MIS Monday Message
January 11 - 15
Fidelity
Genius Hour is something that we began discussing last summer and I've noticed that many of you have implemented some form of it in your classroom. I'm so excited that you have stepped out with boldness and have become the early adopters of this practice. My challenge to you this week if you've already started is to revisit some of the core principles and examine your own practice. Are your students pursing deep questions that interest them? Are they collaborating with peers and taking ownership of their own learning in a way that impacts their life? Are they learning something new? Have you created a process for creating projects? It's always good to reflect and see how we're doing once something has been implemented.
If you haven't tried it yet, then I encourage you to read the information below on Genius Hour and give your students a chance to try it. I don't expect everyone to be fully implemented, but the value of capturing your students' attention is priceless.
Most importantly, I want our students to have time to put their skills to work in a way that helps them understand why they are learning in the first place. Genius Hour is meant to be a time for students to explore and learn in new and exciting ways. There are numerous resources online and on Twitter to help you get started or continue your journey, and I look forward to seeing how you each choose to use them. I've included two resources below for you to read that share the core principles of Genius Hour that I hope you'll find helpful.
Let's have a great week at MIS!
SAR Reward
Fifth grade students will be leaving directly from the cafeteria and will get their recess time when they return from MMS with the assigned duty teachers supervising.
Pull-outs that are from 12:40 - 1:20 will be rescheduled according to the following:
Paul - go to PE from 10:20 - 11
Fair - go to Music from 9:40 - 10:20
Jones - go to Art as soon as you return from MMS
Tipton - go to Keyboarding from 9:00 - 9:40
Hill - go to Keyboarding from 8:00 - 8:40
* All other pull-outs will still be at the regular times!
Please email the names of students who did not earn the reward to Blake by the end of the day on Monday. He will be supervising them in the cafeteria.
Where are we going?
- Why are we here?
- What do we have to do well together?
- How will we get there?
Through our discussions of these three questions, we will begin the process of crafting a shared vision, mission, and core beliefs for MIS. Something else that's a part of that process is learning to dream together. I want us to really start thinking about what we want MIS to be five years from now. If you could design your dream school, what would it be like? Begin having conversations with your teams and your students about what school should look like. This will help us as we solidify our goals for the future.
As you dream, think beyond the box we've put ourself in. Start thinking about what if? What if we were departmentalized differently? What if teachers looped with their students? What if we taught content differently? What if we set up our classrooms differently? The goal here is to think beyond the structures in place and start thinking about how we will get to where we want to be. In the coming weeks I will be sharing videos and ideas for how other schools do things in order to expand our horizons. If you have ideas or resources, please feel free to share them! I'm excited about the future of MIS and can't wait to see what ideas you have!
Baby Shower
THIS WEEK AT MIS
Monday, 1/11
- Academy resumes
- Tornado Drill (unannounced)
- District Leadership Meeting, 1:00 pm (Workman and Abbott)
Tuesday, 1/12
- SAR Reward - Malco at MMS, 1:00 pm
Thursday, 1/14
- Sped. teachers out for IEP training at Co-op (Langley, Norris, Case)
UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES:
1/20 - Baby Shower for Ashley Nelms and baby Charley
1/22 - Donuts for Dads
Julie Workman
Principal
Monticello Intermediate SchoolEmail: julie.workman@billies.org
Website: https://classroom.google.com/c/OTM1ODM4NTNa
Phone: (817) 694-6475
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/julie.m.workman.7
Twitter: @Jworkman97