Weekly Update - Friday, October 25, 2019

Good Morning - and happy Friday! 

Gratitude Challenge Starts Friday!
Next Friday, our annual "gratitude challenge" starts on Twitter.  This is something I would like ALL staff to engage in.  If you aren't on Twitter yet, it's time.  Join today, it's free. 

Below is a calendar with the daily prompts.  If you tweet about 12 of these, you will be entered into a drawing to have an off-site lunch with five of your colleagues.

I'm looking forward to spreading the "gratitude word"! 

Gratitude Challenge Calendar

Words We Choose:

As you know, this is one of my favorite quotes - "the words you speak become the house you live in".   We've done extensive work around the words we use to describe students - and how powerful these words can be to your beliefs, actions, and expectations.  But, what about yourself?  your workload?  Are you choosing the words you are using there, too?   I know - we have a lot on our "plate" this year with new initiatives and new curriculum.  However, start to monitor the way you talk about this.  Your brain is wired to listen to your thoughts and put those into action.  Instead of thinking "I'm so overwhelmed and this sucks", think "I have a lot to do - and the things that are important will get done".  It will change your mindset and the "house you live in!". 

Think Time:
It's been so great to see our new reading resources in action.  The language, stories, and activities with these resources is engaging and higher level.  It's exciting!   I know these resources have left people feeling like, "Where do I fit all this in?"  I know time has become an issue in most classrooms.  As we continue into the year, don't forget about the power of "think time".  Our scholars need time to think, reflect, and process... and, at times, have productive struggles. 

Bus Driver Appreciation Week:
This week was Bus Driver Appreciation Week.  A huge thank you to Karen & Grace Thurnau for creating cards for our drivers - and thank you to everyone who signed the cards.  We delivered cinnamon rolls yesterday morning to each driver.  Thanks to Steph and Selena for all of your work organizing this.  Below is a message I received from the Bus Company: 

Justin and McKinley Staff,

What an awesome and unexpected surprise we all had when dropping at McKinley this morning!  I personally drove a McKinley based bus and saw Selena holding the big box containing the treats as I drove up to unload…I was then pleasantly presented with my pastry and card that certainly will be the highlight of my day!  You folks have always taken the extra step to make us feel extremely appreciated and valuable.  Lots of smiles and boasting going on from the McKinley drivers, for sure!!

Have a wonderful rest of your week!

Mindfulness:
Mindfulness has become something that is just a regular thing in our day.  It's been great to see how much our staff are engaging in this work - to help regulate students and get them ready for learning.  Just a reminder to be using the term "mindfulness" instead of "yoga".  There are religious connections to engaging in yoga.  I've had a few questions this year from parents on this. 

Building Leadership Team Meeting Notes:
Our Building Leadership Team met this week - below are the notes.  We read a great article from Peggy MacIntosh on white privilege - your BLT rep will be discussing it with you! 
Click here to access the notes 

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

Have a great weekend, everyone!  Go do something you enjoy!
-Justin

Weekly Update - Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Happy Friday - or Wednesday!

Courageous Conversations:
Thank you for your conversation around the Courageous Conversation protocol & compass on Monday.  This will guide our work, moving forward.  As you enter into conversations about race, always ask yourself where you are at within the compass & stay focused on the agreements and conditions.  This will help us focus on the work (race) and keep the conversation productive. 

If you did not read the article, please take some time.  This is critical work.

Accountable Talk
Below is a link to a card to help students stay accountable during discussions.  This was on Twitter recently and was on each student's desks.  The goal is for them to use the sentence starters & questions to stay focused and engaged in a discussion. A huge thank you to Eric Oppegard for creating & sharing this!

Accountable Talk Card 

LCSI Foundation #3 -  Guest Blogger Danielle Nystrom:

Foundation #3: Developing the Art of Listening

The third foundation that LSCI is built on is “Developing the Art of Listening”. Within this foundation it is important to acknowledge that choosing to listen to a child is a purposeful action. The choice is made to engage in a conversation. This is the first phase; attending. The choice is made to listen and the adult needs to have a neutral and approachable demeanor. In order to do so successfully, the adult must pay attention to their body language, their breathing, and their facial expressions. Presence has an impact. Children are able to pick up on the slightest shift in body language and facial expressions. The second phase is decoding. While the child is speaking, the adult should be looking for what is not being said. They are searching for meaning and attempting to make connections between the feelings experienced and the behavior that occurred, in a nonjudgmental way. During this phase is also important to allow processing and reflection time for the child so that these connections can sink in. 

