Monday Memo
May 28th - June 1st, 2018
"The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men, the conviction and the will to carry on." -Walter Lippman
Team,
Between pool parties, game nights, chores and a concert tonight, by any measure, the Littles fully embraced the time off. I am grateful to have been able to be fully present in those moments with my family and friends. I hope all of you were able to do the same.
As the year draws to a close, it is important for all of us to set some time aside to reflect on our focus this year. Collectively look at your data and that of your team to determine how well you performed. Celebrate the areas of success, and for the areas not yet where we want them to be, set goals to improve.
- Knowledgeably speak about our current practices that contribute to McGowen becoming a Level 2 Certified High Reliability School.
- Engage in collaborative team planning and lesson design that addresses the four essential questions of a PLC.
- Present lessons in such a way that students understand and can speak knowledgeably about posted learning and language targets.
As you are working on report cards, please make sure that you adhere to our standard of including a glow and grow specific to each child's learning goals. If you can copy and paste a comment to use with more than one or two students, the comment is probably not specific enough. Another critical thing to remember is to take the proofing process seriously. We build in the time to proof each other's work because missing grades and grammatical errors are just not acceptable. While it is tempting to ignore this step, I genuinely ask that you refrain from taking this shortcut.
Please remember that you cannot have enough structure or supervision these last two weeks of school. Unstructured time and meaningless tasks are recipes for disaster. These last few days of school might be where the saying, "An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure," got its start. Be purposeful and present these last few days with your students, and everyone will get to enjoy the time.
Make today count, and take care of each other!
JL
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Operation Converge 2018 is now listed in Eduphoria for registration! Teachers will receive their 6 hour GT update credit for both days of Converge. We have some exciting things planned for this innovative 2-day event. Check out the CONVERGE WEBSITE for more information on our plan for this summer and the link for breakout session proposals!
Don’t miss out! It’s going to be AMAZING!!
Links for registration:
Day 1-
https://eduphoria.mckinneyisd.net/wshop/default.aspx?cid=17156
Day 2-
https://eduphoria.mckinneyisd.net/wshop/default.aspx?cid=17157
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Region 10 Roadshow
As you know, McKinney ISD will be hosting Region 10 summer PD sessions. I am including Sessions at a Glance for a quick look at what is being offered as well as session descriptions if you are interested in something but need more information. Please let me know if you have any questions.
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Action Items
- Sign up for EOY check-out at 3:30pm on Tuesday, May 29th
- MVM names due by EOD, Wednesday, May 30th
- Collect grade level writing samples by EOY
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Shoparoo
Did you know that each week I give out jeans passes to the three highest scoring staff members on Shoparoo? I know that many of you have already joined, but if you haven't, it is not too late. Simply go to www.shoparoo.com to create your account. Please feel free to push this information out to your parents as well.
Congratulations to Barbara Peebles, Laura Garro and Jennifer Little for being the highest three staff contributors to Shoparoo this week!
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Focus for 2017 - 2018
In order to help all children achieve their personal best, McGowen teachers and staff will:
- Knowledgeably speak about our current practices that contribute to McGowen becoming a Level 2 Certified High Reliability School.
- Engage in collaborative team planning and lesson design that addresses the four essential questions of a PLC.
- Present lessons in such a way that students understand and can speak knowledgeably about posted learning and language targets.
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Remind for Staff
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APPRECIATIONS
- A-Team - Thank you for the time and effort you put into organizing and setting up the Senior Breakfast. You are simply amazing! -JL
- Sunshine Committee - Many thanks to you for organizing a fabulous Volunteer Appreiation Luncheon. I appreciate all the effort you put into making it such a success. -JL
- Lynn – Thank you for all your help with our 5th grade Bridging Ceremony. -JD
- McKeen – Thank you doing my car rider duty on Wednesday. -JD
- P.I. McCartney – 5th grade owes you big time for your quick P.I. skills. If teaching doesn’t work out for you, private investigator is a must for you! -JD
- Donna – Your support and kind words last week meant more to me than you know. Thank you Donna. -JD
- JB – Thank for taking care of me last week when I couldn’t get it together. -JD
- Cab – Thank for always being a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on. -JD
- JL – Thank for doing the shopping at Walmart for me! It was a huge task and I really appreciate you for taking it on. -JD
- Sunshine Crew – Thank you so much for all you did to put together the wonderful volunteer luncheon. It was amazing and enjoyed by all! - Michelle C.
- Lori – Thank you for covering my duty on Monday! I appreciated it so much! - Michelle C.
- MB – Thank you for setting up the senior breakfast so we could leave after the interview. It was so helpful! - Michelle C.
- JD – Thank you for taking care of me when I was getting sick. You just happened to be in the right place and the right time and took great care of me and I appreciated your kindness! - Michelle C.
