What a week! - Part 1

 Amidst the scent of freshly waxed floors and freshly sharpened pencils and the echoes of excited chatter, Day 1 of the new school year began, a blank slate filled with infinite possibilities.  Monday's chatter wasn't excited students.  It was the staff as we started the 2023-2024 school year with a whole district breakfast and meetings. It was a smooth start to the week with all the necessary things to get everyone on the same page about expectations for the school year.  After being at the high school for the first couple of hours, I went back to Winskill where our staff meeting began in the library.  My principal always leads with a strong vision.  His beginning of the year meeting was no different from others: high standards were set, sucesses were celebrated, and inspiration for the year ahead was created.  The morning was over quickly and I had just enough time to run home and get a few miles in before the afternoon work time.  Like with any first day, I came home from school at 3:30 exhausted but excited for what would come.  Quick clothing change and Roger and I went to Dubuque to watch Kate play soccer.  After the game it was a not so healthy dinner of Sonic---my first time!  Fried foods at 10 pm don't make early wake up calls for running easy.

Tuesday began in a similar way to Monday:  up and at school by 7:30.  Reading team and writing team meetings.  Breakfast while at school (thank you, Community First Bank, for providing it!).  There was a district lunch being provided at Memorial Park but I ran home to switch some laundry and get a few things done while I had the chance.  I returned to school for the afternoon and was able to get some things finished but I knew there was so much more to do.  I left at 3:30 but was able to convince Roger to walk back to Winskill Tuesday evening to complete just a couple of tasks with me.  We left Winskill by 6:45 and picked up Subway for dinner on our walk home.  As I was winding down for the evening I heard Will come in from practice.  It wasn't his normal entrance.  I could hear him bringing in some things.  He walked into our bedroom and I saw the giant, plastic wrapped, ice encased knee.  "I'm okay," he said.  I'm at a point in my life where I think when people say that, it means they really are NOT okay... just my opinion.  Apparently he had felt something during practice and gone off to the sideline for a little while.  The trainer had looked at him and worked with him to get the ice around his knee and his coach had sent home a cooler filled with ice to continue to 15 minutes every hour of icing. 

Made it to the mid week point and got outside for my morning miles! I knew that I needed to run because I COULD.  I have no reason not to be getting out for miles.  I am physically ABLE.  My 17 year old son can barely walk and I CAN RUN.  That was the push I needed to get out the door.

  It felt wonderful!  I knew I needed the day to start off this way because it was the day of the Back to School Bash which meant a little bit longer of a day filled with lots of EXCITEMENT.  I'd get to meet all my new families!  This was also the day of the active shooter drill at the high school.  Will was participating in the event.  I was walking to a 9:15 meeting when my cell phone started ringing.  I answered my phone to hear, "This is Brittany from Grant Regional.  I have WIll here.  Can you present yourself at the registration desk?"  My first thought was that something had happened with his knee and that he was at the emergency room.  

        "Yes.  I'll be there," I replied.  Then I realized that Will might have been at the active shooter drill.  "Is there about the drill at the high school?" 

          "This is Brittany from Grant Regional.  Can you present yourself at the registration desk?"   

         With that answer it felt confirmed that it was just part of the drill but I quickly grabbed my car keys and ran out to my car, drove quickly to the hospital, and entered the emergency room doors.  In those 2 minutes, I had to have been feeling and processing every possible emotion.  The biggest one being - What if Will's not okay?

          Once I saw him and hugged him, I drove him back to finish the drill, and I returned to Winskill to continue my preparations for the Back to School Bash.  Hours went quickly but I was ready when families began arriving at 4:30.  During the conversations at the school event I had the opportunity to talk with the school athletic trainer.  She recommended making an appointment with a doctor for Will's knee.  I was going to take him to acute care on Thursday but she thought trying to get him in with Orthopedics was a better idea.  That call went on my to do list for Thursday morning.  I finished the Back to School Bash and headed home to enjoy dinner and an early bedtime.  

