Have a great break

I hope this break treats you fabulously; you each deserve every moment of it. Take plenty of time to sharpen the saw, and come back rested and ready to continue to provide our students with all they deserve. What a great end to 2017: WE are QUEST. 

The Giving Tree Update!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Giving Tree this year. We were able to help bring holiday joy to 8 families at QUEST and provide gifts to urban choice charter school, Rochester Early College international school and School # 25. This will also be in the January Q & A so all of the families are aware. Thank you for your generosity and putting smiles on kid’s faces. 

Break Heads Up

Over break I am going to Disney with the family and will not be checking email--an attempt to be completely balanced! If there is something urgent that you need support with, please know you can still reach me, but please do so by calling me or leaving a message at the school (Hannah is working a few days).

I hope you take the time as well to shut down your mind. The work we do is tiring, and staying balanced can be a challenge. Take plenty of time for you!

Article Share

The linked article below was shared with us at leadership and was asked to be shared out. As we inch toward a collective understanding or RtI in the new year, our approaches to collaboration will be crucial. Working collaboratively as a PLC (professional learning community) who embarks on cycles of inquiry will eventually become necessary--I have a feeling we will be great at this as we already have a very strong collaborative foundation.

Feel free to reach out to your content leaders, or me, with any reaction you might have to the article that was shared.:

Check it out!

BUILDING HOURS OVER BREAK

Saturday, December 23: CLOSED
Tuesday, December 26: CLOSED
Wednesday, December 27: 6-5:30 PM
Thursday, December 28: 6-5:30 PM
Friday, December 29: 6-5:30 PM
Saturday, December 30: CLOSED

Idea for February 1st...schoolwide DEAR time:

http://www.litworld.org/wrad/

Positive Calls

I have made over 45 positive phone calls this year. Keep me busy next week! Do you have a kid I can call about? Have a child who needs a positive call before heading into break? I would encourage you to submit their name, and reason, using the link below:

CLICK HERE TO SPREAD SOME GOOD

A Laugh

One of the best parts of my job is getting to witness kids doing acts of kindness. Yesterday, I had a student hand me a little package he created. I smiled, high-fived him up, told him his kindness brightened my day, and sent him on his way. I sat down at my desk, opened it, and had to laugh.

Don't worry, I gave it back and called his mom to tell her what a great son she has.

During this fast-paced, stressful time of year, I would encourage you to notice. Stop and notice how much these kids look up to us. Stop and notice what incredible influence we have.

WE are QUEST!

Keep on keeping on...make a difference!

One week left. I know it gets tiring this time of year, but never underestimate the difference you make. 

Weather and Outside Activity

I've had a few questions this week related to outdoor recess in the winter. There are some requirements we must follow based on weather, but mostly we operate with "guidelines."

Requirements: 

Guidelines (not required, but encouraged): 

• Please make sure parents are aware if you are taking kids out in the snow. With it being illness season, this is all the more important. If a child is fighting something and the parent rather them not be outside with the class, please make sure there is an alternative option for the child.
• Encourage snow pants and snow gear when playing in the snow. 
• Equipment is open as Mike and his team are required to inspect all equipment regularly. Please use your best discretion with this.
• Be extra cautious related to snowmobiles. Our security director has been working with the Sheriff, but this can be hard to catch. Please be sure to exit the building first, and when possible exit away from the east side of the school. This seems to be where they are speeding past.

If you have a child that does not seem to have hat and gloves, or boots, but you are feeling like it could be because of a financial burden, I would encourage you to reach out to Val to see if there is anything we can do to help. 

Karen and John need...

K, primary, and elementary teachers,

John and Karen need one level meeting at some point in January to take a look at your needs--which they are calling a needs assessment. When they come, they will ask you some general questions to consider related to instruction and assessment. I have no doubt you all will have great ideas.

If the admin. team person could reach out to Karen and provide her with a time in January, that would be greatly appreciated.

Intermediate, much love for you all, but this is a pre-k-2 needs assessment (with elementary added because that is where the kids go), so you do not need to have them come in.

