Mrs. Catoe’s Chronicles

If I can say one thing about my visit to the RCA, it is that this entire school is based upon the creative vision of Ron Clark and Kim Bearden.  Every classroom is themed; the SS classroom is a Delta airplane; the science classroom is a space shuttle….Get my drift?  Moreso, the students feel an ownership of this school because it was created for them by people who want to make their dreams come true.  In Chapter 3 of The Excellent 11, Ron writes, “One of the keys to having a successful classroom and a high-performing school is to create unity.  When all the students feel ownership of their school and feel part of a place they are proud of, they are going to enjoy being there and become better students.”  Well, this concept is the same for us as educators.  We have to feel ownership of our workplace.  We must take pride in the fact that our ideas are going to be heard and that we are free to “think outside the box” so that we can be creative in our instruction.  I started laughing at the end of the chapter when Ron writes “as a parent or teacher it’s also important that we remember not to take ourselves too seriously at times.”  For those of you who know me,  this quote sums me up perfectly.  I guess that is why I love working as an educator in a school setting - I am still a kid at heart!  (Having a four year old will also do this to you, too!) 

As a sidenote, we just returned from a wonderfully professional conference of school administrators at the beach.  I had the special opportunity to present with Jennifer Ard (Kindergarten team leader) and Vickie Norton (Intervention Specialist) about our Kindergarten regrouping this year.  Our flexible grouping worked for a group of 23 Kindergartners and we look forward to using this experience to springboard to other grade levels.  This type of creativity and flexibility is exactly what Ron Clark alludes.  I thank them for their leadership and assistance with sharing a success story from this school year!  They did a super job presenting!  I also had the opportunity to facilitate the presentation led by Camden High School’s leadership team - It was wonderful to support them and to hear about their staff’s professional development this year.  Got lots of ideas….get ready!  I am taking my grade level chairs on a leadership retreat this week.  We will continue to discuss our Ron Clark reading as well as spend some time articulating about our plans to work on our math curriculum. 

Keep reading…..on to Chapter 4…..

We are getting packed up to head to the beach this morning.  Rushing around getting last minute packing and details taken care of for a week of fun in the sun is how we hopped into our Saturday morning.  I am excited about attending this year’s Summer Leadership sponsored by SCASA.  In fact, Jennifer Ard, Vickie Norton, and I are presenting on Monday morning about our Kindergarten regrouping/flexible scheduling program.  Presenting with a team of educators from your school is a highly professional experience.  Not only do you learn more about each other, but you are able to showcase a best practice about your school and student population.  I look forward to sharing more about our presentation and the feedback that we gain from others.  Also, I look forward to a week of networking with other district and state administrators and their families.  This annual conference is a great way to catch up with one another.  I can’t wait to try to meet up with Sharon Huff and her family; she and I taught together at LEHS and now she is the principal of Daniel High.  We always enjoy dinner together and share laughs watching our children “catch up” and interact.  Finally, I am very much excited about spending time with my dear husband and my two adorable sons.  Of course, we have planned dinner trips to our favorite beach restaurants (King’s Pizza and Burro Loco), gathered our sand castle building tools, packed the camera for priceless pictures, and have planned afternoon visits to Par 3 and the new Hard Rock theme park, but more importantly, I look forward to some quality time with my children.  Even more priceless is that this week is a combination Father’s Day weekend and Marcos’s birthday!  I am truly blessed! 

Keep reading Ron Clark and share your comments on Chapter 2/3.  I have my summer beach reading packed.  Also, I will send a postcard of my travels. Don’t forget to send your postcards and be working on your summer writing.  We will use these exercises when we return to school in August.  Have a great Father’s Day!

Chapter 2 of The Excellent 11 discusses the need to have creativity in your classroom. Like the opening quote by Muhammad Ali reads, “The man who has no imagination has no wings.”  Well, that about says it all for me…..who wants to be a classroom where there is no creativity…not me!  I also enjoyed and totally agree that “for all children, school should be a safe place.  It must offer structure and stability, and teachers must make sure that there is a certain amount of organization and discipline in the daily routine” (p. 53).  Yet, I loved Ron Clark’s story of how he acted like 007 rolling around a’ la James Bond to see where their mysterious visitor was!  That sounds right up my alley!  We have to keep the classroom exciting, fun, and energizing for students if we expect focus and learning!  And, you can plan for this creativity in your lessons.  One of my favorite high school memories was when Mrs. Helen Griffin asked us to reenact scenes from The Great Gatsby!  My group did this - we even traveled to Lake Murray and did a lake scene - Michael, Amy, and I enjoyed making this pre-Power Point video and adding music from Prince’s Purple Rain cassette to our scene reenactment.  Now, I know that I am showing my age, but what matters is that “I remember this activity!”  When all is said and done, and our school years are over and done with, will your students remember what you did in class?  Now, that is the key….will they remember what they learned and how they learned this material?  My bet is they will!  I know and see what happens here on a daily basis!  And, yes, your students will remember…..I know Mrs. Griffin will enjoy knowing that after all these years….I still remember and cherish all those days I spent with her!  She made a difference in my life by being creative and allowing me to truly express my creativity in her English class.  (Later, I even went on to teach English…now, I wonder where I got that from? Thanks Mrs. Griffin!)

