Friday, June 20, 2014

6/20/14



QUOTE FOR THE WEEK



Are you making enough requests of the people around you?

LOOKING FORWARD-THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW...

6/23  Summer Intervention/Enrichment/ESY begin!  Good Luck to Lisa Ryder and Tabor Samuelson our two principals!
6/25, 6/26, 6/27  Report Card Committee convenes 1:30-4:30
6/26  June Board Meeting
6/27  Gary's Retirement Celebration 3:00 Board Room
6/27  Mary Ellen's Retirement 5:30 Herons' House 4795 Hillside Drive Carlsbad
6/30, 7/1,  Pre K/TK/ Kinder Task Force convenes 8:30-12:30
6/30, 7/1, 7/2, 7/3 Math Committee convenes 1:30-4:30
6/30  Strategic Planning Drafts due to Terry Decker/Monica Smith
7/1  Summer Break!  Enjoy!

EDUAWESOME DROPS IN OUR BUCKET...

•EduAwesome Drops for Melani, Mary Vaccarino, Tabor and Lisa Ryder for all of their work preparing for our Summer programs.  This work begins back in January-it is quite an undertaking.  We wish both schools-Solana Vista and Carmel Creek much success on their summer programs!
•A great big hug to the Tech Dept. for collecting and re-distributing over 500 iPads to be used in our Summer Programs.  A lot of work for 19 days, but it really speaks to how dependent our teachers are on technology to support their instruction!  A great problem to have!
•A huge Thank You to Lisa Platt and Terri Davis (and their entire staffs) for graciously hosting the Summer Programs!
•Whew!  An EduAwesome Pat on the Back for Monica Smith for sifting and sorting all of the Task Force participants.  We had a record number of teachers volunteering this year!  How EduAwesome is that!!  Love that our teachers are engaged and willing to serve!  Their voice really makes a difference! Check your email on Monday for a final list of who is serving on which committee(s).
•A big hooray for the Site Secretaries and clerks!  The end of the year is a crazy time, with so much to do-and they do it with a smile and grace!
•Congratulations to Becky, Elisa and Lisa D for providing our 6th graders with beautiful and age appropriate Promotions!
•Hip, Hip Hooray for Mary Ellen!  Boy, I wish I was retiring!
•An EduAwesome High 5 for Angie Tremble and Allison McGee for all of their work on the Engage Your Brain-Avoid the Summer Slide program!
•Thank you to Jeanne Vilsack and Isabel Silva for providing our teachers with Staff Development on CELDT Testing and LLI (Leveled Literacy Intervention)!  How fortunate we are to have teachers so competent and willing to support and train our other teachers!
•Congratulation to Stephanie Ferris, who joins the Curriculum Dept. and the world of TOSA's!  Stephanie will be serving as our District STREAM TOSA!  Welcome Aboard!


VIDEO OF THE WEEK BLOGS, TWEETS and PINS-OUR VERY OWN PLC

Austin's Butterfly...  AMAZING Video on how to Build Excellence in Student Work.  Imagine if every teacher showed this video at the beginning of the school year?  Fits  right in with our focus on Growth Mindset and Perseverance!  

What's Your 5 word GPS?  A GREAT video by Dave Burgess.  Dave is the author of Teach Like a Pirate.  He has quite a following of teachers and administrators.  This video would be great at a beginning of the year staff meeting.  I challenge all of us to decide and write down/tweet what your 5 word GPS would be for your school next year-how do your actions support your GPS?

BLOGS, TWEETS and PINS-OUR VERY OWN PLC

Another great person to follow on twitter is: 
>If you do not follow Dave Burgess @burgessdave, you are really missing out!  He is the author of the very popular book-Teach Like a Pirate.  He is inspiring, creative, motivating and crazy!  And he is from San Diego!
>Are you following @Edutopia?  Another GREAT addition to your PLN
>Increase you PLN this summer:  50 Educational Leaders worth following on Twitter


Timely Articles for Principals
The Paradox of The Modern Teacher (something for your fall meeting, perhaps?)
Sumer Reading and Rejuvenation  I would add Teach Like a Pirate and Todd Whitaker's Shifting the Monkey to the list.
•Interesting perspective on Avoiding the Summer Slide.  Something to think about...
Get a Start on Ending your Year Right

FINAL THOUGHTS TO PONDER

•It is almost a year into my new position and I can finally say..."I love what I am doing!"  I want to thank all of you for being a part of my PLN!  I learn from each of you every day!  I love the articles, the quotes, the videos, the conversations and the the questions that you share with me, and most importantly I treasure our ability to work together to provide the very best for the students of Solana Beach!  What a great TEAM!!
•I hope you have enjoyed the Friday Focus and have found it worthwhile and informative.  It has been a great way for me to keep up on my professional reading and my own personal PLN.  I have loved sharing some of the articles and videos that have supported our goals and focus areas.  I hope you have a GREAT summer!  I look forward to the 2014-15 School Year and to our Leadership Retreat on August 5-6.  Enjoy reading The Happiness Advantage and be prepared to discover... What's YOUR Superpower?