Growth Mindset

A topic that has been surrounding education recently that can be very helpful information for parents is the idea of a Growth Mindset.  Teaching kids to approach school, sports and life with a growth mindset gives hope for possibilities and can actually even increase happiness levels. 

The opposite of having a growth mindset is having a fixed mindset.  In a fixed mindset, kids believe that their skill sets are carved in stone, and they do not believe they have the capacity to develop, cultivate or improve.  They firmly believe that a person is born with a certain aptitude and there is not much that can be done to change that.  However, luckily research shows that a person can actually grow their intelligence through hard work and challenging tasks.   According to the leading researcher in this field Carol Dweck, "The view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life."  When students fall into this fixed way of thinking, it can sabotage not only their hope, but also their happiness levels.

In a growth mindset, you believe that your skills and intelligence can be developed, cultivated, and improved.  You believe that you do have the capacity to learn and grow.   I love the below graphic!

Isn't this what we want for our kids?  We want them to know that with work, drive, grit, and perseverance, they can improve! They can get better in math, reading, basketball, volleyball, band...anything!  Please do not think I am trying to tell you to lie to your kids!  Having a growth mindset is not saying that with enough practice in music your child can be the next Beethoven or shooting hoops every day means they will be a first draft pick to the NBA.  It simply means that if a student works at something, the student WILL get better.  Not being great at something right away is not a life sentence for never being able to do it.  So how do we encourage a growth mindset among our kids?

When our kids do well at something, we need to praise the work they put in or how hard they tried, not necessarily the outcome.  For an example if a student scores a 4 (or an A) on a test, instead of saying, "Wow, you got an A, you must be really smart at math," we should shift our words to, "Wow, you got an A. That's a really good score.  You must have worked really hard." Our praise should focus on the work the student did.  Ask questions such as How much did you study?  Did you study differently?  Do you think you did well because you reviewed that morning?  

Having a growth versus a fixed mindset can dramatically impact a child's future.  The latest research in "A Whole New Mind" by Daniel Pink states that IQ accounts for only 4-10% of career success!  So, what makes up the other 90-96%?  Grit! Drive! Perseverance!  Effort!   Let's keep working together and help kids learn that with a growth mindset, possibilities are endless!  

Being in the Know

I hope all of your families had a wonderful holiday season and kiddos are back into a routine! Breaks are always welcome and refreshing, but they also remind me that students (and adults too) thrive when in a routine! One of our hopes is to always keep parents in the loop! In the field of education, much like other fields, things are always changing... laws, discipline, curriculum, the list goes on and on!

The last several years Perry Central has been awarded a grant for a Summer of eLearning Conference. We have branded and titled this conference, PowerED Up. We are once again a recipient of this grant. We are considering incorporating a parent strand of workshops to this conference. The purpose of this strand would be to deliver information to parents with the goal of fostering a strong working relationship between parents and educators. This would also give parents an opportunity to "be in the know" of school and state happenings and updates. This idea is still "under construction" so your feedback and input would be much appreciated! Please take a few minutes to complete this short, 4-question survey.

https://goo.gl/forms/SOtmLSN1JuxIDx9p1

Here's to Learning together! 

Monthly SAILors

If you have ever been in our building during morning announcements, you have heard us as a school recite our SAIL pledge: 

My mind is my power, 

I choose to be SAFE, 

I choose to have AWARENESS, 

I choose to have INTEGRITY, 

I choose to LEARN, 

Commodores choose to SAIL  

A few years ago our elementary team created this daily pledge as a part of our student  PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support) program.  All of our school, classroom, bus and school environment expectations derive from our SAIL acronym. 

Each month, every teacher nominates one of their students as SAILor of the Month.  This student is recognized for making decisions to be safe, have awareness of themselves and others, show integrity, and make choices to learn.   Please check out the following link from our school website that honors all of these SAILors!

http://www.pccs.k12.in.us/sail.html

Parents+Community+School Staff=Student SUCCESS!

We all want to be advocates for our kids!  As parents, we want our children to know that we love them and value their academic, personal and overall development.  Research tells us there are tremendous benefits to being involved in your child’s school including, higher grades and test scores, better school attendance, improved social skills and higher self-esteem.  

In 2005, Perry Central formed a chapter of the Optimist Club.  This was a terrific organization that supported student activities to make a positive impact on Perry Central students. However dues had to be collected and fundraisers had to be conducted to have the required, high sum of money that had to be sent to Optimist International, just to keep the Optimist Club name.  As years progressed, less and less of our funds were going to our students. We knew something had to change!

Thus the Captains Club was born!  The Captains Club is a Perry Central organization composed of community members, parents and Perry Central employees.  We do not charge dues and every cent raised through the Captains Club goes back to our students! Twice a year we reward elementary students for making grade improvements, recognize the top ten students in grades 7-12, host a Valentine's semi-formal for grades 6-8, and award scholarships to seniors.... just to name a few projects.

Our club’s goal is to recognize student achievement, inspire students to do their best, recognize hard work and be advocates for Perry Central students!

