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

Weekly Update- Friday, February 16, 2018

Happy Friday!
We successfully finished another great week at McKinley School!

Winter Blues Mindset!
I can feel it.... the winter blues mindset has set in amongst the building.  It's that time of year - it's cold and there is no break in sight.   I can feel it, too.  However, I want you to take some reflection today (or over the weekend) to remind yourself why you are doing this job.  What is your #oneword2018 for the school year?   Where is your mindset when you enter the building each day?  I can tell our "fuse" is short... things that wouldn't have bothered us in Sept/October are now.  We are McKinleyStrong... we are a staff who puts students first.  Please remember this as we continue our work over the next few weeks...

Engagement Strategy:
I found a great reminder from Engaging with Poverty in Mind (Jensen) that reminds us of the importance of less teacher talk and more think time:

Pause and Chunk:
Every few minutes, pause for 7-9 seconds.  These pauses gives students time to mentally process the content and add a sense of anticipation and importance to the lesson.  Taking slightly longer than 30-90 seconds may also help students focus .   Dividing content into small "chunks" also supports attention and understanding.  Keep your lectures short, 5-8 minutes at the elementary level.  Then, have students process the information through strategies like summarizing, think-pair-share, or compare and contrast.

Opening & Closing Doors:
At Site Team, we discussed the concept of "opening" and "closing doors" for students.  In what ways do we open doors (provide opportunities) and what ways do we close doors (close opportunities)?  This has a lot to do with our mindset, body language, words, and actions.  I can honestly say that our staff does a lot of opening doors.  We still have a lot of work to do -however, be proud of all the ways we open doors for students.  We will do more work around this as the year continues - however, I wanted you to start the internal reflection around the ways you open and close doors for students.

Money in Classrooms:
Please do not leave any money in your classroom/desk at night.  There has been some theft in other buildings  - all money should end up with Lorri in the office.

STEAM Night:
We had a lot of fun at our STEAM Family Night on Tuesday - "Design-Solve-Create Night".   A huge thank you to Katie Demmer, Kate Seifert, and Catie Stephani for your help with planning and holding this night.

PTO Carnival:

We had a great turnout for our PTO Carnival last Saturday.   It was great to see families having fun and enjoying our new space!

McKinleyStrong Educator of the Week:
Our McKinleyStrong Educator of the Week goes to 3rd Grade Teacher Rachael Eickhoff!  Rachael is collaborative, compassionate, and focused on what students need.  One thing that impresses me about Rachael is her "never give up" attitude toward student needs.  She understands that students need more than just academics - and she works hard to provide students the supports they need.  Rachael is an asset to our building - Keep up the great work, Rachael!

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


Have a great weekend, everyone!  Take some time to relax and enjoy those you love!
-Justin

Weekly Update- Friday, February 9, 2018

Happy Friday, everyone!
Thank you to everyone who helped out in my absence on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday - especially Lorri Harrison and Justin Lang.  I attended the Minnesota Elementary School Principals' Association Institute in Bloomington.  It is great professional learning for me - it also made me appreciate (even more!) the work we are doing around all kids and student learning.  I am proud of all you are doing!!

This was on Twitter this week - the question applies to anyone who works with children.   What do your student do differently because YOU are their teacher?

#allstudentsmatter Winner!

Our #allstudentsmatter Twitter winner for the week is Jen Koziolek!   Jen has been tweeting this week about the work her team has been doing around PLCs and ensuring all students matter!  Jen, stop and see me for you $10 Starbucks gift card!  Nice work! 

Guided/Small Group Instruction:

As many of you know, Libby and I both taught a guided group lesson in Kayla Davis's classroom last week.  It was great to get back into working with students around literacy - makes me miss teaching even more!  This was a very eye-opening experience for me as your principal.  I will share some of my thoughts at our next Staff Power Hour - particularly around  condensing the lesson down to only 15-20 minutes (and doing less teacher talk!).  I want to continue this practice of getting around to work with you on instruction - don't be alarmed when I ask to teach with you!  

Principal-Student Advisory Lunch:

As you know, we started a Principal-Student Advisory Lunch this year.   This is a time for me to meet with students, enjoy lunch, and hear about school (from their viewpoint).  This has been a very valuable experience for me - it's great to talk with students about what life is like from their viewpoint!

