Why Your WHY Is So Important

I am just getting to this blog and all I can think about is ALL the things I have left to do. I feel the weight of everything on my shoulders and I feel weighed down. The reason I am just getting to this...my daughter's 11th birthday is today and she wanted a laser tag party at our house!

The reasons why I should not have done this party today:

1. It is HOT!!
2. I have to clean my house and yard.
3. It is a bit expensive and this time of year money is for back to school stuff.
4. It is a Sunday and had to fit it in after church and before all the things families with kids must do before Monday mornings!
5. Did I mention is HOT??

So why did I do it?

Zora at 1 week old!

Because it is Zora's birthday. My tall, loving and amazing daughter was born 11 years ago just 28 weeks into my pregnancy.  Y'all...she weighed 2 lbs and 10.6 oz.  She had multiple surgeries and blood transfusions and stayed in the hospital for 7 weeks.  She had a hole in her heart and was labeled as developmentally delayed until age 3.

That's why I did all I did today.  I prayed for this little girl and would go to the hospital each evening after her birth to read to her and encourage her to keep breathing and eating and growing.

I don't spoil her but her birthdays truly are a reason to celebrate. She did what many babies that were born around August 19, 2007 in the Cape Fear Valley NICU could not do...survive and thrive.

How does this connect to the idea of knowing your why in schools? 

It connects because your why is what makes you go the extra mile for your kids.  It's what makes you reassure a student that all will work out when they get a bad test score or friends exclude them.

Your why should drive you past the difficulties that come with the job and stay focused on your ultimate goal for students.

Take 4 minutes to see a clear example of how knowing and recognizing your why can make any task 100 times better.

I hope you have had an amazing weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.

Week of Monday, August 20- Friday, August 24, 2018

August 20, 2018

Mandatory for all staff

Please consider wearing a TCEA shirt for Home Visits (new staff, I will have your shirts before noon)

8:00-8:30 Culture Building (Bad Day Balloon)

8:30-9:30 Lesson Planner Training

9:30-10:30 Work on Own Plans

10:30-11:00 Musical Chair Feedback

11:00-11:30 Revision of Lesson Plans

11:30-3:00 Home Visits/ Lunch

5:15 PM TCEA Board Mtg (Optional)

August 21, 2018

Mandatory for all staff

8:00- 9:00 Walkthrough Duties and Expectations

9:00-10:30 Data Analysis PD

11:00-12:00 Team Meetings

12-1:00 Lunch

1-3 Arts Vocabulary, Arts 101, Expectations

August 22, 2018

Mandatory for all staff

8:00-8:30: Culture Building (Agents of Transformation Display)

8:30-9:00: PBIS Intro

9-12:30: Sessions 1-3

12:30-1:30: Lunch

1:30-2:30: Session 4

2:30- 3:00 Final Closing Activity

August 23,2018

Mandatory for all staff

8:00-8:30: Student Handbook

8:30-10:00 TLaC Culture & Behavior

10:00-10:30 Break

10:30-12:00 TLaC Continued

12-1 Lunch on our own

1:00 - 2:00 Beginning Teacher Orientation (only for teachers considered first year teachers-you know because you have been assigned a mentor)

2:00 - 3:00 Happiness Advantage

August 24, 2018

8:00-8:30 Commitment Ceremony

8:30-10:00 EC Training

10:00-10:30 Staff Picture- please wear purple and/orange (school colors)

10:30-11:00   MTSS Update

11:00-12:00   504 Training/ Social Worker

12:00-1:00 Lunch

Be back at school by 4:45 PM

Open House 5:30 PM-7:30 PM

August 27, 2018

Optional Workday

August 28, 2018

First Day of School

👏🦎Chameleon Clap👏🦎

• Thank you to all who stepped in and helped with training for new staff members. Thanks Mr. Salisbury, Mrs. Trojan, Mrs. Cane, Mr. Thomas and Ms. Covington.
• Thanks to Mr. Salisbury for getting all the rooms ready for staff.
• Thank you to Ms. Akers and Mrs. Trojan for helping get all our new students in the system and on lists.
• Thank you to Ms. Lanham and Mrs. Samuelson for attending the MTSS training last week.
• Thank you to Mr. Thomas for creating the routes for home visits!
• Thank you to Mrs. Strimel for her leadership in the EC arena!
• Thanks to Mr. Kline for hosting us all week and for cleaning up after us on Friday!
• Thank you to each of you for being "all in" during training!

If you ever want to give a Chameleon Clap, please send via email to Mrs. Hill by noon each Sunday!