RAKtivists in Action

Creating a Kindness Revolution!

“Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.”

—Scott Adams (1957)

I opened my personal email quickly before I left for work Thursday morning. An email was awaiting me from my dad with the subject line 'Thankful'. 

My dad is in a nursing home and rather than resist this stage in his life, he has embraced it as an opportunity to make a difference, in whatever small way he can, to improve and nurture the lives of others - namely the staff that works there. He fondly refers to the staff as "his lovelies'. My father doesn't know what a RAKtivist is, nor the kindness revolution, but he is acutely aware of the ripple affect of kindness.

After a bit of family specific conversation, his email went on to say this:

"Several little incidents like this occurred with me this week, leaving me very thankful that I can still be a positive influence in the lives of others.

Love you much,

Dad

And here's the email I(my dad) had written (and was sharing with me) about Heidi (who works in food service at the nursing home):

I overslept supper this Saturday and went rushing out my room and down the hall toward the elevator, hoping maybe the food server hadn't left the downstairs dining room. On my way I went by the doorway of 2nd floor dining, and saw Heidi cleaning tables. Is it too late downstairs? I asked, Could you call and see if they're still there? "I'll make you a sandwich here," Heidi said.
"But I'm out of bacon and need to go down and get some more." No need, I said, but she insisted on going. I went back to my room and waited. A full half hour. I suspect that Heidi went all the way to the cafeteria (excuse me, I mean Canyon View) for all the ingredients.

Anyway, she presented the best-looking, most appealing sandwich I've ever been served in LTCC. The ingredients were neither good nor bad in my opinion, but it was the best because Heidi wanted it to be the best and her attitude showed in every particular of the sandwich. Cut into four pieces, for one thing. Served with love. The love of doing her very best, her way of saying,"This is me and I love what I do." Powerful stuff!

Heidi is the best food server you have. Not just because of this one episode. Because she loves to do her best every time she's on the job and with every individual she serves. My goodness, if everyone did their job like she does, this ole world would be transformed!

If you have special awards or recognitions, please give one to Heidi. And at the very least, give her a hug and a thank-you for brightening the day of all those she serves.

Thank you,

Bob

I share this with you because those random acts of kindness, our acts of service towards one another (the essence of Crew Not Passengers), matter - a lot! It doesn't matter where we are, what we are doing, or how small it might seem. We ARE changing the world. Let's include the kids!

RAKtivism at Manna (everyone's new favorite restaurant!)

One Voice - RAKtivism

RAKtivism at King Soopers

Doughnuts for Nurses

and...the DMV!

RAKtivist Singing Video Part 1

Calendar

August 11 - 15th:

Monday 11th:

* Drumming in classrooms

* Leadership Team meeting 5:00 p.m.

Tuesday 12th:

Lindsey's Crew leaves on Voyage

* RTI meeting 7:30 a.m.

Wednesday, 13th

PD: Personal professional development plan implementation begins
(Make sure you completed the form prior to Wednesday)

Thursday, 14th
*Debbie out in the afternoon

Friday:

* Deborah out in the morning

August 18 - 22nd:

Monday 18th:

Josh's Crew leaves on Voyage

Kenny's Crew leaves on Voyage (Debbie supporting this trip and out as well)

*Drumming in classrooms

Tuesday 19th:

Lauren & Tyler's Crew out on Voyage

*RTI mtg. 7:30 a.m.

Wednesday 20th:

* First 'The Beat' whole school community circle (more info to follow with details)

* PD: Personal Plan in progress

Thursday 21st:

* Deborah out all day to admin. mtg.

ASM renamed...

Welcome...
'THE BEAT'

Coming up soon...

I'll be scheduling goal setting conferences with each of you. I will do this during one of your plan times. If you would prefer a before or after school conference, please let me know.

Standard Response Protocol:
(Emergency procedures)

Please make sure you are clear on the protocols. Please see me if you are not. We are going to need to make some adjustments to locations for the shelter protocol, but I'll get that information to you soon.


New School Year Leadership Team:

The district is moving into a second year of requiring schools to have an L&L Team. Since the initiation of this last year was slow and inconsistent, our L&L leaders are going to retain this leadership role this year (Pam, Brittany & Elisha). We needed a digital lead, and Lindsey has agreed to take this role. Debbie is stepping into Noreene's shoes.

In the spirit of keeping meetings to a minimum, it makes sense to have L&L folks on the Leadership Team instead of having a separate meeting. So, our Leadership Team for this year is comprised of:

Deborah - administrator

Debbie - instructional leader

Elisha - CIL (instruction), special education

Brittany - DAL (data), Discovery

Pam - QUAL (assessment), IA's

Lindsey - DATL (digital), secondary level

Mary Beth - primary lead

The Leadership Team will be meeting on Monday, August 11th at 5:00 pm

Focus:

* View the District Strategic Plan and assign parts for presenting the plan to the staff on September 3rd.

* Discuss CITE evidence and classroom observations/visits to seek a way to make them less intrusive.

Second meeting: Tuesday, September 2nd

Focus:

* Unified Improvement Plan (UIP) - review data, review school information and make a decision for the goal focus.

* Create a focus for 'instructional rounds' that is aligned to the school UIP

We want everyone's input and thinking on these important decisions. If you have ideas, thoughts, feelings, please seek out a Leadership Team member and share. These folks are representatives for our whole school and so it's critical that you share with them so they can represent the views of our entire staff in making school decisions.

* What are your thoughts about how I can support you in your work and be less intrusive when I visit your classroom? How can this time double to help with evidence for CITE? How do we manage the evaluation component?

* What are your thoughts about where we need to focus, as a school, in this coming year (UIP)? How might that be differentiated for teachers?

New to our Renaissance Family
Hudson Baker

The proud Papa

Hudson Holmes Baker

Securing Student's Attention - Establishing Rule and Procedures -  Creating Culture and Community -

Practice, Practice!

I saw so many wonderful management techniques working well in our classrooms. I'm going to ask you to share some of your own management tips with each other. Take a minute or two to think of a management strategy that works particularly well for you. Then share it with someone! 

I also saw the creation of routines, agreements, culture that were set up to intentionally create shared ownership. Kids all over the school making decisions about their community and their role and responsibilities as a citizen within that community. I was surprised by the emotional reaction I had - the genuine caring and expression of self was powerful. 

Once again, just tingling from the power of a community that is so unified and who creates such a safe and meaningful learning environment. 

Peek Into the Life of our School

" I told Phoebe she was first in clinic this year and must wear the tiara! (first day of school!) It made her smile-kinda! " Kristin

The Future of Friday Flash...

Debbie and I are going to begin to share the weekly communication. We will switch off week to week.

We would like to add a section in response to Lauren's great suggestion (!) and include technology tips and the way you are using these digital tools for learning. Please continue to share with me those funny moments from your classroom and also share what you are doing with digital tools.

We are also going to try to include an instructional focus tip - we have lots of ideas but are relying on your feedback so we can determine whether they are beneficial, or how they can be tweaked to be useful to you.

I love it when you share information, links, pictures, humor, stories...while Debbie and I may be putting Friday Flash together, it's a tool to keep our community linked together and informed so it is always 'our' blog. It will be exciting to see how we use it this year - all of us!

Have a great weekend!

Deborah