As I meet, I am keeping track of the "data" and themes of what is being shared.  One of the biggest themes I hear is all about relationships.   Our students truly know you care and are there for them - at all times.  And, as I talk with them (especially 3rd-5th graders), I hear about all their former teachers, too.  I can say this is the greatest thing about McKinley - you truly care for all kids.  Nice work!  

STEAM Family Night - Tuesday:

We have a STEAM Family Night next Tuesday, February 13.  More information will be coming home today with students (I dropped the ball on this!).  If you are available on Tuesday night, stop by and join our families in a fun-filled night of "Design-Solve-Create!"  Join us if you can!  

MCA Testing Security Meeting:

Don't forget - we have our MCA Testing Security training this coming Wednesday, February 14th.  There are two options - 7:10am or 2:40pm.   If you are working with MCA testing at all, please plan on attending a training (I have reached out to you already).  

Building Weekly Newsletter:

Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

McKinleystrong Educator of the Week:

Our #Mckinleystrong Educator of the Week goes to 2nd Grade Teacher, Katie Demmer!  Katie is a deep thinker who is always looking for ways to grow and develop - to meet students' needs.  Katie is purposeful in the instruction she plans - her lessons are purposeful and engaging to meet her learners' needs.  Katie is also compassionate and collaborative, with both families and staff.  Nice work, Katie!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

-Justin 

Weekly Update- February 2, 2018

Happy February, everyone!
I hope you had a great conferences week.  It was great to see families in the building, collaborating around student learning.  You do a great job of building that partnership with families.  Thank you for your relationships and focus on students-first!

#allstudentsmatter Challenge!
During the month of February, I am challenging you to blow up Twitter with #allstudentsmatter tweets!  The challenge- look for words, actions, and things your colleagues (across the entire building) are doing to show that all students matter, every day!   I will be doing weekly drawings in February to highlight some of our tweets - with some great prizes!

So, your challenge - go off and find ways your colleagues are putting ALL STUDENTS FIRST (words, actions, etc).  Then, tweet it out using #allstudentsmatter.

Let's blow up Twitter with all the great people we have at McKinley!

Instructional Levels:
I have appreciated all the work that has gone into knowing, planning, and teaching to instructional levels (based on the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmarking).   This is a great tool for us to know a laser-like focus on reading strategies, skills, and text to use to move our readers forward.

One caution to remember when using instructional levels - they should never define the student.  We should never have students "become" their level ("you are a G reader").  Also, we should never create an environment where students feel they need to master a level to "pass a grade".   We, as a teachers, use this data as a benchmark- we have goals to get students to a level by the end of the year.  That is our internal benchmarking.   I caution us to remember that the level is just that - a level to guide instruction.

PLC Documents:
Thank you for joining me on Monday for a PLC check in.  We are doing some great work - and will continue to get better.  Here are the documents electronically:

Essential Standards Chart Guiding Questions

PLC Process Explained

Engagement Strategy:
This engagement strategy is a specific strategy in the area of math.  I have shared this in the past - it's called "Number Detectives".  It's a great way to warm up and build number sense with students.   It can be used at any grade level!  Click here to access Number Detectives

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 Teacher, Brianna Luhman.  Brianna is a positive, focused, and compassionate educator who creates a love of learning in her students.  The thing I appreciate the most about Brianna is her "never give up" attitude toward students - she will do whatever it takes to make students successful learners and people.   We are very lucky to have Brianna on our team - keep up the great work, Ms. Luhman!


Have a great weekend, everyone!
-Justin

Weekly Update- January 26, 2018

Happy International Fun Day at Work!

Another huge thank to our Paraprofessionals and Educational Assistants at McKinley.  The passion, experience, and talent from this team is second to none. You are such an integral part of our work at McKinley.  Thank you for being such talented educators!

Time Left this Year:
As I do some reflecting on the year, I can't believe we are already entering into February.  It seems like just yesterday we were quickly unpacking our rooms and getting use to our new building.  Time flies, for sure!

Just remember- our kids only get each grade level once in their life.   Each of our students only gets 1st grade (or 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc). one time.  It's up to us to make sure that year is impactful and meaningful to our students' learning journeys.

