On Trust

I happy to provide a new blog for our PVES faculty and staff as it has been quite a few weeks since our last. I am hopeful everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving break with friends and family. More than anything, I hope you were able to take time to truly reflect on the many reasons you have to be thankful. I consider Thanksgiving to be a very underrated holiday and wish we could somehow bottle up that feeling of thanksgiving for use 365 days out of the year. And with that, welcome back. We have important work to accomplish together. 

An interesting and ironic paradox exists at Powdersville Elementary School. This paradox is all centered upon one word. Trust. Trust is defined as the reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc. of a person or thing. As I have reflected this weekend on our vision as a school, I have come to the conclusion that the process of building trust is both the reason for our successes and the lack of complete trust is the reason we have not realized our full potential. We can celebrate it, make excuses for it, but I consider this paradox to be true of our school. Until we are willing to confront it, strengthen it and fight to protect it, I would suspect the more things would stay the same. And, as we know in education, this is rarely a good thing. So in this blog, I challenge you to offer trust while also being trustworthy. Below, I offer a few questions and/or statements for your consideration and reflection. Our quest to build 100% complete trust, the kind of trust to take us to that "next level" begins now. 

• Can your students trust you? Do you have their best interests at heart? Do you treat them the same no matter their background or educational ability? Are you using class time in such a way that respects and values those precious minutes you have to make a difference?
• Can your colleagues trust you? Do you do your part and share the heavy load? Do you say one  thing in one setting, but do a completely different thing in another setting? Can you collaborate and even debate while maintaining a common desire to be a team and improve together?
• Are you a CAVE person (Colleague Against Virtually Everything) or are you all in for the vision we have laid out for our school? Does this show in your actions and words; not only in formal meetings but by your actions and words down the hallway, in front of parents or at the grocery store?

So many great things have taken place in our school and we are well on our way to the next level. Here are just a few from previous weeks....

Our Writer's Wall of Fame breakfast for the first nine week period was once again a huge success. I enjoy so much celebrating our students. We know writing is a "lost art" in many respects and a huge area of focus for our students. I trust our faculty and staff to spend the time and effort into planning quality writing instruction. This means modeling and conferencing with writers on a regular basis.

Fourth grade kicked off their PBL on weather forecasting and severe weather. Chris Justus from WYFF was kind enough to kick off the PBL for our students. He even promised to come back when students present. The finished product will include an actual weather forecast production created by our students. It wasn't easy to plan, but 4th grade trusted one another and made this happen. Now, the fun begins...learning!

Thanks to Mrs. McGaha for the idea to set up our white table in the cafeteria in honor of our veterans. I trust you were able to take the time to discuss Veteran's Day with your students and allow them the opportunity to hear the read aloud of America's White Table. Our students should know the many sacrifices that have been made in order for them to learn and achieve in a free country.

OLWEUS Class Meetings:
We will hold our next round of OLWEUS class meetings on Monday, November 26th during PRIDE Time. The goal is for everyone to have the first 6 lessons completed. Then, grade levels are free to plan interactive lessons that fit the needs of our students. You can find a ton of great information, , in shared folder. I would suggest read alouds, role playing and plenty of time for discussion. We should build an environment of trust so students can freely discuss concerns. A few suggested topics: playing games at recess (especially sports) in which sportsmanship and inclusion are priority, cafeteria behavior once again centered on inclusion and appropriate discussion, and expectations for group work - how to work together with all types of people. Don't forget to review our rules against bullying behaviors. This must be a common language. 



Live PD:
We will have our next Live PD sessions this Wednesday, November 28th after school at 3:15 P.M. Please view our agenda carefully and plan to attend. This will be an important one to set the stage for the remainder of the year. As a reminder, faculty and staff are asked to keep Wednesday afternoons "open" to honor our time together for Live PD. This doesn't mean we will meet every Wednesday, but does mean Wednesdays should be available when needed. Thanks!


PVES "New Best":
Our "new best" are reminded of your next meeting scheduled for Wednesday, November 28th at 11:00 A.M. For those who will need "cover", we will provide this for you. The format is different than the traditional after school meetings and lunch will be provided. Please be looking for Mrs. Tollison's email with more specific information. We look forward to meeting with our "new best" this week! 


Literacy Night:
PVES Literacy Night is scheduled for Thursday, December 6th from 6:00-7:15 P.M. Please send out communication throughout the week encouraging families to attend and send in their RSVPs. Thanks to Kelle Martin and our literacy committee for their hard work in planning this event. Lindsay Nix has been working tirelessly to create incredible art work and displays for the event. We do need YOUR help for this to be a success. It is obviously an expectation that our faculty and staff attends and serves during Literacy Night. We can't wait to enjoy "How the Grinch Stole Literacy Night" on December 6th. 


Moore's Musings:
It was indeed a true honor to inform everyone of our expected "excellent" rating on our school report card. More detail will be provided soon and there is much to explore and learn from this new school accountability system. Soon, we will be challenging some of our thoughts and methods as they pertain to PLCs. The conference we attended, which was the best conference of my professional career, provided some much needed insight and next steps for us to take back and implement at PVES. We are ready for a "reset" of sorts, and I hope you will join me in embracing the change that is needed in order for us to be next level. Trust will play a major role in this implementation and we will, simply put, challenge some of your norms and accepted roles. 

On an unrelated note, December is a busy time of year for all of us. We have Literacy Night, Chorus and Strings performances and 3rd grade Christmas performances as well. I hope you will make every attempt to attend these events as you see appropriate and support our students. As a parent and administrator, I cannot tell you how impressive it is when an event takes place and many of our faculty and staff are on hand in support. Thank you! 


Mark Your Calendar MYC):

• OLWEUS class meetings - 11/26 during PRIDE Time
• Fire Drill - 11/27
• PVES "New Best" Meeting - 11/28 at 11:00 A.M.
• Live PD - 11/28 at 3:15 P.M. 
• Christmas for Kids event at Clemson - 11/29 (see Tammy with questions)
• Progress Report Folders - 12/5 (originally scheduled for this week)
• Literacy Night - 12/6 from 6:00-7:15 P.M.

Video of the Week: Trust (Teacher Leaders Needed)