Well guys this is my first blog. I do a lot of "blogging in my mind" and as important as it is to write critically and I know this, I have not started a professional blog, so here goes. Part of that could be that I have been in school since I was 4 years old and I am about to turn 40 and just graduated with my Doctorate in December so I have been researching and writing, with little time for personal reflection. Vacation time is over and it is time to really get down to business. Twitter keeps me excited about school, especially trying to keep up with everything principals around the US are using. Although corny, I want to thank them for keeping me updated and abreast of everything out there, along with keeping my competitive edge alive! There are so many things spinning around in my head that I want to chase, but I know I have to narrow the goals for our campus to 2-3 goals. After attending TEPSA and my daily twitter feed, I went out and bought Teach Like a Pirate, Shifting the Monkey, Ten Minute Inservice, Digital Leadership, Teaching with Poverty in Mind, Effective Questioning, and Lead Like Jesus. So as you can imagine, I have been buried in books with my mind racing. Our PLC team met together at the end of June, and we (not I) decided, based on data, the direction we need to head this school year as a PLC. We will concentrate more on the vision and make that a permanent saying that all stakeholders know, just as we did with our mission. Everyone that walks the halls of West Rusk Elementary knows we believe tradition+pride+hard work=success. Our vision, developed by the school family last year, is "At West Rusk Elementary, our vision is to ensure all students have a positive, nurturing environment where they are expected to reach their highest learning potential, in order to become productive, educated, independent, and successful citizens." In order to help students reach their highest learning potential, we then further agreed a great deal needed to be spent on pre-assessing. It seems all the research is pointing that direction. Lastly, we want to focus on behavior and getting down to the root causes of behavior, rather than focus on punishment. We have created a redirection room and hired a behavior assistant to help guide us on the nurturing environment. Our Ready Bodies Lab we implemented has helped with this, but primary children have to be taught behaviors and if we aren't trained and knowledgeable in positive behaviors, then who will teach them? I have been encouraged through Principal Nesloney and his summer challenge. This challenge will be spread to my teachers this fall--their first challenge has been sent out today--to start tweeting! If we don't share our story, then someone else will. We want to be the ones sharing the tremendous, wonderful things happening at our campus, along with the continuous, ongoing learning that Twitter provides. We are the best kept secret around!