Happy Thanksgiving!

Good Tuesday Afternoon!

I have several things that need to be announced, but I will save most of them for next Monday when our brains are in work mode. The main thing you need to know today is to reserve a portion of Tuesday afternoon for a brief K-12 faculty meeting in Willett Hall. Mr. Neu would like to start as close to 3:40 as possible.

As we enter the Thanksgiving season, please know that I am very thankful for each of you! Your dedication to the children you teach serves as an inspiration to me every day. I hope you each have a wonderful, restful, food-filled Thanksgiving!

Here is a prayer by one of my favorite poets:

Thanksgiving

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, For love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Friday Memo

Happy Friday!

Thank you, teachers, for an outstanding week here at Trinity!  

A few reminders:

1. Please continue keep your grades updated on Edline every second and fourth Monday of the month.  This is becoming especially important as we are counseling students who are currently on academic probation.

2. Help us keep a keen eye out for bullying.  It is important that we prevent this in our school, and address any problems quickly and effectively.

3. Keep in mind that we will begin turning in lesson plans second semester.  I will come up with a rotation and some general lesson plan guidelines within the next couple of weeks.

Try to make it out to see our basketball team at ACA tomorrow morning.  The girls play at 9:00 and the boys play at 10:15.

Have a great weekend!

The Friday Memo

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has had a good week!

Here are our announcements for this afternoon:

1. 8th Grade Teachers: Thanks so much for your input as we have worked out our exam guidelines for this year. Please plan on having your semester exam count 10%.

2. When dealing with restroom issues in your classes, please keep in mind that our young ladies may need to be excused for personal reasons from time to time. If you have found a good way to deal with this, please let all of us know.

3. Please make sure that you are posting your tests in the Copy Room. Remember that we allow no more than two major tests per day. (6th grade teachers, I’ll get a stack of forms so we won’t run out again)

4. Please remember to complete an absence form (located in the Copy Room) and submit it to me whenever you are out.

5. Thank you for being proactive with respect to parental communication. Let’s keep in mind that we agreed to have grades posted on Edline every 2nd and 4th Monday.

Thanks, as always, for everything you do. Keep up the good work!

Reading

Check this out:

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Makes you think, huh?

One More Thing . . .

Before I leave Denver this morning, I would like for each of you to read what my good friend Dr. Frank Buck said about the keynote given by Jim Collins at our conference.  We will be talking a good bit about how to move our very good school into the great column throughout the remainder of the year, and the ideas presented by Collins will provide our framework for doing that.  You can find out more about Jim Collins and his leadership/improvement ideas at his website.

You can access Dr. Buck's post by clicking here.  In fact, while you are at it, I strongly encourage you to subscribe to his blog.  His time management techniques literally changed my life.

See you tomorrow!

PS - If you haven't already done so, please read the blog post below.

The Friday Memo

Greetings from the "Mile High City!"

As I compose this post, I can look out my 15th floor window and see a sunset view of the Denver skyline, with lights twinkling in the windows of the buildings, and activity on the 16th Street Mall as the Friday night life gets underway. All of this is shrouded by the beautiful, snow-capped Rocky Mountains.  And to top it all off, the weather has been beautiful!  Would you believe that I waited on the tarmac in Montgomery while the wings of my airplane were de-iced, only to arrive to 72-degree sunny weather on the ground in Denver?  Needless to say, I got in a little sight-seeing after settling into my room Wednesday afternoon!

I can't wait to share with you the many things that I have learned at this conference.  So far, I have attended clinics on time management and organization, brain research as it relates to middle school kids, writing across the curriculum, how to conduct meaningful classroom observations, integration of technology into the curriculum, and how to make any needed cultural changes in a school.  All of this, and I have three more classes tomorrow before the closing session.

The highlight so far was getting to hear Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, talk about how to move a middle school into the "great" category.  We have so much going for us, I know that we can be absolutely stellar!

Folks, I can't tell you how thankful I am and how thankful we all should be that we are at Trinity.  Many of the teachers and administrators I have been around this week are in very difficult circumstances.  Sometimes, their difficulties are caused by overbearing government regulations, standards, and incessant testing.  Other times there are socioeconomic factors that complicate the teaching process.  Classroom management is tough for many, and most feel as though the parents don't really care.

I have spoken to principals who were so frustrated about their lack of technology that I felt embarrassed when I had to honestly answer their questions by telling them we have fifty SmartBoards on our campus.  For most of these people, an Apple Mobile Laptop Cart is a pipe dream.  And, quite frankly, 90% of the people I have met would drop dead of shock if they saw how well behaved our students are.

This weekend, take a few moments to pause, clear your head, and thank the Good Lord that He has placed you at Trinity, given you wonderful facilities and resources, supportive teammates, and great kids.  When parents want to know about the progress of their children, be thankful that they are interested and work with them.  Then come back refreshed Monday morning ready to make a difference in some lives.

Do I sound pumped?  You bet!  And I have good reason.  There is nothing like getting away for a few days only to realize that there is nothing standing in the way of your school being absolutely OUTSTANDING. Let's make it happen!

You guys are THE BEST!  I'm looking forward to seeing you again Monday morning!

Have a great weekend!

PS: You can see a TeacherTube report on the opening day of this conference by clicking here.

The Friday Memo

Happy Friday!

Be sure to congratulate the following art students who received awards last night from the Montgomery Advertiser’s “Design an Ad” contest: Madison Cornett won 2nd place in the 4-6th grade category for her ad designed for McPhillips and Shinbaum, LLP, of Montgomery. Mary Elizabeth Newman won 3rd place in the 7-9th grade category for her ad for Hardee’s Restaurants. Both students received US Savings Bonds as a prize.

Of the 1,202 students who entered the contest, 150 were from Trinity. Considering these numbers, we should be very proud of Mrs. Bricken and these two talented students!

I should also mention that Josey Aughtman, a 5th grader in our Lower School, had her ad selected for publication by Southern School and Medical Uniforms. Way to go Josey!

You can access a full article detailing the “Design an Ad” contest by clicking here.

Here are a few important reminders as we go into the weekend:

1. Please remember to check attendance each period. If a student is missing and is not listed as absent, please press the call button in your room and notify the front office.
2. I hope to have a State Course of Study ready for each of you by Tuesday. When you get these, please begin using them as a reference for the content of your courses. Also, please remember that we agreed to begin turning in lesson plans as of the second semester. It is important to begin thinking in that direction even now.
3. Classroom visits by department chairs and myself are well underway. Some will be quick drop-ins, while others will last longer.
4. Please remember that we will have a joint chapel service with Eastwood School on October 30. The schedule will be posted throughout the school.
5. I will be out of town next Wednesday – Friday attending the National Middle School Association Conference in Denver. I look forward to sharing many exciting things with you when I return!
6. Please remember our K-12 faculty meeting immediately following carpool this coming Monday. This meeting will be held in Willett Hall.
7. Remember to make sure that you clear any field trips with the administration prior to giving out any information regarding the trip. If any middle school students are involved, I need to be informed ahead of time. I may be aware of potential conflicts that are unknown to you.
8. Please remember to cut off your SMART Board projectors if you are going to be out of the room for an extended period of time. These bulbs are very expensive, and we need to make them last as long as possible.
9. Thank you for your feedback concerning hall passes. The faculty is pretty much evenly split on this issue. We will keep things as they are now, and I’ll share an idea with you when we get a chance to meet together as a division in a couple of weeks.
10. For your information: Students may distribute birthday invitations at school ONLY if they are giving one to everyone in their grade. Please help me keep an eye on this one!

Thanks once again for a great job this week! Have a wonderful weekend!