Monday Memo
April 16th-20th, 2018
"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did." - Newt Gingrich
Thank you so much for last week. Thanks to you and your efforts, McGowen experienced it's first testing session ever without a single person coming up to school to eat lunch with their child. While that may seem like a silly thing to celebrate, it is an indication of your communication efforts and the relationships you have built with your parents. If they weren't connected to you, they wouldn't take the time to read the information you provide to them.
While it will take a few weeks to get the official results of the tests taken last week, we don't need them to determine our next steps. You have plenty of data in front of you and much to do before this school year comes to an end. Regardless if you are a STAAR testing grade level or not, I encourage you to push yourselves and your students to make as much progress as you can over the remaining weeks of school. Purposeful planning, engaging lessons, consistent expectations and close supervision are the keys to reducing the level of student misbehavior, increasing student success, and maintaining our own sanity.
Copy Moms need your help. We are in the process of slightly revising the copy form we are currently using to better reflect the information the Copy Moms need to serve you better. Until we are able to make those changes, when identifying "Date Copies Needed by", please write the date that you would like the copies made and in your box. Please let me know if you have any questions.
As we look ahead and begin planning the last eight weeks of school, I wanted to share a few timelines. A-Team will distribute the EOY Checklist at the Faculty Meeting on May 9th. For those of you with graduating Seniors, please inform Donna so that we will know who needs a modified timeline. In addition, please plan to provide tutoring through May 24th. When we stop this service after STAAR, it sends a message that the support was about testing rather than student mastery of the content. Moreover, when we cease this support sooner than the last two weeks of school, we risk sending the message to the students that school is already over. Along the same line of reasoning, RtI interventions and support should also be provided and documented through May 24th.
Teacher Appreciation Week is right around the corner. As always, PTA is in the process of planning a wonderful week for you. Part of their plan includes decorating the school. Normally, they decorate after school on the Friday before; However, this year, we do not have school on that day. If anyone is planning on coming up to school to work on that day, please let me know. They will not be able to be in the building unless a staff member is here as well, and prior to figuring out a Plan B, I thought I would check with you first.
Make today count, and take care of each other!
JL
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Content PLCs
Teams will attend the Content PLC that aligns with their SLO goal. Teachers will bring student data of the identified targeted students and discuss the process of identifying their goal as well as what they learned from focusing on this goal. This would be time dedicated to discussing the SLO process and collaborate with other teams. This would also help everyone prepare for summatives.
Reading (Hoye’s Room)
Jen Breazeale
Teresa Nocella
Kinder
1st grade
Hardy
Math (Prugh’s Room)
Dickinson
Prugh
Harris
Sneller
Goodwin
Cissick
Writing (Learning Commons):
2nd grade
3rd grade
Bravo
Fein
Garza
Mrs. Oliphant
Atterbery
Butler
Snyder
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Calling All Presenters!!!
The Instructional Technology Team is looking for proposals from every grade level, PK-12 to share some of the innovative things you do every day in the classroom. I think sometimes when teachers are cloistered in their own classrooms they believe everyone knows how to do the things they do and they can’t bring anything new to the table. This could not be further from the truth. Everyone has a story to tell about their journey with innovation! Let me know if you have any questions, and please use this link to submit your proposal.
Enroll Now
Operation Converge 2018 is now listed in Eduphoria for registration! Teachers will receive their 6 hour GT update credit for both days of Converge. We have some exciting things planned for this innovative 2-day event. Check out the CONVERGE WEBSITE for more information on our plan for this summer and the link for breakout session proposals!
Don’t miss out! It’s going to be AMAZING!!
Links for registration:
Day 1-
https://eduphoria.mckinneyisd.net/wshop/default.aspx?cid=17156
Day 2-
https://eduphoria.mckinneyisd.net/wshop/default.aspx?cid=17157
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EOY T-TESS Conferences
If you haven't already signed up for an end of the year T-TESS conference, please refer to the links below and do so by Monday, April 16th.
K-2 & Resource teachers- Sylvia
3-5, Specials and Centralized Teachers- Jennifer
This is a time for us to reflect on your TTESS and SLO goals as well as discuss your summer PD plans and upcoming goals for next year. Below you will find links to documents regarding how to prepare and what to bring based on if you were observed this year or not. Please let us know if you have any questions.
