McMillen Minute
Week of October 28
Pic of The Week
Campus Improvement Plan
Goals
- To increase student learning of our Hispanic, Special Education, and Economic Disadvantage subgroup population in Reading, Math, and Science as evidenced by an increase of students performing at the level of "Approaches" and "Meets" and by 3%.
- Exit three-percent of ESL students served in our ESL Program.
Shout Outs
From Patricia
I want to give a BIG Shout out to Tracy and her team. On Friday one of my FANS crew slipped on the wet cafeteria floor coming down hard on her knee. The 1st responder team were with her in less than 2 minutes. Tracy kept her calm till the Murphy FD arrived. Our Admins Tracie and Brittany were on hand to call Bowman and Meadows to get emergency contact for the kids involved.
The teams kept cool which in turn kept Bianca in a better state of mind.
Thank you McMillen Family you were awesome.
From Sarah
District News
Trade Hours
Teachers,
Summer professional learning hours can be used for Personal Trade hours even though they are coded as professional learning in PowerSchool Develop. When we moved MLP records to PowerSchool Develop, all existing records transferred into the new system as "professional learning." GT hours were not originally recorded; however, we have now rebuilt GT-eligible courses that were offered in PISD so that they appear as such in PowerSchool.
To share a record of your trade hours with your administrator, you may print your transcript from PowerSchool Develop and filter by the date range May 25, 2019, to July 31, 2019. All learning between these dates can be used for 2019-2020 trade hours. The only exceptions are the courses for which attendees received pay in lieu of hours. To see a video on accessing and printing transcripts, click HERE. Remember that any professional learning hours accrued outside the district should be submitted to PowerSchool as out-of-district activity.
I do apologize for the inconvenience caused by the transition. We anticipate that this is a one-time issue because all subsequent professional learning will be housed in PowerSchool.
Thank you.
Edna Phythian
Coordinator of Professional Learning
Plano ISD
Office: 469-752-8133
Campus News
Campus Professional Development: November 12
Releasing Students To The Gym and Tutorials
- If your department is offering tutorials, you may only send your entire class to the gym or library if you have more than 5 students attending tutorials AND you will be engaged with your students you are tutoring. Making up a test or an assignment can be done in the learning lab and/or pod.
- If you have a student currently failing your class, they should not be released to the gym or library.
- Only release students to the gym or library when at least 5 students show up for tutorials. Do not release them with the "anticipation" of students reporting to your classroom based on the number of students that signed up.
Important Dates
New Teacher Huddle (In Library)
Tuesday, October 29th, 4:20-4:40 pm
HOCO Tailgate, “Battle of the East Side”(11/7)-> 5-7 pm
Ticket Form:https://forms.gle/N7t6CSC81DexyXmCA
*** Deadline November 1st, 2019
HOCO Sign- up (for food):https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lpxLtATNqlSi91sTdhA0zlkZGtXSXwLMj8MsbYVcdnw/edit#gid=0
***Please sign up by November 1st, 2019
Friday After- Hours, Friday, 11/1 (4:30-6:30 pm)
Please sign students up and make contact with parents
Snacks and limited transportation will be provided
Parent/Teacher Conference Feedback
Angelique Loncar 015 Oct, 5:36pm
I liked the format today. I appreciated the efficiency and being able to meet with all of my son's teachers in a reasonable amount of time.
Anonymous
015 Oct, 5:39pm
This was a great format and efficient! I would like to have this option more frequently.
Anonymous
015 Oct, 5:49pm
I appreciate this format. It felt very modern and efficient.
Anonymous
015 Oct, 5:58pm
I really liked the format. It was easy to locate the teachers and the feedback provided by the teachers was valuable. Very efficient way to talk to teachers.
R
Ruth Sarkari
015 Oct, 6:47pm
Format worked out very well. Able to visit all 14 teachers for both of my kids within 2 hours. Good layout - key helped. A chair for registration might be nice.
Anonymous
015 Oct, 6:50pm
This format was excellent.
K
Karla Dickenson
015 Oct, 7:07pm
It was a great experience! Efficient and well managed. I would like another opportunity like this in the Spring as well.
Anonymous
015 Oct, 8:08pm
It was a great format worked out well.
Anonymous
015 Oct, 8:23pm
It was a great experience with an efficient system and valuable feedback, however, it also seems to lack privacy, although that wasn’t a problem for me today.