- Michelle H. - Thank you for sharing with me what you did on Friday. It meant a lot to me. - Michelle C.
- SL - Sorry I didn’t get this out in last Monday memo but it had to be said. Thank you so much for taking your time out to talk to me about Staar and making me feel at ease about the test even though you were so very busy. Your the Best. Karol K.
- Sunshine Committee You all did such a beautiful job on the volunteer luncheon. Karol K.
- Thank you Jamie, Michelle and Tanya for the fans when my A/C went out!! You are the best! – Tebo
- Thank you Garro for providing a text book assistant!! – Tebo
- Trisha & the Sunshine Committee: WOW!! What an amazing turn out of food and volunteers! You all completely outdid yourselves. Our volunteers definitely felt our appreciation for them! Thank you for all of your hard work!!!! -Melanie H
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End of the Year Information
Yearbook Signing w/ A-Team
Tuesday, June 5th - Learning Commons
2nd grade - 8:05-8:25am
Kinder - 8:20-8:40am
1st grade - 8:40-9:00am
3rd grade - 9:00-9:20am
5th grade - 9:20-9:40am
4th grade - 9:40-10:00am
Hallway Supervision
Please make sure each of you are taking your students to specials, recess and lunch as well as picking them up. Knowing what we know about students and their behaviors, poor choices are frequently made during transitions and unstructured times. If we know this to be true, it is difficult to make the argument that students need less supervision in the hallways than they do in your classrooms, especially at the end of the year.
Tone with Students
As we near the end of the year, it is not uncommon for our patience to run a little thin. With that in mind, please be mindful of how you are speaking to your students. Often times, what you may think is a stern voice sounds like yelling to anyone else in earshot. While we all know that yelling at children is never an acceptable practice, sometimes we don't recognize our practices as yelling. Please be mindful of this anytime you are speaking to your students, and pretend that their parents are watching you. If you are speaking to your students in the same manner that you would in front of their parents, you are most likely in great shape.
Writing Samples
At our Writing PLC last year, the group determined that there is value in passing up writing samples to the next year's teacher. The group agreed to use the same grade level prompt for students to produce a cold write. Students may use graphic organizers or a blank piece of paper to plan, but this would not be a piece that they would spend several days peer editing or conferring with you about in writing workshop. We will include the writing sample on the EOY checklist. Kinder, First, and Second will staple it to the DRA. Third and Fourth will turn a grade level folder into Michelle Caballero. Each grade level should also meet to review samples with the teams to ensure alignment with grade level writing expectations and determine their next steps.
Duty
Stepping Up
Stepping up will be on Monday, June 4th from 2-2:30pm. Stepping Up provides an opportunity for students to get a sneak peek into the next grade level. Kinder students will visit 1st grade, 1st graders will visit 2nd grade, etc. 5th grade students will get a chance to visit with their kinder teachers.
You do not have to prepare anything special, but in past, grade levels have created “Top 10 best things about 3rd grade, “Day in the Life of a 4th grader” videos, and letters to the incoming students from current students. If you would like to do something like that, you are more than welcome, but please keep the presentation/activity the same across the grade level. Students should also have the opportunity to ask questions.
Also remember that you are representing your grade level, regardless of your plans for next year.
Shana will create a schedule so everyone knows where to go and will share that with you soon.
EOY Grade Level Slideshows
For those of you who are preparing end of the year slideshows, please remember to include any student in your grade level who participates in one of our self-contained programs. Pictures of them interacting with their general education peers are preferred. Please feel free to contact Jenny, Nikki, Krystal and/or Sharon if you need any help. They may already have some to share with you.
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BAD DUDE
Join us in recognizing John Cissik at this week’s Bad Dude! John is an amazing teacher who works tirelessly to provide engaging lessons for his students. In addition to his day to day duties, he is also always willing to jump into any crisis situation to help where needed. Lately, that seems to be happening quite a bit, and we cannot thank him enough!
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McKinney ISD's Vision, Mission and Beliefs
Any time we have an idea, concern, solution and/or comment, this is the filter through which we should speak. Let's help each other live up to our vision, mission, and beliefs.
Vision:
We are a cohesive, diverse community providing engaging learning experiences for all.
We will provide engaging learning experiences so students can become effective communicators, quality contributors and socially responsible citizens.
Beliefs:
- Partnerships between students, parents, community members and staff are foundational to educational success.
- Positive school culture and a safe environment foster growth.
- Everyone has inherent value and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
- Learning is an active process requiring engaging tasks and engaging minds.
- Relevant and authentic experiences ignite continuous, deeper learning.
- Meaningful relationships enrich learning.
- Confidence fuels risk taking and higher achievement.
- Financial stewardship ensures a tomorrow for education.