The "P" in PRIDE stands for purpose. Think about your purpose for a moment. Your purpose is closely connected to your heart. Your passion. Why do you do what you do? As we unveiled our new P.R.I.D.E. acronym to teachers and students, we discussed our purpose and the importance of having a sense of urgency to get better everyday. I can think of no greater purpose than touching the lives of the over 620 students at Powdersville Elementary School. Teachers make a difference. You make a difference. Mrs. Tollison and I have been so impressed with our faculty and staff as we have enjoyed such a wonderful start to the school year. Thank you for going the extra mile to not only define your purpose, but also live your purpose.
Busy Is a Way of Life:
For teachers, busy is a way of life. It's what we do. Mrs. Tollison and I appreciate your time and attention during our faculty meeting this week. Much of what we would typically cover in our blog was covered during the meeting. Please make sure you take the time to review our presentation and the helpful links within the presentation we shared. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Cafeteria:
Thank you for the tremendous improvement we have seen in the cafeteria. As I reflected on this, I was worried that we had possibly overemphasized this point. However, I was reminded that how we treat the "little things" reveals our true culture and commitment to get better everyday. Please continue to remind your students to take pride in their school through picking up trash in the cafeteria. Also, please make sure that you line your students up at the trash cans before allowing them to throw away trays and line up at the double doors. This helps avoid a mad dash to the trash cans and simply makes things more orderly. Review this video if you need a reminder!
Classroom Observations:
Mrs. Tollison and I have enjoyed visiting classrooms this week. We took your feedback, and what we know to be best practices in leadership, and made a commitment to be dedicated to being in your classrooms. For the near future, we will send you an email with feedback after we visit. At some point, we will transition to an actual observation form and send that to you when completed. Please know that visiting classrooms helps us stay connected to our teachers and students. It also allows us to offer input/suggestions to teachers when necessary and collect/share the awesome things happening in your classrooms. As you and our students get used to our entering and leaving rooms, please make every effort to simply ignore us. Encourage your students to do the same. When we enter the room, we will try to find a place out of the way to observe. However, don't be surprised if we walk around the room and even engage a few students in conversation about their learning.
Now, let's take a look at some of the great things happening at PVES ...
We met at Furman to kick off our college and career ready theme. What a beautiful campus and a great way to start things off! We were reminded by Furman professors that we need to build curiosity among our students. I'm not sure what this picture tells us. I think it means we get along well and have a sense of humor. We might be a little crazy too.
Tammy Lee represented our school very well as she accepted the ToY award at Palmetto High School during our district opening meeting. Mrs. Lee and I enjoyed our ToY luncheon later that day. Great job, TL!
Our first day of school went so well. Mrs. Tollison and I met with each grade level and discussed our expectations for the school year. Thanks to our incredible staff for making the first day quite the impressionable one (and in a very good way).
PVES teachers are determined to make a difference. How about Mrs. Redmon doing a little therapy in the health room. And Mrs. Golden showed up to support some of her students at a football game ... on a Saturday. Awesome stuff.
Thanks to our Powdersville Patriot U10 football team for serving our school by opening car doors last week. This is true community at its finest. How can we continue to build community?
Planning is important. Mrs. Tollison visited 3rd grade classrooms this week and was impressed with the consistency of approach and instruction as she went from room-to-room. No, they are not "cookie-cutter" classrooms, but it is evident that they plan well together. The expectation is that you plan with your team...your whole team. Put all those wonderful minds to work together and make great things happen in your classroom. We look forward to visiting some of your planning sessions soon.
Moore's Musings:
- Remember that WTLP will be shown on Mondays beginning soon. Thanks to Ms. Jordan for leading this effort. It is expected that you will show the WTLP recording each Monday as it will "frontload" your week. Additionally, I hope everyone is making sure that your classrooms are focused on announcements each morning. We are trying to make this short and sweet, but effective.
- Thanks to our ROAR team for planning some fun events this year. ROAR stands for "reaching others, achieving relationships" and we intend to do just that. I do hope you will try to participate in these events. Our first adventure is coming up soon so fill out the RSVP here and scope out our events.
- Our fire drill is next Wednesday, August 31st at 10 AM. Please take a moment to review procedures with your class prior to the drill. We do record details of each drill in the office including how long it takes for us to evacuate and account for everyone. Remember to take your class roll, red/green signals, and walkie (if you have one). We should get evacuation maps out soon to those of you who do not have one in your room.
- I am excited about guided math PD this year. Math teachers, your first session is tomorrow (Thursday). Mrs. Tollison and Mrs. Preisig have worked hard in preparation for you. They will share some effective strategies to use in your guided math classroom while focusing on the basic structure of guided math.
Mark Your Calendar (MYC):
- Blue jean day - Friday, August 26th.
- Fall MAP begins on Monday, August 29th. Sign up for times via the link in our faculty meeting google slides presentation.
- Fire Drill - Wednesday, August 31st at 10 AM.
- No school on Labor Day - Monday, September 5th.
- Begin PRIDE Time - Intervention Block - Tuesday, September 6th
- Begin sending iPads home with students - Tuesday, September 6th
- Boosterthon 'kickoff" event for Golden Rule Rally - Tuesday, September 6th at 1:30 in the MP Room
- Faculty meeting - Tuesday, September 6th at 3:15 in the PD Room
- As always, please check our shared calendar for additional dates
Video of the Week: If our purpose is to make a difference in the lives of our students, we need to be careful how we speak to them!
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