PL Night for Parents

Lincoln recently hosted a Personalized Learning night for parents, and it turned out awesome!  Parents were invited to school for an ice cream sundae bar, as well as a chance experience school through their child's eyes.  
In team RISE, we wanted the learners to take the driving seat and show their parents how they learn, but since they are still so young, we came up with a neat way to guide them by giving the parents a "must do/may do" very similar to the one our learners complete each day.  As soon as a family walked in, we told the learners that their parents needed to complete the "must do/may do" and the kids' jumped right into teaching their parents all about their iPads, their PLP goals, how they use the resources in the room, etc.  It was awesome!  
One of the "must do's" we included was a form to fill out which included questions about their feelings thus far regarding PL, how they feel their child is learning, what they like, what they need more information on...and the feedback we got was overwhelmingly positive!  Here's a few comments to share:
In regards to the question: "What do you like about PL?"
~"I like that Pl teaches him to set goals to obtain success.  It also teaches him independence.  I also like the use of his successes to help other students, this creates pride in the student."
~"(He) has the chance to learn at his pace."
~"My child has the opportunity to make choices and show her learning in a way that is at her pace and based on her own interests and creativity."
~"They set their own goals!"
~"More 1 on 1 time."
~"I like that he is so excited about passing goals."
~"(He) doesn't have to sit still to learn."
~"Learning is catered to each child."
In regards to the question: "What do you like most about the multi-age classroom?"
~"She is helping other kids."
~"Opportunity to teach others."
~"Diversity"
~"How the kids learn from each other."
~"The way the kids all work together as a team."
~"I like that not a single child will be singled out due to excelled or slowed progression in the classroom."
~"My child has the ability to work with and learn from students of varying abilities regardless of their age and grade level."
~"Having 2 teachers."

We also made a video starring our very own learners to give a little insight into how the students are learning.  When we started the video process, we wanted to interview some learners who have had experience in a traditional classroom so they could compare the 2 differing experiences, but we only have 2 kiddos in our entire class of 46 who have experienced a traditional classroom!  What a unique and fun "problem" to have!  When I asked one of the kiddos to tell me about his old school, he said, "You mean WAY back in Kindergarten?"  Haha!  Yeah, WAY back then :)  So, here's what we were able to capture...welcome to a day in the eyes of Team RISE :)

What is Personalized Learning Anyway?

If you're looking for more info on PL for yourself, your colleagues, or for parents, please check out our school's January Lincoln Link which gives a terrific synapsis of PL, what it is, why we do it, how we are implementing it, and what's to come!  There's some great stuff in there :)

It's Probably Worth It

I've never been one to lie, so I won't start now...the multi-age class, personalized learning... it's all been tricky at times, tons of work, and exhausting to say the least.  There are times when you want to throw in the towel and revert back to "old ways" because it would seem simpler, and easier for you to manage.  You get tired of always needing to defend what you're doing in your classroom to friends, family members, substitute teachers, and even strangers.  Strangers who have absolutely no experience in education, but for some reason think it necessary to give you advice, but you forget that you have the expertise and suddenly start to question it yourself.  Are they right?  Should I try something else?  Is this really working?  If this happens to you, please, SLAM ON THE BRAKES!  Take a minute or two, run some data, do some self-reflection, and you will see amazing things.  This very thing happened to me very recently.  I love what I do...I love the people I get to do it with....but I felt unsure.  So I stopped, did some self-reflection, and ran some data.  O.M.G!  This data blew my mind!  Are you ready for it?  For the sake of keeping things super simple, I'm going to focus on Kindergarten.  The only real reason is because then I am comparing apples to apples since that's what I have taught the past few years.  First grade data will come later on :)  This is preliminary data, so I will be sure to share the final results as we get closer to the end of the trimester, but here's some positivity for you to draw on: 

By the end of the Kindergarten year, we aim to have all Kinders reading at least 20 sight words from the first 100 Fry Words.

2 years ago, I taught traditionally.  By the end of trimester 2 (beginning on March), 28% of my K class was reading 20 or more sight words.

Last year, I implemented Personalized Learning and by the end of trimester 2 (beginning of March), 47% of my learners were reading 20 or more sight words!  **Holy cow!  This alone is AMAZING!!

This year, I'm teaching in a co-taught, multi-age, personalized learning classroom.  As of RIGHT NOW....December 26.....62% of our Kinders are reading 20 or more sight words!  