Thanks,
Derek

One School One Book

If you would like to represent your level for One School One Book please plan to attend a planning meeting Friday December 15th at 8 am in the library (treats provided)!  We are considering several classics.  Please RSVP to Stephanie if you plan to attend: 

The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Winnie the Pooh 

And dreaming big...WILD ROBOT RETURNS!  I am in touch with Hachette as last year they gave us a 60% discount.  

Screenagers

I was able to view the documentary Screenagers today.  I have attached a link to the trailer.  I thought it was very well done and a must see for all parents.  The district will be having a community screening with a discussion panel on January 10th at the high school 7-9pm.   Mark your calendars!  I would highly recommend attending.  It made me think about how we use technology in our classrooms, how as a parent my husband and I help to manage the use of devices in our home, and how multi-tasking, gaming, social media and screen time impact our brains and how we manage our lives.  It will be well worth your time! (Call up some friends and attend together.  You could make a night of it and grab some dinner in town first!)

-Brenda

Here is the movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQx2X0BXgZg

SCREENAGERS (Official Trailer) www.youtube.com SCREENGERS is an award-winning documentary that probes into the vulnerable corners of family life, including the director's own, and depicts messy struggles,...

Be Vulnerable?

Heavy video alert!

Brene Brown is a writer and researcher who has done extensive work around the idea of vulnerability. Although her TED talk is long, I would encourage you to put your feet up this weekend and give it a listen. While you listen, consider:

• What role does vulnerability play in your life and who you are with your colleagues?
• How can you put yourself out there? Do others "see" the real you?
• How does this apply to kids?
• What shame do you hold?
• How do we give kids a sense of belonging here at QUEST?
• How do you teach emotion regulation? 

Reminders

• We have a shared calendar. I would encourage you to take a weekly look at it! 
  
• Joy shop begins next week. 
• Don't forget to complete those Global Compliance Trainings! I'd encourage you to complete them before the holiday--wouldn't it be great if QUEST was the first building to have it done, similar to BEDS? :)
• The budget request can be found on the blog (top). This is for aidable AND any larger purchases you'd like to have considered. Even if we can't make larger purchases immediately, having a list is helpful to a principal so that we can spend on those items when money is less tight. I'm here if you have any questions about the form.
• Two weeks until the holiday break. Make it count! Every kid. Every classroom. Every day. Keep in mind that as we get closer to the holiday, some kids may struggle with the idea of break. This can present itself in a multitude of ways.

Reminder OSOB meeting Fri Dec 15th 8 am library. :)

CIA Change of Plans

Next Tuesday we have our next CIA meeting. Originally, this was going to be all about values; however, being new my planning failed me a bit. We need to review our current budget as we are in the process of planning for next year's school budget. In addition, we also have Barb and Jon Miller coming--Barb to help us with the SLO forms and Jon to give you an FYI about a survey. We will start right at 7:45 so that we can squeeze it all in!

We will continue solidifying our values in January. I will say, however, that community is CLEARLY a core value. That much is clear from all the findings.

Joy

We are hard at work creating a month of JOY here at QUEST. Although Joy is not an IB Profile, finding joy, creating joy, and having joy is one of the richer treasures in life. The process of finding it can be just as rewarding as acquiring it. The best part? Joy is a choice.

This month I am not doing a Principal's Challenge--I know, celebrate--but I would encourage you to find ways to create joy with your colleagues. Joy is a choice, and if you ever need to see what it looks like, just notice how our kids engage with one another--joy will likely be present in most positive interactions. This time of year also brings daily, natural examples of joy.

Thank you for being such a passionate, sincere, and authentic learning community. Thanks for spreading your joy, and your love of learning, to our kids. WE are QUEST!

Keyboarding FYI From the Office of Instruction

As you know, the results from the keyboarding survey indicated that most of you believed that direct keyboarding instruction was best for the success of our students. After an analysis of several keyboarding reviews, examination of features, and recommendations from other districts, the Office of Instruction has decided to utilize EduTyping. For the second half of the 2017-2018 school-year, we have decided to use this program with all of our students grades 3-8. After this year, we will be reaching out to you for your input, as our plan is to continue using EduTyping with grades 3 and 4. The revised ELA/Literacy standards state the in grades 3 and 4 explicit instruction in the area of keyboarding is required.

