New Kids, Favorite Teachers, and Meatball Sandwiches
New Kids
When I first became an administrator, I wanted to do things differently, not that the other was bad I just wanted something different. I still want to have a daily connection with kids. As my year got started and we came back from a remodel, my plans didn’t quite work out the way that I intended.
We were helping teachers get their rooms back together, and making sure that their technology was working and putting the school back together.
The past two years, I have been able to meet all the new students in my alphabet. We spend an entire day meeting all of the new seventh graders, and then I call down each new 8th and 9th grader for a few minutes. Not every 8th and 9th grader just the new students to our school.
I remember moving between my 7th and 8th-grade years. It was refreshing to get a new house and my own room. I didn’t have to switch schools, but I had to make new friends in the neighboorhood.
I ask each new student a few questions. For a lot of them, this is the first time they have been down to the principal’s office. Ever. I ask them about what they like to do after school, what their favorite hobby is, how has the transition been, do they know people at the school, have them made some new friends, do they have an adult in the building that they can talk to, and lastly who is their favorite teacher.
Favorite Teachers
Finding out the student’s favorite teacher is my favorite part. I take notes during the conversation to help me remember the information the students share.
I send them back to class with a full-size candy bar of their choice and move on to the next student. I try to follow up the conversation with a touch point in the next 48 hours in a class, in the hallway, or during lunch.
Doing this reemphasizes our conversation and helps solidify the student’s face and name in my mind.
I also send an email to the “favorite teacher” and let them know to keep up with whatever they are doing. Not every student has a favorite teacher at the time that I talk to them, but a lot of them do.
Take a few seconds and think about your favorite teacher. Who are they and what did they do to make you feel special, one of a kind, or important.
Mrs. Henderson 3rd Grade. She made feel special. When I was king of around the world (the time’s table game we played in class), she made me feel like I was the biggest deal in the world. I remember having a read-a-thon, and we all brought our favorite treats to share. We brought pillows and blankets and built reading forts as she called them.
I remember bringing this colossal pillow, (like a love sac) that my mom had to help me carry into the school. All of the kids wanted to read in my fort. Including, Johanna Hansen my third-grade crush. It was a dream come true: Reading Judy Blume’s Superfudge laying next to the most beautiful girl in the world, sharing Bonkers (See Video) candy. I was king of the world.
Meatball Sandwiches
Holly, our lunch manager, does a fantastic job. She has a tremendous team, and together they take care of 1000 lunches a day, five days a week. The process of planning, ordering, storing, dating, preparing, cooking, serving, and cleaning up after 1000 kids every day is not easy. She has it down to a science.
Her inventory management is remarkable, down to 5 to 10 lunches a day. Meaning, her historical data, and ordering are so precise that she is usually within 5 meals per line, per day. A new lunch menu item throws a wrench into that process.
Three or four times a year, the Foods and Nutrition team from the district launch or try out a new lunch menu item. Today they “launched” Meatball Marinara sandwiches. Because Holly and her team don’t have historical data and ordering information they need, they went into today blind.
They had no idea how many orders for line 2 they were going to have today. This can cause some problems. What if no one orders it and they underestimate the other lunches. Or, what if a lot of students order it and they don’t have enough. It’s not the end of the world, we just let the kids know we are out of that option, but then we are not doing our best to serve our students.
Why are we afraid to try new things?
Why are we afraid of trying new things? As I watched the kids go through the lines, you could see the hesitation on their faces. Do I go with something new or do I go with something that might not be as good, but I know it is safe.
As educators why are we afraid to try new things? My challenge to you reading this is to try something new tomorrow. Drive a new way to work, change your morning routine a little bit. I can sense the trepidation in your reading voice. But Spencer, I want to be in my safe place. Get over it.
Try something new.