February 12, 2016

By -

Happy Friday! Just a reminder midterm is this coming week. We will run midterms Thursday morning around 9;00 so please make sure your grades are updated by then. If you have a Senior looking like they may be in trouble grades wise, please let me know so I can check graduation progress. I have seen many emails going around about scheduling PASS plan meetings. This is an excellent time to get these done. It still gives the student and parent time to make a positive change to get moving in the right direction.

I plan on trying to get to your PLC meetings in the next couple of weeks to start looking at numbers and potential sessions. The hope would be to have this done by the end of March. We are winding up our winter activity regular season. The wrestlers will have their district meet Saturday in Council Bluffs. The robotics club is competing at WIT this Saturday for a chance to move on to the state competition. The bowling teams will be competing in their state qualifying meet here on Tuesday. Since this is during the day, if you would like to check it out during your prep time, just let Beth or Amy know you are heading to the bowling alley. The girls basketball team also begins post-season action on Wednesday night here. I am sure the girls and coaches would appreciate a packed gym cheering them on.

We were fortunate to host State Large Group Speech here this last weekend. I was only able to be here for a couple of hours, but the groups I watched did an excellent job. The students and our coaches did an excellent job. A big thank you to those who volunteered to help with the day. I know the coaches appreciated the assistance as it helps alleviate some of that stress and allows them to focus on what is going on. Also a thank you to those who came out and watched the students. I know they appreciate the support.

Monday, we will be hosting NWI Jazz Festival. If you are around, come and check out some of the groups. We perform at 3:15 pm. I know the members and Mr. Ohrlund would love to see you there.

Enjoy your three day weekend,
Mark

Staff News

Some of you may have seen the board minutes from Monday's meeting, but for those of you who have not, Mrs. Horan has submitted her retirement letter to the board and it was accepted. Although the board did have to think long and hard on that. I would like to thank Mrs. Horan for all that she has done for the school and our students. I appreciate her willingness to lend a hand when she can and to be someone the staff and myself can approach for ideas.

Students as Leaders

Good luck to the wrestling team as they compete in the district wrestling tournament.

Good luck to the robotics club as they also attempt to qualify for their state competition.

Good luck at to the jazz band as they compete in the Northwest Iowa Jazz Festival.

Good luck the bowling team as they qualify for the state tournament on Tuesday.

Good luck to the girls' basketball team as they play Storm Lake in the first round regional play on Wednesday.

Congrats to all of the students who participated in Large Group Speech this year. We have 3 groups that will perform at the All-State Show Case in Ames and 2 other groups that will be honored. You all did an excellent job and should be proud of your accomplishments. I know the school is proud of your efforts!

Assistant Principal's Corner

Annual SWINTER dance is Friday, February 19th.  This is a great time for kids and good way to get involved with your students.  Please come and help out as we are always looking for volunteers to come and help supervise.  The dance is in CAREY gym and will run from 8-11 pm.

 Simple steps that adults can take to stop bullying on the spot to keep kids safe:

1. Intervene immediately - it is ok to get another adult to help.
2. Separate the kids involved.
3. Make sure everyone is safe.
4. Meet any immediate medial or metal health needs.
5. Stay calm - reassure the kids involved, including bystanders.
6. Model respectful behavior when you intervene.

Avoid these common mistakes:

1. Don't ignore it - don't think kids can work it out without adult help.
2. Don't immediately try to sort out the facts.
3. Don't force other kids to say publicly what they saw.
4. Don't question the children involved in front of other kids.
5. Don't talk to the kids involved together, only separately.
6. Don't make the kids involved apologize or patch up relations on the spot.

Below is a good article that I found on effective instructional practices in the classroom - feel free to check it out!

www.bestevidence.org/word/good_instruction.pdf

Have a great weekend!

Librarian's Corner

Finishing up information about social media is an article on how teen's view teachers using social media as a teaching tool. My favorite teachers use ...   Another way to use social media or just your computers, especially to assess immediate learning/comprehension, is a program we discussed in the ELA meeting Wed. morning: Padlet  Padlet is a free application that allows the creation of an online bulletin board. You can create a group, turn on your screen, and have students type their responses on their computer or phone. The responses will instantly show up on your screen for all to view.

Instructional Coaches Corner

I recently came across an interesting feature of YouTube. It seems that YouTube introduced a new type of Card called the Poll Card that you can attach to your videos that allow you to ask your audience questions and they can respond by selecting an answer. This might be a great option for teachers looking to gather quick formative feedback from students during a video lesson. Click here to read a little more about this feature and/or watch a 2 minute video demonstration.

 If you have never seen Thinglink before, it is definitely interesting. It basically allows you to turn any image into an interactive multimedia launcher. The hyperlink is an example of an image that has links to 2 videos and 2 Google Forms for students to complete.

 Have you ever tried to print an envelope in Google Doc? It was a tough task until now. There is an Add-On you can install called Envelope. Once installed, you open a new Google Doc, select the Add-On Envelope, select your envelope size and now you are ready to address and then print your envelope.

 March 2 is Read Across America Day. There is a teacher named Michael Creed who works in a school in a town outside of Reading, PA (I know...I noticed that too). He is looking for teachers who might be interested in doing a Google Hangout or Facetime activity involving children's favorite books. Last year his 2nd grade class did activities with 5 states in one day. It was such a positive experience he is looking to try it again. If you are interested, follow this link.

