Inspire, Engage, Excite, Lead, Foster, Create, and Empower

One of the best parts of the new school year is the feeling of hitting the re-set button. It is a brand new school year which means it is an opportunity to be a new you. It is the time to reorganize your files, clean out your closet, review your goals, and re-evaluate your perspective on life.  It is a fresh start.

I want all of us to make the best out of every interaction with every employee, parent, and student. I know that I only truly have "today" to make the best first impression or attempt to solve any problems that may exist. I know that if I don't take risks I won't know what my true potential is. I will continue to motivate each of you to push yourselves further than you think possible. I will continue to support you in new endeavors in your educational careers. I will not rest and be complacent with anyone that complains or makes excuses. I will praise the problem solvers and innovative thinkers. I will rally together the team builders and thinkers among you.

This will be an AMAZING 2019-2020!! I can confidently say that because WE create our destiny. As the FSUSD Family WE WILL make 2019-2020 one the best school years!

Take a minute and smile right now. It will make you feel better and will brighten the moment of anyone that catches a glimpse of you. 

As you welcome your staff back to work next week, think about the message you are sending them when you first see one another. How about starting a positive chain reaction? For those of you that were not able to make it to Great Beginnings on Friday, let me explain how we welcomed the new teachers to FSUSD. All district and site admin lined the front breezeway and created a cheering line. As each employee walked through the doors they were greeted with cheers, claps, and high fives. They walked down the line and were showered with appreciation.  The smiles were bright and some people were unsure of what to do or how to react. They were not expecting a welcome of this kind. The board room filled quickly with the hundreds of new teachers. What had the enthusiastic welcome done? It had created an environment where people felt wanted, appreciated, and yes, loved. That feeling propelled the individuals to be more in the moment and let down their guard. It set the stage for a very productive day. What if we did this with our students and staff?

Take a moment to think about a positive chain reaction. Engaging in one positive action for another can cause a ripple effect. What if all of our #FSUSD students and staff were greeted on Monday to cheers of appreciation that they were on campus? What if we showered them with HOPE and LOVE? What if we focused on the HEART before the HEAD every day with ALL of our students and staff?

One of our goals: To graduate every FSUSD senior and to ensure that they leave FSUSD college and career ready!!! The steps to get our students to this end goal do not have to look like a cookie cutter educational experience. If something isn't working, let's not keep doing it that way and instead find an alternative that DOES work. If something IS working, let's continue to move in that direction. We need to continue to share good ideas. We need to continue to collaborate. We need to continue to be risk takers with the students' success as our guiding force. What excites and inspires you? Find that inspiration and led it DRIVE you!!!

Every day we are in front of our students is an opportunity to create change, empower thought, develop skills, and assist in their progress towards becoming the most successful people they can be. Imagine yourself looking down upon a classroom, envision the teacher as a masterful artist embarking on his/her new day of creation. See the children as works of art, canvases that have been touched by many artists before and are now ready to receive a new layer of influence. Each child is a unique creation that together we are helping to mold and foster.

It is our obligation to teach each and every child. It is our obligation that we do everything we can each and every day to TEACH every student and do everything we can to ENSURE every student is LEARNING and GROWING!!

I am asking that every educator look at EVERY student as a work of art. I am asking that every educator take time with EVERY one of their students to help each of them realize their full POTENTIAL. I am asking that every educator continues to teach from the HEART and recognize that we are OBLIGATED to ensure that ALL students LEARN. I am asking that every educator takes time to reflect on his/her mission and work and find the PASSION that made them decide to become an educator. I am asking that every educator harnesses that PASSION and ENERGY to do everything possible to support each INDIVIDUAL student and NEVER GIVE UP.  We CAN change the cycle. We MUST change the cycle. We must PLAN and EXECUTE. 

Allow yesterday to guide us to do better tomorrow. Allow the mistakes of yesterday to become lessons learned that are our building blocks and foundation for tomorrow. The future is created by each of our decisions and actions today. We design our future by taking charge of the present. We are in this together and are stronger together. I ask that if you are with me on this, take time to commit in writing, share with others, chart your course and let's make it an UNBELIEVABLE 2019-2020 school year. 

We must graduate every FSUSD student and ensure that they leave FSUSD college and career ready!  Inspire, Engage, Excite, Lead, Foster, Create, Empower!!

Continue to be innovative, creative, and a model of excellence!!

Mentors That Have Made a Lasting Impact

On Twitter a week ago Daniel Mikkola posted a tweet that really struck me.  He said and I quote, "Being a mentor doesn't mean to be a guru.  It means making a connection with someone. Being authentic, being an encourager, and being consistent is what our mentees need. Thank you @sdteaching for your powerful keynote."

