Greetings, GreenMount Community,
Happy
December! As usual, the year is flying
by, but we still have a lot of time left to do great things. Today, I reminded the students of our concept
of excellence. The message today was
that whenever we finish a project, whether it is a long-term one or just
something that we are required to do on a particular day, we should ask
ourselves if we have done the best we could under the circumstances. Educational research indicates that the
process of reflection is one of the
most valuable tools in our learning toolbox.
If we can learn to reflect and think critically about our actions and
our efforts, it is much more likely that we will develop habits of mind that
keep us striving to attain excellence.
Mr. Fletcher reminded the students that as a
staff, we meet each week to reflect on what we have accomplished and to discuss
ways in which we can improve our craft.
Indeed, we can all probably do a better job of reflecting. As parents you can model this important habit
by “thinking out loud”, which is another strategy that we use with
students. Simply stated, thinking out
loud is the practice of sharing our thoughts as a way of instructing learners
about how we process things in our minds.
For example, you might say out loud, “So I am thinking that in order to
plan our day on Saturday, I will need to make a list of things to do because I
am a visual person.” Or you might be
reading to your child and stop at a part to say, “This reminds me of a time
when I was young and I made a poor choice, too.” Reflecting and thinking out loud are
strategies that we can teach our children to create those habits of mind that
will help them make good choices and also take time to understand the learning
process.
Now
that it is, in fact, December, we need to start thinking about weather-related
closings and delays. The procedures for closing school because of snow, for
example, are relatively simple. On days
when the forecast calls for snow, I will rise at 5:00 a.m. to listen to the
weather reports and check closings that are being posted in the area. Sometimes
I will go outside to look for myself at my snow gauge, the barometric pressure,
my atomic hydrospheric anemometer or the local squirrels’ bushy tails. When that fails to give me a sense of the
imminent snowfall, I will go inside and turn to Tony Pann on WBAL for
advice. Of course, if there is already
snow on the ground, I can look at it.
But seriously,
folks, what I actually do is listen to what is happening in the large public
school systems. They have better
resources than I have and are evaluating the situation long before I get out of
bed. I will make a decision about
closing based on the information I can gather and post our information on WBAL-TV
by 6:30 a.m. You can access my posting
by tuning in to WBAL-TV or you can get the information quickly at www.wbaltv.com/closings/index.html.
At this site you will view the closings or delays for the day and you can also
sign up to get an email or text message about the status of the GreenMount
School. I recommend this because it
happens immediately and you don’t have to wait for the TV report to get to our
school alphabetically. Please check your
Family Handbook for procedures concerning late openings and early
dismissals. Late openings will also be
posted on WBAL.
Finally, while I said that I consult the major
school systems to make my decision about GreenMount, there are exceptions. Public schools have to consider the safety of
bus riders in their decision-making process.
We do not. Therefore, there may
be an occasion when city schools are closed and we are not. I will also consider parents and your
inconvenience, especially if we have late openings. That said, the first consideration is always
safety.
Cheers,
Steve