Challenge: Check out this video from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off ! Watch it twice! The first time you watch it, turn the volume off. Watch the body language of both characters. The second time you watch it, pay attention to the tone and the questions being asked.

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

Make Time for YOU! 
As you know, this job demands a lot.  Without self-care, you can become exhausted - physically and emotionally.  Take some time this break to do something YOU enjoy.  Do some relaxing, unwinding, and be with those you love.  Take care of YOU!

Enjoy your MEA break!
-Justin

Weekly Update - Friday, October 11, 2019

Happy Friday, everyone!

Camp McKinley:
We had a great turnout (around 250 people!) for our "Camp McKinley" last night.  A huge thank you to Chelsea Van Roekel, Dani Rypka, Danielle Nystrom, Julie Bauer, Kathy Feltes, Sami Nelson, Laurie Wolhart, and Madie Conley for your work around this night.  Another thank you to Sylvia & Nura for being available for language support.  What a great night! 

Dear Complainer...
A great blog entry from the Energy Bus on complaining & blaming.  Take a minute to read - great reminders!  Click here to access the blog entry

How Does Communication Fit into the Literacy Puzzle - Guest Blogger Amanda Wood
Check out a great blog entry from Amanda Wood on how communication and literacy fit together. 

September ORD Data:
Below is a link to our September Office Referral Data (ORD).  This data is collected to examine trends in behaviors, but also provide supports for individual students.  Our McKinleyStrong Team analyzed the data last night and found the following observations:

• The 11-1pm is our highest time for referrals.  We thought this could be possibly be due to a large amount of kids in one space (lunchroom), volume in lunchroom, students being away from a teacher for the first time during the day, or just that it's their first unstructured time during the day.
• The team found that physical aggression is extremely high.  This matches previous years, too.  We talked about possible reasons and determined we would track who is being physical and figure out how to support them best.  

September ORD Data

Reserve November 1 - SHHH, it's a SECRET:
Keep this secret.. as we will be announcing next week.  We did fill the jar!  Woo hoo!  Our team met last night and determined that November 1st will be our McKinleyStrong Celebration.  More information will come on this; however, plan on an activity on this day.  More information to come! 

Life Space Crisis - Guest Blogger Danielle Nystrom:

Foundation #2: Understanding the Dynamics of the Conflict Cycle:

The second foundation that LSCI is built on is “Understanding the Dynamics of the Conflict Cycle”. This is especially important when trying to understand the timeline of an event. The conflict cycle is made up of four parts and occurs in a cyclical rotation. First, the child brings their values and world views into a given stressful event. This event or stress causes an emotion to be felt or experienced. An internal dialogue occurs based on the thoughts and feelings. This internal dialogue leads to some type of observable behavior. This could be anything from an eye roll to flipping a table. Once the observable behavior occurs, there is some kind of response from the adult that is around. This response will either keep the stress level the same or will increase the amount of stress the child is experiencing. It is imperative that the adult involved in the situation be responsive to the child’s needs; not reactive (yelling, punishment, etc). If the adult reacts to the behavior, the students’ stress level will increase, a new emotion will be experienced, followed by a more intense behavior. This cycle will continue if the adult continues to match the student; and the stress level will continue to rise. As stated earlier, the adult has multi-dimensional thinking and the ability to manage and control their emotions. The adult needs to be the thermostat in the event and work to keep the stress at a level place to assist the student in draining off their intense emotions.

Understanding the conflict cycle is important as it helps the adult involved understand how the child is feeling. It is also very helpful in assisting with determining the timeline of an event or crisis situation. The conflict cycle lends itself to this process. The adult can ask simple questions to gather information. Questions include: What happened? How did you feel? What were you thinking or feeling? What did you do? How did they respond? These questions allow the adult to hear the perception of the student and understand the feelings that the child was experiencing. 

Check out this great example of going around the conflict cycle… a few times! Breakfast Club

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


Have a great weekend, everyone! Keep your fingers crossed for NO SNOW!
-Justin

Weekly Update - Friday, October 4, 2019

Good morning - and happy Homecoming!

Mindset & Language Matter!  Think about those words you are choosing - they have greater impact than you realize!  

Guided Groups:

Guided groups are up and running this week!  A huge thank you to all the teachers who spent hours getting student goals established and schedules made.  I know this required a lot of time and effort.