Anonymous
015 Oct, 9:21pm
Format worked smooth. Environment was comfortable. Teachers/staff provided valuable constructive feedback exhibiting true sincerity, dedication and passion. 👍
Anonymous
016 Oct, 8:02am
I liked the format. It was efficient having them all in one location. I could see who was there, or who was with someone at that moment. Great setup!
Anonymous
016 Oct, 9:57am
It was great to meet with all of the teachers and put faces to names that we've heard.Having them all in one location made it easier to navigate than Open House
Parent Teacher Conference Staff Feedback
- Check in with students who do not have grade concerns in my class
- I didn't have to run around to different rooms and wait for parents that may or may not show up. I like not having the awkward walk with parents from the office to my room trying to make small talk.
- It was easy for both parents and teachers to get the opportunity to meet. Since the parents knew that others were also waiting to speak, and that they needed to speak with another teacher; it made for a short and sweet talk.
- I thought it was a great concept and it worked out well
- I felt like it made conferences more available to more parents because we did not have to coordinate with 7 teachers' schedules.
- THe informal setting
- It was very easy for the parents to meet with individual teachers.
- I feel it made it easy to collaborate with other teachers in different subject areas.
- Didn't have to make appointments, find locations of other appointments. Half day was enough. Most parents came early, so we still have the afternoon to catch parents who want an appt and can work between appointments.
- Convenience for parents to see multiple teachers
- I was pleased with the turn out and I liked the informal aspect the meetings. It felt like parents appreciated being able to float around and met with more teachers this way than if they all had tried to schedule appointments.
- I liked being able to see other teachers that I normally don't get to see.
- I enjoyed the simplistic/streamlined nature of the format and how it's convenient for both the teacher and the parents to recognize each other.
- I thought it made it much easier for the parents to go around and meet teachers, instead of having to roam the halls to go to different rooms
- I liked the come and go atmosphere, the fact that the cafeteria was not loud and overbearing, the sign in procedure worked well, the layout was efficient, and the twenty minute time slots worked well. It was a great experience. I am glad that we did it this way!
- easy and quick for the parents to see us
- Didn't have to worry about room numbers
- I liked that parents were able to go from one teacher to another. It was personable and informative.
- Informal, therefore less intimidating to parents.
- I liked the concept. The map is great.
- There was an energy and positive vibe in the room. I liked it that it was morning only.
- I liked the new format - I felt it was less intimidating and more welcoming for the families. It's often uncomfortable to meet with a table of 6 teachers telling you what your child is doing wrong versus a one to one more intimate conference. I also think our parents are catching on to bringing their student with them to the conference to get a more accurate assessment of what's really going on. The snacks and water were a nice touch as well.☺
- I thought it worked really well! I was concerned about privacy and noise levels, but I did not have trouble hearing any of the parents or their students that I met with today. I actually felt more comfortable meeting with the parents in the cafeteria, as I did not feel pressured to fill the time after we both discussed our concerns. Though others may have different experiences, I did not have a line at my table, and I did not have to cut any conferences short. I learned a lot about my students today, and I thought the new format was a success.
- it created an event that parents came to.
- Liked that it was all in one area
- Parents were on best behavior in cafeteria with other teachers and administrators present, the conferences were timed and parents were aware that the clock was ticking- much more focused
- it was not too formal
- I wish we could have conferences in the morning and a work day in the afternoon. SOme parts of the day were slow and it could be condensed a little better.
- I can't think of any. It went really well.
- It's a little loud and some parents did meet with all of their students teachers.
- I liked it. I don't think we need to change anything. I think we could do the open conference all day and allow teachers to set appointments at the same time. Teachers could leave to go to a more private conference, and then come back when it is over. Maybe make some of the B hall classrooms available so no one has to hike to the back of C/D from the cafeteria.
- a better map of where teachers were located or a placard with names on it
- Doesn't really apply to fine arts. Other than the parent with triplet daughters in theater, dance, and choir, it wasn't critical to collaborate with other teachers as much for fine arts. Rehearsal needs rarely overlap with homework/study habits and what we discuss is generally of no interest to the classroom teachers.
- This was well organized, which helped it go well. If there's ANY way (I don't know what) to know what meetings are happening in real time, it would be easier to join in so parents don't have to have 5-6 separate conferences if they want to check in with multiple teachers.
