One Word -- Intentional

After a reflective drive to my hometown and back over the weekend, I decided it was time to get busy and back on track with blogging.  Summer is fading and we are embracing all things “fall” here at school – progress monitoring, FAST screening, Homecoming, fall sports, anticipation of field trips to the pumpkin patch, PBIS, new literacy resources, new friends, and a lengthy list of good work being done in our classrooms.  

When starting in my position as MStM Elementary Principal in the summer of 2015, I read a great deal of work written by Jon Gordon.  He provides direction and food for thought to leaders for the organizations in their charge.  In one particular YouTube video I watched, he challenged his audience to choose one word as a focus for the year.  I shared this challenge with the teachers on staff, and they displayed this word in their classrooms for the entire school year as a constant reminder.  My word was “Expectations.”  I knew that there would be a plethora of expectations for me as the new principal, but I also had expectations for myself.  This year, we repeated this exercise and my word – “Intentional.”  My goal is to make all of my work and our collective work as a staff as intentional and purposeful as possible.  In our first staff meeting, I encouraged teachers to always ask themselves, “Why?” when it comes to their instruction in the classroom.  If we are not able to answer with purposeful instructional practices, then we had better think about making some changes.  In all of this, I am blessed to be among a group of dedicated professionals who certainly can answer that “why” with conviction.  So, we are off to a great start!

Back to my drive and that think time…the summer provided multiple opportunities for making memories for me.  Gathering with a group of high school friends for a long weekend, multiple days on the road in southern Iowa for The Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) and the birth of my first grandchild top the list.  (Not necessarily in that order – the baby trumps it all!)  But, all three of those events have the common thread of what grounds me in my Iowa roots and the importance of friends and family.  And this brings me back to sitting at my desk after an early fall day here at school.  I have the opportunity to work with staff and community members who appreciate the value of family and taking care of one another.  They dedicate themselves to each and every student and ensure that their needs are met.  They greet students at the door every morning, ready to give it their all, knowing they will have a forever influence on the kids in their charge.  They are truly intentional and purposeful and committed to the work. 

This is what makes my heart full as we embark on another great year.  

Decoding Dyslexia

As a classroom teacher for seventeen years and throughout my continued learning as an administrator, I have had a passion for learning all I can about dyslexia.  This began when my son struggled with reading and was diagnosed with moderately severe dyslexia.  Reading was difficult and Jon, a third grader at the time, was very frustrated.

Reading is complicated.  Many areas in the brain must communicate with each other to read.  The brain must take in, store and process language information.  When all the areas work together, a person understands and remembers what is read.  Dyslexia is when some areas in the brain are not communicating properly.  Some individuals need to be taught in very specific ways to help coordinate the language functions to become a successful reader.

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin.  It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological (phonics) component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities.  Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.  (From the International Dyslexia Association)

 These are just a very few of the well-known, successful people from all walks of life who are or were dyslexic:

Albert Einstein                                  Thomas Edison                  Winston Churchill
George Patton                                  John F. Kennedy              Benjamin Franklin
Henry Ford                                         Walt Disney                        Pablo Picasso
Keanu Reeves                                   Tom Cruise                         Will Smith
Whoopi Goldberg                            Babe Ruth                           Magic Johnson

 (The Reading Center | 847 5th Street N.W. | Rochester, MN 55901 | 507-288-5271)

On April 9, 2014, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad signed Senate File 2319 into law, thus creating the state’s first dyslexia law.  The new law officially defines the word “dyslexia” in the Iowa education code, and directs the Iowa Department of Education and the Iowa Reading Research Center to provide training on dyslexia to Iowa’s teachers.  This is great news for all of us – teachers, students and parents alike.  There has been a much greater awareness on the move in Iowa and throughout the nation.  I look forward to continued learning and professional development for our district staff as we strive to meet the needs of each and every learner.