Key Features of EduTyping:

·       Web-based to enable students to practice at school as well as home

·       Two levels of curriculum—elementary and secondary

·       Elementary: row-by-row method with high frequency and sight words integrated 

·       Secondary:  traditional method of touch-typing and includes a series of interactive lessons that integrates updated pop culture content

·       Includes practice, games, tests and immediate feedback for students

Next Steps:

·       Due to the differences of how technology is allocated and organized at each school and grade level, your building principal will be reaching out to you in the near future to discuss the specifics of where, when, and how.

·       

In order to ensure success we are recommending that students practice keyboarding 3 times a week for about 10-15 minutes, which may include what the students do at home.

·       If you want to explore the program….which includes a free trial….here is the website: https://www.edutyping.com/

A Look Ahead

Why QUEST?

Thank you to Mr. Moon for being our next person to respond to the Why QUEST prompt. Enjoy his response below.

Why do I value QUEST?

·      I love the small town feel. The fact that I can know and interact with every student and teacher in the building is something that is very special to me.

·      I love how our graduates turn out when they leave this building. I have the pleasure of coaching kids at the middle and high school levels and there is something different about a kid that went to QUEST. They really do imitate the IB attitudes and learner profiles.

·      I love the community and traditions that have been developed over the years. I find it awesome that kids can be a part of days such as thanksgiving feast, the sled race, science fun day, field day, and exhibition. You will not find those things at any other school.

·      Finally, I love the way kids treat each other here at QUEST. Older kids will help the younger kids by doing things such as tying sneakers, reading, holding their hands and walking them somewhere if they are lost. By being a positive role model, it creates excitement and motivation by all students to help each other.

Shared Calendar

To help us stay organized, we have added a shared cal. in one of the SharePoints. Thanks to Hannah for going in and adding dates from various documents. The video below explains it.

From Andrea: Rule #1: If you can make a kid's day, make a kid's day. Read on!

See below for a heartfelt message from Matt at Ditch That Textbook. The link after the message will bring you to a page with some pretty cool teaching ideas. If you don't already subscribe to this blog, you'll LOVE Matt and his inquiry/technology tools!

Confession time. I got to be a substitute teacher in my kids' school yesterday -- half day fifth grade, half day second grade.. The day started great. In less than 15 minutes, I scored some sweet Pokemon drawings by a fifth grade boy.  Later in the day, the students got into groups and played some math board games.  My Pokemon artist was the last one in line. Grabbed a game and walked over to me.  Looked up at me. He wanted to play with ME. I just didn't see it. I was focused on not messing up lesson plans. Had a teacher pop in the room that  distracted me. So what did I do? I assigned him to the one group that needed a fourth student. Blew it. Totally, totally blew it. He was in a group with a kid he didn't get along with.  Ten minutes later, tears ensued. I violated rule number one: If you can make a kid's day, make a kid's day. We had less than five minutes left in class, but we played a quick game together.  He left with a smile, and it was better than it could have been.  But I missed a golden opportunity. (Still fighting a lump in my throat writing this ...) Take it from my mistake yesterday. Make a kid's day.  Don't miss that golden opportunity. OK ... deep breath, swallow that lump, move on ... The end of the semester can be a tricky time when there are LOTS of  distractions like the ones I mentioned. It's also full of opportunity.  Today's post has some ideas for thriving - instead of surviving - the end of the semester. Click here to check it out. I hope it's useful!

Fundraiser

Our school brought in over 14k from the fundraiser. WOW! That is really, really impressive. We beat last year's amount as well--way to go! Please be sure to thank any parents you noticed who were involved. Jill Warner was the point person, with the help of Sarah C. With that, there were other parents who volunteered at the QUEST-A-Thon. A thank you goes a long way in building our partnerships with our selfless parents.