I am up and running already.  The biggest compliment one of my teachers gave me this past weekend was that I acted like Ron Clark.  Now, I took that as a compliment, but I know that she meant that I am high energy (often mistaken for high maintenance - LOL) and enthusiastic.  But, I have so much to do today…..I am still amped from our visit to RCA! This morning,  I am taking my son to LEHS baseball camp (Thanks, Coach Stokes!) and then going to vote - We all need to exercise our civic duty today and get involved in our community and FUTURE by voting today.  Hope to see you at the polls.  As a matter of fact, DME is a voting precinct, so I will get to see some of our local community members there today.  Let’s hope that it’s a great day for us all! Go, and make a difference, my friends.

Well, it’s back to work today after spending the weekend at the Ron Clark Academy. If you have had the opportunity to read over the comments posted on my blog, you will see what a wonderful time some of my DME teachers had during this professional development site visit.  This visit was a step outside the box to a traditional school - all of the instructors demonstrated innovative instructional strategies “for reaching every child.”  Also refreshing was the conversation that we had with each other as we drove to and from Atlanta.  This time was a great chance for us to talk about this past school year as well as plan for next year.  We took two cars, so we had to make some cell phone calls to the other car on some occasions.  One of the realizations we had is that we just don’t really get to “talk” to each other often enough - during the daily rip and run at school, we see each other in passing as we accomplish our mission and tasks, but the conversations and discussions that are needed to truly articulate and enhance student learning and teaching often falls by the wayside because everyone is so incredibly busy.  We took the wonderful driving time to discuss past, present, and future.  These suggestions and feedback will serve as an impetus for me this week as I head back to work and continue reading Chapter 2 of The Excellent 11. 

Well, we are slide certified!  The visit to the RCA yesterday was truly an adventure!  We spent the entire day there visiting teachers’ classrooms and touring the facility!  We participated in instructional activities; I must say that DME teachers were a hit!  Jakki’s rocket flew on top of the building!!!  We finished the day with a two hour visit to Kim Beardon’s and Ron Clark’s classes.  In Kim’s class, she was “speaking my language.”  As a former English teacher, so many of the ideas that she shared with us - I was ready to go and do with my students.  Even though I am not in the classroom as a teacher, I can still share this newfound knowledge with my teachers during our professional development activities and meetings.  Then, we concluded the day with Ron’s students.  The entire two hour observation was one of high stakes, high expectations, and all about holding children accountable for their learning!  If a student didn’t know the answer, then Ron “stayed with that student” - holding his focus and instructional targeting on him/her until there was a “lightbulb moment.”  Sometimes this “wait time” was lengthy; in fact, probably more than I would have allowed, but he waited and waited and waited….which held that student needing help in check and on point for his/her learning.  This practice also held the other students in focus because they KNEW they were accountable and had better know the answer when he called upon them.  All during his lesson he practiced his Essential 55 rules.  They were his mantra and were creatively instilled as non-instructional and instructional procudures in his classroom and all over the school. 

Chapter 2 of The Excellent 11 talks about adventure. In fact, Ron begins the chapter with a quote from Abraham Lincoln:  “only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”  That quote sums up what I saw in this school yesterday.  This school was built from an abandoned warehouse in the middle of Atlanta.  It is not in the most pristine section of the suburbs.  Still, like a phoenix, it rises from the ashes of a neighborhood that may not have the promise it holds if Ron Clark had not risked “going too far.”  I have truly enjoyed the comraderie that I have felt this weekend with our team leaders.  (It was also an awesome experience to be among fellow KCSD educators and enjoy some time with our colleagues from other schools - elementary, middle, and high school!) Their dialogue and articulation of ideas has been uplifting and enlightening.  We have made plans for next year, discussed programmatic changes, discussed the related arts schedule, and socialized.  Over dinner each night, we have not had to eat hurriedly, open any ketchup packs or milk cartons, or hold a detention table.  Still, every bit of our discussion has been about the students at Doby’s Mill Elementary. 

