Monday Memo
December 4-8, 2017
“Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.” —Japanese proverb
Congratulations to Melanie Burford, John Cissik and Laura Garro! All three of them were awarded MEF grants on Friday. Melanie's was for Google Exploration. John's was for special student furniture, and Laura's grant will allow her to attend a conference. I am so proud and grateful to all three of them because each, in different ways, will support the students at McGowen.
At the last Team Leader Meeting, Sylvia introduced Instructional Rounds. In our effort to provide our students with the best education possible and to achieve HRS Level 2 Certification, Leading Indicator 2.6 will be a focus of our learning over the next two years. One way in which teachers will have opportunities to observe and discuss effective teaching will be through instructional rounds. We have a staff rich in talent and have much to offer and learn from each other.
Ideally, instructional rounds should be completed with a partner, but can be completed alone. Classroom visits can be as short as ten minutes or as long as your schedule allows. After leaving the classroom, please spend a few minutes reflecting on what you observed. Please use this form to document your reflections each time you observe another teacher. The data collected from these forms will help us track our progress. It will also allow you to request what you might like to learn more about through either additional classroom visits and/or more formal professional development. Team Leaders will begin instructional rounds now and have their first one completed before Christmas break. Feel free to reach out to them about the process if you have any questions.
Our next Team Leader Meeting will me on Monday, December 11th. If you have any questions or concerns that you would like to add to the agenda, please use this link to submit your request. In addition, please share your question/concern with your team leader so that if we have any clarifying questions, we can get the needed information.
Each year, we take up a collection for Ms. Irma and present her with our Christmas gift (of cash) at the December Mav Fan Jam. It is one way in which we are able to express our appreciation for all that she does for us and provides her with a nice Christmas bonus. If you would like to contribute to her gift, Donna will have a collection envelope on her table in her office. We will accept donations until the end of the day on Thursday, December 21st.
At this time, we have reached our limit on the number of people who can be out this Friday, December 8th. Unless it is an absolute emergency, please do not schedule any appointments on this day. In addition, if something happens and you must be out, please have a plan ready to split your children. It is highly likely that we will not be able to get a sub.
For those of you who may not know, PTA's gift to the staff each year is the gift of time. For three days, teachers can bring gifts to school and PTA will wrap them for us. Wrapping days are December 12th-14th. I am sure that they will have the wrapping paper choices up soon. Remember that all gifts must be in a box in order to be wrapped. Gifts can be dropped off on one of those days in Michelle Caballero's room and will be returned to you once they have been wrapped.
As in past years, during the week of December 18th, you may wear jeans with a holiday shirt on Monday - Thursday. In exchange for that, I ask that you dress professionally on Friday. Due to parties, we will host many visitors who are not in our building very often. It is important to portray the image of a professional who deserves to be treated with respect. People who are in our building frequently know who you are by the interactions they have had with you. Those who don't spend much time in our building have limited information, and your appearance will contribute to their impression of you. This does not mean that you have to wear your Sunday best. I just ask that you look put together and professional.
It is my understanding that we are having some difficulty with pests in certain areas of the building. Donna has submitted a work order to address this problem, but I need to ask a few things of all of you prior to anyone coming out to inspect the campus. Please make sure that all tape is removed from drains and all food items are stored in bins with lids. Your help with this is greatly appreciated.
Make today count!
JL
---------------------------------------
My Education Discount
---------------------------------------
Action Items
- Send all special education teachers a copy of your artifact from unit planning on Wednesday, November 29th by EOD Monday, December 4th.
- Prepare for RtI Mtg on Thursday, December 7th.
- Enter grades by 8:00am Monday, December 18th.
---------------------------------------
Support 5th Grade Camp
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
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 Amy Arnold for being the highest three staff contributors to Shoparoo this week!
---------------------------------------
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.
---------------------------------------
Remind for Staff
---------------------------------------
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
---------------------------------------
APPRECIATIONS
- SdL, DF & MC - Thank you so much for helping me out last week when there was no room in the inn. -JL
- 5th grade team & SL - Thank you so much for all of your efforts to provide such a great camp experience for our students. -JL
- Lindsey - Thank you so much for keeping a friend last week so that I could go to an observation. -JL
- 5th grade team- thanks for all that you did for our kiddos to have a great camp experience! SL:)
- Shannon- you absolutely rock!! I appreciate your organization and systems in place to help make camp medications run smoothly! SL
- JL & Donna- thanks for holding down the fort and updating McGowen families while we were riding back from camp! SL
- SL, JL & JD thank you so much for staying late on Friday afternoon with one of my friends! -Hoye
- Melanie – Thank you for allowing Connor to come help the 4th graders this week! It was the highlight of his week and a much needed confidence boost. - McKeen
- Relle-thanks for helping with a friend this week so I could have a break and load up on patience, it takes a village!-Garro
- “Marilyn, thanks for being flexible and looking after the resource students while Jaime and I were CogAT testing!” - John
---------------------------------------
Bad Dude
Please join us in congratulating Lisa Barton as this week's Bad Dude. Lisa is an exceptional team leader, teacher, and teammate. She is always wanting to improve herself as a teacher and strives to get everyone on her team on the same page for the benefit of all students. She treats her students with tremendous respect and maintains great relationships with everyone. She feels the fear of change and challenge, yet embraces it with a willing spirit and positive attitude. I love her honesty, integrity and problem solving nature. She is simply awsome!
---------------------------------------
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
---------------------------------------
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.