Weekly Update- March 24, 2017

We've made it.... SPRING BREAK!

Before you leave for spring break, please:

• Get food of your rooms
• Unplug & shut-off electronics
• Shut your blinds & make sure window is locked
• Lock your door
• Get food out of lounge by 2:00pm (it will be thrown away at this point)
• Turn timecards into Lorri by 2:45pm.

Random Updates:

• Kelly Johnson will start as our IT Specialist on Monday, April 3.  Kelly has worked in the District for many years and does great work.  Please help welcome her to McKinley!
• Monday, April 3rd is the MN Twins Home Opener.  You should have received a ticket to join in on the hot dog lunch.  Wear your Twins gear on Monday to help support the Twins!
• Congrats to all who received an ISD 761 Foundation Grant - Amanda Gislason (bookmaking & papermaking centers), Kindergarten Team (Power 1/2 Hour Reading Resources), and the STEM Cohort (outdoor learning classroom supplies).  Way to go! 

Staff Power Hour:
We had a great discussion around equity, poverty, and engagement this week.  Below are the 3 action steps we decided to try before our April 26 meeting:

• Try a working memory activity with students
• Provide think time - design your lesson around 5-8 minute chunks with think time built-in.
• Don't let students go home with deficits - remember the 3:1 formula (3 positive experiences to 1 negative)

Click here for the meeting notes

DIBELS- Spring Benchmarking Dates
We will do our spring benchmarking on May 10-11 in the portable (thank you Amanda and Paige for being flexible with your space!).  Our make-up day will be May 12th.   More information will come on a schedule; however, save the date!

Student Appreciation Video - KARE 11:
Michelle Meiners shared this video with me - it's a video compilation of teachers explaining what they appreciate about students.  Each of the clips is a surprise for the student - the teacher shares what they appreciate.  It's a great video - well worth the time to watch!
http://www.kare11.com/news/big-lake-teachers-show-students-love-in-viral-video/424403811

Twitter:
For those of you not on Twitter, you are missing out!  Below are 7 effective ways to engage in Twitter.  See me if you have questions - well worth the time to sign up!

April 11- #lovemyschoolday:
April 11th is #lovemyschoolday.  More information is coming on this, but I'm hoping we participate.  It's a great way to show what great work we are doing and why we love McKinley!

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

Valet Parking for the Week:
The Valet Parking for the Week goes to Special Education Paraprofessional, Stacy Champeau!  Stacy has a strong background in working with students - and it shows in everything she does.  She does a great job of being flexible, patient, and builds strong relationships with our students.  Stacy is always focused on helping support students and teachers.   Keep up the great work, Stacy!


Have a great Spring Break, everyone!  Take some time to re-charge your batteries for a great ending to the 16-17 school year!
-Justin

Weekly Update- Friday, September 9, 2016

Happy Friday - what a great first week!  It feels awesome to have life back  into the building!

Follow Up on Mike Mattos
I have been thinking a lot this past week about our McKinley team and the "messages" from Mike Matttos.  I left that session feeling completely rejuvenated and ready to continue our growth as a building to address learning for all kids.  I want to give you all a HUGE "thank you" for the work you are doing.  It was awesome to listen to Mike's ideas and think about all the learning work we have done - focusing on all kids, collaborating on student learning, tier 2 instruction, Essential Standards Charts, and so on....  Your commitment to this process and willingness to "play in the mud" speaks volumes about the culture in our building.  You are willing to do whatever it takes to create learning experiences for all our students.  Thank you for that.  I can honestly say you are the greatest educators I have ever worked with.... and by educators, I mean you ALL (not just teachers). 

Monday Monkey Message
Starting Monday, I will be doing a Monday Monkey Message" (morning announcement) right away at 8am.   During this message, I will update students on our week ahead, as well as recognize students/classes for positive actions/behaviors (PBIS focused).  During this message, we will do the Pledge of Allegiance together as a school.  For those of you going to Specialists (I think grade 3), you can continue with your schedule and do this later in your day.  I will be looking for guest announcers as the year progresses.... more to come on this! 

DIBELS Fall Benchmarking - Tuesday
On Tuesday, September 13, we have a team of retired educators coming to McKinley to administer our fall DIBELS benchmarking.  Libby has created a schedule with this that will have the least impact possible to your schedule.  On Tuesday, please make sure you are quiet as you move through the hallway.  Some grade levels will be administering benchmarks in the hallway/close to the hallway.  Also, a HUGE thank you to Libby for all her work on this! 

Eid- Monday and Tuesday
Students who are celebrating Eid may be gone from school on Monday and Tuesday.  Laurie Wolhart sent an email this week regarding this.  Please be aware of this as you begin to tackle next week. 

Summer Learning Breakfast- Friday
PTO will be holding the Summer Learning Breakfast on Friday, September 16th from 7:15-8:00am in the Big Gym.  Students who are eligible will receive an invitation to attend (with their parents).  If you get a few minutes on Friday morning, stop in and congratulate these students who spent countless hours learning this summer!

