Perfect attendance awards: love ‘em or shove em?!
I asked this question to a Facebook group of principals and teachers and over 160 comments later, it’s easy to see why there’s two sides when it comes to celebrating perfect attendance. On the one side, there’s a lot of attention on attendance in schools today. And rightly so. There’s plenty of research linking a child’s success in school with being present at school. I know this sounds, but it’s difficult for a child to learn at school when a child isn’t at school. If attendance is a key factor for learning, it makes sense to reward attendance. You repeat behaviors that get rewarded. Logic says if attendance is rewarded, students are more likely to attend. Our culture loves perfect attendance because of what attendance represents: consistency. Reliability. Dependability. These are of course important traits to your success and a student’s success and even as adults you and I gush over the coworker who “never misses a day of work”. And there’s truth here: much of success is showing up even when you don’t feel like it. Going to school when you don’t feel like it. Going to work when you don’t feel like it. Working out when you don’t feel like it. Studying when you don’t feel like it. The success of your life is a product of your habits and successful habits come from the things you do even when you don’t feel like it. But the other side of this debate wonders about the many attendance factors outside of a student’s control. What if a child’s parent or guardian doesn’t care about attendance? School staff who don’t like perfect attendance awards use this argument when they say these awards are more for parents then students. Is it really up to a 1st grader whether they get to school? And what if a child is sick? Should a parent send their sick kid to school, expose the rest of the class, teachers, and staff all for the sake of a year-end perfect attendance award? As one admin said with a tish of sarcasm: I don’t know, at the elementary level, I just really love it when kids get drugged with Tylenol to suppress the 100-degree fever just so they don’t lose their perfect attendance record. My wife and I have two middle schoolers and two high schoolers. In all their years of schooling, only one had a year with perfect attendance . . . and the school forgot to recognize him at the end of the year awards ceremony! So, what say you? Do you love perfect attendance awards or shove em?! Or somewhere in the middle? Let us know in the comments.
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I recently saw 81% of Americans would like to write a book! Even if the stat is high, it means you’ve likely thought about your book.
Writing a book is awesome. And it sucks. And it’s great. And it takes the soul out of you. And it’s fun. And it’s hard. Whether you’ve thought about writing a book or are beginning the process, here’s 9 things I wish I would have known before writing mine:
What would your book be about? Let us know in the comments. Give me some advice on how churches and businesses can help my school?
This message came from a teacher. Some of you have amazing partnerships with a church, business or a parent-teacher group. And some of you don’t. Every school needs a partner. Every classroom, every teacher, every person working at a school needs a partner. Someone or some group who cares enough to provide support, time and resources. Part of our work here is working on every school having partner. Maybe you have a similar question as this teacher. If you’re a teacher, school counselor, or principal wondering how to get this started, start here:
Good morning!
I'll give you a warning: the email below is a bit of a rant! What did you want to be when you grew up? Perhaps you wanted to be a doctor. A nurse. An artist. A singer. A dancer. An athlete. Maybe you’re doing exactly what you wanted to be when you were little. Maybe you’re like many of us and still wondering what you want to be when you grow up. One recent night one of my children came into the bedroom a little after 10 PM. I’ll admit this knack teens have for opening up and sharing important stuff after 10 has taken me some getting used to. Why do these aha moments always happen at night?! Anyway, our child shared about wanting to be a teacher. My wife, a teacher, was thrilled. She got excited, asked good questions, and dreamt some with our child; she was ‘all in’ on this rare moment with a teen. Me? I was already my after 10:00 pm crabby self. I pretended to sleep all the while trying to stuff down a really surprising thought: no, child, don’t do that. It shocked me too. There’s not many who respect the teaching profession more than me:
But the teaching profession has changed- and in many ways- not for the better. The job of a teacher is so much more complex and demanding then the days when I walked “uphills both ways”:
I will be incredibly proud should any of my children choose to join the proud legacy of people who are teachers. I will be incredibly proud should this child choose to impact children’s lives as so many in my family have and so many of my friends. I just wish we greater respected the teaching profession for what it can do, not disrespected for what it can’t. Until then, you and I have work to do to see that every school- every teacher- has a partner in teaching children on their path to becoming whoever they want to be when they grow up. For those who teach, for those who work in schools, and for those who partner with 'em, thank you for all you do. B Give me some advice on how churches and businesses can help my school?
