Infinate Games

 

I just started a new book this weekend, The Infinte Game by Simon Sinek.  In his book, Sinek talks about the difference between finite and infinite games.  In Finite games, like football or chess, the players are known, the rules are fixed and the end point is clear.  Winners and losers are easily defined.  On the contrast, infinte games, like education or politics or life, the players come and go, rules are changeable and there is no defined endpoint.  There are no winners or losers in an infinate game; one can only be ahead or behind.  

From Simon Sinek's viewpoint, as an organization, it is best to lead your organization or classroom in infinite games.  Infinite games build stronger, more innovative and inspiring organizations that are built on trust and become change-agents in our world, instead of staying focused on winning games that are not even important, like state testing! Staying focused on meeting students where they are and taking them as far as we can go (with no clearly defined ending) will lead us to greater success in the end; moving our students ahead and bettering our society.  I feel like all of you are infinite game leaders.  You are always working hard to inspire our students, build cultures of trust and innovation in the classroom and inspire our youth to be change-makers in our society.  

I want to thank all of you for your openness to learning more about a poly-tech approach to learning;  integrating project based learning/work place challenges along with our focus on relationships and credentials of currency in the workplace.  This shows your drive to creating innovative, edcuational experiences that can better prepare our students for the 21st century, that could impact many generations to come. 

Happy Birthday to Phil on Monday!!!!!

Important Information: 

Poly-Tech Visit - On Monday, November 28th, we will be hosting several individuals from New York.  They are the team helping Indiana develop poly-tech high schools.  Perry Central is excited to be written into the grant with the opportunity to expand our programming.  The high school library will be closed on Monday for our meeting.  We will also be giving a tour of the school from 8:30 - 9:00.

PBL Training - Reminder to junior high teachers that you are encouraged to participate in PBL training from Dawn Lynch and Emilee Brinkman.  The next meeting is December 15th from 3:15 - 4:15.  If you want to see what you will be learning, you can click HERE to see their "commercial".  We are grateful to be learning through all of this together!

Upcoming Dates: 

November 30 - 11th grade field trip 

December 1 - Spanish students to Nut Cracker

December 5 - Surprise and Delight - Auntie Anne's Pretzels

December 6 - Early College Mentoring Meeting 7:25 - 8:00 a.m. (Invitations will be sent by Dana)

December 8 - CTE Ribbon Cutting/Open House  11:00 - 1:00 

December 19 - Returning College Freshmen to speak to 11th and 12th grade & Early College Teachers

December 20 - Faculty Meeting 

December 21 - Finals for Periods 2,4,6

December 22 - Finals for Periods 1,3,5,7

                                                 CREATE - Authentic Learning Opportunities:

Workplace Challenge - Michael Jarboe and Glenn Etienne will be in partnership with the Civil Engineering class after break as they develop their workplace challenges.  Glenn Etienne from CES has agreed to come in and talk to students about his company and the work he does along with giving them a couple of challenges:  

                1.  CTE Parking Stalls - students will use distance/angles to maximize use of space using 100 ft tape, paper, pencil and creative minds!  They will present their plans back to Glenn.  

                2.  Drainage Project As-Builts - document the location, elevations, slopes and pize sizes of new drainage systems (as-builts).  

8th Grade PBL - Science and English teachers are working together for a Project Based Learning opportunity.  Students are learning about Environmental Science including water quality, forestry and soil quality and then they will be producing an informational text in English about their findings.  The audience is our community.  Looking forward to their final products.  Thank you, teachers, for being vulnerable and trying something new!

Influence

 

  I was reminded of this quote from Trevor Muir this week when my former high school assistant principal, Ed Ransom, posted on Facebook.  He told a story about Owen Lynch, his former English Teacher and Coach and the impact he had on his professional career.  (He also mentioned that you would have to be over 60 to remember who Mr. Lynch was!)  

Teaching is a challenging but very rewarding career.  You are all making an impact on students in ways that will influence them for the rest of their lives.  There are not many professions that get to say that!

I also know this heart work is exhausting at times - so I hope all of you enjoy your Thanksgiving break with your families.  

THANK YOU:  This weekend, I listened to a podcast from Andy Stanley about the importance of expressing gratitude.  He said that gratitude not expressed really feels like ingratitute to the people around you.  His podcast reminded me about the importance of making sure the people in my life know how much I appreciate them - that includes all of you.   The way you care for children and the pride you have in our school community leaves me speechless each day.   I appreciate you all more than you know.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

To celebrate, we will wear jeans this week!  Hope you enjoy!  Also, on Tuesday, we will have Dunkin Donuts to help you get you through the day!  

Important Information: 

STEM Grant - On Monday and Tuesday this week, there are teams of teachers (who were notified by email) that will be listening to a grant presentation during WIN/Lunch.  If you have questions about the invitation, please let me know!  The invitation is focused on STEM teachers (Science, Math, Next Level Program of Study, AP teachers) and junior high teachers.  This is aligned to the STEM grant.  (If anyone else just wants to join - you are welcome!)  

Assistant Survey - We are working on some professional development for teaching assistants.  Assistants, please take THIS SURVEY by the end of the day Tuesday so we can start planning to meet your needs!  

Pitch-In - Don't forget about the pitch-in on Monday for lunch!  

