Monday Memo
March 20th -24th
A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work. -Colin Powell
Our next round of RtI meetings will be held this Thursday. Please make sure that you are ready to discuss your students and that everything is uploaded and/or updated so that we don't waste a minute. I know there will be much to discuss, so your help with being ready for the meeting is greatly appreciated.
This time of the year, the number of ARDs and 504s typically increase. Please remember that if you are on a departmentalized grade level, whoever attends either meeting is responsible for checking with the partner teacher(s) so that you can knowledgeably speak about how the child is doing in all content areas. While this expectation does create an additional task for you to manage, ultimately, it saves time by not requiring all teachers to attend.
We are about to enter our first T-TESS EOY Summative season. As we have stated, this has been a learning curve for all of us. Because I am feeling a little nervous about the process, and, like you, want to "do it right", I am asking for two volunteers to help me wrap my brain around the process. I will need one volunteer who did have an observation this year and one who just had a walk through. We will sit down together with our laptops and work through the process together (including determining what you would need for documentation). Other principals have shared that this has been a tremendous help because what you can see and what I can see are totally different. Please let me know if you are interested in helping me with this learning curve.
As you know, our 4th and 5th grade students will be taking STAAR next week. If you haven't already done so, please be sure to communicate that we will be a closed campus on Tuesday and Wednesday and visitors/volunteers K - 5th will not be allowed in the building. In spite of our best efforts, sometimes parents in the lower grade levels think that the "no visitor thing" just applies to the testing grade levels. Anything you can do to clearly communicate this to your families this over the next two weeks would be greatly appreciated.
Since we began lock down drills, we have never gone this far into the spring semester without having the unannounced drill. Please make sure that you are prepared and have everything you need. Remember to review the process with any sub that is on your grade level as well. While they might know what to do, I would hate for one of them to be missing a window covering or the cards. In addition, if you have any new students in your room, it would probably be a good idea to review the process with them as well.
Make today count,
JL
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STAAR Accommodations
It’s that time again to gather all STAAR accommodations (supplemental aids, graphic organizers, frequently misspelled word lists, etc.) for the upcoming STAAR on March 28th (5th Math, 4th Writing) and March 29th (5th Reading).
Please make sure all accommodations are turned into me no later than Tuesday, March 21st at the end of the school day.
If you have any questions, please contact Shiela (504) or Sylvia (SPED).
504 Students- you can turn accommodations directly to Sylvia. Please paperclip the accommodations together and put a post-it with the student’s name on it.
SPED students: The case managers will be turning these into me. Please work with your student’s case manager to ensure that all supplemental aids are collected.
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Welcome Callie Shae Goodwin!!
March 14, 2017
9lbs 11oz
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Below are the links for both days of Converge 2017 for this summer. Both days will count for GT update training. A call for presenters form will be going out to all staff on March 24 with the last day to submit proposals May 5th. Please encourage your teachers to share their greatness with others!
Converge Day 1- Monica Martinez Keynote Speaker
https://eduphoria.mckinneyisd.net/wshop/default.aspx?cid=15458 Converge Day 2- George Couros Keynote Speaker https://eduphoria.mckinneyisd.net/wshop/default.aspx?cid=15459
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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. 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 Krista Daniel, Barbara Peebles and Donna Fabian for being the highest three staff contributors to Shoparoo this week!
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Focus for 2016 - 2017
In order to help every child their personal best, McGowen teachers and staff will:
- Knowledgeably speak about our current practices that contribute to McGowen becoming a Level 1 Certified High Reliability School.
- Actively participate in grade level and content Professional Learning Communities.
- 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 - Thanks for being the amazing problem solvers and creatives that you are. -JL
- Peebles - Thanks for being my Sonic Fairy this week. -JL
- MC - Thanks for Tuesday. Love you! -JL
- Stacie - Thanks for looking out for me this week while Donna was gone! It takes a villiage! ;) JL
- Sylvia - Thanks for a fabulous and efficient STAAR training. I appreciate the time, energy and effort you and SdL put into making sure that our students have all the support we need in an environment that is incident free. -JL
- Peebles & Stacie - Thanks for keeping an eye out for projects to keep for Lisa. I really appreciate it! -JL
- Nurse Shannon – Thank you so much for taking care of me with my bum knee. You have gone above and beyond to check on me, change out ice packs very hour or so, and so much more. Love ya, JD
- 5th Grade Team – Thank you for doing all the little things for me so I did not have to. You ladies are the best I would ever work with and I love you all! Love, JD
- Afternoon Car Rider Crew – Thank you for covering for me this week. I owe you all big time!!! Love, JD
- Bravo- Thank you for calling for me at car rider. You are amazing as always out there! Love, JD
- Stacie & Cathy- Thank you so much for taking care of our students science study guide materials for science STAAR! It is never an easy task but you do it without question. Love ya ladies, JD
- Lynn- Thank you for having Joe get the door for me on Thursday morning since I was on crutches. It was very thoughtful and Joe was a true gentleman. Love, JD
- Chitwood- Thank you for being my saving grace last week with taking care of the daily stuff and taking our kiddos Friday afternoon when I could not. Love you Chit! Love, JD
- A HUGE thank you to Martha, Sylvia, and Krystal for helping me at the 11th hour with an amendment for a student on Thursday and Friday! I truly appreciate you all for your help! -Sharon
- Thank you and welcome back, Angie, this last week! The students and I are so glad you’re back! Also, thanks for helping out Friday! Love you! -Sharon
- Michelle C. thank you for help with parent conferences and getting me all the appropriate paperwork for them. Michelle H.
