Filling Buckets...
I heard a lot of "Good luck" with an edge of sarcasm last year when I decided to teach alternative kids... but they had no idea what a well kept secret my school is! Today, I was struck once again at the faculty meeting by the atmosphere of enthusiasm and excitement shared by my administration and faculty. I spaced out for a moment thinking... if I were to watch this scene in a movie I would shrug it off as not-believable and unrealistic. An entire room of teachers excited about their work? An administration with only good things to say? Really??? Believable or not, I got pumped for the new year!
To get things rolling, our principal showed a clip featuring Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Farley, David Spade, and Adam Sandler. After a few laughs and commentary on how that depiction is too close to the truth, each administrator said their piece, we were given time to reflect in small groups on what worked last year, and they sent us off to work our "magic."
One of the most motivating and interesting parts of the meeting was a talk about filling buckets. When I got home, I googled it and discovered that the idea came from How Full Is Your Bucket?, a NY Times #1 Bestseller, which I am now interested in reading.
The general concept is that everyone has a bucket. The bucket represents one's emotional climate. Compliments and kind gestures fill buckets, snide remarks and cold shoulders dip into buckets. We were each given an actual bucket with an individualized little message on paper in the shape of a drop. Then we were told that the challenge for us is to be aware that our students may come to school with empty buckets and our goal is to fill 'em up before sending them home. In turn the administration will work on filling the teachers buckets with positive feedback.
An example of bucket filling...
...one of our administrators set the goal of memorizing every student's name by the end of the first week, so that as they walk through the door each morning he can greet them. That is about 200 names... which is certainly challenging in so little time, especially when you don't actually have them in class. Last year I remember students commenting on how amazing it was that he knew their names. Nothing is more welcoming than realizing that someone out there is paying attention to you, that you matter, and that you are unique and worth getting to know.
We were also kindof warned at the meeting that the population this year will most likely be more difficult than previous years. There are more expulsion cases, younger students than normal and 51% LEP. Which means that every bit of motivation I have now is totally necessary...
It was pretty busy after the meeting... I caught up with co-workers about their summer, we had a little department meeting, I signed up for my in-service, scheduled time to meet with a sped teacher to plan, touched bases with my ESOL team teacher, planned lunch with the other 2nd year teacher to swap ideas, met with the new teacher who I now share a room with, and was introduced to a few students who were on orientation. I am feeling ready for school to get underway...