Today is opening day with our new teachers in Burlington Public Schools. I struggle annually to find a balance with what to share with them as we prepare for the start of school which is just under a week away for teachers and just under two weeks away for students. How much information is too much? I do not want to overwhelm them, but I also do not want to forget something important. I have decided to share some opening thoughts for this morning in the hopes that it will cause you and those in your community to answer the most important question we need to focus on during our first day (and on every other day).
The following excerpt, written by Ken Blanchard, is from the Foreword to Jon Gordon's The Energy Bus:
In many of my seminars I begin by asking people to stand up and do two things. First, I ask them to greet other people as if they are unimportant. After an initial chuckle or two, there’s a dull hum as everyone walks around trying to ignore each other. Then I stop them and ask them to continue to greet people, but this time, to do it as if the people they are greeting are long-lost friends they’re glad to see. The room erupts with laughter and the volume rises as people run around, smiling, hugging, and chatting with each other.As we think about the beginning of a new school year, how does this message resonate with you? With this in mind, I wanted to share a question from Cale Birk, a colleague in British Columbia. Cale posted the following question in a blog post titled What are the EXPERIENCES you create?
How can we make the EXPERIENCE that our (students/parents) have when they walk into our building/register at our school/go to our website, etc) SO POSITIVE that they want to communicate this experience with others?
Some useful resources that we will share:
Louise D'Amato, our Director of Special Education, will share Rita Pierson's Every kid needs a champion TEDTalk.
We will provide all new teachers with a copy of Learn Like A Pirate.
Some welcome back blog posts from BPS teachers
- Welcome Back to School - Mrs. Fitzpatrick - Pine Glen Grade 5
- Welcome Back Almost - Ms. Conceison - Memorial Grade 5
- Welcome Back from - Ms. Santullo - Memorial Grade 2
- Welcome to First Grade - Ms. Farmer - Francis Wyman Grade 1
District Websites:
School Websites:
- Pine Glen Principal's Blog
- Memorial Principal's Blog
- Francis Wyman Blog
- Fox Hill Principal's Blog
- Burlington High School Principal
- Marshall Simonds
Useful resources:
District Social Media Accounts:
Survey:
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