So, that's amazing, right?  Like, holy buckets kind of amazing.  Jump up and down, screaming from the roof-tops kind of amazing!  It's small data, but it's more than enough to re-energize my co-teacher and I.  It hasn't been easy, but it's been worth it!  The learners are making huge gains, they are confident, independent, loving school, and stepping up.  What more could we hope for going into the new year?  Bring it on 2016!  Team R.I.S.E is ready! 

A Parent's View of Personalized Learning

I asked a parent of one of our first graders to share his perspective of PL.  His son was one of our students last year when we started PL and is now in the K/1 multi-age class.  Here is his father's side of the story :)

Just a little over a year ago, my wife and I met Carrie Mergen who seemed VERY enthusiastic; a good fit for a kindergarten teacher. She explained to us that they were going to try something "NEW" in kindergarten called PERSONALIZED LEARNING. She informed us that this is a whole "NEW" way of learning and that she had to forget the conventional way of teaching and fully embrace this process. She explained that Personalized Learning was a process of getting children involved in their own education, by teaching them to set "GOALS" and make a "PLP" (personal learning plan) to achieve these goals.  Once a child "MASTERS" a skill, they can then assist fellow students who may need additional help with these goals. Oh, did I mention that the kids can do all this at THEIR pace, HOWEVER & WHEREVER they see fit! I don't know about you, but the thought of a bunch of 5yr olds having that much freedom was SCARY!  It left me with a visual of unruly circus monkeys having a food fight! She did give us some assurance,though.  She told us that she'd told the principal if it's not better, I'm going back to the old way. Then asked us to trust her, and told us this COULD be really awesome.

I had no choice but to trust her and see where this would go. I had some real concerns with the unknown, mostly personal, more than with the process as a whole. Our son Landon from a young age has shown that he advanced in most areas.  Would this new Personalized Learning, with what seemed to be less structure than traditional teaching, really keep his interest in learning?  I didn't want to LOSE Landon, meaning, I didn't want him to get lost in what I perceived as a less structured learning environment.  If he did have questions or problems would he be able to get any additional help? If he was going to be helping other students learn, would he still be learning himself? How in the world do you keep 5yr olds from creating complete chaos?

Well it didn't take very long to see the answers to my questions.  Landon seemed to be well engaged in his learning process, coming home from school daily and telling us about where he was on his PLP's and what GOALS he had accomplished. When your 5yr old comes home and tells you, "I'm the count by 10's master and I helped a classmate learn how to count by 10's!" it gives you, as a parent, a great sense of pride.  Something else I noticed was that Landon was always striving to learn something NEW, which always kept him wanting more.  This also meant that Carrie also had to be on top of things to keep challenging Landon.  There never seemed to be a time when either of them were at a stalemate. Seeing that Landon was staying engaged was proof to me that personalized learning was a better process than the old "one shoe fits all" format of traditional teaching. Personalized learning also helps hold students accountable for their own actions, because the format gives them so much freedom to learn at their own pace.  There are rules in the classroom that must be followed and if the rules aren't followed there are consequences...as Landon has even found out for himself.  By allowing students to learn at their own pace, and making them accountable for their actions, it actually creates a less disruptive environment!  So much for my concerns about "less structure."  This also allows the teachers to have more 1on1 time with students, whether it's because someone needs more help, or because someone needs to be challenged.

We have even seen the process of personalized learning in Landon outside of school.  It has taught him that he needs to come up with a plan (PLP) to achieve his GOALS. Here's an example that took me a couple days to realize myself:  I come home from work and Landon was on the computer.  He was on the LEGO website and said to me, "Dad, I would really like to get this LEGO set.  I have $35, so I need another $15 to be able to get it.  What can I do to get the other $15 so that I can get this LEGO set?"  At first, I just chalked it up to Landon telling me that I needed to chip in $15 so that he could get the LEGOS.  It was only after hearing Carrie explain personalized learning to another parent, who's not familiar with the platform, did I realize that Landon wasn't asking me to just chip in the rest of the money, he was asking me to help set his plan (PLP) to obtain his GOAL!

Being from the "one size fits all" school, of course I had my concerns and doubts.  After experiencing personalized learning with Landon all through last year and into this year, I can truly say that this is an AWESOME experience. My advice to all those who have the chance to experience personalized learning is....SIT BACK AND WATCH THE SHOW BECAUSE IT IS TRULY AWESOME!!

