If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well. ~Martin Luther King Jr.
Week 27 in Review
As we progress through our second semester data teams review, it is obvious our professional development has paid off this year. The resulting work is excellent. I am grateful for every “Aha!” moment that each set of teachers arrived at due to the process of studying and implementing data teams. It was just seven short months ago that we felt overwhelmed by this process. I am so proud of how the teams embraced the learning and held strong through the implementation.
In this season of planting for the next year, I want everyone to know that it is the excellence within our halls that enables Benton to travel this journey of excellence. If you are part of a data team, your leadership will be essential next year as we work to grow our learning into blossoms for all to see. Next year, we will continue our work with 1) data teams, 2) technology integration, and 3) finding ways to connect our students with their learning. What are we missing? What do we, or more importantly – what do you need to learn in order to operate in your classroom more efficiently and effectively? The SIP team needs your input.
I talked to CAMP Congress last week about our progress this year. You all would have been so proud to hear the kids speak about their school. They believe we have accomplished several of our goals this year. They feel safer. They know you care about their learning and their future, they love the new technology, and they are happy that their lunch service is improving with the salad bar. And they gave us quite a list to consider for next year. Their ideas are great, and they feel empowered by their teachers to make a difference. Thank you for that! I will summarize and send out their input for discussion with the BLT to share with you at our leadership meeting this week.
Week 28 — A Look Ahead
Monday night you have an opportunity to meet the new school board candidates at TMC at 6:30p.m. Feel free to come with us to represent Benton. Other than that, we have a pretty standard week. Don’t forget to help our students improve their literacy by following through with vocabulary, SSR and Eyes Past Print.
It’s CAMP grade review week. It is our responsibility to make sure our students know how much their education means to us, and how much their success depends on their dedication to school. If we don’t tell them, they may not hear it from anyone else. As you talk to your students about their 3rd quarter grades this week, feel free to take some time and connect their need for your course to their goals for the future. If they want and intend to go to college or get a job after high school, what specifically are they doing to make sure they reach that goal? Like the flowers of spring, we must grow this thinking in our students. What behaviors do they need to water? What weeds do they need pull?
We need to give our students constant reminders that achieving their goal is not hard, but it does take work. We are here to make sure they don’t “opt” out of achieving their dream. This is a great week to share that with them. Make sure you also follow through by your actions. It’s important that we are the educational role models in their lives. Having had a son graduate from Benton, I know for a fact that it was teachers at Benton expecting him to succeed that sealed that desire in my own child. We have 851 students. At Benton, I know our excellence springs internal.
~Excellence is a journey, not a destination.~
All images are CC from Flickr: “The Perfect Shade of Princess Pink” by Pink Sherbet Photography; “Lupenis Texensis” by Jason A. Samfield; “Sprung” by Roberts S. Donovan; “Reach up for the sky” by jenny downing; “369 Flower on Blue” by I Am Not I.