Reminders

• Please complete your Global Compliance trainings. Next Tuesday is a half day, so it might be the perfect time to have the trainings up and running. Wouldn't it be great if we were the first school to all complete these? :)
• Tuesday is a half day with kids (11/21). We will NOT have special that day. Your special area teachers are going to be hard at work in meetings, or in some cases will be out of the building for trainings. 
• FISH will NOT meet on Monday am as previously planned. We will continue in January. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I am unable to make this meeting. 
• Tuesday evening is our evening conference time. If you have not taken a look at Paige's email, I would encourage you to consider bringing an appetizer to pass. We plan on setting up appetizers in the Fiesta room so that all can pick at their convenience. Who doesn't love a good app? They sure make me appy! 
• Wednesday am of next week is a 4 hour workday for teaching staff. Let me know if you have any questions about start and end time. 
• BEDS needs to...oh wait, we all already did our BEDS! WE are QUEST! 

Wohoo!

QUEST has all completed their BED forms...ahead of the district deadline. Way to go, team!

Thankful

It is days like today where you sit back as a principal--in between moments of expected nerves--and notice what it looks like when a school is all-in for kids. If you have only been at QUEST, it might be easy to take a day like today for granted, but days like today serve as evidence of the values that we live out all year.

As we move through the day, I would encourage you to have a moment or two where you pause. Take it in, notice...allow yourself to feel proud. Our work is hard and can be overly stressful, but together we are building lasting memories for kids. I am proud of all of us.

Go QUEST!

FEAST DEMO SIGN-UP

CLICK HERE

Looking Ahead

The Calendar 

AM Bus Duty

PM Bus Duty

Morning Meeting 

Reminders

• BEDS forms should be submitted by Monday. I am going in the system on Monday to verify, so please come see me if you are having any issues. 
• The dance planner starts next week. As a result, I will start taking levels. For our first meeting, I will be doing work around our values with each level. I have the following times written down: K--Tuesday @ 2; Primary--Thursday @ 12:05-12:50; Elementary--Thursday @ 2:40-3:25; Intermediate--Thursday @ 2:55-3:25. Please drop the kids off at the auditorium. 
• FEAST is next Friday. If you are primary, elementary, or intermediate and plan on taking the end of the day planning time, please sign the sheet in the office. K and special education will have a different time. We will have a lunch monitor in each hall filling in for you if you plan to take a lunch away from kids. 
• We have a CIA next Tuesday am @ 745. Val, on behalf of FISH, is starting us off with a peace circle, and then you will have more team time. Please bring any items you need pertaining to your action plan that you started the last time you had team time at a CIA meeting. 

Building Great Communicators

One of the strengths that I have noticed through my many classroom visits so far this year, is our ability to build strong communicators. To that, I want to highlight some of the best practices that I have witnessed. With our charge being to develop the whole child, I would encourage you to consider what you do to intentionally build strong communicators (a learner profile).

I've noticed: 

• Rules/expectations being established regarding listening. I witnessed a rule where when a student is sharing a thought, all other hands are required to be down. This, in my eyes, promotes active listening and seeking first to understand. Communication is more than just the spoken word, so requiring students to keep their hands down until after a peer is done sharing is a clever way to promote listening to others. 
• Talk moves. I love talk moves, and I feel that by the time kids leave QUEST, they should be great listeners who respond to the thoughts of others in a way that acknowledges that they were listening. Instead of just having a random popcorn of ideas being shared within your class, talk moves would require students to use prompts to respond: "I agree with ________ because..." or "I understand what ___________ is saying, but I have another idea." Imagine if we all created anchor charts for our rooms requiring students to use talk moves? By the time they were to leave QUEST, we would be able to allow their conversations to carry on without us.
  
   
• Asking a question, having students write or draw their thoughts, and then having them share in a group is something I witnessed. This practice is powerful as it ties the written word with the spoken word, but more than that, it allows students time to process their thoughts before sharing it with the group. We ask some profound questions here at QUEST, so providing that extra wait time, or time to process their thinking, provides for stronger and deeper communication.
• Using the phrase raise your hand "when" you have an answer. After that, you wait...and wait...Instead of saying raise your hand if, when you say when you are teaching the kids that all should be thinking and not waiting for someone else to communicate.
• Modeling effective communication. I see this a ton. We are models regarding listening and speaking, so when we are addressing those standards, we are constantly demonstrating how to be effective listeners and communicators. We do this well! 