Upcoming Important Dates: 

    

    Monday, November 28th - We will be hosting our friends from New York and CELL for a training through our Poly-Tech Grant.  Thanks to Michael, Josh and Dana for attending along with our business partners Glenn Etienne, Susan Miller and Pam Metz.

    Wednesday, November 30th - Junior Field Trip to Terre Haute/ RECN Quad meeting at Bedford North Lawrence (RECN Team)

     

     Thursday, December 1 - Spanish students to the Nutcracker 

     Thursday, December 8 - CTE Open House during lunch 

    

The Extra Mile

 

This past week, I had the priviledge of riding one of our special education buses that picks up students in the mornings, driven by Kevin Koelling.  It is a long ride (about an hour) and there are several stops along the way, down the long windy roads.  The students he picks up are truly special and make you smile, but some morning do not like riding the bus, leaving them crying and upset all of the way to school.  

Kevin has been working hard to help the students feel comfortable everytime they step on his bus.  He is making a sound track with students' favorite songs, using music to sooth their ride.  He also ensures that everyone who rides with him as a bus monitor knows what each students needs and the best way to support them, keeping close contact with family members and Mr. Walsh, the students' teacher of record.  

The ride for me last week reminded me of how lucky our community is to have individuals like Kevin, and all of you, who go above and beyond, caring for our children each and every day.  So from the bottom of my heart, thank you for seeing the positives in each child (even on days when it is hard) and going the extra mile to ensure they are loved and find success.   It truly is #good2bgreen!

Important Information: 

PLC Meetings:  Thanks for your time last week and Lunch and Learns.  Hopefully you found the time valuable for reflecting on your Marzano Elements.  We are back to normal PLC meetings this week.  I also have heard a lot of great ways you are using WIN.   Thank you for working hard to ensure all students are learning - even if they need a 2nd time to get it!

PBIS Lesson: Be on the look-out for the PBIS lesson for this week from Phil!  He is planning for everyone to give the lesson on Tuesday during 2nd period.  Thank you for helping with this important lesson!

Tutoring:  Reminder if you have students that need tutoring, you can use the Learning Lunch/8th Period request form but select tutoring.  Alyssa Hill is available for high school students 1st WIN in the Learn and Leave room.  She appreciates a little heads up so she can study the material a bit before helping the students.  We also have several great options after school.  

9th Grade Field Trip:  All 9th grade students will be participating in a field trip on Wednesday, November 16th.  Thanks to Dana for arranging this - it isn't easy to get all of the locations to coordinate!

STEM Grant: Perry Central is excited to be a receipeint of a STEM Grant.  The grant is aimed to increase Workplace Challenges and Project Based Learning in the classroom.  For the grant and STEM certification, we had to identify our STEM teachers, which mostly consist of Next Level Program of Study (Pathway) along with science and math dual credit teachers.  I will be reaching out to this team by email for a meeting on Friday, November 18th during your WIN time to help get us started!  

  

In the News

 

This past week, I found a couple of current event articles that I thought you may enjoy!  The first one is from Inside Indiana Business newsletter. This article talks about the declining number of individuals that are going on to post-secondary education and the fears on how it will effect the economy.  As you read the article, remember that post-secondary education means anything beyond a high school diploma:  2 year degree, 4 year degree, military training, industry certification. This is important information to share with our students as they determine their future plans.  Growing Gap between Talent and Demand   

This second article from Chalkbeat talks about 2022 HB 1251 and the call to cut the number of standards by 25%.  The legislative bill also calls for the state to determine the essential (power) standards as well.  Currently the State Board of Education is vetting this work with business and industry partners.  We will need to be o the look-out for these changes.  What do Indiana students need to know?

Important Information: 

Lunch and Learns:  Remember we will not have normal PLC meetings this week, but instead will have Lunch and Learns around our SFS goals (Marzano Elements).  Below you will find a schedule and meeting locations.  You may want to bring your computers to maximize your time.  This will be a guided discussion, but will hopefully be helpful to ensuring you are meeting your SFS goals.

  (Some of you are connected to more than one PLC group - attend the group you set your SFS goals with.)   

Monday, November 7 - Island Team, Social Studies Team, Location: Computer Science Room,  Marzano Element: Previewing

Tuesday, November 8 - Science, Math, English Team, Location: High School Library, Marzano Element: Highlighting Critical Information

Friday, November 11 - Special Education, Location: Heidi's Room,  Marzano Element: Reflecting on Learning

Instructional Rounds:  This week, we will also conduct Instructional Rounds on Monday, November 7.  Remember Instructional Rounds is a way to reflect on your own teaching and learn from other teacher friends!  I sent the schedule out to you last week, but HERE is another copy.  Please look at the day and the period and make sure it works for you.  You will have a substitute come into your class during that time.  

   Also, in your mailboxes on Monday morning, I will have a reflection sheet for you.  Please use that sheet to document your time.  If you can please turn that into Jody's mailbox at the end of your instructional round, that would be great!

Veteran's Day:  Our own Seth Gehlhausen will be our special guest speaker at Veteran's Day Program on Friday, November 11.  Students in grades 9-12 will be released by intercom at the beginning of 2nd period to the high school gym for the event.  Band members will be released earlier for their performance.  After the event, we will have a walk-through for our veteran community members.  Details will be released closer to Friday.  

Have a Great WEEK!