Just a reminder - guided groups are a priority.  These time, along with intervention blocks, are sacred.  If we want to get students to becoming readers, guided groups are the structure to making this happen.  Please remember a few things:

• Guided groups are ineffective if we are not monitoring student goals and adjusting throughout the year.  These are our resources - the responsive teaching is what is critical to making our students high quality readers.
• Guided groups are at a minimum - 20 minutes.  
• LLI is designed to support guided groups.  Teachers between both programs should be communicating on the goals, level, progress, and the observational data they are seeing in group.  

If you need support, please let Libby know.  She is a great resource!  

Library Re-Design:
As you could see yesterday, Denise and Kayla were busy re-assembling our new learning space - the library.  The goal of this space is to move away from it being a "books only" spot to more of a learning space.  Eventually, Denise will have things out - puzzles, MakerSpace items, etc... the list is limitless!  The goal of yesterday's work was to create spaces throughout the library for small groups to work.  It looks awesome!  A huge thank you to Denise and Kayla for their hard work!  Also, thank you to the Maintenance Team for their help and our fellow Media Center EA's! 

EL Graduation:
Congratulations to our 2019 EL Graduates!  We are so proud of these students!  A huge thank you to Laurie Wolhart, Liz Stitzmeyer, Caryn Boetel, Sylvia Zavala, & Nura Elmi for all their work coordinating this special evant! 

Life Space Crisis Intervention - Guest Columnist Danielle Nystrom: 

Over the summer I had the opportunity to become certified in Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI). LSCI is a framework for working with students who are in crisis. This framework meets the students where they are at and works to increase their capacity to navigate settings that are managed by adults (school); this is something that is a struggle for students who have/are experienced trauma and haven’t developed a sense of safety. This framework is built on three critical foundations. It is important to understand the foundations of the LSCI framework as it plays into the mindset of the adult who is working with a child in crisis. With these insights, it allows the adult to meet the child where they are at. 

Foundation #1: The Understanding of Brain Differences between children and adults

The first foundation is “The Understanding of Brain Differences Between Children and Adults”. This foundation contains three important understandings. The first is the idea that a child’s brain is different than an adult brain. These differences are evident in four different ways: thinking, perception, feelings, and behaviors. When looking at the brain of a child, their thinking is irrational, events are perceived in one way, emotions take over, impulsive behaviors occur and defense mechanisms are used when the pain is too much. This differs from the brain of an adult. Adults are able to think rationally, use multidimensional thinking, manage and control emotions, and can take responsibility for their actions. Adults also have the understanding that their presence has impact; positive or negative. This understanding is important because it shows that children are self-centered in their way of thinking and struggle to see all sides of a situation or event. Adults are able to use multi-dimensional thinking and use all aspects of the situation or event when deciding how to act or respond.

	Child	Adult
Thinking	Irrational	Rational
Perception	Centered on self- Sees things one way	Multidimensional thinking- See all sides of a situation
Feelings	Emotions take over	Ability to manage emotions
Behaviors	May act impulsively and use defense mechanisms to protect themselves.	Can take responsibility for actions and understand that their presence has an impact in some way; positive or negative.

NEW Educational Assistant Schedule & Role:
Our new EA Schedule starts this Monday.   Just a reminder, EA's are supporting intervention blocks throughout the day.  With their "open" times listed on the schedule, they will eventually have individual students or small groups assigned to work with.  This will be assigned based on data and need.   A huge thank you to the EA team for their flexibility with scheduling this past month! 

Discussion Strategies:
Below is a link to some great discussion strategies - ways to get students collaborating! 
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/speaking-listening-techniques/

Infinitec Trainings - Due in 27 Days!
August is right around the corner and as we wait for the 19/20 school year to begin, I am sending out the step-by-step instructions for the required on-line training modules (using Infinitec) for all employees.  The required trainings include the following:  

1. Anti-Harassment Training
1. Bullying Basics
1. Mandated Reporting
1. Student Confidentiality

Once you have viewed each video, you must take the quiz and receive a score of 80% or higher, otherwise you will need to re-watch the video until you achieve 80%.  DO NOT print out the certificate.  We will pull reports from the system and provide to the appropriate administrators and committees.  The training needs to be completed by October 31, 2019.

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

Weekly Update - Friday, September 27, 2019

Happy Friday!

Just a couple reminders for teaching staff:

• Keep sending common planning time invites out to Libby & Justin.
• If you have changed your schedule or haven't added to the shared folder, please do so ASAP.  I'd like all teaching staff to have a schedule in this folder.
• Finish setting goals using the Literacy Continuum so that you are ready to start purposeful guided groups early next week.  Share these goals with an interventionists (especially if it's an LLI intervention).

