Personal Update and New Stuff at School for a New Year!

It's been a while.

That's an understatement.

And it feels like I start any blog post off with those words (or some variation) lately!

I wrapped up my first year as a principal.

I loved it.

My staff... amazing.

The kiddos... amazing.

The support from admin... amazing.

I learned a ton.

And I can't wait for next year!

In fact, this was the table on my office the last day of school... already piled high with things for next year.

So, what are we doing NEW next year?

Wow! Words

We are going to get a new Wow! Word every day on the announcements this year as a way to squeeze in some tier 2 and 3 vocabulary words.  This book is laid out excellently with words that 4, 5, 6, and 7 year olds should know.  The vocab is very rigorous and I'm excited to implement this in my building!

What else is new...

CLUBS!!!!!

I'm soooooo excited about this one.  Each staff member (teachers, aides, librarian, speech, counselor, etc...) has chosen something of interest to them and we will be doing once a month "CLUBS" where kids get to choose which club to be a part of and then attend to do something that interests them.  We have everything from baking, crafting, sports, and drama to a sensory club, geocaching club, and dance party club!  We are going to start each club off with a picture book that focuses on some sort of social skill or character building lesson.  Then, the clubs become a vehicle to grow relationships and provide students something positive that is of direct interest to them.  I can't WAIT for our first club day in September!

ANCHOR CHARTS!!!!

We will be focusing on creating and using anchor charts in all classrooms this year.  At each monthly staff meeting, each teacher will be required to bring an anchor chart that he/she has used with students in the last month to share with the staff.  Shhhh... I'm even surprising them at our first PD day with a set of these amazing Sharpies that don't bleed through the paper, sticky notes, and a large chart paper pad so we can start right away with this initiative!

I'm also reading this book, Beyond the Bake Sale, and we will be having lots of conversation and taking action to increase positive parent relations in the building.  This is a great read... I recommend it highly!

And finally... personal update!

I don't often share a ton of personal stuff here, so feel free to skim over it if you aren't interested.

If you've followed my blog for a while, you may know that several years ago I went through a divorce that was quite a shock to me.  I stayed in "our" home for a while afterwards but it was hard living in the place where I once shared a life with someone.  So, I bought a new house on my own and moved about 30-minutes away from the old house.  I loved it!!!!!!  Not only was it FREEDOM not living in that old house, but it really gave me a chance to find ME and who the "not-wife" version of me was.  It was soooo good for me!

Back up two years ago... I met a wonderful guy.  And life was good.

And it's about to get even better!

We are closing on our new house next week and I can't wait!

Here it is...

Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!

Here's to wishes for an amazing summer for all of you, bloggy friends... I'll be unpacking and getting situated, but it felt really good to write this blog post so I'm going to try and be back soon with new news from the Principal's Office!

Happy 4th!