Winfield Middle School Staff Blog
Jan 28, 2016
From the first sunset I ever “saw”...
One evening over Troy, we noticed this stunning setting and images blew up social media from all over Lincoln County.
As a young man, I remember driving a 1969 Ford Bronco across the country to Colorado, fixing or repairing it daily, spending time working on a ranch, waiting for what was next in my life. Summer parlayed into the following ski season so I just stayed, got a job at Winter Park Ski Resort and began a semi-professional career as a “ski-bum!” One evening, after working on the mountain, driving home, I looked up and saw my first sunset. (The above picture is not that sunset) It was the first time I had ever noticed a sunset. Of course I had seen sunsets before but it took me till that stage of my life to take complete notice of my surroundings. As a youngster, I couldn’t get past thinking only of myself. Recently I read Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself, less. (Thanks KG) Before that sunset, my focus was on today, right now and what’s right in front of me. I even thought to myself, “I wish I had a set of paints.” I imagined I could just put some colors on a page and it would look as cool, inspire others or even just balance the same way. It seemed, the LESSONS CAME ALONG WHEN THE PUPIL IS READY. Prior to this date, I ignored sunsets, but now, a sunset seems like a pallet presented just for me, whether driving west home from work or walking the dogs.
February Warrior Word of the Month - CONSIDERATION
Like empathy, consideration means careful thought, especially over time, payment for an item or holding others in higher esteem. In the middle school, our students are still learning to consider or think of classmates, friends and strangers. Neurology confirms our students are still growing, developing, maturing and transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Students are NEITHER. The group of students we work with are still developing these skills. We spend many hours teaching content as well as teaching manners, consideration, integrity and other SOFT - SKILLs
Special Accolades - Black Card or Red Card Status
Everywhere in life, we are evaluated, judged, ranked and scored. Sometimes it is discouraging to be under the microscope so often, but at the Middle School we want that competition to pay off for our students. We award special status to a few different groups of students meeting higher expectations in regard to behavior, academics and attendance. Our school uses a Distinguished Warriors positive recognition program at Winfield Middle School designed to be accessible for all students. Qualifying students will earn Distinguished Warrior recognition that entitles them to different levels of privileges. There are two levels of Distinguished Warriors; Red and Black.
To qualify for a Red Level; students must have a 3.5 or higher GPA; 95% or better attendance; no major discipline referrals and no more than two minor referrals in one week.
To qualify for a Black Level; students must have a 3.0 or higher GPA; 95% or better attendance; no major discipline referrals and no more than two minor referrals in one week.
Our local newspaper made a special note.
Snow days - Mark your calendars
As addressed in our district Calendar, our SNOW MAKE UP DAY will be a full day slated for Feb 15th, President’s Day.
Upcoming Schedule
Monday - 2/1 -
Binder Teams - Unit of Instruction work
Tuesday - 2/2 - GroundHog Day
Wednesday - 2/3
Early Release -
Hosted Lunch in Room 300 then head to High School for Presentation -
Discussion Items:
- Hall Passes
- CIPA Filter via Jared
- Crosswalk/bus passing details
- Frequency of SIS updates
- Curriculum Planning Tentative Dates May 25, 26 & 27 and items to address
- TIA Document
- What are other schools looking
- Mimic the UofI format?
- google docs
- ELA
- Template
- Days
- Focus on the lower areas starting with MATH
- Pretty Big Deal details
- Tina Meier Foundation Presentation to Staff at the High School
- Tina Meier Foundation to present to parents after school at 6pm at Central Office
Thursday - 2/4
Tier 1 Meeting @ Davis Rm
Steering Committee mtg in Higgins Room
Friday - 2/5
(Still working through these details so feel free to share input, thoughts or ideas)
8:00 ? - Ac Lab Challenge
Student Pre-Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MMF_student_pre-survey
Faculty Pre-Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MMF_ECP_pre-survey
Upcoming
Feb 17- Harlem Wizards PLUG is rescheduled - See Outlook for Details
Feb 19 - It’s a Pretty Big Deal THEN Middle School Glow Dance right after school until about 4:30pm. Please plan accordingly. Special discounts will be available for students earning Black Card or Red Card status.
A carry over from the Parent Blog
@McCracken63
This name of this “Holiday” gave teachers plenty of things to talk about.
One room full of students responded to the prompt this way.
...To “The teacher arrives when the pupil is ready.”
This sunrise looking to the east shows the distant edge of our “snowmagedden” easing over Lincoln County and preparing to dump over eight inches of snow, shutting school down for days.
Point of the sunset story.
Sometimes we have to continue with the same story, over and over again till the learner is receptive to the message. I did not notice the sunsets for quite some time, but I finally did. Similarly, we have to continue to try and admonish, encourage, support and urge our students to reach their potential, even when they may appear so far away from “the goal”. They may not get it the first, second or even 12th time. Yet, we stay the course, persist and continue to allow them opportunities to learn, get better and improve. We are teachers.
From our daily announcements:
Show respect, even to people who don’t deserve it,
not as a reflection of THEIR character,
but as a reflections of YOURS!
Thanks Ms Gross for always mining such good nuggets for us
Staff Clarification
Too Much Communication?
How often should Middle School Teachers update grades in SIS?
- Daily
- Weekly
- Progress Report time (3 weeks)
- Other (why)
It seems like we at the Middle School would never be accused of sharing too much information. I have heard a few comments from parents regarding our communication. How often should we update our grades?
One of our computer programs reports to me daily those of us that have posted grades in the far past. Like my emails are weekly, please try and give parents weekly feedback on their students performance using the SIS program. Of course special circumstances may apply but let’s interpret “timely manner” into once every seven days, or at the most 10, under extenuating circumstances.
Thank you
Tom McCracken
