A new school year is upon us. Tonight, families are preparing for the start of a new school year. Parents offer words of encouragement while children think about all the possibilities of their first day of school. In many homes tonight, children will lie restless in their beds pondering many thoughts and questions. Questions like,
What will my teacher be like?
Will my teacher like me?
Will my teacher be nice?
Tomorrow morning, teachers throughout my community, will open their classroom doors to meet and greet their students for the first time. What will this experience be like for students? How will students be greeted?
Tomorrow morning, when students step foot into their classroom for the first time, what will they see? Will they see a classroom designed to engage and inspire? Will they see and feel a classroom that is warm and inviting, one they will want to be in for the next 180 days?
Tomorrow morning, when the first bell rings, how will students be introduced to the new school year. Will the day begin with a speech about classroom rules and procedures? Will students see a smile on their teacher's face?
What will be your impact?
Tomorrow morning, from the first opportunity to meet and greet a student or parent, offer a smile a handshake or a high five, or maybe both, and welcome them to your school.
Tomorrow morning, when greeting students at the classroom door, make eye contact, smile, say hello, and ask each child for their name, and greet them with a positive comment saying their name.
Tomorrow morning, when students enter into your classroom, make the experience memorable. Share your story with your students, letting them know who their teacher is, what their teacher likes, what makes their teacher laugh.
Tomorrow morning, instead of jumping into classroom rules and procedures, engage your students in activities that will allow you to get to know more about them, so they can get to know more about each other.
For the next 180 days, continue to build and maintain relationships with all students. This will take work, but it is some of the most important work teachers do.
For the next 180 days, smile a lot. Children need and deserve to know their teacher believes in them and supports them.
For the next 180 days, use your words to inspire, encourage and motivate students.
For the next 180 days, please remember, your students need you more than you will ever know.
As we begin a new school year, make the choice daily to be the difference in the lives of your students.
I love education! I love the fact that I am entering my 20th year with the same excitement, enthusiasm, and inspiration I felt my very first day as a first-grade teacher in room 20 at Valle Vista Elementary School in Delano, CA. I enter into my fourth year in my current district, Bakersfield City School District, with an enhanced sense of emotions about the current state, and future, of our organization.
EXCITEMENT
This past school year, I was privileged to have the opportunity to spend a few hours with one of my eduheros, Jimmy Casas (@casas_jimmy) who listened intently as I shared the journey of our district. To have Jimmy Casas sit with me engaged in my narrative was frankly, AWESOME!!! Later that evening, I had the opportunity to have dinner with Jimmy and in true Jimmy style, he inspired and encouraged through his words and pushed me to keep moving forward. Later that week, Jimmy blogged about his day in our district (you can read about it here), http://www.jimmycasas.com/want-to-be-a-successful-leader-learn-to-arm-yourself/, which only reinforced what I believed, we were doing the right work for the students we serve.
Fast forward to the current month of June 2017. Our Curriculum & Instruction Team along with our Instructional Support Services Team, have designed quite the professional learning experience for our #teambcsd staff. Our Summer Institute 2017 is unlike any prior summer experience. Our teachers and administrators are immersed in social-emotional learning and academic topics aligned to the Ḱey Levers'of our districtś goals. We are focused on fostering a positive culture conducive for students to be academically successful. Our theme, #JustBe is the brain child of our outstanding Curriculum Team and has been positively embraced by our staff. The idea of #JustBe leaves the statement open ended for every individual to define how they will #JustBe for the 2017-2018 school year. A few examples that have been shared are shown below.
#JUSTBETHECHANGE
#JUSTBETHEDIFFERENCE
#JUSTBEBETTERTODAYTHANYESTERDAY
#JUSTBETHEONETHECHILDNEEDSTODAY
#JUSTBEAWESOME
#JUSTBECOURAGEOUS
#JUSTBETEAMBCSD
ENTHUSIASM
To gain a sense of the enthusiasm I am feeling, conduct a Google search for #teambcsd, or if you are on Twitter, search the hashtag #teambcsd. The team, each individual member, is creating their own ripple which in turn is forming positive waves across our organization. To further exemplify the enthusiasm felt, our creative EdTech staff creates short videos titled, 60 Seconds of Awesome, which is a combination of highlights from the day prior our Summer Institute along with messages for the current day. Side note, itś difficult to confine our awesomeness into 60 seconds, so the videos are a little longer.
In the videos, you may have caught the large wall with the ´JustBe´ theme. All attendees were encouraged to record their name and simple message for the 2017-2018 school year. The results are inspiring. Our teachers have demonstrated a willingness to be part of this organizational change we are experiencing.
photo credit, @Stephanie_Tiede
INSPIRATION
I am continually inspired by the team I have the great fortune to work with every day. Our team of administrators, teachers, and support staff is the very best. As you can see, by searching our districtś hashtag, great learning is taking place while strong relationships are being established and fortified.
In late May, we challenged our administrative team to jump into the Twittersphere, and they excitedly created accounts and began to explore. As part of our Summer Institute, we challenge our teachers to do the same. They too have made the jump. During the same month, a few of our site principals started a book chat and encouraged administrators and teachers alike to jump into the conversation. During the month of June, dozens of #teambcsd members, along with educators from other districts in our area and as far away as Texas, joined our conversation. The book of choice, Shifting the Monkey by Todd Whitaker (@toddwhitaker), was the perfect book to begin our book chat experience. Our team will begin our second book chat in July. Our second selection, Innovatorś Mindset by George Couros (@gcouros) is sure to be as successful as our first. Through this experience, I have been moved by the willingness of our team to learn and grow together.
THE POWER OF #TEAMBCSD
All of the effort and work put forth by #teambcsd staff is inspiring. To pull off a professional learning experience for 1,600 teachers is no small feat. Together, our Curriculum Team led by Rachelle Montoya (@dvsblond) and Instructional Support Services Team led by Tim Fulenwider (@drtfulenwider) have designed a learning experience that will not soon be forgotten by our team. Together, along with countless teachers and support staff from across the district, we have inspired the nearly 1,100 teachers who have already attended the first three summer sessions, with one session remaining in July. As we inch closer to the start of our new school year on August 16, 2017, we are excited, encouraged and inspired as One District, One Voice, One Team, in our efforts to embrace, support, encourage and empower our students to greatness.