Homecoming Next Week:
Join us for Homecoming Dress Up Days next week!  A huge thanks to Val & Karla for organizing this!  Please share with students!

Additionally, our lunch schedule will change for Friday with the parade early release (we release at 12:25pm).  Below is our lunch schedule:  

Friday, October 4 Lunch Schedule:

10:45-11:15 Kdg

11:00-11:30 4th Gr

11:10-11:40 3rd Gr

11:20-11:40 1st Gr

11:30-12:00 5th Gr

11:40-12:10 2nd Gr

*If weather allows, lunch will be served outside.  If not, we will do a picnic style lunch in gym.

Also, please know where students are going on Friday - pick up, bus, walk, etc. Every year, this seems to be an issue and we have students waiting in the office. Please be proactive and find out where students are going after school. Thank you!

Intervention Subouts:

Next week, we have subouts to plan for our fall interventions. Attached is a schedule for those subouts, which will occur in the Learning Studio South. Please join us if you work with that grade level with reading - and please be ready to come and discuss students' strengths, needs, and placements for interventions. If you completed a decoding classwide intervention (P3), please bring any PRESS progress monitoring that you did with to the subout. Fastbridge progress monitoring for fluency will already be recorded on your data cards.

The Power of Family Communication:
There is so much power in engaging with families - on many levels.  As we have been in school for about a month, I am seeing a small trend - not connecting with families when behaviors arise.  As much as I understand the power of "making those deposits", I also think it's critical that we involve families in the concerns we have, too.  This past week, I have dealt with a few situations in which the staff says, "this seems to be a pattern" and the families say, "We had no idea this was going on".   Please don't forget to involve our families - for positive communication, but also the situations you need assistance with.

Are you the Best Part of that Student's Day?
This week, I came across an online article that advocates for the fact that we are often the best part of students' days - even for those students we can find challenging.  This is such a mindset shift for me - we often assume that, if a student shows behavioral needs, they don't want to be at school.  However, the article advocates for the opposite - sometimes you are the best part of their day!  Take a few minutes to read:   https://www.boredteachers.com/inspiring/best-part-students-day?fbclid=IwAR2uzZDkOkDZzW20B98G8aaB7tQbnS1uPpvSNIfZUIZeDqX4CSviKZKr2Zk

Camp McKinley:
A huge thank you to Julie Bauer, Sami Nelson, Laurie Wolhart, Chelsea Van Roekel, Dani Rypka, Madie Conley, Danielle Nystrom, and Kathy Feltes for their help in planning our first family night - "Camp McKinley".  The family night is Thursday, October 10th from 5:40-7:00.  The night will consist of a pizza meal and different camp-related stations.  Join us if you can!

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, Bernie Jensen.  Bernie is flexible, dedicated, and passionate about our students.  Bernie is always willing to "step in" to support our students and/or the work we are doing collectively.  Bernie puts 100% effort into everything she does.  We appreciate you, Bernie - keep being #mckinleystrong!


Have a great weekend!  - Justin

Weekly Update - Friday, September 20, 2019

Happy Friday!
Just a reminder to Grades 1-5 Teachers - Fountas and Pinnell data needs to be entered into Infinite Campus by 3:00pm today!

#StudentsFirst

Awfulizer -vs- Awesomizer:
During our awesome school year kick-off, Jimmy Casas introduced us to two people in a building - an awfulizer (someone who negatively impacts the culture) and an awesomizer (someone who positively impacts the culture).  Overall, our building is filled with awesomizers who are working hard to support kids and make McKinley a great place.  Thank you to those of you who help positively impact our culture - being positive, professional, and all about kids.  Thank you!

This past week, I saw some behavior that, unfortunately, showed some awfulizer behavior.  The biggest I have witnessed is the whole idea of complaining to everyone else in the building, instead of going to the person.  And, in all honesty, over things that really don't even require our time to complain.  As we move into the school year, I'm asking you to do some serious reflecting - am I being an awfulizer or an awesomizer?   We have so much hard work to this year - we don't have time for the awfulizers.

Professional Learning Request Form:
Are you looking to see one of your amazing colleagues in action?  Get into other classrooms?  Learn with (and from) your colleagues?  If so, consider completing the Professional Learning Request Form!  This form is for ALL staff, not just teaching staff!

