HMS Coaching Connection

Welcome to our fall newsletter for the HMS Staff.

The work you do each day as an educator is so important, and at times so overwhelming also.

The fact that we are back in the physical environment of daily school makes some things easier, but some things are harder. It sometimes feels like others want us just forget all that we have been through and just endlessly add more and more things to our plates.

Teaching is one of the most complex professions that exist.

If people disagree, perhaps it is because they never did the job at all, or for very long, or maybe because they never did it well.

When you teach well, you create change in human beings and impact the future.

That is a heavy responsibility.

It is easy to feel like you are trying to make a difference each day, but sometimes we wonder if we really are.

Aussie blogger Tim Denning his article, "The Most Important Way to Measure Your Day" talks about the danger of measuring your day based on what you do, and instead he suggests that you focus on two simple questions as a way to measure a successful day:

1. Did I learn one new thing today?

2. Did I help or inspire one person?

He goes on to say, "Impact is what is measured far beyond the days you have on Earth. Your to-do list won’t be remembered in one hundred years' time, but the impact you had on the lives of your fellow human beings will be remembered beyond your physical existence."

It is a good message to hear and remember as educators.

We designed this fall newsletter around the acronym "CHIPS."

You probably have heard the expression, "All That and a Bag of Chips."

One story credits that phrase to Subway restaurant. The very first Subway shop was named "Pete's" in honor of Peter Buck who partnered with Fred DeLuca. The shop offered freshly baked bread with a variety of cold cuts and condiments for a bargain price. A bag of chips was included in the price, so you got "all that and a bag of chips."

It reminds us about the work of teachers who are asked to do "all the things and a bag of chips."

We appreciate all that you do every day for our students and our colleagues that goes unnoticed.

Enjoy this newsletter!

Kind regards,

~Donna and Christen

Dori Hammer published her first book called, "Lost and Found from Underground" in October 2022.

In January 2021, Dori began writing the first chapters of her book whose characters are based on her three children and herself.

Here's what is written on the back cover of the book: "While tasked with removing boxes of junk from their grandparent's barn...Huntley and his twin sisters, Callie and Emma, discover a metal detector from their mother's childhood. After showing their mom the metal detector, she snatches it away, saying it's too dangerous for them to use. However, curiosity drives the trio to find the detector and try it out for themselves."

Copies are available directly from Dori.

There is even a second book in the works! To receive updates about the release of book #2, sign up for the newsletter at www.lostandfoundfromunderground.com

In September 2022, Greg Eckert found out that he had won a $1,000.00 Tanger Grant from the Hershey Outlets. He was one of four local award winners in our area.

The money will fund flexible seating in his classroom which was a project that he submitted for funding consideration.

That TangerKids Grant program is an annual program is open to public and private schools from pre-K to grade 12.

On September 14, 2022, Tanger Hershey team members visited Hershey Middle School, Northern Lebanon High School, Palmyra Area School District, and E.H. Phillips Elementary to present winners with a check and celebrate the school's educators and students.

For the first time this year, TangerClub members were invited to vote in a Member Choice poll this year, allowing them to join Tanger Outlets Hershey in making a positive impact by helping to select the winning projects, which were all submitted by local teachers.

In October 2022, Edutopia published an article called, "Using Video as a Coaching Tool with First-Year Teachers."

The article features the collaborative work of Christina Miller (new teacher), Kate Frentz (mentor teacher), Sarah O'Brien (department chair), and Donna Spangler (instructional coach).

The article talks about how Instructional coaches can use video to help new teachers learn through self-reflection and collaboration with more experienced colleagues and how to break down silos that naturally exist in any organization due to the barriers of schedules and teaching assignments by using video and the professional learning platform of Sibme.

Schools are desperate to find teachers and substitutes.

If you need a chuckle today, listen as Devin shares his take (and solution) on this situation as a "representative" from Subway!

Shared by Clint Pulver.

Clint Pulver is an Emmy Award-winning professional keynote speaker, author, musician, pilot, and workforce expert.

Known as the leading authority on employee retention, Clint has transformed how corporations like Keller Williams, AT&T, and Hewlett Packard create lasting loyalty through his work and research as the Undercover Millennial gathering the secrets of great management from companies of all sectors and sizes.

He is the author of the book, "I Love It Here" which shares solution-based principles behind every organization that people never want to leave. He talks about looking where others see problems and capturing the power of small moments to create a meaningful legacy through empowering individuals in the workplace.

According to Pulver, "Any company can be more than simply a fancy facade. It can be a place that has an authentic core built on valuing the individual -- a place where people don't just survive but thrive."

The greatest part about your role in leadership or education is that it matters. The hardest part is that it matters every day.

"Donna & Christen's Professional Development" (DCPD) has now gone On Demand!

As we are working with PLCs this year on personalized professional learning, we thought it might be helpful to share out both topics and resources that teachers are requesting in other PLCs.

So far, we have met with each PLC twice for professional learning.

We will continue to add to this resource as it grows throughout the year.

We warn you that it is just in its beginning phases so it is "Under Construction!" We have not yet got in everything from our October meetings with PLCs for instruction.

Please feel free to check it out.

To access: Click on the image below to view DCPD's On Demand website or the embedded link.

Here's a Take 5 to Thrive from Christen for this month!

To access: Click the image below to view the Take 5 to Thrive full screen & click on the interactive links.

Being part of a PLC allows educators to directly improve teaching and learning as part of a collaborative content-area or skills-alike group.

The way your PLC runs its meetings may be similar to or different from the way other PLCs do.

We asked core PLCs if any would be willing to share with us an agenda snapshot of their choice to include in this newsletter.

Many PLCs volunteered to do so. (Thank you!)

Perhaps seeing the expertise and organization of another PLCs agenda may spark an idea that your PLC may want to adapt or adopt.

There are lots of great ideas and structures in these PLC snapshots. We have a lot that we can learn from each other, and we are better together.

If your core or encore PLC has an agenda snapshot of a meeting that you would be willing to share with us, please do so.

We would love it include it in an upcoming newsletter!

Donna Spangler (Instructional Coach, Grades 6-8)

Christen Manari (Instructional Technology Coach, Grades K-12)

"EVERY TEACHER DESERVES A COACH!"

Email: dspangler@hershey.k12.pa.us
Location: Hershey Middle School, Homestead Road, Hershey, PA, USA