Facts Tell But Emotions Sell

Good Morning and Happy Hallows’ Eve Eve Friday!

Congrats to our Graham Steers!  Good win versus Hirschi last night! 

Our Lady Blues volleyball team has had an outstanding season improving from 11 wins in 2014 to 27 wins in 2015.  The team will face Windthorst in a warm up game this Friday evening at 4:30 p.m. in the GHS gym. The Lady Blues will take on Burkburnett in the first round of the playoffs this coming Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Windthorst.

Summary of Board Workshop- This past Wednesday evening the board held a Budget/Facility Workshop.  Discussion items included:

• Projects completed using funds from the district fund balance.
• A five-year projection of the fund that will be available via the district fund balance.
• Building an Ag Project Center using funds from the district fund balance and in partnership with the City of Graham and the Graham Industrial Association.
• Renovations to the home side of Newton Stadium to provide improved accessibility, safety and space.

Facts Tell But Emotion Sells

As an educator are you a sales person, an orator, a dictator?  I fully understand that a good portion of my position requires salesman like skills. Although necessary at very selective times, standing on high and providing edicts and threats does not usually yield high performance and commitment to the mission.

Imagine for a moment if Patrick Henry, hero in the American Revolution, had stood before his fellow countrymen in the local tavern and gave stats regarding the numerous taxes that had been imposed on the colonies by the British Parliament. The data would have been delivered but I don’t believe the data alone would have stirred the soon to be patriots into action.

Nor can I imagine a rousing response if Martin Luther King, Jr. had said, “I have a hunch.”   King described a dream… a value!  He made it real by using his word to paint a picture that people could see with their own eyes.  He created a mission that others were willing to commit to accomplishing. People (students) are drawn to others and/or organizations of purpose rather than policy. 

I have heard it said that good sales people do a lot of teaching and good teachers do a lot of selling. Both professionals only succeed if their customers or students do.

An educator’s success is measured in student learning. We can’t get to learning if students are not willing or ready to be taught.  Churchill said, “Personally, I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like to be taught.”  Skilled educators know their success hinges on getting students to tune in to WIFM (What’s In It For Me?).  Without this emotional connection it is difficult to get students to the point of being willfully committed to the processes and techniques they are being offered to learn.

Now is the time to consider: How can you make stronger connections with our students? What emotions do you want to evoke? What can you do differently to provide the kind of learning experiences that doesn’t just deliver a lesson, but inspires trust and motivates authentic engagement?

The future belongs to those who make emotional connections with others!

Corny Jokes of the Day: (Scroll down for the answers)

1.         What did the bird say on Halloween?

2.         What is Mummie’s favorite type of music?

3.         What is a Vampire’s least favorite song?

Answers

1. Trick or tweet!
2. Wrap!
3. Another one bites the dust!

Life on the Fly

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

Congrats to the GHS Steer Cross-Country Team!  They finished 2nd at the district and will be running at the Regional Meet this coming Monday in Lubbock.  Good luck and safe travels!

Our GJHS 7^th/8^th boys and 7^th grade girls Cross-Country Team finished 2^nd at the district meet.  The 8^th grade girls team are District Champs! Congrats on a great season!

Our Lady Blues Volleyball team defeated Mineral Wells this past Tuesday evening and sealed a playoff berth. Good luck tonight at home against Brownwood!

Best wishes to our Graham Steers as they travel to Mineral Wells to take on the Rams.

This week we launched the Watch D.O.G.S program for Pioneer, Crestview and Woodland.  We had over 300 dads attend the event.  See the district Facebook page for pictures.  If you know of anyone interested in participating but could not attend the launch event, please have them contact one of the campus counselors.  This event was a huge success in large part due to the efforts of Molly Morris, Xan Holub, and Donna Gatlin. A BIG THANK YOU for your efforts!

Awesome Community Night event planned and held by GJHS principal, Ginger Robbins and her amazing team.  A big crowd came out on a rainy night to enjoy the 7^th/8^th band, nachos, baked potatoes and dozens of fun activities. The Kiwanis Club and several local vendors really stepped up to assist with sponsoring the event. 

