My favorite graduate class was one on school building leadership. The professor reminded us throughout the semester the importance of motivating students and staff to enjoy what they are doing each and every day that they come into the school building. He often shared with us some quotes from Zig Ziglar who passed away yesterday. I have  a book of his quotes that I look through from time to time to remind me the importance of having a positive attitude towards life and to treat others as you would like to be treated. When situations arise with kids at school my first thought is " how would I like my child treated in this situation".
  Yesterday Forbes magazine shared their top 10 quotes from Zig Ziglar- here they are:


10) Remember that failure is an event, not a person.

9) You will get all you want in life, if you help enough people get what they want.

8) People often say that motivation doesn't last. Neither does bathing, that is why it is recommended daily.

7 ) There has never been a statue erected to honor a critic.

6) People don't buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons.

5) Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.

4) If you go looking for a friend, you are going to find them scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you will find them everywhere.

3) A goal properly set is halfway reached.

2) Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.

1)   If you can dream it, you can achieve it.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

 This is the time of the year where we hold our parent-teacher conferences for the first marking period.  I have been involved in parent -teacher conferences for 25 years as a teacher, administrator and parent.     It is important to know that everyone involved in the conferences wants the best for everyone involved and the number one priority is the student. The goal of the conference is to discuss how the year is going and the progress that has been made to date both academically and socially.  The best conference that I have been involved as  parent was  when my child's teacher sent home a list of questions to ask our son prior to the conference.  We discussed  how he felt the year was  going and if there were any questions for the teacher. He felt a part of the process and when it was over my wife and I talked with him about the conference , what was discussed , what he was doing very well in and what we could work on together.    This is the type of home/ school partnership that can lead to a productive, positive year for the child, parents and teacher.
  Have a wonderful weekend

American Education Week

 During the week of November 12-16 we will celebrate American Education Week. This is a time to celebrate the may wonderful things that go on in our public schools each and every day.  It has been a difficult time for public schools here in New York State as our teachers and administrators have had to implement a new evaluation system which emphasizes the  test scores of students to judge how we are performing as well as cutting funding to important programs like art, music and physical education .  As a building principal I see every week as "American Education Week" . When I visit classrooms I see children being challenged to reach their potential and teachers who really enjoy working with them.    This week alone our students participated in a "Mock Election", created a "Wall of Honor" to recognize our Veterans' for their service to our country and participated in a character education assembly dedicated to the theme, Thankfulness. It is too bad that things like this aren't given the same type of emphasis on teacher evaluations than one three hour test does in the spring.

 Here are some pictures of our wonderful week here at Hamagrael.

Hurricane Sandy

This week my home state of New Jersey and our own New York State has been devastated by Hurricane Sandy. It has been a rough week for many as they have lost so much and they have a long road of recovery ahead of them. At a concert on Wednesday night in Rochester New York Bruce Springsteen spoke passionately about his home state and adopted hometown of Asbury Park, I would like to share this with you.