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Instructional Rounds Update
Below are just a few comments teachers recorded after spending time in another teacher's classroom.
- Melanie was able to communicate the directions and the way the stations work in a clear and quick manner. Students knew exactly where to go and what to do to get started.
- The transition time from specials and into reading was done with many fluid procedures and expectations. This gave the students time to do the introduction activity, and start the reading process.
I was impressed with the fact that students were quite and engaged in their learning about summarization.
I would like to see a math lesson and stations in second grade.
I would love to see the whole transition for 5th grade, and Kinder to get the full experience. Also, I think having a homogeneous procedure to the lower grades help with the transition.
I love that Melanie used stations as a way to get students exposed to different types of the technology. The stations ran very smoothly and the students were very engaged in their learning.
The purpose of this practice is to learn from each other, and sometimes it is the simplest things we observe watching others that can dramatically change our whole world.
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Action Items
- Sign up for your EOY T-TESS Conference by EOD on Monday, April 16th.
- Review Lockdown procedures with your team and students. Make sure any subs on your team know what to do in the event of a lockdown.
- Prepare for EOY T-TESS Conference
- Register for Content PLCs in Eduphoria by EOD Tuesday, April 17th.
- Review assembly behavior expectation with your students prior to Friday, April 20th.
- Remind your parents of no school on Friday, April 27th in your next parent communication.
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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 Barbara Peebles, Donna Fabian and Jennifer Little 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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APPRECIATIONS
- Melanie – Thank you for the wonderful Makerspace experience. My students really enjoyed building, coding, solving problems, etc. I love the way you have organized it. -Amber E.
- Mandy – Thank you for being such a flexible teammate on Friday. I really appreciate you as my partner and teammate and all you do to support our team. -Amber E.
- Michelle - Thanks for organizing PLCs. I really appreciate your ability to jump right in to get things done without skipping a beat. -JL
- Sylvia & Shiela - Many thanks to you for all of the hours of preparation that went into pulling off a super smooth first round of STAAR testing. -JL
- Melanie H. - Thank you so much for your quick and decisive response on Monday afternoon. Your actions helped prevent a bad situation from getting worse. -JL
- Relle - When it comes to dealing with unexpected fires, regardless if they are literal or figurative, I'm always happy to have you on my side. -JL
- Office Team - Thank you for your support on Friday. Some days are better than others, and I'm so grateful to have you to lean on when I'm running on empty. -JL
- Jaime & Rachael - Many thanks to both of you for the help in navigating unchartered water. -JL
- 5th Grade Team - Many thanks to you for your support in keeping a Kinder student safe during your recess last week. -JL
- JD & Prugh - Thank you for always covering for me at a moment's notice with a happy heart. -JL
- Quin- thanks so much for being the admin on duty for Movie Night! SL
- 3rd Grade Team- Thank you for watching my kiddos on Friday!! Y’all are amazing and I don’t know what I’d do without you!
- Office Team- thanks for the sweet lunch for Library Workers week :) - Lindsey
- McGowen Staff- Thank you for all you did to create a safe and secure STAAR testing environment for our students! SL
- John- Thank you for helping with STAAR make up testing! SL
- Gaby and Lynn- thanks for the bathroom monitor training, I feel like an expert now :) -Lindsey
- Kincaid & O' Connor --- Thankful for you both when I was in need of a few things :) -Henry
- Haas- Thanks for letting me borrow your diorama examples! -Henry
- 4th Grade Team- thank you for putting up with my crazy questions, and teaching me the ways of the teaching world. Garza
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BAD DUDE
Please join us in congratulating Amy Arnold as this week’s Bad Dude! Amy does such an amazing job of providing students with fun and engaging art projects and brings McGowen’s school walls to life with student artwork! She is kind and generous with her time and always has a happy heart. In addition, she is always willing to pitch in where ever there is a need. She is a collaborative team member and brings new and fun ideas to our campus! Make sure to stop by Central Office and see McGowen’s artwork displayed this month!
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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.