PS...Trust me even you are going to learn something too!!

Why are we doing this??

In the words of Michael Scott of Dunder Mifflin, "I had an epiphery."  For all those that aren't avid Office fans, I'll explain that I had a bit of an epiphany this past week.  I mean, I didn't see it until I really stepped back and thought about it, and I guess it wasn't so much of an eye opening experience for me as it was for my husband.  You see, I have this amazing husband who can fix anything, knows way too much about all topics found on the Discovery Channel, and who never sits.  While I love him more than life, he just doesn't get what I do, why I do it, or why I talk about it so much.  But we had a GREAT conversation the other night.  

I came home from school BUSTING with excitement over what I had just realized, so of course I had to share my thoughts with him!  It all started early this past week when a co-worker had this great idea to read the story "I Need My Monster" by Amanda Noll.  I was video-taped reading the story, being sure to not show the pictures from the book, and uploaded it to YouTube where we pushed out the link to our kiddos and had them listen to the story on their own.  At the end of the video, I gave one direction.  Only one.  It was to go draw a picture of what they thought Gabe, the monster in the story, looked like.  That was it.  Hannah and I both raved about how awesome we thought it was that all the kids were on task, they all enjoyed the story, and they all created these great pictures of what they thought the monster looked like based on the description from the book.  I know...right now you're thinking, "Great lesson, Carrie, but where is the cool part?"  

Well, I didn't realize it until 2 days later as I was driving in the car, reflecting on the week, and it dawned on me.  Something amazing happened during that activity!  The ONLY direction I gave was to draw a picture of Gabe.  We had kiddos drawing with paper and pencils, some chose crayons, some pulled up Doodle Buddy on their iPads and made Gabe there, some used Educreations, and some even used a dry erase board to create their image of Gabe!  WHAT?!  I never told them to use any of those things.  To me, that was a great moment.  Our students are thinking for themselves and using all the materials and devices at their disposal to accomplish their tasks!  So, going back to my conversation that night with my hubs...

I asked him how he would have drawn Gabe and he says, "With paper and colored pencils.  Why?"  I then tell him how excited I am that the kids all chose different things and he goes, "So?"  And I told him to fast-forward to 25 years from now and those same kiddos are working for someone who says, "We have a problem.  How are we going to solve it?"  And those adults (who were a part of this amazing thing called Personalized Learning) are going to think outside the box to solve the problem.  They aren't going to have to rely on one way to do things because it will be second nature to them to be critical thinkers and problem-solvers.  BAM!  And he looks at me, after all this time, and says, "OHHHH, that's why you're doing this!"  Yup.  That's why I'm doing this.  Finally, he gets it.  So, if someone is asking you why you're doing this, here ya go.  Use my example.  It may seem small, but make no mistake!  These kids are gonna change the world!

CLIMATE AND CULTURE

I have recently went back to school to pursue my school counseling degree.  One of my assignments was the write a paper about a therapy that we have been reading about in our textbook.  As I read, I couldn't help but notice the similarities in the Adlerian Therapy approach and the techniques we have used when developing our personalized learning environments and the climate and culture within them.  Developing a positive climate and culture has a strong foundation based on mutual respect.  The environment can not be compliance based.  The unfortunately sad part is, many teachers see compliance as the only way.  They use fear and intimidation as their classroom management strategy and feel the need to control the students within their classroom.  It's NOT working and it's definitely NOT what's best for kids.  The environment should make children feel comfortable and safe.  Children want to feel important and know that they have something valuable to offer.  I think we all have a lot to learn from Alfred Adler and his approach to therapy.  So here's my paper:

Teachers Take An Adlerian Approach

Tiffany Redieske

Concordia University

Abstract

Alfred Adler “believed that the individual begins to form an approach to life somewhere in the first 6 years living” (Corey, 2013, pg. 95).  He was an advocate for “training both teachers and parents in effective practices that foster the child’s social interests and result in a sense of competence and self-worth.  Adler had a keen interest in applying his ideas to education, especially in finding ways to remedy faulty lifestyles of schoolchildren” (Corey, 2013, pg. 112).  Like Adlerian counselors, effective teachers “seek to make a difference in the lives of their [students]” (Corey, 2013, pg. 111) and many of the Adlerian Therapy techniques and underpinnings have been incorporated into many schools and classrooms.