The Brightbytes Survey is open! Please take the time to fill it out and share your views as high school teacher. Also, if you have children in the school district you are asked to fill it out for each building your children attend. (I get to fill it out twice as a parent myself)

If you have any tech PD requests OR you would like assistance in your classroom for an activity OR you are interested in writing a tech grant and would like some assistance OR want to bounce a tech idea off of me OR some other instance that I can help you do what you do just send me an email and we'll get together ASAP!

Tracy

Articles Worth Reading

Learned Helplessness
Why It Is Critical For The Next Gen To Be Tech Creators And Not Consumers

Upcoming Events

Friday, February 12                   4:45 pm Girls JV Basketball @ Storm Lake
                                                   4:45 pm Boys JV Basketball @ Storm Lake
                                                   6:15 pm Girls Varsity Basketball @ Storm Lake
                                                   7:45 pm Boys Varsity Basketball @ Storm Lake
                                           
Saturday, February 13               Robotics State Qualifier
                                                   1:00 pm Girls Freshmen Basketball @ SC West
                                                   1:00 pm Boys Freshmen Basketball @ SC West
                                                   2:45 pm Girls JV Basketball @ SC West
                                                   2:45 pm Boys JV Basketball @ SC West
                                                   4:30 pm Girls Varsity Basketball @ SC West
                                                   6:30 pm Boys Varsity Basketball @ SC West

Monday, February 15                8:00 am NWI Jazz Fesival

Tuesday, February 16                11:00 am Varsity Bowling State Qualifying @ Sweet 16 Lanes
                                                   6:15 pm JV Boys Basketball vs. SC North
                                                   7:30 pm Varsity Boys Basketball vs. SC North

Wednesday, February 17           1:00 pm Quiz Bowl
                                                   7:00 pm Girls Basketball Regional vs. Storm Lake

Friday, February 19                   8:00 pm SWINTER

Saturday, February 20               8:00 am All State Speech Festival - Ames
                                                   7:00 pm Girls Varsity Basketball @ Spencer

Monday, February 22                State Bowling @ Plaza Lanes Des Moines
                                                   Lewis and Clark Jazz Festival - Sioux City
                                                   7:00 pm Music Boosters Meeting
                                                   8:00 pm Boys Varsity Basketball Districts @ MOC

Tuesday, February 23                7:00 pm Girls Varsity Basketball TBA

Wednesday, February 24           7:00 pm Athletic Boosters Meeting

Thursday, February 25               7:00 pm Boys Varsity Basketball TBA
                                                    7:30 Choir Concert @ MS Auditorium

Friday, February 26                    6:00 pm Dance Exhibition

Be Extraordinary,
Mark

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

March 7, 2025

By -
Image
  Friday Focus  Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great week.  On Monday, I attended a DCAP workshop. You may be asking what is a DCAP workshop? DCAP is our District Career Academic Plan. Just like the student ICAP, Individual Career Academic Plan, the district must have one also. In the DCAP, we spell out what we are doing to prepare our students for college career readiness and employability skills. The DCAP consists of 7 sections, the main sections deal with course planning, work-based learning, and 5 essential components of ICAP.  The course planning section deals with the students 4 year plan and how the students and parents are advised on progress towards graduation. This is why we have the grade level registration meetings, our 8th grade CTE day, 8th grade parent meeting, etc so we can meet this requirement.  I am sure by this point, you are asking yourself how does this apply to me? This gets us into the next few sections with what we do in class matte...
Read more

May 16, 2025

By -
Image
  Friday Focus Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great week. We made it through graduation breakfast, practice, and award night. I was thinking that Wednesday is just as about as busy of a day as the Friday of homecoming for me.  This will be the last Friday Focus for the school year, so I'll try to remember to have everything you need to know to get through the last week of classes. Please remember contracts are due to Central Office on the 23rd. I do have a basket on my desk where you can turn it into me and I'll get it to Central Office.   We will be running the advisory schedule on Monday. On Tuesday, we will use the last day of school schedule. On the last day of classes students will be checking out. Please sign their check out sheets. If they have school property that needs to be returned, please document it on the sheet. During advisory that day, they will turn in their laptops. Please look at each laptop and make them turn it on for you. If there is any da...
Read more

September 19, 2025

By -
Image
  Friday Focus Happy Friday!   I hope everyone has had a great week. Today is midterm of the 1st quarter. Please make sure all grades are up to date. Amy will run midterms and we will hand them out during 8th period.   I have had my first PASS plan turned in, congrats to Ms. Hommes to be the first one to get one done. Unfortuately is is for a senior that needs his credits. Next week is homecoming, let the fun begin. Monday night at 7:30 pm is the coronation. Come out to the competition gym to see who will be crowned this year's King and Queen.  On Monday, we will have class meetings so students can sign up for the different competitions. Freshmen will be in the Little Theater, Sophomores in the Library, Juniors in the Commons, and Seniors in the Competition Gym. Teachers with the asterick by their name in the Teacher Handbook are the lead teachers and will need to take charge of these meetings.  Dress up days for Homecoming Week. YOU CAN PARTICIPATE!...
Read more