001Thank you everyone for attending tonight's meeting. Uh first order would be look for approval of our agenda. >> Is there a second? >> Neil seconds. Kim makes one. >> Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I oppose the same sign. All right. Well, we've got a study session tonight. We got some eagerl looking elementary principles. Come on up, ladies and gentlemen. Beautiful. Thank you for having us. We're excited to share about our experience at MESPA Institute this year as well as just some of the individual sessions that we attended that stood out to us. Um, so you can [snorts] see we have our team picture in front of the MESPA sign. Um, but this year for us, we were just reminded that leadership's not being the loudest
002voice in the room, but amplifying the strengths and ideas and potential already present in our people through intentional communication. Um, with MESA, we get to the opportunity to gather with hundreds of principles across the state of Minnesota, which is amazing for networking and just collaboration. um as well as bringing our team together to be able to process um just after we finish sessions being able to process through some of the learning and how we can bring it back to our own schools. So, thank you for investing in our professional learning so we can reinvest in our staff as we've come back energized with just some new ideas that we're ready to share with you. >> Okay. And speaking of being energized, we are going to get up and move as you are able. But we
003are going to practice putting this concept of really amplifying our strengths um and making mistakes safe into action with a game we like to call one, two, three. So, it's going to start very simple and I'm going to ask my colleague, Principal Kenneth, to demonstrate with me. Um but we're just going to alternate saying one, two, Yep. One, two, >> three. >> One, two, three. [laughter] Okay. So now here's the little catch. If you make a mistake, you throw your hands in the air and you say, "Tada." [laughter] So, um, whoever messes up. When I say we are, that's a calm response for you to say tigers. And that just means I need you to bring it back. And then we're going to add in a new little twist. Okay? So the second round, instead
004of saying one, we're going to clap and two, three. Okay? So, oh, I'll start. >> Two, >> three, two, >> three. Okay. And so on and so forth. So, again, when I say we are and you guys say tigers and then I'm going to say now, instead of saying number two, you're going to stomp a foot. Okay? So, you need to when I say go, when I say go, you're going to find a partner. And really our goal is to amplify our strengths by making mistakes safe because I believe that if we can laugh together, we can all work together. Um, and this is just one of those things to practice this. So go find a buddy >> if you are able to. >> Oh, I saw your participation. I can't facilitator >> are you
005ready? First round. Simple. One, two, three. Go ahead. Two one [laughter] >> left two. When I think about it, I still >> twoap stop three. the same person. [laughter] >> Oh, wait. I screwed up. [cheering] >> Okay, we're going to go the hardest level. >> Oh, man. >> Okay. Clap, stomp, snap. >> This is like You want to go first? >> We are tigers. >> Okay. >> [laughter] >> Okay. So, I didn't hear lots of tadas, so you guys all must have been spot on. Um, so my reflective piece of this is in challenging seasons, which I think we can all say that um we are experiencing, right? How do we ensure our communication amplifies trust and collective problem solving rather than unintentionally creating fear around mistakes? So, how how do we do that as
006leaders in our [snorts] district? >> I don't know who's up. >> Me. >> Next. >> Wonderful. Um, so I had three different sessions. I couldn't just pick two, so I added three. Um with that I just wanted to highlight so one of which is was using AI for school leaders. So the slides are actually designed by AI um using it to kind of take my ideas create an outline and then putting them in it created the pictures and outline for the slides. So you'll notice between my own and then principal Kinn's um you will notice those were designed in just a time-saving way that we can take our ideas and have the design part of it being taken care of. So kind of just highlighting that as you look at the different slides. The first
007session I went to was redefining leadership through self-care. So the Minnesota principal survey was kind of what they grounded the session in showing just um one of the biggest challenges is staff and student mental health um that schools are facing right now across our state and that came through in the Minnesota principal survey. So, the presenters were two um mental health professionals that just shared some really um great strategies for self-care. Sometimes self-care can feel cheesy, but they really had some great ways to have practical like I have and I shared it with Tanya. got shared out with the entire district, but just a self-care menu that you can pull from for a daily, a weekly, or even a monthly reset, just to have some practical ways um that as you disconnect from work at
008school um being able to be present when you come home um and just some simple things from breathing to just some strategies that you can use. So, I took that one step further and just kind of with my own staff, I um took some of the other resources between podcasts and books I've dug into and been able to share kind of a self-care guide. um for them to utilize as well. Just 10 ways that they can practice that. And we're in the middle of our self-care challenge right now. So, just different things they can do from walking to connecting with um a friend and then each day they're able to just have that be a goal and at the end there's some fun prizes if they participate. So, just a fun way to make that