Potential Amendments of the 2015-2016 School Calendar

House Bill (HB) 2610, passed by the 84th Texas Legislature, amends Texas Education Code by striking language requiring 180 days of instruction and replacing this language with language requiring districts to provide at least 75,600 minutes of instruction, including intermissions and recess. HB 2610 took immediate effect this school year. Based on our calculations, this legislation may provide us the opportunity to amend our student attendance calendar by up to 8 days. Although we may be able to amend the calendar for student attendance, the Texas Education Code still requires that teachers employed on a 10-month contract provide a minimum of 187 days of service. We will be convening a meeting of the calendar committee to discuss our options and to consider recommendations that may be made to the School Board for consideration.  Stay tuned for information to come forward.

Life on the Fly

An old man and a young man are playing golf together.  The young man hits his tee shot and it lands 20 yards in front of a large pine tree blocking the green.  The young man asks for advice.

"You know, sonny," says the old man, "when I was your age, I'd hit that ball right over that tree."

So the young man digs in, swings as hard as he can, and smacks the ball right into the tree.  It ricochets back and lands right in front of the two golfers.

"Of course, when I was your age," says the old man, "that tree was only about ten feet tall."

Sometimes it appears that others have skills or luck that we simply miss.  In reality they dealt or deal with what happens in their life based on their current circumstances and obstacles.  It is often unfair to compare our situation with others, because the conditions and external factors may be far different.  It has been my experience that we must learn to "live life on the fly".  There is no absolute script, nor can we rely on the experience of others to always guide our way.  We need to value the example of others, but in the end it will be our responsibility to evaluate the conditions, understand the consequences, and execute with our maximum skills.

Corny Jokes of the Day: (scroll down for the answers)

1.         Why doesn’t anybody like Dracula?

2.         What top’s off a ghost’s ice cream sundae?

3.         What happens when a ghost gets lost in the fog?

Answers:

1.         He has a bat temper!

2.         Whipped scream!

3.         He is mist!

It Can Begin with Cardboard!

Good morning and HAPPY HOMECOMING FRIDAY!

CONGRATS  to Sally Stacy (Crestview Elementary) on being selected as Special Olympic Texas Trainer of the Year! See the complete story in the Graham Leader.

I encourage you to come out this evening to support our Lady Blues vs Christ Academy and our Graham Steers vs Burkburnett.  Good luck to our Steer and Lady Blues cross country teams at the district meet in Brownwood this coming Monday.

Wishing the The Graham High School Rompin Stompin Big Blue Band the very best in the UIL Marching contest this Saturday. The RSB3 will be performing in Wichita Falls Memorial Stadium at 3:15pm. Hope to see you there supporting our awesome students and band directors!  

The band had a great showing last weekend, being selected as a finalist and placing 5th overall at the Ponder Marching Festival. Additionally, the band competed at the Golden Triangle Classic in Denton. The RSB3 placed 14th against very stiff competition including bands from class 3A all the way to 6A, missing finals by 2 bands. All in all, it was a great day

Great job last week by our Lady Blues volleyball teams "Pink Out" games raising over $1300.00 for the American Cancer Society!

This past Friday and Monday time was spent with the reps from Connected Consulting collaborating around the theme of design, imagination, creativity and innovation.  One of the exercises completed by the instructional staff was to brainstorm items beginning with the same letter as their first name and to, as a collaborative group, “mash” these items together yielding new product.  A couple of my favorite products included:

• The Re-mix Mixer- Combination karaoke machine and “slushy” machine.
• The Whatever Floats Your Hose device- An automated watering system that hovers around your yard to water hanging plants etc.
• The Kradio Kaddy- A bluetooth enabled device with detachable beverage koozies that not only keeps your drink cold but also serve as portable speakers.

Then there was the product (I can’t remember the name) with a great sales pitch- “Have you ever wanted to kill an armadillo but couldn't because you're thinking of its’ mother?”

Thanks for your work during the inservice days! Hopefully, you will actively design opportunities for our students to strengthen their skills of imagination, creativity and innovation.

Today’s message shares the story of how something as simple as cardboard can turn into a movement.

It Can Begin with Cardboard

I don’t know about you but I can remember the frustration and joy of being a young parent watching our children have more fun with the box the toy came in than the actual toy.  I recall  the hours of fun they had with their great grandmother in a playhouse constructed from a washing machine box.

