As I am posting this blog school has been out for 3 days. Believe it or not it felt really weird not having kids at school Friday.

I love what I do and I love the teachers, staff and parents who make it happen. Big thank you to all who made it happen for 500 students. Without your help and devotion to the students at Indian Springs this school year that just passed would not have been as effective.

Students and teachers are now enjoying their summer and are taking some valuable time off. Take this time to recharge and renew. If you are a parent, take this time to recharge and renew your kids, not be doing homework and worksheets, but by letting your hair down and having fun.

All of us need time to get renewed and refreshed. It helps us get back in the game in August and to start again.

Enjoy your Summer!!!

I have been hobbling around for about two weeks ever since the Full Moon 5K. I thought I bruised the outside of my foot, but nooooooooo it is plantar fasciitis. It will take me another 3 weeks to get back to running..Yuk.

It has really got me down, but a friend of mine is in the hospital with chest pain and looks like heart problems. I have come to the conclusion that when things are going bad for you, just take your eyes off of yourself for a second and you will find other friends around you who have it alot worse.

At the time of this blog I have 3 more days of school with students. It has been a quick year. I guess the older you get the faster time flies...this is sooo true..Don't know why that is but it is true.

This is my 3rd year at Indian Springs and it has been a true blessing to serve the patrons of this school. God knew I needed a change and it has caused me to grow as a person, educator, and administrator.

Enjoy your Memorial Day and remember that when life looks bad for you...just pause and look around, it could be worse!!

Yesterday at school was a busy but fun day. The students gathered on the playground to enjoy the reward for reading over 47,000 books.

I invited a former student of mine who races at the Sapulpa Speedway to bring his race car to school so that teachers and myself could take a few laps around the track.

It was a blast. The first racer in the car was Mr. Hodge. He looked like a kid in a candy store. His eyes were big and you could tell the adrenaline was a pumping!!!

As he creeped from the starting line he was going all but about 5 miles an hour...blistering speed. However, the engine sounded like it was going a hundred miles an hour. The kids went crazy.

After Mr. Hodge several teachers took a spin around the track, Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Thomas. Mrs. Cook and Mrs. Looper attempted to race around but Mrs. Cook's legs were to short and Mrs. Looper, well that say she doesn't get out much.

After that the car battery died as Mrs. Kell attempted to go around the track and the day ended short.

I was supposed to get into the car and race but not today. I could tell the kids wanted me to go for a spin but no such luck.

The best part of the event for me was watching the kids excitement and the few teachers who got to drive the race cars excitement. That was worth it all.

When students set goals and attain them, pride swells up. Pride is fun to watch.

Now for the serious part of this blog! Do you see pride in your kids, your family in yourself? I hope so. Maybe some obstacles to pride being exhibited is that we set our goals a little too high to accomplish them.

Set some mini-goals that can be obtained and then built upon. For example, if it is math for a 3rd grader who struggles with learning his multiplication facts, start small. Work on the easy ones..1's, 2's and 5's, then build upon that one set at a time and go back and review constantly.

If it is a personal goal for you...don't set your goal on money or finances...set it on something small that is reachable. I am going to make sure I return all my phone calls today, or I am going to leave the office early so I can spend time with my family.

Those are just a few ideas and hopefully you have thought of mini-goals that are attainable for you this week.

If you think I am right, let me know!!!

See you next time,

LSmith

In my 27 years as an educator I have had the opportunity to meet thousands of young people who have passed through my office doors. I have also been privileged to meet most of their parents. Most of the time with the parents the encounter is quite positive, but some of the time it has not been. I would like to share with you about both of these types of encounters in relation to Honesty!!!

Just the other day I had a parent come visit me and was concerned about a rule that would effect his/her child. I shared with them what the rule was and how it did effect their child. I could tell by the look on the face of the parent that the interpretation I gave was probably not the one they wanted to hear. But you know what, within a millisecond they responded that the interpretation that I had given was correct. No matter how much that ruling would hurt their child, they knew that what I said was the truth and the right thing to do. Amazing Parents!!!!

On the other hand way back in my career as a teacher I was asked to be dishonest by an administrator. I was just a newbie as a teacher and it goes without saying that newbies for the most part both respect and fear in a good way most of the time their principals. I did! After I was told to be dishonest concerning a situation with a student, I went back to my office and my stomach began to churn. What was I going to do? Was I going to follow the direction of my principal or was I going to do the Honest thing and the Right thing?

