Skip to main content

Christmas Spirit

I find this time of year to be overwhelming. In all of my years, I've never been able to coordinate the "perfect" holiday season we see in the movies or we think we see in other families and groups. It's overwhelming for me. I overthink every present so much so that I end up waiting until the last minute to actually decide on one. I never have enough to do what I want to do for everyone and meet the grandiose ideas in my imagination.  That includes the people I work with each and every day.

I am so thankful for the kindness, humor, and compassion I see on a daily basis. Someone falls in our group, another person lifts them up.

All this week, an anonymous, kind person has gone out of her way to play "Elf on the Shelf" in my office. I marvel at the sweetness of this gesture and the planning. I take comfort in the fact that someone in my building thought me worthy enough of this fun. That feeling of being noticed and cared for is what I want to be sure I show enough to my entire faculty, staff and students.

I'm not doing enough in that area and I know it. I haven't perfected the juggle of new Principal in a new district yet.  Like many, I'm a daily work in progress -- even at my age!

So, perhaps a present to all of them can be my improved presence in their our work. I can't put a ribbon or dazzling wrapping paper on it.  It's just a promise I have to try my best to keep.




Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Team.

Thank you for all you do to make our school one of my most favorite places to be.

Comments

  1. UnknownDecember 16, 2019 at 10:29 AM

    You are reflecting Carrie Fisher's quote daily in your new district & spreading good cheer!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Google Classroom for the Principal

During August 2015, I attended a Google Camp for Administrators. One of the sessions was led by an edtech expert in my region, David Ashdown . I've followed David's work for nearly 15 years. He's always been in the front of technology use and I've stolen many a neat idea from him. He offered a session about Google Classroom and I attended thinking I needed to gather more ideas about this app for my teachers. However, in the session, David pushed our thinking in asking us to consider how we could use Google Classroom as administrators . He shared an example of setting up classrooms for different work groups and committees. I loved his idea! Almost immediately, I set up classrooms for committees in my building. This kept all of the information collected for each group (SDM, PBIS, etc.) all in one folder on the back end of Drive. I also created a classroom for my building. This is where I would post my weekly messages. Under the about tab, I also collected resources
3 comments
Read more

Mind the Gaf

Since my mid-forties, I’ve done a pretty good job of keeping up with medical appointments people “my age” are supposed to have. At my annual physical this past Fall, I was handed the usual clipboard of papers. It included the checklist of statements where I had to rate how I was feeling. This screening is known as the GAF. According to Wikipedia, "The Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) is a numeric scale used by mental health clinicians and physicians to rate subjectively the social, occupational, and psychological functioning of an individual, e.g., how well one is meeting various problems in living. Scores range from 100 (extremely high functioning) to 1 (severely impaired).” The doctor knocked on the door, entered and began reviewing the paperwork I had completed. She looked up at me and back down at the paper at least two times. She remarked what a stark difference in responses I had given compared to a year ago. She was impressed and genuinely interested in what had happe
Post a Comment
Read more

Class of 2022 - Congratulations

     Graduation is about celebrating the end of something incredible and the beginning of the even more incredible next chapter of your lives. Graduation is about the Seniors and the work it took them to get here. Different paths were taken to get here today and each path was illuminated in a different way. Some of these seniors lit their torches at MJT and continued at GES. Others came from towns near and far to have the last of their journey culminate here. Some paths led to CTE certifications in heavy equipment, culinary arts, and criminal justice. Other paths will lead to institutions of higher learning. Whatever the path and destination, there were no doubt a number of twists and turns along the way. The light that has guided the way came from many of you here today and it is our hope that as soon-to-be graduates of Granville Central School you will shine bright and share your light with each other and those you encounter on your path that may need a little light of their own.  I
4 comments
Read more