Weekly Update - September 14, 2018

Happy First Week, everyone! 
What a great first week of school!  It's great to see people (students and staff) happy and enjoying our time back at McKinley. A huge thank you to everyone for your flexibility and "going the extra mile" this week - there is always things that come up when we are teaching routines and schedules.   Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

Thank you to Paige Larson for sharing the above picture on social media.  What a great reminder to us all - and to help us keep that "perspective".  Remember your "why".

ALSO - If you haven't gotten me your impact statement, please send ASAP.  Also, just a reminder that Infinitec training is due October 28!

Welcoming Students with a Smile:
While this isn't a new concept to McKinley, it's a great reminder to us all - the importance of setting the tone from the minute students arrive.  This article is showing the research behind teachers/staff who greet students at the door with a smile and a relationship - discipline decreases.  It also sets the tone for the classroom, from the first minute students arrive.   Please remember - your language, facial expressions, body expressions, and overall demeanor impact more than just you.   Click here to access the article

Going Outside: 
If you are going outside with your class, you need a walkie talkie.  It is a requirement.  In the event of a safety issue or just for us to communicate with you, you need this outside (recess and outdoor learning).   Two things - please identify yourself ("Kiel to Office") and please make sure the light is on when you return it (they need to be charging).   I know this is a change, so please make a note to grab a walkie as you head outside. 

Fountas and Pinnell Benchmarking:
As you work on completing your assessments (by Friday, 9/21), please make sure you are finding the instructional level for each student.  You will bring your records (the actual copies of assessments) to our data subouts, as the information is essential for our collaboration around supporting all of our students. 

Every student should have a new F/P benchmark done this year. 

Libby recently wrote a blog entry on using the data to create actionable instructional goals.  The entry has some steps you can take, but also some things to consider as you create groups -   Click here to read the article. 

Core Instruction Reminders:
As we are providing high quality core instruction, please use the below chart as a great reminder to balance the teacher talk, student talk, and thinking in your classroom.   As you can see, students need time to think, discuss, and reflect on the learning. 

Birthday Books:
We are trying something new this year - as students have a birthday, they can come down to the office and pick out a book in honor of their birthday.  We have a wide range of levels and interests for our readers.   The goal is to continue to send the message that we value literacy and learning! 

Social Media- Twitter:
I love seeing all the learning on Twitter - wow!  Not only does Twitter communicate our "why" with the outside world (including families), but also can serve as a professional learning network for our staff.  How awesome is it to see the amazing learning we are doing with students, each and every day!  Please continue to use this - and use our hashtags #mckinleystrong (things related to school pride) and #mckinleyPD (for any learning that you are sharing with our staff). 

Educator Hub:
I have added a few links to the Educator Hub:

• Computer Sign-Up 
• Learning Studio, MakerSpace Cart, and Outdoor Learning Cart Sign-Up is coming soon!
• Link to Teaching and Learning Coach's Blog

Thank you to everyone who is accessing the Hub.  I hope you are finding the efficiency of this document to be helpful! 

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

McKinleyStrong Educator of the Week:
The McKinleyStrong Educator of the Week goes to Special Education Paraprofessional, Sonya David!  Sonya is a student-centered educator who is positive, committed, and always about "all kids".  Sonya goes above and beyond to make McKinley a place where all students are valued and successful.  Keep up the great work, Sonya! 


I hope you have a relaxing, rejuvenating weekend.  It's going to be a beautiful, hot weekend... enjoy one of these last few "moments" of summer!

Keep inspiring excellence!
-Justin

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- March 3, 2017

Happy March!  And, happy Friday! 

School Social Worker Week:
Next week is School Social Worker Week -  we will honor Mrs. Warner for all the work she does to support our students and families! 

PLC's Monday:
This Monday, March 6 is a Teacher Workday.   Just a reminder - please let Libby and I know the time your PLC will meet on this date, if it's not at 2:45pm (remember, you can meet during the day on a workday).

PBIS- February Data:
Below is a link to our February ORD data at McKinley.  As you can see from the data, office referrals are extremely high this month- even compared to this time last year.  The PBIS team is currently analyzing this data and will meet on March 14 to provide some recommendations to our staff on the "why" of this data.  It's alarming that it's this high, especially since we have been getting outside for recess (usually a lot of indoor recesses raise the level of discipline).

