Last Week Before Winter Break

Good Morning Deep Creek Family,

It was really nice seeing or staff relax, laugh together and enjoy some time together.  Being an educator is difficult and it is refreshing to see that we have a staff that has "each other's backs". Often frustration and stress seeps in and having others to assist, share similar stories, or just listen is so important. I know our staff shares in comfort that you have each other for support as I always feel comfort in knowing I have the rest of the core team for support.  I hope you know and feel that our core team is here to support you as well.   It's always easy to feel and appreciate this support during the holiday season when spirits are up.   The real test is making sure we continue during the second semester of the school year.

I do not want to get into dates, events, and tests that we will be conducting when we get back from break, but I do want to make sure we come back from winter break with this same momentum.  When we feel like everything becomes overwhelming and too much remember you have co-workers and friends to rely on.  In coaching terms, you are always stronger as a group.  I always feel there that there are lessons to use from sports teams because in the course of one game there is so much adversity, constant change, adjustments, and finally success or failure.  Often the best team at the end is the one that has had to experience failure along the way.  Below are some quotes that Adrienne passed my way that I feel are appropriate:

There are powerful lessons about professional knowledge that teachers can gain from sports teams and the military, as well as from business:

•"None of us is as smart as all of us."

      (quoted in Warren Bennis, 1997, Organizing Genius)

•Continual learning and improvement drive success.

•No individual team member can succeed without the rest of the team; distributed teamwork is critical for improvement.

•We do not know what we don’t know. We do not know what we know.

      (paraphrased from U.S. Government 9/11 Commission report)

•“In times of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves beautifully equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.”

      (Eric Hoffer)

 

I want everyone to have a terrific Winter Break.  I want to come back and be prepared for the challenges that face us and have a great 2016 year.  Together we can reach our goal of Deep Creek being the best school in the county and a great place for children to come to school each day. 

Nothing Less Than Our Success!

 

Thank you for all you do,

 

James

Coincidence or Not???

Good Morning Deep Creek Family,

The week off at thanksgiving was a much needed and refreshing break. Everyone has come back ready to get our i-Ready testing done. It is exciting when you share the high points of your results. We must celebrate these things so we don't beat ourselves up over the other things. Using this data to diagnosis student needs for the remaining instructional time is key. I am thankful we will receive our results before the break so when we return we can begin immediately with the prescriptive plan you design. 

I titled this MMM after this picture someone posted on Facebook. I had never seen it before but maybe you have. I agree coincidence or not it really substantiates what we all know to be true, our attitudes mean the most. Things we emphasize, students comprehend. Things we think are important, students think they are important too. Things we care about, our student care about. We have seen this in our families with our own siblings or children and then after becoming a teacher we see the same thing happen with our students. 

It is that time of year where the district asks you to fill out a survey rating this school. I am including the link and directions below. Wyatt will do his best to make sure all students take the survey during computer lab time. The window for students and staff to complete the climate survey will open December 4th and remain open until December 18th, 2015. You can access the survey via the link that is located in the "breaking news" section of the district website or click below. 

District Survey:

https://cfapps.yourcharlotteschools.net/survey/ 

We are not required to do the surveys below. We simply would like specific data about ourselves so that we can reflect, learn, and grow as well. The two surveys below are completely anonymous. We are NOT collecting log in information.  

McElroy Survey:
http://goo.gl/forms/8uB2gh0pl1

Vernon Survey:
http://goo.gl/forms/p09ygJQ1Zv

“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. If it is heeded in time, danger may be averted; if it is suppressed, a fatal distemper may develop.”

~ Winston Churchill

Thank you in advance for your time to provide us with feedback. 
Adrienne