Staff News and Announcements

Building Collaboration for January:

Building Collaboration meetings: 1/27, 1/29

RockStar meeting: 1/31

Week of February 24th Schedule: You will notice there is a new tab for this week in this document. This is the week of the ACT/Mason Learning Series. Please note the adjustment in the week's schedule

• Present at HighAIMS! The 7th Annual HighAIMS Summer Institute will be held at Lakota East High School on July 30 and 31, 2020. This year’s Institute is focused around three pillars - Kids, Culture, Action. All session proposals should align with at least one of the pillars. Proposals are due by February 28, 2020. Applicants will be notified by March 9, 2020 concerning acceptance of your session proposal. Click here for more information and to submit your proposal.
• The Catalyst Grant deadline is approaching. Don’t miss an opportunity to apply. Submission Deadline is 2/18/20. The Catalyst Grant Workshop Date is January 27, 2020. At the workshop, you will learn more about grant writing, get support for your idea, and/or have the opportunity to build on your concept with the Learning Experience team prior to Grant Deadlines
  • Link to Grant Application
  • Link to Submission Form

Student Activities

This Week (and next) in Connect Time :

• January 29th Agenda- This is a launch day for scheduling for next year. More plans will be added to this link as they become available.
• February 5th Agenda

MHS Big Rock Teams for 2019-2020 (including Building Focus, District Focus, Building Fusion and District Fusion teams)

MHS OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) for the 2019-2020 school year

• Tips, Tricks, and Tools to Build Your Inclusive Classroom Through UDL - "UDL is not a special ed thing or even a general ed thing. It’s just an ed thing. It is a way to connect every student to the learning experience." - Check out this blog on Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
• 4 Activities to Boost Target Language Acquisition - Give students repeated exposure to relevant vocabulary with these quick activities.
• What Does Blended Learning Look Like in an AP Class? - Check out this blog for ideas on how to run station rotations in an AP class.
• "New Year, Improved You" - Are you wanting to use the New Year as an opportunity to improve your instructional practices and grow as a professional? Would you like someone to walk alongside you to encourage and support your growth? Everyone needs and deserves an instructional coach that can provide them non-evaluative, low-pressure one-on-one consultation, collaboration, and support around lesson design, implementation of instructional practices, and assessment. Consider taking advantage of the "New Year Improved You" professional learning and growth opportunity with me. ~ Robyn Jordan

Click here to complete the "New Year, Improved You" interest form.

• January Teacher Collaboration Time - Are you looking for colleagues to collaborate with during Tuesday/Thursday Collaboration time? Wanting to share ideas, brainstorm, develop lessons, have meaningful discussions and connect with colleagues? Feel free to add to the wall if you have something that you would like to open up to others for collaboration. Just click on the plus sign under the date in which you are wanting to collaborate, and add the brief description and location.

Culture Team:

“Be a great coach for the world you live in, not resenting the environment you actually have to coach and live in today.” ---Brian Kight

Becoming great is a difficult journey. Staying great is no easier. This is true in every aspect of our lives, from marriage to personal health to our life as an educator. No matter how long we’ve been at it, giving in to feelings of entitlement are a sure recipe for decline. The antidote, the way to get a little better every day, is simple but not easy: stay disciplined and do the work.

As a reminder: The next Connect Time with time dedicated to R-Factor training is Thursday, 27 February.

Inclusive Excellence Team: Check out the Celebrating Acceptance Newsletter Jan/Feb 2020 ! You will find links to the calendar of culturally relevant events, celebrations, and meetings, some great classroom strategies using an IE lens, culturally aware R Factor responses, inclusive personalized learning resources, and you can learn about all the ways you can celebrate Black History Month!

Personalized Learning Team:

When you ask an open-ended question, how many valid answers might students come up with? Ten? One hundred? Thousands?

Personalized Learning thought leaders Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins argue in Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding that using "essential" questions can help drive inquiry processes that increase student ownership of thinking. According to McTighe and Wiggins, asking these deep open questions helps students "transfer their learning within and outside school." Isn't that the ultimate goal - applying school-learning to outside-of-school situations?

So what makes a question "essential?" Well, McTighe and Wiggins are pretty specific on what makes a question open enough to drive inquiry. Check out the first chapter of their book on essential questions and see how they reframe closed questions into open questions (you may have to copy and paste this link):

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109004/chapters/What-Makes-a-Question-Essential%A2.aspx