Thank you for all of your hard work and positive attitudes while working today. If I wasn't thankful for this team before, I sure am today! Y'all have it going on!!! I am so proud of the leadership you exude with your peers in the district. The dark days of winter can easily bring the blues. Persevere- knowing you make a difference to our kids EVERY SINGLE DAY--- rain or shine!
I have enjoyed visiting your classrooms the last few weeks. Please remember that the expectation is that a visitor should be greeted in every classroom. I am not seeing this, especially in K-2. Please go over this every day in morning meeting so your kids know what to do when an adult walks into your classroom. I know I am behind on writing up walkthroughs. I am going to catch up on that this week and I want to meet with everyone for maybe 15 minutes to go over your glows and grows to move us forward. I will send calendar invites. As you plan your lessons, make sure you are incorporating differentiation for you high kids. We have to grow them too.
Please remember to work on your Important Book page with your kiddos. Use a copy sheet of paper so they will all be the same size. Students should illustrate their page. You should as well.
We will talk more about Open House with whatever meeting we have this week.
The Strategic Planning Team is working on our 3-5 year plan. One of the sections is teacher retention. Your response question for today is: What will keep you at STEM for this time frame, and/or what has kept you at other schools for long periods of time. Please be specific. Blog by Friday, Feburary 23 by 4 p.m.
Coming up this week:
Monday: A.M - Planning at Carver --- P.M. Planning on campus
Tuesday: Regular Day
Wednesday: Regular Day
Thursday: Principal's Meeting 10:00-12 p.m.
Friday: Kona Ice - schedule will be emailed
Thank you for being awesome every day! Please let me know what I can do for you!
SK loves ROCKETS
I have only been at one campus before this one. I was at that campus for 12 years. There was, of course, the love of the children and a sense of purpose of being more than a teacher to those children who struggled at home. There were many of those babies to love. But the thing that kept me on that campus in good times and in bad, were my coworkers. I had great relationships at that school that extended beyond the school doors. I had people I could depend on, talk to and trust. (yes, I am 99.9% blue!) I am glad that I have started to create relationships with my coworkers here that are based on the same foundation! Love my KGJ family.
ReplyDeleteI was only at one other school before this for two years. What kept me teaching there the second year was my love for those students who I felt didn't receive it at home. Like Crystal said, I felt like it was my purpose to be there for them. What keeps me happy here and loving my job is the people I work with. I genuinely love every single person at this school and it makes coming to work so much more enjoyable! It really feels like a family here. I feel that there is a lot of support and encouragement and that alone helps me get through any hard time or bad day
ReplyDeleteI have been at a few different schools, only because of relocating and then to have less of a drive. My favorite place until day that I missed and didn’t want to leave was my first job, in my hometown. Of course, it was the most difficult kiddos but they loved my love. They needed it
ReplyDeletemost. My previous job, everyone had their clicks and circles and I never felt like I completely fit in. What keeps me loving STEM is those kiddos who come in at 7:15 and want to give you a hug even after a rough day the day before. Most importantly, I LOVE my STEM family!!!!! It doesn’t matter where we all came from, we are still family. On the rainiest day, my STEM family always gives me a little sunshine.
The Why…. First of all, I love what I do! I have worked in several different schools and have enjoyed every minute of my time in each school. Why… because I love seeing the light bulbs come on when students discover new concepts for the first time, when something finally clicks, or when students believe they can do the task independently and successfully. Secondly, the staff and my co-teaching partners have always been like family members. It’s the unconditional love from my teaching partners and students that keeps me coming back for more learning, teaching, and life experiences.
ReplyDeleteWhat keeps me at school is my own personal children. I'm just being honest. My babies are my top priority! That is why my
ReplyDeleteAja attends the best school in GISD and I can't wait for my little Isaac to start kinder next year!
What keeps me at a school for me is, knowing that I will be challenged and continue to grow. I want to be always moving forward!
So many things have played a role in keeping me in GISD. For reasons I may never understand, God placed me in Greenville and my family now calls it home. I stayed at Lamar for many reasons. Yes I loved the kids, but it was the support of our leader that kept me there. It was not always easy,but I always felt valued and supported. What will keep me here in GISD, I need to feel that as a school and district we are doing what is best for the students. We come in everyday and fight hard for these kids, we need research based skills for this battle and reinforcement that works, not cute or easy.
ReplyDeleteI know that every teacher here wants to see us become the STEM school we all envision. I need a district that recognizes that we are different and supports us in moving forward instead of trying to conform us.
Least important, but still worthy of stating, I will at some point leave because the monetary value of what I do reflects how much my district values me.
I have been at 2 other campus' before STEM and they were very very different.
ReplyDeleteMy first campus had the hardest kids, absent parents, difficult administration and low moral. I only stayed one year.
My second campus was the complete opposite. Kids were amazing, parents were more present but the administration was amazing. The moral (for most of the time I was there) was amazing. The relationships and co-workers, the value I felt, and support I received from administration was what kept me there for 6 years. Well that and a cooler full of cold DP;)
With that said, both of these campus' were part of GISD and were under a different superintendent at the time. I believe that this plays just as much a role (positive and negative) in teacher retention as anything else.
