Monday Memo
September 18th - 22nd, 2017
"Life is TEN percent what happens to you, and NINETY percent how you respond to it." - Lou Holtz
It is time to sign up for the Fall Carnival. For those of you who are new to McGowen, the expectation is for each teacher to work one shift that evening. Once everyone has had an opportunity to sign up, we will allow teachers to volunteer to work additional shifts in exchange for jeans passes. We will have the dunk tank again this year. Each team will have a representative in the dunk tank. I am still working with PTA to figure out how that will be determined. If you end up in the dunk tank, that counts as your shift, and you will not need to go to the shift you signed up to work. Melanie will email the link to everyone at 3:30 pm on Monday, September 18th.
Paras are not required to work the Fall Carnival but may do so in order to earn comp time for October 9th and October 30th. If you would like to earn comp time, please work with Donna to schedule this time. Paras should not sign up on the Sign Up Genius. Those slots are reserved for teachers only. Donna will have a separate schedule for paras.
This Wednesday afternoon is our first Design Time. This is the gift of time set aside for you to plan with your team outside of your normally planning routine. Please plan on making the most of this time by coming prepared to work on whatever you need to do. This could be planning stations, extensions, tutoring or flex grouping. You may also want to use that time to evaluate the data collected from a recent CFA. Either way, we want this time to be spent planning/working with your team, and we will be there to support you in any way we can.
Progress Reports are scheduled to go home next Wednesday. At McGowen, we have a No Surprise Policy. This means that no parent should ever first learn that their child is struggling in any content area by reading the progress report. If you have a student who is not meeting grade level expectations, if you haven't done so already, you will need to call them prior to progress reports going home to inform them personally. While initially, it does take more time on your part, I promise it will save your relationship with the parents and a great deal of time after the fact.
Thanks to all of you for taking care of each other. I am so proud to see all of the ways I see teammates supporting each other and exhibiting the behaviors of an interdependent team. As long as we stick together, stay on the same page and work for the collective good, we will certainly accomplish great things.
Make today count!
JL
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T-TESS Goal Setting Conference
When writing your goal in Eduphoria, do NOT sign the document. It’s my understanding teachers will enter their Student Learning Objective (SLO) in the same document and signing it will prevent us from editing it in the future.
More information on SLO will be coming soon!
When considering your professional goal for the year, make sure that it is measurable and that you can provide evidence of the goal being met. Attached are some examples to help you along.
Teacher Goal-Setting and Professional Development (GSPD) Plan
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Action Items
- Submit names for MVM by EOD Thursday, September 21st
- Join PTA
- Complete compliance trainings by EOD Friday, September 29th
- Write measurable T-TESS goals by your goal setting conference
- Prepare your sub folders with your team by EOD Friday, September 22nd.
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MEF Grants
The McKinney Education Foundation Grant application is open. Our deadline is October 2nd, 5:00 pm.
Apply: http://www.mmeeff.com/staff-grants/
Please call the MEF office with any questions: 469-302-6313.
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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, Jennifer Little and Barbara Peebles 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!
September
Jessica Bravo - 1st
Rico Sneller - 5th
Guadalupe Woodmansee - 5th
Jaime Hardy - 9th
Jen Dickinson - 12th
Angie Cochrum - 14th
Melanie Henry - 16th
Alisa Madina - 19th
Shannon Hershberger - 22nd
Tara Jackson - 25th
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APPRECIATIONS
- Laurie - Kudos to you for the way in which you handled a difficult parent situation. The level of professionalism and class you exhibited was a model for all of us. -JL
- Amber, Ashley, Deanna and Krystina - Thank you for volunteering to help with Watch D.O.G.S. on Thursday night. The evening was a great success, and we could not have done it without you! -JL
- Jenny, Krystal, Nikki and Sharon - Many thanks to you for coming together last week to figure out a workable solution to support each other. You are absolutely wonderful, and our students are blessed to have you. -JL
- Makenzie – Thank you so much for the watermelon!! It is my absolute favorite! lp
- Mrs. McCartney- Thank you so much for the patience you have had with our adventurous inclusion times. Your understanding is greatly appreciated!! ~Mrs. Holguin
- Lisa- Thank you for helping Bradley adjust and for constantly keeping an eye on him for me. You’ll never know how much this has meant to my during this tricky new school year for us! ~Krystal
- JL- Thank you for meeting with our team and helping us work through all of our complicated situations and for your constant support.
- Thank you JL, SL, MC, & SD for meeting with me regarding my friend. I appreciate your guidance. Love Laurie L.
- Thank you 1st grade team for working so well together and pitching in all the time. We have an amazing team. Love Laurie L.
- 3rd Grade Team – Thanks for being so flexible these past few weeks! I feel very lucky to be working with each one of you! Valerie, Amber and Mandy – you have jumped right in and are a great addition to our team! - Ashley
- Thank you to the McGowen staff for being so warm and loving to me. I love being a part of McGowen. Karol Koegl
- I appreciate Jamie Hardy for reaching out to me and for being kind. -Gail
- Laurie- You were a rockstar this week (and every week!) You handled 2 difficult situations with calmness and professionalism. Love you! -Krista
- To Rico Sneller for being the perfect teaching partner! Thanks! -Gail
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Bad Dude
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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.