See A Problem - Solve a Problem

This past summer, we had the opportunity to listen to Buddy Berry speak at Perry Central. One of the most powerful statements that I think he shared was the idea of “See a problem, solve a problem”.   Sometimes for me, it is easy to get into a blame game or be waiting for someone else to solve a problem!  His philosophy was a powerful reminder that we all have the power to make positive change in our personal and professional lives.  

We have to remember that we are in this work together and TOGETHER we can take our students to high levels of education. I encourage you this week to see a problem, solve a problem!  

Blue Lobster Ideas: (Problem Solvers) 

Since we are not having our normal morning meeting this month - I wanted to share some more Blue Lobster Ideas from your colleagues!  Last month Heidi and Ty shared their great ideas and this month I would like to highlight Brennan and Hailei!  

Brennan Malone (He has started a You Tube Channel with his own reflections from the classroom - I encourage you to learn this from him by subscribing to his channel!)

  * Golf Pencils seem to be a solution to students forgetting their pencils - having a box on your desk eliminates students from stopping class to find one AND they typically do not like the pencil and give them back!  

 * Attitude Line - When you enter Brennan's classroom there is a red line taped to the floor.  Students know that they need to assume an attitude of learning when they cross it! 

* Games and FUN - Every Monday students participate in short team building games and he has other incentives built in, including putt putt golf and a comfortable couch

* Weekly Commitments - Each week the students and the teacher make a commitment to each other and it is written on the board for all to see

 Hailei Gehlhausen -  Hailei had something happen in her classroom that was fairly disruptive to her school day.  She embraced Restorative Practices the next day, led by Shelly Kunkle.  She and her students learned how to work through their problem, express their concerns and apologies and put guardrails in place for next time.  I think Hailei found it to be a successful way to hold students accountable and teach students how to work through conflict.  I am sure she would share her experiences with you!  

Important Information: 

Congratulations to the Green Team!  They won the Junior High House Athletic Competition last week. Big shout out to Lauren Blake for her leadership for this activity and all of the teachers that helped!  Mr. Gehlhausen and Mr.  Guilliame will have to catch up to Heidi now!  

Attendance - even though sometimes attendance seems to be a struggle - Mr. Zellers reported around 150 students with perfect attendance for the first quarter!  Thanks to Phil for staying on top of this important measure. Students who had perfect attendance received a Surprise and Delight - McDonalds Breakfast Sandwich!  

After School Meeting:  We will have an after school training on Tuesday, October 22nd.  Teachers and Assistants will train from 3:15-4:15 p.m. and assistants will stay from 4:15 - 5:30 p.m.   Daycare will be open until 5:30 p.m.  The training will be held in the elementary cafeteria.  See everyone there!  

Reminder:  Please send Jody your 2nd Quarter Reporting Topics so we can get them updated in the system.  There are several classes that are not set up correctly, 2nd quarter.  

Awesome Art:  Students in Mrs. Poehlein's class have been working hard to create art for the Rome, IN Art Show.  Student's art pieces are available to see in Mrs. Poehlein's room through Monday and then will be on display at the Pour Haus.  Thanks to Nancy for her leadership!  Stop in and see it if you have a chance!

Junior High Alternative School - starting Monday, with the leadership of Heidi Zellers, we will be starting our first day in our junior high alternative school!  We know that our students come to us with many needs, and not all of our students can make it in the regular classroom. Students in this system will receive 1:1 or small group instruction in math, ELA and writing, have a couple of periods with hands-on work (to teach professional skills) and a period for Social Emotional Learning Curriculum.).  Wish us luck on our first day!  

Equipment moving - the addition of our junior high alt school caused us to be creative with space.  The community exercise room has been moved to the former ice room in the weight room area.  The ice machine is now in the laundry facility in the high school gym. Thanks to Chris and Jeremy for their help!  

Important Dates: 

October 22 - After School Meeting (No morning meeting) 

October 24 - Dana will be hosting 11th and 12th grade families Thursday night for Financial Aid Training.  Thanks to Dana for her leadership. 

October 25 - We will have a pep session for the varsity football team.  The varsity football team will travel to Tecumseh for sectional play.  I will send a reminder of the time changes in the schedule.  Congratulations to Cole Hess and Vanessa Barger (and Jason & Heidi) for advancing to the semi-state cross country meet this coming Saturday!  