How does this work?  Complete the form - with who you want to see or an area you want to observe (if you don't know who).  I will reach out to you - and establish the date that you want to observe.  Then, I will come in and cover for you so you can continue to learn.  It's that easy!  Remember, we are a learning organization - all of us!  Continual learning is what will move us forward to support all!

Setting Goals with the Literacy Continuum:

You have your Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessments all completed, so that means it’s goal setting time! Next week is the week to spend some time setting goals for your readers so that guided group instruction has the greatest impact possible. If you would like to collaborate around this, reach out to Libby (it’s one of her favorite things to collaborate around). 

If you’d like ideas for goal tracking, check out this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mCqOGtfyUtW1PU7kyS_2G4FBqNgpLuRDNC7DGrxgOho. 

Your Words Matter:
As you know, your words, body language, and demeanor all impact a student's experience with you.  There is so much power in this - particularly when you start to look at the "underlying message" you are sending.  Below is a great reminder of the power of our words.   Your words - the actual words AND the underlying message - are sending a message to our students.  What do you want that message to be?

MN Wild Educator Night:
I received this earlier in the week - a great deal for those of you who love hockey!  Details below:

Professional Development Reading Opportunities:
For staff looking for reading material related to racial equity, Teaching & Learning is building a small library of equity-related titles available for “check out.”  Click the link to see a list of available titles: Equity Books.  To request a title, complete this FORM which will notify Kayla Stanton who will send the book your way or communicate availability.   

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

McKinleyStrong Educator of the Week:
The McKinleyStrong Educator of the Week goes to our 2nd Grade Team - Katie Demmer, Lori Huisenga, Val Seath, Kate Seifert, & Caryn Boetel!  Our 2nd Grade Team is collaborative, flexible, and focused on every student, every day!  This past month, the team has shown this flexibility and focus over and over again - during their work in common planning, making schedule changes, and their interactions with our learners.  Way to go, 2nd Grade!  Keep being #mckinleystrong!


Have a great weekend, everyone!
-Justin

Weekly Update - September 13, 2019

Happy Friday, Everyone! 

A combination of a full moon and Friday the 13th..... We will survive! 

STEAM Gear - Students & Staff:
Monday is our day for students and staff to wear STEAM gear!  This includes jeans, if you'd like.  Yes, I just made your Mondays much easier.   I will take Starbucks as a thank you... :)

PLC Goals:
PLC goals should be entered into Standards for Success (formerly Stages) by October 15.

Garbages & Recycling:
Our Buildings & Grounds Crew is requesting that we move our garbage to the back of our room each night.  They are having a hard time getting all the cleaning done each night  - this would help greatly. 

Also, please make sure that only recycling is ending up in your recycling bins.  We get charged (monetary) when other items end up in there  - it's been happening.  Please help remind students. 

Library Transformation:
Thanks to feedback from our students, we will be doing some transformation of our library to make it into more of a learning space, rather than just a space with books (not that books aren't important!).  The transformation will begin on Thursday, October 3 and be finalized on Friday, October 4.  This is Homecoming Week - we will still be able to use the space for 1st Grade's Teddy Bear Parade.  More information to come; however, please know the library space will be closed October 3 & 4.

MTSS/Intervention Subouts:
Reserve the date - Monday, September 30 & Tuesday, October 1 for MTSS/Intervention subouts.  This is a time (2 hours) where we will go through each students' data and determine the appropriate intervention for him/her.  This is similar to the work we did last year.  Subs have been entered for classroom teachers - more info on Special Education & EL subs soon!  Save the date! 

Love Them First - Kare 11 Documentary:
I'm not sure how many of you watched this documentary last night about an elementary in North Minneapolis who is doing everything they can to create an environment of love, relationships, and high expectations.  If you missed it, below is a link (they said the whole video would be online).  It's well worth the hour to watch... very, very powerful.   In fact, I cried during many parts of this. 

The documentary also helped ground me (again) in the work we are doing.  At many times during this documentary, I thought of McKinley Staff - or each of you individually.   You are making a difference of our students. 

https://www.kare11.com/article/news/education/love-them-first-lessons-from-lucy-laney/89-68e00dad-647d-428b-9580-322274cd0338

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


This picture stood out to me on the day that we listened to Casas - "Remember what you said you were going to do for students when you sat in that interview chair?"  Are you doing this?  Doing more?  Very powerful!

Have a great weekend, everyone!  Enjoy some time to celebrate YOU!
-Justin