Weekly Update- Febuary 23, 2018

Happy Snowy Friday!

You are a hero... each of you.  We know this time of year gets hard... keep up the good work and focus on your "why" and your #oneword2018.

Synergize & Celebrate - March 6:
We will be taking some time to synergize and celebrate on Tuesday, March 6 at 2:40pm (we will meet somewhere here at McKinley).  The goal of this is to take some time to acknowledge all the hard work we have done since September.  I know this time of year can get long, stressful and emotional.  However, we have a lot of accomplishments to celebrate and take time to remember our "why"!   This is open to all staff - please attend!

Engagement Strategy:
We will spend some time at our Staff Power Hour next week reviewing the Engaging with Poverty in Mind (Jensen).  That book is filled with great ideas to increase engagement in your classroom.

One of the engagement factors is to engage for energy and focus.  A strategy that Jensen offers it gets students up and moving.  I re-read this section and summarized the strategies in the below link (I will also put a copy in your mailbox).    The section reminded me of how important it is to take 2-10 minutes to get students moving and collaborating.  And, as Jensen advocates, the use of childhood games helps increase engagement and focus!

Click here to access the 5 strategies


Science Fair:
We had a successful science fair last night!  We have an awesome turn out - I believe Lori Huisenga said 77 students participating!  We had more Kindergarten through 2nd graders this year, too.  A huge thank you to Lori Huisenga, Rachael Eickhoff, and Michelle Simon for your work organizing this awesome opportunity.

Below are our students advancing to regionals in Mankato:

Wednesday - Bus Driver Appreciation Day
Next Wednesday, February 28 is Bus Driver Appreciation Day.  Take some time to thank those people who get our students to and from school safely.


Building Weekly Newsletter
Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

McKinleyStrong Educator of the Week:
The McKinleyStrong Educator of the Week goes to Rachael Eickhoff.   I forgot to post this on social media last week, so she gets another week!


We talked about this at the beginning of the year... remember, your words and beliefs become your values.

Have a great weekend, everyone!  More snow on the way!
-Justin