Dear Friends,

Mrs. Douce is my guest blogger today!  Mrs. Douce is our Student Services Coordinator. 

Carmel Elementary students had a fantastic anti-bullying presentation Thursday morning entitled “Upstanders Rock.”   Our presenter, Eugene Clark, taught all of us about how to eliminate bullying and work as a team to accomplish that goal.  We had a great time with lots of laughs and learning.  My favorite was all the students dressed up as adults.  J  The kids were reminded that they can report bullying to a parent, teacher, student services coordinator (me!!), or our principals.

 



 

Calling All Young Aspiring Authors, Creative Collaborators, and Budding Bloggers!

Dear Friends,

I am looking to highlight the voice of our student body, one kiddo at a time! To do that, I'm seeking a guest student blogger to post on my blog (www.apafterthoughts.blogspot.com)!  I will invite students to participate every few weeks, and each invitation will be open to one grade level at a time.  Interested students may submit:

•  original written work of any style (300 words or less)
•  original digitally recorded videos
• original audio recordings (songs, instrumentals, spoken word)
• original art work
• a combination of any of the above suggestions

May I suggest that you think outside the box?  May I suggest that different is cool?

There are few parameters to the style of submission:

• it must be school appropriate and original work
• students may work together or alone
• parents may provide technical support, but remember, we are highlighting the voice of our student body
• please pay special attention to the quality of recordings so that a submission posted on the blog is clear and audible
• projects need not empty the bank accounts of parents :) 

Please encourage students and friends to make a submission.  This first round of submissions is open to 5^th grade students only.  I will advertise this opportunity via live announcements this week and the deadline is Wednesday, September 9th. 

 

P.S. I am so excited to showcase our creative leaders!

 

 

Leadership Forum

Dear Friends,

As we begin to learn about the 7 Habits of Happy and Highly Effective kids, staff members will be looking to create opportunities for all students to participate, collaborate, and lead at Carmel Elementary.  My first venture in creating opportunities will be a Lunch Group Leadership Forum.  This lunch group will meet once a week during lunch, generally on Thursdays, for a total of four meetings.  Each lunch group will be grade level specific, and made up of approximately 6 students.  After I've cycled through each grade level, I will start over with a new group of kiddos.  Be on the lookout for the invitation and permission slip!

During our lunch group meetings, we will discuss leaders around our school, city, and world.  We will enjoy conversations about what our leadership strengths and needs are, and how we can best impact our world with these gifts.  Our lunch group will be a fun and relaxing way to connect!

I'm starting with 4th grade and will hold our first session on Thursday, September 3rd!

PS- don't forget to subscribe to my blog!  Put your e-mail address in the "Subscribe" box on the right of this webpage...then don't forget to look for the confirmation e-mail and click yes to confirm!

Meet the Teacher!

Dear Friends,

Meet the Teacher Night was a HUGE success!  I love being part of this night, both as a parent and as assistant principal.  I'm so happy that we were able to host childcare- the kids were so well-behaved and cute, and I think it was really helpful to parents.

I am kicking myself because I FORGOT TO TAKE PICTURES.  If I had remembered, I would be able to show you the hilarity of 24 adults sitting in chairs made for 7 year olds, the note that I was able to leave in my daughter's desk during her teacher's presentation, and the kids joyfully sprawled out on the gym floor to watch a movie (I do actually have a picture of this that I'll share, excuse the lighting).

Thanks again to all of our lovely teachers for making last night an informative and fun evening.  Thank you to all the parents who were able to work out their schedules in order to be here.  We have a truly amazing school!

P.S. My daughter's desk was far tidier than mine!

Be Proactive!

Dear Friends,

This week we are focusing on the first of our seven habits- Be Proactive! We have designated each Monday morning as Student Leadership Time, where we can first learn about each of the habits (one each week) and then later use the time to participate in leadership activities.  Check out the videos below to see some of what we learned! (You will need to visit the actual blog www.apafterthoughts.blogspot.com to see the videos, as they will not show in an e-mail).

 

A First Grade Friend Wrote About Being Proactive

 

Mrs. Hepp's Class Sings the 7 Habits Song with Accompaniment

 

 

A Fifth Grade Student Tells Us What Proactive Means to Her

 

P.S. I am really loving sharing these photos and videos with you! 

As Promised....

Dear Friends,

 

The day before school officially started for our students was filled with frantic, last minute preparations- but that didn't stop the staff at Carmel Elementary from getting together to sing our version of the 7 Habits song!  This is the video that we showed our kiddos at the convocation yesterday (and in case you're wondering, we learned the song and recorded it all in less than 15 minutes)!

 

P.S. I think we have a future in show business.  Look at those jazz hands!