At our CIA meeting, Val is going to warm us up using a peace circle activity. I understand that QUEST has learned about peace circles before, but I would ask that you look at it and consider how you might use circles to increase listening and communication. When you close a workshop and are looking to promote discourse, the peace circle model can be a great tool for students to demonstrate listening, thinking, and speaking. 

Keep up the great work, QUEST. 

Resource ideas from Andrea:

I have a great resource idea for Genius Time and independent ELA time! Have your kids explored podcasts? More and more organizations and companies are creating podcasts just for kids and I found some really great programs to share.

This podcast is titled, "But Why? A Podcast for Curious Kids." Your students could even submit a question if they wanted!

http://digital.vpr.net/programs/why-podcast-curious-kids#stream/0

This one is called, "Tumble: A Science Podcast for Kids." 

http://www.sciencepodcastforkids.com/

For more kid-friendly podcasts for kids check out this list from Common Sense Media:

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/20-podcasts-for-kids

Have to vs. Get to

He is so much more eloquent than me...and maybe I plagiarized a tad? Role model of mine? Perhaps.

I have to say that I have loved walking around and hearing how this language shift has been implemented with kids--and in some cases on the adult level. It is meant to be cheesy, but have a positive impact. Never forget for one second how lucky we are to get to come to this place each day. I have a feeling there are people in this world who are looking for jobs, or people who would love to be part of our team. We get to be together. We get to impact kids. We get to impact colleagues. We get to choose our attitude. We get to be THAT teacher for each child.

WE are QUEST. Have an awesome weekend.

Copier

Team,

The copier in the main office will be open for color access. With that, please be mindful of the fact that large quantities of copies--packets and such--should still go to Katie downstairs. When you send a copy to it, please try to grab right away. This copier often has sensitive and confidential information sent to it that could get lost in a sea of other copies, so it is important that it stays organized so that we do not accidentally misplace any sensitive faxes or papers that come through. Parent volunteers should not be using the color copier due to the sensitive files and material that comes to the colored copier.

If you are using the other copiers and have a parent/sub that needs to copy, Hannah will be housing a couple badges that can be used to scan.  These will be housed in the main office and locked up each night. We do not have these yet, but they will be hopefully arriving shortly.

QUEST Robotics Club

The new QUEST Robotics Club being advised  by Stephanie and Carol is starting in Feb.  It will be on Wednesdays  after school from 3:45-5:45. We are looking for parents and staff to pitch in with this exciting endeavor for Elementary and Intermediate kids.  Permission slips will be announced at the Nov 15 morning meeting and will take the first 35 kids. If you know of any parents that would be potential mentors, let Stephanie know. 

Defining our Values

I believe I have the values from each level. Below is what was shared with me.

Community(x6); individuality; caring(x3); joy; differences; kindness(x2); progressiveness; acceptance; inspire; educate; mindfulness; knowledge; uniqueness; relationships; dedication; creativity(x2); collaboration; commitment, making a difference

My next steps: 

• Add these values to a parent/staff survey: When you think about QUEST, which values do you see coming to life on a daily basis? Which values support why you chose to work at QUEST or send your child to QUEST? This will go out in the Q&A next week. 
• I will also be working with the kids to find evidence for each one when I pull them for your extra planning during the dance planner. I was originally going to have you do in your classroom, but it might be easier for me to facilitate this so that it doesn't become another thing for you to try to coordinate during this busy month.

The goal would be that by our December CIA meeting, we will have some good data from the kids/staff/parents to inform our decisions and to unearth our core/aspirational values. By Christmas I would like to know what our 2-3 core values are, and what are 1-2 aspirational values are.

BEDS...oh yes, I said it...BEDS!

BEDS season is upon us. We GET to do BEDS.  :)

What? 

QUEST Staff BEDS Application Deadline: Monday, November 13th

Who? 

Teachers

How? 

1. Log-in to the ePMF site with your TEACH id.
2.  Validate the information that was uploaded into your school snapshot. Most data should be accurate, but there could be a few discrepancies. If you think some of the data is not accurate, please let Derek know what is wrong and what you believe it should be. 
3. You will also need to enter the course you teach, assignment code (see link), assignment name, grade level and the amount of students in your courses. 
4. New this year, you will be asked to fill in race/ethnicity. This is used as a way to verify we have the correct information locally for our building level BEDS information.