Looking forward, we only have our students for 81 more days.  81 days.... that really isn't a lot when you think about it.   81 days is 4 months.   81 days is 526.5 hours of instruction.  81 days is 31,590 minutes of instruction.   When you think that 81 days, ask yourself - am I using every second to the fullest?  Do I have a sense of urgency when it comes to learning?   Our students deserve that.

Culture Iceberg:
I appreciate all of the reflection and difficult questions you are asking around your own personal biases.  It has been great to hear the way you are truly thinking about yourself as a person and educator... and how your thoughts, actions, and beliefs translate to the classroom.

This week, I posted this culture iceberg on Twitter.   This came up in an MLK Day session I attended.  Take some time to look through the iceberg to see the layers of culture and what we need to do, as both people and educators, to make sure we are being responsive to culture (not just race!).  As you can see, culture goes way deeper than just dress, food, etc.

Maker Space Cart:
We have a team that is looking into starting a "maker space cart" at McKinley.  For those of you who have never heard of what a makerspace is, click this 1 minute video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLEJLOB6fDw

A huge thank you to this team who are helping form the work around our makerspace cart.   This cart will be filled with resources for students to design, create, dream, and fail (remember how critical failure is to the learning process!).  When we know a start date for the cart and resources, I will let you know.

Engagement Connection:
Thinking about our work this week with "creating an introduction for guided reading" and our work around engagement, I want to remind you of some of our learning from last year with Jensen's Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind.  In chapter 4, Jensen urges that educators need to increase buy-in.   He states that attention skills are predictive of school success.   This is something we all know- if kids aren't engaged, they won't learn.   However, we (collectively as teachers) don't plan for engaging.  We hope it happens. In chapter 4, there are some great ways to build that excitement and engagement with students, including creating a "hook", playing red light, purple light, doing pause and chunk, and doing quick writes.   I would strongly encourage you to check out this chapter for some awesome, practical ways to engage students in any lesson!  If you have read this far, email Justin to enter your name for a prize!

Guided Reading in K:
I had the great opportunity to watch "guided reading in action" in our Kindergarten classrooms yesterday.  Super impressive!  There is some magic that happens with our youngest readers as they learn more about being a reader.  It was great to see what we are learning put into action... nice work, Tamra, Jen, Paige, Rachel, and Courtney!

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

McKinleyStrong Educator of the Week:
Our McKinleyStrong Educator of the Week goes to Josiah Bachtle!   As you know, Josiah wears many hats around McKinley, including SAC Supervisor and Lunchroom & Recess Supervisor.  Josiah is a natural with our kids.  Josiah is compassionate, trusting, and a true advocate for our students.  One of the things that impresses me the most about Josiah is the way he builds relationships with kids.  He knows them as a person and student - and uses this relationship to help keep our kids motivated and happy during the day.  Josiah, we love having you as a member of our McKinley team!

I got this from a colleague (Akram Osman, @AkramMosman) in my professional learning network on Twitter..... how will you be a "Hope Dealer" today?   How will you create hope in our students?  How will you create hope in each other?   I challenge you to go out and become a hope dealer!

Have an awesome weekend, colleagues!
-Justin

Weekly Update - January 19, 2018

Happy Friday, everyone!
I hope you've had a great week of learning, relationships, and fun.  Just a reminder- a week from today is International Fun Day at Work 2018.  Be prepared for a day of fun!

Take a second to reflect on the above quote - and how kids need a little hope and somebody who believes in them.   How are you being a "hope dealer" to our students?  What are you doing to ensure there is hope?  What could we be doing that is taking hope away?  Be a hope dealer....

Paraprofessional & Educational Assistant Appreciation Week:
Next week is Paraprofessional and Educational Assistant Appreciation Week.   Please take some time next week to appreciate those that help support our learners, each and every day.

Whole & Small Group Minutes- Reading Research:
Our focus for this year has been on guided/small group instruction.   As we have progressed through this learning, I hope you are realizing how critical whole, small, and independent time is in a balanced literacy block.

I was recently reminded of some work from Barbara Taylor (reading guru from the U of MN) on what makes a classroom/school effective in the area of literacy.  Please take a few minutes to look at the below pictures - one shows the amount of time spent in whole, small, etc. and how effective that classroom is (most, moderate, or least).    The second is the time students should be spending in whole and small group instruction.

I'm hoping that you are seeing the sense of urgency behind why guided/small group instruction is critical.  It is expected that we are spending this time, every day, during our literacy blocks.