It is with great pleasure that I introduce my first guest blogger to the Director's Cut, Mr. Daniel Mikkola. He is a national board certified high school math teacher, photographer, and CTE teacher currently at Sem Yeto High School!!

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Thank you Kristen Witt for the introduction and for allowing me to guest blog with you.

What makes a mentor? In the words of Oprah Winfrey,  “A mentor is someone who allows you
to see the hope inside yourself.” Last weekend, I had the opportunity to attend an EdTech
Summit and keynote speaker, Eric Cross, spoke on mentorship. He described growing up
without a father and credits the teachers that mentored him for his success. He detailed the
qualities of these Teacher-Mentors: they were authentic, they encouraged him, and they were
consistent. A mentor doesn’t have to be a guru or even an expert. During his keynote, I was
reminded of my own Teacher-Mentors that I credit for my success.

I had the privilege of having both parents while growing up. That is, until high school when we
went through an ugly, drawn-out separation and then a divorce lasting from my Freshman to my
Junior year. Both of my parents are high school graduates who took a class at a community
college but lacked the motivation to finish. They never really talked to me about what
possibilities to explore after high school. My dad provided for us while they were married and
then provided for me after the divorce. He drove the 18-wheelers delivering groceries and he
knew that he wanted better for me, but didn't know how to advise me. Those conversations
came from teachers and projects that I took part in at Armijo High School. I was an AFJROTC
student and college was addressed there; we compared what it would look like going in the
military as enlisted or as a commissioned officer, thank you Major Kardach and Chief McGray. I
remember in my computer class with Mr. Kiesling, we did a project of where we would be in 10
years and how/what we would have to do to get there. In English 9 with Ms. Lyerla, we talked
about what we will be doing 5 years after high school. There was also a College/career class
taught by Mr. Walcott, offered through the business department that I took my 10th-grade year
where we looked at some possible opportunities for life after high school. I remember Mr.
Aronsen, in Chemistry as a Junior, talked about having more opportunities after going to college
than if we took a job straight out of high school. These teachers “mentored” me and provoked
me to imagine my future and what it would look like after high school.

At the time I started high school my grades were great - I had a 3.83 with a B in PE; I had
missed out on a few dress out days. Going through the trying times at home and the long drawn
divorce, my grades plummeted to just below a 2.5. I had another mentor, Steve Allmer, who
spoke words of wisdom to me when I needed it. He was a youth leader at our church and knew
my family situation. His words still stick to me to this day and I pass that along with my students.
He said, “I know what you are going through. And it sucks. But you need to keep your grades
up, because this problem is temporary but your grades will stick with you.” I tell my students the
same thing and share my experience with them - to help them focus or shift their focus.

You might be thinking, “What are some ways that I can help mentor someone?” Here are a few
suggestions: With your students you can ask them what they think they will be doing after high
school? You can talk about some colleges that might offer something that they may be
interested in. You can also help them develop a resume that helps give them a more
competitive edge than someone else that may be applying for that job. Having talks about
budgeting or other things that you have encountered in life that they may have not had the
chance to encounter yet.

Peer-to-peer mentorship is important too. You can help a teacher with district tech apps like
Aeries, Illuminate, etc. You can help them with classroom management strategies or lesson
planning.

What are the benefits of being a mentor or a mentee? According to Aston University:

Benefits of being a Mentee

• Gain practical advice, encouragement and support
• Learn from the experiences of others
• Increase your social and academic confidence
• Become more empowered to make decisions
• Develop your communication, study and personal skills
• Develop strategies for dealing with both personal and academic issues
• Identify goals and establish a sense of direction
• Gain valuable insight into the next stage of your career
• Make new friends 

Benefits of being a Mentor

• Improve communication and personal skills
• Develop leadership and management qualities
• Reinforce your own study skills and knowledge of your subject(s)
• Increase your confidence and motivation
• Engage in a volunteering opportunity, valued by employers
• Increase your circle of friends
• Gain recognition for your skills and experience
• Benefit from a sense of fulfillment and personal growth

With all of these benefits to mentorship it should come as no surprise the impact it has on our
students and each other.

I challenge you:

Teachers: Find another teacher who wants knowledge and wisdom that you have and share it
with them. Encourage your students to look to the future; guide their imaginings with your lived
experience and wisdom.

Administrators: Foster teacher leaders on your campus. Encourage teachers to step up and take
the lead. Embolden them to take on projects, speak their minds, share their practices, and lead
committees. Connect and build mentoring relationships with Tier 2 and 3 students on your
campus; don’t forget that your mentorship can make huge impacts on students’ lives.

