Staff News and Announcements

Need to Know (Sunday, August 25th)

Building Collaboration Meetings will take place (7:05 AM) on:

Monday, August 26th

Wednesday, August 28th (also Building Focus Teams Meetings (7:05 AM) for Focus Team Members )

Friday, August 30th

Monday, August 26th - MHS Administrator Meeting at 2:40 PM (Conference room)
Tuesday, August 27th - Building Fusion Team (formerly known as the BLT) meeting
Wednesday, August 28th - Senior Parent Meeting at 7 PM (remind our seniors to tell parents)
Check out "Your Story Matters at Mason City Schools" podcasts. Interesting stories from MCS staff and students.
Welcome our new MHS Staff members for the 2019-2020 school year.
8/28 Connect Time Plans and FlexiSched Feedback - Find all of the information you need for this Wednesday (Wednesday, August 28th) right here!
Student Activities Update - Figure out what is going on with our organizations
2019-2020 Semester 1 Calendar : Contains Bell Schedules, Advisory Plans, Connect Time information
Shout Out this week to our school counselors who did a fantastic job with students and parents (they were also in the cafeteria assisting students during their lunch periods) and all of our departments who are already making progress in their department meetings/collaboration time to help improve instruction and learning for students.

Improve Your Instruction

Wheel of Connection - 18 quick activities to create meaningful connections between students and teachers. Give the wheel a spin!
The Practical EdTech Podcast - Podcast by Richard Byrne where he shares news and tips about educational technology
14 Incredibly Useful Things You Didn't Know Google Drive Could Do
Tips for managing Feedback
7 Things to remember about feedback
Assessment and Grading- A few BRIEF videos sharing views on assessment and grading

Safety

Fire Drill August 26th around 8:40 am.

During all fire drills this school year, please practice the 4 L's.

Teacher/Staff member first person out the door
Look up, down, left, right to ensure it is safe to evacuate
If Safe, send students then shut classroom door.

Sept. 6th : A.L.I.C.E Training

Please complete the form below (linked "Here") to help us design the training schedule for the morning of Friday, September 6th. I will send out more information about the training after we gather input on the topics Here

Big Rock Connection

Culture Team: Two Minutes with TK- summary/reminder of Tim Kight's "Own the Moment" message from Day 1.

Inclusive Excellence Team: (also known as MHS Equity Team): In this first week back to school we have seen several teachers incorporating conversations around Inclusive Excellence in to the curriculum. In particular, Mrs. Mollee Coffey had discussions of racism, gender identity, etc... as it relates to being a nurture vs. nature result in her Psychology class. She allowed students to discuss it among themselves in small groups which also removed any nervousness in students that may not have wanted to share with the entire class. Also, many other teachers have incorporated ways to build relationships with students in unique ways so that students are more comfortable in their classroom space. We look forward to reinforcing that as we move forward in the coming weeks. Off to a great start!

Personalized Learning Team: Well defined Learner Outcomes are a key feature to Mason's model of Personalized Learning. Alongside traditional content standards handed to us from ODE and other bodies, we are elevating skills and mindsets for learning to round out our Learner Outcomes. You may ask "which skills and mindsets are we using?" Check out these links below:

Check out the 16 Habits of Mind (link) we are elevating to the same level as content skills.
Allison Zmuda has curated a great list of resources (link) for teaching for Habits of Mind on her website.
The Habits of Mind institute (link), founded by Allison's co-author Bena Kallick has worked on these skills for years.

Wellness Moment

The Mental Wellness Team is looking for your input! We have sent out surveys to staff district wide asking for feedback and ideas regarding how we can enhance opportunities for staff to maintain or improve their overall health. We have already received a lot of great ideas and hope to hear from everyone. Please take a few minutes to complete it and share your thoughts.

Join the Mental Health and Wellness team on Wednesday, September 11th for a Special Edition Community Conversation on the topic of Stress and Distress. The event will take place at the Mason Middle School Auditorium. It will begin at 6 pm with a resource fair from 5:30-7:30 pm. The conversation will be led by Michael Sorter MD and Stuart Slavin MD. Michael is the Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Stuart is the Senior Scholar for Well-being at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The conversation will focus on environmental factors leading to mental health issues in teens, as well as exploration of ways parents and educators can reduce academic load and pressure without lowering standards.

Calm App: Did you know that you can get a free subscription to Calm.com and the Calm app with your school email? Sign up here! Calm offers a variety of resources, including meditation, calming music, and resources for children.

Counselor's Corner

Please join the High School Counseling Team on Wednesday, August 28 at 7:00 p.m. in the High School Auditorium for an informational meeting about the college process. We will be tackling topics such as: requesting transcripts, teacher recommendations, Naviance navigation, and application questions,etc. We will also be meeting with seniors during the school day on 8/28 and 9/4 to help them with the process. The evening program is to support parents. We want to ease the stress of the college application season for all of you. Senior students are welcome to join their parents for the meeting as well.

Counselors will also be hosting a New Parent Counselor Coffee on Friday, August 30th at 8:00am in the Harvard Room at Mason High School. During this time, we will have our School Counseling Department available to answer any questions they may have. We will also be accompanied by Ms. Liz Maloney who will be able to address technology related questions and concerns.

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