Where do I log-in to start?

Log-in HERE

What resources might I need?

The BEDS ePMF User Guide, FAQ's, and Assignment Codes are now listed on the SharePoint called QUEST Shares (schedules) at the top of our blog. Inside that sharepoint there is a folder called BEDS 2017. Or, click HERE

Look Ahead

November Principal's Challenge: Have to vs. Get to

From your School Improvement Team

From Your Friendly, Hardworking SIT Team:

Hello QUEST! As you know by now, our 2017-2018 goals have been created and teased out with an action plan and measurement tool.  As a reminder, for 2017-2018, we are working to achieve the following goals. (For more information, see our SIT plan presentation in the Fiesta lounge!

RtI GOAL:

By the end of the 2017-2018 school year, QUEST staff will share a common, basic understanding of what RtI is, why it exists, and how we might implement an RtI Approach at QUEST. To measure this, we will create statements and ask staff to gauge where they are with their understanding. The same statements will be used 3 times to measure growth: October, January, April. By the end of the year, we will have a common statement, a common “why”, and approaches for RtI implementation.

CULTURE GOAL:

By the end of the 2017-2018 school year, QUEST Elementary will see a 10-15% increase in positive association for the area of engagement.

We need YOU to complete the following survey in October, January, and April to measure our growth in our understanding of RtI. To gather a baseline, we need you to complete it ASAP. Follow the link – and be honest! Surveys are anonymous. Your responses will frame our RtI learning for the year!

RtI Survey link:

https://goo.gl/forms/e5vLZkBG7BzdmOe22

Thank you!

Picture Day Feedback

Hello team, I am looking for some help to see how picture day went this year! I did pop in a couple of times throughout the day but I would love some anonymous feedback:)

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ShareFormPage.aspx?id=WfdK09a6skWZaq2i0WhW0ou3TblBZ1pInj5E3-jgpLNURVdCT1QyN0ZZMFdPRzk0SDlJOVA4RVJUTC4u&sharetoken=68OlwVkUdtU66NakTvvJ

IB Online Curriculum Centre Info from Andrea:

Alas! IB has decided to change up the Online Curriculum Centre. Some of us love it for resource sharing and information (think Andrea and Patrick Kruchten) and some of us have never logged on before (think... you know who you are! 😊) Well, the OCC IS BEING PHASED OUT EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. It's still up and accessible, but only in a read-only format. The new system, "My IB", is available to you now. More info will come later next month. For now, if you still love the OCC and want to use it, go ahead. And if you forgot your login info, let me know because I have it for you. Otherwise, hold tight and we'll get you on the new platform soon!
xoxo

Andrea

PTSO FYI

We are now in fundraiser season. This fundraiser is the bread and butter for QUEST fundraising, and the funds raised during this time have a direct impact on your classrooms. It has been found that when parents are provided with reminders from the teachers, the response is stronger. I understand that it can feel overwhelming to be the middle man sometimes, but thank you in advance for any support you can provide in getting kids to participate. Your enthusiasm is contagious to kids! 

I'll be sending a thank you to Jill Warner on behalf of us for her work with this fundraiser. If you see her, be sure to give some high-fives.

Speaking of fundraisers, I just wanted you to be aware that we completely crushed last fall's book fair. WE are QUEST. Numbers are below.

Fall 2016:
Total Taxable Sales: $7,203.06
All For Books Sales: $322.47


Fall 2017:
Total taxable sales: $9,678.23

All For Books money collected: $850.61

Reminders for the week of 10/30

• 10/30 starts no meeting weeks. I also will be avoiding observations during this time. Thank you for all the hard work you each are putting in with conferences. I notice it and I appreciate it.
• If your level has not shared your values (names of the buckets) with me, please share with Derek by 11/1. 
• 10/31 is a half day with kids. We will not have specials. 

Instructional IB info from Andrea!

As we settle into our new school year and new classroom routines, now may be a good time to establish an area of the classroom for student questioning! A "Wonder Wall" or "Question Corner" or"Inquiry Nook"... Most of us fell down on recording student questions and inquiries during our first planner reflections and many of you wanted to rededicate instructional time to focus on student questions. I can support you in this endeavor. Just say the word!

