What a Week it has Been
This poem really spoke to me. Together we have struggled to try and find some order in the chaos and newness of what the next year will be. This poem made all of this so elegantly simple. It is about our own true hearts reaching the heart and souls of our children. No matter what the model, our knowledge of technology, socially distanced safety drills, or the 800 plans we are supposed to write. It is about the heart and beauty of humanity. I hope that you too will find some solace in this poem.
Heart of A Teacher
~ Paula J. Fox
The child arrives like a mystery box…
with puzzle pieces inside
some of the pieces are broken or missing…
and others just seem to hide
But the HEART of a teacher can sort them out…
and help the child to see
the potential for greatness he has within…
a picture of what he can be
Her goal isn’t just to teach knowledge…
by filling the box with more parts
it’s putting the pieces together…
to create a work of art.
The process is painfully slow at times…
some need more help than others
each child is a work in progress…
with assorted shapes and colors
First, she creates a classroom…
where the child can feel safe in school
where he never feels threatened or afraid to try…
and kindness is always the rule
She knows that a child can achieve
much more when he feels secure inside
when he’s valued and loved… and believes in himself …
and he has a sense of pride
She models and teaches good character…
and respect for one another
how to focus on strengths… not weaknesses
and how to encourage each other
She gives the child the freedom he needs…
to make choices on his own
so he learns to become more responsible…
and is able to stand alone
He’s taught to be strong and for himself…
as his soul and spirit heal
and the puzzle that’s taking shape inside…
has a much more positive feel
The child discovers the joy that comes…
from learning something new…
and his vision grows as he begins
to see all the things he can do
A picture is formed as more pieces fit…
an image of the child within
with greater strength and confidence…
and a belief that he can win!
In the HEART of a teacher who cared
All because a hero was there…
enabling the child to become much more…
than he ever imagined…or dared
A teacher with a HEART for her children…
knows what teaching is all about
she may not have all the answers…
but on this… she has no doubt
When asked which subjects she loved to teach,
she answered this way and smiled…
“It’s not the subjects that matter…
It’s all about teaching the CHILD.
Health Services Opening Plan
Here is the Health Services Opening Plan. Sam and I wanted to provide it to those of you that are very interested prior to Tuesday's meeting. Sam will be reviewing this material but previewing it might be helpful as well. I do not own the link and/or sharing permissions so you will have to use your BPS Email to access
Professional Development
It has been a crazy week with all of our anticipated sessions, from the central office, not being quite ready for our schedule. I appreciate how you have all stuck it out and have gone with the flow. I want to thank Sarah and all of you for an immensely powerful session on anti-racist education. I am looking forward to turning ideas into actions. Sarah has also offered to facilitate a Zoom Basics session for paraprofessionals on Wednesday, I am not sure your technology will be here but hopefully, we can make it work. This is our building schedule for next week.
I know how much this staff values learning and goes the extra mile to do their own learning. The following is a list including lists to asynchronous sessions that are applicable to your teaching practice.
- Supporting the Behavioral Health of Staff And Students/ Andria Amador
- Meeting the Needs of Students with Special Needs through Lesson Planning and Accessibility/ Kiersten Sullivan
- Getting Started with Google Classroom/Digital Learning Team
- Google Classroom Best Practices/ Digital Learning Team
- Getting Started with Zoom/ Digital Learning Team
- Google Classroom from a Student View/ Digital Learning Team
- Seesaw Basics (for Schools Opting into SeeSaw)/Annie Taylor (K0-6)
- Nearpod Basics/Jaclyn Eichenberger and Christina Carnes
Changes to Support Staff
We needed to make some changes to the teams that are supporting your grade level teams for remote learning. The expectations for co-planning and co-facilitation remain the same. Just the names have been changed. A major contributing factor to this is ESL service delivery. Paula cannot service all of the level ones and twos in the school. There are simply not enough minutes in the day. She will be focusing on K2 and first grade where the majority of students at these levels are learning. To provide consistency across support at these formative levels Kathryn and Keri will now be supporting K2 and Grade 1. Brian and Sarah will provide support for grades two and three and fill in any ESL and Special Education needs at this level. As an added bonus our newest teacher will be supported by our instructional coaches!
Kathryn & Keri supporting grades K2 & 1
Sarah & Brian supporting grades 2 & 3
Communication Opportunities
I realize that with people working remotely some days, in-person others, and the trepidation of entering into other's space it may feel difficult to drop in and ask me questions. In order to help you feel more comfortable and provide additional communication access, I will be starting the year off implementing two optional new practices.
I will hold office hours every morning from 8:30-9:00. I will have a live Zoom link where you can pop in and ask any questions, make any comments or raise any issues you want. You will receive an invite with the link in it soon. Office Hours Link
I have also created this form The Lee Academy is Buzzing for you to write me a quick note. I want to be transparent that I will not respond to anonymous items raised in this manner. I believe that it is only fair that I have the chance to address issues directly with the parties involved. It has been my experience that all too often people write things anonymously that they would never say in person. (Case in point the comment section in the Globe) That is also not who we are at the Lee Academy we are a family who directly addresses things and thrives by being a team.
Expectation
The reason this blog exists is to avoid having all of you drown in the sea of emails that I could send every week. It is also a way for me to share thoughts and expectations with you about our work together and our community. It is an expectation that every member of our Lee Academy Family read the Hive every week. There will be action items included and information that you will want to have. The Hive also nicely archives itself so that you have easy access to back copies. I felt that it was important that I explicitly state this expectation so that everyone is aware of it. It is also one way to avoid having a mandated huddle.
Honey Do List
- Budget: Final Budget Lists are due by 4:00 PM on Monday, September 14th
- Please color code your supply orders using the following code:
- Green is something you absolutely must have you can't teach without it
- Yellow is something you must have BUT can make it work without it.
- Red is something you want
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