October 9, 2015

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Happy Friday! I hope everyone has had an excellent week. I have received some feedback from a few students about the goal activity during advisory. The students were questioning why we are doing this. They had legitimate questions, but once I explained Growth Mindset to them they understood. You will want to reinforce this idea during your next advisory. Please let the students know that goal setting and working towards a goal will help them not only in school but in life. When they graduate from high school, students will have certain dreams they will want to accomplish. In order to accomplish those dreams, they need to have a plan. Part of the plan is setting a goal and reflecting on what you are doing to either help or hinder reaching the goal.

We do have our building PD meeting next week. We will meet in our department groups before school. The SIT team has come up with a protocol to use during this meeting to keep the discussion moving towards the SMART goals and strategies you set with your group during the data analysis. The SIT team also wants us to alternate our building PD meetings between our department PLC and the mixed PLC from the data analysis. So on the 14th you will be with your department, but on the 28 you will be with the mixed PLC group. I will email the protocol out later today so you will know what you need to prepare for before Wednesday. You do not need to fill out the protocol, this is to be used to guide your discussion.

We also are looking for nominations for employee of the month. I will have forms available in the office if you would like to pick one up. I am sure Lisa Eisma might be able to email you one also.

We will also have an assembly on November 4 starting at 9:15. Ken Johnson, a retired defensive end for the Cincinnati Bengals, will talk to the students about choices and consequences of choices. He played from 1970-1977.

Reminder to call home to parents if a student is struggling academically or behaviorally. Good or bad, we always can learn something about a student after calling home. Also, please do not wait until the end of grading period to conduct a PASS meeting.

Have a great weekend!

Staff as Leaders


 Doug Martin and Tracy Wingert, along with several teachers from the other levels, will be attending the ITEC Conference on the 12th and 13th. How can you get a chance to attend the ITEC Conference or the Minnesota TIES Conference? First you need to apply and receive a tech grant for next year. Then you will need to express an interest on attending and what you hope you will accomplish by attending the conference. I have attended the Minnesota TIES conference and found it to contain lots of ways to incorporate different technologies into the classroom. 

Associate Principal's Corner


This Friday,the student council is sponsoring our kick off event for our Support Siouxland Soldiers campaign.  We are teaming up with the Sergeant Bluff-Luton student council to collect food as well as donations toward SSS.  We ask that you all come to the game  and support the student council as we work to recognize the men and women who have sacrificed for our great country.  Be sure to wear your red, white, and blue to support our soldiers and our team. Points to ponder when thinking about things to talk about in advisory with your students.  What can you do to help kids get a better understanding for their own resilience.  According to the Iowa Department of Health, resiliency is the human capacity to bounce back from bad experiences, or thrive in spite of hard times and difficulties.  Resilient kids can better deal with problems such as bullying.

- They have supportive people around them.
- They think in a positive, optimistic way.
- They have food problem-solving skills.
- They are involved with their community in a meaningful way.
- They have good social skills, like confidence and friendliness.
- They have good emotional skills, like knowing how to control their anger.
- They have good, realistic self-esteem

How can school staff reinforce bullying prevention for students?

1. Treat everyone - adults and students - with respect.
2. Avoid harmful gossip and never gossip about other teachers within earshot of students.
3. Avoid overly controlling behavior and hostile language toward one another and toward students.
4. Model appropriate conflict resolution and constructive criticism when interacting with other staff and with students.
5. Confront biases with regards to race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and other characteristics and understand how these biases may affect behavior towards others.

Instructional Coaches' Corner


Be aware: Secret apps students are using to hide inappropriate pics, texts, etc.  
https://youtu.be/EtKfR_IMUfg

Did you know that you can now compose a google doc with your voice? It will work on both the mobile and desktop platforms. All you have to do is  1--Open your google doc, 2--Click on the Tools drop down menu, and finally 3--Click on Voice Typing. A microphone now appears that you can click on and it will translate your spoken word into a typed document. 


This is a link to an article about Children's Author Kate Messner. She will be doing a Google Hangout for grades 3-5 on October 20. Her message is that published authors share some of the same struggles student writers go through. While it is advertised for 3-5 grade, it seems the message applies to all student writers.  http://www.emergingedtech.com/2015/10/students-learn-about-writing-from-published-author-google-hangout/

Did you know that you can edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Files using Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides? Install the Chrome extension titled "Office Editing for Docs, Sheets,and Slides." You can also use the mobile app on your phone to open and edit the file.

If there is any technology PD class that you would like to see offered, let me know and I will see what I can do about it. 

Please contact me if you have any tech ideas you would like to try in your classroom and we can schedule a time to visit about it.

Tracy


Librarian's Corner

We are trying something new in the high school library to try to get students a bit more excited about books. I have created QR books for some of the titles and am putting them on the book covers. Students, if they download a QR code reader app, can then scan the QR code and watch a book trailer about the book. Since I started this Monday, I have already had students excited about trying it and checking out books they would have never tried based on the size alone. I'm hoping this will lead into some students wanting to make book trailers for the books they are reading and share them with the library!

Up Coming Events

Friday, October 9                4:45 pm 9th Football vs Sergeant Bluff
                                            7:00 pm Varsity Football vs. Sergeant Bluff

Saturday, October 10          Duchman Field Competition - MOC
                                            State Marching Band Festival - Sheldon
                                            8:30 am Varsity Volleyball @ Western Christian

Monday, October 12           4:30 pm 9th Volleyball @ Sergeant Bluff
                                            5:00 pm 9/JV Football vs. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley
                                            6:00 pm College Night

Tuesday, October 13           4:30 pm Varsity/JV Cross Country @ Estherville
                                            5:30 pm 9/JV Volleyball vs. Cherokee
                                            6:50 pm Varsity Volleyball vs.Cherokee

Wednesday, October 14      8:30 am PSAT testing

Friday, October 16              4:30 pm JV/Cross Country @ Unity Christian
                                            7:00 pm Varsity Football vs. Boyden Hull/Rock Valley

Saturday, October 17          Varsity Volleyball @ Heelen
                                            8:30 am Quiz Bowl @ Unity Christian
                                            9:00 am 9th Volleyball Invite - Le Mars

Monday, October 19           4:30 pm 9th Volleyball @ Storm Lake
                                            5:00 pm JV Volleyball Invite - Le Mars
                                            5:00 pm 9/JV Football @ Spencer
                                            7:00 pm Music Boosters Meeting

Tuesday, October 20          7:00 pm 7-12 Vocal Concert

Wednesday, October 21     7:00 pm Athletic Boosters Meeting

Articles Worth Reading/Teacher Resources



Be Extraordinary,

Mark


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