Monday Memo
February 22nd - 26th
Resolve to perform what you ought; Perform without fail what you resolve. - Benjamin Franklin
Team,
Last week was an amazing week of ELM Training. While many times our heads felt very similar to the people in Jet commercials, it was meaaningful learning and a great experience. What excites me most about ELM is that by purposefully waiting to engage in this model, we have been able to better prepare ourselves for the roll-out. As much as I'd love to be able to summarize our three days of learning, it is impossible. Instead, our group has decided to provide you small bits of ELM info each week in the newsletter. Please make this section of the newsletter a priority each week so that you are up to speed when we attend training. Our campus will be attending the three day training June 6th-8th.
It is that time of year again. We will be sending out staffing surveys to get an idea of what you all are thinking for next year. At the moment, our staffing allocations indicate six sections in Kinder, five in 1st, six in 2nd, six in 3rd, five in 4th and five in 5th. Remember that this survey is not a binding agreement, it just serves to give us an idea of what you would like to teach next year and what leadership capacity you are willing to serve. The surveys will be placed in your box. Please complete it and either return it to my box or in the labeled folder on my desk by Friday, March 4th.
Because Tuesday is spring picture day, it would not be appropriate to wear jeans. In order to still provide you with an opportunity to wear jeans with a pass this week, we will make Monday the jeans pass day.
After spring break, we will begin a new change of dismissal process. PTA has purchased an online dismissal management system that will allow parents to change their child's dismissal online rather than by calling the front office. In addition, this new system will eliminate the need for Stacie to distribute so many change of dismissal slips at the end of the day. For the vast majority of students, this change will be communicated to you daily via email. We will discuss this in greater detail at the team leader meeting and will be sending letters home with students next week to explain the process. Please stay tuned as more information will be coming soon.
As we continue to pray for The Prugh Family, count your blessings and make today count!
JL
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Teacher Scales for Reflective Practice
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Easing into ELM
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Warm-Up Wednesdays
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Shoparoo
Did you know that each week I give out jeans passes to those who are one of the top three participants 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. If you use veft4467 as a referral code, McGowen will earn money for you just signing up. Please feel free to push this information out to your parents as well. Once you sign up, Shoparoo will give you a referral code for your parents to use when they sign up. Schools with just 40 supporters are earning an average of $1,000 every year.
Congratulations to Donna Fabian, Barbara Peebles and Jennifer Little for being in this week's top three!
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Focus for 2015 - 2016
In order to help every child their personal best, McGowen teachers and staff will:
- Develop a common language needed to become High Reliability School.
- Develop an understanding and process for effective Professional Learning Communities.
- Engage in collaborative team planning and lesson design to promote higher level thinking and student engagement.
- 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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Happy Birthday!
February
3rd- Keri Walsh
7th- Marci Caldwell
8th- Tracey Stevens
29th- Kelli Cantu
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APPRECIATIONS
- Amber and Laura G. - Thank you so much for presenting meaningful and timely information about ELLs and strategies that will help all of our students. -JL
- Sylvia, Michelle, and Melanie - I am so grateful for you! Thanks for the time and energy you put into facilitating continued conversations about PLCs and breaking down our learning into manageable steps. -JL
- Marley and Laura S - Thank you for sharing some of the highlights of the Greg Tang training that you attended in the fall. The ideas you shared were fun, engaging and super easy to incorporate into your day.