October 29 - Fall Fest

October 30-  PSAT (Dana will send schedule.  This will affect a few 9th & 11th grade students and all of the 10th grade students the first 4 periods of the day)

Dive into Data

This past week, Dana Harris and I have been combing through a lot of data as we work on our School Improvement plan that is due at the end of this week.  Even though this extra layer of work can be frustrating, it has been a great opportunity to take a step back and reflect on all of the fruits of our labor. 

One of the data points we are looking at comes from the Panorama Survey, which captures the social-emotional progress that our students are making (students just completed the first survey for the school year this past week.)  I find this data to be very interesting and telling.  Below, you will see three graphs with an explanation.  As you look at this data, I think it is important for all of us to take a step back and look at the needs of our students.  Students that are struggling in these four areas of Social/Emotional Learning are probably also struggling to be ready to learn in the classroom.  The numbers seem staggering, but as we look at how our students grow during their high school years, we know there is hope.  :-)

We know our students need supports to be successful.  Please know that our admin and counseling team are committed to providing outside supports that will also support learning in the classroom. If you remember this summer, we shared our Multi-Tiered System of Supports document that shows the work that needs to happen at each tier.  None of this work can be done alone.  It takes all of us working together.  Find MTSS Plan HERE

Thank you for working so hard for our students.  I am reminded that we must come to school each day, meet our students where they are and take them as far as we can take them!  Our jobs as teachers, administrators, assistants, counselors are HARD!  If we can all stick together, we will make it through! 

Data from Panorama:

In the graph to the right, students in grades 7-12 answered questions to determine competency in 4 different categories of SEL. The overall percentages served as baselines for comparison for each grade level in the graphs that follow.

The graphs to the right compare the percent differences between each grade-level with the overall percentage of student competencies in grades 7-12. The percent difference at zero represents the overall percentage for all students surveyed. The numbers above zero represent the percentage of students that is greater than the overall score. The numbers below zero represent the percentage of students that is lower than the overall score. In 2018-2019, grades 10 and 12 have higher competencies compared to those in grades 7, 8, 9, and 11. In 2019-2020 fall pre-test, grades 10, 11, and 12 have higher competencies compared to those in grades 7, 8, and 9. 

Important Information:

College Fair: Students in grades 11 and 12 will be participating in the college fair on Monday at the Tell City Ivy Tech from 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. (will be gone from 9:00 - 11:00). All county schools will be participating in the event. We are very lucky to bring so many colleges to our students all in one place! Thank you to Dana Harris for her organization of the event. You can find a list of students who will be participating HERE.

Tour of Opportunity: All 8th grade students and advanced manufacturing students will be participating in the Tour of Opportunity on Friday, October 11th. This is a great field trip as students will be exposed to many career opportunities in our community. Advanced Manufacturing students will be sharing important information about local manufacturing companies.

After School Training: On Tuesday, October 22nd, we are going to move our morning meeting to an after school PLC meeting from 3:15 p.m. - 4:30.m. We will be asking our assistants to stay after school as well for training. More information to come soon! (So, just for your planning - no morning meeting that day - only after school!)

Learning Lunch Update: We know that Learning Lunch has been an issue of being full most days. We have made several changes in the last week to help with this:

* We have provided extra supports to junior high students with IEPs (seemed to be frequent fliers in LL)

* All 7th grade students will automatically be assigned to 8th period when missing work (7th grade teachers are banning together to make sure this happens)

* When LL is full, students will automatically be sent to 8th period - Jody, Phil or Dana will work hard to make those calls and get students signed up

Please know that we understand this work is very time consuming and hard. We are in this work together. If you have ideas for how to make this system better, the door is always open. :-)

Good Luck to Varsity Volleyball and Cross Country on their upcoming sectional play!!! Dress up days will be posted for later this week.

Ron Clark Academy

This past week, Seth Gehlhausen, Hailei Gehlhausen, Lauren Blake and I had a wonderful visit to the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, GA.  Many of you watched the Ron Clark Movie with us last year.  Ron Clark Academy is a small private school (with a huge dragon at the entrance) that houses grades 4-8 near downtown Atlanta.  Even though it is private, he chooses students that would represent the same demographics as a public school (% poverty, special education, race, etc.).  His mission is to show others that all students can be successful at high levels of academic rigor and success if they focus on the right things.    

