McMillen Minute
Week of Feb. 27
Pic of the Week
Shout Out
Dear Mr. Lyons,
Our North Texas Regional Winterfest took place on February 5. This annual contest, which features everything from art, cooking, and music to tests and declamation events, was held this year at Paschal H.S. in Fort Worth.
Once again this event was a success and your German teacher, Inga Miller, was a major contributor. She not only spent hours of her time outside of class to prepare her students for the competition, she also worked with me as a member of the Steering Committee to prepare for the contest day. She gave up her Martin Luther King holiday weekend to prepare at Paschal. On the day of the contest, she worked as as a judge in the declamation events and then worked tirelessly to help wherever needed.
Please commend her on a job well done and encourage her while she is preparing her Winterfest winners to compete at the State level in San Marcus on Feb 25.
“Frau”Miller is a great asset to your school and is working very hard to promote the study of German and make her students life-long learners. Thank you for sharing her with us and supporting her in her endeavors.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Smith
Elizabeth Smith
Regional Director
NTR Winterfest
I'd like to give a shout out to Richburg, Sanders, Lambert, and Stovall. Wednesday morning we all met with a student's parent at 8am to help support them in facilitating the success of their child. It was great to have so many teachers there to show McMillen's commitment to our students. It was a very positive meeting and the parent was very grateful that we were able to meet with her so early. And I am grateful to work at a campus with such amazing co-workers, thank you everyone!- Richard Paul Siewert
Tami McCauley for her dedication to the students participating in credit recovery through the SPED APEX program. She is serving as the Campus Site-Based Coordinator which is taking much time and effort; all the while, doing an amazing job!-Kamden
Toya Richardson for keeping a close eye on the students she serves as a Case Manager. She builds strong and trusting relationships, which is evident through observations of interactions she has with them, and keeps them motivated to do well in their classes on campus.-Kamden
Lunch Duty Schedule
District News
Campus News
Campus Professional Development
Time: 7:45
Topic: Best Practice Stategies
Student ID Badges
March Parent Newsletter
Lions Lunch Survey Results
Feedback
- 1. Revamp mandatory tutorials. It's a good idea in theory, but having 20+ failing students all at the same time for 30 minutes one day a week is not helping the failing students in my class. I need more access to them in smaller groups. Maybe require MT students to attend tutorials for one of the classses that they are failing every day, but leave the schedule open so teachers can schedule with students and not be bombarded with all at once. If a student goes all week without attending tutorials at least once for a class they are failing, the teacher gives their name to administrators for lunch detentions or whatever.
- 2. Students should only attend mandatory tutorials for the classes they are failing
- 3. Better accountability system for failing students to not have outside/gym access during lunch.I feel it allows everyone to have a more relaxed break and not feel rushed.
- 4. Offer core subjects more than once a day
- Change the way mandatory tutorials are set up. Any student failing one or more classes has to attend whichever class(es) they are failing, not the ones they are passing.
- 5. More time to work on homework, tutorials and prepping for classes. We also use this time to meet with clubs, otherwise, students can't meet before or after school.
- 6. I think it is a good idea to have tutorials during the school day. I think we need a better system for signing students up to go to tutorials. Rules for keeping students in the eating areas need to be enforced. Students are hanging out in the pod areas, unsupervised, during lions lunch and we teachers are tasked with sending them back to the lunch areas.
- 7. It is a means of making up tests, going to tutorials and socializing with friends.
- 8. Students actively monitored for cleaning up-the halls are disgusting after lunch. Close off the pods completely-they are not being monitored effectively.
- 9. Switch mandatory tutorials to the second half of lunch-kids will have been fed, and can work till the bell.
- 10. Make MT a time that means something through consequences for truant students!
- 11. enforce tutorials, or consequences for not attending tutorials (is there a stayput anymore?); be more aggressive at taking the lunch away when it is not merited - make the lunch truly a privilege; enforce the pod areas with no eating/gathering in the pods
- 12. On mandatory tutorial days, it's easy to take attendance...except on Wednesday elective day. Since students have up to three electives, it's impossible to know which one they are going to. Other than this, I think it's working well.
- 13. Disciplinary actions for those students who skip mandatory tutorials.
- 14. Overall, I think it has been pretty successful this year.
- 15. If students do not clean up after themselves, they should devote their next lunch day (A,B,C or D) to aiding the staff clean.
- 16. Lions' Lunch should be a time for students to go to classes that they are failing to make up work and be tutored. If students are not forced to go to the classes they are currently passing, then the attention can be better focused on those students who are in the highest need.
- 17. Find a better method to report students who forgot their badges and are not attending mandatory tutorials and hold them accountable. It would make tutorials run smoothly and be more productive if students knew they were going to suffer consequences if they didn't attend mandatory tutorials.
- 18.It allows time for students to make up missed exams, student meeting times for club officers and MT
- 19. Lion's lunch should start on week 4 of the 1st 9 week grading period to assist the student's in catching up as early as possible.
- 20. Trays may not leave the cafeteria. This could stop the missing trays issue. Once a 9 weeks block party? Open the gym (or outside) for dance off with a DJ, selfie station, Teacher Pie-in-the-face or dunk station, "food court" section where food trucks come in (might ask Janis Williams how Clark pulled that one off). There has a to be a criteria for which students may attend based on grades?
- 21. Students need to attend tutorials of classes they are FAILING and allowing teacher/student to arrange the day/time. There needs to be a real consequence if they choose not to attend the MT they arranged w/teacher -- i.e., lunch detention for the entire lion's lunch for 3 days. I thought our goal here was to raise student achievement, not increase student social time. I also think we could discuss this as an entire staff to get as much input as possible to make this a workable plan. My students think that students who do not attend MT should have consequences, but they also think that students should feel the consequences of their actions, i.e. repeat a class if they choose not to do the work required to pass. We are not being consistent with so many items, i.e., dress code, discipline, etc. that students are calling "our" bluff and by "our" I am referring to administration.
- 22. Have it mandatory that the students that do not have to attend tutoring eat only in the cafeteria during the first half of Lion's lunch then go out to other areas to socialize. Then have the students coming from tutoring do the same thing. No more eating and socializing in the same areas.
- 23. Many of my students said they like to have study hall to do assignments, homework or to study. When they have Lyons lunch they do not make the time to do assignment.
- 24. At this time no but if we could figure out MT I would change this to a yes (students do not care about it and too many).
- 25. I think that requiring students to attend only the tutorials for the classes that they are failing would be more successful.
- 26. Teachers -- more planning time. Students -- use this time for tutorials to bring up a failing grade (or to make up a test) or for extra helps with a difficult assignment.
- 27. Add not loitering in the pods to the point requirements. Small prize for students who attend ALL of their MTs per 9wks. (given privately, of course)
- 28. Students should have mandatory tutorials even if they are failing one class, but only have to attend tutorials for classes they are failing. 2. Stronger consequences for not attending. 3. Let teachers schedule tutorial time with the students. Example: if a student is failing 5 class they would have to attend tutoring for each subject according to the scheduled day of the week. But if a student is only failing 1 or 2 class then they could come on a different day when it is less crowded so they could receive more individualized instruction. Or even attend more than one day if needed. Teachers could turn in the names at the end of the week of anyone failing their class who did not attend at least one day of tutoring for that week.