Thursday, June 25, 2015

Make School Like This #naesp15 #savmp

I'll admit that it's happened. I've had parents over the years who've told me their child doesn't like coming to school. Whenever a parent says this to me I'm always deeply concerned and ask questions to try and figure out the situation with more depth.

Having a student at my school who doesn't want to come is not ok. On most occasions there's been a friend issue, or an issue at home that takes a higher level of resolution than sometimes we can provide right that moment.

These thoughts lead to the puppy video below. My brother's partner sent this to me yesterday because he loves our dog and wants one of his own. Of course I thought the video was cute, but I also thought about the progression of the dogs as they got older, and their sustained excitement for dinner.

Analogies have always worked for me to understand a situation better, and the puppies made me think about school, and the excitement kids have for coming everyday. Waking up in the morning are our students this excited about school?

Not just the first few days, but a sustained excitement about learning, exploring, collaborating and having fun at school. Does the excitement for school continue past elementary, into 6th-12th grades?If not, how should schools change?

Some questions I'm thinking about as I prepare for next year, and the journey at my new school.

- How are the adults at school approaching each day, their attitude/energy is paramount to setting the stage for kids.

- Do all students love coming to school? If not, how are we building connections with those kids so they know the adults at school care about them?!

- What are you doing to make school exciting for kids?

- Don't bring your bad day to school, leave all issues in your car that's parked outside. Kids don't deserve a bad day.

- Being a 1:1 school helps, Chromebook + iPad implementation with the curriculum is huge, Kids Dig It!

- Is school relevant to your kids? Teaching cursive doesn't have a huge stoke factor in my opinion for kids?! Thoughts?

Go out and #beawesome for kids, they deserve the best!




Another great video........ We don't know every kids story, we MUST make it a great day for all kids! Each and every day!






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