The Ron Clark Academy is built on three main principles:  

  1.     STRONG relationships – They know that rigor, discipline and success cannot be built without STRONG relationships with students.  They visit every home of every child, have meals and invite parents in so they can better know them and do many special events for students.  They work hard to see education and opportunity through the eyes of each family/child.  

2.       If you are going to be here, BE HERE – Ron Clark spoke a lot about the importance of being present each and every day for our children.  He reminded us that sometimes there will be conflict and negative people around us, but it is important not to give those people power!  We get to choose our attitude everyday and it is important to do our best to be present.    

3.       Movement and Engagement – Every student needs at least one hour of movement every day.  We know that many of our students are kinesthetic learners – and many of them have a hard time sitting all day long.  Through games, dance, chants, songs. . . we can engage students.  They are teaching students to stand up and speak in class, celebrate their mistakes they make with other students and above all – not forget to have fun.  Fun must be in conjunction with high standards.  They even have a slide in the middle of their school – all of us became slide certified on that Friday afternoon! 

I think my biggest take-a-way from this experience is that we are in charge of how we want to teach our students and how we want our profession to be viewed.  If we are sitting behind our desks, complaining all of the time about state testing and how bad our students are. . . that is what people are going to know us for!  It is up to ALL of us to make sure teachers are known as professionals and individuals who love kids and believe they can be successful.

It is my goal for more of you to be able to visit the RCA.  It is really hard to describe the feeling you get when you walk into a room full of dancing students who are excited to have you visit their school, excited to learn, and excited about their own personal success.  If we believe, we will achieve all of this at Perry Central.  We have the right people in place (you) to make that happen!     

Important Information: 

* College Fair - October 7th, students in grades 10, 11 & 12 will be participating in the Perry County College Fair at our local Ivy Tech.  Our visit will be an hour.  Thank you to Dana for organizing this event.  She will be sending out details soon. 

* Athletic Competition - The Junior High Houses will hold their first official competition on Tuesday, October 8th during WIN!  Information about the competition will be sent out today to House teachers.  We anticipate this activity possibly carrying over into 5th period for a short amount of time. 

* 8th Grade/Advanced Manufacturing Field Trip - Friday, October 11th will be the Perry County Tour of Opportunity.  All 8th grade students in the county will visit several locations, including Waupaca, ATTC, Perry County Memorial Hospital and Ivy Tech.  Advanced Manufacturing students will be showcasing their work at the local Ivy Tech and sharing with 8th grade students about the processes and opportunities in over 17 manufacturing facilities in our area.  We are excited about the event.  All Perry County 8th grade students will get a Pick Perry t-shirt to wear.  

* End of 9 Weeks - Just a reminder the end of the first 9 weeks is already this Friday!  Report Cards will go out next Friday to students.  You will have until Wednesday, October 9th to finalize your grades.  Please also remember you will need to send in your reporting topics for quarter 2 soon!

Important Dates: 

October 4th - End of 9 Weeks

October 7th - College Fair

October 11th - 8th Grade Field Trip/ Advanced Manufacturing Students will attend as well.

October 12-October 20 - Fall Break

Defining Discipline

This week, I ran across some good reminders from Laurie Desautels.  If you do not follow her on Facebook, I would recommend it.  We know that brain-aligned discipline helps us to teach behaviors we want to see, laying the groundwork for prevention systems and strategies.  Kids do well if they can - this is one way we can help them become successful.  I hope you enjoy Laurie's reminders!  

Discipline, unlike punishment, is proactive and begins before there are problems. It means seeing conflict as an opportunity to problem solve. Discipline provides guidance, focuses on prevention, enhances communication, models respect, and embraces natural consequences. It teaches fairness, responsibility, life skills, and problem solving. 

What is discipline?
1. It happens when building relationships.
2. It is built into our procedures, routines. and schedules every day!
3. It happens within our "tone of voice"
4. It occurs in morning meetings, during bell work, and in greetings and good-byes!

5. It ALWAYS begins with my state of mind... my brain state!
6. It occurs during focused attention practices
7. It occurs watching one of our students perform, play, or outside the classroom
8. It is something we want to create within a student, not something we do to a student.
9. It is being a warm demander!
10. It occurs as I set up predictable routines and structures and through my consistency and emotional availability!






