Positive Assumptions

One of the best parts of my job is helping struggling students.  Sometimes it is about their academics, sometimes a boyfriend and other times real traumatizing events.  Spending a little time with them helps me gain a better understanding of each student and get to know the goodness in their heart.  Even though some students really struggle in a classroom setting, I have found that almost all are really, really good at the core but just need a little guidance and support. 

This week, one of our students who utilizes their hot pass extensively stopped in to see me.  This student could be labeled as one of our toughest kids as they have so many life experiences that we would never understand.  Even though the anxiety this student was feeling was taking over life at the moment, they were able to share with me how two teachers noticed how hard they had been working and praised them! "Mr. Stowe told me that he appreciated me working so hard in his class!" was one of her examples.  They were so excited that someone had noticed their efforts and went on to tell me how it made them work harder in class.    

This just reminded me about the importance of always finding the good in everyone.  Catching our students "being good" and specifically noticing their efforts and improvements is such a great way to build positive relationships and help students move forward.  Conscious Discipline also reminds us that noticing our students (especially those tough ones) can help make such a difference!

I believe it is in all of us to thrive on praise and positive recognition!  I challenge each of you today to find that student that seems to be struggling and praise them for one thing.  It may be very small (like I noticed you threw your trash in the trash can today or I noticed you brought a pencil to class today) but seemingly small acts can bring enormous positive results.


Important Information: 

- Faculty Meeting - We will have a faculty meeting on Tuesday, October 30th at 7:20 a.m.  Below is a link to the power point that will lead our discussion!  It is going to be an informative and exciting meeting!  Looking forward to seeing all of you there!   Power Point

- Veteran's Day - On November 9th students in the 7th and 8th grade will participate in Veterans Day.  Students will be release from their first period class around 8:00 a.m. and should return by 9:00 a.m.  Junior high teachers are asked to accompany their students to the elementary cafeteria for this important event!

- Breakfast is Served - Monday, November 5th, we will be celebrating time change!  As we "Fall Back" and gain an hour that day the administrative team will also be serving you breakfast in the high school library!  Hope to see all of you there!

- Laurie Ferry will be here on Thursday and Friday to meet with our K-10 math teams!  Laurie is a former teacher and expert in the Common Core Math standards.  This is her second trip to Perry Central!   Grant funds allow us to offer this training and we are grateful for our math teachers and all of their hard work!

- PLC Meetings - Reminder to Math, Social Studies, English and Science teams that we will be meeting this week during PLC times.  Agenda's for meetings were emailed or can be found in PLC Organization folder under your subject area!  Looking forward to great meetings!

- Laurie Desautel's Sunday Share

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Important Dates: 

Tuesday, October 30 - 7:20 a.m. Faculty Meeting/ Math PLC Meeting 11:40 a.m./ Perry Central Fall Festival/ Girls Varsity Basketball Opener @ Southridge 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, October 31 - Social Studies PLC Meeting 11:40 a.m./ Happy Halloween!

Thursday, November 1 - English PLC Meeting 11:40 a.m./ Laurie Ferry Visit

Friday, November 2 - Science PLC Meeting 11:40 a.m./ Laurie Ferry Visit/ Girls Varsity Basketball @ Wood Memorial 5:30 p.m.

Monday, November 5 - Faculty breakfast - High School Library

Thursday, November 8 - Formative Assessment Training (more information to come)