Monday Memo
May 21st -25th, 2018
Life is about change. Sometimes it's painful. Sometimes it's beautiful. But most of the time, it's both. -Lana Long
The end of the school year is quickly approaching. While there is much to celebrate,
there is also much to do. How you plan the next few weeks is critical. Work with your
team and plan your time carefully. While it is tempting to provide your students with busy work, there is always an associated cost. Your students are feeling the excitement and anxiety as well. When we experience a change in routines and work expectations, there is often a misperception that behavioral expectations are changing as well. This can’t be further from the truth, but you decide what the children experience. If you remain engaged with them, they will know your expectations have not changed. If you attempt to work on your check out list during class time, you are opening yourself up for potential behavior issues and office referrals.
While we only have one week left of tutoring, please remember that it is not appropriate to drop kids who have not been picked up after tutoring with Club 360 staff. You will need to stay with them until they are picked up. However, if parents have a history of not picking up their child on time, it is also okay with me to tell them they cannot come back.
Keep your room looking as much like normal as possible. If you begin taking stuff off
the walls, it sends a message that school is over today rather than June 7th. Most things
can be removed from walls in a matter of minutes and could easily be done on the last
day of school.
Remember to schedule time as a team to review your available data. Now is the time to
question what worked and what didn’t. Does the data show alignment in our teaching practices or are there gaps that need to be addressed? What can we do now to make sure that we are ahead of the game in August? Does our data indicate that we need to seek professional development in a certain area?
We are down to the wire. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Be mindful of your timelines, be purposeful with every single moment, stay focused and you will be fine. Ask for help when you need it, and offer help where you see a need. Together we can do this.
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
- Begin entering grades
- Class list spreadsheets due by EOD Friday, May 25th
- Student Learning Environment Surveys due by EOD, Friday, May 25th
- 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
- Jaime - Many thanks to you for replicating the safety equipment design that Relle MacGyered. -JL
- Specials Team - Thank you for another amazing Field Day. Much like STAAR, pulling that off without any "irregularities" is quite impressive and worthy of much celebration. -JL
- Thank you, Angie, for holding down the fort while I was out of town! I totally appreciate you! -Sharon.
- Coach Shambo - thank you for organizing our new team shirt! It is so soft, I love it! McKeen
- Holly & Ashley – Thank you for covering my class for a little while on Friday, so I could go enjoy some Field Day with Macy. I have the greatest coworkers! -AE
- Jennifer – Thank you for giving me my start at McGowen, believing in me, and supporting me for the past six years. I know you will do a wonderful job in your new position and you will be missed. -AE
- Coach Relle, Coach Shambo, Coach McKeen, Holly and Amy – Thank you for the AMAZING field day. Everything was ready to go and well-scheduled. You can tell how much time and effort you all put into this to make the day successful. The kids and I had a lot of fun. -AE
- Relle, Shambo, McKeen: Thank you for another unforgettable Field day! It was amazing:)) Maria
- Michelle Haas- Thank you so, so much for keeping my kiddos when my meeting ran long!!! I owe you one!!!!! -KT
- Michelle Caballero- I could not have made it through my meeting without you…how you manage to juggle all that you do still amazes me every day…THANK YOU for your commitment to this particular family, and to all the others! -KT
- Nurse Shannon - Thank you for taking care of my eye scratch issue on Wednesday as I truly couldn’t have gotten through the morning without your help! My new prescription drops have helped A LOT and I love all my caring friends! - Michelle C.
- Relle and Team – Thank you for having yet another fabulous field day! The memories are priceless for these kiddos! - Michelle C.
- MB &SdL – Thank you for organizing the Book Swap and the Career Fair! Another wonderful reason why I love being a Maverick and love working with you both! - Michelle C.
- Ticehurst – Thank you for being so wonderful to work with and being such a great communicator. You’re amazing! - Michelle C.
- Peebles – You are one organized and "on top of it” angel! I appreciate your patience as I wait for Cruz’ BC for registration and just how all around FAB-U-LOUS you are altogether! - Michelle C.
- SL – WOW…I don’t know what to say?! You spent countless hours on STAAR organization (even being here on Mother’s Day) and still managed to take care of me with my eye issue and personal parent dilemma and made it all work. I can’t thank you enough for your kindness and generosity. It meant the world to me! - Michelle C.
- JL – I don’t know what else to say but thank you for all that you do and love you. - Michelle C.
- 5th Grade and Melanie- Thank you all for helping me out when I needed to go to the doctor. You guys are the best! Hugs!! Jen
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End of the Year Information
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.