Monday Memo
November 14th - 18th
Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others. -Cicero
I want to thank all of you for your contribution to our Veterans Day Assembly. I wish I could have recorded all of the people who stopped to thank us and share how much they appreciated it. I think what I heard the most was how much they loved how involved the students were in the program. Between the letters, poetry, art work, music and student presenters, it was clear that the entire campus was involved in honoring our veterans. As a small token for my appreciation for us collectively coming together to pull off something so selfless and meaningful, I would like to give you a free jeans day this Wednesday.
If you haven't already done so, please be sure to sign up for Remind. We will be reminding the staff of many things in the near future that you will not want to miss out on, and this will probably be the only way it is communicated. The link to sign up for the Staff Remind group is listed towards the bottom of this newsletter.
While this seems so far away for many of you, I wanted to make sure that everyone in our building has the STAAR dates on your calendar. The purpose for this is to ask you to refrain from scheduling any appointments or taking personal days on these days. Given our sub situation this year, it will be more important than ever for us to have everyone on campus that is able to do so. This will leave our priority subs to cover us in the event of an emergency. While I know we cannot control when we get sick or when our children get sick, if we control what we can, we will be in great shape. STAAR dates are March 28-29 and May 8-10. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Make today count,
JL
---------------------------------------
High Reliability Schools
Please remember to submit your HRS evidence in your Grade Level folders!
Thank you to all of the teams that submitted lagging indicators for HRS leading indicator 1.4! This week, we will be focusing on leading indicator 1.5: Teachers' have formal ways to provide input. As you think about the lagging indicators (evidence) on your team that align with this leading indicator 1.5, make sure to drop a few things in your team folder located at https://goo.gl/c7VxKe.
Start, Stop, Continue
Surveys
PTA
TL meetings
Staff input on agendas
Grade Level Structure proposals/meetings
Team participation in interviews
Open invitation to participate in district data summer meeting, curriculum writing, curriculum proposals/review, report card committee
Committee meeting
Attend district board meetings
Open door policy with administration
EOY conferences/summatives
Remind 101
Tuesday team planning
Academy
Feedback loop- TL/Committee/PLC agendas published
Feedback on CIP
---------------------------------------
Professional Learning Communities
---------------------------------------
PLC Spotlight!
We would like to give a PLC shout out to the Kindergarten team! They have truly been digging into deep conversations about standard alignment, addressing the 4 questions of the PLC, as well as collaboratively creating Common Formative Assessments. While creating these assessments and focusing on the high leverage TEKS, they engaged in an intentional conversation about what would constitute a 4 (while ensuring an opportunity to do so).
---------------------------------------
Important Information Regarding Special Education Students
We want to thank everyone for participating in our first ever SPED chats this quarter! This was a valuable time for us to collaborate and brainstorm ways to best meet the needs of our SPED students! In response to your feedback, we are implementing some practices that will help everyone stay updated about our students. Last Friday, Resource teachers distributed schedule pages to all General Education teachers that includes the time students are supported and who gives the grades for each subject. Jaime also graciously created a short video about how to read and interpret the student schedule page to help us all out! Please take the time to view this video, it’s only a couple of minutes and it contains a wealth of information. Beginning on Monday, Resource teachers will send out a weekly communication to the students that they serve regarding their schedule for the week (ARD’s, staffing, etc.) or if they anticipate a “regular” week. While they cannot always anticipate when a crisis situation will arise with a high needs student we are hoping this will help. General Education’s schedule can impact SPED services as well. As part of Special Education assurances, we would never restrict a SPED student from participating in a grade level activity, but it does have an impact on the SPED schedule. For example, if the Resource teacher finds out the the morning of or when they come to pull the student that the class be doing a “fun” activity (I.e. Science-Palooza, science lab for making ice cream, etc.), it has an impact on their lesson plans. As you design instruction, please notify Resource teachers the Friday prior to the week the event/special consideration takes place so they can schedule and plan accordingly.
---------------------------------------
#MyMISD
The district is encouraging staff members, parents and students to share their stories of how and why MISD is awesome for them personally on Twitter! If you would like to participate, please use #MyMISD.
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
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 Krista Daniel and Barbara Peebles for being in this week's top three on Shoparoo!
---------------------------------------
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.
---------------------------------------
Remind for Staff
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
Appreciations
- SL & MC - Many thanks to your newsletter contributions! I appreciate you both so much! -JL
- Tebo - Thanks for the time you put into the daily emails. While I know that takes time, I believed it has helped us make some great progress. - JL
- McCartney - Thanks for coming back to work each day! ;) -JL
- Martha - Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into trying to coordinate everyone's schedules. I really appreciate it! -JL
- Sadie and Michelle thank you for taking time after school on Friday to talk about my friend. -Haas
- Jaime- Thanks for your collaboration this week in finding workable solutions to help support our teachers and students! SL
- Michelle Haas, Lisa Barton & MC- Thanks for staying after school to meet about your newcomers! SL
- JL, Jenny, Jaime, Tracie, Kristi, Jennifer Smith, Deanna- Thank you for taking time on a Friday afternoon to meet! SL
- Melanie- Thanks for creating the fabulous video for our Veterans Day Celebration! SL
---------------------------------------
Bad Dude
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
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.