Teachers Take An Adlerian Approach

Alfred Adler abandoned Freudian theories and “focused on the person’s past as perceived in the present and how an individual’s interpretation of early events continued to influence that person’s present behavior” (Corey, 2013, pg. 95).  Adler believed that “humans are motivated primarily by social relatedness rather than by sexual urges;  behavior is purposeful and goal-directed; and consciousness, more than unconsciousness, is the focus of therapy” (Corey, 2013, pg. 95)  His theories and techniques align to many character building activities and programs that are being implemented in schools and classrooms.  “He stressed choice and responsibility, meaning in life, and the striving for success, completion, and perfection” (Corey, 2013, pg. 95)

Like “Adlerians [who] put the focus on re-educating individuals and reshaping society” (Corey, 2013, pg. 96), effective educators focus on re-educating the students and reshaping the “society”, that is the school and classroom environments.  While they do this, it is important that “the focus is on understanding [the child] within their socially embedded context of family, culture, [and] school...” (Corey, 2013, pg. 97).  Teachers have a lot to learn from Adler.  “Adler was the forerunner of a subjective approach to psychology that focuses on internal determinants of behavior such as values, beliefs, attitudes, goals, interests, and the individual perception of reality” (Corey, 2013, pg. 96).  Effective teachers have the ability to see life from their student’s perspective and realize that “[a student’s] objective reality is less important than how [a student] interpret[s] [their] reality and the meanings [they] attach to what [they] experience” (Corey, 2013, pg. 96).

Climate and Culture

“Very early in life, we begin to envision what we might be like if we were successful, complete, whole, or perfect.  Applied to human motivation, a guiding self-ideal might be expressed in this way: ‘Only when I am perfect can I be secure’ or ‘Only when I am important can I be accepted’” (Corey, 2013, pg. 97)  Educators play a vital role in developing a climate and culture in their school and classroom where students feel confident, safe, important, and accepted by everyone.  In this type of environment students “seek to change [their] weaknesses into a strength” (Corey, 2013, pg. 98).  There are many approaches that can be taken and a wide variety of strategies and programs that can be used.  Adlerian therapy techniques can be a great resource when trying to develop this type of climate and culture.

Community building activities and character education are important to developing a positive and productive climate and culture.  “First [students] think, then [they] feel, and then [they] act.  Because emotions and [thoughts] serve a purpose, a good deal of [character education and community building] time is spent in discovering and understanding this purpose and in reorienting the [students] toward effective ways of being” (Corey, 2013, pg. 104).  Also, doing these activities frequently at the beginning of the school year allows relationships to form and respect to be earned early on.  “Social interest requires that [students] have enough contact with the present to make a move toward a meaningful future, that [they] are willing to give and to take, and that [they] develop [their] capacity for contributing to the welfare of others and striving for the betterment of [their classmates]” (Corey, 2013, pg. 99).  Along the way, there is a constant focus on expectations and how each person in the room will be treated and what behavior and vocabulary is acceptable.  “While Adler considered social interest to be innate, he also believed that it must be learned, developed, and used” (Corey, 2013, pg. 99).  Taking this into consideration, these teachers “place special value on...modeling of communication and acting in good faith” Corey, 2013, pg. 104.  There is great emphasis placed on being respectful, responsible, and safe and what that looks like, sounds like, and feels like. The classroom and school is beginning to become a socially safe and empathetic environment.  “Adler equated social interest with a sense of identification and empathy with others:  ‘to see with the eyes of another, to hear with the ears of another, to feel with the heart of another’” (Corey, 2013, pg. 99) 

Social interest is the central indicator of mental health.  Those with social interest tend to direct the striving toward the healthy and socially useful side of life...[Students] are primarily motivated by a desire to belong...Those who lack this community feeling become discouraged and end up on the useless side of life...Only when [they] feel united with others are [they] able to act with courage in facing and dealing with [their] problems (Corey, 2013, pg. 99).

In a classroom with an established and effective climate and culture, students begin to “act with courage” and trust their classmates enough to share their struggles, accept their failures, and to ask for help.  “Encouragement is the most powerful method available for changing a [student’s] beliefs, for it helps [them] build self-confidence and stimulates courage...Loss of courage, or discouragement, results in mistaken and dysfunctional behavior.  Discouraged people do not act in line with social interest” (Corey, 2013, pg. 101).   

