In many of my seminars I begin by asking people to stand up and do two things. First, I ask them to greet other people as if they are unimportant. After an initial chuckle or two, there’s a dull hum as everyone walks around trying to ignore each other. Then I stop them and ask them to continue to greet people, but this time, to do it as if the people they are greeting are long-lost friends they’re glad to see. The room erupts with laughter and the volume rises as people run around, smiling, hugging, and chatting with each other.

As we think about the beginning of a new school year, how does this message resonate with you? With this in mind, I wanted to share a question from Cale Birk, a colleague in British Columbia. Cale posted the following question in a blog post titled What are the EXPERIENCES you create?

How can we make the EXPERIENCE that our (students/parents) have when they walk into our building/register at our school/go to our website, etc) SO POSITIVE that they want to communicate this experience with others?

Some useful resources that we will share:

Louise D’Amato, our Director of Special Education, will share Rita Pierson’s Every kid needs a champion TEDTalk.

We will provide all new teachers with a copy of Learn Like A Pirate.  

Some welcome back blog posts from BPS teachers

• Welcome Back to School – Mrs. Fitzpatrick – Pine Glen Grade 5
• Welcome Back Almost – Ms. Conceison – Memorial Grade 5
• Welcome Back from – Ms. Santullo – Memorial Grade 2
• Welcome to First Grade – Ms. Farmer – Francis Wyman Grade 1