MMS Site Council Location: MMS Library
December 1, 2015
4:00 pm
Members Present: Stacey Everson, Mark Anderson, Terry Staupe, Lynn Goss, Tiffany Nicholas, Kari Decker, Jenny Cimino, Liz Creviston, Jodi Preseton, Chris Kyles, Cindy Beaupre, Jesse Farnloff, Wendy Hastings, Jamie Richartz, Holly Galbreath, Paul Verdon, David Leach Parent, Karen Smolarek Parent/Presenter.
Our Mission
“As a community of learners utilizing research and best practices, Menomonie Middle School meets the unique developmental needs of ALL students, preparing them to become lifelong learners, caring individuals, and responsible citizens.”
Our Vision
All students can achieve grade level expectations!
Our MMS vision is for 100% of our students in grades 6, 7, and 8 to meet grade level expectations in Reading, Math, and Writing!
Our Four Guiding Questions
1. What do we want students to know and do?
2. How will we know when students have learned it?
3. What will we do when students do not learn it?
4. What will we do when students already know it?
2015-16 Areas of Focus
· Culturally Responsible Classroom
· Student Relationships EACH ONE, REACH ONE
· GO CARES WIN! – RtI / PBIS Response to Learning Emergencies
· Effective Formative Assessment
· School-wide Content Literacy
· School-wide Math Achievement
· Writing, Measuring, Achieving Quality SLOs
· Classroom Look Fors / Four Guiding Questions
· Parent/Guardian Engagement / Effective Communication / Parent/Guardian Relationships
· Motivating Middle Level Learners
· Peer Coaching – Minimum of 3 Peer Observations September – June
· Accountability / Golden Opportunity
· Differentiation / Genius Hour(s)
· Chrome Book 1:1 Initiative
· Embedding meaningful “4” Level Extensions per unit
AGENDA
· Report Card Standard Statements Review
Our statement review was delayed by the need to discuss the following:
One member shared concerns that he is “hearing” from other parents and concerns he has experienced with his own children. The concerns include:
1. Allowing students to retake tests too many times …this is perceivably not preparing students for high school where students may be unable to retake tests
2. Deserving a grade of 4 and receiving a 3- leaving parents unsure how to challenge a grade that may not make sense to them
3. Peer receives a better grade than me and got the same number wrong
4. Parents/guardians feeling intimidated by standards based grading
5. Perceived need for more communication and clarification surrounding grades
6. Using numbers to represent grades rather than letter grades
A meaningful conversation unfolded as teachers shared myth versus fact. Members addressed the concerns for standards based grading in the following ways:
o Retakes – No teacher has the time or protocol to offer a retake “18” times as mentioned in the concerns. That is a myth. The purpose of retakes is explained well in the article provided at each set of parent/guardian teacher conferences “Redos and Retakes Done Right” by Rick Wormeli. MMS warmly commands learning of each student to the best of our ability. If a student does not meet learning goals on an assessment or assignment, the student is expected to work with his/her teacher to master the concepts and retake or redo the assignment or assessment. Teachers do not assume the lack of learning or mastery is simply the failure of the student to learn. Rather, teachers take responsibility also- hoping to instruct and guide learning a new or different way to increase and discover the ability to learn for each student learner. To not expect this learning to occur for every student would be malpractice. It is our educational responsibility at the middle level to prepare students for high school where grades, work habits, and discipline data “count” forever. This is the purpose of retakes and redos.
o Deserving a 4; yet, receives a 3 – This issue is tricky. No doubt, each grading situation is different for each student and must be examined individually. However, some basic components can be understood. All content areas are designed to offer “4” level learning targets per unit. “4” level learning targets are learning goals beyond the grade level expectation and could be equated to an A++ on a traditional report card. “4” level learning targets are meant to stretch the minds of students who already know or could easily and rapidly meet grade level expectations. When a parent/guardian or student believes a student received a “3” in error but deserve a “4” – a conversation should take place between the teacher, the learner, and the parent/guardian to unravel the reasons for the grade assigned.
