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)

Take a Moment to Just Be.

All of us were ready for our Fall Break this past week, including the students!  Life can be so stressful in our fast paced world!  For adults, we are trying to make every living minute count for our students, families and communities.  For our students, as their brains are developing, they are trying to navigate how to manage many school deadlines, social pressures, sports, families, jobs and more.
Even though we all get a lot done in the day, it can often be very stressful and we now know if we are not careful this stress can send us to our "down stairs" brain - a place where we may not make the best decisions!  :-)

Learning how to manage this stress is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves and all of those around us!  Making sure we are taking the time to be focused, think about what we are grateful for, and giving ourselves permission to let go of the things that we cannot control can really help change our mindsets for the day.  Mindfulness activities can help us do this!

What is Mindfulness?  Mindfulness is really about being present in the moment; noticing what is happening around you, in your body and mind and just accepting life in a non-judgmental way.  It is kind of like looking at your life at a distance, taking a deep breath and taking time to realize you are okay.  The opposite of mindfulness is being on autopilot!  Backing out of your driveway and heading to work when really, you are supposed to be going to the park! (I am guilty of this!)

I will have to say that mindfulness activities make me very uncomfortable.  I don't like to waste time and I have a hard time just sitting and being present - but I am learning that in the 21st Century this practice is necessary.  It is necessary not only for adults, so we can be better parents, teachers, leaders, spouses, but it is also necessary for our students.  Science proves that meditation not only helps us be more focused, but it helps us lead happier and healthier lives (see science video below!) 

Ty Guillaume and Adam Stowe will be piloting some meditation/mindfulness activities with some of our students in the next few weeks, with the goal of taking this practice to a whole school model second semester.  We appreciate their efforts and look forward to learning with them.

To help provide you with some background, below are a couple short video links that will be helpful in understanding the importance of meditation/mindfulness on our bodies.  Grab a cup of coffee, take a couple deep, long breaths, sit back and enjoy! 

Students talking about Mindfulness:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKmUtUPIqF4

Science behind Mindfulness: https://www.openground.com.au/mindfulness/science

Important Information: 

Conscious Discipline Tip of the Week -  One of the easiest and most important things you can do for a student is give them some "Joy Juice!"  Make a commitment to greeting students at your door at the beginning and end of class!  That 5 seconds of face-to-face interactions can change the outlook of a child!  I challenge you to try it!!   I wish you well. . . . .

Faculty Meeting Change of Date:  Due to a conflict, we are going to move our next morning faculty meeting to Tuesday, October 30th at 7:20 a.m.  It will be an important meeting!  See you all there!

Welcome a new face:  We would like to welcome Ray Niehaus to our Commodore Family!  Ray is a Perry Central graduate and has had many experiences in CTE courses, leading innovation at Pike Central, VUJC and the Mid-America Science Park in Seymour.  We are excited that he is going to start spending some time with us to help us connect deeper with business and industry.  We are looking forward to learning from Ray!  CTE teachers will have a face-to-face meeting with him on Tuesday of this coming week.  A schedule has been emailed out. 

Observations:  One of my goals this year is to get into classrooms more often, as classroom instruction is one of the most important factors to student success.  Getting into classrooms can be as uncomfortable for me as I know it can be for all of you, but once I am in there, I REALLY enjoy participating in the learning process.  Being in the classroom helps me to better understand the complexities of the classroom and find better ways to support you! My visits are usually short and I will come without a computer!  :-)

I plan to try to get into several rooms this week.  I will be starting long, formal observations very soon.  If you would like to plan an observation with Phil or myself, please know you are always willing to reach out to us.  We typically announce our first long observation and just stop in for shorts and second longs.

Thanks to all of you for being so welcoming.  Phil and I just want to make sure you know that we believe we are in this together!  We are grateful for our team!

Important Dates:

Monday, October 22 - Attendance Committee Meeting 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Tuesday, October 23 - Data Mining Workshop  9:00 - 11:00 a.m. (admin/counseling teams)/Ray Niehaus meetings throughout the day

Thursday, October 24 - Comprehensive Counseling Committee meeting 11:30 - 1:00/ AR Meetings throughout the day

Friday, October 25 - Home Sectional Football Game vs. Providence - Go Commmodores!  6:30 p.m.

