One Goal, Every Day

Last week, I had an Indiana Principal Leadership Institute gathering.  I have really enjoyed this program so far because it has helped me have time to be reflective and has provided me with great resources that will help me foster the attitude of continuous improvement.

At this meeting, I had the privilege of listening to Todd Whitaker.  Dr. Whitaker is a professor in Missouri and his work has been published all over the country.  One of my favorite books is called "What Great Teachers Do Differently" and "What Great Principals Do Differently."  In honor of his presentation (and he signed a couple of books I had with me - Yeah!)  I thought I would share a few of my favorite quotes from Dr. Whitaker that I try to live by:

* Ten Days out of Ten - It is the teacher's (principal's) responsibility to create a positive atmosphere 10 out of 10 days.  No matter what is going on, teachers (principals) treat everyone with respect, ALWAYS.  Great teachers understand the power of praise!  We never have too much nice!  :-)

* One Goal, Every Day - No matter what the lesson plan covers, great teachers want their students to be more excited about learning tomorrow than they were today.  Everyday we decide what to bring into our classrooms and schools. Even on the days we don't feel that perky, we can filter out the negative energy and make learning exciting!

* Treat Everyone As If they are Good- Make students (people) who do the right thing feel comfortable with their decision making!

* High Expectations for Whom?  Great teachers (principals) know who is the variable in the classroom: they are. Great teachers consistently strive to improve and they focus on something they can control - their own performance.

Every teacher has an impact.  Great teachers make a difference.  I feel so fortunate that Perry Central is full of GREATNESS! 


Important Information:

Accuplacer Testing - On October 2nd, Angie L. Will be conducting Accuplacer testing.  This testing is important for our students as they work to meet prerequisites for dual credit classes.  She has a large number of students that need to be tested and will be conducting testing during 2nd and 5th periods.  Please see her email for details.  Thank you for supporting our Early College High School needs!

Tour of Opportunity - All 8th grade students will be participating in the Tour of Opportunity on Friday, October 5th.  This is a great day for students to learn about he career opportunities in Perry County.  October 5th is also Pick Perry Day!  The Perry County College Success Coalition and PCDC will be sponsoring all 8th grade students in the county and all students will receive a Pick Perry Shirt!  Thanks to Maria and Carol for pulling this together for our students.

College Fair - Students in grades 10, 11 and 12 will be participating in the Perry County College Fair on Monday, October 1st.  Maria did send an email with a list of students and times.  Students will be gone from approximately 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.  Please see Maria's email for a list of students.

End of Grading Period:  Friday, October 5th is the end of the grading period.  Grades will "dump" on Wednesday, October 10th at 11:59 p.m.  It is important that grades are up-to-date at that time.

Standards Based Grading - Just a reminder for those of you in standards based grading, it is important for you to have your reporting topics up-to-date for the 2nd quarter so that grades are correct.  If you need help seeing what reporting topics you the system has you reporting out on for 2nd quarter, please see Jody and she can help!  Please make sure they are correct by Friday October 5th.  This will allow me enough time to make changes before the beginning of the new grading period.

Manufacturing Night - October 10th is our 5th annual Manufacturing Night, sponsored by the Perry County College Success Coalition!  Josh Craney and our students have been working hard to learn about different manufacturing operations, processes and skills that are in our region!  We would like to invite all of you to bring your families to this great event!  You can learn from our students, win many, many prizes and enjoy an evening to celebrate our largest employers!  6:00 - 7:30 p.m. at the Tell City Ivy Tech - come and join the fun and food!

After School PLC Meeting - We will have our first after school PLC meeting on October 10th!  Please make arrangements to be in the high school library from 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.  that day!

Pep Session - We will hold our first Pep Session on Friday!  Our Pep Session Schedule:  5th:  12:28 - 1:08, 6th - 1:12 - 1:52, 7th - 1:56 - 2:36  Pep Session - 2:36 - 3:00 p.m.



Important Dates: 
Monday, October 1 -  College Fair  Students will leave at 9:00 a.m./ Varsity Volleyball 5:30 p.m. vs. South Spencer

Tuesday, October 2 -  Accuplacer Testing - 2nd & 5th period

Wednesday, October 3 -

Thursday, October 4 -  Varsity Volleyball 5:30 p.m. vs. Springs Valley (Senior Night)

Friday, October 5 -  Tour of Opportunity - 8th Grade/ End of Grading Period/ Pep Session - 2:36 - 3:00/ SLO's due in SFS/ Varsity Football 6:30 p.m. vs. Springs Valley  (Senior Night)

Saturday, October 6 - Cross Country Sectional @ Jasper 10:00 a.m. / Sadie Hawkins Dance

Wednesday, October 10th - After School PLC Meeting

Get Up and Get Moving!