My previous campus provided an easy transition to STEM. I truly feel like we have the best parents around. Their support and encouragement has been a blessing. I also believe the family feel and support of we have for each other around here makes it easy to come to work everyday. <3
I agree with SO many of the above comments and over the years with the district my eyes have been opened more and more. Having my own personal kids have been HUGE for me as Bea stated. They come first and knowing I can be with them as much as possible has been huge for me. Lastly, feeling supported and valued by any district I work for is important to me. That has felt different from year to year but at the end of the day, I wanted to be trusted to do the job I have been trained to do and love so so much.
I think this pretty much says it all...https://www.facebook.com/OCCTA7448/videos/1515897015189779/
ReplyDeleteVickie,
DeleteOM Goodness!!! I watched this too, and the whole time the teacher was talking I was thinking... Yes! Yes! Yes!
While I do agree with a lot of the comments above... Mrs. Thomason hit the nail on the head with her spot on comment!!! I agree completely! They need to let us be different.
ReplyDeleteI came from a small town school. I was born and raised in Lone Oak and graduated from there. Then I went off to college, received my degree and came back to teach Kindergarten in Lone Oak. I have my mother, aunts and cousins all teaching down there. It is where my family is. I loved that it was home and familiar. I do not like change at all and thought that I would never leave Lone Oak. I had amazing support from my administration and always felt valued and that what I was doing mattered. I love what I do and couldn't imagine doing anything else. I was there for seven years. Family and support is what kept me there. I feel like I now have a new family and support system here at KGJ and yall have all made it so easy for me! I love working here and knowing that we are all here for the same reasons- the KIDS!
ReplyDeleteBefore moving over to KGJ this school year, I taught at Lamar for eight years. I loved it there! I loved my co-workers, students, administration, location, etc. It was where my teaching career started, and it was home to me. I was comfortable there. The moral there was amazing!
ReplyDeleteWhen this wonderful opportunity was given to me I decided to get out of my comfort zone and take it. I literally made myself sick over the decision. I knew though to grow as an educator I needed to stretch myself and get out of my comfort zone. With all the changes in the district this year, I now know God rescued me and I'm grateful!
To me the most important thing in teaching besides the students is the relationships I have with my co-workers. That is what makes or breaks you. If you have a team (or co-worker) you love, it makes coming to work SO much better! Teachers will stay at any school when they feel valued and respected as the professionals they are, when they're trusted to do the job they were trained to do- teach the kids, and when they're supported with needed resources and time.
I feel we have all of the above at KGJ.:)
^morale
ReplyDeleteLove you, Gina! What a treasure you are and a blessing to all! You inspire me every day with your wonderful outlook and warm disposition. You know how to make everyone feel welcomed and loved. That’s a rare gift!
ReplyDeleteKGJ is the third campus in my 11 years as an educator. I was blessed beyond measure to begin my new career under the tutelage and direction of Julia Robinson,my first principal. She offered advice, not condemnation. She celebrated even the most minute victories. It was never a surprise to see some happy note from her in your box. These small gestures made teachers feel valued, accepted, and appreciated. Between her and my third grade team, I was empowered to offer my best to my students. We all grew and thrived. I’m friends with that team still. Even though we’re in different cities, districts and regions, we get together several times a year to catch up and laugh about all those great times together and what’s new. We encouraged and supported each other- still do. We shared EVERYTHING! There was never a moment of jealousy or contentiousness between us. As we moved on either to promotions or different cities as our husbands moved, new faces came into my team. Not all were supportive. There was quite a bit of jealousy. The negativity became like a cancer. While I did not participate in it, just hearing and having others constantly vent wore me thin. I longed for the team and the leadership of my first few years in education. I am thrilled to once again be a part of a team that supports one another, encourages each other, solves problems together, and is inspired by others’ strengths and talents, not threatened by them. A house divided will fall. I’d say we have a strong frame at KGJ.
ReplyDeleteI love this, Sondra - and totally agree that Julia is what every principal (including myself) should strive to be!
DeleteYou are every bit the blessing that Julia was! It is obvious that you have our hearts and our backs. ❤️
DeleteFrom Karen: I think that building a foundation at a school, building relationships that lift you up, and setting up a sense of family makes all the difference in the world for keeping teachers in place at a successful school. I spent five years at Carver and some of my co-workers there are still some of my closest friends. I was very lucky to get to travel to STEM with a lot of them and for that I feel very blessed! Building new relationships with great new co-workers has been such a wonderful experience and I truly feel like we are a family at KGJ STEM Academy!
ReplyDeleteI have been in this district my whole teaching career. I started at age 22 as a 5th and 6th grade teacher and 8th grade coach. Then after three years I was promoted to high school pe teacher and coach. What has kept me here is inspring kids to be the best they can be and see students from the school district I grew up in have success and also the relationship that have been built.
ReplyDelete