Learning

I have learned so much in such a short period of time I feel like my brain is overloaded. I went to a school visit to a 5 star school. I learned a lot from the teachers there and just the experience of being there. Our principal would like to recreate what they have done with their school. I don't know if we have the supports in place to make it possible. I do know that I learned a lot from the experience which will allow me to be better at my job. The teachers there were very generous with their time and resources. What impressed me besides great teaching and great students was the administration. They behaved as colleagues with their staff. They popped in and out of all classrooms throughout the day. They addressed behavior as needed but they really supported their teachers.

The next day we went to a parent engagement conference. I also learned a lot from this experience. More importantly it was uplifting and encouraging. We ended the conference feeling validated and celebrated as teachers. The four of us teachers that went to the conference kind of made a unsaid vow to be more encouraging to one another. It was a really great way to end those days of training.

We came back home late and the next day I had a math number model training. It was good but I was so tired I am not sure how much I retained. My favorite part of that day was that our Vice-principal sat down with us. She joined a group and asked questions, took notes, and went through the training with us. I can't explain how much that meant. It really impressed me and made me feel like she valued what we were doing and learning. She was as invested as we were.  I told her I really appreciated her doing this with us. In contrast our principal sat in the corner and just observed and worked on other things.

So I packed a lot in three days. I know that it will be a fight to implement some of what I learned in our school. I am going to start with changing what I know I can. I won't forget the other things but I will change what I KNOW I can and will keep trying to push change in those other areas. We'll see how things go. I am going to continue to work on that bond with the people who experienced that conference with me. I think together if we really stay positive we can help changes occur. We really need some huge changes to occur.

In other exciting news in our school spelling bee my 2 second grade groups won. They will participate in the District spelling bee at the end of the week.  See teaching phonics makes a difference. Ahem! They only take the top two groups from each grade level. I was really proud of my kiddos. I missed their spelling bee because they had it while I was gone.

I am sure there is more that is new but that is all I can think of right now.  We have a math night at school this week. I also have three scheduled formal observations at school this week. We had to pack them in because I was gone and my administrator was gone and then will be gone again. She is coming in at three different times so it should give her a good snapshot of my day.  I was struggling to stay positive today. My colleagues didn't get our common lesson plans done while I was gone. Then when I looked at the incomplete plans it was ridiculous. Then my colleague that is gone this week just did the bare minimum for her substitute. I had to help the substitute fill in the gaps. They were hard for me to fill because I didn't know what the heck they were thinking. The poor sub!  I asked her "Could you follow my lesson plans, did you have what you needed?" She told me yes she did and that I gave her plenty of extra just in case. She is the type that would let me know if I forgot something or if it was lacking. Anyhow, I am glad I had those other days of training because I strongly feel that can overcome these impediments to success.

Update: I forgot to share what a 1st grader said on today St. Patrick's Day. He walks up to another teacher "Are you wearing a green shirt?" She says yes unzips her coat a little and shows him. Recess, Cold, Cold, Windy, Blustery, Day. Anyhow, he looks at me and GRINS HUGELY as he sees my bright green coat.  "Are you....?"  "Yes I  am wearing a green shirt too"  and I show him.  He says " I am wearing a green jacket, a green shirt, and GREEN UNDERWEAR!"   I said " That is great!" Luckily he didn't feel the need to show them too me. So stinking cute he was so proud! Anyhow, I hope you all wore green today.