Is there something we are doing or not doing in the act of schooling that inhibits this type of curiousity (creativity)?

I hope that when reading the story below about Caine’s Arcade you re-envision the possibilities.

A 9-year old boy from East Los Angeles, CA armed with cardboard, tape and time constructed a cardboard arcade -- Caine’s Arcade.  By chance in 2012, a young filmmaker discovered the arcade, organized a flash mob and made a short film about the Caine and his arcade.  These fairly simple acts have resulted in a worldwide movement.  If you are curious please watch and share these videos:

Sir Ken Robinson breaks the creative process into three parts: imagination, creativity and innovation.  In his book Out of Our Minds, he describes imagination as “the ability to bring to mind things that are not present to our senses.”  Additionally, he states that imagination “liberates us from our immediate present circumstances and holds the constant possibility of transforming the present.”

Many times we confuse the terms imagination and creativity.  Creativity takes one's imagination from abstract to concrete.  Being creative requires putting your creativity to work. Would we describe someone as being creative if they never produced a product?

Innovation is the process of applied creativity resulting in new methods, ideas, products, etc. that has value to society.  Without value innovation is just a bad idea! Remember Coca-cola’s infamous “New Coke”.  The inability to be innovative can lead to the demise of an organization- just think if Sears and Roebuck company had been more innovative Amazon may have never came to be.

How might these ideas come into play for our students?

For more information about creativity, imagination and creative play a good resource is the Imagination Foundation website.

Jokes of the Day (extras for Halloween) - Please scroll down for the answers.

What do Italian ghosts eat on Halloween?

What do ghosts eat for breakfast?

What do you call three witches living together?

Answer: Fettucinni Afraid-o!
Answer: Boo-Berries!
Answer: Broommates!

Going it Alone

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

Great job this week by the Lady Blues Volleyball team defeating the Brownwood Lady Lions in five games to improve to 2 – 1 in district play!  Excellent warm up performance by our Graham High Rompin Stompin Big Blue Band at the marching festival in Wichita Falls this past Monday evening!  The GJHS cross country girls notched another first place finish at the Brock Invitational.

Awesome “Pink Out” Pep Rally- Way to represent Crestview Elementary! 

A reminder Why Wear Pink

Big day and weekend for many in the Steer Nation!  I encourage you to come out this evening 5:00 p.m. to support our Lady Blues volleyball team as they taken on Abilene Wylie.  Afterwards, it’s a short walk to Newton Field to support the Graham Steers as they open district play against Gainesville.  Good luck and safe travel for our RSB3 as they compete in marching contests in Ponder and Denton on Saturday! Best of luck to Steer/Lady Blue tennis teams as they compete at Brownwood on Saturday!

REMINDERS:

• If you know of good news I should share about our students, staff, etc. please send me an email with the information, pics, etc.
• If you know of GISD family members that want a prayer and concern email sent to the staff please send me the information via email.
• Veterans Day Tribute- complete the form and email me the pics.

Today’s Message:

Going it Alone

This past weekend while attending the TASA/TASB Convention in Austin I had the opportunity to listen to Liz Murray share her story of overcoming very challenging circumstances (poor, drug-addicted HIV positive parents and homeless as a teen). Despite these hardships, Liz dropped back in to high school and graduated in two years. She earned a New York Times scholarship and was accepted into Harvard University. The Lifetime network produced a made-for-TV movie based on her life-  Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story.  Liz is a best selling author, motivational speaker and currently working on doctorate in education.

Her presentation at the convention was emotional and moving.  One point that resonated with me was that she has been labeled by some as a “bootstrapper”.  Merriam Webster defines this term as:

Carried out with minimum resources or advantages.

To promote or develop by initiative and effort with little or no assistance.

She totally rebuffed this label by stating, “No one gets where they are going alone.”

She, like me and like many of you, found at least one person or mentor to provide direction and expectations on our path to where we were going. Who was your one person or the several that helped you get to where you are today?  Are you open to being that person for your students?

To learn more about Liz Murray- Google her or connect with her on Facebook or on Twitter at @Liz_Murray.

Have a great day… unless you choose otherwise!

Corny Joke of the Day:

How does NASA organize their company parties? (scroll down for the answer)

They planet!