“Mentoring brings us together - across generation, class, and often race - in a manner
that forces us to acknowledge our interdependence, to appreciate, in Martin Luther King,
Jr.'s words, that 'we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single
garment of destiny.' In this way, mentoring enables us to participate in the essential but
unfinished drama of reinventing community, while reaffirming that there is an important
role for each of us in it.”     -Marc Freedman

What Made You Smile Today????

We often go through our days... taking care of important business, solving problems, planning for the next day, all without taking pause to reflect on something very important. What made you smile? Most importantly, what gave you joy?

I have not written a blog post for almost exactly a full year. I could list a variety of reasons or excuses as to why, but at the heart of it, I wasn't tapped into focusing on those things in my life and in my work that give me joy. I guess one could also say that I wasn't tuned into those things that give me "inspiration."

I am happy to say that an inner joy has risen to the surface again!! It is a light that I need to foster. I accept that there is an ebb and flow in life and at times it takes more effort to find the positives but it is truly during those times that it is more important than ever to keep focused on our true mission. I encourage you to give me a gentle reminder to stay the course if you see me wavering or slipping.

What Made Me Smile Today???

• An email from one of the most caring, inspirational, encouraging, dedicated teachers I have ever known, the one and only, Chris Romo at Fairfield High!! Honestly, it was his email that gave me the boost I needed to once again blog my thoughts. Thank you, Romo. 
• Meeting a 17 year old young lady who left high school for her first semester of her senior year. But, she came in today and she and her aunt are committed to re-enrolling her in school tomorrow morning. She isn't going to slip through the cracks!
• Participating in a facilities meeting and hearing about some of the amazing plans that are in the works for our high schools. These proposed improvements will provide our students with improved facilities that will make them proud to say they were made in FSUSD!
• Spending an hour in the evening with many other members of FSUSD as we focused on our wellness and practiced yoga together. #namaste
• Re-watching the videos of the students that participated last Thursday's Special Olympics Basketball event. The event defines PURE JOY!!
• Coming home to my two beautiful daughters, and without a doubt the man that is the rock of my life, my husband. Tonight we all laughed, blasted music, and danced. It was then after a few hugs that I was ready to sit and write this blog.  

What Made You Smile Today? 

The Time is Now....

Each day I contemplate on how well we are doing with our students. I reflect on what is working well and where we need to make adjustments. Thoughts, images, and ideas have been swirling around and this morning I have found a quiet time to process and write them down. As we all know, once you commit your thoughts and ideas to paper you are one step closer to making them happen.

An image struck me this morning, it is the Japanese "enso." Zen circles, or enso, are symbols of teaching, reality, enlightenment and a myriad of things in between. A symbol that seems so simple yet encompasses so many intricacies. Some artists practice drawing an enso daily. I see each person somewhat like an "enso," seemingly simple yet so intricate in detail. 

Every day we are in front of our students is an opportunity to create change, empower thought, develop skills, and assist in their progress towards becoming the most successful people they can be. Imagine yourself looking down upon a classroom, envision the teacher as a masterful artist embarking on his/her new day of creation, see the children as works of art, canvases that have been touched by many artists before and are now ready to receive a new layer of influence. Each child is a unique creation that together we are helping to mold and foster. 

It is our obligation to teach each and every child. It is our obligation that we do everything we can each and every day to TEACH every student and do everything we can to ENSURE every student is LEARNING and GROWING!! 

Something that has been weighing on me is the grading process where we assign students with an "F," a permanent mark of FAILURE. Why, if we are charged with educating would we ever think it is appropriate to provide a mark of "FAILURE" to one of our students? One of our own works of art!! It is our obligation to educate, so we cannot ever give up. Think of it this way, if you are running, trip and break a bone, you go to the doctor. You go to the doctor and receive a cast to help fuse the bones back in place and heal. The doctor does not merely tell you to run better next time and don't fall. The doctor would provide you with guidance on how to run to help prevent a future injury, but he/she would also provide the cast so you can heal. 

I am asking that every educator look at EVERY student as a work of art. I am asking that every educator take time with EVERY one of their students to help each of them realize their full POTENTIAL. I am asking that every educator continues to teach from the HEART and recognizes that we are OBLIGATED to ensure that ALL students LEARN. I am asking that every educator takes time to reflect on his/her mission and work and find the PASSION that made them decide to become an educator. I am asking that every educator harnesses that PASSION and ENERGY to do everything possible to support each INDIVIDUAL student and NEVER GIVE UP.  We CAN change the cycle. We MUST change the cycle. We must PLAN and EXECUTE. 

