Six Additional Great Motivational Ideas

      Today's blog highlights six additional ideas shared by Michelle Cassady.  Michelle is the Director of Instruction for Woodford County Schools and this is her third  addition to the blog.  Her original blog ideas was one of the most viewed and I really appreciate these additional ideas.


      If  you have ideas you would like to share, feel free to send ideas to csworth@windstream.net.


.        Brag and Breakfast Event—fix breakfast for your staff with a huge (chart paper size or SMART Board size) thank-you note from you “bragging” on your faculty

2.       Send an email invitations for a movie date with your staff (for anyone that wants to show up)—name the time and place—Saturday at 12:00, Cinemark Fayette Mall—The Big Wedding

3.       Have a “Shooting for Success” game of HORSE in the gym after school—Invite your superintendent (or other central office staff) to compete

4.       Sundae Showdown—have a contest to see who can make the most creative ice cream sundae.  Take photos and post them.

5.       Take orders from a restaurant (like Roly Poly  http://www.rolypoly.com/  )—each staff member pays for their own—have it picked up prior to lunch blocks.

6.       Have grade level teams/departments design logos to put in the mailroom….prize for the most creative/outrageous/etc. 

Central Office Staff - Good Ole' Days

A great morale booster is to create a poster of employees as a child or teenager.   Lori Weeks created the poster board on the right for the Central Office Staff at Scott County Schools.   She then challenged everyone to match the correct names with the people in the pictures.

During this time, there were many conversations about not only who was in the picture but about memories of times gone by.  We discussed areas such as  clothing styles, traditions and technology of the 50's through the 80's.

The real objective was not to match the name with the picture it was to give a welcome break in a sometimes mundane day. Taking time to create this poster pulled our staff closer and put a smile on our face as we passed it each day.

FFA Food Drive - Happy Thanksgiving

Members of the SCHS FFA

As we celebrate our bountiful harvest this Thanksgiving, I want to thank all of the schools and organizations across America and the World that conduct food drives to help the less fortunate.  In our little part of the world, Scott County High School students and educators donated over 30,000 items to assist the food banks in our community.  Our food drive, like many, is led by the Scott County High School chapter of the Future Farmers of America.  The student's leadership along with their advisers have made such a profound difference in hundreds of lives throughout the year.

Choral Department preparing for assembly

 I am thankful that every day I get to work with students and educators that find ways to help others.  A simple thank you goes to the FFA advisers (Regina Fritsch, Nathan Sewell and Lindsay Wayne), the officers and members of the Scott County FFA that organized the drive.  The FFA have led this food drive for decades in Scott County and their work and generosity is well documented.  I would also like to thank  Mr. Nick Maxwell (counselor) and the students he organized  for  donating over 8,000 items.  

Members of Mr. Maxwell's students 

Donations from Ms. Sunda's class

Students delivering food before the assembly

ECS - The EVENT

This morning at 9:15 sirens went off at Elkhorn Crossing School.  "The Event" had started!!!

Local first responders set up a mock plane crash in which evidence was everywhere to be found.  The students worked collaboratively to assist the wounded, investigate the crash and document the disaster.  

The list below gives  examples of each village's role in the reenactment.  

Health Science - Assist the wounded 

Bio-Medical - Conduct autopsy and collect forensic evidence. 

Law and Justice - Collect evidence and prepare for a court case. 

Engineering - Determine the cause of the crash using physics. 

Media Arts - Document the disaster through video and photography.

Special thanks to all of Georgetown and Scott County EMS/Police/Sheriff and other first responders for making this happen!!

The Event has Started 

Thank you to EMS and other First Responders 

Evidence to be investigated

The Walking Wounded 

More walking wounded 

ECS students investigating 

Student collecting evidence 

Triage 

Special Investigator 

Growth Mindset from a Teacher's Perspective

Click on any picture to enlarge

At a recent Professional Development our teachers studied the book "Mindsets" by Carol Dweck.  The teachers jigsawed different sections of the book and as we discussed the different excerpts, the teachers  began to list ways they could demonstrate teaching methods to help students to develop a "growth mindset".

The five pictures depict teacher ideas of the five different groups.  There is some redundancy on the list as teachers came up with similar ideas.  The teachers were able to put a check mark besides three of the ideas they were willing to try in order to develop a growth mindset in his or her students.

The following are highlights from the list:

• Learn along with your students.  Admit you don't know everything.  ( I love this one. This teaches students that learning is a lifelong process.)
• Use think time to allow students to formulate his or her answer. This holds all students accountable.  
• Focus on rewarding student effort as much as intellect. 
• Consistent praise for effort. 
• Celebrate achievements.  Even small steps. 
• Give specific and honest feedback on student work.  
• Raise expectations and give students the tools to get there.  
• Incorporate Kagan teaching methods. 

During this process, teachers naturally apply the concepts of the growth mindsets not only to his or her students.  They also apply to his or her own children and personal lives.  Everytime I work with teachers on Carol Dweck's book, I learn more about myself.  I highly recommend taking time to find out more ways to create an attitude that you have control of your abilities. 

If you want more ideas on how to work with teachers on developing a growth minds, feel free contacting me at csworth@windstream.net or look at an earlier blog I wrote about the book Mindsets at http://teamcompetitions.blogspot.com/2013/01/mindsets-book-study.html

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Most of the competitions can be played at any time or in any order.  Our pumpkin carving contest happens right before Halloween, and we use the pumpkins submitted to decorate for our teacher/parent meeting in the fall of the year.

This contest can be as simple or as elaborate as you want to make it.  My rules were very simple:  Carve one pumpkin and place a candle in it.  No other markings or props could be used around the pumpkin.  Other schools in our district have used this competition and have allowed a table full of props and lighting around the pumpkin. 

When considering judges for the contest, think of people in the school or organization that may not participate but would be fun to include.  Also consider judges from outside the school or organization.  In the past we have used some of our special needs students, administrators from central office and our food service workers.

 

            We had no judging criteria other than for the judges to rank the pumpkins in order of favorite to least favorite.  The judge’s favorite pumpkin received 4 points and their least favorite receives 1 point.  We generally had at least five judges, and we added the scores of the five judges together to determine the winner, the first runner-up, and so on.  Pumpkins are presented to the judges anonymously so that competitors know their work is being judged fairly.  

Together... We have created a Culture of Excellence

During the past two weeks I have received three t-shirts that demonstrate what a great set of high schools we have in Scott County.  A set of schools that:

•  Performed in the 87 Percentile on state KPREP testing 
• Score in the Top 10% on ACT scores for a district year after year
• Offer the widest range of Advanced Placement courses in the state 
• Have over 1000 enrollments in Advanced Placement course 
• Increased College and Career Readiness from 44% to 70.5% in two years 
• Have athletic teams that compete for State Championships 
• Have a choral department that sell out Singletary Center 
• Have a band that have been graded distinguished every year since the mid 90's 
• Was awarded the Winner Circle Award for school culture (Elkhorn Crossing School) 
• Provide students with a diverse Career and Technical training both at ECS and SCHS 
• Cardinal Academy serves nearly 200 students in an alternative environment
• One of the best FFA Student and Alumni Chapters in the state and nation
• I invite others to add to this list of acheivements

We are proud of our teachers, administrators and especially our students.  I challenge others to post what makes them proud of their school.  We need to let others know that we do have great schools and that in the words of Teddy Roosevelt:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deed"

A 5K that helps provide food for our students

There are many great schools that need recognition.  Take time to post on social media what makes your school worthy of recognition.  Others, that may never enter our schools, will use social media to tear our schools down. Imagine what would happen if we all use social media to celebrate our school's successes.