Important Information:

Learning Objectives/Formative Assessment Activities:   We know that research shows over and over that setting strong learning objectives and finding quick, intentional ways to provide students feedback is one of the most powerful teaching strategies that we can do.  Many met-analysis support this!  The next couple of weeks, Phil and I will be in to see the learning objectives and formative assessment (checks for understanding) strategies that you have developed!  We are looking forward to our visit! 

College Go! Week - This week is College GO! Week, a state-wide campaign meant to encourage everyone to get some kind of training beyond high school.  We know that at least 60% of all jobs will require something after high school and it is our goal to help our students find ways to attain this goal to help them stay out of the poverty cycle.  Thanks to Dana and Carly for their leadership this week.  They have many activities planned for students this week and beyond!  For teachers, you are encouraged to wear your favorite college attire - and you can even do so with jeans!  :-)  Hope you have a great week!

"Block Out Cancer" - This Tuesday is the "Block out Cancer" volleyball game.  Students and staff are encouraged to wear yellow or their cancer awareness t-shirts on Tuesday.  We encourage everyone to donate to the Carson Lasher family as well (6th grade student battling cancer - Carly Lasher is his sister).

Homecoming Dress Up Days - To celebrate our Homecoming weekend, the cheerleaders have developed dress up days this week!   We are always proud of our Commodores!  

Student Surprise and Delight: Seth Gehlhausen and Ty Guillaume created a great surprise and delight activity for students on Friday!  It was a Rock-Paper-Scissor contest between the Teal and Red Houses and the losing teacher had a pie in the face!  It was a great time!  I know many of you are doing this types of activities (small and large) for your students.  Thanks for making learning so fun and working to develop relationships with our students!  



Have a great week!

Parent Teacher Conferences

In honor of Parent-Teacher Conferences this week, I wanted to share part of an ASCD article to help everyone get pumped up and ready for this important evening!   Parent-Teacher Conferences are a great opportunity to get to know your students, develop relationships with parents and help make families feel comfortable about school.  Here are a few helpful tips to remember:

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.

Be Prepared for Surprises

Parents sometimes surprise us with negative or personal questions or comments: "My son's teacher bullied him all last year." "My daughter's lazy. She never tries at anything." "My husband doesn't care about Mark. He never comes to these conferences." "My wife's divorcing me. Things are falling apart."

What can you do in such an instance?

• Steer the conversation back to positives: "I'm sorry things didn't go well for Adam last year. But because our time is limited, I'd like to focus on what we can accomplish this year if we work together."
• Focus on the child: "You seem to be going through some tough stuff right now. I wonder if that's taking Jasmine's attention away from school. What do you think we might do to help her concentrate?"
• Listen with empathy: "That must be hard" or "You've been through a lot" can help parents feel heard without injecting your own opinion or advice.
• Offer to get help: "You seem to be wondering what to do next. Our school counselor may have some ideas for you."

At the end of the day, it is important that we instill a trusting, caring relationship with our parents and let them know we believe in their children.  Thanks to all of your for making Perry Central a warm and welcoming environment for our Commodore Community!  

ASCD Article  (You can find the entire ASCD Article here for a few more tips.)

Important Information:

Parent-Teacher Conferences - Just a reminder about Parent-Teacher Conferences this week from 1:00 - 7:00 p.m.  We will not be making any bell schedule changes.  Thank you for reaching out to families.  Building relationships is the best tool we have!  (Remember, if you get into a conversation that is uncomfortable, please either use the intercom system to call the office or ask the parent to meet with Phil or I in our office. This doesn't happen very often, but it is always good to have a plan!)  Thank you to everyone who sent me names as well.  We will be reaching out to these families. 

RTI Team Meeting - If you are on the RTI Team (the team that met last month), we will have a meeting on Thursday, September 19th at 7:20 a.m. in the high school library.  It will be a great morning to follow up with notes from Parent-Teacher Conferences.  Teachers, please feel free to share information that you may think is helpful.

AR Meeting - This Thursday, we have several Annual Review meetings for special education students.  Thank you to all of the teachers who will be helping to serve on these teams.

Faculty Meeting - We will have a faculty meeting this Tuesday at 7:20 a.m. in the high school library.  A light breakfast will be served!  See you there!