I have so much more to tell about the week.  Part 2 coming soon.

PLC Summit Reflection

Forgive me for my crazy absence here on the blog!  It has been almost 3 months since I last wrote....

Today as I sit here to write I am so excited to share and process all that I heard and learned over the 3 day PLC Summit in Minneapolis, MN.  The conference began bright and early Monday morning so two suburbans filled with Lancaster Community Schools Employees left Lancaster at 3:00 on Sunday.  The drive to Minneapolis was filled with moments of fun conversation as well as quiet reading time.   Once we checked into the hotel, we headed out by foot to a restaurant that had been recommended to us because of the rooftop seating.  It was pretty late (about 8) when we arrived and the weather seemed a little unsettled.  After a long drive and it being so late, I was hoping that the burger I ordered would be amazing.....   After a pretty long wait and getting rained on, the dinner was okay but not great.  We arrived back at the hotel after 10.  My roommate, Missy, and I decided we would wait to exercise until after the sessions on Monday since it was already so late.  Missy had scoped out a crossfit place that had a class the next day at 4:30 and so we were going to run there and workout and then run back to the hotel.  It sounded perfect and it should have meant a good night's sleep.....except that we stayed up way too late watching Friends and talking. 

Monday's alarm got the day started and it was a wonderful beginning!

All 12 of us met in the lobby and headed over to the convention center to pick up our packet and enjoy breakfast. 

Session 1
Tim Brown was the morning keynote speaker.  His session was titled "Setting the Stage: Understanding the Big Ideas and Foundational Blocks of the PLC at Work Process." It was a perfect way to set the stage for two and a half days of building the base for the great work we have ahead.  His energy and expertise was a perfect way to connect things I thought about PLCs and a way to make them much better and more effective.  The world we live in is changing (he gave some fun examples from the past including a mimeograph machine and floppy disks) and education is no exception BUT the one thing that doesn't change is how important the teacher is in the educational process.  What can make that teacher even more powerful is when teachers encourage students and build the students' belief in themselves.  Want to make the education even more powerful?  Create TEAMS of teachers.  Encourage collaboration about the learning that is happening.

Then Tim Brown introduced the questions that PLCs must answer:
-Are the students learning?
-How do we know?
- What will we do if they aren't?
- What will we do if they already know it?

Here's where the transformational and powerful things can happen!  A learning community is created and it's so much more than just a team.  This learning community is focused on the students!  Each person will serve a specific role on that team.  I would say that I fit as a 3-romantic or 4-observer.

This work as a PLC is worth it because students will graduate with MASTERY of essential skills and knowledge.  Tim Brown shared the data to support but for me it really boiled down to being hungry for results.  If there are changes that need to be made to improve our professional practices, then we want to make those changes.

Tim Brown's next focus was on the assessment.  FORMATIVE Assessment!!!  Don't wait until the end of something to realize that students need something different so that they learn.  When looking at Summative assessment do we have a plan once we know how students have done?

The final piece of what Tim Brown shared was about how important it is that leadership is dispersed.  Teams are working together and take collective responsibility for what is happening.  And then he ended with a call to action: 

Session 2

The second session that I chose to go to was Data Notebooks.   It was so great.   I'd love to tell you more about it but I will share the details in another post.....  

Come back soon to find out what I loved about session 2.

Feeling Tired at the Same Time as Energized

Today I had the amazing opportunity of attending the Scholastic Reading Summit in Rosemont, IL (near Chicago).  It was everything I had hoped it would be!  I woke to a 3 am alarm and was out the door and headed to Illinois by 4 am.  The drive was uneventful for the most part....rain on and off but that was about it.

