September 16, 2016

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Happy Friday! It is Homecoming next week. Hopefully the students will get a chance to see you all dress up for the different days. Thank you for your flexibility during homecoming, we may see this as a distraction, but most students still enjoy it. Remember to have fun with them at this time. It is a great way to build those relationships.

 I would like to thank Mrs. Dunn for inviting other teachers in to observe her class. It was fun to see the students figure out how to do the lab. You could actually see it on their faces once it clicked.

 Just a reminder if you would like to potentially offer a new course next year, please get proposals to me by Nov. 1. If approved, Mrs. Addison will get them in the course description booklet. In your proposals, I will need to know if you would need textbooks and if so, what is the cost of the book. I also want to know why you want to teach this class, how many students you believe will be interested in the course, and if the course will support the Iowa Core and if so, how.

 Monday, we will watch the second video from "The Harbor". You should have received the discussion questions on Wednesday. If your group wasn't in the mood to discuss, you can have them answer the questions on paper. The main takeaway is to get the students to start thinking about their own behaviors and how they affect others, positively or negatively.

 Don't forget to get me your PLC group's norms from Wednesday. I also need your Tier 2 Plans. You will also need to meet this coming week for your department's PLC time during the plan period.

Have a great weekend and get ready for homecoming!
Mark

Staff as Learners

Dr. Iverson went with representatives from Wells to look at the manufacturing academy in Spencer. The manufacturing academy there is a partnership between Iowa Lakes CC, the high schools of in the lakes corridor, and the manufacturers.

Librarian's Corner

I mentioned the subscription to NoodleTools in last week's blog. If you do not like to have students use that, you can also try a Google add-on entitled Easy Bib Biliography Center. When typing a document, students have a pop up side screen that asks for base information for a web site, book or journal article. The add-on then adds the citation on which the student may then select to insert into the paper. However, the free version is not very complete, so students still need to be aware of the copyright year, the publisher, and, most importantly, how to find that information. This is important to be done in most curricular areas. I am getting phones calls or emails from college students who are freaking out because they don't feel like they know how to cite sources for most classes other than English. Please make sure that if you have students do any type of research, you have them cite their sources. It is a legal and ethical issue that I would be glad to help your students learn if you wish.

Instructional Coaches' Corner

Tracy's Technology Tidbit

Last week I told you about Kami. Since last week an instructional coach friend of mine turned me on to a new possibility to annotate on PDFs. It is called PDF X-Change Viewer. You download an installer and then install the application (be sure to select the free version). It creates an icon on your desktop that you can use to open the app and then select a PDF file to open. Not only can you easily ink and erase, but you also have some stamps to choose from, it allows you to measure distance between points, the perimeter and area of polygons, it allows you to draw arrows and lines and polygons, and even more features too numerous to list out. If you would like to see it in action or would like some help installing it please contact me and we will set up a time to get you inking again!

Success Center Update

Our focus this week has been on vocabulary.  Lots of vocabulary!  We have students working on defining words using context clues, using flashcards, spelling (especially Spanish) on whiteboards, and competing against each other in online practice games.  It helps us to know in advance if you are teaching domain-specific terms and definitions.  The more prepared we can be when the students walk in the door, the more focused we can help them be.  If you are assigning projects or have vocabulary that will require extra attention, please let us know.  Special thanks to those teachers who sent me lesson plans after last week.  Knowing in advance makes a big difference in our ability to help students stay on target.

Articles Worth Reading

How Writing Down Specific Goals Can Empower Struggling Students
How to Use Classroom Conversation to Improve Learning
The Arrows Go Back and Forth

Upcoming Activities

Friday, September 16
- 4:45 pm Freshmen Football @ SBL
- 7:00 pm Varsity Football @ SBL

Saturday, September 17
- TBD - Freshmen Volleyball @ MOC Floyd Valley
- 9:00 am JV Volleyball @ Unity
- 5:00 pm LEEP Menu Masters

Monday, September 19
- 5:00 pm Freshmen/Sophomore Football @ Storm Lake
- 7:00 pm Music Booster Meeting

Tuesday, September 20
- 4:30 pm Cross Country @ Sheldon
- 5:30 pm Freshmen/JV Volleyball @ Storm Lake
- 6:50 pm Varsity Volleyball @ Storm Lake

Wednesday, September 21
- 1:30 pm Dismissal
- 7:00 pm Athletic Boosters Meeting

Thursday, September 22
- 5:30 pm Freshmen/JV Volleyball vs. Spencer
- 6:50 pm Varsity Volleyball vs. Spencer

Friday, September 23
- 1:00 pm Coronation
- 2:15 pm Parade
- 7:00 pm Varsity Football vs. Heelan
- 9:00 pm Homecoming Dance

Saturday, September 24
- Star Fest
- 8:00 am Varsity Volleyball @ Unity Christian
- 8:30 am JV Volleyball @ Hull Western Christian

Monday, September 26
- 6:30 pm JV Football @ Sergeant Bluff- Luton

Tuesday, September 27
- 4:30 pm Cross Country @ Rolling Hills Country Club
- 5:30 pm Freshmen and JV Volleyball @ Western Christian 
- 6:50 pm Varsity Volleyball @ Western Christian

Friday, September 30
- 7:00 pm Varsity Football @ Storm Lake


Be Extraordinary!
Mark

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