Encouragement is the most distinctive Adlerian procedure, and it is central to all phases of counseling and therapy.  It is especially important as people consider change in their lives.  Encouragement literally means ‘to build courage’.  Courage develops when people become aware of their strengths, when they feel they belong and are not alone, and when they have a sense of hope and can see new possibilities for themselves and their daily living.  Encouragement entails showing faith in people, expecting them to assume responsibility for their lives, and valuing them for who they are...Adlerians believe discouragement is the basic condition that prevents people from functioning, and they see encouragement as the antidote.  As a part of the encouragement process, Adlerians use a variety of relational, cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and experiential techniques to help clients identify and challenge self defeating cognitions, generate perceptual alternatives, and make use of assets, strengths, and resources (Corey, 2013, pg. 110).

With an encouraging environment, students begin to work collaboratively and cooperatively with their classmates.  They encourage and celebrate each other’s accomplishments and successes.  All students are invested in the meaning and purpose and are contributing to their learning and the learning of others.

           In this type of environment, the student/teacher relationship looks much different than that of a traditional, compliance based environment.  Like the counselor/client relationship within Adlerian practices, the student/teacher relationship “rests on a collaborative arrangement...  [which] includes forming a relationship based on mutual respect” (Corey, 2013, pg. 101).  Teachers who nurture and encourage this type of learning environment, “do not view [students] as being [bad] and in need of being [fixed]. They favor the growth model” (Corey, 2013, pg. 101)  Similarly, “the Adlerian is interested not in curing the sick individuals or a sick society but in re-educating individuals and in reshaping society” (Corey, 2013, pg. 101)  “From the beginning of [the school year], the relationship is a collaborative one, characterized by two persons working equally toward specific, agreed-upon goals” (Corey, 2013, pg. 104).  Because of the collaborative relationship that is formed and that it has been built on a foundation of respect, these teachers don’t see themselves in the way that the word “teacher” represents within a traditional framework.  They prefer to be called “coaches” or “lead learners”.  Similarly, they like to identify their students not as “students”, but as “learners”. 

When working with students to create an environment with this type of climate and culture, it doesn’t come without some challenges.  Some students will see their teacher as the “expert” and expect that the teacher “will provide them with solutions to their problems” (Corey, 2013, pg. 117).  For these students, the role of “coach” may pose problems because these teachers don’t allow themselves to take on the role of experts that solve students’ problems.  The philosophy is that teachers are “lead learners” and the students are “learners” and in no way can that imply that the teacher is the “keeper” of all of the knowledge.  Taking on that role, would be toxic to the environment and the time spent developing the climate and culture.  The students need to know that their knowledge is valuable and that they have something powerful to offer to the group.  The students that struggle with taking on this challenge struggle with growth mindset.  In those circumstances and situations, there are activities and strategies that can be used to develop a positive growth mindset.  A way to avoid having students who may struggle with this student/teacher relationship, it is important, with all students,  to  “begin to formulate a [Personalized Learning Plan]...detailing what they want [to achieve], how they plan to [achieve] it, what is preventing them from successfully attaining their goals, how they can change nonproductive behavior into constructive behavior, and how they can make full use of their assets in achieving their purposes” (Corey, 2013, pg. 104) In other words, how they are going to show their understanding of a concept and align it to their individual learning style and interests.

In summary, these “lead learners” or “coaches” incorporate many of the same philosophies as Adlerians and develop a positive climate and culture within their classroom/school.  Similar to the Adlerian approach, they “focus on making person-to-person contact with [students] rather than [focusing on] ‘the problem’”(Corey, 2013, 105).  Their successes are attributed to guiding students to “become aware of their assets and strengths rather than dealing continually with their deficits and liabilities...A positive relationship is created by listening; responding; demonstrating respect for [students] capacity to understand purpose and seek change; and exhibiting faith, hope, and caring” (Corey, 2013, pg. 105).  Most importantly, their students are “encouraged and challenged to develop the courage to take risks and make changes in their life” and in the lives of others (Corey, 2013, pg. 110).

In The Future

The strategies and techniques explained above align with all of the personalized learning research and implementation that a team of teachers, support staff, administrator, and myself did last school year at Lincoln Elementary School in Janesville, WI.  As I read chapter five on Adlerian Therapy, I couldn’t help but find connections to personalized learning and the phases of implementation.  In phase one of implementation, there is a focus on developing climate and culture, having a student centered environment, goal setting, gradual release of control, and developing a Personalized Learning Plan, just to name a few.  I am extremely passionate about this topic and the benefits of developing this type of environment with the learners.  As a school counselor, I plan to continue this journey and implement many, if not all, of the personalized learning strategies into how I serve students in that role.  I really enjoyed reading about the Adlerian theory and applying it to something I do everyday.  So far, I think I relate most to this type of therapy and think that it supports my beliefs and values.  As I read, I also thought that if I were to personally seek out a therapist for myself or my children, it would be someone that takes an Adlerian approach.  I also feel that this style of therapy could lend itself really well to faith based counseling which I am in strong support of.