Block Out Cancer - Next Tuesday, September 24th will be the "Block Out Cancer" night at the volleyball game.  Teachers are invited to wear volleyball t-shirts, Carson strong t-shirts or the color yellow to support the cause.  Donations of $5 will be taken in the high school office for teachers to wear jeans that day.  All money will be donated to Carson Lasher's family.  We hope to get some great pictures to send to the family!  (Carson is a PC 6th grade student that is fighting a rare form of stage 4 cancer.)

Farm To Table - FFA members will be participating in the Perry County Farm to Table event this Saturday in Tell City.  They will be preparing and serving a meal that consists of all locally grown products.  It is a great celebration of community and agriculture.  They have also been teaching Tell City's Culinary Art's class how to shuck, blanch and prepare fresh sweet corn!  Thanks to Carrie Guillaume for leading this partnership.  We are always proud of our students!

Important Dates:

Tuesday, September 17 - Faculty Meeting 7:20 a.m.

Wednesday, September 18 - Math Team Meeting (AM)

Thursday, September 19 - RTI Meeting 7:20 a.m.

Sail On!

The release of ILEARN scores has caused some tension across the state.  With average passing scores between 30%-40%, it is not putting the Indiana education system on the map.  We know that ILEARN doesn't truly measure all of the growth we see in a student - and it certainly does not take in consideration the number of ACES each student is dealing with every day!  ILEARN does give us an big picture idea of how our students are performing against state standards.  

     Our students today are facing very tough times.  Their home environments are not always ideal with the stresses of financial burdens, family struggles, etc.   Not only do students have to figure out how to navigate those waters, but our economy is calling for a higher standard.  Research shows that individuals without some kind of training beyond a high school diploma are not going to be able to live above the poverty threshold.  Artificial Intelligence will replace around 40% of the current jobs we see today, causing our students to need a different level of education. 

     Even though we do not agree with standardized testing - one thing is for sure: we must continue to raise the bar for our students.  It is important for all of our students that they have experiences beyond a high school diploma, along with a high level of rigorous academic skills.  Our goal is to keep students above the poverty threshold and a high-class education is one way they can find success. I am not convinced that this level of rigor can accurately be measured by one test on one day!    

     We know our scores do not accurately measure the hard working, dedicated, caring and compassionate team that we have in our building.  I feel grateful each day to work with such a wonderful team.  With that being said, I do believe in continuous improvement.  I believe we are on the right track with our work on Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum, standards based grading, good grading practices, etc.  It is now just time to tighten up our curriculum, academic expectations, and authentic learning opportunities and help our student sail to success.   It will be fun, exciting work and it will take all of us together to make this happen.  We can do it!  

Sail On, Commodores!  

Important Information:

Alice Training - We will have Alice training for our students body on Tuesday, September 10th.  Grades 7-9 will report to the gym during 2nd period and grades 10-12 during 3rd.  We will ask students to report to their classes for attendance.  On Wednesday, September 11th, we will ask all teachers to take the first 5 minutes of class to brainstorm with students.  We would like for you to help students create a list of options of what they can do in your class room along with capturing any questions they may have.  We have large sticky paper in the office if that is of interest to you during this activity.  We would like to thank Mr. Clark for helping train our students and keeping us informed and safe!

DONUT Worry, Be Happy Tuesday!-  Just a reminder that the US Army will be bringing donuts for our faculty and staff on Tuesday, September 10th.  This surprise and delight will be in the high school office!  See you then!

SLO Help Session - Just a reminder we have a SLO help session available on Tuesday, September 10th at 3:10 in the high school library for anyone with questions!  SLOs are due Friday, September 13th!

Parent-Teacher Conferences - We will host Parent-Teacher Conferences on September 18th.  We would like to ask that you reach out to at least 10 families, personally, that you would like to get to know.  Personal invitations are helpful in building relationships.  If you do not have many students that night, it is also a great night to email home happy grams!  Conferences will be from 1:00 - 7:00 p.m.  More details will come soon.  

Digital Citizenship Awareness Week - This week is Digital Citizenship Awareness Week!  Kris Walsh has shared a few resources to help us remind students of safe and healthy ways to utilize technology.  Thank you, Kris for your work!  Kris's Resource Link

Important Dates: 

September 10 - SLO Help Session @ 3:10
September 13 - SLO's Due
September 18 - Parent Teacher Conferences