March 11, 2016

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Happy Friday! Don't forget to move your clocks ahead a hour Saturday night. Just a few reminders for the upcoming weeks. The end of the quarter is next Friday, the 18th. Grades will be due on the 21st at 8:30 so Beth and Amy can run report cards and get them sent out before spring break.

Requisitions are due on March 14 to me. Make sure when you fill out the form online you use all caps and include shipping. If their is no shipping, please add a comment so I know. I will go through them on the 14th and either approve or have you make adjustments to them.

We also have an evacuation drill on Thursday, March 17th at 2:05 pm, weather permitting. That will leave us with one more evacuation drill for the year.

Barry and Nicki are starting to input information to create our schedule for next year. When we get the schedule finalized, we will send a copy out to you. It should be sometime in April, hopefully.

Next Friday is also the Music Boosters Spaghetti Supper here at the high school. Serving time is 5:00 to 7:00 pm. Please purchase your tickets from any music student.

Staff News

Mr. Ohrlund's knee surgery went well. They did have to replace the knee, but it sounds like he is on schedule to get released today.

Students as Leaders

Good luck to the IE Speech participants and Coaches Saturday in Moville!

Congrats on a great first season to Geared Up Team 9967! They have been asked to serve as ambassadors for the VIP's from Rockwell Collins at the regional competition. Mr. Martin and Mr. Wingert will be taking the students to Cedar Rapids for this honor.

Assistant Principal's Corner

Looking ahead to next year, I wanted to take time to explore some options for co-teaching within our classrooms.  At the NASSP (National Association of Secondary School Principals) conference that I attended, one of my sessions touched on the effectiveness of co-teaching and how it can establish a stronger sense of support within the classroom.  Currently we have several staff members who are involved in co-teaching, using the "One Teach, One Support" model.  This current model in our classrooms allows one teacher to be the primary planner as well as teacher for the class, while the co-teacher moves around the classroom helping individuals and observing particular behaviors.

While I think that this is a good model, I would like to see the roles switch periodically between our co-teachers so that each person can take ownership over the success of the classroom.  Below is a list of 5 models of co-teaching that can be used effectively to maximize the knowledge of our students as well as maximize the talents of our instructors.

  1. One Teach/One Support
  2. Station Teaching
  3. Team Teaching
  4. Alternative Teaching (Pull Out)
  5. Parallel Teaching

At the conference there was talk on how to empower teachers to plan for success of a classroom.  The model of co-teaching needs to encompass exactly that - common planning between the co-teachers and parallel teaching that will allow both of the professionals in the room to give direct instruction to the class.  Students within a co-teaching classroom need to be able to identify the adults in the room as simply classroom teachers.  They should not be able to lump the instructors into categories such as "special education teacher" and "regular education teacher", rather each teacher should be seen as equal.  In the same sense, the students should not always rely on one teacher verses the other teacher, both instructors should take the opportunities to work with all the learners in the room.  Pulling out the same students every time to "re-teach" or "review" can develop a sense of separation and not inclusion within the classroom setting.  Co-teaching is not an answer to differentiated instruction, because all the students will still need to be responsible for the essential learning's that are being taught.  The instructors in the classroom should be seen as a partnership as they work to educate the students in the classroom.

I have seen some good things happen within our co-teaching classrooms and do not want to take away from that; however, I also want to have our staff explore the possibilities of using different models of co-teaching to help maximize the benefits for our students within the co-teaching classes.  It is our co-teaching classes that often have a high percentage of struggling learners and can benefit from an effective co-teaching model.  The handouts that are attached below provide different examples, definitions of co-teaching, and sample videos of how the specific models can look within a classroom setting.  I ask that you take the time to explore the different models of co-teaching and look at what may be a good fit for you and your co-teacher as we look to the future and the students that we serve within these classroom set ups.

http://faculty.virginia.edu/coteachUVA/5formats.html

 www.asdk12.org/depts/hr/student_teaching/PDF/The_Power_of_2.pdf

Instructional Coaches Corner

Google Sheets now has the ability to separate text information into columns. Want to learn how? Click here to see a short video demonstration.

Do you have any interest in Add-Ons for Google Forms? There will be a webinar on March 15 from 2:30-3:30. After the webinar a recording will be posted. Click here.

The due date for Technology applications is approaching fast! They are due in Dr. Wendt's office by March 25. If you would like some assistance or just want to bounce an idea off of Tracy send him an email and we'll get together ASAP!

Do you have an idea for a PD class or book study you would like to see next year? Is there something you want to learn more about?  Let one of us know!

Articles Worth Reading

Why Social and Emotional Learning is Essential for Students
Feedback for Thinking: Working for the Answer
The 8 Minutes That Matter Most

Upcoming Events

Saturday, March 12 - State IE Speech @ Woodbury Central

Monday, March 14 - 7:30 pm Board Meeting

Tuesday, March 15 - 4:30 pm Boys and Girls Varsity/JV Track @ Buena Vista University

Wednesday, March 16 - District PD

Friday, March 18 - 5:00 - 7:00 pm Music Boosters Spaghetti Supper

Saturday, March 19 - Hinton Show Choir Competition

Tuesday, March 22 - Boys and Girls Track @ The University of South Dakota
                                  6:30 pm NHS Induction Ceremony

Saturday, March 26 - 11:30 am Boys Track @ The University of South Dakota

Monday, March 28 - Boys and Girls Track @ The University of South Dakota


Be Extraordinary!
Mark



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