Little Things

Teachers,
Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday.

Little Things —
I am a huge fan of the band Van Halen. I have been since a friend played me their first song on their first album. They were a no-holds-barred, take-no-prisoners type of band. They innovated and created their own path through rock and roll history. But there is a story about them that always intrigued me. It goes something like this (From entrepreneur.com, ):

Buried amongst dozens of points in Van Halen’s rider was an odd stipulation that there were to be no brown M&M’s candies in the backstage area. If any brown M&M’s were found backstage, the band could cancel the entire concert at the full expense of the promoter. That meant that because of a single candy, a promoter could lose millions…
To ensure the promoter had read every single word in the contract, the band created the “no brown M&M’s” clause. It was a canary in a coalmine to indicate that the promoter may have not paid attention to other more important parts of the rider, and that there could be other bigger problems at hand.
Whenever the band found brown M&M’s candies backstage, they immediately did a complete line check, inspecting every aspect of the sound, lighting and stage setup to make sure it was perfect. David Lee Roth would also trash the band’s dressing room to prove a point — reinforcing his reputation in the process.
Van Halen created a seemingly silly clause to make sure that every little detail was taken care of. It was important, both for the experience of the fans and the safety of the band, to make sure that no little problems created bigger issues.

As teachers we need to look for the little things that need our help. There are times we find something amiss in a student's learning and we need to search every aspect to find what is needed and address it before it becomes a bigger issue. The band did not put that clause in to be funny, they put it in to make sure the experience of the fans and the safety of the band was taken care of. Everything we do is about the experience we give our students, the learning we design, and the opportunities we create for our students and their future. It’s the small things we sometimes lose track of in our lives. Even the little things like a smile or a positive comment makes a difference. A little thing like a smile at any given moment can make a student feel good and know that someone cares. If things do not go right you don't get to trash your room, but you can check and recheck what you are doing to make sure you are doing the little things, because those are things that can help as our students learn.

Quote I’m pondering —
“If the cat wishes to leave the room, he makes no fuss about it and does not annoy you with vocal opportunities; he selects a position near the door. Now you may change his position, but you cannot change his purpose: his purpose is to leave the room; and he knows that opportunities come to those who are ready.”
― William Lyons Phelps

What I’m watching —
What Homeless Keep With Them
We have a small population of homeless in our school. This article with accompanying videos put more of a face and background on who we are working with when it comes to the homeless.

Favorite Article This Week —
10 Things High School Teacher Can Learn From Elementary Teachers
This is more of a reminder of all the things you do as an elementary teacher. Nice job.

A Big Thank You —
Thank you Kindergarten. I love that you problem solved how your grade level would increase your imagine Learning usage. We appreciate that you came up with a solution and then came to ask its that works with the schedule. First grade also mentioned how well the students are coming to them more ready for first grade. Thank you for your hard work.

Thank you Amanda for the Shoe project. It went so smoothly and the students had the biggest smiles on their faces. Thank you for taking care of our students and helping to keep them warm, shoed, and giving them a place to feel listened to. thank you for watching out little ones.

An one more thank you to Fourth grade for having everything put into CSIP and putting together a plan to get it put in each week. That really makes our meeting more about the students and not about entering numbers into CSIP. Thank you.

There is so much going on in our school that is wonderful. thank you for all everyone does. Thank you.

I appreciate you and your the work you put in for the students. Have a wonderful weekend.

P.S. I just wanted to use Van Halen in one of my messages.