Monday Memo
January 25th - 29th
Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment. -- Oprah Winfrey
What a day! In the same day, I have viewed and selected my son's graduation photos and planned out my daughter's graduation plan. For those of you who have already experienced graduating seniors, you know that is a big thing and just brings us one step closer to June. Recognizing how quickly his high school years have passed, planning out my baby's course schedule for the next four years was just insult to injury! For those of you who have yet to venture down this path, I encourage you to savor every stage of your children's lives. Those moments are so precious and pass far too quickly.
A requirement of being a High Reliability School is for the district to have and maintain a guaranteed and viable curriculum. In order to do that, we must have a framework that is accurate and aligned to what is reasonable. As a collective interdependent team, Central Office has asked for our feedback. The data collected will help them identify any revisions that need to be made. Please utilize this link and submit your feedback by the EOD on Friday, January 29th so that we can organize it and send it over to Suzy Woodard.
Thanks to all of you who have already signed up to work a shift at the dance on February 5th. The expectation is for every teacher to work a shift. If you have not signed up yet, please make sure that you sign up by the EOD, Monday, January 25th. On Tuesday, January 26th, anyone who wants to work additional shifts in exchange for jeans passes may do so.
Last Friday, all 2nd-5th grade teachers were to have watched the MAP videos that Michelle Caballero made and emailed out to the staff. I also included links to those videos and asked that you sign off on this form when you had completed the task. Given the short length of the videos, I'm sure most, if not all, of you watched them, but if you haven't signed off on the form, please do so by the end of today, January 25th.
As we continue to pray for The Prugh Family, count your blessings and make today count!
JL
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Teacher Scales for Reflective Practice
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Jon Gordon's 20 Tips for a Positive New Year (11-15)
11. Every day focus on your purpose. Remember why you do what you do. We don't get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forget why we do it.
12. Remember there's no such thing as an overnight success. There's no substitute for hard work.
13. Believe that everything happens for a reason and expect good things to come out of challenging experiences.
14. Implement the No Complaining Rule. If you are complaining, you're not leading.
15. Read more books than you did in 2015. I happen to know of a few good ones. : )
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Texas ASCD is accepting proposal submissions for 90 minute Innovative Highlight sessions at our ignite16 conference! Don't miss the opportunity to share your talents and insight at this exciting professional learning event. This year's conference will be held June 13-15, 2016 at the Irving Convention Center in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Texas ASCD's ignite16 is a conference focused on transforming curriculum with technology. This popular conference is unique in that attendees leave sessions with end products - something they can take with them, to implement or apply in their districts or classrooms. Attendees of the conference choose sessions that cover all interest-areas of education.
When submitting a proposal, please keep in mind that attendees will come with their own devices and will be leaving your session with a product or program to implement/apply in the 2016-2017 school year. Please make sure to indicate what your end product is in your proposal. This year's strands/pathways include:
• Reaching All Learners
• Engaging the Learner
• Advancing Literacy
• Leading Digital Teaching and Learning
Click here to submit your proposal by Leap Day - February 29, 2016.
Proposals will be reviewed by a program committee and the presenters will be notified of the committee's decision before April 30, 2016.
Employee Student Transfer Information
The deadline for MISD employees to submit a student transfer petition for the 2016-17 school year is fast approaching. Petitions will only be accepted from January 7 to January 29, 2016. Petitions submitted outside the acceptance dates will not be processed or retained.
The transfer form is located at:
www.mckinneyisd.net → Staff tab → Staff Resources → Employee Student Transfer Petition
Please refer all questions to Elena Rodriguez at erodriguez@mckinneyisd.net or 469-302-4208.
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Warm-Up Wednesdays
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Open House
Open House is on Tuesday, March 1st and will be here before we know it! Remember, this is an opportunity to showcase what you are doing in the classroom, so start thinking now of authentic student work that you can save to be shared with parents that night.
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Google Syndicate
Google Syndicate is gearing up for another round of training. Last year, we were able to send Amber Evans to to the training. This year, we are allowed to send two teachers from each campus. If you are interested in learning more about it, please feel free to watch this promotional video. In addition, you will probably want to discuss this opportunity with Amber and Melanie Burford. We will be selecting McGowen's participants in the next few weeks.
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Shoparoo
Did you know that each week I give out jeans passes to those who are one of the top three participants 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. If you use veft4467 as a referral code, McGowen will earn money for you just signing up. Please feel free to push this information out to your parents as well. Once you sign up, Shoparoo will give you a referral code for your parents to use when they sign up. Schools with just 40 supporters are earning an average of $1,000 every year.
Congratulations to Lhauren Chitwood, Jen McCartney and Krista Daniel for being in this week's top three!
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Focus for 2015 - 2016
In order to help every child their personal best, McGowen teachers and staff will:
- Develop a common language needed to become High Reliability School.
- Develop an understanding and process for effective Professional Learning Communities.
- Engage in collaborative team planning and lesson design to promote higher level thinking and student engagement.
- 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!
January
Mary Ann Miller - 7th
Laura Garro - 10th
Martha Gordon - 15th
Lisa Pedersen - 15th
Jean Possehl - 16th
Holly Bianchetta - 19th
Stacie Bullock - 19th
Krystina Ticehurst - 24th
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APPRECIATIONS
- Shannon - Thank you for sharing the resources and activities about fairness. I appreciate you looking for ways to incorporate the character trait of the month into your classroom instruction. -JL
- Sneller – Thank you for switching your MAP time with me so my class could finish without missing core instruction from the other classes! -JD
- Lynn, Cab, SL, JL, Amy Arnold, and Zappe – Thank you for all the troubleshooting and flexibility on our math MAP marathon. I feel we worked out most of the kinks for the rest of our MAP tests. -JD
- Amy Arnold – Thank you for being so flexible with all that we have thrown at you the last two weeks! I truly appreciate all you have done for our 5th grade students! -JD
- Kristi & Aly - Thanks for helping my sub on Friday! You guys are always so willing to help out! - Trisha
- Tracey & Michelle - Thank you fir the awesome lit circle discussion and information on Thursday! I can't wait to use it all! I appreciate all the time you spent preparing! - Trisha
- Rico - Thank you for getting our team going on Class Dojo! I've seen great results! - Trisha
- LB-You’re the best! Thanks for always taking care of us!!!! - jen
- Thank you to whoever nominated me for TOY. Very shocking and undeserved, but so nice. Thanks for the needed boost of confidence!!! -jen
- KW – thanks for being our team newsletter guru! -jen
- Thank you Coach Relle and Coach Shambo for taking time after school to host staff fitness!! - Tebo :)
- I really appreciate Staci and Lynn! -Trent South
Thanks to all of you who participated in the Lit Circle PLC/playdate on Thursday. -JL
Tracy & Michelle - Thank you for sharing your knowledge about lit circles with teammates on Thursday. I appreciate you helping others figure out a way to implement best practices in a flexible/manageable way. -JL
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Action Items
- Schedule assessments for open testing windows with Bonnie
- 2nd - 5th grade teachers view and sign off on the MAP videos by EOD, Monday, January 25th
- Begin signing up for extra dance shifts Tuesday, January 26th
- Submit agenda items for TL mtg by EOD Friday, January 29th
- Provide Framework Feedback by EOD, Friday, January 29th
- K-2nd grade enter DRA scores by EOD Friday, February 5th
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Bad Dude
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.