Engaging with Poverty in Mind:
As you remember, we focused some of our staff learning around Eric Jensen's work on poverty and engagement.  As I re-examined this resource last weekend, I continued to find important research and strategies to keep all kids engaged in learning.   I would definitely recommend pulling this resource back out - there are some great ideas in it.

one thing that resonated with me is the five "unwritten" rules for engagement - what can we do to keep kids engaged in learning?  The rules are:
1. Upgrade your Attitude - your attitude has direct impact on the engagement level in your classroom.  Remember, you chose your weather!
2. Built Relationships & Respect -  Students have to know you care for them.  Share things about your life or make time each day to ask a student about their personal life.  Remember, we need more good deposits than withdrawals.
3. Get Buy-In - You can't just hope students will be engaged - you have to plan for this.  Plan a hook, breaking the content into smaller mini chunks, letting students do more talking.   All of this will help increase buy-in for the students. Remember, you are a salesman to the learning!
4. Embrace Clarity - Students need to know exactly what is expected - academically, as well as behaviorally.  We need to be very clear in our target and what is expected.
5. Show your Passion- Model your love of learning for students.  Let students know about something you are interested in, what you wonder about, or your "why" behind teaching.  Let them see this passion everyday!

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

McKinleyStrong Educator of the Week:
Our McKinleyStrong Educator of the Week goes to Kindergarten Teacher, Courtney Hugs!   Courtney is a warm and compassionate educator who puts relationships at the forefront of everything she does.  Courtney works hard to make sure her students' needs are being met- academically, socially, and emotionally.  Courtney is positive and always has a smile on her face.   We are very lucky to have Courtney Hugs as a teacher to our McKinley students!



Have a great weekend, everyone. Enjoy the heat wave!
-Justin

Weekly Update - January 12, 2018

Happy Friday!
We're back to below zero... yuck!  I'm still not use to this weather - or the wind at this new building!

Just a reminder- International Fun Day at Work is coming soon (January 26) - if you haven't found your team's "theme-dress", start brainstorming!

Good reminders:
Just a couple of good reminders as we continue into January...

First, what is your #oneword for the year?  How is that going?  Remember, this is the word we chose at our welcome back session in August.

Second, ...

Thank you for all you do for our kids - I know they are a priority to you all.

Follow-Up from Staff Power Hour:
Thank you for the conversations and learning on Wednesday around biases and literacy.  A couple of "call to actions" from our last staff Power Hour:

Biases:  Start deeply listening to people (start to create multiple perspective stories) & acknowledge your biases when you are around people (remember, your body language and words will show your biases).  Please remember- biases are not a bad thing.  We just need to be aware of them and start to reconstruct our experiences.

Literacy: Pay attention to the characteristics of selecting and analyzing text as you find text for your readers.

Engagement Strategy- Quick Draw:
I will be sharing strategies with you from our work around engagement last year.  One of the strategies, a Quick Draw, has students take any topic/concept/learning and turn it into a visual.   Then, students share through a gallery walk their representations.  See link below for deeper directions:

Click here to access the Quick Draw directions

Student Support Specialist- Update:
Isabel Mendoza, our new Student Support Specialist, has been working all week to learn the position.  Isabel will take over things like the Relaxation Room, Check & Connect, the backpack program, and will run some social groups for our students.   Isabel will be starting her schedule next week.

MLK Professional Learning - Monday:
Just a reminder- we have our MLK Professional Learning Day this Monday.   Superintendent Elstad will start promptly at 7:40 (please be on time).  I challenge you to participate in the Twitter challenge for this day.   Our staff has always had a strong presence on Twitter - let's blast our learning all over Twitter!

Building Weekly Newsletter:
Click here to access the newsletter

McKinleyStrong Educator of the Week:
Our McKinleyStrong Educator of the Week goes to Marie Sjulstad!  Marie is a paraprofessional at McKinley, with today being her last day before retirement.  Marie has been a valuable member of our SPED team for the last 17 years . Marie amazes me with her compassion, dedication to our kids, and the way she builds relationships.   As I stated, today is Marie's last day.   We are thankful for all of her service to our McKinley students.  Marie, you will always be a Monkey with us!


Have a great weekend, everyone!
-Justin