Normal

I caught myself last week. Guilty as charged. I was chatting with a teacher about all the sickness that has invaded our school and it just came out. "I am ready for things to return to normal," I said. In the moment, I meant what I said. As teachers well know, absences take their toll on all of us. They limit our students ability to grow. They take valuable time away from us as educators. No one can control sickness, and I do pray that we are bouncing back soon. Still, my use of the term normal, in conversation with others, stuck with me. One definition of normal, according to dictionary.com, is conforming to the standard or common type. What in the world is normal about what we do? What does normal in an elementary school look like anyway? And the more I reflected on the word and my flippant use of the term, the more angry I was at myself for using it. Who can do what you do; taking 20-something students, from various socio-economic backgrounds, family situations and learning backgrounds, and molding them into a well-oiled machine? A normal day for teachers, who do it the right way, consists of controlled chaos, teachable moments and countless split decisions based on knowing and loving the raw product given to us. The normal for us is abnormal. We revel in it, we seek it out...we never run from it. We are called to not only accept it, but to embrace it. To close, I would suggest, during this stretch run where we are preparing our students for monumental growth and state testing, that we focus on a second definition provided to us by dictionary.com: serving to establish a standard. Our standard is excellence (The E in PRIDE). Our path to excellence is serving. Let this be our focus, and do whatever it takes, as we take on yet another "normal" week at PVES.

I loved seeing all the pictures from our fractions celebrations at each grade level. We had a large number of parents show up to support our students. It is NOT the norm to experience a successful school-wide focus such as this, nor is it normal to see such great parent involvement. Great job to everyone involved!

From a third grade celebration of learning when wrapping up a unit to kicking off a new unit with a mystery in the media center, the norm at PVES is engagement and fun! And I have never heard students so excited about reference sources as those leaving our library. This is what it is all about!

Last week, some fourth grade students guinea-pigged a new program in the lab that we may be using next year. And speaking of computer lab, Mrs. Berry truly embodies the "do whatever it takes" mentality.

What is normal at PVES? How about making a profound difference in the lives of all of our students? Including this one who came back to PVES just to see those he loves. Never doubt your impact; even in a "normal" week.

Our Father Daughter Dance on Friday evening was a huge success. We are blessed with a supportive PTSO and wonderful fathers to support what we do here at PVES. Again, I feel like we are guilty of taking this for granted as normal, but those who have experienced other schools will share very different stories with you.

Greenville Drive Reading All Stars Update:
I will make this announcement short and sweet. We want 100% participation in this program. Teachers, that is your goal. I not-to-be named elementary school in ASD1 has stated, for the record, that they plan to "beat Powdersville Elementary" in this competition. The forms do not have to be signed, meaning you can simply make copies of the form if misplaced and help students get this completed and turned in. Once completed, the form can be submitted to Mrs. Fowler in the media center. Talk this program up with your students and continually notify our parents. Let's rally around this program to stress the importance and FUN of reading. Students who submit a form, receive a free ticket to the Drive game on May 5th. They also receive a free t-shirt and book at the game. The end of the program is Friday, March 15th. After the ROAR Report on Monday, take a quick moment to show video below and talk it up once again!

OLWEUS:
It has been a few weeks since our last formal OLWEUS class meetings. Let's take advantage of this Monday and set a positive tone for the week. The norm at PVES is respect and collaboration. Where can your class improve in these areas? Answer that question and let that be our focus for your class meeting. As always, you can use our shared folder for lesson ideas and assistance. Mrs. Tollison, Mrs. Lee and I look forward to visiting classrooms to observe these conversations!

SIC Meeting on Tuesday Morning:
Our next School Improvement Council Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday morning at 7:20 A.M. in the media center. If you are not on the SIC, you are always welcome and invited to attend. It's a great way to share our school successes and allow for a focus on improvement.

Live PD on Wednesday:
Our next Live PD sessions will be held this Wednesday, February 27th beginning at 3:10 P.M. Please look over our agenda and prepare accordingly. We look forward to this time of learning and collaboration.

Best of Luck 4th Grade Regatta Teams:
Thanks to Mrs. Hughes for her hard work in preparing 4th grade students for the upcoming STEM Regatta Competition the YMCA this Thursday. I know Mrs. Hughes and her students have worked hard during this unit and we wish these teams the best of luck in their competition. By the way, thanks for reading the blog. Thursday and Friday are blue jean days at PVES.


Moore's Musings:
As you know, we have been interviewing prospective teachers to join our team next year. Mrs. Tollison and I take this part of our jobs very seriously. Fit and culture are important to us! We are pleased to announce the following teachers have agreed to become a part of our PVES team. We do expect additional hires to be made given growth positions, teachers leaving, etc. and will make everyone aware of changes when we are able to do so. I will email grade level teams about new teachers joining their teams.

• Amelia Skelton - Amelia is student teaching in Berkeley County and attends Charleston Southern. She will go before the board on Tuesday for approval. 
• Sommer Owens - Sommer works as an interventionist at Palmetto Elementary School. She will go before the board Tuesday evening for approval.
• Samantha Ellison - Samantha is student teaching at Cedar Grove and has already been offered a contract with ASD1. 

Thanks for making them feel welcome and supporting them!


Mark Your Calendar (MYC):

• OLWEUS Class Meetings - 2/25 During PRIDE Time
• 8th Grade Band Visits - 2/25 in MP Room During 5th Grade Related 
• Launch Testing (Strings in Cafeteria) - 2/25-2/27
• SIC Meeting - 2/26 at 7:20 A.M.
• Progress Report Folders - 2/27
• Live PD - 2/27
• Cardboard Regatta - 2/28

Video of the Week: Bring Different, Is Normal