MONDAY MEMO Sept. 26, 2016
TO: ALL MCMILLAN FACULTY AND STAFF
Teaching is more than imparting knowledge, it is inspiring change. Learning is more than absorbing facts, it is acquiring understanding.
This quote reminded me of our conversations Thursday during PLCs. Thank you so much for the great conversations within your teams! I appreciated the feedback I received from several of you. Teachers expressed frustration and that, although frustrated, realized they were able to dig deeper and think about their practices even more because of these conversations. If you had the feeling you weren't "doing your job correctly", please erase that from your minds as there was never a thought (at least in my mind) that anyone is not doing a good job. Our objectives were to understand what was happening throughout the school, specifically in regard to teaching specific skills that students may need, but more importantly, to create some rich conversations about instruction and student learning. I hope these objectives were met. So again, thank you for indulging me. Hopefully we can continue these conversations throughout the year, which will no doubt increase student learning. You are wonderful teachers!
WEEK IN REVIEW:
Sept. 26 - Mad Science at lunch
Sept. 27 - 8:15 - BLT Meeting at the District Office
Sept. 27 - Vision Screening - This may involve every student. You will be notified when your class should attend.
Sept. 29 - Last day for parents to schedule times on-line for PT Conferences
Sept. 30 - Crazy Hair/Hat Day - Thank you for ALL your support in supporting the PTA fundraiser!
Sept. 30 - 3rd Gr. Vehicle Day
Sept. 30 - Teachers should be able to go in to the PT Conference scheduler and schedule anyone that has not signed up. (I will send a reminder Monday that parents need to schedule these by Thursday evening. It probably wouldn't hurt for teachers to send a reminder as well.)
UPCOMING:
Monday, Oct. 3 - 2:00 - Utah Opera Assembly -
Oct. 3rd or 4th - PT Conference notes to go home to students.
A few friendly reminders:
- Read Alouds have started. If you haven't signed up, please do so as soon as you can.
- Dr. Hirase is planning to visit our school in the near future. He has set a goal to get into as many classrooms as he can this year to show his support. (Just thought I would give you a heads up.)
- Thank you for turning in your daily schedules...if you haven't, please do so ASAP.
- THANK YOU for getting your self eval and personal goals turned in on Observer tab. If you are one of the few who haven't done this yet, please do so ASAP. (Remember, your goals can include your SLO, team goal, personal goals, as well as continuing with the school goal for enhancing instruction through questioning, active engagement, feedback, etc. (www.observertab.net))
- As you work with your teams over the next couple of weeks, please decide on coverage you may want for inclement weather days and let me know.