Taking walks is one of the ways I manage my stress.  Days when I get home and feel sluggish I have been opting to take a walk instead of a nap.  I don't know what it is about physical activity, such as walking, but even though I am out of shape I always come home renewed and find myself more productive for the rest of the evening.

As we have all been learning about the brain, we are finding that this kind of activity is also important for our students and their own learning.  Come to find out, dancing to the Macarena or Watch me Whip are not poor excuses to get our moves on but very important parts of our day!  Studies have found that movement improves overall learning as well as test scores, skills and content knowledge in core subject areas.  Based on what is now known about the brain, this has been shown to be an effective cognitive strategy to improve memory and retrieval strength among all learners.  Laurie Desautels also tells us that movement and patterns can help students better operate in the executive part of their brains!  

Kids moving in class is not a poor use of instructional time, but an essential component of learning, just like taking a walk (instead of a nap) is essential to productivity!    

Abbie Brockman shared a Brain Break Article with me this summer.  Here are two ideas for a quick break to re-energize student brains!  

    * Rock, Paper, Scissors, MATH:  Find a partner - Play, "Rock, Paper, Scissors, MATH" when students get to the word MATH they should put 1-4 fingers out (no thumbs allowed).  The person that can add the fingers correctly the fastest wins!  Play best out of 3-5 rounds.

   * Thumb & Pinkie:  Stand Up, Put your hands in front of you and make a fist with each hand, Put your thumb up with your left hand, Put your pinkie up with your right hand, Now switch back and forth (thumb and pinkie) as fast as you can!  

For more information, please read Eric Sheninger's Blog about Learning and Movement (Article Here) 
#keepmoving

Important Information: 

Social/Emotional Learning (SEL) Committee - Just a reminder that the SEL team (team that met this summer) will be meeting after school from 3:15 - 4:30 p.m. on Monday to work on the SEL curriculum in the high school library.

College 101 Night - Monday we have invited families in the 10th, 11th and 12th grade to learn more about the transition to college this Monday night!  Maria Sweat has worked hard to create a panel line up of a variety of admission officers along with other valuable information. Anyone is welcome to the meeting.  Pizza will be at 5:30 p.m. with the program to start soon after that!  Thanks to Maria for all of her work.

Entrepreneurship Club - Ian Jarboe, former PC student and founder of "Feed the Giant" has agreed to run an Entrepreneurship Club at Perry Central!  The United States was founded by innovation and currently over 40% of individuals under the age of 30 work for themselves!  We are excited to bring Ian in to work with our students and help them learn and dream of developing their own business!  Ian is going to have a call out meeting on Tuesday in Carol Schwoeppe's room during first WIN.

Student Council Exchange - On Friday, September 28th, the Junior High Student Council will host Peakin Eastern's Student Council.  Their hope is to learn from each other and help lead their schools to kind, welcoming climates.  Thank you to Mary Jo Hagedorn and her Student Council members for making our guests feel welcome.


Important Dates: 

Monday, September 24 - SEL Committee Meeting 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m./ College 101 Night 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, September 25 - Varsity Volleyball @ Mitchell 5:30 p.m./ Commodore Table  5:30 p.m.

Thursday, September 27 - Varsity Volleyball vs. Jasper  5:30 p.m.

Friday, September 28 - Varsity Football @ West Washington 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, September 29 - Varsity Cross Country PLAC @ Crawford County 10:00 a.m.

Serving our Families

This week we will be hosting our parents for Parent-Teacher Conferences.  Just as we build relationships with students, it is vital that we build strong relationships with our parents/families as well.  Even though we have all been raised with different values and priorities, one thing I believe teachers and parents have in common is that we want what is best for our students/children. We must remember that sometimes school is not a comfortable place for our parents, so offering positive, encouraging thoughts are great ways to break down any barriers there may be.   

As you plan for our conferences this week, here are a few questions/tips you could use to help engage in positive relationships with parents: 

Offer conversation starters. Put parents (and yourself) at ease with a question or two: "What did Sam like about school last year?," "What does Tina like to do at home?," or "What are some things you'd like her to accomplish this year?"

