First of all, I feel so behind. I haven't had time to post or read as many blogs as I have become accustomed to over the summer. I miss it. All in due time though.
But it's Friday! Kids come Monday! I was ready yesterday, but I woke up today feeling yuck, this is not good. I have a lot to do. I will muddle through it, no doubt.
I want to share about our district wide convocation, since its 5 for Friday with Doodle Bugs, I am combining the two!
We had our district wide convocation yesterday. This is when the entire district comes together for breakfast and a big "pep rally" to kick start our year.
1: Breakfast
Our child nutrition services department prepares breakfast which is always AWESOME!
All employees are there. From admin, custodians, maintenance, bus drivers, aides, teachers, everyone employed by the district.
2: Gifts
We receive a gift from the district.
Remember the whole story about no more refrigerators in our classrooms? This was our gift to help with that situation. We all got a "chuckle" out of that irony.
At least it was filled with goodies. Sorry, I ate the m&ms before taking a picture.
3. Noise makers
It was really fun! We wear our school shirts and hoot and holler when our school name is called. It's all about seeing who can be the most proud of their school.
This year we brought our own noise makers! The District provided the hand clappers.
4: Pep Rally
The band comes in and makes a lot of great band noise. They play our fight song, which I LOVE because its my college fight song as well. The cheerleaders are there as well. We did the wave several times.
This year the football team came in to the fight song. It was super cool! (I am thrilled for any type of football).
5. Guest Speaker
Our superintendent does her introductions and such, but then she always provides us with a great motivational guest speaker. Unfortunately I don't recall his name, but he was awesome! He was funny and captivating and of course, motivational!
We did this in my first district and I always loved seeing all the other schools. It was a HUGE district though and we had to be bused to a neighboring town to find a civic center big enough. Now, they are so big they no longer do this. The other three districts I worked it, never had a convocation.
My current district has one for the beginning and one for the end of the school year. I don't mind growth, but I hope we never outgrow this tradition.
We have one high school, one middle, and three elementary schools.
The whole process only takes about 3 hours. Three hours that pump us up for what is about to happen Monday morning!
Our motto this year: We are setting ridiculously high goals and we are going to reach them!
Does your district do something like this? I would love to hear about it!
My district is too big to do this now, but I really did love it when were all able to fit in the high school auditorium. It was fun to see everyone and get inspired.
ReplyDeleteWOW. We did this once in my whole career. With over a hundred schools, it's not really feasible. But the one year we did it, it was VERY motivating. (That was ten years ago, and I still recall the energy in the arena!)
ReplyDeleteLove that you sang the fight song :)
Kim
Finding JOY in 6th Grade
I think it's great that your district spends this time reminding teachers why they love their jobs. I've only worked in one district that did anything like this, and really, they just invited in some boring, big-wig speaker. This is much more motivating! Hope it's a great year!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe have one every year! In the past it's been the first week of school, but with only 1 day dedicated to professional development and 1 day dedicated to school procedures, teachers didn't want to lose another day out of their classrooms. So this year it will be in October. We have awesome giveaways.....iPads are the top giveaway! Have a great first day!
ReplyDeleteCarla
Surviving Sixth Grade