"Weariness makes cowards of us all."  I don't know who said this or even how long ago I started clinging to this phrase, it has been years and years.

On Friday, we were a weary bunch.  You could see it on our faces, hear it in our voices, and watch it in our walks.  I do hope that you were able to rest not only your body but your mind and soul this past weekend.

Remember to take good care of yourself.  When you are weary, it is hard to be at your best.  It is ok to go to bed a little earlier, eat a little healthier, have one more small snack just because it tastes so good.  It is ok to sit a few more minutes, walk a half step slower, enjoy a hug 15 seconds longer.  Rest to overcome the weariness.  

The cost of investment.  What has it cost you lately to invest in others?  No doubt, it has cost you time. A considerable amount of time.  No educator stops thinking, planning, or reflecting just because the car door closed behind them.  It has cost you money.  At least as elementary and pre-k people, you can't just not make sure they have what they need, you go above and beyond to provide.  It has cost you emotionally.  Tears, fears, excitement...all jumbled together.  It has cost you energy...I know, I saw it on your faces about 2:00 yesterday...someone stated, "Longest day ever...."   

But I ask you, is what you are investing in worth the cost you are paying?  It doesn't matter if we are talking education, home, sports, hobbies, TV, job...they are all costing you something.  

There are days I am woefully complaining because I don't see or feel the immediate ROI (return on investment).  There are days that I forget that I am not investing in the short term but the long term.  There are times when I forget that others selflessly have invested in me, only to be disappointed by their ROI.  

Today, may I, may you, step back and consider the cost of investment.  Investing too much, too little or just right?  Investing for the long term or the short term?  Investing for the sake of others or only for yourself?  May you invest well.    

August 25, 2020 is a date that many of us will always remember.  It is the first time in our history that every child entered the building wearing a mask, greeted by every adult...wearing a mask.  The first time that no parents could walk students to their rooms.  The first time breakfast was served in the hallway and eaten in the classroom.  The first time virtual learners will log on to find virtual assignments.  So many first and we are less than 2 hours into this historic morning.

I wonder if you will make a journey entry today?  Will you keep it recorded for you kids and grandkids to ask you about?  What, for you, made this morning not only historic, but memorable in a very precious way?  

Thank you for being a team that pulled together in amazing ways.  That is what I am going to remember, those are the stories I am going to tell.  

Wow!  2020 will be defined as the year of Problem Solvers.  Unprecedented problems not facing a new business or a one nation, but each and every person across the world.  I suppose there are a few rare pockets of people groups that this doesn't apply to, but I would imagine others are working on their behalf to make sure they stay protected.

I wonder what problems in your little world you are needing to solve today?  How to get kids to new locations.  How to utilize virtual learning, either as the teacher or the student or both.  How to even navigate the learning platform.  How to make daily time adjustments.  How to care for people who may be infected with Covid.  Just simply, how to get your body ready for a new schedule after all these months!

I am thankful that at Hawthorne and Torrence, we are a group of problem solvers.  We dig a little deeper into our knowledge base, we ask Google a few more questions, we seek the help of coworkers, or we just use the WD-40 way...try until we get it figured out.  What ever problems you are facing today, thank you for being a problem solver and digging deeper than you have ever dug before.     

The teachers I have the opportunity to work with are simply amazing.  I don't say this lightly or with exaggeration.  I say it because it is true.  Embedded within the role of instructional coach is the obligation and opportunity to listen and encourage by coming along side of.

This week, I was able to take a "field trip" with a group teachers to three different classrooms in order to problem solve.  During a Schoology training, the IC from the HS did a fantastic job of being intentional with specific groups to meet their individual needs. I got to listen, learn, and kneel beside friends as we navigated this new platform.  Several other times I was able to have more private conversations, being both a sounding board and a comfort.  I had to opportunity to watch "Art on a Cart" practice navigating the floor surfaces and hear variations of "Arrr mate"  coming from our tiny music pirate.  I saw one of our older teachers "dragging" our newbie around the building in search of necessary classroom items...they were laughing the entire way!  I heard notoriously video camera shy teachers anxious to video messages of love and encouragement to our precious little ones.  I saw boxes delivered by husbands, doughnuts delivered by our Thankful Thursday fairy.  I saw patience on the face of those who have been asked the same question a hundred times over.  I was able to locate one group of teachers simply by the enthusiastic noise being emitted from a classroom.  I saw emails shared with "try this, check that..."  And of course, I saw a wide variety of eye wrinkles that expressed what their mask were covering, fear and hope. What I saw this week was a group of ordinary people doing countless extraordinary things. 

I thank each and every one of you for being intentionally focused this week.  Not one bit focused on your own personal comfort, but on pushing your limits so together we can meet the needs of these kiddos we love.  

Queen Esther was a Jewish girl who had been taken captive.  The King had done away with his wife and was on the search for a new one.  Esther was chosen.  Through a series of events, the King had made a decree that her people could be annihilated.  It fell to Esther, who "just happened" to be Queen at that exact time in history, married to the only one with the power to save her people.

The problem was, for the Queen to enter his presence uninvited, she literally risked death.  Her famous quote, "For such a time as this..." comes from this story.  Esther knew, if she lived or if she died, she had been placed her in that position for that reason.  

​I wonder about you.  It was not by accident that you are here, this moment in history, this moment in time, this location.  For such a time as this, you have placed here for a reason.  May you make the most of each and every opportunity before you. "For such a time as this..."

I share this morning not because I want to but because I need to.  Yes, I have an 'official' anxiety disorder, but it is not about me this morning, it is about you, about us.

As I heard laughter in the building yesterday, I could not help but wonder how much of it was actually covering up fear...anxiety.  How many are afraid of getting sick or spreading it to a loved one?  How many are worried for the children?  How many are simply feeling anxious about the new learning environments and meeting the needs of students?  The list could go on and on.  

I encourage you today to reach out today.  Reach out today both to provide support and gain support.  We are need each other more than ever.  

I literally hear the new normal bringing our staff together in new ways.  Never before have we been asked to create online assignments and plan for no contact in person learning. Out of necessity, we must quickly learn and help others apply new learning platforms. We are finding ways to social distance yet still have the students interacting with each other and learning materials.  We are learning to attend meetings sitting 6 feet apart, in masks, and be more productively focused than ever before.  

I know, I could go on and on and on with the "New Normal" around our elementary building.  It is stressful to say the least.  There are hundreds of questions that don't have a pat answer because they have never had to be asked before.  But, if the new normal brings us closer together as educators, coworkers, and friends, then at least some of this new normal will be worth it.  

What a title for today, Ask Powerful Questions by Will Wise.  I haven't even cracked it open yet but it is already prompting me.  Today is the first day back to school since March 2020 and Covid.

The most powerful question right now may simply be, "How are you doing?"  and then waiting for an authentic response.  One way we will support student learning is by supporting each other.

Ask powerful questions and then take time to really listen.