009real for staff. But that is a challenge that we are all facing and how can we have just self-care is one of those steps that we can um support our staff with. The next one, uh, Christy and I got to go to the same session, which was AI for school leaders. So, I'll try not to steal her thunder. Um, but I think what was really great was the intentionality as well as being ethical with the use of AI. Um, but bringing that clarity, consistency, and efficiency across our school operations. Um, and so Groovy Education was the presenter, and they had a great road map of about 10 different ways that we could use it as school leaders. So for me, I'm going to highlight a couple of the ways that I have found value in
010it and ways that they enhanced it through the session we went to. So data analysis, um, being able just to take that raw data and analyze it, um, and being able to ask questions and have it summarize or bring different viewpoints to the data you're looking at. Um, in the session, it also showed how you can disconnect student names from it. So if you needed to have the student names connected to the data, it showed how you can do that um without having that confidentiality broke. So that was a great strategy if we wanted to connect that back and maybe look at groups of kids and over time. So that was a neat way that I had not seen before. Another one is I know principal Johnson and I have where we have our district
011policies and then we have our behavior matrix and we have those tied in. So we go into Gemini which is Google's version of AI and you can ask if this scenario came up what would be based on district policy and our behavior matrix um different ways that we should be handling it. So it gives a really great strategies for us as leaders to have that consistency but referencing policy and our matrix in those ways. So those are a couple pieces that came out. One that was new for me was [snorts] he just emphasized how great it is to have AI as a thought partner. So being able to say, "Ask me questions about X so I can better understand how I might find a solution to it." So having AI ask you questions to think
012and process and once you input that information, it's able to help make a better decision. So that was a really cool way. Another one he talked about was highlighting maybe you want these two educational thought leaders and I want you to look at the problem through their lens. So we'll go out and research from their perspectives and their work and then be able to look at a problem that way. So, that was a really cool um way that I found that kind of enhanced my current use of that and I've been able to bring that back for staff. And then the last session that Thank you. Um was it was a district's presentation and they just shared how to take PLC's kind of to the next level. Um, so they were focused on improving literacy
013and they talked about how they went from just admiring the data. So they talked about how 85% of their data meetings were spent admiring the data and about 15% were talking about action where they kind of flipped that model into really looking at the data but spending the rest of it within their PLC model really creating action plans on how they can make sure they're responding with high quality instruction. so that they kind of laid out their roadmap that they used and some of the great successes that they had. Um, some of them were in the data, but a lot of them were building that collective efficacy that I know we've talked a lot about as we present it to the board. So, one of the things that I thought was really great, they kind
014of reframed it. So, they talked about challenges versus goals. So, maybe a challenge that they're currently having is they want to amplify student voice in the classroom and that's a challenge. So, how can they do that? So with our model of instruction, um they might be able to look at some of their um strategies they could use and then as a team they apply those and being able to then at the end present that but also this district talked a lot about how that open door where other staff wanted to see the things they were doing too. So it created that culture of learning and building leaders of instruction within. So I thought it was a really great model. We've gotten a couple of the resources already to start taking a look at it how
015we can apply some of those principles to enhance our PLC model as well. So, >> thank you. >> And as Principal Krueger had talked about, I went to that same chat GPT um meeting. It was it what I what I put in here was more of how I was going to take it back and use it right away. So, in my emails, I've always used it in my emails. Um, and if you know me, you know I kind of just say it like it is and and sometimes that doesn't always get taken very well. So, I try to just type it in my email and and what I do then is I cut and paste it into chat GPT and I say professionally and positively reward it because then I have all of the things
016that help make it sound better. So, one of the things they talked talked about there was that when we send messages to staff, it either builds the trust in with our staff or it can erode it. I don't want to erode it. I've built a lot of trust with staff. So, this was one of the ways that I can use it that way. Um, it also can add clarity to situations versus adding confusion to it. So just having it all just kind of rewritten through chat GPT I feel like um it it really helped me build what I know I needed to with staff if if they needed that clarity with you know asking questions through emails I usually go right to the staff person however sometimes it's a quick answer and this helps to
