Never Enough Time

Every morning when I get into school, I review my daily calendar in order to prepare for the upcoming day. Many of us do this on a daily basis whether it is in our planner, iPhone, or in our heads.  Often times I am amazed at how many entries I have in my calendar for a given day…my mind races to all the things not listed that also need to get done.  However, every morning I will glance to the note I have on my desk, “First things First” and am reminded of these important words from author Stephen Covey.  I believe we always have time for the priorities in our lives. 

In talking with and seeing our students, I often see them start to understand the concept of being busy.  As our 5th and 6th grade students get older, they continue to have larger amounts of responsibility both in and out of school.  This was highlighted to me yesterday at dismissal when I was talking with a 6th grade student who had both a football and hockey game on Saturday along with a school project to complete that weekend. At this developmental age, our young people need direction in helping develop a system for prioritizing tasks.  Often times if a student is feeling overwhelmed, I will help talk with them about the idea of “First things First.”  As our 5th and 6th students grow and mature into young men and women, I work hard to support their ability to prioritize what is really important in their educational development.  “First things First” is for all of us and we have the ability has adults in the lives of our students to help them discover this important concept!

Have a great day!

David

Home

During the day today, I thought a lot about the word "home."  My wife, Renae, and I were in Royal Oak this morning closing on our house.  We felt very fortunate to be able to sell it so quickly.  In thinking about the word home, I came to realize it is much more than a house made of brick and wood...I believe home is where one is surrounded by people who care.  I am thankful that my family will soon be in a house in Forest Hills and be surrounded by such a caring community.

While I spoke with families at Curriculum Night tonight, I was so thankful that so many families choose to call Central Woodlands "home."  We really are a school family that support each other throughout the year. Central Woodlands is a "home away from home" for our students and staff and it is an environment built on caring.

I hope you were able to make it to Curriculum Night to see our "home."  I feel honored to have Central Woodlands as one of my homes!

Have a great night!

David Simpson

Ring the Bell

This week all of our 6th grade students went to Camp Roger to experience a day of fun team building activities.  Normally September brings cooler weather for our students at Camp Roger; however this year temps were in the 90's and 80's.  I was so proud of our students as they did not let the heat temper their energy!

One of the reasons we take this field trip right at the beginning of the school year is to give our classes the time and experiences in developing as a cohesive team.  Spending time at the beginning of the year pays dividends as our teams learn how to partner, communicate, and function successfully as a classroom team. Early in the morning, I saw classes working through some of the experiences with not a lot of communication. It was not long though that students realized the importance of the "team" concept and began supporting and communicating with each other!  They found that when they did work as a team, they were able to accomplish the goals of the activity.

Below is a video of two of our students on the climbing wall.  Listening to the video, you can hear the level of communication taking place with our 6th grade students!  Working together, the student was able to RING THE BELL!

Have a great weekend!

David

Best Week Ever!

We had an assembly at the end of the school day today to celebrate our first week of school.  I asked our students to raise their hands if they had a great week...nearly every hand shot straight up into the air!  Our students did have a great week at CW!  I am so honored to serve them as Principal...they are such amazing students.

During the assembly, I also talked about the word "Gratitude."  We are very grateful at Central Woodlands for the staff in our building.  Our staff worked so hard to make this week the "Best Week Ever" for our students.  Apparently our students agreed with this as they cheered so loud in appreciation that many teachers had to cover their ears.

We also talked about the norms of our school.  Our staff and students took part in creating norms for our school.  In essence, our norms can be thought of as:

RESPECT EVERYONE
RESPECT EVERYTHING
EVERYDAY

We also had all of our staff introduce themselves.  We believe that as adults, we are ALL responsible for every child no matter what our role is at CW.  Below is a picture of this!

Lastly, we ended with some very loud spirit chants!  Please ask your child to describe the amount of school spirit in our school...it was so loud!

Every day, I am thankful to be the principal at Central Woodlands...we have the best students ever!

Have a great weekend!

David Simpson

Happy People

When I was on Twitter this week, I came across a tweet from a colleague that made me think...It was about things that "Happy People Do Differently."  Instantly my interest was peaked...who doesn't want to be happy?  I found the article to be refreshing and affirming of many of the ways I try to live my life and to the many conversations I have with students.  As I read, I changed the words from "Happy People" to "Happy Students."  Rewriting it from a student perspective made me even more excited to start the school year on Tuesday!  I can't wait to see our CW students and the choices they will make that creates happiness throughout the building.  Through my role as a principal, I have found some of my most rewarding moments are the conversations I have with our young people. Students love to be sponges...soaking up the life lessons learned as they navigate through their school years. I am honored to be a small part of their journey and try to offer students some of these lessons of happy people.

Here is the link to the article: 10 Things Happy People Do Differently

For those short on time, here is the abbreviated list:

1. Happy people find balance in their lives.

2. Happy people abide by the golden rule.

3. Happy people don’t sweat the small stuff.

4. Happy people take responsibility for their actions.

5. Happy people surround themselves with other happy people.

6. Happy people are honest with themselves and others. 

7. Happy people show signs of happiness.

8. Happy people are passionate.

9. Happy people see challenges as opportunities.

10. Happy people live in the present.

Obstacles

Last week I was engaged in a highly competitive toy car race with my son Cole.  He is 4 and loves to race his cars.  He has a lot of fun and always has an "I will win every time" attitude.  He wanted to add a new twist to our races and asked me to put some obstacles on the race track (which is a rug in our house).  I added some shoes and other objects to create some obstacles.  Those obstacles didn't slow him down...without thinking he kept on racing and made a new path around those obstacles.

I was talking to a parent today about the anxieties of starting at a new school.  She was surprised in how comfortable her daughter felt about the transition to a new school. In meeting with many of our students today, I was so impressed with their excited outlooks on the upcoming school year.  I saw the same excited outlook that my son had of not letting any obstacle slow them down when they shared with me their excitement in starting the school year.

I am thankful for the wonderful families and staff of Central Woodlands as they are a major reason why our students are excited and prepared to start the year.  Our teachers and staff are such a wonderful and caring group of adults who do everything they can to remove any obstacle for our students in feeling comfortable starting the year.  

Our families are so supportive of the partnership between home and school and this was evident in the many conversations I had today. I want to offer a personal thanks to all the families that I met today.  I felt so welcomed to be part of the Central Woodlands family.  I am honored to serve this community.

I can’t wait to see all of our students on Tuesday…it will be a GREAT day and year!

David Simpson

When I grow up...

This past weekend at breakfast, my son Cole looked up from eating and said, "How long will it take to be as tall as you?  Did it take a long time for you to get big?"

I was surprised that his mind was thinking about this future topic so early in the morning...obviously he is curious about what it must mean to be "big" and do "daddy things."

On my drive into work on Monday, I kept thinking about his comments and his desire to think about his own future.  At the age of four, he is already aware that there are a lot of things still to experience and that getting big will be here someday.  I think about our 5^th and 6^th grade students and how often their view of the world and future are things that are right in front of them.  As our students get older, the perspective can often go from thinking about being big at age four to thinking more about their upcoming responsibilities in the week ahead.

In the work I do with our students, I try to engage our students in "future talk..."  I believe the more we can set the stage for our young people to dream about their hopes and aspirations...the more we can understand their needs in helping them achieve their dreams!

Have a great day!

David Simpson