SMS Principal Blog

  "Normal is nothing more than a cycle on a washing machine." -Whoopi Goldberg For my money, Whoopi Goldberg was at her best in Sister Act , but that's neither here nor there. As we sit here around a year from the first time any of us had any idea what a Covid was or that 19 of them were particularly bad, I think Whoopi's quote is worth contemplating. A week ago, we found out that sports seasons we had all but given up on having are immediately re-instated. Vaccines are rolling out in greater numbers, and we have all had the opportunity to put our name on the list to receive the vaccination we spent much of the last year anticipating as the way out of all this not-normal, but I find myself wondering how much of this not-normal is going to be normal going forward?  Maybe some of this not-normal is actually really good. I've already had teachers tell me they never want to go back to making hundreds or thousands of copies per week. Pushing everything onto the iPads w

 "Does it bring you joy? If you answer yes, you keep the item. If you hesitate or say no, you donate it or throw it out. It's simple, it's brilliant, and it's something that's completely intuitive." -Marie Kondo I will be the first to admit that I am not a follower of Marie Kondo, and I am guilty of keeping a lot of things simply because I feel compelled to keep them for some sentimental reason over actual necessity. I have boxes and totes of items that I have not used or even looked at in years, yet I will probably never get rid of them. Somehow doing so feels like it is erasing some part of my past or that I would be discarding some relic that my children or grandchildren may cherish in the future as some way of holding on to my memory... or something. Anyway, all of that is to say that I am aware of Marie Kondo's concepts of decluttering and that is what came to my mind as I read  this article .  We are quickly approaching the time of year where I begin

 "Maybe we should call ourselves the Febreeze Brothers because it's feeling so fresh right now." - Det. Allen Gamble My wife and I really like the movie The Other Guys  starring Mark Walberg and Will Farrell. For those of you who are not familiar, Walberg and Farrell play NYPD police detectives who are very different in their approaches to life and their work. In one scene, the two, having just had their constant arguing blow up in their faces, decide to put their difference aside, wipe the slate clean, and commit to a fresh start.  We are now faced with a similar chance to wipe the slate clean and have a fresh start. We will all get the opportunity to start the semester with all of the experience of the first semester under our belts and what I hope is renewed energy. I know that I began first semester with a lot of doubt and a sense of uncertainty. Grinding it out that way takes a toll on a person, and by the time my doubts were alleviated and that sense of uncertainty