017get it to that clarity point for everyone to understand. Um, [snorts] and then also one of the other things, and I haven't done it yet, but with observations, we can also use like the Gemini and we can plug in like our HRS that we've been working on and use that to go into our observations. So, I will oftent times plug in my notes when I take um and go into classrooms and I take I take notes there for evaluations and I'll say add one or tell me one growth area and one strength from the notes that I've given it. and I usually get like a real it's pretty spot-on what I can get from that. So that I've used that too, but that was um one of the things. And then the contracts contracts are
018confusing and so if we plug in like like you said into Gemini, you can get like if I asked it a question, it would go through all of the contracts and give me an answer. And I know I can trust an answer because it's all right there. We've we've downloaded everything. Um which one was it? So this one here I really like too. Lavana Roth, she was one of our keynote speakers and she does um it's called Shine. And so she had it's s h i n e and then each one. So shine lead more intentionally um with heart improve the way you work with people. Inspire your team to go above and beyond. Navigate to make better people decisions and exceptional um elevate organizational performances. So, she also went through some things like like
019the one, two, three. Um, and she also did another one where we were did some drawings and things. So, I think that was her, maybe not. Um, but that that one was really a a great keynote to just know that we all take care of ourselves and we all bring a lot of shine to our job. [snorts] >> So, I went in now are going to be implementing the new 2022 standards. [snorts] So our last standards were of 2007. It's called 2020 2022 because that's when I first started working on those standards. Now we need to be implementing them. So what can I do to become a better instructional leader of my school? That's where I had all my focus was on math. Those of you who are familiar with MDE, this is Sarah um
020Vanderwarf. Phenomenal. Um it was great to connect with her. Had lunch with her. went to a lot of her sessions to grow as a leader, learning from her, and she completely inspired me and I was able to bring that back to the staff. Go ahead and click there. Yep. I didn't do mine in Canva. I did it in Google Slides. So, I'm a little bit different. >> You didn't use AI. >> And I did not use AI on this. No, because I have specific things that I really want to share that I'm excited about. All right. [laughter] So, here's a little about Sarah. um the standards, the 2007 standards to the 2022. And it's really interesting. Um there's a lot of area growth for us here within Albertly as to how to teach the math
021because it's not so much about the procedure, it's about the conceptual understanding. You can go ahead Darcy or I suppose I could do it too. All right, we're going to watch a threeminut video and this is Howie Hua and he has the algorithm instructional >> I mean the conceptual understanding. So enjoy this next 3 minutes and you'll understand. >> This comment on social media when I share a different way of thinking. So here's my response to this. First, I think we all want the same thing for students to be good at math. But what does it mean to be good at math? Now this is where our ideas and values may differ. For example, someone can say I value speed and I value if they get the right answer. Whereas others may say, I value
022if they can do it in different ways. I value if they can visualize it. So as long as our values are different, of course there's going to be tension. Now, I can only speak for myself, but for me, I think there needs to be a balance between procedural fluency and conceptual understanding. So, let's talk about addition. Let's do 17 + 18 with these blocks. So, with these blocks, how many sets of 10 and how many ones can we make? Well, we have two sets of 10 already, but we can make another set of 10 with the ones. So, we can see that we can make three tens and five ones. So, the answer is 35. So when they get to the algorithm they can understand what carry the one means. Carry the one means that
023we are regrouping 10 1's as one set of 10. And by the way this visual counts as math. Math is not just about numbers and symbols. Math is so visual that we miss out on a huge portion of math if we just focus on the algorithms. There's so much conceptual understanding that can be explained through visuals. Now let's do one more example. This time with the multiplication algorithm. Say a student did 37 * 25 perfectly like this. Now afterward if you ask them what's 38 * 25 and they do the algorithm again. Well, they got the procedure down. But do they understand multiplication conceptually? Because someone can say well I know 37 25s is 925. 38 25s is just one more 25 than this. So the answer is 950. So I think we get a
024lot of false positives in math class where we say yes they got the right answer. They understand this topic but their conceptual understanding isn't quite there yet. So if we go straight to the algorithm every time students might say just do the algorithm when we should just take a step back and say okay think about the problem first. The algorithm is one way of approaching the problem not the only way of approaching the problem. And by the way I was all about memorization when I was in college. I thought that to be good at math all I needed to do was memorize formulas, theorems, definitions and I would be great. And I did well with that mindset. I graduated with a degree in math, graduated with honors, but on graduation day, I felt so bad