Keep reading Chapter 2….I am almost finished.  I will share more about the adventure of becoming slide certified later and the prom last night.  Ron even asked me to dance at the prom!!!  Now, that was truly an adventure!

The excitement abounds here in Atlanta at The Ron Clark Academy.  We arrived today, and Ron Clark greeted us tonight as we viewed The Ron Clark Movie.  As he spoke to a crowd of educators and businessmen and women, his message was one of family, unity, teamwork, and passion.  As the evening closed, he opened the floor for questions from the group.  He recalled his past teaching experiences; shared vignettes of former students and their success stories; and then left us all in suspense for today’s visit to the Academy. 

 

I finished reading Chapter 1 Friday.  The message in this initial chapter is about having enthusiasm in all that you do!  No matter what your profession, he urges us all to be enthusiastic about each and every day and the promise that it provides.  With this chapter in mind, I was able to recall teachers who shared their enthusiasm with me as I grew through school.  Coach Long, Ms. Harrison, and Mrs. Griffin are just a few of those people from Mid-Carolina High School who fostered the excitement that I had to become an educator.  I hope that as I go through each and every day that I can foster for others (teachers, students, and parents) this same excitement!  Who are some of the memorable teachers who got you enthused about learning? 

I am sure that we will be “enthused” today as we visit the Academy.  I will share this experience with you.

I am like a kid in a candy store!  I will be traveling to Atlanta this weekend with my team leaders to visit the Ron Clark Academy.  We are so excited to participate in this professional development activity!  In February, Mr. Clark visited our school district and spoke to us about “getting energized” for the home stretch….His enthusiasm and spirit certainly motivated me!  I then discovered that he hosts educators each year in the summer for a summer institute.  So, I registered along with my team leaders for next year to attend this weekend leadership retreat.  I will keep you posted as to what we learn!  I also can’t wait to become “slide certified” as each visitor is required to slide down the two story slide following their visit! 

As a sidenote, I distributed copies of The Excellent 11 to my faculty and staff at our end of the year faculty celebration last Saturday.  This professional book study will be the impetus for our character education program for next year.  If you will, please join us this summer as we read and blog our reflections to this book.  As a matter of fact, Chapter 1 (Enthusiasm) is due next week.  What gets YOU excited about education?  I can’t wait to read your responses!

Friday was an excellent day at DME!  We had a wonderful day at school and then topped the week off with our annual Spring Carnival.  Our Carnival is special because of our “Cow Drop.”  I won’t go into the details of describing this event, but if you haven’t ever been to one, mark your calendar for next year’s event.  It will surely be an enlightening experience.  We also had inflatables, confections, games, a silent auction, a yard sale, and various vendors.  Our award-winning Chorus performed some of their songs from their Carowinds Festival.  I had the great opportunity to mingle with parents, students, and grandparents, as well as business partners and community members who came to enjoy in our festivities.  This event is yearly organized by our unbelievably supportive PTA.  This year, our president, Karen Dewey, led the fanfare, and we are appreciative for her leadership.  Past and present members of our PTA and SIC also attended to help in the organizing and planning of the event.  I cannot thank them enough for their great spirit of volunteerism.  I know that the smiles on the childrens’ faces served as ample gratification!  In addition to the aforementioned events, Mr. DeWitt, Mrs. Long, and Mrs. Michelle Clark were voted on by our students to ride the mechanical bull.  Whew….I was off the hook this year! 

One of the points of pride for our school is our outstanding PTA.  Every year, one of the culminating activities which they undertake is our Spring Carnival.  Now, this is not just an ordinary Spring Carnival…..this event is combined with a Cow Drop. Have you ever been to a Cow Drop?  Well, it is literally what it sounds like….people pay a donation to purchase a square of pasture, and if the cow “drops” in your square, you win a prize!  Tonight is the night….From 5-9 tonight, we will be busy selling hot dogs, playing games, riding a mechanical bull, and waiting on the cow.  I guarantee you that a fun time will be had by all.  But this event is more than fun; the proceeds raised from this annual event go to support some priority that the PTA has set, ie. playground equipment, technology, etc.  I can’t tell you or even begin to describe to you how hard these parents work.  Teachers will also have booths and silent auction baskets!  If you get a chance to stop by, we will be “kicking it up” from 5-9!  Thanks again to our extra-special, extra-caring, and extra-creative PTA.  Our school wouldn’t be where we are today without parents and volunteers like you to help see and realize our vision for our students.

P. S.  Also, there will be a BIG garage sale tonight - c’mon over and see if there is something that might interest you!