Monday Memo
April 24th-28th
The best thing about being a teacher is that it matters. The hardest thing about being a teacher is that it matters every day. -Todd Whitaker
Early voting begins today. As always, exercising your right to vote is very important and can directly impact you. Among other things, choosing who serves on our school board has a direct impact on our salaries, direction, support and superintendent. If you do choose to vote, please share a selfie with your sticker, and I will express my appreciation with the gift of a jeans pass.
Friday, April 28th will be a No Tracks Day. Once you have confirmed that all of your students are gone, we are encouraging you to take advantage of a 3:15pm departure. PTA has been working very hard to create something special as a token of appreciation for all that you do for their children, and they are coming in to decorate for Teacher Appreciation Week. I know it would mean a lot to them for you to wait and experience the grand reveal on Monday. If this is absolutely not an option for you, please refrain from being near or around the library, front office and security vestibule on Friday afternoon. In addition, please exit from a side or back door when you leave.
As we look ahead and begin planning the last six weeks of school, I wanted to share a few timelines. A-Team will finalize our EOY Checklist and will review those procedures at the Faculty Meeting on May 10th. If you haven't done so already, those of you with graduating Seniors, need to inform Donna so that we will know who needs a modified timeline. In addition, please plan to provide tutoring through May 20th. When we stop this service after STAAR, it sends a message that the support was about testing rather than student mastery of the content. Moreover, when we cease this support sooner than the last two weeks of school, we risk sending the message to the students that school is already over. Along the same line of reasoning, RtI interventions and support should also be provided and documented through May 19th.
As you begin to plan for the STAAR testing week, I would like for 3rd - 5th grade to carefully consider how they choose to utilize the time after testing as well as the days following STAAR. Given the amount of quiet seat time they will experience during testing, engaging and collaborative work should be on the agenda for the rest of the time.
In preparation for Kinder and 5th grade EOY celebrations, please let Donna know if you have a personal child participating in either of these events. When possible, we like to provide coverage so that the parent may attend. However, this does take some effort, so knowing in advance is really helpful.
Registration opens on Monday, May 1st. Please be sure to announce this in your newsletters and post on your social media accounts. We want to encourage all incoming Kindergarten students to get registered asap. Please feel free to encourage your McGowen parents to share this information with anyone they know who has an incoming Kindergarten student that may not have a connection with the school yet. It is not uncommon for families out of state or new to the school scene to assume registration takes place in August, and it would be really nice to have enough Kinder students registered by the end of the year to justify our allocated sections. Anything you can do to support this effort would be greatly appreciated by not only me, but the Kinder team as well.
Make today count,
JL
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Start, Stop and Continue
While you do not have to identify yourself on the form, this is not to be used an anonymous personal attack on anyone in this building. Unprofessional documents will be discarded. The goal is to give you an opportunity to be part of a solution. If you identify a problem, please also make a suggestion of how to fix the issue. We will review your input at the Team Leader What's Next Meeting and plan our next steps.
One special note - Like last year, the one thing that I can promise that will remain in place is our current Jeans Passes on Tuesdays. With that in mind, please refrain from requesting more casual days.
Please have this completed by Friday, May 5.
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Interested in Attending Google Syndicate Academy???
Calling all campers! if you are interested in attending the Google Syndicate Academy (PK-12) on June 21, 2017 from 8:30-3:30 fill out the form below. Participants need a working knowledge of Google Apps for Education. The academy is limited to 30 participants. The application will be closed on May 19. Acceptance emails will be sent out Monday, May 22. If you have questions about the application please email Lynda Swanner lswanner@mckinneyisd.net or Amanda Gavin agavin@mckinneyisd.net
Application Link: https://goo.gl/forms/NR9rNV2sh8dgEaoQ2
Calling for Presenters
Below is the link to the form for presenter proposals for Camp Converge 2017. The deadline for proposals will be May 5th with presenters notified by May 19th.
Below are the links for both days of Converge 2017 for this summer. Both days will count for GT update training.
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 Donna Fabian, Barbara Peebles and Ashley O'Connor 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
- McGowen Team - Thank you so much for the manner in which you handled the lockdown mishap. I really appreciate your ability to think on your feet and keep the students calm while we figured things out. -JL
- Office Team - Thank you for all of the big and small ways you picked up the slack while SL and I were attending training. Those were a crazy few days, and I can't thank you enough! -JL
- First Grade - Thank you for your time on Friday. If nothing else, it was memorable. -JL
- SdL, Amber, Jean & Jackie- Thank you for your work on Thursday afternoon. You did an excellent job. -JL
- Maria - Thank you for the update on Sunshine and Student Council. I appreciate all that you do for our school. -JL
- Michelle C.-Thank you so much for being an integral part in a parent conference. I appreciate you so much, Maria
- Michelle H. Thank you for the delicious homemade cinnamon rolls! They were sooo yummy:) Maria
- Trisha-Thank you for the cookies! Sooo yummy:) Maria
- 2nd Grade-Thank you for being the best team ever! I love that each and every one of us treats all the 2nd graders as if they were our very own! Love you all, Maria
- Donna-Thank you so much for your help this week with the Safety Team maintenance requests! You are the best! Nurse Shannon
- Lisa-Thank you so much for all your help! Danielle and I truly appreciate you! Nurse Shannon
- Krystina- Thanks for being flexible and covering my recess duty on Thursday! ~Valerie L.
- Donna – I appreciate you more than you know! - G
- Shiela- I appreciate EVERYTHING that you did to support parents and students while we were out at training! SL
- Cab- Thank you for supporting teachers as they meet with parents about possible retention. SL
- 5th Grade Team- Thank you for your commitment to your SSI students! I appreciate all that you have done to plan for their success! SL
- JL- I appreciate your guidance with discipline and parent situations that come up day to day! SL
- Jenny & Krystal- thanks for taking time after school to staff for our Lawson students! SL
- Stacie, Donna, Peebles, Shannon, Cab & Shiela- thanks for managing everything while we were off campus at training! SL
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Bad Dude
Please join us in recognizing Jenny Snyder as this week’s Bad Dude! In addition all that she does for her students, Jenny has been instrumental in preparing for our students that are coming from Lawson. She has spent countless hours observing these students and meeting with their teachers and administrators to ensure that they are getting the support they need to be successful at McGowen. Way to go Jenny!
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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.