We would love for you to join us!  Below is a link that will give you access to all of the current events that we facilitate.

https://goo.gl/eqa8Lz

Please consider signing up to help with an event.  All you have to do is sign your name in the table labeled, “Volunteer-email” and type your email address.  Also feel free to email me directly at jguillaume@pccs.k12.in.us  with questions you have or to inquire further about this organization and our projects.  This organization truly conducts so many special events for our students, but we need help!

We Are All on the Same TEAM!

I have always found humor in the saying in this cartoon.  Please know It is not because I believe kids do not tell the truth, but because stories and situations always have multiple perspectives.  Granted most of the time a child's perspective is the most entertaining, we must remember it may or may not always include all of the details or circumstances.  

Parent Teacher Conferences are quickly approaching and will be held on Thursday, September 20th. You should have received a sign-up form for conferences with your child's teacher.  I urge you to make an appointment with your child's teacher even if you have zero concerns and especially if you have many concerns. Taking the time to meet with your child's teacher, demonstrates to your child that you value their education and that parents and teachers are a team working together for the success of your child.  If September 20th does not work for you, contact your child's teacher and let them know.  Our teachers are always willing to make schedule adjustments because your kids are our top priority.  

Parent-Teacher Conferences sometimes make parents nervous because they do not know what to say or they are scared of what the teacher may or may not say about the child.  Below are some tips to help you prepare for your conference.  

Before Conference:

• Ask your child how s/he feels about school.
• Ask your child if there is anything s/he wants you to talk about with the teacher.
• Tell your child that you and the teacher are meeting because you both care about him/her. 

Questions to Ask During Conference:

• What are my child's strongest and weakest areas?
• Does my child complete work in a timely manner? 
• Does my child ask questions?
• Does my child participate in class
• Does my child seem happy at school?
• What can I do to help my child?

After the Conference:

• Talk about the conference with your child.
• Talk about the positive points and about areas that need improvement.
• Tell the child about any plans you and the teacher created. 
• Keep in touch with the teacher during the school year. 

I truly hope the above tips help you feel comfortable meeting with your child's teacher.  At Perry Central, our staff cares about each of our students and we value partnerships with our parents.  We have all heard the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child."  Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your village!  

Reset and Regulate

As mentioned in the last blog post, I am truly honored to work with such an amazing group of educators!  Over the summer, many of our staff members at Perry Central spent time studying and participating in training focused around Social Emotional Learning.  We are creating a curriculum specific to Perry Central and are organizing it around the topics of Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills and Decision Making. As a team, we have created lessons for our students that encompass all of these skills.  We are really excited about this initiative!

There were lots of takeaways while creating this content and lots of excellent strategies presented that parents can use to help their children.  We have all heard the saying, “They have flipped their lid!” Did you know that this is a real thing based on brain science? We are teaching our kids that we are always in one of three brain states: Survival, Emotional or Executive.  Learning can only take place when we are in our executive state! When kids are upset, anxious, frustrated, hungry or just dysregulated, learning cannot take place because they are either in the survival or emotional state of their brain.  So what can we do as parents and teachers?

Classroom teachers will be sharing lots of techniques and strategies with your child to help them regulate their brain. I am a mother of three and have been encouraging  my own kids to use these strategies. I have truly noticed a positive impact on my relationship with my boys and how they respond to challenges. They are learning to regulate themselves when they are stressed and to be perfectly honest, I am picking up strategies for myself as well.

One of these skills, is often referred to as belly breathing.  To do this, the student should place their hands on their belly and take a deep breath, hold for a couple of seconds, and slowly release the air.  This should be done 3-5 times to move the brain back into its executive state. Tapping with your fingertips on certain points of the body is also a calming strategy.  Some of these tapping points are on top of the head, eyebrows, temples, under the eyes, the chin, under the nose, on the collar bone, or under each arm. One of my favorite techniques is using one hand to apply pressure to the other hand by squeezing parts of the hand and fingertips, then of course switching hands and repeating.  

I can’t speak for everyone, but as I parent, I feel like I need all the help I can get!  A lesson I learned from Trauma Informed consultant, Juli Alvaredo is, “You cannot give, that which you do not have.”  Basically this means, if you are not calm, you cannot give calm. If you are trying to help your child calm or regulated, you have to be calm and regulated.  

Welcome to the 2018-2019 School Year!

Dear parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, guardians...

As we kick off the 2018-2019 school year, I want to take a moment to both introduce myself to you and welcome you.  This will be my 17th year in education with nearly all of those years at Perry Central! Perry Central is a second home for my family and is near and dear to my heart! I have been blessed with the opportunity to be the assistant principal of the elementary.  I get to work daily with good-hearted people who make this school a positive, loving, learning environment. Our staff is truly in education to make a difference in the lives of all of our students. It is our pleasure to embrace this opportunity to work with you to help grow your child not only academically, but also as individuals.  Parenting is tough! I want to personally thank you for trusting us with your child on a daily basis. We are grateful to be partners with you, which is how we see it. We are partners. Please always feel welcome to contact us about questions, concerns or feedback. We all have the same goal, success for your child!

Here’s to a memorable school year,

Jame Guillaume

Elementary Assistant Principal