Invite parents to share their thoughts. As experts on their children, parents can share valuable insights. And they'll appreciate your respectful recognition of their role in helping their children.

Highlight the positives. Recognize a child's strengths before discussing her struggles. You'll give parents some perspective while encouraging them to work productively with you.

Address just one or two concerns. Listing too many problems can make parents (and their children) feel defeated. Mention that you'd like to help the student with several things, but for now you'd like to concentrate on just one or two.

Let parents know if you need thinking time. It's perfectly OK to tell parents you want to think through what they've said, observe their children for a bit, consult others, or read up on an issue they've raised.

Parent-teacher conferences can feel intimidating and critical for caregivers. Being able to build a strong foundation of communication and collaboration can be very helpful for the student and their learning. 

Important Information:   

       Lori Desautels' Sunday Strategy:  (This post reminded me of the patterns of rhythm we created during her training with our hands and knees!)  

           I am sitting with my coffee assessing all of the forums and reflections from classes this past week and this was just shared about rhythm!!! This is from an administrator!

When we incorporate rhythm we are creating ways that regulate lower brain regions pulling us OUT of the survival brain into ways of calm... THIS IS DISCIPLINE!!! SUNDAY STRATEGY!!

On Friday, I had a student who was in total meltdown that is unpredictable. He typically is very hard to deescalate and also after he is regulated, when you try to process what happened, identify triggers, and talk about alternative ways to handle our anger, he usually escalates again, which doesn't allow for much learning. Breakthrough moment. Because of learning about rhythm, I literally grabbed 4 rulers from our extra stash in the office, went into the room he was breaking down in, and began drumming on the floor. No talking, and no looking at him. He quickly picked up the extra rulers and joined me. Stopped crying and screaming instantly. That is not the best part. He then was able to answer some questions and process what happened while drumming. This led to the first time I have ever been able to process with this kid and really try to talk about alternative behaviors. We discussed how next time, when he feels like he may be getting upset, he can ask to drum. His teacher is amazing and loved this idea. A new way for me to regulate kiddos when they are clearly in their brain stem! Language is sensations...always need to think of this!

Drumming and rhythms are intrinsically a part of all of us and even bugs!!!!  (Link)

* PLC Meetings:  Reminder about PLC meetings this week.  A rough agenda was attached to the Monday Moment email. I would like to start our meetings a little later but eat while we work - but if you do not want to do this, please let me know and we will determine a different time as a team. We are looking forward learning and finding ways to support you!

      Tuesday, September 18 - Math    11:45 - Debbie Dauby's Room

      Wednesday, September 19 - Science         11:40  Stephanie Walsh's Room

      Thursday, September 20  - English/Social Studies   11:40  Abbie Brockman's Room

      Friday, September 21 -  Josh Craney, Carrie Guillaume, Carol Schwoeppe, Julie Berkhouse  11:40 Josh's Room

      Monday, September 24 - Mary Hagedorn, PE, Nancy Poehlein, 11:40  Teacher Meeting Room

* Faculty Meeting - We will have a faculty meeting at 7:20 a.m. on Tuesday, September 18th.  I know mornings are difficult, but if you can please work hard to get to the meeting on time.  We will have very important information to share and typically run out of time.  We will do best to utilize our time the best we can.  Breakfast will be served!  It is always a pleasure to see everyone!  

* EWIN Visit - On Monday, September 17th, over 25 educators from across the state will be visiting Perry Central to view our Earn and Learn opportunities.  Their visit will be from approximately 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.  We will be utilizing the high school library and Mr. Craney has a few students that will be giving tours.  We will move senior WIN group to the high school gym.    

* ALICE Student Training:  On Tuesday, September 18th, Derrick Lawalin and Alan Malone will be at Perry Central to train students in grades 5-12 about the ALICE program.  This is a similar training that all of our faculty and staff went through last year (except we will not be doing the simulation in classrooms.)  Here is a tentative schedule for the day:  8:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m. Grades 10-12/ 9:10 a.m. - 10:10  a.m. Grades 5-6/  10:20 a.m. - 11:20 a.m. Grades 7-9.  Students will be released by intercom.  
* Parent Teacher Conferences:  Reminder that Parent Teacher Conferences will be Thursday, September 20th from 1:00 - 7:00 p.m.  Here are a few things to remember: 

- Please personally invite at least 10 families that you would like to get to know better either through phone call or personal email. 