Click here to access the February office referral discipline (ORD) data

I Wish My Teacher Knew...
I recently read an article where students shared "I wish my teacher knew..."  It's a quick, interesting read that will make you stop and think more about our students and their lives outside of our school.  https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/31/well/family/what-kids-wish-their-teachers-knew.html?_r=1

Poverty & Engagement Work Follow-Up:
At our last Staff Power Hour, we committed to trying three things before March 22.  How is that going?  Here are the three action steps:

1. Say what you do want instead of what you don't want (rule #4, page 29-30).
2. Find time to get to know kids.  Try a relationship thing every day.  Let students know something about you or do a mini-morning meeting (some personal sharing).
3. Watch your body language throughout the day.  As we read, body language sends many messages to students, staff, and families (without us even realizing it!).

Classroom teachers, I will be setting a short training on morning meetings in April.

A SnapShot of Learning:

Dani Rypka's 1st graders used the snow to practice two-digit adding and subtracting by making base ten blocks of snow! 

 

Mark Langlois's 5th graders spent some time at Maple Creek this week.  This is part of their year-long trout project with the MN DNR.

 

Our McKinley Science Fair Regional Winners!  A special thank you to Rachael Eickhoff and Lori Huisenga for organizing the science fair!

 

 

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 Bernie Jensen!  Bernie joined us this year, having worked most of her career at the Owatonna ALC.  Bernie has been a wonderful addition to our special education team!  Bernie is flexible, compassionate, and collaborative.  Bernie understands how to de-escalate situations to keep students focused on learning.  She also understands that students need strong relationships and to feel valued here at school.   Keep up the great work, Bernie! 



Have a great, relaxing weekend!
-Justin




Weekly Update- Friday, January 6, 2017

Happy New Year! 

2017 brings along with it change and resolutions.  Over break, I saw a question on Twitter that made me think- "How have you changed as an educator in 2016?" (Please remember- when I use the word "educator", I mean any staff in this building... we all work to influence our students' learning).  This question made me stop and think.  Right away, I thought at a basic level -  the discipline has decreased this year in the building, I've tried to balance my personal and work life, etc...   Over the course of that day, that question still stuck with me, at a much deeper level.  There are many ways I have continued to grow and develop as an educator in 2016 - in both my thoughts and actions. Over the course of the next week, let that question stick with you- "How have you changed as an educator in 2016?" 

A couple reminders about next week:

• Integration Subouts start next week.   These are half-day subouts to work in integration for January/February.  Please come a "focus" in mind and bring any resources you need. 
• Family Math Night is Thursday night from 6-7pm.  We are serving pizza and having a board game night (with a math focus).  Join us if you can! 

Student Lockers:
Please remember to have students put their winter boots on the floor, not on top of lockers.  The water from their boots will rust the lockers. 

School Gardens:
Over break I also saw a great article on how school gardens are becoming teaching spaces.  It immediately made me think of our building and the momentum around outdoor learning.  Here is a link to the article:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/as-school-gardens-spread-so-do-the-teaching-moments/2016/12/06/98e864f0-b8bf-11e6-b994-f45a208f7a73_story.html?utm_term=.0adecef5dbea

A Snapshot of Learning:

 Our "welcome back" PBIS Assembly was a hit!  Thank you to Justin Lang and Annette Warner for their hard work in planning this!

Lori Huisenga's 2nd graders turned this cold weather into a positive thing!  2C observed states of matter changes (liquid to solid and liquid to gas) with bubbles and the cold air.  The students observed from inside! 

Building Weekly Newsletter
Click here to access the weekly building newsletter

Valet Parking for the Week
The Valet Parking for the week goes to Lorri Harrison!  As you all know, this place would be in disarray without Lorri.  Lorri's commitment to our students, parents, and staff is impeccable.  One of the things I appreciate about Lorri the most is the way she keeps me (and maybe us) focused on what is important.  When life gets crazy, Lorri keeps me focused on why I went into this job.  Lorri is one of a kind.  Keep up the great work, Lorri!


