September 9, 2016

Happy Friday! Thank you for helping getting the school year off to a great start. I have seen lots of great activities going on in the classrooms, keep it up! Some of the students are starting to test the waters, so keep on them now so they know they have to perform. It will make the year run more smoothly.

Congrats goes out to Mrs. Beach on receiving the Employee of the Month award from the Foundation! Very well deserved.

Reminder we have our first building in-service on Wednesday, September 14. During this first meeting your group will have three tasks to complete. 1. Go over your group norms from last year and make revisions if necessary. 2. Create a Tier 2 plan either individually or as a group. 3. Create your short term SMART goals. You will meet in your small groups. We have not finalized our building PD plan yet as we are waiting for the board to approve the district plan. Our building plan will mirror the work you are doing in the district. If you are looking for other ideas, you can write your Tier 2 plan to continue your work on mindset or if you co-teach, you could focus on that. These will need to be turned into me then by September 16th. Let me know where each group is meeting so Neal and I can pop in.

I have been informed that Plains Area has hired a counselor to be housed here in the high school and middle school. Her name is Angela Nilles. Her main job is to work with our students that have greater needs then what we can support through Barry and Nicki. She will split time between the two buildings. When she is down here, she will use the office across from Neal. She will start homecoming week.

Homecoming is quickly approaching. With that please participate in the dress up days. The students think it is great, and it just helps build the school spirit.

During advisory on Monday we will be watching the first episode of "The Harbor". I will email out a discussion sheet that goes along with the video. For those who don't have cable, I have the videos on a flash drive and we can download them on your computer, then you can show them on your screen.

The T and I Booster Club is having a supper in the T and I building on September 15. It starts at 5:00 pm. They have always provided a great meal and the money supports our Auto and Welding programs. They have helped purchase many big ticket items that we would not have been able to purchase within the school budget.

Finally, I want to endorse and invite you to attend Menu Masters on September 17. This is a great event that allows you to get out of the house and help support our academic booster club. They have put great effort into planning, organizing, and hosting this event to raise money that goes directly back into your classrooms. They have provided many different items to the high school, like computers, textbooks, reading books, and many miscellaneous items too numerous to list.

Students as Leaders

On September 8, Brett Oetken took his AgriScience 1 and 2 classes to the ISU NW Iowa Research Farm Precision Ag and Animal Science Field Day. He is also taking Alec Langel, Kennedy Schilmoeller, Keaton Koreselman, Jared Kessenich, and Brandon Neyens to Dordt College today.

Assistant Principal's Corner

Thank you to all who signed up to help with homecoming week - it is truely appreciated.  I have added your name to the list of jobs if you had missed the sign up sheet.  The list is posted on the door of the teacher's lounge for you to check out.  If you have a group that wants to be in the parade, please fill out a parade form.  Forms can be found on the lemarscsd website.  T-shirts are for sale in the office for homecoming, please support your student council and order a shirt.  They do a lot for the school and appreciate your on-going support.  T-shirts are $10.00.

Thank you for all that you are doing for students.  The year has gotten off to a great start.  Keep being a watchful presence in the hallways during passing periods and remind students about good behaviors.  Keep up the great work and have a great FRIDAY!!!!

Librarian's Corner

High school standards include those which can be taught and or supported by the library. Three main ones are 1.Respects the principles of intellectual freedom 2. Respects intellectual property rights 3. Uses information technology responsibly. A great way to teach these skills is to require students to cite their sources. Our district subscribes to noodletools. All students start using this at some point in 6th grade and should be competent in using noodletools to cite their source, whether it be a web page, photo, or article that is not an e-source. If you would like your students to use this, and would like me to refresh their necessary skills with it, let me know. I will be glad to come to your classroom and teach or help you each these skills. 

Instructional Coaches' Corner

Differentiation is a great tool to meet the diverse needs of all students, but it can be tough with only one teacher in the room. Consider utilizing an instructional coach as a co-teacher.

• Station teach concepts- have each teacher take a station and have one station that is independent.
• Divide and conquer- have each teacher teach the same content to half of the class at the same time. You could also have different methods or concepts in each group and swap groups.
•  Intervene and enrich- use a coach to teach a small group in the classroom while you teach the larger group or vise versa.
• Have a coach grab a kid out of study hall to close a skill gap or help them with a concept.  

Tracy's Technology Tidbit

Several teachers have expressed their frustration this year that they can't annotate on PDFs anymore. Fortunately for you, there appears to be a remedy to this problem. It is an extension that you can install to your Chrome browser called Kami. While more features are available if you subscribe to one of their paid plans, the free version will allow you to annotate on PDFs. You can highlight text, add text, underline text, strikethrough text, add a comment, and draw on the PDF (which is your annotation ability). You can even zoom in on the PDF to make it easier to read on your television. 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 together.

Success Center Update

The Success Center is off to a great start.  We want to let you know a little more about what we are doing in here each day. Students who need extra help in literacy strategies and study skills are assigned into my room based on three factors: The STAR Reading assessment scores, Iowa Assessment scores, and teacher or counselor input.  While each factor is considered independently, a combination of any of the three factors indicates a more urgent need for intervention.  

We started the school year with a group of 25 students who were identified from data gathered last year.  Each week we choose specific reading and study strategies to target based on the learning you are doing in your classes.  All of the work we do is in correlation with the lessons you are teaching in your classrooms.  Our main focus this week has been on pre-reading strategies.  Using your texts and lessons, we read aloud with small groups of students and model and practice strategies of good readers.  Specifically, we are teaching the skills of defining key vocabulary using evidence from the text, building background, and using the structure of the chapter to preview text.

In addition, we have been working on vocabulary skills with those students taking Spanish, helping sophomore students with their essays for English, and providing support for math and science classes, especially geometry and biology.  Every day is different!  

Beginning next week, students who have been identified from the Fall ‘16 baseline screening, including the ninth graders, will be integrated our classes.

To help us help you, please let me know if there are specific aspects of your lessons we can target to build essential skills.  The more we know about what you are doing, the better we can help our students find what they need to be successful.

Thank you to the English department for administering the STAR Reading assessment fall screening.  

Articles Worth Reading

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Upcoming Activities

Friday, September 9
- 7:00 pm Varsity Football vs. Spirit Lake

Saturday, September 10
- 8:30 am Varsity Volleyball Le Mars Invite

Monday, September 12
-5:00 pm Freshmen/Sophomore Football @ Cherokee

Tuesday, September 13
- 5:00 pm Boy/Girl Cross Country @ Sunrise Pointe Golf Course Storm Lake
- 6:00 pm JV/Varsity Volleyball vs. Estherville Lincoln Central

Thursday, September 15
- 5:30 - 7:30 pm T &I Booster Club Supper

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 Football 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

Be Extraordinary!
Mark