Staff News and Announcements

• Monday, September 2nd : Unfortunately, no school for students and staff
• Tuesday, September 3rd :District Leadership Team Meeting (9:30 AM)
• Tuesday, September 3rd: MHS Administrative Team Meeting (2:35 PM)
• Wednesday, September 4th: BIg Rock 4 Talk with Mr. Cooper - (Auditorium - 7:05 AM)
• Friday, September 6th: ALICE Training (7:05 AM - see details below)
• Welcome our new MHS Staff members for the 2019-2020 school year - Learn a little more about each staff member
• MHS Collaboration Time Calendar for September
• Here is a complete list of offerings for Connect Time on Wednesday, September 4th
• More times available to get your shirt (I mean meet with Mr. Dodd to discuss your summer)
• This is just an FYI regarding our new contract with Coca-Cola: Mason City Schools entered into a new, five-year exclusive contract with Coca-Cola Refreshments effective July 1, 2019. The contract stipulates that Coca-Cola products shall be the exclusive beverages sold, dispensed, served or sampled at all locations and at all functions. The District and all other persons or groups (concession, non-District food service vendors, teams, booster clubs, PTA's, etc) serving beverages are required to serve Coca-Cola products. No competitive products may be sold, dispensed or served. (Child nutrition operations and events operated and/or managed by the City of Mason are excluded from this agreement.)
• Want to learn how to post announcements on MasonConnects? There is training coming up. Access this link to learn how to share information on MasonConnects.

• 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

Culture Team:

Inclusive Excellence Team: (also known as MHS Equity Team): The IE/MHS Equity Team met last week and talked about things that we believe are going well, things we want to stop doing and things we want to do this year. One our district and building goals this year is to develop anti-bias training for staff and students. We have developed a document called, Stop, Start, Continue for IE MHS. We have started the document with ideas of things we thought about, but we would love staff voice and opinion. Click on the link above and tell us what you think!

Personalized Learning Team:

As you prepare for the coming week, consider how you might give students ownership of their learning in one of the following PL Design Elements:

1. Goals
2. Inquiry/ Idea Generation
3. Task and Audience
4. Evaluation
5. Feedback
6. Instructional Plan
7. Cumulative Demonstration of Learning

Think small steps instead of overhaul. Much of our teaching practice can give students ownership just by making small, intentional moves. Refer to the article "Orchestring the Move" by Allison Zmuda, et. al (link) for thoughts on what each of these elements mean.

Example: Bring student voice into the creation of a rubric or other form of evaluation- it can be small. It may be good to start with a task students regularly perform- such as a writing prompt or practice problem. Allow students to give input on what makes for a strong response and weak response. This small shift sets students up to own their learning by having set a personal mark of proficiency.

Aaron and Joe are usually in room A203 at the high school; they would love to help you set a goal! During this Thursday’s collaboration time if you would like to stop in, we will be focusing on goal setting.