- Pizza and drinks will be served in the high school office beginning at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday for faculty and staff.  

- Please keep a list of parents that visit your room and turn those into the office at the end of the day. 

- Know I am grateful for each of you as I know you are taking very good care of all of our students!  

Important Dates: 

Monday, September 17th -  EWIN Visit 10:00 - 2:00/ Varsity Volleyball @ Lanesville 5:30 p.m. 

Tuesday, September 18th - Faculty Meeting 7:20 a.m./ALICE Training for students/ Math PLC Meeting/ Varsity Volleyball @ Forest Park 5:00 p.m.

Wednesday, September 19th - Science PLC Meeting 

Thursday, September 20th - English/SS PLC Meeting/  Parent Teacher Conferences 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m./ Varsity Volleyball @ Home 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, September 22nd - Varsity Football @ Eastern Green 1:00 p.m./ Varsity Cross Country @ Tell City 9:50 a.m./ FFA serving @ Farm to Table  

Friday, October 5 - SLOs Due/ End of 9 weeks

Living with the Jetson's

One of my favorite TV shows growing up as a kid was the Jetson's.  Flying cars, Rosie the robot house cleaner, flat-screen TV's, 3D printed food; it all seemed like a dream!  Who knew that this 1960 sitcom would be so good at predicting the world we would all live in during the 21st Century!  (Article about how the Jetson's Predicted the future.)  

A couple of weeks ago, Blair Milo, Secretary of Career Connections and Talent for Indiana talked to a room full of groups from Spencer and Perry Counties about being prepared for the future and the importance of this in our economy.  She showed a YouTube video called "The Future of Work: Will our Students Be Ready?" It totally reminded me of the Jetson's because of its futuristic views; McDonalds ran by robots, Amazon stores, robotic dogs, etc.  (If you haven't watched this video, I would highly recommend it!) 

Conversations like this always lead me down the road of how we can embrace innovation in our schools.  I feel fortunate to work at Perry Central, because we are more innovative than most.  Mary and Tara are always looking for ways to help our school define learning beyond ISTEP scores, including classes like STEAM, Commodore Manufacturing, PLTW to name a few.  Our internship, career pathway and Early College opportunities are massive and allow students to combine and celebrate learning in both rigorous academic and vocational/authentic worlds. Our classrooms are embracing activities such as socratic seminars, turn and talks, debates, etc. which are all great learning techniques!   But after watching videos that predict where our world will be in the near future and knowing the need for 21st Century Skills of collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking, authenticity; it makes me wonder what the future will hold! 

I never thought that we would be living the lives of the Jetson's back in the 1980's, but we really are. This world is changing at a rapid pace. The question in my mind is, how do we make sure our students and children are ready?

(If you would like to dig a little deeper, below is a link to a website and one specific video clip that you may be interested in.  I would love to do a study with anyone that is interested in continuing to transform our school!) 

Website: https://teddintersmith.com/innovation-playlist/

Video: https://teddintersmith.com/innovation-playlist/school-within-a-school/



Important Information: 

* News 44 LIVE!  News 44 will be at Perry Central at 7:00 a.m. this Friday, September 14th.  Students and teachers will be playing games, making a large pyramid of cans with their food drive and celebrating "What is cool about school!"   We would love to see all of you there.  Also, we are working on a corporation wide teacher dance!  Becky Hubert has put the dance together and Mackenzie Petty is ready to teach us.  If you would be willing to learn the dance, we will meet in the high school library after school at 3:00 for some practice on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday!  I hope all of you will come and enjoy the fun!!

* Laurie Desautels Sunday Strategy:  Laurie has a Sunday Strategy about how to align bell work with brain strategies.  Here is her video clip.  You can also follow her on Facebook.  She has a strategy every Sunday.  This is a great way to help all of us learn how to keep our brains calm!  https://www.facebook.com/lori.l.desautels/videos/10161138546680160/

* PLC Meetings:  Teachers, please check your emails in regards to scheduled PLC meetings with Jody and Phil.  I sent some possible dates and a rough agenda! :-)  During our meetings, we will talk about SLOs and answer any questions you may have.  SLOs will be due on Friday, October 5th.  Please designate one person from your team to respond to the email.  We are looking forward learning and finding ways to support you!

* EWIN Visit - On Monday, September 17th, over 20 educators from across the state will be visiting Perry Central to view our Earn and Learn opportunities.  Their visit will be from approximately 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.  More information will be coming soon. 