Valet Parking for the Week
Our Valet Parking for next week goes to Kindergarten Teacher Paige Larson.  Paige has been a wonderful addition to our Kindergarten team.  Some of the things about Paige that amaze me - the way she interacts/partners with students and families, the way she is willing to try new ideas, and how creative she is!  Welcome to McKinley - we are lucky to have you with us, Paige!

Have a great weekend - spend some time sharpening your saw!
-Justin

Principal's Update- Friday, May 20, 2016

Happy Friday!
I am out tomorrow all day (Friday, 5/20) - Justin Lang is available for anything you need. 

Can you believe we are nearing the end of the 15-16 school year?  Only a few more weeks and summer vacation starts.  Let's finish strong!

McKinley 60th/STEM Gallery/Ice Cream Social Night
We had a great night celebrating 60 years of McKinley.  A huge thank you to all who helped make this night a success - a lot of work went into this!  It was an awesome night of celebrating McKinley! 

Scheduling Changes/Field Trips
Teachers, if you have a scheduling change, special event, or field  trip, please update the shared document I sent out.  This is a requirement.   

DIBELS Spring Benchmarking
A huge thank you to the EA's for their flexibility and hard work in completing the DIBELS spring assessments.  This data has been put into your mailbox; there has been great growth in this area since winter!  Please remember to update the spreadsheet in 365 by Wednesday, May 25th.  Your math facts, DAZE and Words their Way assessment data also needs to be entered into the spreadsheets in the CBM folder under assessments.  First grade, please remember also to complete and record your nonsense word fluency.  See Libby with questions. 

Discovery Lab
Discovery Lab closes next Friday, May 27th (other than for MacLeod's music classes).  As you know, the Discovery Lab will be transitioning to a different instructional space for the 16-17 year.  If you have personal materials in this space, please remove them before May 27.  I will spend some time boxing the science/building resources and supplies to store for next year. 

Class Placements- Tuesday
Classroom teachers will meet on Tuesday, May 24th to create class lists for next year.  Teachers, please have your cards completed by this time.  Staff, if you know of students who should not be placed together, please let the child's classroom teacher know prior to this day.

5th Grade Graduation
The 5th Grade Graduation is Friday, June 3rd from 1:45-2:15pm.  Due to limited seating, we are doing some work now to see if it can be streamed into classrooms.  More information will come on this!

Stages- Goals
I am doing a mini-session for support staff on Tuesday, May 24th from 7:30-7:45am.  This will include entering goals only.  If you want to attend, this is open to any staff who work on goals.   As we get closer to the end of the year, I will individually email you with items that need to be addressed in Stages. 

Building Weekly Newsletter
Click here to access the weekly building newsletter

Valet Parking for the Week
The Valet Parking for the Week goes to Literacy Coach Libby Zeman.   Libby has been a great addition to the instructional support in this building (and Wilson).  Libby has an extensive background in reading and knows how to support/coach people.   The thing that impresses me the most about Libby is her desire to continually grow- individually, but also as a McKinley team.  I am so grateful for Libby and all the work she does to support reading in our building.  Thank you, Libby!

It's going to be a nice weekend- get outside and enjoy it!
-Justin

Principal's Update- September 11, 2015

Good afternoon,
We survived the first week of school!  It's been great to see you "back in action" with our almost 600 students!

Summer Learning Breakfast
Please turn in all Summer Learning Calendars to the office ASAP.  We will then send out invitations to those who will join us for a Summer Learning Breakfast on Friday, September 18 from 7:15-7:45am.  Remember, we will accept any calendar that is turned in- regardless of the learning minutes they logged. 

End of Day in the Office
Please be aware of the "traffic" in the office immediately after school.  I'm not sure if it's because it's week one or due to the increased enrollment, but it is very busy in the office after school.   When I say this, I am not asking you to avoid the office at all times.  I know this is your time to check your mailbox, visit with colleagues, etc.  All I am asking is to be aware of the activity in the office.   It's been a struggle when we have multiple families here with different needs and staff are standing in the having a conversation or watching the family interact with staff.  If the office is a busy place, please take your conversation to the hallway.  See me with questions regarding this. 

Fall Benchmarking (DIBELS & Math Facts)
The Fall benchmarking window is open now.  This will close on Wednesday, September 23.  All DIBELS and math facts should be administered and recorded prior to this date.  Any data entered after will not be loaded into Viewpoint.  If you have questions or need directions, please see Amy LaDue's email from Wednesday, September 9. 

Updated Observation Cycle- ALL Staff
Observations and evaluations will begin soon.  Please see the below link to see where you are at in the cycle and what your assigned week is.  I met with teachers yesterday to discuss summative evaluations.  I will be scheduling a meeting with support staff who will be evaluated this year- watch for this in the next week or so. 

Click here to see the observation cycle and your assigned week

McKinley Weekly Newsletter
Click here for important information regarding next week! 

Valet Parking for the Week
Our "Valet Parking" for the week goes to Ben Kroeger.  Although Ben is the first one here, he still deserves this parking spot for next week.  With all the moving, changes in lunchroom procedures, and increased enrollment, Ben has done a great job of keeping the building looking great.  Thanks, Ben!   