025because I'm like, I have nothing to show for this because all I did was just memorize for a test, forget about it, and repeat semester after semester. So, I tell students I don't want them to feel as bad as I did when I graduated. So, students deserve to understand what's happening in math and not just rely on memorization. And I'm being completely honest here. If the only goal is to get the right answer, just use a calculator. Why waste time? So overall, learning takes time, it's not a race. And also, math is so much more than algorithms. If we keep pushing algorithms, students might think that to be good at math, all they need to do is memorize algorithms. Kind of like what I was thinking when I was in college. But there are so
026many ways of being good at math. For example, being good at one of these eight mathematical practices. So math is so much more than algorithms. >> So I hope that gives you a little bit of flavor of where we're going with this 2022 standards, the work we have to do with teachers and educators and then al ultimately with our students. So to help us understand a little bit about this the conceptual understanding, I'm going to introduce you to a slow reveal graph. So a slow reveal reveal graph is begins with a stripped down version of a graph showing only the data without any context labels or titles. Then slowly I'm going to add more for you to try to understand the meeting. Dr. Hy, you were at this one. I thought this was a good
027one so you can't spoil it. Okay. Um there we go. All right. Take a look at this graph. What do you notice? What do you wonder? What patterns do you see? Can two people share, please? That wherever you start, the line seems to be the variable seems to follow it down. >> One more. What do you >> data? Yeah. >> Yeah. Now, what if I reveal a little bit more for you? What new information did we just learn? Does it change your thinking about this graph? >> The years. What do you think this graph is about now? indicates a conglomerate development. You show a little bit more. What information did we just learn? Does it change your thinking about this graph? What does 1,00 billion mean? >> Why do you think these numbers are recorded
028this way? What information did we just learn? Does it change your thinking about this graph? >> Right. Right. >> Why do you think the patterns we observed earlier are happening? Why was there such a big increase followed by a decrease in total sales? So, we're gaining understanding. We're going through, we're really thinking about it. We're not going directly to an algorithm or a formula. Really getting that thought process going to build the understanding. So, we have a huge shift in our standards and this is going to take a lot of work on our educators part to really help our students. Looking at the standard shift in practice, here's our eight mathematical practices. Look at those first words. Make, reason, construct, model, use, attend, look for, express. A whole different way of thinking around our math.
029But think about once kids explore students explore math in this way, think about the great understanding they're going to have to be able to apply that and be able to move further in their mathematical studies. So in talking with Sarah, I'm like, "Okay, what can I do?" She's like, "Well, Kim, your kindergarten, first grade already been teaching the new standards, right?" I'm like, "They will as soon as I get back from ESPA. Tell me why." So you can see in the transition year in our 2025 2026 year under instruction, it's focused on the standards implementation in grades kindergarten, first grade, and 9th grade. Anybody have a guess why? Those will be the students who will be taking the new MCA standards in third grade. So we need to prepare them starting this school year. And
030it's all about using their words. It's all about how we approach math. It's about how we look at it instead of just teaching an algorithm. >> It's a [snorts] nth grade because of MCAs or not MCAS but >> ACTs. Yeah. >> Questions, comments, thoughts. >> So is this kind of very intriguing, right? But is this kind of the thought pattern? You know, how you've heard over years, well, you hear students say, well, I don't like I don't need math. I won't need math. And so the interest dies early on. So if they keep this interest, the the philosophy is they keep the interest on things that are happening or they're involved in on a daily basis that will >> well think about how it increases the curiosity, right? and then the student discourse and then
031increases engagement and then ultimately you're going to see that because they're going to better understand math >> and be able to take those skills and then be able to >> um morph them as they go through and get up to calculus right >> so we need to really understand the why the how before that algorithm >> and then maybe through their learning they'll get to the al algorithm and go oh I got there so it'll be neat to see how it does but first the mind shift changes with us as we go through Sarah's done a phenomenal job she's a one stop shop um with oodles of links that we can go to and she's working on a little webinar about 5 10 minutes for each of the standards and each of the grades that
032we can go to because sometimes when you read it you don't really understand that standard and what they're really asking for. So we can click on there. She also has a site for administrators. The first video is kind of long. It's 45 minutes but it's really good. So, it's lots of great information that we can we can take as better leaders to better educate our the staff so we can ultimately help our students master these math skills. So, lots of great mathematical learning. >> One more question or statement. Is there is there some guidance for parents because we hear like at some point I can't help my kids with homework anymore because I don't know the math. >> So, is there some guidance from her on how parents can engage that? >> Yes, I'm sure.
