Welcome to the Rockin Redhawk Weekly Blog!

Some Thoughts on Fall Leaves and Students

I love fall.  It is my favorite season of the year.  The air turns a bit colder and the leaves begin to change. There is a bit of anticipation that goes along with fall that I like too.  We start to look forward to Halloween, Thanksgiving, and begin to think about the nearness of Christmas and winter...good memories and times spent with family and friends.  I look forward to this time of the year because every year about this time, my wife and I take a short trip to just look at the changing leaves and pose for pictures in the woods.  By the time the first leaves of fall are hitting the ground, we have settled into our routines at school and the hectic and chaotic days of the first weeks of school are behind us.  

One of the things I also like about fall is this little thing I learned about leaves.  When I was in college, I was a Biology major and my emphasis was in the area of Botany.  I learned that one of the cool things about leaves is that the brilliant colors we see in the fall leaves are ALWAYS there throughout the year; we only start to see them in the fall after the green pigment (chlorophyll) has started to die off.  Those beautiful red, yellow and orange pigments are always there, they are just not seen and for most of the year, the leaf just looks green and ordinary.  However, when the green goes away, the other colors are free to be expressed.  I think that can actually be a metaphor for ourselves and especially our students.  Sometimes what we see on the surface is what we expect to see (the green and the ordinary); it forces us to blend easily into the crowd and doesn't show how special we are at all.  Meanwhile, the most beautiful and special parts of ourselves and our students may be just below the surface waiting for just the right time to come out.  All of us have something beautiful and special inside us just waiting to be noticed! As teachers, we have the blessing of being that catalyst that can begin to uncover the special beauty and unique talents and gifts that reside within our students.  That's why teaching is THE BEST PROFESSION IN THE WORLD.  

Never Judge a Book by its Cover

How do we see our students?  Do we see them as the world sees them OR do we see them for the potential that lies just beneath the surface; yearning to break free?  And, are we willing to do what we can to help unlock that potential in each of our students?  

Some Thoughts on My Fall Focus Areas

I had some time this week to reflect on how far we have come so far this year and also to begin to think about some areas of focus for me this fall.  The following focus areas are in line with our district LCAP goals and represent some good first steps.  

• Continue relationship building with staff, students, and parents
• Continue to refine our arrival and dismissal systems
• Begin our work to refine and improve our lunch and recess systems (a first step for our PBIS program)
• Begin our work towards implementing a robust "Bring Your Own Device" program in grades 3-5
• Begin our work towards developing a consistent and coherent school-wide system for intervention
• Work to support and enhance teacher collaboration and lesson planning 
• Increase the number and quality of parent volunteers in key areas

I would welcome any feedback and ideas you have regarding these focus areas.  

This past week I....

• Visited Cordelia Hills to view their BYOD program and to see how they were using technology in their classrooms.
• Attended a workshop regarding ELA strategies
• Attended various IEP and SST meetings regarding students on our campus
• Met with Linda Samera regarding PTO, Music Matters, and PTO funding for Chromebooks
• Met with F-SUTA representative Keitha Bryan 
• Met with Judi Honeychurch (FSUSD Board Member) and toured campus
• Attended Home and Hospital training
• Attended principal's breakfast conference  

Next week I will...

• Meet with Pam Moore (my administrative coach)
• Attend weekly administrator's meeting
• Meet with Dr. Cara Mendoza regarding upcoming IPR meeting
• Conduct weekly staff meeting (Tuesday)
• Meet with Roxane Liu (Site Visit...Wednesday)
• Conduct an initial 504 meeting
• Meet with WestEd (Sweeps are still supposed to happen next week)

Things to remember:

1. Staff Meeting Next Week (Tuesday 3 - 4:30)  If you need anything on the agenda, get it to me before the end of the day on Monday 10/5.
2. Progress Reports due to me by Monday 10/5 and go home on 10/7