The Power of a Smile!

"We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do."  Sometimes teaching can be a very stressful job and if we are not careful we can wear our feelings on our sleeves.  I am always reminded, even on the worst day, the best thing I can do is smile! Here are a few facts about the power of a smile:

- When you smile, even if your smile is fake, your brain releases stress fighters called endorphins.  These are natural painkillers. This release of endorphins makes us feel happier. Again, even if the smile is not genuine the endorphins still get released.  You become happier, even if you don't want to!!  (Fake it until you make it!)  

- Smiles are contagious.  (You just proved that point when you smiled at them!)

- It is almost impossible for a student to misbehave when you are smiling at him. If you don't believe this, try it!

- Students respond more favorably to positive teachers than they do negative teachers. 

- Because we want our students to respond favorably to us, one of the easiest ways to accomplish this is to smile more often!

- Smiling at someone sends a message that you care about them.  When a student believes that you care, they are more likely to learn from you and behave well in your presence. 

         - Smiles are free, but their results are priceless!  

Smiling has many benefits for your students and for you!  When in doubt, just smile!  It will make you and your students happier!  

Important Information: 

* Testing Updates:  Attached to the email were a couple of links that were sent to us by the IDOE to help us see how we will be transitioning away from ISTEP 10 and into a College Assessment for juniors.  Also, there is a link of testing windows for ILEARN & ISTEP 10 in your email.  Everyone has been working hard to help prepare our students for these tests.  Even though we know this is only one small measure of a student's ability, it is important we are doing our best to prepare students along the way.  Please read the documents and let me know if you have any questions or concerns. 

* PSAT - Students in grades 9,10 and 11 will be taking the PSAT starting on Wednesday morning.  The tests will take the first four periods of the day.  Some of you have been asked to help administer the exam.  We appreciate everyone's patients and help with this important test!  Details will be sent early this week about room locations, etc.  Below is a link that lists students who will be testing.  Thank you!    

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tbKGkpAg0PgIArvAUaeM281q24O8New3llJpu6dgQes/edit?usp=sharing

* Spirit Days - We have another fun week of spirit days for our students and staff!  Tuesday the Lady Commodore Volleyball Team will have sectional play at 5:30 p.m. at Forest Park!  Also, the Girls Cross Country team made it out of Sectional and will participate in the Regional on Saturday at Crawford County!  Congratulations to Jaelynn Etienne and Jaylyn Jarboe for placing in the top 20 individuals!  Go Commodores!   

      We will have a pep session on Friday as well to cheer on the Commodores for sectional!  

* End of Quarter - Reminder that all grades need to be updated by 11:59 on Wednesday night!  Also, to celebrate the end of the 9 weeks - we will make next week JEANS WEEK for all faculty and staff!  (You can really smile about that!)  

* PLC After School Meeting - We will have a PLC After School meeting on Wednesday, October 10th from 3:10 - 4:00 p.m. in the high school library.  Our meeting will begin promptly at 3:10 p.m.  It is very important that everyone get there as soon as possible.  Snacks will be available!  I will send an agenda very soon!  Bring your computer!

*Manufacturing Night - Josh Craney's students will showcase their research and work at Manufacturing Night on Wednesday from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. at Ivy Tech in Tell City.  This is always a fun evening full of learning, prizes and free food!  Bring your entire family - there is something for everyone!  Thanks to Josh for his hard work! 

Important Dates: 

Monday, October 8 - School Board Meeting 6:30 p.m. High School Library

Tuesday, October 9 - Varsity Volleyball @ Forest Park  5:30 p.m. Sectional Play

Wednesday, October 10 - PSAT,  After School PLC Meeting 3:10 - 4:00 p.m.,  Manufacturing Night

Thursday, October 11 - RTI Meeting 7:20 a.m. in teacher meeting room, SEL Team Meeting 3:00 p.m. 

Friday, October 12 - Varsity Football @ Mitchell 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, October 13 - Cross Country Regional @ Crawford County High School

FALL BREAK!