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Outside Looking In

These last few weeks took me all over in many different roles. Some of the work was online supporting other administrators in reading the book -- Mindset by Carol Dweck (a must read if you have not!). Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to talk about our school and its implementation of PBIS at the SAANYS conference in Rochester, NY. The highlight of the night was sitting at the SAME table as Peter DeWitt, Carol Burris, and Vicki Day! It was like having a backstage pass and being granted access to some of the rockstar people I follow and admire most.

 Another part of the work was that of advocate for students with special needs. That is the work that began my career and, at times, the toughest work I do. Woven into these weeks was also a PD session with teachers from another district using ideas from the book, Explicit Instruction (by Archer and Hughes..another must read!).

 These events were all on top of my primary work of being a MS Principal/Director of Special Education in my district. As I traveled from assignment to assignment, I kept coming back to a genuine appreciation for the staff and team I have at Corinth Middle School.

 One of my twitter models, Tony Sinanis recently challenged other administrators to "take a day" to tour their own schools. As I wore each of the different hats I described above, I found myself doing just that. I've written about the pride I have for this team before but goodness is worth repeating.

 This week alone, I stood on the side and watched the following:

  • A Wall of Thanks board was created to help capture gratitude in our building. Staff and students alike could be found posting nice, kind messages to each other. 
  • A Social Studies teacher thinking outside of the box to brainstorm ways he can better support the CCLS in his classroom. 
  • Teachers signing up, one by one, for twitter in our building.  Our recent Superintendent's Conference Day even had some postings! (You can see them at #cmsnov8)

I could go on and on about the team I work with. This is just a sampling of what I get to see on a daily basis! Our work is fraught with stress and negativity at times. But, that's not the stuff that stays and matters. People (kids, staff, families, communities) matter. 





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