- ?? it was well-organized!
- Earlier notice to parents and teachers of the chosen day and style.
- I felt like I could have been much more productive in my room. I spent more time waiting for parents to come than actually meeting with parents. Had I been in my room I could have made preparations for next week tidied up my work space. I like the "drop in" format, but would appreciate it more if parents could come to our rooms instead.
- Keep the format same - this includes both the morning cafeteria conference format and the afternoon classroom format.
- None that I can think of.
- For this being the first time that we did this, I think it went off without a hitch. There wasn't enough time to take a break, but I explained to the parent who was waiting for me when I got back to my table that I had taken a break, and we carried on business as usual. No areas of improvement.
- All but one of the parents that came had students that were already passing. I need to see the parents of students who are not passing. How do we get them to attend?
- --I felt ill-prepared. Most parents did say that they were coming, but some just showed up and I did not have a print out of their grades. -- It was hard to manage your time because you had no idea when the next parent would show up, so you couldn't lesson plan or even plan for the next kid. -- Although we tried to have some privacy, I could hear various conferences around me and didn't feel comfortable discussing grades too loudly. It also was loud enough that some parents were hard to hear.
- I only had two parents come for a conference. I really wish I had more because I would have liked to speak one-on-one with parents. I felt that I could have been working on important documents during the time I spent waiting.
- May be helpful for visual and performing arts to sit together because we share a lot of the same students.
- I think it is important that all staff are included in the layout next time because only two parents came by to the Art hall and we saw that many of our parents came to school today to talk to their teachers.
- The one thing missing this morning was the ability to meet with parents as a team of teachers. It's important to hear feedback from other classes and work together as a team when we meet with parents.
- A timer so meetings don't run longer than 10 minutes -
- If possible, project the list on multiple screens. It was difficult to read at times, and I think it would help to look over their writing samples if I see their names while I have downtime.
- It worked well. the sign ups were great. Dont see any areas to improve
- Teachers are sort of grouped by department. SPed should have been grouped together.
- Both Humanities teachers need to be at the same table, have parents indicate not only that they are coming, but which teachers they want to meet with so we can print out grade sheets
- if there was a way to do group conferences so that the parent didn't have to speak with each teacher individually. Also teachers could hear other teachers concerns.
(Optional) Additional Feedback12 responses
- The pre-planning and organization made it run really smoothly. I like that it was only in the morning. I think all day would be too much.
- Maybe a little more notice to prepare specific student information.
- I'd suggest having the fine arts teachers meet in the Fine Arts halls if they need to meet with their teacher. It was just a lot of downtime and frankly I see my parents more often than the core teachers already. Between performances, booster events, social events, the school musical, all region, and many other events I see a dozen parents a month or more depending on which activity we're planning that month and the number of volunteers we have. The parents that meet me on conference day typically are just having a visit and want to say hello. It would be more productive if they did that in my classroom where I can catch up with planning all the aforementioned events between visits. Happy to come to the cafeteria though, whatever works.
thanks
- This format was new to me, and I was skeptical at first. But now I'm a convert big time. I hope we can continue this in the future.
- If this is the path we take next year, maybe don't have a free-for-all time in the schedule. Instead make the cafeteria a meeting place available for appointments so that multiple teachers can meet with a scheduled parent at the same time.
- Could classroom meetings be made in the second half of the day for parents who wish to spend more time or see their students' works?
- It's always nice to try something new! Unfortunately, this new format caused me to meet with fewer parents than I would have the other way, but that may not be true for everyone.
- Maybe parents can register and sign in online prior to their arrival to expedite the process but it moved fairly quickly.
- I felt like met with parents that I would not have seen otherwise (their students were struggling in other areas, but they stopped by my table while they were there), and this helped cushion the blow of their child's performance. Hearing that their child is enjoying class, excelling in some areas, or participates in class discussion would be nice to hear if you are mostly there to meet about their poor performance in another class. I got to learn more about my students, and I think the parents and students benefit from well-rounded feedback. I think this format was helpful for both parents and teachers, and I would love for it to continue in the future.
- Lets keep this format
- I would do team stations for the student to meet with the whole team. Have stations 1-8 and all 7 teachers are called to that station when the child and parent arrive.