This message came from a teacher. Some of you have amazing partnerships with a church, business or a parent-teacher group. And some of you don’t. Every school needs a partner. Every classroom, every teacher, every person working at a school needs a partner. Someone or some group who cares enough to provide support, time and resources. Part of our work here is working on every school having partner. Maybe you have a similar question as this teacher. If you’re a teacher, school counselor, or principal wondering how to get this started, start here:
I am a bit obsessed with other people’s morning routines! Seriously. I’ve read and bought books like what the most successful people get done before breakfast and the miracle morning and chances are if there’s a book coming out about how to do mornings better, I am buying it!
Maybe, just maybe you’re obsessed with morning like me. Or, maybe you’re a night owl and all this talk about morning routines really bothers you but you also know there’s something to patterns and routines regardless of when they happen. I want to take you quickly through my morning routine. Not to give you more stuff to do. Not to make you feel guilty for hitting the snooze button. But to show you some things that have worked for me in the morning and maybe one or more of them will work for you. There’s 4 things- well 5, if you count coffee- I do just about every morning:
That’s it! Share something from your routine that’s worked well for youin the comments and make your next morning your best morning. Q: Why did you get into teaching?
I have always wanted to teach. Educators run deep in my family. My mother was a teacher, (substitute taught for over 50 years) my husband teaches in the Sioux Falls School District, my brother and sister-in-law are both retired teachers too. I am so grateful for my parents and their love and support of education. I knew from a young age that I wanted to teach. Growing up, I loved to babysit, when I was in the 6 th grade I secretly rode my bike down to the Shopper’s News office and put an ad in to tell people to call me for babysitting jobs and my parents did not know. So, when strangers were calling me, my parents got a bit suspicious! For four summers I lifeguarded and taught swimming lessons at a public pool here in Sioux Falls. I was so blessed growing up with parents that helped me believe that an education was the most important thing I could ever have. Q: How has your year been going? I am having an amazing year with my second graders. They are smart, kind and love to learn. My second-grade team of teachers is fantastic too! John Harris is just an amazing place to be with such dedicated, helpful, and a very genuine staff. The administration at John Harris is incredible and so very supportive, encouraging, and they rock! The parents of the students I have had in the three short years I have been at JH are amazing too and they are always willing to help in any way. This is my 31 st year of teaching and I can’t even begin to tell you the admirable, awe-inspiring, and sensational people that I have been so blessed to work with over the years! In Sioux Falls I have been at four buildings and each one has left such immense and impactful imprints on my heart. The lifelong friendships are so precious to me, I consider myself so fortunate! Q: How can a church/group/business support you, your class, and your school? Teaching now days is a very hard gig and the statistics are sure against children in South Dakota. There are 46,000 children receiving food assistance, 1,400 children in foster care, 4,200 children are being raised by grandparents, almost 12% of our South Dakota population is food insecure, meaning they do not have enough to eat, and children are going to bed hungry. To me, this is the saddest statistic of all. Sioux Falls is such a generous community and we have such amazing churches and businesses like Hillcrest, First Lutheran, Vern Eide, The Barrell House, Josiah’s, and so many more that partner with our schools and help support education in Sioux Falls. One of the biggest areas that the people of Sioux Falls and all of South Dakota can help, is in the voting booth. We have got to start electing officials who are education advocates and proponents. Teaching is going to continue to get more and more difficult, we need to put people in office who are 100% devoted to treating education like a priority not a liability. After all, these children will dictate the future of South Dakota, we need to educate them to the best of our abilities. Q: Anything else you'd like to add? If you can read this, thank a teacher. All of us are indebted to teachers forever. The world is a better place when this month- January- goes better for each of us and when we make intentional choices for January to go better for ourselves. This week is the first full week of the new year. If you’re like me, your resolutions, your one words, your desires for change in your life are already being tested. When you combine changes you want to make with January blehness, it’s no wonder our changes and resolutions and one words won’t make it to the end of the month.
Here's 5 ways you can make January go well for you as a person, no matter the goal or the resolution you’ve chosen or the person you’re working at becoming in this new year:
Which of these 5 could you do this week yet without making a major change or adjustment to your schedule? What would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments and let’s help each other make January less blah! Hey!
It’s your first Tuesday of the new year. You got through the first Monday of the new year and working your way through the new year’s first full week. And while you’re working the first full week of 2020, our teachers, students, and administrators will tell you January is a challenging month. You see in August and September, there’s back to school energy. Parents, churches, businesses and non-profits are all over helping schools. And we just came through the holidays where most of us have a giving spirit and are looking to spread goodwill. But January? Who gets excited for January? Who gets excited about giving and helping and partnering and serving now? Every school needs a partner and those partners are needed more during months like January. Here's 5 ways to help a school beat the January blahs:
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