletin boards have sprung up, and our little cherubs are rushing around sharing how they fill others’ buckets. Yes, my friends, the world is a beautiful place, full of beautiful children. How lucky am I to spend my days with them?!

With an abundance of hope,

Anastasia

Learning happens when your head, hands, and heart are involved. ~Unknown

Whew! What a day, what a day! Most of the day was captured (and me too!) by central office administrative meetings. The highpoint of the day was returning to school; unfortunately, as the students were being dismissed, for a staff meeting. The focus of the staff meeting was technology. I had prepared for the meeting earlier in the week by creating items for the agenda on the SmartBoard. This in itself was a challenge, and took more time than one wants to think about, but most rewarding. First, I shared a book with the staff that I had scanned into SmartTools. It was a children’s version of the book, “How Full is Your Bucket.” There was a tremendous amount of energy in the meeting and I was psyched to share the new “bells and whistles” on the SmartBoard that I had found. The presentation was well received by all. Half-way through the meeting the staff was invited to the gym where we all participated in Wii bowling. Several of the teachers have not used the Wii system before, so this was a hoot! A special note of thanks must be extended to our tech coordinator, Mike Bourbon, and our excellent physical education instructor, Mark Sheurich, for setting this activity up for the staff. Over the next few months, students will be participating in several different Wii sports throughout the rest of the year. Mark has aligned the Wii sports to our Illinois P.E. standards and will begin teaching next week. How cool will it be for the staff to be able to connect to the kids through this forum?

Yesterday, as I completed by “walkthroughs” of classrooms, I was a bit confused as I walked into one classroom. This classroom, that is typically hustle and bustle, was silent. I looked for the teacher, and her back was turned to me. Historically, this classroom is one where the kids will acknowledge me and continue to go about their business of learning. Hmmm, not yesterday – so, I went to individual student pods to see what they were so intently working on – a writing project. Imagine my surprise when the teacher finally turned around and she was covered with candy items, Scotch-taped to herself! It took everything for me not to laugh out loud at the sight of her. As I circulated around the room, she did the same. She was looking for students who were intently working on their writing. If their behavior and writing met her expectation, she would tap them on the shoulder and they selected a candy off of her. Wow! Talk about a unique way to motivate kids. I still find myself in awe at her ingenuity.

As always, there is never enough time in the day. It is now 10:04 p.m. and I still need to check my E-mail because I was away from the building all day, had a staff meeting after school, and then had to leave for another meeting. Yikes! Have to run so I can check the E-mail, respond, and still get to bed before midnight. Oh! Due to the success of the staff meeting this afternoon, I am meeting with two different grade levels tomorrow to share a few SmartBoard activities for them to implement with their students next week – can’t wait!

Ciao!

Anastasia

Today was a "sunshiny" day!

The sky is blue, I feel good, and today is a sunshiny day! These words were squealed with delight by a second grade boy, who was talking to a friend, on their way to lunch. He was just so happy to be back at school and so was I! This morning I woke up with a spring in my step and a “can do” attitude. I was so elated that the students were coming back to school, I couldn’t stop smiling. I get so much energy from them! It was a pleasure greeting them and the staff as we ushered in the new school year after the winter break. Our winter break was preempted by a snowstorm that caused us to have a snow day prior to break. This was disheartening to staff and students alike as we adore the last day before break. On this cherished day we gather for our annual school sing-a-long with many community members joining us. It was certainly missed by all. That being at the end of 2008 we are excited to launch into the school year in 2009.
Over the break I was able to arrange for a comic artist to come and meet with the 4th grade “lunch bunch” – so, we are meeting this Wednesday and will submit our entries for the contest. Since I am over 18, I am unable to participate – chucks! I will try my hand at creating a comic strip though…you know that phrase – lead by example – should be interesting! This afternoon I worked with a fourth grade class and there was a lot of “buzz” about our guest artist since he is a former Sleepy Hollow student.

Planning for guided reading continues to be tricky as the time is so short and working technology into each lesson a key component of mine. We continue to focus on vocabulary as we know that a student’s vocabulary has a direct correlation to how well they read and how well they perform on standardized tests. Tomorrow we will be building on meteorological vocabularies. I have to run and check out a web site that has links to many interesting sites about snow. http://nsidc.org/snow/blizards.html if you are interested.

As an aside, our school psychologist informed me today that she drives by a school on the way to her “second” job and on the marquee each week they post a Word of the Week. Well guess what, yes – that is correct, Sleepy Hollow is going to have a WOW word each week beginning next week on the marquee. The word will correlate with ISAT vocabulary and I will announce it Monday Morning (maybe Tuesday – we’ll decide as a staff). I’ll chat with the staff about it at our staff meeting Thursday, and they will help to structure it. How cool is that!

With joy,
Anastasia