Lead with Empathy

Last week was a long and emotional week. I was very proud of the way our school handled such a crazy week with sickness, absences, tornado warnings, flooding rains, and much more. I appreciate the way our teachers keep the focus on learning and growth by making every attempt to keep students in a positive, loving and structured environment. This week, appropriately, we focus on leading with empathy. Of course, empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. Effective teachers have an innate ability to listen carefully and put themselves in the shoes of another human being. Whether it be the angry parent, the strong-willed student or that colleague with whom you do not see eye-to-eye, having emotional intelligence and proactively listening and solving problems based on an empathetic approach makes all the difference in the world. Valentine's Day is Friday. Our goal should be that every student and colleague knows how much we love and appreciate them. There is enough negativity in the world. Let your love and purpose shine. Lead with empathy.

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate our counselors last week. They lead with empathy. Ms. Lee and Ms. Ernst champion the causes of our most at-risk students and are always willing to support our teachers by taking on the challenges of serving a student population with diverse needs.

Thanks to everyone for your patience on Thursday during the severe weather. Everyone acted quickly and communicated well. This is why we practice drills and take them seriously. What impressed me even more was the grace everyone extended to others that day. During such a stressful time, it made my heart smile to see teachers comforting students who were upset and others who volunteered to step up and help when things got busy. Being empathetic can manifest itself in different ways, but there is no doubt empathy was on display at PVES last week. 

I had the opportunity to interview Clemson seniors on Friday for our district. Finding quality teachers has always been a strength for ASD1 as evidenced by the success at PVES. As I wrapped up the day, I reflected on the young candidates I had interviewed and critiqued. Do you remember what it was like starting out as a teacher? Do you empathize with and assist our new teachers at PVES? Do you set a good example for them? We must invest in our new folks so our tradition of excellence continues. 

We must love our students; even the most challenging ones. When we show empathy, we realize our students long to be loved, nurtured and challenged. I have noticed all the fun we have had with our fractions unit of study. Our students respond so well when we make learning fun. Have you ever pondered what it would be like to spend 5 days a week in your class. If you were a student in your class, would you be treated fairly, enjoy your learning experience, and grow as a learner? 

OLWEUS Class Meetings: 

As always, Monday morning during Pride Time will be left open for class meetings. Our OLWEUS team has been working hard to plan and organize lessons for this time. Please view this document created by our OLWEUS committee. We would ask that you drop in/link lessons, activities and resources as we go along. This would be a huge help for all. Perhaps your OLWEUS time could be spent focusing on empathy in the classroom? Regardless, we should let this time be transformational and change the culture of our school. 

Reading All Stars:

We will be participating in the Greenville Drive Reading All Stars program again this year. We use this program as a way to encourage students to keep reading! Our expectation is 100% participation (i.e. every student). Between Monday, February 3rd and Friday, March 6th, students will read five (5) books and record this on the reading log provided to you by Mrs. Fowler. Mrs. Fowler will be keeping track of this for us and will send you an email when she is ready for you to submit your reading logs. Additionally, our teachers have done an excellent job of keeping track of this in the classroom by simply displaying names outside the classroom of students who have reached the goal. 

• Participating students receive a free ticket to the celebration game on Sunday, May 3rd where they will get a chance to walk on the field before the game.
• Participating students also receive a free t-shirt and a free book at the game.

Health Room:

Hopefully, we are on the mend at PVES. Please consider the following before sending a student to the health room. Remember the 7 B's as well. 

1. Please be sure to send students with a pass that has specific symptoms. 
2. If a student has a stomach ache with no other symptoms, please try a few things: drinking water, eating a snack, resting, or going to the bathroom. 
3. If a student complains of aches or fever (hot),  you can send them up for a temperature check. 
4. If it is something minor that can be attended to in the classroom, please handle if at all possible. This is within reason. If you feel it needs the nurse's assessment you can definitely send the student up. 

We do not want to have students who are well with only minor needs (i.e. a small nose bleed, not gushing) sitting in a room with students who have fevers and flu like symptoms. Thank you so much for your help to make sure our students and staff stays healthy. Also, please do not contact a parent via SeeSaw or text messaging and ask that parent to come pick up the student because he/she is not feeling well. This determination is made be the nurse after a careful examination. 

Tetherball:

We are so thankful that our PTSO has added some activities to our blacktop area for recess. Tetherball is a fun game that has been around for a long time. However, our students need some instruction on the correct way to play this game. This will cut down on misuse of the equipment and injuries that can occur. Please view the video below with students and have a quick conversation about expectations whole playing this game. 

Live PD:

We do have Live PD scheduled for all teachers on Wednesday, February 12th at 3:15 P.M. after grade level planning. We will be addressing behavior management from various perspectives including classroom and whole school. We postponed this session due to sickness and other events last week. Home room teachers will meet in the media center. All others will meet in the Art Room. 

Anderson One Loves Teachers:

How many blue jean days will you get the next two weeks? Well, that all depends on you! Help support the Anderson One Loves Teachers Scholarship Program AND wear blue jeans. Click here to view the flyer. There is an envelope in the office where you can drop off your money if you decide to participate. 

Real Men Read:

PVES will celebrate Real Men Read Day on Friday, February 14th. Men from across our community will be in our building to read to students. Mrs. Martin will briefly meet with our visitors in the media center. Then, around 8:10 A.M. or so, our PVES Ambassadors will escort our guests to the classrooms to which they have been assigned. It is appropriate to gather your students at the carpet or front of the room for this time. Of course, please ensure that our students are respectful and polite to all guests. Mrs. Martin will be sending out additional information this week, but your Pride Time will be used for this wonderful event. Please help us secure additional men to visit classrooms as we still have some classrooms without an assigned guest reader. 

Tech PD with Thomas:

Tech PD with Thomas McAuliff is scheduled for Friday, February 14th. This is our monthly required Tech PD. Thomas will provide additional information this week. Sessions will be held in the following rooms:

• 8:45 A.M. - Schumpert's Room
• 9:30 A.M. - Michael's Room 
• 10:15 A.M. - Barnett's Room 
• 11:00 A.M. - Ezell's Room 
• 12:10 P.M. - Hughes's Room 
• 12:55 P.M. - Odom's Room 
• 1:40 P.M. - A. Williams's Room 

Moore's Musings:

• With more rain on the way, go ahead and plan on indoor recess. This is an important time for students and teachers to take a quick break from the academic portion of the day. 
• Monday, February 17th is a PD Day in ASD1. Our goal is to meet in the morning and finish up by 11:00 A.M. or so. This will give teachers an opportunity to work in their classrooms. We will send our a more detailed agenda this week. 
• PTSO will be in the building on Friday this week and will be passing our Cookie Grams to students and staff. 
• 3rd grade will take students to the MP Room for Related Arts on Tuesday this week for a dental hygiene presentation. 
• There will be no official blog next week. 

Mark Your Calendar:

• Office Staff Meeting - 2/10 at 8:30 A.M.
• PVES Ambassors Meeting - 2/10 at 2:35 P.M. 
• West Pelzer observing RISE - 2/11 in morning 
• RTI Team Meeting - 2/11 beginning at 2:45 P.M. in Keel's Room 
• New Best Meeting - 2/11 at 3:15 P.M. in media center 
• Grade Level Planning - 2/12 at 2:25 P.M.
• Live PD - 2/12 at 3:15 P.M. 
• Cookie Grams - 2/14
• Real Men Read - 2/14 Pride Time 
• Tech PD with Thomas - 2/14 during planning

Video of the Week: Empathy