Thank You!

Hello all,

Last Wednesday at our teacher professional development leadership class we did an activity to help us all learn how to collaborate better with each other in a group. One of the activities that we had to do was to introduce ourselves to the other staff in our group and tell everyone what we would be doing today professionally if we weren't teachers.

This really made me think! I guess I really don't reflect on that question much as I enjoy what I do. I think working with kids (especially those at the middle school age) helps keep me on my toes. There really never is a dull moment in a middle school. The energy level is high on most days and kids really do have a way of putting a smile on my face. Sometimes the smile is from the great things our kids do and sometimes the smile is one of those smiles that says, "I can't believe you just said or did that!" In any case, smiling on the job is good for you and helps promote a positive climate.

There are times when the duties of my job keep me in the office too long. Office work includes such things as answering emails, filing reports, planning, returning phone calls, blogging, etc. This part of the job can be a boring at times. When I start feeling bored or frustrated with paperwork I can get an immediate energy boost by going out into the school and visiting classrooms and watching the kids and teachers interact. There are always some really cool things going on in our school!

On most days Mr. Bandy and I spend a little time talking about things going on in our school. Even though it may have not been the best day we we usually come away from our conversations shaking our heads and feeling pretty lucky to have such great kids at Clear Creek Amana. I know I'm thankful to have the opportunity to work with ALL of the kids in our school.

As a K-12 student I was lucky (I didn't always see it that way) enough to have my dad as a teacher and coach. For most of my years in K-12 he was in the same building as I was as a student. This obviously had it's advantages and there may have been a few disadvantages also but I can't really think what those were right now. One of the things my dad taught me, although he didn't tell me this he did it by his actions, was that you need to be thankful for what you have AND as a teacher/principal it's your job to teach/mentor/coach ALL the kids in your school!

All in all, I'm very thankful to have the opportunity to work with the staff, community, and MOST IMPORTANTLY the students at Clear Creek Amana! We have a lot to be thankful for and proud of in the Land of the Clippers!

Below is the "short" list of activities in our school next week:
Monday, November 22- Girls Basketball, 7th grade @ Solon, 8th grade home, 4:15 pm

Monday, November 22- School Board Meeting, Clear Creek Elementary, 6 pm

Tuesday, November 23- Wrestling Meet @ CCAHS, 4:15 pm

Have a great weekend!
Brad