Principal's Update- November 24, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Hope you take some time this week/weekend to enjoy friends, families, and things you are thankful for. 

ASP- Block 2 Starts Tuesday
The new After School Program Block 2 starts Tuesday.  Please make sure anyone who is joining Block 2 has their registration paperwork turned into Lorri (even if they were enrolled in Block 1).

Inclusion Article
I had a parent recently share this article with me.  The email also came with compliments for our amazing staff.  We do a great job of building partnerships and collaborating- both with families, but also as a team. 

Click here to see the article!

Building Newsletter
Click here to see the weekly building newsletter

Valet Parking for the Week
Our Valet Parking for the Week goes to Jess Zupansic.  Jess's commitment to students, learning, and this building is outstanding.  Jess is always looking for ways to continue to grow and do what's best for kids.  Jess also has a positive, excited outlook on work that is contagious.  Thanks for all you do, Jess!

 

I'm amazed at so many things with this staff- your commitment, dedication, and the level of relationships you build with students!  Most importantly, I constantly brag about the mindset in this building.... we're a growth mindset environment.  Thank you for that (it's not a common thing outside of this building!).

Have a great weekend, everyone!
-Justin

Principal's Update- Friday, November 20th

Happy Friday!

I hope you enjoyed American Education Week.  I want you to know that I truly believe in what I said earlier in the week- it takes a village to raise a child.  Each of you play such an important role in making this place amazing! 


Winner, Winner!
Last week, I hid a sentence in the blog that said, "If you read this, email Justin".  I had only a few people send me emails. The prize for this little contest is an hour prep (with a trip to Starbucks) for one staff member while I cover for your class.  The winner- Kathy Feltes!  Kathy, connect with Lorri on a time and date and get your gift card for a Starbucks drink.  It pays to read the blog carefully! 

Winter Benchmarking
Winter DIBELS Benchmarking will be done by our wonderful Educational Assistants.  I don't think this will come as a huge shock to many of you- we've been talking about this for a while now.  Also, through our learning work with the Mattos book, we saw the importance of having a trained team do this for many reasons:  it doesn't take away instructional time, it is done with fidelity, it can be done more efficiently, etc.  Libby will be working with the EA's to train them- more information is coming on this!  

Popcorn with the Principal
Don't forget to write Leader in Me Slips when you come across students living the 7 Habits!  We only have 3 this time, so our Popcorn with the Principal will be a small group! 

Coats to Portable
Our plan is to allow coats to the portable on cold (below or near zero) days.  We will be encouraging students to have a hooded sweatshirt each day.  With the limited space in the portable, the art materials, and the spread of lice, it's too hard to expect coats on a daily basis.  We will try this for a while and see how it goes.

Mindset Link
I saw a great article on Twitter the other night on misconceptions with the growth mindset.  I even had some of the misconceptions!  Here's the article: http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/11/16/growth-mindset-clearing-up-some-common-confusions/

Resources for Close Reading
As follow-up to our staff meeting, Libby has provided some resources to close reading.  If you need help with these resources, or close reading, contact Libby (she would love to help you!). 

• www.readworks.org (Passages have a lexile, focus on a certain skill and many have questions included.)
• www.newsela.com (geared for 4^th grade and up – includes quizzes and aligned to common core)
• https://learn.thinkcerca.com/teacher/lesson_library (similar to NEWSELA)
• http://www.elm4you.org/ (If you are looking for a specific topic, this site is helpful.  Many of the sites on ELM either provide a lexile or provide 3 different levels of the same text content.)

Weekly Building Newsletter:
Click here to see the weekly building newsletter

Snapshot of McKinley Learning:

4th graders working with Mrs. Gislason on an arts integration of solids, liquids, and gases. Students were learning about the glass artist Dale Chihuly. In the pictures, they are predicting which cups will melt the fastest and recording their observations/graphs.

 

5th Graders engineering games at the Works Museum.

 

1st Graders participating in Literature Circles during the Power Half Hour. 

1st Grade and Intervention Teachers are using their common assessment data to

create flexible groupings in their five classrooms.

 

Valet Parking of the Week:
Our Valet Parking of the Week goes to Grandma Dee Dee!  Grandma Dee Dee is a daily volunteer in Lori Huisenga's classroom.  She is such a support for our second grade learners.  She is such a kind, positive woman who truly cares about kids.  We are so lucky to have her at McKinley! 

Enjoy your weekend.. and the snow (YUCK!). 
-Justin

Principal's Update- Friday, November 13, 2015

Happy Friday the 13th!
What a busy week!  Lots of updates for you....

