Monday Memo
October 15, 2018 @MMSCougarPride
Follow us on Twitter!
Follow us on Twitter to stay updated on all things happening in the MMS community @MMS CougarPride.
Send Dara pictures to district email if you'd like us to Tweet something. Our followers are increasing every day!
Apply for an Achieve Grant-Workshop 10/17/18
https://achievefoundation.org/achieve-teacher-grant-application/
Linked above is the Achieve educator grant for 2018. There will be an optional workshop in the MMS library to get tips on how to get your grant funded! Time-3:30pm Date-Wednesday, October 17, 2018.
18 grants were funded for MMS faculty and staff last year!
The Wizard of Oz
Greetings and Updates from Ms. Gronau
Happy Monday MMS,
Special shout out to our entire ELA department for their active engagement at this past week's TCRWP Staff Development. I really enjoyed learning alongside you! We thank Ms. Silva and Mr. O'Dell for opening their classrooms as lab sites for the staff developer.
I spent the weekend at my great Aunt's birthday. She's 94! It was such a special time. She's pictured here with my Grandfather who I know I've told some of the U.S. and 7th grade history teachers about. He's 99 and one of the civilian trainers to the Tuskegee Airmen. I'm still hoping to bring him to a History class this year if he's up to it. Why am I sharing this? Tomorrow at our faculty meeting we'll do a short team building/connection activity to talk about a teacher, family member, or loved one who we think most influences us professionally or personally. For me, my Grandfather and late Grandmother are definitely enormous influences on me. I can't wait to learn about you!
Quote for the week--I believe the world is one big family. And we need to help each other --Jet Li
TLC Agenda
Focus Items
Instructional Items
Notetaker for meeting (Varney last week)
ED student waiver
Quarterly Celebrations-Effort and Achievement
Data discussion: Finalizing Measuring Up dates
Advisory groups and needs
Peer Visitation and/or New Teacher Shadow Dates?
Finalizing Meeting Types: Please comment on this document. We will not discuss it during the meeting unless there’s extra time at the end.
**Meeting types should support district goals below TLC Meeting Types 2018-19
All SOMSD administrators have been asked to support the following district goals at all buildings:
District Goal #1-Enhance student learning of struggling students, as demonstrated by the establishment of a data-driven committee, schedule of meetings, assistance and follow up plans, along with quarterly report to be shared and discussed with the Superintendent and Senior Leadership Team (SLT)
District Goal #2-Consistently implement the district’s Prek-12 curricula, as demonstrated by the design of a collaborative process that incorporates regular review of observations and lesson plans, and feedback to teachers to identify gaps and trends in the curriculum, instruction and assessments which includes appropriate next actionable steps, along with a quarterly report to be shared and discussed with the Superintendent and Senior Leadership Team (SLT).
MMS 2018-19 Focused Walkthrough Documents --Any questions? **Important to discuss. We have missed the last items on the agenda the last two meetings.
Classroom Culture/Restorative Practices Walkthrough
Logistics/Operations
Calendar Items?
Items for Monday Memo?
Best,
Dara
City 5k
Advisory starts 10/26/18
Faculty Meeting 10/16/18
The 5 Keys to Middle School Child Resilience and Success
The 5 Keys to Middle School Child Resilience and Success
The MMS faculty and staff ask that you support our work with your child in the following ways:
1) Encourage a Growth Mindset-Having a growth mindset fosters resilience. Use the language of yet. I don’t understand this “yet.” Emphasize the importance of hard work as opposed to innate intelligence. “I did well because of my effort. I’ll do better next time.”
2) Encourage 1-2 Good Peer Relationships-Friends should be a source of support. Often our middle schoolers try to maintain large groups of close friends and that is challenging for anyone of any age! Encourage your child to have 1-2 solid and supportive peer friendships and keep it light and simple with the larger groups.
3) Ensure 9-11 Hours of Sleep Please! Sleep is the best way to foster resilience. Research shows that kiddos this age need 9-11 hours to be at their best. When your child is well-rested, everything is better. Technology is the #1 enemy of sleep! As a school community, we recommend that you keep technology out of your child’s bedroom at night to encourage healthy and consistent sleep.
4) Encourage Coping Strategies-Coping is personal. Everyone does it differently. Encourage your child to think about healthy ways to relax and give them permission to do it!
5) Facilitate Time/Connection with a non-familial adult-Good connections with non-familial adults are very important for your child. They hear things differently from non-familial adults. Encourage your child to participate in a club or activity. Children need our perspective. They are always changing and growing. As adults we can attach a growth mindset to their personality development and their peer interactions.
Maplewood Middle School Remind App Code @k92d29
This year, the MMS Principal has added a school-wide "Remind App" as another way to communicate with families. Many of your child's teachers will share Remind class codes for you and your child to stay up to date about class events and assignments. As needed, the MMS Principal will periodically use the Remind App to share important info with our school community. Our Maplewood Middle School school-wide code Remind code is listed above (@k92d29). The link below explains how to begin getting notifications. It's a simple way to stay in touch. Join us!
https://help.remind.com/hc/en-us/articles/203179887-How-do-I-join-a-class-