o My peer got 5 wrong and received a 3 while I got 5 wrong and received a 2! – This is another situation whereby a conversation between the student and the teacher must take place. When and if this grading situation occurs, it may be due to the fact that simple errors carry less weight than major errors. For example, a student computing a quadratic equation may demonstrate a solid understanding of how to compute this math problem but may make a few simple addition/subtraction errors while the peer seated next to- may not demonstrate a solid understanding and be making major computation errors -thus leading to a lesser grade.
o Parents/guardians feeling intimidated by Standards Based Grading – MMS empathizes with parents/guardians and students about the scariness of all of the changes occurring in public education today. As one member profoundly said “it may take a generation to pass before we fully recognize the value in these changes.” MMS is eager to support a better and more clarified understanding of our grading practices and our grading scale. MMS also wishes to point out that our practices and our scale are not unique to MMS. We are aligned K-8 in almost every aspect. We are partially aligned K-12 with regard to grading practices. We do not want parents/guardians or students to feel uncomfortable asking questions about grades or practices or to feel unable to challenge grades if something feels wrong. We encourage this and we are here to help.
o Need for Additional and Improved Communication about Grading - MMS will continue to offer workshops at conferences for parents/guardians and students to partake in regarding online Family Access, web site access and grading. MMS will continue to include grading practices and report card reviews as part of our on-going Site Council collaboration. Interested parents/guardians are always welcome to attend our meetings. Dates/times are posted on our website.
o Using Numbers instead of Letters to Symbolize Grades – The decision to use the numerical scale (4, 3.5, 3, 2.5, 2, 1.5, 1, .5, LE) rather than letter grades was determined several years ago by our MMS Site Council with parent/guardian representation and district administration. The decision was made, in part, to align the middle school grading scale with the elementary grading scale and to better represent the evolvement in grading practices according to the research. The philosophy of grading at MMS is that it is less important whether we use letters or numbers to symbolically represent learning and achievements and more important that we know how to communicate what a student knows or doesn’t know related to grade level learning targets each year. We aim to please parents/guardians and students and will work hard at communicating what these numbers mean when asked. We commonly use the “Bike Analogy” to illustrate how the numbers work and what they mean. This analogy is posted on our MMS website and is also available on display at conferences each year and upon request throughout the calendar year.
· Chrome Book Needs / Caring for labs, carts, and wall storage units, devices
Members expressed concerns about students and teachers being reckless and careless with the use of chrome books, carts, labs, and storage units. Stacey will be working with one or two members to develop clear protocol that ALL teachers MUST follow. Stacey will devote one entire staff meeting to collaborate and reinforce the need to correct this problem. It is extremely important that our actions and capacity to maintain current technology supports our desire for the Board of Education and district administration to implement the 1:1 device initiative. If we are unable to maintain and care for what we already we have, we may be sabotaging our goal for more. Two things to consider immediately: 1) the stickers on the devices need to be more visible 2) the computers in the 721 lab could be on a cart….we think a cart is available in the tech ed room. More to come…….
· MMS Family Nights
Plans for one condensed family night event are underway. The date pending is March 8. The purpose of this event is to connect with parents/guardians. It is not a required event for staff. Our involvement is by choice to extend a trusting hand to our families and students.
· Holiday Planning
Members have reviewed the alternative bell schedule for December 23. Members wish to add 10 minutes to CARES. A revised version of this bell schedule will be sent out soon. Stacey reminds members to remind all educators to be sensitive about cultural differences over the holiday season. Celebration plans should include ideas that support the customs and beliefs of all diverse student groups
o MMS Marquee
Members mentioned the need for our MMS marquee in front of the school needs updating. Stacey will investigate who is managing the marquee and follow through with updates.
o ETS –
Karen shared information about ETS. MMS wishes to encourage the relationship between ETS and our students and families. Members discussed ideas to boost enrollment of students particularly at the 6th grade level. Ideas include: teachers making this known, promoting the idea that ETS funds field trips, home visits, including information in the MMS newsletter and on our website, health room mailings, and including ETS enrollment paperwork with free and reduced paperwork.
Meeting Adjourned at 6:00 pm
Our next Site Council meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 21 at 4:00 pm.