Reading Night:
We had 97 people attend our Family Reading Night last night.  A special thanks to Sonya David, Danielle Nystrom, Libby Zeman, Lori Huisenga, Kayla Davis, and Laura Forman for planning a great night!  Each of the three stations focused on ways families can support reading at home.  There were some AWESOME games and strategies shared last night- I have some extra copies of games in my office if you are interested.  Below are some pictures from the night:

 

 

We need STAFF HELP!
Calling all staff..... I'm still looking for people for our McKinley 60th Anniversary Committee!  It will be really painless- I promise!  I'm looking for a group to create 1-2 events this spring to celebrate the 60th anniversary of our awesome school!  Let me know if you are interested! 

Growth Mindset:
I found this online the other day- a great reminder of ways we can stay focused on a growth mindset- both personally and with students! 

Bounce Card:
With all the work we are doing with collaborative learning, I wanted to share a resource I found years ago.  The "Bounce Card" is a way for students to learn how to engage in a conversation.  When I was teaching 5th grade, I had them laminated and would give each student one during small group time.  During a discussion, the card helps kids respond to each other's ideas in 3 ways- they have to bounce an idea off another student's idea, sum up what another student said, or inquire into another person's idea(s).  It helps kids stay focused on what productive group work looks like.  Click here to see the Bounce Card   If you have read this far, shoot me an email- I'll put your name in for a drawing!

Buffalo Wild Wings Night- Wednesday
Just a reminder- next Wednesday is McKinley's night at Buffalo Wild Wings.  What a great night to enjoy wings, your family, and support McKinley!  I also hear there will be bingo and Maynard will be making an appearance!

Weekly Building Newsletter
Click here to see the weekly newsletter

Valet Parking for the Week:
Our Valet Parking of the Week goes to Melinda Pilcher.  Melinda is such an amazing support for McKinley- for students and colleagues.  Melinda is always positive and focused on what's right for kids (this isn't just a job to her).  She has an amazing approach with students that makes them feel supported, but also accountable.  Melinda is wonderful asset to our team- thanks Melinda!


Karen Thurnau took this picture the other morning- a great picture of our Veteran's Day song. 

Enjoy the weekend- sounds like it's our last dose of nice weather before winter hits!
-Justin

Principal's Update- November 6, 2015

Good Morning!
We finished our first week of November!  Lots to share.....

Monday- Staff Development:
I sent an email out earlier this week about our November 9 Staff Development/Teacher Workday.  We will meet at Trinity Lutheran Church from 7:45-11:00 to work with Deb Cale on Collaborative Learning.   Then, the rest of your day is a teacher workday.   Please be at Trinity and ready to go by 7:45. 

Reading Vouchers- Classroom Teachers ONLY:
Just a reminder- Amy is providing 2 hours per month for classroom teachers to collaborate (as a team) on reading anchor texts and lesson implementation.   The blue vouchers are available in the office and should be completed each month (if your team meets).  Any questions, see me.

Family Reading Night- Thursday, November 12:
A huge thank you to Danielle Nystrom, Kayla Davis, Lori Huisenga, Laura Forman, and Sonya David for helping plan our Reading Night.  The event is next Thursday (11/12) from 6-7:15pm here at McKinley.  All families and staff are welcome to attend.  We will have three stations, all focused on giving parents ideas and tools to support reading at home.  It should be a fun night!

Absences:
Please make sure all absences are entered into AESOP as soon as you know you are staying home.  I understand things happen which requires you to be away from the building.  I'm noticing more and more people are entering absences in at the last minute.  This creates a problem with securing a sub for your position.  If you know you are going to be gone, please enter immediately. 

Classroom Newsletters:
If you send home a weekly or monthly classroom newsletter, please provide me with a copy of it (hard copy or electronic).  I see them in the copy machine quite often and am interested in the learning you are doing! 

Mindset:
It's great to see all the work we are doing with Carol Dweck's Mindset work.  Not only are we making "Mindset" visual with kids, but I'm hearing teachers use this language.  It's a powerful thing to help kids use a growth mindset focused on growth and opportunity! 

I found some sentence starters online to help build a growth mindset in the language you use.   Take some time to look through these- just using this language alone helps empower kids and their thought processes:  http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/8EA47553-FEE3-4753-8BFC-D6688FC2D61F/0/GrowthMindsetFeedbackTool.pdf

Mice!
Yes, we had a mouse this week!  YUCK!  This is the time of year where they are moving inside to look for warmth and food.  Please be aware of this as you leave things out in your classroom.  If you have snacks or any type of food, please make sure it's stored in a Rubbermaid container or a jar.    We are hoping it was a random isolated event- but Ben has put out a few more traps to see. 

Please do not share this with kids- the last thing we need is kids upset about this. 

Building Newsletter:
Click here to see our weekly staff newsletter

Valet Parking of the Week:
The Valet Parking of the Week goes to 4th Grade Teacher, Kate Seifert.  Kate brings a lot to her 4th grade team- compassion, energy, and positivity.  The thing I appreciate the most about Kate is her positive attitude focused on all kids.  She is a learner herself, always looking for ways to improve her instruction to better meet student needs.  We're lucky to have Kate at McKinley! 


Enjoy your weekend!
-Justin