Have a great weekend, everyone!  Stay warm!!
-Justin

Weekly Update - Friday, November 11, 2016

Happy Veteran's Day!
A huge thank you to all of our McKinley Veteran's!

PLC Notes & ESC:
When you turn in PLC notes and your Essential Standards Chart, please email them.  It's way too hard to manage paper copies.  Also, please remember to get your sign-in sheet into Lorri. 

LTS Positions:
We have two upcoming long-term substitute positions to be aware of:

• 1st Grade:  Julia Arnold, currently student teaching in Dani Rypka's room, will be filling in for Jess Zupansic during the month of December.
• Kindergarten:  Jaci Heath, currently long-term subbing in 3rd grade at Washington, will be filling in for Courtney Hugs from January until the end of the school year.

A huge McKinley welcome to both Julia & Jaci!

Teacher Clarity of Learning:
I apologize up front... I'm going to be making a blanket statement to all.  You know this is one of my personal growth goals, but I do think this is something we should all hear.  

As I'm getting around to classrooms, I'm noticing that teachers are doing a great job of stating the Enduring Understanding or Learning Target for the day/week.   It's posted and stated to students very clearly.  What I am noticing is that the clarity of that EU or LT is missing- students don't know exactly what mastery will look like by the end of the lesson?   What should they walk away being able to do?  From John Hattie's research around what is effective, you can see that learning clarity has an extremely high impact on learning.  Students, as well as teachers, need to be crystal clear about the "end result" - mastery.  This is why the Essential Standards Charts work well with this process - your team determines the EU, but also mastery way before you start teaching any lesson/unit.  When students know what mastery looks like, they rise to the occasion. 

 

Reading Night Slumber Party:
We had our first reading night this week - "Reading Night Slumber Party!"  We decided to change our focus this year to building excitement around reading, rather than teaching strategies to parents.  Families came in for a pizza dinner and then enjoyed some "reading time" together.  We had over 300 people last night!!  A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped make this night possible - Dani Rypka, Jess Zupansic, Jen Schlauderaff, Michelle Simon, Rachel Peterson, Julia Arnold, Krystal O'Connor, Sonya David, Libby Zeman, Jen Koziolek, Greg Leuch, & John Dale.  Also, a huge thank you to Lorri Harrison for all the coordinating of food and supplies!

A SnapShot of Learning:

Students participated in voting on Tuesday.  It was a great learning experience for them!

 

Kindergarten did some outdoor learning this week with Dr. Meagher.

 

 

Weekly Building Newsletter:

Click here to access the weekly building newsletter.

Valet Parking of the Week:
The Valet Parking for the Week goes to PE Teacher, Brent Yule!  Brent has been a wonderful addition to our McKinley team this past year.  Brent has a passion for physical education, fitness, and learning in general.  Brent has worked extremely hard to help integrate our reading and math curriculum into the PE setting.  Also, Brent does a great job of communicating with families via Twitter.  You've been a great addition to our staff, Brent - Keep up the great work!


Have a relaxing weekend- sharpen your saw!
-Justin

Weekly Update- Friday, November 4, 2016

With this weather, it feels like September... can you believe it's November?  And, I'm not complaining!

We have a lot of information this week- read carefully!

Quick Items:

• Reading on Poverty- Staff Power Hour: If you haven't picked up the readings for the Staff Power Hour, please stop in my office to get it.  We will use this at our November 30th meeting. 
• ISD Foundation Grant Available: Sarah Hoffman emailed the information regarding the ISD 761 Foundation Grant.  This is a great opportunity to fund an innovative project you'd like to do.  Last year, we received $5,000 for our guided math library.  If you can think of any projects/resources we need as a building, I'd be glad to write one.  Let me know.
• Absences - Enter into AESOP: If you know you are going to be gone (appointment, vacation, etc.) please enter it into AESOP in a timely manner.  I'm seeing more planned absences getting entered at the last minute.  This makes finding a sub harder.