* ALICE Student Training:  On Tuesday, September 18th, Derrick Lawalin and Alan Malone will be at Perry Central to train students in grades 5-12 about the ALICE program.  This is a similar training that all of our faculty and staff went through last year (except we will not be doing the simulation in classrooms.)  We are excited to offer this to all of our students, as we know this training is not only important in our schools, but in all public venues.  We are also grateful for the TCPD and County Sheriff Department for giving us so much time.  Here is a tentative schedule for the day:  8:00-9:00 Grades 10-12/ 9:10 - 10:10 Grades 5-6/  10:20 - 11:20 Grades 7-9.  More information will follow closer to time! 

* Parent Teacher Conferences:  Reminder that Parent Teacher Conferences will be Thursday, September 20th from 1:00 - 7:00 p.m.  I know that several of you have your own ways to reach parents/guardians.  We would like each of you, at a minimum, to reach out to 10 families individually.  I would like to challenge you to choose students that you feel would benefit from the extra layer of support.  If any of you would like to have some examples of what communication could look like or would like to learn how to use the email option in Skyward, please let me know.

Important Dates: 

Monday, September 10:  News 44 Committee Meeting 11:25 in Dana's room

Tuesday, September 11: Varsity Volleyball @ Paoli 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, September 12 

Thursday, September 13: Varsity Volleyball @ West Washington 5:30 p.m.

Friday, September 14: Varsity Football @ Home vs. Tecumseh @ 7:00 p.m./ Science PLC Meeting

Saturday, September 15:  Varsity Volleyball @ Christian Academy 9:30 a.m.

Monday, September 17:  EWIN Visit

Tuesday, September 18: Student ALICE training

SLOs Due:  October 5th

American Heroes

This weekend, one of America's leaders was laid to rest, John McCain.  Regardless of your political views,  it is easy to recognize that his service and sacrifice to our country make him an American Hero.  For some reason, I was obsessed by his celebration of life on Saturday. President Obama and President Bush both asked to speak; showing respect across party lines. The eulogy given by his daughter touched me the most.  She talked about her dad's life of service as an admiral, prisoner of war, senator and presidential nominee.  He served his country because he loved it.  She also mentioned that even though he was great at all of these things, he was even better at being a father.


Her tears of pride, purpose and sadness touched me this weekend as I couldn't help but make parallels to my own life.  Even though it is at a much simpler level, her description of her dad reminded me of my own father and the feelings I felt when he left earth.  My dad served his country in Vietnam, earning a purple heart, but never retelling the story of how he earned it. He loved Perry County and served as a commissioner for 12 years. My dad taught me by example the importance of working with individuals, not by party affiliation.  He too was a great father.  I remember how he would help me taught me to shoot free throws, listened to me practice speeches for 4-H and taught me how to run equipment on the farm.

America is full of heroes; father figures who influence our lives well beyond their lives on earth.  My dad was an ordinary man who left an extraordinary impact on my life.  Many could tell the same stories of your own father or individuals who acted as fathers in your lives.  Events like this just allow us all to reflect and find ways to pay forward what has been given to us.   


School Notes:
Virtual Day:  High School teachers will meet in the High School Library at 8:00 a.m. for a quick run down of the agenda!  Assistants can meet in the elementary cafeteria.  Donuts and coffee will be available in the elementary cafeteria starting at 6:45 a.m.

Alice Training for Students:  On September 18th, Derrick Lawalin and Alan Malone will be training students grades 5-12 on ALICE.  We will have a schedule of the day posted shortly.  

EWIN Visit:  September 17th we will host an EWIN visit at Perry Central.  This visit will be an opportunity for other schools and communities to learn about our Earn and Learn programs at Perry Central.  More information will follow soon!

Parent - Teacher Conferences:  September 20th will be parent-teacher conferences.  We would like teachers to think about 8-10 students whom you feel the need to get to know better and send personal invitations to their parents to attend.  (If you need help with this, please let me know.)  Sometimes invitations via email or texting can serve other families best!  More information will be coming to help you plan for your day!

Important Dates: 

Tuesday, September 4th - Varsity Volleyball @ Home vs. Crawford County 5:30 p.m.

Thursday, September 6th - Varsity Volleyball @ Tell City 5:30 p.m.

Friday, September 7th - Varsity Football @ Paoli  6:30 p.m.

Saturday, September 8th - Varsity Volleyball Evansville Tourney/ Central High School