Take some time to decompress and reflect on a great first week.  Enjoy your weekend and GO HUSKIES!
-Justin

Principal's Update- May 8, 2015

Good morning!
Can you believe we are coming to a month left of school?  Where did the time go?  Make the most of your last few days with students. 

Leadership Day
McKinley's Leadership Day will be next Friday, May 15th from 1:15-2:15pm in classrooms.  This event will run for one hour and is an open house format for parents and families.  Students should have their "exhibit" of how they are a leader in their classroom and ready to go at 1:15.   If you want to allow students to visit other rooms, you may want to set-up shifts for the kids to visit other rooms (you don't want them all gone at once).  Also, Specialists will push into the room from 1:15-2:15 to help support the classrooms they are assigned to at that time. 

Core Instruction
In PLC notes, I had a group ask, "What do you mean when you are always saying we need to improve core instruction?"  Great question!  We will be doing more work with this next year, but here's my initial response-

As you stated, we will need to dig deeper into the data to see what it is telling us (both benchmarking data and end of unit summative).   Just from my observations and working with data, I think we have two things to look at with core- the instructional strategies we are using (whole group and small) and the way we are ensuring 80% of kids learn (progress monitoring, re-teaching, etc).  We need to look at our reading block a little different- we shouldn’t be teaching a whole group lesson at grade level and then lowering the standards during our small group time.  Small group/guided is still at grade level standards- however, we offer supports to the students (text at their level, graphic organizers, teacher support, etc).  Your small group/guided time may include a quick intervention- however, we need to make sure we are at grade level expectations.  Interventions will occur during that assigned grade level "Intervention/Enrichment Time". 
 
Last Day of Intervention Services
Our last day of intervention and ELL services will be Friday, May 29. 

Teacher of Year Banquet
Next Wednesday, three of our McKinley staff are up for the honor of Owatonna Teacher of the Year.  What a great honor for Tamra, Mark, and Kayla, as well as the rest of our staff.  I think this process speaks volumes of the important work we are doing here at McKinley.  I hope to see many of you at the ceremony, helping support Tamra, Mark, and Kayla. 

Hettinga Fundraiser
Don Hettinga's fundraiser is next Friday, May 15th at the Eagles.  Thank you to all who have donated money, items to the basket, etc.  I hope to see you there, also!

Spring Benchmarking 
Spring Benchmarking (DIBELS & math facts) starts next week.  See May 5th's blog post for information from Amy LaDue on benchmarking. 

Classroom Teacher End of Year Meeting
Just a reminder, please schedule a 15-20 minute meeting with me regarding your end of year reflection.  This is for classroom teachers only.  Before our meeting, I will send your data from the year.  This, along with your informal data, will guide our conversation. 

I've heard/seen some panic come from the thought of this meeting.  It is no way meant to penalize you- it's a honest conversation and reflection of your school year. 

Valet Parking of the Week
The Valet Parking of the Week goes to Paige Moon.  Paige is a dedicated professional who works hard to ensure our students love music and school.  She uses her positive attitude and nurturing personality to show students (and staff) she cares about them- academically, socially, and emotionally.  Paige stays abreast of current trends in music education and is always integrating this into her daily instruction.   Paige, thank you for all you do!


For all the mothers out there, enjoy your "day" on Sunday!  Have a great weekend!
-Justin

Spring Benchmarking Window

Good morning,
Below are the notes from Amy LaDue on spring benchmarking.  It is very important we complete this benchmarking process by Thursday, May 22, 2015.

Click here for a directions sheet on benchmarking

Email from Amy:
The spring fluency and math fact benchmark window is from Monday, May 11 through Thursday, May 22.  All scores need to be entered into the spreadsheets by the end of the day on Wednesday, May 27.  On Thursday, May 28 we will begin preparing to send our district results to Viewpoint.

Results should be entered into the spreadsheets located in the staff shared Assessment Folder \\esc01\assessments  Each teacher should be able to access the folder for your school and the spreadsheet for your grade level for both reading and math.  If the folder indicates that you do not have access, send a tech request and the IT department will assist you.

The spreadsheets have been updated with your current class roster.  If you find that one of your students is not listed on the spreadsheet, please add his/her name and benchmark results.   

Here are the steps to enter reading and math fact benchmark results:

1. Click on this link to get to the Assessment Folder  \\esc01\assessments.
2. Click on your school's folder
3. Open the spreadsheet for your grade level
4. Click Enable Editing in the yellow area at the top of the spreadsheet (this may not appear)
5. Student names are in alphabetical order by classroom teacher
6. Scroll to your class of students
7. Type in your students' results for your grade level's benchmarks.
8. Click Save
9. Close the spreadsheet and close the folder
10. Complete for both DIBELS and math facts

Since this is a spreadsheet for your entire grade level, it will not allow two teachers from the same building and grade level to enter results at the same time.  Willow Creek is separated by house.  Data will need to be entered while you are at school. 

Thank you for your work completing the spring benchmark assessments and more importantly for your commitment to our student’s learning.