Monday Memo
November 27 - December 1, 2017
Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. -Theodore Roosevelt
Please be sure to congratulate Miki Kelly. She has decided to retire and her last day will be Friday, December 8th. Christina Garza is in the hiring process, and assuming I have not jinxed myself by sharing this now, will take over Miki's class beginning on Monday, December 11th. Anything you can do to support either Miki or Christina during this transition would be greatly appreciated.
On Wednesday, November 29th, our 5th grade students will leave for camp and will return on the afternoon of Friday, December 1st. While they are gone, 4th grade will go to recess/lunch during 5th grade's normal time. Since 4th grade normally has the last lunch, this will allow Mayella to close the cafeteria early on these days. If you have not already done so, I need fourth grade teachers to communicate this change to your students and parents. We would hate for a parent to show up for lunch on one of those days at the wrong time.
This Wednesday will also be our next Design Time. This time should be used to create unit plans for the next units in your designated content area regardless of where you are in the current unit. Remember that you should create some sort of artifact that documents the decisions made by your team and that you need to send a copy of those unit plans to all of the special education teachers so that they are better able to support your students. I will include what we agreed to include in those unit plans below.
After several years of budgeting, we are able to estimate how much we need to allocate for card stock and laminating fairly accurately. However, this year, we seem to be using quite a bit more of both of those things and have nearly exhausted our allocated budget for those items for the entire year. Please remember that things should only be laminated if they are going to be used more than once and student work should rarely be laminated. In addition, for grade level projects, please plan to include card stock on your grade level budget. This will help us tremendously as we carefully try to best meet everyone's needs throughout the year.
Make today count!
JL
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Questions to Address During Unit Planning
During UNIT planning, you will need to address the following questions:
What do we want kids to learn?
Which TEKS in the unit are “must know” and which ones are “nice to know”? (Hard to teach/Difficult to learn concepts and standards and readiness standards vs supporting and process)
What does each Must Know TEKS actually mean? Discuss the verb and level of rigor.
How do we know that they’ve learned it?
What must the students be able to do in order to show mastery?
What common assessments will we use?
When will we utilize common formative assessments for each “must know” skill?
When will we schedule a common summative assessment for the unit?
When will we review and discuss common assessment data?
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Action Items
- Block STAAR dates on your calendar.
- 4th grade - inform parents of lunch change which 5th grade is at camp.
- Send all special education teachers a copy of your artifact from unit planning on Wednesday, November 29th.
- Prepare for RtI Mtg on Thursday, December 7th.
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Support 5th Grade Camp
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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 Krista Daniel, Barbara Peebles and Laurie Leotaud 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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Happy Birthday!
December
Barbara Peebles - 9th
Nikki Hoye - 11th
Danielle Fortenberry - 13th
Nick Relle - 13th
Krista Daniel - 24th
Amber Evans - 26th
Mandy Moore - 29th
Quin Hance - 31st
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APPRECIATIONS
- Sunshine - Thank you so much for organizing a fabulous feast. -JL
- Donna - Many thanks to you for organizing the Party Bus Lunch. I appreciate all the time you put into making that happen. -JL
- Melanie & Michelle - Thank you for picking up an extra Party Bus shift. You are the best! -JL
- SL - Thank you so much for covering for me at TL Mtg. You were my hero! -JL
- SdL - Many thanks to you for filling in for SL at Mav Fan Jam. I really appreciate it! -JL
- SPED team/JL/SL— Thank you for all of your continued assistance and support the past few weeks!— N. Atterberry
- Relle – Thank you for your help with the supplies and unloading. You are always so incredibly kind and generous! - Michelle C.
- Donna – Thank you for your help when I messed up my absence on Thursday. You are always so helpful and I am thankful for all you do! - Michelle C.
- Jen M. and LP – Thank you for always pitching in to help me with duty when I am not able to do it. It is very much appreciated! - Michelle C.
- Team – Thank you for your understanding when I had to be out for my little one. I am so glad I get to do life with you and love you all so much! - Michelle C.
- Everyone – I want to thank you ALL for being the BEST group of people that I have ever had the opportunity to work with and I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I count each of you as a blessing in my life. - Michelle C.
- Jaime &Lisa- thanks for covering my duty while I was out! SL
- Thank you, McGowen, for all of the wonderful donations for my student in need! They really appreciate it and so do I! Happy Thanksgiving!!
- Kincaid-- Thank you SO much for switching duties with me for my ARD day! You're the best!!
- JL & A-Team- Thanks for your support and understanding while my boy was sick! SL
- Donna- Thanks so much for managing the camp money! I appreciate the time, energy and effort you put in to keep us up to date! SL
- Jaime, Lori P- I appreciate you covering my duty when I was out! SL
- MC- Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to talk with me and help me with a student. -- Melanie Henry
- Sunshine-- Thank you so much for your hard work for our Thanksgiving feast! It was amazing! You all outdid yourselves. - Melanie Henry
- Melanie Burford & Lindsey-- Thank you for the amazing book fair! Enjoy some well deserved rest :)
- I appreciate the pretty smelling soaps in the employee restrooms :) Lindsey
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Bad Dude
Please join us in congratulating Donna Fabian as the Bad Dude of the Week. In addition for all that she does to manage the front office, Donna also manages the fundraiser, plans the party bus, manages camp money and all of the many payments that trickle in throughout the fall. She also does most of the shopping for our events and is responsible for securing all of the food we provide to the staff for special breakfasts and lunches. We appreciate all that she does behind the scenes to support us, and I cannot thank her enough.
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Important Pay Day Information
Due to the holiday breaks, paydays are slightly different. Here are dates so you can plan accordingly.
- Nov 15 (includes extra stipend)
- Nov 30
- Dec 15
- Dec 22 (Dec 31 check paid early)
- Jan 12
- Jan 31
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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.