Well, it took me a millisecond to know what I needed to do, but quite honestly it took me about a day to muster the courage to do what was the Honest and Right thing! The next day I went back to the administrator and told him that I could not do what he had asked me to do. I understood his predicament but I told him that I couldn't do it. Boy was I sweating.

The following day I found out that the request that the principal had asked me to lie about was going to take place. Guess What? The principal was the one who delivered the message instead of me and he did the Honest and Right thing. He did not lie either. He stood up and told the truth.

I know honesty is hard for adults, but I realize on a daily basis how hard honesty is for kids. We are their parents, teachers and principals, and they do not want to disappoint us or make us mad. So often they lie or they don't quite give me all the information about a situation in order to protect themselves. I know this is going to happen...but through some time and questioning I found out the truth. What is funny about that millisecond when kids go from telling a lie to telling the truth the most amazing thing happens. The tears start to flow. The apologies start to flow, but more importantly their recovery begins and they can start over with a fresh slate.

Ten times out of ten I give the students the chance to be right again if they come to that point of honesty. Zero times out of ten when they do not come to that point I don't trust for a long time.

During the time that your kiddos are growing up they will disappoint you and will be dishonest at times. Take the time to allow them to recover and start again. Kids at this age are learning to be what you want them to be. Be the example for them. When at times it is tough for you to tell the truth and be honest and they catch you in your lie...be vulnerable enough to admit your mistakes, they will grow greatly from you being honest.

Honesty is the Best Policy!!!

Saturday Night I ran my first 5K race..The Full Moon. It was a lot of fun..Runners of all kinds showed up to run along Riverside.

This is the first race that I have participated in and I was a bit nervous. Once the race started all the nerves stopped. It was fun running alongside 1,500 runners.

Along Riverside I was pretty far back in the pack and I actually was passing people and people were passing me. As I got about to the 1/2 way point in the race, I noticed the leaders of the race starting back towards the finish. They were traveling very fast.

The winning time for the 3.2 mile course believe it or not was just over 15 minutes...Lightning fast. The odd thing was that their were a few runners that were among the top runners. About a half mile left in the race they slowed down and started walking...I couldn't figure out why you would run that hard and that fast and then stop and walk.

I was bound determined to keep running the whole time. Mission accomplished. I wanted to finish. It didn't matter how long it was going to take..I was going to run the whole way.

I think what helped me finish and the same principle will help you finish and will help your kids finish.

Whatever you do or whatever you want to accomplish surround yourself with encouragers. I had many encouragers while training and while running the race. This really helped me believe in myself and believe that I could accomplish what I had come to accomplish.

I see this principle put into practice by many at school. Parents being encouragers and standing beside their children. However, I am seeing more and more parents standing on the sidelines and just standing.no encouragement. If anything it is criticism and frustration.

Kids need your encouragement each and every day. Remember to help them finish what they start, and the way to do that is to be an encourager.

As you well know I am someone who likes to have fun. This morning believe it or not I sang a song in Church from Queen, Crazy Little Thing Called Love. It was a blast!!! I think I may have scared some people but most of the people really got into it.

Are you the type of person who likes to have fun, or are you the type of person I like to call a Fuddy Duddy! Everything is soooo serious.

Believe it or not I believe in being serious, but there is a time for that and while your being serious..give it your all. But when the time comes you need to have fun and let it go.

Life is to short for you to be serious all the time. Look around you at the kids that you have in your life. If you are a teacher you have lots of kids in your life. If you are not a teacher, you may have children of your own, or you may have nieces and nephews. I challenge you to watch them during those times when they are having fun.

How do you know they are having fun? Usually they are smiling, or bent over laughing or running around til they drop from exhaustion. How do you know when people are being serious? Not running around, not smiling or laughing and usually they are sitting and not moving very much.

I love the kids at my school who misbehave. What do I mean by that? I like the awnry ones, the ones that push the envelope, the ones you have to tell them many times to walk, or be quiet. They usually are too busy having fun! What about the other kids...quiet, never getting in trouble..those are the kids that I worry about, the ones who are quiet..

What is inside those little quiet bodies? Doubt, fear, low self-esteem, shy, and unrisking. Maybe--Maybe Not! But what I do know is the kids who are boisterous and loud and engaged and have tons of friends and I am constantly engaging them whether positively or negatively...I usually know what makes them tick..

Fun...Go out and have some today...Are you smiling now???