Staff News and Announcements

Need to Know (Sunday, September 1st)

Improve Your Instruction

What Conversational Competence Is and How to Embed This In Your Classroom Culture - An article by Allison Zmuda

Wheel of Connection - 18 quick activities to build meaningful connections between students and teachers. Go ahead and spin the wheel!

Making the Most of a 90-Minute Block - Article by Jennifer Gonzalez that offers suggestions and templates for maximizing instructional time during a block.

22 Powerful Closure Activities - Activities that can be used to check for understanding or emphasize key information at the end of a lesson.

Student Engagement Resource Roundup - Keeping students captivated and ready to learn is no small task. This list of articles, videos, and other resources offers strategies and advice that can help.

Flip the Script: Student Designed Units - Article by Catlin Tucker

Safety First

On Friday, September 6th we will have ALICE review for High School. Below you will find the variety of options of training based upon staff feedback. Please attend the event below that best fits your needs. All training will be from 7:05 am to 7:30 am.


ALIVE Review- (Z204)- Spitzmueller/Jordan

Review the Main Components of ALICE.


Table-Top Discussion (Learning Commons)-Distel

Work in small groups to discuss a variety of safety scenarios.


Reunification-(KIVA)- Rompies

Discuss current reunification plan and brainstorm other ideas on plan to reunify for the High School.


General Question and Answer Period (Harvard) Office Dyer and Officer Herlinger

Officer Dyer and Officer Herlinger will be in the Harvard Room to ask any safety question that is posed. They will review the School Safety Team (SRO's) role and address safety questions.


Evacuation Routes (Small Commons) Dodd/Hull

Walk and Talk with a small group of teachers to discuss possible exit routes depending on the location of a crisis.

Big Rock Connection

Culture Team: September's Big Rock theme is Culture- more to come throughout the month!

Inclusive Excellence Team: (also known as MHS Equity Team): As a continuation of our work to Step up to Bias, we are asking for your experiences and ideas! We are working to make our learning relevant to and reflective of our daily interactions; please take a quick minute to fill out the form Seeking Classroom Scenarios.

Personalized Learning Team:

Clearly defined goals set the environment for personalized learning to flourish. Goals are- first and foremost- defined by our academic standards. Alongside these are goals from other bodies: researched best practices, writing skills, literacy skills, our Habits of Mind, and digital citizenship.

Once goals are clearly defined, we recognize that every goal can be addressed through a multitude of methods and activities. Those activities can be co-created with students in a way that offers them voice and choice in their learning.

Michelle Bruewer is reading The Crucible with her literature class inside of a unit on rhetoric. Before beginning Act 2, she spent time considering the standards, the unit topic, and the text. Through the brainstorm, she identified what students should be able to do- “Critique the flaws and victories of one character’s persuasion.”

In Action- Really, watch this (insert link)!

Last Friday, Ms. Bruewer gave students ownership of the goal by writing it on the board and asking her students to list synonyms for critique. The result- the learning goal is challenging, clear, and includes student voice.

Students are now set up to co-create the learning path in an attempt to answer the question, “How are we going to reach our goal?” Rather than giving a predetermined worksheet to use throughout the rest of the play, Ms. Bruewer gave students a voice in the conversation.

Take a look at this video to see an example of how co-creation of the learning path is a natural result of posing challenging learning goals.


Wellness Moment

The National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) reports that nearly 50 percent of the children in the United States have experienced “at least one or more types of serious childhood trauma.” Understanding trauma and its impacts on young learners helps educators better serve the emotional needs of their students, and help trauma-survivors thrive in classrooms. In an effort to become more sensitive to trauma our students might have experienced, consider asking children questions like:

What is something you look forward to this week?

What is something you want others to know about you?

Asking these types of questions instead of those focused on the past (i.e. What did your family do this weekend?) can help more students feel included and comfortable no matter their situation.

For additional information regarding trauma checkout the Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators and Suggestions for Educators.


Free 5K!

Are you interested in running or walking a 5K? Join the Mason City Schools team on October 19, 2019, at 9AM. Check out Mason Connects for more information, or email Crystal Clark.

Wellness Survey

Don’t forget to fill out the Staff Wellness Survey if you haven’t done so already. We have had a great response so far and hope to hear from everyone! Keep the creative ideas coming!


Counselor's Corner

SPECIAL FAFSA OPPORTUNITY:

The MHS School Counseling department is excited to announce a new opportunity this fall to help students and parents complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). A completed FAFSA determines a student's eligibility for need-based financial aid and is an important step in the college process for most students. The financial aid department at Miami University has graciously agreed to bring members of their staff to Mason High School to work with individual families to complete the FAFSA. Parents and students will be offered one-hour appointments to come into the Harvard Room and complete the FAFSA with the support of a Miami University staff member.

The FAFSA workshop will be by APPOINTMENT ONLY. Dates for the workshop are Tuesday, October 22nd, Thursday, October 24th and Thursday, November 14th. The first appointment of the day will begin at 4:00 PM and the last appointment of the day will be 7:00 PM on each day. FAFSA Workshop Registration

Military Fair - students and parents sign up with their school counselor to talk with representatives from all branches of the military. The event is being held on October 23 from 8 to 10 am in the Kiva.

Vocational Opportunities - sophomores who are interested in attending Scarlet Oaks need to sign up with their school counselor to attend a meeting on November 20 during connect time.