Follow Me...

Dear Friends,

We had a spectacular start to the school year!  I always forget how exhausted I am at the beginning of the school year, and I know that the kids are tired, too.  No one in our house had trouble sleeping last night!

Annabelle, my 2nd grader at CE

Today we held our first "Follow Me, I'll Lead" convocation.  Here at Carmel Elementary, we are focusing on tapping into the leadership potential that every person holds by learning about the 7 Habits.  The 7 Habits are things that will help us all develop into the healthy, happy, leaders that we were born to be!  As we make our way through this school year, be looking for increased opportunities for students of all ages to develop their leadership skills.  Read on to see what each habit is all about and feel free to talk to your kiddos about it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

P.S.  If you're lucky, I just might post a video of the staff singing our very own 7 Habits song!

Their First Days

Dear Friends,

As I arrived to school today, the first "official" teacher work day, I found myself thinking about what I felt the first time I walked through the doors of Camden Elementary back in 1987 (according to Google, Camden's population was 607 in 1987).  I have mostly cloudy, watercolor-like memories when I think back to my half-day kindergarten experience, but there are two memories that are so very clear.

Me, 1987, First Day of School at Camden Elementary

1. My very first friend, Kinzie Brummett.  She lived maybe about a mile down the gravel road from me, which made her our closest neighbor.  Since we could attend only a half-day kindergarten, our parents took turns driving us to school.  I remember that on the first day I jumped out of the car, but Kinzie had to be pried from the back seat.  I stood at the classroom door crying because I wanted to go in so badly but couldn't go in without her.  She eventually met me at the door, and we walked in together holding hands.  We spent the next few years having pretend tea parties together on our 40 minute bus ride and then remained friends even as we graduated high school.

 2. My teacher, Mrs. Minear.  I worshipped the ground she walked on the second I walked through that door and saw her big smile.  She was soft-spoken, patient, and kind.  I remember loving every apple-stenciled outfit she wore and wanting to do my best coloring on my morning work, just hoping to hear praise.  I simply loved kindergarten and cried if I couldn't go to school because of illness.

These two memories bring me back to our kiddos who will arrive tomorrow for their first day of school ever, or their first day in a new grade level, or their first day at Carmel Elementary.  I'm thinking about the impact that their first day will have on them for the rest of their lives and it is such a humbling experience to be able to witness that.  My greatest hope is that each and every student will have something really spectacular happen to them tomorrow; perhaps a new friendship will be formed, or a memorable word of encouragement from an adult will be heard, or a feeling of success after trying something new. 

We can't wait to see our kiddos tomorrow- it's going to be a fantastic year!

P.S. I already have my outfit picked out for the first day!








Dear Friends,

I think that in my past life I held the job of scheduling flights in and out of O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.  There's a reason I think this, and it's because when I work on our building support schedule I feel that I am experiencing déjà vu.  It's an out of body experience, really- I feel as though I'm floating above and just watching myself forget things and jumble them up as I put them in an Excel spreadsheet. 

In reality, I am working on our building support schedule and will send it out to everyone on Friday.  Would you like to know how I build it?  Because, for some reason that I don't understand,  I would find some satisfaction in explaining it! 

1. Meet with resource team to identify needs and take many sloppy, yet thorough, notes
2. Open an Excel spreadsheet
     a. create a box for each IA
     b. create a box for every 15 minute increment through the day
3. Plug in lunch duties and personal lunch times (we love food here at CE)
4. Go to get a diet coke
5. Stop and talk to some people
6. Glance at, but ultimately walk away from, the candy jar
7. Work to decipher my sloppy, yet thorough, notes
8. Piece together support times for specific students
9. Squint, sigh, and push backspace approximately 1,392 times
10. Go to my Calming Corner
11. Piece together support times for classrooms
12. Tell myself that I think it's done
13. Silently cheer
14. Send the schedule out via e-mail
15. Immediately begin sweating in anticipation of discovered mistakes
16. Practice Square Breathing techniques
17. Feel better knowing that we're one step closer to being ready for the year!

P.S. Ok, ok....I did not actually walk away from the candy jar.  Guilty as charged.

 

Every Teacher's Worst Nightmare

 

 

 

 

P.S. Don't worry, Valerie Williams (super hero) fixed it! 

 

 

Back at It

Dear Friends,

I'm officially back to school after an amazing summer off.  I'm having a tough time getting anything done because I can't keep myself from wandering the halls to see who's here. (And of course a short conversation turns into a long one when there is so much to catch up on!)  We are all getting geared up for the new year and I'm having a blast hearing about new plans.   Here are some pictures of some of the terrific work that's going on around here:

 

 

P.S. Stop in and see me if you're in the building!