Skip to main content

To My Faculty and Staff

Today we finished day one of our new school year.

Today you impressed me.  You were flexible, patient, innovative, compassionate and understanding.  I firmly believe that teaching is a calling and many of you affirmed that by your words and actions today.

You pray for your students and coworkers.

Today you told me that you know there is a reason that you have the students you have.  You believe that God placed them in your class for you to impact.

Today you tried teaching without a desk.  A desk is often viewed as a barrier and you removed that barrier, that walled fortress from your classroom.

Today, you were flexible and struggled through plumbing issues, interruptions and frightened students.

Today, you took in the very best our community has to offer.  You opened your hearts and minds to the future by shouldering the monumental task of teaching.

Today, you picked up your paintbrush.  You mixed the colors on your palate, dabbed the end of the brush in the paint and began to put brush to canvas.  You placed the first few strokes on a masterpiece that will take years to complete.  You may never see the finished product, but you painted anyway.

You admitted your flaws, shortcomings, failures, and fears.  You revealed your passion.  All hallmarks of great teachers.

You began looking for that one thing, that extra degree necessary to produce steam.

For all of this I thank you.

As you continue, remember you are a cast member.  You make memories, make them great.
Labels:

Comments

  1. JanalynAugust 19, 2015 at 11:57 PM

    Wow! What a wonderful message. Your teachers are blessed to have such a motivated leader. Here's to an exceptional year!

    ReplyDelete
  2. JanelleAugust 20, 2015 at 8:38 AM

    What an encouraging message. There is no better school district to be a part of. Thank you for the reminder.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do you need a Philosophy of Education?

When we first start out in education we often think that we know what we're doing. We think that we don't need any help and that everything that we need to know we learned in our education classes. It only takes about three days into the job to realize that our college education did not fully prepare us for every single student that we're going to face. It didn't truly prepare us for how we really should deliver a lesson when we have students on five different levels along with multiple types of disruptions. It didn't prepare us to handle all the routines, all the the daily tasks, all the decisions that we have to make.  This isn't intended to disparage any university program, but just an acknowledgement that there is now way for them to fully prepare you for every student and situation you will face.  Experience is the only true way to learn how to handle all of these different types of situations.  So how do we make up for that information gap? That is a chall...
1 comment
Read more

4 Tools for Creating Instruction Video

Many educators are plunging into creating digital resources as part of their districts plan to continue instruction while school facilities are closed for the remainder of the school year.  If you have not explored this before now, there are several options available to you in a variety of prices and skillset. The tools we suggest will be free or inexpensive and only focus on creating videos that you can share with students later.  There are options for live video conferencing and some of these tools are designed for that, but we are only focusing on video recording.  This type of learning model would best be classified as asynchronous because you are allowing students to work at different times.  This may be the best option since some of your students may have siblings and limited use of technology at their house. Before we get started, please check with your district to see if there are any restrictions on which tools you may use.  There is a possibility that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Monday Minute for January 14

This morning I wanted to share a quit tip for those struggling integrate technology into the classroom.  It is very basic and should be the mantra of tech in your classroom. Don't let the technology drive the lesson. What I mean is the technology should not be what drives your lesson.  The content should always shine above the tech.  The content should always be your primary focus during instruction.  What do you want the students to learn?  How will you know they have learned it? The tech tool should be as ubiquitous as textbooks, pencil and paper and should be thought of in that manner.  After you decide what you are going to teach, next you decide which tool would be will help you to best accomplish that. PIXNIO So what if you are told you need to integrate technology into the classroom and you haven't really done much of that in the past?  Maybe you have a class set of devices you have been told you are going to use in your room and you are feeling...
Post a Comment
Read more