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.