033I haven't looked into that yet, but I'm sure that there is. But I think a lot of it too when we talk to parents how math is different. So like um the example I use like in teaching second grade is like 8 plus two, right? And how do you get to that answer? And so we talk about students, you know, finding that um friendly number, right? So we can take our five and pull it apart into two plus three. Well, we know 8 plus two is 10. So then adding that three is a 13. But we now are so automatic as adults. But if we slow down our own mathematical thinking, we're like, "Wait, we already do this." But we've just been doing it for so long that we don't realize that our brain is
034actually doing that until we slow it down. >> So having those conversations with parents is is essential. >> So Paul, is this kind of math you use in your office? >> You know, I ask you that. So I I guess I I always look at this and just curious what they're going to try to reinvent next. I mean, and you know, to really get to that fourth and fifth level of learning anyway. It's more being able to teach it back to a person, you know, that's why it almost seems like in this deal, they're they're tearing it apart, you know, at the beginning of it and almost confusing you at the beginning instead of getting you to the end and then teaching you why you're at the end instead of trying to almost have the
035end project here and here's the answer. And it's like non-dramatic. 8 plus 2 is 10. Okay. So what kind of like that uh 37 * 25 could have been very easily figured out a,000 minus 75 isn't now that's how I think and maybe a lot of us did instead of you know tearing it apart but I remember when my wife was as a par in the schools and just you know the different new math techniques that would come home and I wouldn't say I question him but I sure looked at him and thought gosh it almost seems like we're making this harder than it really should be. Nothing against the standards. >> No, no, but it's gaining that understanding where you already have that procedural understanding, but we have to get our students to understand
036that conceptual understanding to get to where you're at for that procedure, right? So, we've got to get them there >> and then we hope they can bring it back to your application. That's again, that's why I wanted to ask because I know how I think about I'm talking about acres of land and you're looking out there and you know how how it all flows. Dave, you do that every day, too. So anyway, just my thoughts. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> And I think we've known we need to teach the visualization more and conceptual. And those of us who studied under Joe Bowler from Stanford, that's exactly what she's been saying. So finally, the standards are changing. Yes. >> To meet >> that kids need to be able to understand why they're doing that algorithm. So >>
037awesome. >> Before we get to that algorithm. Yeah. Yep. Absolutely. Just one other comment. So these standards are all again each state would be different with their standards, right? >> Yes. Minnesota didn't adopt common core standards. They created that. >> Okay. [laughter] And I guess my thought it's probably more of a thought that you could probably attach a a title to, but I guess I'm sitting back and I'm wondering these people that are developing these standards, you know, we I can probably see you guys for sure can see where they're going with these standards. I can almost see, but like I said, you know, are we making it too difficult to get to the answer of 925 or 10? And what do the kids really need 10 or 925 when they're standing at the cash
038register making change? So, I don't know. You know, Mary Joe, you you did helped with all the the different types of learning and all that. I just it seems like it uh I don't know. Well, like I said, I like to see us get to that higher levels of thinking, but I question where we're at with some of these standards, too. So, >> but how are we going to get to that higher level thinking unless we have that basic conceptual understanding, right? Kind of like in that example of um 37 multiplied by 25, right? The next person, are they going to have to do the um algorithm again when they do 38 multiplied by 20 25 or they going to realize I can take 37 multiply by 25, which is 925, add 25 onto it?