Here are some ideas:

• www.padlet.com for recording student questions electronically - very cool tool!

• Penny is going to try a clear, plexiglass pane with dry erase markers - to make kids feel like creative, business hipsters recording their genius thoughts!

• From Kath Murdoch's May, 2017 blog: 

Physical environment: Have you spent time with students exploring ways the classroom furniture can be arranged to best support flexibility, movement, collaboration and group conversation. Are materials and resources clearly organized to ensure students can be as independent and resourceful as possible?

Visual environment: Do your ‘walls’ help students learn?  Are displays indicative of what you value as an inquiry teacher?  What do the walls tell the visitor about the learning happening in your room? Do your walls speak of inquiry?

• You could give each student a laminated piece of cardstock for them to record with dry erase or hot glue clothespins on there and they can pin up notecards 

• You can get creative and make it look like a real wall... or Humpty Dumpty's brick wall...

• And don't forget Pinterest! I'm sure there are 101 ideas there too!

Make A Difference Day

Stephanie Harney's non profit, Hilton Cares is collecting warm coats and mittens that are gently used or new for Make A Difference Day on Sat  Oct 28th in the high school lobby. If you want to deliver early, drop them in the library and help our community!  Each year warm coats are given to any kids districtwide that need them.  The rest are delivered to the local church coat closet. 

CIA Next Week

This coming Tuesday am(the 24th) we will have our next CIA meeting.

Judy Fuller will be doing our warm-up activity at 7:45, after that we are going to dig into value work.

Why spend time on values?

Schools, organizations, and groups need a purpose. With that, the best organizations make decisions based on values. Our school has values--to me they seem clear as day, but I want us to have identified core values that we can use as a filter.

When we hire? 

We should hire people through the lens of our school values.

When we make school-wide decisions?

We should make the decision only if it aligns with our school values.


What will this process look like?

On Tuesday you will identify YOUR core values. Once we do that, we will put our values in buckets (not literally). From there, we will look at all QUEST has been and will find what values fall under those items. For example, QUEST is an IB school. QUEST is multi-age. QUEST has many traditions. QUEST has essential agreements. What values would capture these events and practices? That's our goal. Hopefully we will see a pattern emerging, but ultimately we will come to agreement on what our core values are.

This will take two staff meetings--now and December 5th. It is going to require us to listen to one another, reflect, and think big picture. In the end, I 'd like to plaster these values all over, have you find what these values look like in motion, and use these values as our filter.

Can't wait to get started as we continue to create our future together.

A Week of Play

Reflections from a new principal: 

Being a principal is really hard. Being a teacher is really hard. Being an SRP is really hard. We all have challenges in our jobs, and we all have a million reasons why we could let negativity rule our individual worlds. As we engage with one another, it is easy to adopt the emotions of the person that is across from us.

When I went into leadership, I always dreamed of a school where adults would make learning urgent business--both for themselves and their students. More than that, I wanted nothing more than to be part of a place that could balance that sense of urgency with a sense of play--work hard, play hard? Play, or the act of bringing enthusiasm and joy to all we do, is an intentional choice. A choice that we get to make each day. A choice that I get to witness when I walk into your rooms.

My week:

• Was given a pile of fake feces; 
• Had my room sticky noted (is that a term?); 
• Was given a pet fish; 
• Had my marble jar stolen and replaced with a Hungry Hippo game; 
• Walked in a classroom to find a teacher wearing a cowboy hat;
• I was trying to talk to a teacher when she was on roller skates and she fell right in front of me; 
• Had an entire class of kids scare the life out of me in the hallway;
• Had teachers trying to hand pull fish from the creek (so great for kids!)...

Should I stop there?

I love it. I absolutely love it. This, in my eyes, is exactly what play is all about. It is about taking your life work so serious that you realize that play is an essential ingredient to achieving your goals. Learning happens through play, and when we take the time to notice the funny moments, life has a way of becoming richer. 

Right now, we are in the stressful month of October (almost November). I'm sure some of us are tired, you've realized how human your principal is (he makes lots of mistakes), and there are plenty of imperfections that we could point out in ourselves and one another. Yet our school always rises above and is able to see the good. WE are QUEST. We are more. We want more. We expect more. We offer kids more. 

