Parma Plan It: September 2015

I heard a message recently about being a "Person of Excellence" and what that means. The speaker explained that in order to be a person of excellence, we do not accept the status quo or less than our best in all that we do. He also talked about the fact that we all represent something far greater than ourselves in all that we do. He used the example of being in a grocery store and deciding part way through the store that you don't really want that box of cereal after all. He explained that a person of excellence doesn't just put the box of cereal on the shelf next to the laundry detergent. He said that when walking down a sidewalk, a person of excellence doesn't just walk by the piece of paper blowing on the ground. He said that a person of excellence doesn't let him or her self become negative, treat others with disrespect, use language that is unflattering, or even allow his or her appearance to be sloppy.

I have thought about this message many times, and have had to remind myself in the grocery store when I decided I didn't want that box of cereal. Just yesterday, it would have been much faster to set the cereal on the shelf next to the salad dressing, but I took time to walk to the cereal isle and put it right back where I had picked it up to begin with. I almost convinced myself that there are people who get paid to reorganize the shelves, but then I remembered that we should all strive to be a person of excellence in all that we do and everywhere we are.

Then I started thinking about our school, our staff and our kids. How can we use this message at Parma Elementary School? Are we a school of excellence, are we teachers of excellence, are we helping our kids be students of excellence, am I a principal of excellence? What does this look like? As a school, do we represent #ParmaPROUD, #WSDPanthers, #TeamJXN? Some things seem so simple, like being in the hallway in the morning to greet our kids, walking in the hallway, saying thank you, having lessons planned out and ready, being prepared, being on time (I'm working on it.). Some days it would be easy to stay in my office to finish some things up, or to stay in your room to finish when kids start coming in at the beginning of the day, but is that being a principal or teacher of excellence? Are we being a staff of excellence in our collaboration with each other, during our PLC time and RTI meetings?

How can we share this message with our kids? How can we help them become people of excellence? I think the first way is for us to model this for them. We need to talk to our students about what this means. We also need to hold students to high expectations and hold them accountable. It starts with the little things. Every assignment they do, encourage them to look at it, does it display excellence and represent who they are? Are they treating each other with kindness? I challenge you to remind yourself to become a "person of excellence." Does the lesson you are teaching represent a "teacher of excellence"? Let us help each of our kids be a person of excellence, but let it begin with us! Let's create a school of excellence in all that we do. As Patsy Clairmont stated in the video we watched during our opening staff meeting, AIM HIGH!

This Week At a Glance:

Sunday, September 13: Happy Birthday Colleen White
Monday, September 14: NWEA Assessment Testing Begins
Tuesday, September 15: Kindergarten Readiness Testing with ISD
Wednesday, September 16: First Early Release and Assembly with Grades 4 and 5.
Thursday, September 17: County Principal Meeting 7:45a.m.
School Board Meeting 6:30 p.m.
Friday, September 18: Fire Drill a.m.
Saturday, September 19: Happy Birthday Sarah Walter

Links and Articles Worth Reading:

Too Much Homework

A Closer Look at Reading Incentive Programs - +Donalyn Miller

What is lost as Handwriting Fades

Bring Learning to Life With Augmented Reality - @KatieAnn_76

4 Reasons People Don't Blog and Ideas to Help Change Their Minds by +George Couros

Using Visuals

Videos Worth Watching:

300 Potential Teachers!