I parked easily in the parking garage and took a picture of where I was so that I would be able to find the little black beauty at the end of the day.  Would you believe that as I was snapping the pic of 1B, so was another person who I quickly learned was also a 5th grade teacher heading to the reading summit (Katie).  We immediately started talking and walking as we made our way to the convention center.  By the time we'd made it inside, registration was open.  Check in went smoothly and it was super exciting to get a heavy bag filled with all different books including Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (released 20 years ago!!!  YEP.   J.K. Rowling's world of wizardry entered the world of print the same year that I started teaching.) 

The convention center was buzzing but I knew that I wanted to be front and center to see it all so Katie and I found a table near the stage.  Moments later I was able to greet Donalyn Miller and snap a quick selfie with her before the breakfast session kicked off the day. 

The Breakfast Session featured Donalyn Miller and Mr. Schu along with Colby Sharp (whose birthday was today!).  They were sharing snippets and details from The Creativity Project.  Katie was able to get her copy of the book autographed.  

The energy and excitement for reading was A M A Z I N G!  Part of the excitement was because they were giving away some amazing new books but also because they were sharing pieces of The Creativity Project in a way that we could return to our classrooms and add pieces of it to our practices. 

During that short amount of time I had added 5 books to my wishlist:

The Way to Bea

Orphan Island (which I already have)

Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring

Drawn Together (which I got to read today---I'll be using it early in September)

The Itchy Book

There was a little time before the main morning session so I headed out to check out the book fair.  I was able to say hello to a teacher idol of mine:  Pernille Ripp.

  

The morning session keynote was Malcolm Mitchell.  While many know him for his career with the New England Patriots, his message was about the magical experience of reading.  

The realization that Malcolm Mitchell had that his success on the football field wasn't matching up with his success in the classroom pushed him to WORK on his reading.

My favorite thing he said today was, "In order for us to be the best person we can possibly be, to grow and succeed, we have to read."

Share the Magic.

Donalyn Miller returned to the stage and shared her family's first experiences with Harry Potter in 1998. 

--Good Can Conquer Evil

--Loyalty Matters

It's not just the magic in Harry Potter.  It's the messages --- how to be a better human.

Entertaining us next was the fashionable and motivational Byron Garrett.

His words were about being wired for success.  

Preparing Young People for a world that does not yet exist.

My takeaway quote from this compelling speaker was, "You nurture the creative spirit even when young people don't know they have it."

I would encourage you to check out his ABC book:

I had gleaned so much from the start of the day.  It was only 10:30 at this point!   I have so much more that I want to share and reflect on but for now I am headed to bed.  

Collaborative Inquiry

Yesterday was the first day of the class that I am taking this year.  (Each year I take a grad class to keep ideas fresh and stay up to date on new things in education---usually I take the class at the beginning of the summer.  This year I found an amazing opportunity that is 3 Saturdays and will be done just in time for spring break!!).  I knew this class would be great because the instructor is one that I absolutely love.  Every time I've taken a class or even a workshop with her I have left with ideas that I could use right away.  Yesterday was no different!!

I left the house at 6:30 because I wasn't sure about the directions.  I made my way with no hurry or worry about time because google told me I would arrive by 8:30.  Even with a stop at Wal-mart and a gas station, I arrived at 8:28.  (Next time I will leave about 1/2 an hour later).

Went inside, picked my seat, chatted with Deb, and took a quick little walk around Shannon before class started.  Once everyone arrived, Deb went over the class layout and collected fees.  Everyone completed the registration process and the day began.  GAMES GAMES GAMES.

My notes:

How can I get kids to learn the content with games?   What about taking the learning to the next level?

If you’re playing games for fun that’s okay but honor that.

Competition does different things for different kids.

Where the Cool Wind Blows (add content)

Codename

With spelling words

With vocab

With topics

Card Games

Canadian Salad

Spades Rule

I've never taken a class that holds people over but nobody complains.  That happened.  We were all so busy and enjoying what we were doing that at 3:10 when we realized it was past the dismissal time, we just kept playing!  Deb wrapped up the day and gave us our "assignment" for next class.  I'm so excited to create my games.  I got home and had to share some game time with the family, too!