"If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; However if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that. -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
I chose to share this quote with you because I think it is very easy to begin pigeon holing kids, both behaviorally and academically. As we return from a long weekend, I encourage you to clear your minds of what you feel your students currently "are". Instead, come in with fresh eyes and don't allow students to settle. Show them the potential they have, and help them make that potential a reality. Maybe its the student who has refused to follow expectations and it just isn't worth the battle anymore. Maybe its the student who gets good grades and does what they are asked and you are just thankful that they are there. In both situations its our job to embrace the challenge of pushing them. If we aren't doing that then are we "accepting" who they are? I'm looking forward to being back and working together in the next weeks to push out kids to their potential. With that, here are your STAFF NOTES. This week is going to fly by us very quickly. We are all due for this upcoming extended weekend. With the long stretch that we are finishing it has been too easy to allow school to completely engulf us. I know for me personally that I'm looking forward to spending this weekend re-connecting with my family and close friends. I hope you all can find time to re-connect to your lives outside of school. With that here are your STAFF NOTES.
"The most important things in life are the connections you make with others" -Tom Ford
As I reflected on this past week a few things stuck out to me: The first thing that popped into my mind was the fellowship we all had on Thursday evening before conferences. It was so great to see you all come together, enjoy food, chat, and laugh. What a great reminder it was of the importance our connections with each other has as we continue build our culture here at FMS. The other thing that stood out to me was the connections you all made with the families of your students. You all endured an incredibly long week to do what was best for your students. In the conversations I had with families in the hallway, your efforts don't go unnoticed or unappreciated. Your investment with our families will get you miles as you continue to help your students grow this year. so...THANK YOU! With that, here are you SHORT, week before Thanksgiving Break, STAFF NOTES! I remember as a teacher I always had a love hate relationship with conference week. The week was always so busy and took lots of endurance (the hate). On the love side, I always walked away from this week with such a different perspective of my students. I usually discovered some answers to concerns that I had or wonders about what might be causing students to act a certain way. Please take care of yourselves this week by getting sleep and drinking lots of water.
I appreciate your flexibility and open minds with the changes to the FMS parent teacher conference structure. I will definitely be looking for feedback at the end of the week so that we can make adjustments and tweaks for our spring conferences. I've included some tips and a couple questions that you might encounter from parents in this week's staff notes. Speaking of those, here are this week's STAFF NOTES. |
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