Allow yesterday to guide us to do better tomorrow. Allow the mistakes of yesterday to become lessons learned that are our building blocks and foundation for tomorrow. The future is created by each of our decisions and actions today. We design our future by taking charge of the present. We are in this together and are stronger together. I ask that if you are with me on this, take time to commit in writing, share with others, chart your course and let's make it a very bright future. 

#Life is such a #beautiful #gift

It is day two of the new year and I feel compelled to write a few words. I have not written a post since June of 2017. Today, while out on a jog I was filled with such positive energy I knew I needed to capture some of it in "ink."

Many of my colleagues and Twitter family have taken to the #oneword resolution for the new year. I have been quiet on posting my #oneword as I have so many words that I feel speak to my current #resolve and #commitment right now. These last few days of vacation I have really been able to reconnect with my sense of #purpose #spirituality and #joy for the life that is around me and in me.

Every life is a beautiful gift that should be #appreciated, #cherished, #polished, #supported, #honed, and #protected. I am committed to putting out as much #positive energy in every encounter I make today, tomorrow, and each and every opportunity I am provided in the future. Channeling the positive energy is what needs to take place in order to suppress any negative energy that exists in our world. Negative energy only sucks out life and I want to help to #grow, #support, and #blossom all the life that surrounds me.

 So.... my #oneword is #positivity.

#Life is a #beautiful #gift

Closing One Chapter and Beginning the Next....

It is so unbelievable that tomorrow we embark on our last week of the 2016-2017 school year. We have all learned a lot this year, both students and staff alike. We will never stop learning and growing. The post below was shared with me and I thought it a poignant way to end the school year. 

I wish everyone a relaxing summer. A summer that provides you an opportunity to reflect on what went well this year and where you can capitalize on growth for the new school year. We have established quite a TEAM and we will only get stronger with time. 

Trees Shedding Their Bark

BY MADISYN TAYLOR Like a tree our growth depends upon our ability to soften, loosen, and shed boundaries and defenses we no longer need. Trees grow up through their branches and down through their roots into the earth. They also grow wider with each passing year. As they do, they shed the bark that served to protect them but now is no longer big enough to contain them. In the same way, we create boundaries and develop defenses to protect ourselves and then, at a certain point, we outgrow them. If we don't allow ourselves to shed our protective layer, we can't expand to our full potential. Trees need their protective bark to enable the delicate process of growth and renewal to unfold without threat. Likewise, we need our boundaries and defenses so that the more vulnerable parts of ourselves can safely heal and unfold. But our growth also depends upon our ability to soften, loosen, and shed boundaries and defenses we no longer need. It is often the case in life that structures we put in place to help us grow eventually become constricting. Unlike a tree, we must consciously decide when it's time to shed our bark and expand our boundaries, so we can move into our next ring of growth. Many spiritual teachers have suggested that our egos don't disappear so much as they become large enough to hold more than just our small sense of self--the boundary of self widens to contain people and beings other than just "me." Each time we shed a layer of defensiveness or ease up on a boundary that we no longer need, we metaphorically become bigger people. With this in mind, it is important that we take time to question our boundaries and defenses. While it is essential to set and honor the protective barriers we have put in place, it is equally important that we soften and release them when the time comes. In doing so, we create the space for our next phase of growth. Continue to be innovative, creative, and a model of excellence!!

Thank You.....

Thank You.....

Thank you to all of the educators that #create #engaging lessons that are #relevant and #meaningful for students.

Thank you to all of the educators that take #risks to make school a #better place for students.

Thank you to all of the educators that #challenge their colleagues to #reach new heights.

Thank you to all of the educators that #build #relationships with students.

Thank you to all of the educators that take #time to give #real #feedback to students.

Thank you to all of the educators that are using #technology to #enhance and #redefine their lessons.

Thank you to all of the educators that #believe in ALL of their students.

Thank you to all of the educators that are #passionate about teaching and #teachlikeapirate.

Thank you to all of the educators that #listen to #student voices and #lead from what they have #learned.

Thank you to all of the educators that #share and open up their classrooms for other educators to observe.

Thank you to all of the educators that are #reflective and willing to make needed changes because #kidsdeserveit.

Thank you to all of the educators that still remember their #why. 

Thank you to all of the educators that #encourage me each day to become a better person.

Thank you to all of the educators that make learning #fun.

Thank you to all of the educators that make students #laugh.

Thank you to all of the educators that see school as a #home and the students as their #family!