039Now I know that's 950. So really getting that understanding of that matter. >> You used to call that the associative property, didn't they? Or something like >> there it is. [laughter] >> Somebody get a doctor for >> any other. >> So I'm curious going to wrap up and mine honestly. >> I just had one. Well, mine's more >> Yeah. global >> around the whole thing. So maybe I'll let you wrap up and then I'll ask the question. >> Yeah. No, I just attended a session on PLC's. PLC's, I've talked about this many times with you before, is the vehicle where a lot of important work talks about um just kind of flipping it on its head like Zach was saying, you know, team spend a lot of time analyzing their data. We're really data rich,
040but um from some of the sessions I went to, we've really been engaging in strategy review and tying that strategy review to our instructional model. So knowing what strategies are having impact and really trying to put a magnifying glass on those strategies and how can we bag borrow steel from those classrooms who have you know effective strategies in place because their data is showing that but we need to be able to say this was a strategy that led to this outcome and it's kind of been a I guess a little bit of a winding path to get there but I think we're finally in a place where we're kind of moving in that direction. We're able to identify those strategies and put a spotlight on it. So that is um everything I just said in
041a nutshell. [laughter] Um and again just thank you for the opportunity to attend MESA. It really is a great um experience for us to connect with our colleagues to empower us to reinvigorate us in our practice and come back with some really tangible things to lead more effectively um here for Albertly Area Schools. So thank you. My my question was maybe just answered, but I was curious if you're given opportunities for um nonstructured or just organic engagement with your colleagues um from other schools and kind of learn from each other. Is that part of this too? >> Yeah, we got to eat lunch. It was amazing. [laughter] It was really amazing. >> It was warm. We got to eat lunch and it was warm. But during lunch, I think was really great because we sat
042I think of one of the days we sat with the principal had been principal 25 years in Minnetonka and we were able to sit and just kind of talk to him about his journey and ask some questions that we were so that was one of many of those just elbow bumpy moments of being able to breakfast or lunch and sharing a table with people across the state. So I think that was one of many times and um at different meals in the evenings as well and different times too. So, >> and I think never are you in a room where literally everyone you are surrounded with does your same job every single day. >> Um, and what a powerhouse and a fortunate experience just to be there. Like even if you're getting a call from
043your building, you have a million shoulders you can tap and say, "Hey, what are we going to do about this?" or whatever have you. Yeah. So, a lot of those organic conversations do happen in passing or at meal times, but >> they also do that boom session thing on the last day, >> which isn't I guess there's structure to it because you kind of have to like submit for a boom session, but it's these like quick little like strategies, tips, tricks you can take and they're like 5 to 10 minutes in a boom session and that's all presented by our colleagues. I mean there's breakouts that are obviously presented by our colleagues as well, but you have to submit I think like at the end of the year survey honestly is when you start you
044could submit to be a breakout next year right now. So um we learn from them in that way too. >> They have v vendors there as well which it was good to connect with some companies we already partner with to be able to ask those questions of hey we're experiencing this with your tool help us understand this a little bit better. So, those are some good moments, too. Different vendors that were available to talk to. >> From Brandon from >> Yeah. >> Here, Strawberry Bridge. >> Even like our premier furniture guy, >> John was >> John's there. >> We're like, "Hey, those little pegs are on the desks aren't staying up." You know, he >> Yeah, exactly. I'm wondering, you know, after spending time with colleagues, what did you leave the conference with a sense
045of reinforcing strengths of district 241, but also maybe some areas that need attention? What what's your thoughts on that? I think um I can probably say that what I noticed is that things we're we're all working on a lot of the most similar things >> and a lot of our strengths are strengths that I see across the state too. Um one of the things I know that we have to work on is how we work with our tiered system, our tier one, tier two, tier three. you know that was so I was I was personally picking the brains of a lot of people and how that functions elsewhere because they've seen a lot of success and they do it very much different than we do. So that was that was one of the things that
