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