- Shiela thank you for all your help with RTI. Michelle H.
- 5th Grade Teachers ~ Thank you for all of your support with Middle School Registration and AVID nominations. This year I had the fewest number (in the 10 years I have been at McGowen) of registration forms to fill out because they had not been returned. This is absolutely because of your efforts and reminders to students and parents! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! The middle school also loved meeting and interviewing every student nominated for AVID! You guys are awesome! ~Shiela
- 5th Grade Teachers ~ Thank you for your flexibility and bearing with me as we have begun our marathon of annual 504 meetings. Your coming prepared with data and being able to speak knowledgeably to individual student’s strengths and areas in need of support is not only appreciated by me, but also by parents. ~Shiela
- JD and Chitwood ~ Thank you for doing an outstanding job and remaining professional through an emotional 504 meeting. What you do day in and day out to support your student academically and emotionally does not go unnoticed. ~Shiela
- Shana, Jessica and Nikki ~ Thank you for your dedication to ensuring the needs of your students are met, 504 accommodations are appropriate, and RTI data clearly indicates their specific need for support as they move on to middle school. Especially for your students who might not have the same level of parent advocacy as others. ~Shiela
- Krystina, Michelle H, Laurie and Krista ~ Thank you for being on top of possible dyslexia referrals and maintaining communication with parents about individual progress and continued concerns. ~Shiela
- Trisha, Peebles and JL – Thank you so much for being my Sonic Fairy this week! The timing was perfect! So nice of you! - Michelle C.
- Amber – Thank you for getting some of that math stuff together for me the other day! You’re wonderful! - Michelle C.
- Shannon – Thank you for ordering lunch again! Appreciate you so much! - Michelle C.
- Sadie and Lori – Thank you for covering my duty in a pinch! - Michelle C.
- Syl – Thank you for a smooth LPAC meeting and STAAR training. :) - Michelle C.
- JL – Thank you so much for meeting with me on Tuesday. I sincerely appreciate the time you invested as I know how insanely busy you are. It meant a lot to me. I love you. - Michelle C.
- My team – Thank you for allowing me grace and loving and supporting me when I am struggling. I am so glad I get to “do life” with you. I love you all! - Michelle C.
- Shiela and SdL - Thank you for all your hard work with all the STAAR curves being thrown your way with the new guidelines. I know this testing season is also very stressful on you as well. - Michelle C.
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Bad Dude
We want to recognize JD and Chitwood as our Bad Dudes of the week. While there are many things we value and appreciate about each of them, their team approach last week stood out to us as something to be recognized and celebrated. In short, they handled an emotionally sensitive 504 with professionalism and finesse. They were able to speak knowledgeably about the academic and emotional needs of a student while being sensitive to the delicate circumstances the family is experiencing. JD and Chitwood were able to put into perspective and prioritize the needs, while maintaining reasonable expectations and encouraging continued progress. Rock solid. Spot on. Awesome!
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GT UPDATE OPPORTUNITIES - TAGT
The district is providing you access to the TAGT Learning On-Demand, a library of online courses for professional development. You will be able to select six hours of courses. Please note that the library includes 1-hour, 3-hour, and 6-hour courses.
To begin, you will need to acquire a username and password. To do this, click the link below and use the registration code to complete the form.
Registration Code: 5491mck9544
Link: http://txgiftedcourses.responsivelearning.com/SelfRegistration/
IMPORTANT NOTE:
It is essential that you disable your popup blocker. The courses are not compatible with smartphones.
We find that Google Chrome tends to provide the best user experience. You may download Google Chrome here: https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/desktop/.
If you need assistance, email support@responsivelearning.com and a support team member will be happy to assist you.
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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.