Greetings Doty Families!

On Friday I stayed home with a cold that before Covid, I would have powered through and come to work anyway. My very Vermont mother raised me with the idea that you had to be “sick enough” or “hurt enough” to make missing work acceptable. The Covid rules taught me to change that thinking, to stay home and take care of myself. And the darndest thing is, when you stay home and rest, you actually get better faster.

It’s so important to think about and reflect upon the ideas we have had about how things “should” be. Are we just holding onto beliefs or practices because that is the way things have always been or because they continue to be best practice? These are questions that I am constantly asking myself and that we are constantly asking here at Doty. The “what” of anything is often the least important part. What matters most is that we think about the “why” behind those “whats”. We need to make sure that our “why” isn’t outdated. Time has proven my mother to be right about a great many things but not everything. Time and reflection will prove the same about teaching and learning.

One thing that we do with a very good why is celebrate kindness throughout the month of November. We know that empathy and positive relationships are what make school work, students who feel connected and cared for are learning students. And, it’s a key part of the Doty Magic!

As always, thank you for sharing your students with us!

Gillian

Hello Doty Parents and Students. Everybody seems tired this week. The extra excitement of Halloween and evening activities have added to the fatigue. I’m happy that we got an extra hour of sleep this past weekend with the time change