046I had talked to a lot of people about. Um I collect a lot of names and numbers and emails through the whole thing to to reconnect with other people too. We also are part of the elevate leadership and so that gives us another way of connecting with a lot of um principles that are in their first five years of the job. >> Yep. >> And I'm sure Gary you can guess what I brought back to the school leadership team at home >> the math standards [laughter] the math standards and vertical alignment and ensuring that K1 are implementing what they need to implement. The other thing I would say too is and I would encourage that for you all. Uh and Kim and I talk about this the life of a college dean. I mean and
047I think it's the same with these administrative positions. They they are impossible jobs to do and you've got to find a way to get some balance because you're going to you're going to end up being far more effective and I think happy in your work if you commit some time to that self-c care because without it you're going to be burnt out and you're not going to be as effective. And so, you know, we just have to accept the fact these are just challenging, almost impossible jobs to do and that self-help will definitely >> something too that I did hear that it is a tough job and I'm not alone in this tough job. I mean, I have all of you guys here, too. We're not alone in this tough job. Um, but at the
048end of the day, you know, I go home to my family and spend my time there and that's and I have to let myself do that. So, and I and I think hearing that from from people there too just solidified that we are doing the right thing when we all go home and do that. We stop we stop work at some time and we finish the evening with our family. There was a boom session the last day that probably inspired me tying to that was just he talked about it was a Steve Nash study about how they tracked how many times he gave a fist bump and high five across multiple games and talked about the impact on his team and the success that they had. Um and it reminded me because he tied it
049back to as a principal. It's the high fives, the fist bumps and the hugs that you get as you walk through the hallway. And I think so often we sometimes get caught up in the job but really forget why we do what we do. And I think it was a good reminder that last session to knowing that sometimes on the tough ones it's going into kindergarten lunch. It's the fist bumps and the high fives in the hallway. It's the moments that why we have aligned our passions thinking about shine passions and talents to be able to serve kids. Um, so I think that was just a great reminder too that even in the tough ones, self-care is really, really important, but it's just coming back and grounding in why we're doing what we do. So
050>> sometimes I wonder too, are we uh, you know, from a a common sense practical standpoint? Are we trying to make it too hard on us? You know, can I ask this across the state? Are test scores going down or they going up? Are we making it too hard and too difficult with some of these standards and there's nothing you guys can do, nothing we can do, but as like Zach said, when you look back at it, sometimes it's the simple things that makes the kids feel good. It don't matter about what, but they'll go home and they'll feel good about that. And that might help their learning of the, you know, associative property, call it whatever you want now, in in math and how it works. So that's that's always been my concern as
051we continue. I was a teacher 40 years ago and it was darn hard then. I want to say something else and it it wasn't and I was in physical education and health. It wasn't getting any easier because there was always 1.3 and 3 3A and B and C and that was 40 years ago and I hate to see how it's morphed today which again makes it difficult which again do we need to step back and get simpler to let the kids just learn and not be kids but you know move forward with their life too. >> Well said. >> Less is more right. Less is more. >> We don't change those. >> I know. Awesome. >> It's always great to go to a conference like you said, you got all the professionals around you that
052are seeing the same thing and appreciate you bringing it back and I'm sure your staffs do, too. So, thank you very It must have been pretty lonely in the schools that day. >> Okay. [laughter] They got a week off, didn't they? [laughter] Thank you very much. >> You bet. >> All right. Um, that's brought us to a journment. Just before I adjourn, I ask for a motion for that. Our future meetings, you'll see our next regular session will be March 16th at 5:00 PM here and then uh study session April 6th. Also 5:00 PM right back here in the boardroom. And uh so I'll look for Oh, and I'll just make one quick announcement too. I don't think anyone will be able to go to the day at the cap, but if anyone wants to,
053I've got to go up Sunday, so I'm not really good for a ride. I've got meetings. But if you're interested, let me know. I can hook you up. It It'll start about uh I think it's 8 or 8:30 in the morning on Monday, next Monday up at uh whatever the History Center, Minnesota History Center. So without that I'll look for a motion to adjourn.