Monday Memo
October 16 - 20 , 2017
"The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other. Without collaboration our growth is limited to our own perspectives." -Robert John Meehan
I want to personally thank you for your work this past Monday. My hope is that we were able to clarify the process and modify it in a way that will help you transition the process into muscle memory much more efficiently. As we look at the calendar, our next Design Time will be held on Wednesday, October 25th. During that time, you will be able to create a Unit Plan for the next unit in each of the two content areas focused on by your planning team.
Thanks to everyone for helping to make the Fall Festival a huge success. This has always been a great time for our community to come together and enjoy an evening of fun and fellowship. It is also an event that best illustrates our culture. While the PTA Board runs the show, this could not be done without your support. It meant a lot to not only have you working shifts but to stay and participate as member of the McGowen Community as well. I know that we all have much to do and are probably never more exhausted than we are on Friday nights, but please know how much your participation and support is appreciated.
As you are planning the next few weeks, I want to strongly encourage you to plan ahead for conference week. You will likely be meeting with parents all that week which will take time away that you usually spend on planning. If you can plan the week of October 30th over the next two weeks, it will greatly reduce your stress level during conference week and make everything a little more manageable.
When working on report cards, remember that you must include a comment specific to each child's learning goals. A good rule of thumb is that if you can copy and paste a comment to use with more than one or two students, the comment is probably not specific enough. You will gain so much trust with the parents if they believe that you truly know their child, and your comments about their progress and goals are a great way to prove that you do.
Now that we are at the end of the first quarter, you should have a good idea of who is struggling to meet the expectations of your grade level. If you have a student who is going to get a 1 on their report card and (s)he is not already on RtI for that content area, you must place them on T2. If a student is getting a 2 in a content area, you will need to determine if placing them on T2 is an appropriate next step. Because this isn't a black or white situation, please talk to your teammates and/or anyone on A-Team to help you make this decision. It is critical for us to begin formal documentation as soon as we know a child consistently requires additional support in order to be successful.
Make today count!
JL
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District Math Trends on STAAR
Over all highlights that were consistent with the grade levels:
- Students struggled in all three grade levels with the griddables. A next step for your campuses would be to ensure that 3rd through 5th grade teachers have posters of the griddables in order to model how to correctly fill in a griddable according to the correct place value. Making copies of the griddables for students would also be ideal for students to practice filling in answers to any math problems during class.
- Students are struggling with multi-step problems. Teachers need to provide instruction on how to identify the different steps in the problem. Those strategies might include using map colors to identify step 1, step 2, and step 3 ( the solve piece), labeling the steps with 1,2, and 3, or maybe labeling the steps with the operation symbol that belongs to that step. The questions were requiring the students to follow through but our students were stopping after step 2. As you know, there was always an answer for the students who stopped at step 2.
- These tests were rich with vocabulary. There were many questions where the students needed to know more than one vocabulary word to answer one question. Teachers need to hold students accountable for using the vocabulary words in their math stations. That should start in Kindergarten. An idea for a next step could possibly be for your K-5 vertical teams to look at the STAAR test and highlight the vocabulary the students had to have in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. Then have the grade levels identify the vocabulary words that they teach in their grade level. These words should become essential in instruction among the teachers and the school. Another suggestion might be for the specials teachers to incorporate these vocabulary words in their classes.
- To provide extra support for our ELL learners, teachers should label their classrooms with vocabulary, (especially the geometry vocabulary). Also, in the back of the consumables, there are vocabulary words with pictures in color to add a visual. These could be taken out of the back of the book and used as their own personal dictionary of math terms. Another suggestion is to have teachers ask students to pre-read through math problems and ask for clarification on any words they may not know. These words might include every day words such as: fundraiser, collection, participate, etc.
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Parent Conference Information
As you prepare for upcoming conferences with parents, we have included an agenda to use as a guide for planning including documents that you will need to print prior to the conference. Please note that some documents (talking points, for example) are for you to reference, but not distribute to parents. If you have any questions regarding any of these reference materials, please let us know. New teachers, it would be a good idea to review with your mentor.
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Team Leader Meeting Agenda
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Action Items
- Follow Report Card Timeline
- Plan Team Time (October 18th)
- Prepare for RtI Meeting (October 19th)
- Begin lesson planning for the week of October 30th
- Finish scheduling conferences (October 30th)
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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, Barbara Peebles and Ashley O'Connor 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!
October
Mayella Torres - 7th
Sadie Hunsaker - 13th
Lori Peterson - 13th
Jenny Snyder - 13th
Melanie Burford - 15th
Marilyn Oliphant - 24th
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APPRECIATIONS
- Sylvia, Michelle and Melanie - Thank you for the time, energy and effort you put into preparing for the waiver day. - JL
- Rachel - Many thanks to you for your presentation about referrals. It was very helpful and timely information. -JL
- McCartney, Quin, Trisha, Evans, Rico, Teresa, Nick, John and SL - Much love and appreciation to you for taking one for the team and being such good sports in the dunk tank on Friday. This always seems to be the highlight of the Fall Festival. -JL
- John - A special thanks to you for agreeing to take a turn in the dunk tank! I really appreciate it. -JL
- Lisa Barton- Thank you for taking time out of your day to be involved in an ARD for one of my kiddos! (Thank you also to the teachers who split her class when it ran over!)- N. Atterberry
- Sylvia- Thank you for your support during my ARD this week!- N. Atterberry
- SPED team- Thank you for your flexibility this week as schedules continue to change!- N. Atterberry
- Shana and Jessica - Thank you so much for helping me out at the last minute! I am always grateful for our village! - Michelle C.
- Shiela – Thank you for ALL your help! I don’t even know where to begin. I am very thankful for your continued support—always! - Michelle C.
- Hance - Thank you for your help. Your patience and kind nature is so valuable! - Michelle C.
- SL – Thank you! I don’t know how you do what you do! Your help was most appreciated! LP
- There are so many wonderful professionals at McGowen I have to be thankful and show appreciations to everyone I have been connected to in anyways starting first with My Special Education dream team, all the grade level teams K-5 I work with, Administrative staff, custodian’s – I APPRECIATE you all if you have helped me in anyways – I APPRECIATE you – I could not have asked for a better team of specials in all my 18 years of teaching – really it is the Dream Team of Professionals at this school as whole that I APPRECIATE your kind hearts and professional attitudes! Keep doing what you are doing for you are all AWESOME in your own way! -Mrs. Oliphant
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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.