My hats off to all of you for making time to play. Life is short, and laughter adds time to our life and decreases stress. Just play! Be a grownup, but find the inner-child within you and continue to have some fun. Our little ones are the perfect role models for this approach--let's be big kids.

Proud to be your principal. Great week.

Halloween 2017

The feedback from the past has been mixed in regards to Halloween. Because of this, at a recent admin. team a new approach was proposed. This is the approach we will use for this year, with the end goal of creating an imperfect, yet fun, yet feasible, Halloween opportunity for parents and students. I can't wait to reveal my costume!

Also, do I have two people for the gym? Please send me your name if you're willing to supervise kids in the gym.

All you need to know about Halloween can be found below: 

Halloween 2017

• ·      Students who are not participating will report to the gym at 9:50.
• ·      Please arrive in the auditorium in costume by 9:55. The parade begins at 10:00.
• ·      Seating is assigned by neighborhood. Please fill in all rows so there is room for everyone.
• ·      Parents should not sit with classes. Instead, they may sit in the last 6 rows of the center section (O to T) or wait on either side of the hallway between the cafeteria and QUEST part of the building.
• ·      Derek will host… We will have a livestream camera set up to project video on screen, and hopefully some spooky music.
• ·      When Derek announces your neighborhood:
• o   Stand and follow your parade route, in order like exiting an airplane (K classes go first)…down aisle, across the front, up the opposite aisle, out the back doors, and back inside to your seats.
• o   Once entire neighborhood is seated again, he will announce the next neighborhood to stand and repeat this process.
• o   The order will be: South Pole, Equator, North Pole.
• ·      After all neighborhoods have paraded and are seated, Derek will dismiss parents first, and tell them to line the hall between the cafeteria and the QUEST part of the building.
• ·      He will then dismiss us out the back doors ONLY, one or two classes at a time, from back to front. Listen for your name.
• ·      Parents will be waiting in the hallway between the cafeteria and QUEST part of the building, for pics and videos. Teachers walk right back to their classrooms.
• 
  
• Thanks for being open minded!

Hoping to see lots of students and staff participating in the spirit week!

Monday, October 23 – “healthy choices are the keys to your dreams.”

            *WEAR YOUR FAVORITE PAJAMAS!

Tuesday, October 24 – “Your future is bright!”

            *DRESS IN YOUR BEST! * Remember it is picture day!

Wednesday, October 25– “Live for the future!”

*What do you want to be when you grow up? DRESS AS YOUR FUTURE CAREER!

Thursday, October 26 – “Be Strong! Stand up for yourself and others”

            *WEAR A CAPE OR A SUPERHERO OUTFIT!

Friday, October 27 – “We are all in this together!” – SHOW YOUR QUEST SPIRIT!

Be sure to thank...

We have a few PTSO members who are going above and beyond for us. It you have a moment, be sure to thank Kate Coyle and Christy Sadecki for all their work related to the book fair.

WE are QUEST

Who Does What?

The office ladies and I put this together as a way to create clarity around roles given the shift from a .5 to 1.0 Principal's Secretary. Please see below, and be sure to give them lots of high-fives for their quality work. We are lucky.

Dates to Write Down

Looking Ahead

• Halloween is coming up. This day is a half day for kids. Please be sure to communicate with parents that costumes should be appropriate, non-violent , etc.... Those kids who are looking to no be part of the festivities will be afforded some time in the gym. In order to create a win for all, we are changing up the parade route and attempting to do it in a way that meets the needs of all. Admin. team went through that and should be communicating with you shortly. We will share the details of that plan next week.
• Three-way conferences can officially start on October 16th--Monday! Wow. What a great opportunity to put our kids in the driver seat of their own education, and to forge a partnership with parents. Think creatively about how you can infuse the FISH philosophy into the conferences you have.
• The book fair is next week. Morning meeting will still happen the auditorium, but this may require a bit of creativity. 
• Mary and Carol are going to keep doing popcorn--yum! Thanks to the two of them for making our day, and as a result I will be taking down the sign-up on the blog. If you want to help them one week--and help is appreciated--please reach out to them.