Everybody Come Every Day

Everybody come every day.
Everybody come every day.
We'll skip and run and have a lot of fun
Everybody come every day.

We sang those words every day in kindergarten. Looking back I realize that it was the teacher's way of helping students avoid unnecessary absenteeism.

As I look at the weeks ahead in school and think of professional commitments, I realize that it's most important that, as much as possible, I'm in school every day too. Being there matters as it's the consistent, daily practice and building of skill, concept, and knowledge that matters. When we miss lessons, we miss out on good teaching.

That doesn't mean that teachers shouldn't make time for good professional learning too. It's important that teachers take a few days each year to study and learn in order to keep their teaching up to date. But, I've had my share of professional days this year with lots of worthy learning during the fall months. Now I'll focus heavily on helping my young math students prepare for state tests and learn the standards with depth, commitment, and care too.