References

Corey, Gerald (2013). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Observation (2014-2015). Lincoln Elementary School. Janesville, WI: Personalized Learning.

Keepin' it Honest By Carrie

Well, we made it a month in Team R.I.S.E.!  I say that with a little bit of sarcasm, and keeping true to my honest nature, I’m going to tell you all about it, so get ready for some serious truths!    

It’s been a rough month.  To say it has been easy, simple, or even great, would be a straight up lie.  It’s been stressful.  Stressful because my wonderful, superb, excellent co-teacher and I were learning how to teach together.  It truly has been a “marriage” in which we had to learn how to function as a unified front.  When you go into teaching, you get excited about the possibility of collaborating with your colleagues, and maybe you’ll be lucky enough to “co-teach” for an hour or so each day, but for the most part, you go at it alone.  So when you have another teacher by your side, day in, day out, it’s different.  It’s incredible, don’t get me wrong!  But it’s an adjustment just the same.  

Another thing that has been causing stress, as anyone who has ever taught Kindergarten will tell you, is the behaviors.  Part of the problem may be a lack of prior experience with “school” environments.  Maybe they are an only child.  Or maybe there is a significant issue, but since they have never been in school before, there’s no “heads-up” before they start in your class.  Add behaviors to an already large class where 1st graders are begging for new goals, kinders who are adjusting to school life, and you have some pretty stressed out teachers!  

That leads me into the REAL truth.  The true reason why I feel compelled to write this blog today.  Are you ready?  I, Carrie Mergen, teacher who loves her job, who tried personalized learning last year and saw all the benefits firsthand, the advocate for PL wherever I go….wanted to quit.  I know.  I can hear you all gasping as you read this post.  And please note, that when I say “quit,” I mean take a step back and think about what I’m doing and if it’s all worth it.  Shocking, I know.  But I think that a few things have come out of that dark moment.  

First, now I get why people stop.  I understand why you would start this process, then think you can’t do it, and revert back to the old ways of teaching.  I also now have a NEED for my co-teacher.  Before, I thought it was a neat idea, but I didn’t NEED her (or so I thought), but now I know.  There is no way I could do this multi-age thing without her.  And finally, it made me think about why I started this journey in the first place.  It’s because I want to do what’s best for kids.  And what’s best for kids is not always the easy way out.  So, I sucked it up, took some deep breaths, and found the positives.  We re-evaluated where we were and what we needed to do in order to make the day-to-day better, made a plan, and did it.  We started giving our 1st graders their goals for reading.  That was the BEST thing we could have done!  We had kiddos begging us for new goals, kids working nonstop to pass their goals, and 2 kiddos already passed their goals 1 day after they made them!  If that’s not enough to make me re-evaluate why I’m ready to quit, I don’t know what would be.  

I also have some pretty wonderful people in my life who took notice of how I was feeling and took it upon themselves to cheer me up.  I got some emails, texts, and hugs from coworkers, aides, parents, and people like you who read these posts, telling me how amazing I am.  Well, thanks!  I appreciate it, but I, in no way, felt amazing.  I think I would use the word “terrible” to describe my performance as a teacher in that moment.  But it gave me some positivity to feed off of when I was lacking.  This is what we all need:  People to tell you that you are amazing.  If you are lucky enough to have these kinds of people in your life, keep them around you.  If you don’t have someone to tell you that you are amazing, I’m here to tell you, “YOU’RE AMAZING!!”  If you are going out of your comfort zone to attempt anything that is for the greater good of the people around you, you are doing incredible things.  Keep moving forward through the rough patches because that’s where great things happen.  When you’re up against the tough stuff is when you grow the most.  And I don’t know about you, but I’m not done growing!  So bring on the new week!  It’s going to be FANTASTIC!

PS-- This video is a pocket of awesomeness this week as all the kiddos were working on math goals.  Kinders teaching 1st graders, 1st graders teaching kinders, and teachers loving all the learning!  THIS is why we do what we do.