- Tracey - Many thanks for sharing your knowledge of lit circles and helping us transition to this best practice. -JL
- Shiela and Donna - Thank you for holding down the fort with so many of us out at training last week. I know it was a huge undertaking, and you always make it look easy. -JL
- Laura S. - Thanks for organizing another successful Relay for Life lunch on Friday. -JL
- Shout out to first grade! They have done a great job with lunch dismissal and being flexible with the the change in times. (this may be late for a shout out since we have been doing this for awhile now but I appreciate your efforts) Lisa
- I am so appreciative for all of the people that went through ELM training with me last week. You all made this new learning fun and something to look forward to next year. Lisa
- Thanks to my team for keeping things together last week with my class while I was out! Lisa
- I so appreciate Melanie B. for inviting my class to participate with our 5th grade leaders to makerspace in the learning commons. My kiddos learned a lot and enjoyed their time. Lisa
- McGowen Team, Thank you all for helping to hold down the fort while so many of our teammates were off campus last week. You all did a great job of stepping up, managing what you could, and working with me to address concerns as they arose. You are all amazing! ~Shiela
- Jen Dickinson, Thank you for your input during our 504 meeting last week. Your collaboration with your teammates before the meeting showed, as you were prepared and able to speak to strengths and areas in need of support for all subjects. ~Shiela
- Kristi and Trisha, Thank you for your contributions during our 504 meeting Friday after school. I appreciate your dedication to the success of your students. ~Shiela
- Danielle: thank you for rearranging your schedule so we could keep the clinic open for 5th grade CPR class! Your willingness to help is appreciated! Vicky
- Nick: Thanks for organizing the Specials Team, getting the technology and music set up to and helping to teach CPR to all the Fifth graders! It was a great team effort! Vicky
- Amanda, Gabby, Marci and Holly: Thanks for your willingness to bring "Hands Only CPR" to our 5th graders. It was a monumental task but with teamwork we were able to make it happen, thanks to you! Vicky
- Laura S.- Thank you for organizing Relay For Life and helping us stay organized last Wednesday. I appreciate your hard work!!
- Laurie L.- I appreciate how hard you work and that you go above & beyond for your students. Thank you for being such a great friend to me!! I think you're awesome!!!!
- Lisa- Thank you for being an outstanding teacher and friend!!! Every time I walk into your classroom, I always think...Man these kids are so LUCKY!!!! Love you!!!
- Maria, Cathy, & Tanya: Thank y’all for looking out for our friend this week and making adjustments to ensure that he was set up for success! -Jaime
- Amber: Your patience, consistency, and thoroughness do not go unnoticed. Thanks for the effort you put into supporting our students! -Jaime
- Tracey: I love that you take the time to make sure our students are taken care of; they are so lucky to have you as their teacher! -Jaime
- Bonnie: Thank you for hilarious conversations and all of the little things that you do for our students and team! -Jaime
- Martha: Your perspective and input is greatly appreciated and valued; I love collaborating with you! -Jaime
- David: Thank you for holding down the fort on Thursday! -Jaime
- Jennifer & Sylvia: Thank you for the continued support and words of wisdom. Much love! -Jaime
- Jennifer, Sylvia, Michelle, Melanie, Kristi, Laura, Jessica, Maria, Lisa, Bonnie – I really enjoyed our training this week, the conversations we had, and the group work we completed together. Thank you for the amount of support each of you gives to this process, as I believe our continued positive conversations will make us all able to make this happen together. -AE
- Jennifer – Thank you for the colorful binders to help us all stayed organized. You have been more than supportive through this process, and I am very thankful for that. - AE
- Marley, Jean, Ashley, and Carin – Thank you for all of your support this week while I was out and for answering all of my random questions on Friday to help get me up to speed. I missed you all tons and appreciate all of the planning you got ready for next week without me. Love you all! - AE
- SL-Thanks for bringing snacks to the ELM training-Laura G.
- JL-Thanks for making your very yummy cookies-Laura G.
- Kristi W.-Thanks for all your help thinking through things during our training, you don't know how much it was appreciated!-Laura G.
- Laura Siff.-Thanks for making copies for me to get ready for the sub.-Laura G.
- Laurie L.-Thanks for making me laugh, I love our morning chats!-Laura G.
- Maria E. and JL-Thanks for checking on me!-Laura G.
- Carin – Thank you for scanning my assessments for me while I was out. You are the best! - AE
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Action Items
- Staff picture Tuesday, February 23rd - 7:15am
- Turn in Six Flags Reading Forms by EOD, Friday, February 26th
- Wear Red Cross shirts or red on Friday, February 26th
- Enter all grades by 8:00am on Wednesday, March 2nd
- Revisions/corrections completed by 8:00am, Friday, March 4th
- Staffing Surveys due by EOD, Friday, March 4th
- 5th grade Science assessments scanned by EOD, Friday, March 4th
Bad Dude
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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.