North Oaks Middle School
WEEKLY MEMO 3/7/2016
MISSION/VISION/POP
MISSION: The North Oaks' staff will ensure high levels of learning for every student.
VISION: In order to achieve our mission, we function collectively as a professional learning community.
POP: To enhance and ensure consistency in our PLCs.
Information and Reminders
- LoL will meet this week.
- Remember our Tuesday Chik-fil-A fundraiser. 20% comes back to the school! Please see e-mail from Mrs. Evans for details. You must have your money to the office by the end of the day Monday.
- If you have not done so, your PDAS self reports parts 2 and 3 were due on March 4th. Take care of as soon as possible.
- Friday March 11 is a campus PD day. We will have a faculty meeting 1:15 pm on that day. We will also have a brief 5K/Field day Meeting immediately following the faculty meeting.
- The Fort Worth Zoo Run/walk is April 2nd! Let me know if you are interested and we can register as a group.
- Congratulations to Mrs. Winckel and her students. All groups did well with the girls earning Sweepstakes! We are proud of you and your program Shannon!
EVENTS THIS WEEK
3/7 Begins Public Schools Week
3/7 PTA Exec. Board Meeting 8:00 am
3/7 Grades 7,8 Track meet at Birdville Stadium
3/8 HHS Dance Dept. at lunch
3/9 Social Committee Meeting 4:00 pm
3/10 Beginning Choir Festival
3/10 Campus movie/ Teacher planning
3/11 PD Day/ Student Holiday
UPCOMING EVENTS
3/14 Spring Break
3/25 Holiday
3/31 PTA Meeting at 4:00 pm
4/1 8th Grade to HHS
4/2 Community Resource Fair
4/14 Theatre Performance 7:00 pm
4/16 MS Soccer Tournament
4/20 Faculty meeting
4/26 PTA Meeting
4/30 MS Soccer Tournament
5/14 MS Soccer Tournament
5/20 Field day and 5K
TESTING DATES
3/7 TELPAS Window Opens
3/8 TELPAS Reading Grade 6
3/9 TELPAS Reading Grade 7
3/10 TELPAS Reading Grade 8
3/11 TELPAS Make-up
3/29 STAAR Math Grade 8/ Grade 7 Writing
3/30 STAAR Read Grade 8
5/4 Algebra EOC
5/9 STAAR Math Grade 6/7 (Grade 8 Retake)
5/10 STAAR Read Grade 6/7 (Grade 8 Retake)
5/11 STAAR Science Grade 8
5/12 STAAR Social Studies Grade 8
DUTY SCHEDULE
Auditorium
White
Cafeteria
C. Williams
Portables
Winckel
A-Hall
Bolton
Please be aware that you are on-call for your duty spot. Since we are on the week before a break, please check in with an administrator to be sure we do not need you. Thanks!
Quote of The Week
I just started a book called, Mindset. It begins by describing two mindsets people have, either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. I will continue to pull quotes from the book by Carol Dweck, Ph.D.:
"The view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life. It can determine whether you become the person you want to be and whether you accomplish the things you value."
The fixed mindset suggests that "your qualities are carved in stone and creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over and every situation calls for a confirmation of intelligence, personality, or character."
(As I think about this quote, I think about my job. Do I evaluate my effectiveness based on data, or evaluations, or affirmations, or criticisms? Yes, I think I do sometimes. How might I internalize this information and turn it into a challenge or an opportunity to get better at what I do? Good stuff!)
The growth mindset is "based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts- everyone can change and grow through application and experience."
(This reminds me about "persistence" and the "power of choice" described in The Traveler's Gift. A focus on results and a belief in your potential is essential to your success.)
"The fixed mindset makes you concerned with how you'll be judged; the growth mindset makes you concerned with improving."
(So, when you consider feedback from data, surveys, and evaluations...which mindset are you?)
"Those with a fixed mindset want to make sure they succeed. Smart people should always succeed. But for those with the growth mindset, success is about stretching themselves. It's about becoming smarter."
(In an effort to challenge and "stretch" myself this year I am attending an 8 day seminar for Transformational Leadership. We spend a great deal of time on how to effectively move from the status quo and state of mediocrity, to a challenging mindset of innovation. Are you satisfied with what you do in the classroom every day? Does what you do this year look like what you did last year or maybe even the year before?
If we broaden the perspective a bit, the question might be, Are you satisfied with where you are in your professional, spiritual, and personal life? Wherever you are, I strongly encourage a "stretch" - it is invigorating!)
So, what about potential?
"Can tests or experts tell us what our potential is? The fixed mindset says yes.
...But isn't potential someone's capacity to develop their skills with effort over time? How can we know where effort and time will take someone? Maybe they are not yet the people they are to become."
(What will you become with your potential?)
"Lurking behind the self-esteem of the fixed mindset is a simple question: If you're somebody when you're successful, what are you when your are unsuccessful? Mindsets change the meaning of failure. When people believe their basic qualities can be developed, failures may still hurt, but failures don't define them. And if abilities can be expanded-if change and growth are possible-then there are still many paths to success."
(Great question: Is growth and change an option for you?)
More to come...have a great week!
BK