Kindness . . .

One of the newsletters that I follow is Simple Truths, a source of motivational and inspirational gifts.  The newsletters always contain something from Mac Anderson the founder that are inspirational and sometimes thought provoking for me.  In this one he shares a video focused on the formula for bringing joy into your life summed up in one word; kindness.  The video consists of short sayings on kindness embedded in beautiful pictures and is worth the three minutes.  They made me reflect on who I am, how I live my personal and professional life, and what I can do to be more kind.  Below are two examples from the video.

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”  Leo Buscaglia

“To the world you may be just one person . . . but to one person you might just be the world.”  Mark twain

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Two big questions . . .

After one week and the first official enrollment count there are two big questions that concern me and that have the potential to have a significant impact on our school system.

Given the projected shortfall in revenue, how will the Governor and legislators balance the budget?
How do we change the mental model held by many in our community that we don't need to increase our capacity to house students?

On the budget issue, this Seattle Times article is a concern because if what Senator Zarelli is proposing were to take place we would not know until after the first of the new year what to expect in budget cuts.  Instead of a special session he is suggesting that a bipartisan panel be formed to identify potential cuts for the full legislature to consider in January.  Unfortunately, not all legislators agree so if nothing can be worked out the Governor may have to implement across the board cuts of up to 10%.  That could mean up to $700,000 for us and I would not want to wait until the new year to know this. 

To make the budget issue worse, our first enrollment count was below projected enrollment and at this time is below the first count for last year.  This means that we will not have additional enrollment revenue to make up for some of the expected budget cuts.  If implemented this would be the second year in a row that we will have experienced a revenue reduction after passing a budget and starting the school year.

The second big question has even bigger consequences for the future of our school system.  Our schools are full and we need additional housing capacity.  We have increased capacity by placing 73 portables on our campuses without increasing infrastructure in any of the buildings.  These portables, using space for classrooms that were not designed for this use, and changing attendance areas has resulted in a mental model for many in our community that don't worry we can make it work.  Well, that may be possible for the short term, but we can no longer add portables and have few spaces left for regular classrooms.  Either we add capacity or we change who we are.  How do we increase capacity before significant changes must be made to our program?  Potential options will come from our citizen's committee studying the issue, but changing the mental model and passing a bond measure will be more difficult.

These questions hover over everything that we do, but are out of sight for most people in our community and for many in our school system.  They drain energy from the system and cause anxiety.  We must find ways to make them visible and understood so that answers can be found that result in stability and focus on what we must do to prepare all young people for success in post high school learning and work.

On the lighter side . . .

If you are a doodler like me, you may find this post on Mind/Shift interesting.  The author shares a research study that suggests that learning is enhanced in science when students draw a scientific concept.  Doodling helps!

The research suggests that when students draw a scientific concept, such as a sound wave, they understand it better. But just as important as their understanding, perhaps, drawing helps them feel more engaged and excited about learning.

I don't know if it helps adult learning outside of science, but I believe that doodling assists me in staying engaged.  It went from doodling to games on my phone.  The games create a negative mental model for others in the room, so I made a commitment to the ELT to discontinue that practice.  Now, when I have paper I doodle.  I think I'll start paying closer attention to the doodles to see of they are in any way connected to the conversations.

Smooth start . . .

It was a good opening to the school year.  When asked, all principals said things went well except for a couple of issues.  I received no parent complaints about busses being late or not showing up, so Bruce as the new Transportation Supervisor was spared a phone call from me.  I’ll need to find another reason to question him about his new role.

One of the important considerations for the first week is enrollment because the majority of our general fund budget is based upon the number of students that enroll.  Yesterday, not counting the high school and kindergarten, we were about 70 below projection.  Today, counting the high school, that same number is about 20 above projection.  Typically, we would like that number to be between 75 and 100 above projection because it normally decreases over the course of a school year. 

Even with our housing issues, I would like to see that number well above projection this year because of the potential for additional budget cuts as early as this month.  We know the September revenue projections will be below those that the state used to finalize their budget and the Governor has already warned state agencies to prepare for further cuts.  A cushion in the budgeted enrollment would assist us in working through these expected additional cuts.  To balance our district budget for the year without major program changes required us to use some of our fund balance, something that we will not be able to continue over time.  We now wait to see what the cuts will be and determine at that time if any enrollment increases might offset some of those cuts.

I’m looking forward in the next week to my first opportunity to get into classrooms with principals and to the conversations that follow as we implement our Classroom 10 goal and the support structures necessary to achieve it.  Though budget and housing are two very important issues facing our school system, the work in classrooms is still the number one priority as we have another opportunity to support all students through quality learning, every day, in every classroom, for every child.

A big thanks . . .

I want to thank all of the custodial and maintenance staff for their effort and commitment over the summer to get our buildings ready for tomorrow's opening.  Like many things in our district, we are not overstaffed in this department.  These men and women deserve a thank you from all of us for preparing and maintaining these learning environments.

Here is a link to Living In A Custodial World, a blog authored by the high school head custodian Rick Bergum.  In this post he shares last minute work that the crew was able to complete for tomorrow.

Once again, THANK YOU to the Custodial and Maintenance staff!

On yesterday's post  the link to the free ebook didn't attach.  Sorry, here it is.

Free tools for teachers . . .

At Free Technology for Teachers, Richard Byrnes shares links to sites that support teachers use of technology. In this post he shares a link to a free ebook, The Super Book of Web Tools for Teachers. This can be a valuable source of ideas for those comfortable with web 2.0 tools and a support for those wanting to try new things,

I recommend that you add his blog to your RSS feed.

My blog in a word cloud . . .

I tried a new site for creating word clouds called Tagul.   It was easy to sign up and and to use.  I need to spend some time playing with the options because the background of this one makes it difficult to see the words.  I like the prominence of teacher and learning since that is what we are all about.

This one took about 30 additional seconds and I think is a better visual.  If I spent more time filtering out more of the words like August that are simply dates it would be a better representation of the blog's content focus.