PBIS Discipline Data - October
The PBIS team has been watching our discipline data and putting supports into place for students over the last two months.  Below is a link to our current discipline data, broken down to understand it.  As you can see, physical aggression and fighting seem to be our highest offense.  Please keep aware of this, as well as continue the communication with students about this.  We will address some of this at our PBIS Assembly this morning.    Click here to access the discipline data

Also, don't forget to keep the idea of "grit" going in your classrooms!   

Kayla's Tech Piece:
Are you interested in a quick way to gather data to use at your PLC?  You can use your SMART Response devices (“clickers”) to collect data from a pre-test, formative assessment, or summative assessment.  The data is collected for you and organized in an Excel document which makes it easy to organize and sort data quickly.  It is pretty quick and easy to set up the assessment in Smart Notebook and it will save you a ton of time correcting paper copies of tests from your students.  It also gives immediate feedback to your students so they know how they did!

Look for more information to come about upcoming training sessions for using Clickers in your Classroom, but for now—check out this link for “7 Clicker Tips for Teachers!”

http://www.colorado.edu/sei/documents/Workshops/Handouts/K12-teacher-tips.pdf

A SnapShot of Learning:

 The first grade team is using some SMART techniques with students, largely due to the support from Brent Yule.  The idea behind this is to link movement and learning together.  There are ways to have students refocus, too.  Brent would be a great resource if you are looking to hear more about this.

 

 Can you believe it's November and we have students outside with no coats on? 

 

  EL Graduation Night - we honored our "graduates" of the EL program on Wednesday night. 

 

Friday night was PTO Bingo Night.  We had a great time! 

 

It was fun seeing all the creative ways you took Halloween and turned it into engineering projects for the kids.   Wow! 

 

"Orange Out Bullying" was last Friday.  Thanks to Catie Stephani and Lauren Olson for organizing!

 

2nd grade engineering Cinderella's carriage as part of their "Cinderella" unit. 

 

Weekly Building Newsletter

Click here to access the weekly building newsletter

Valet Parking for the Week:
The Valet Parking of the Week goes to Tier 3 Interventionist, Gia Davison!  Gia's calming, positive presence is felt in any interaction with her.  She keeps you grounded, but also focused on what is right for students.  Gia is highly invested in our students, finding ways to support and intervene on foundational reading skills.  Gia, we truly appreciate having you as a part of the McKinley team! 


Have a great weekend, everyone!  Get outside!
-Justin

Principal's Update- Friday, May 27, 2016

Happy Friday, everyone!  And, happy Memorial Day weekend!

Our EL Family Potluck was a huge success!  We had over 100 people join us for this event.  A  HUGE thank you to Laurie, Sylvia, Caryn, Nura, & Nicole for their hard work planning this.  It's a great night filled with friends and good food (from around the world!). 

 

1st Grade took their learning to Dartt's Park today to do 5 stations, all focused on soil and rocks.  The kids had a great day of learning in the real world!

Popcorn with the Principal Winners for 5/26/16

 

Laptops in Classrooms
Please turn your classroom laptops into Clayton by June 8, 2016.  Clayton WILL NOT be coming to your room to find the computers- they need to be in his office.  Also, please mark them as your room number.

7 Days of Summer Eve
We are gearing up with 7 days left until summer break.  Click here to access each of our theme days - join in with us and have some fun! 

End of Year Video
As I sent out, Amanda is making a fun end of year video to show students what we really do when school is out.  Please connect with your "team" and determine what you will do for your video segment.  Then, connect with Amanda and set up a time to video this before June 1st!

Update on Office Construction
Just an update - there will be no office construction this summer.  Due to bidding, the office project will hold off until next summer when we add a gym, art, and music room onto the building.  So, one more year of a tight office!  :) 

End of Year Checkout
An email will be coming next week regarding an end of the year checkout.  Please make sure you complete this and prepare your room/space to be cleaned this summer.

A Letter From a Parent
Below is a link to a parent letter to her child's teacher.  This letter is something online; however, it could be addressed to each and every one of you.  You all play a critical role in our students' lives - each and every one of you.  Take some time to enjoy this:   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-laing-thompson/a-letter-to-my-childrens-teachers-from-a-grateful-parent_b_7495972.html

Building Weekly Newsletter
Click here to access the weekly newsletter

Have a great, long weekend!
-Justin