December 2, 2016

Happy Friday and Happy December! We are now through the 2nd qtr mid term and will be drawing this semester to a close quickly. Semester test are January 11-13. The 11th and 12th will be the main test days with the 13th being a make up day. 

Thank you to those who scheduled PASS Plan meetings the past couple of weeks. I know some of the meetings were hard to schedule with parents not wanting to come in. I appreciate your efforts to help all of our students achieve at high levels. Continue to push our students, it is a good thing to have the students struggle with the content. We do not want to lower our standards to make it so they don't struggle. The more the student struggles with the material, the more it will be ingrained into his/her long-term memory. Just continue to provide the extra help to those who lack the confidence or background knowledge to reach the standards. 

Looking ahead, we do have another extra hour meeting next week on December 7. You will continue to work on your curriculum work from where you left off on November 30th. Our next district in-service will be on December 14. I will be Des Moines on the 14th and 15th for meetings.

I would like to remind you to take the time to nominate one of your peers for Employee of the Month. The Foundation enjoys handing out this award and we have many deserving staff members in this building. 

For those of you who like to plan ahead, the children's theater is performing "A Christmas Wizard of Oz" on December 22. The high school students, who pay a $1, will be dismissed at 1:35 pm to head to the auditorium. It is also possible for the classes to earn a double lunch that day. 

Have a great weekend and cheer on Oklahoma in the de facto Big 12 championship game.

Staff News

Congrats goes out to Lori Carter and her family. Lori and her husband became grandparents for the first time over break!

Congrats goes out to Kellie Bork and his family as Kellie and his wife also became first time grandparents on Tuesday!

Congrats to Tami Dunn and family for Morgan being accepted into Grad School at USD!

Leann Hobson is in Arizona with her daughter and son-in-law, while they work out the final stages of their adoption.

Staff as Learners

Cliff Collins and myself attended a one day workshop on Principles of Action: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All. It was an excellent workshop that confirmed some of the changes we have made as a school and gave some guidance on the direction our Math courses need to move to meet the Iowa Core. Their will be another workshop on June 13 that will take focus on the 8 Mathematical practices.

Students as Leaders

Good luck to the dance team as they head to the state dance competition. Members are: Janae Caasson, Regan Albers, Katelyn Lewis, Jenna Laughton, Cassidy Pravacek, Hailey Kellen, Haley Majeres, Isabelle Majeres, Samantha Murra, Sydney Louison, Rachel Minar, Arlinna Bowen, and Jayden Wiltgen.

Assistant Principal's News

LCHS Student Council is hosting their annual Sno-Ball dance on December 9th from 9-12 in Carey Gym.  The council is looking for volunteers to help chaperone the dance.  Please consider helping the students as it does take a village sometimes.  The kids really think it is cool when you show up to help out as they feel valued.  Let Mr. Utesch or Mrs. Isebrand know if you are able to come and help us out.  There will be an ugly sweater contest and we are also collecting new hats and mittens at the door with a chance to win a $40.00 gift certifcate from Mr. P's that was donated by Mrs. Isebrand.

Annual Christmas Coins collection began yesterday and will run through December 16th.  Please encourage your students to bring their coins so that they can earn their double open lunch on the last day of school this year!  We are asking that each student brings $2.00.

Instructional Coaches' Tidbits

A new feature will be rolling out soon in Google called Team Drives. A team drive is a collaborative space for teams to create and share files. The benefit of this is that any files that are in the drive can be viewed or edited (depending on the permissions granted to each individual or group) by anyone in the team. If any member of the team leaves, no files are lost as the files belong to the team---not an individual. To learn more via a 5 minute video, click here

For those of you that use Screen-Cast-O-Matic, a new overlay feature has been added. You now have the power to choose the order that multiple overlays are layered above or below each other. Click here to see a 50 second video demonstration. By clicking the hyperlink you also have the opportunity to watch a separate one minute video about keyboard shortcuts that can be used while recording.

Google Docs has added some improvements to their voice typing commands. The ability to specify text color, insert comments, highlight text, and even add links. Click here to for a very short read that lists out the new features and how to use them.

I know, I know. I put a lot of information in this week. I have missed the last few so I want to make sure you get your money's worth. One last one. Dotstorming. It looks a bit like padlet but its power is the ability to dot vote or rank items. This link is different than the previous hyperlink. This is a 7 minute tutorial. 

Video Worth Watching

Every Kid Needs A Champion

Upcoming Events

Friday, December 2
- 4:30 pm Varsity/JV Wrestling @ Hinton

Monday December 5

- 4:45 pm Varsity/JV Wrestling @ MOC-Floyd Valley

Tuesday, December 6

- Varsity/JV Wrestling @ SBL
- 4:45 pm Boy/Girl JV Basketball vs. Western Christian
- 6:15 pm Girl Varsity Basketball vs. Western Christian
- 7:45 pm Boy Varsity Basketball vs. Western Christian

Thursday, December 8

- 3:30 pm Boy Varsity/JV Bowling vs OA BCIG
- 6:00 pm Varsity/JV Wrestling @ Spencer
- 6:30 pm Boy Freshmen Basketball vs. Siouxland Community Christian
- 6:30 pm Girl Freshmen Basketball @ MOC
- 7:45 pm Boy Freshmen Basketball @ MOC

Friday, December 9

- Varsity Wrestling @ Lewis Central
- 1:00 pm Boy Varsity/JV Bowling @ Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson
- 4:45 pm Boy/Girl JV Basketball vs. Spencer
- 6:15 pm Girl Varsity Basketball vs. Spencer
- 7:45 pm Boy Varsity Basketball vs. Spencer
- 9:00 pm Snoball Dance

Saturday, December 10

- Quiz Bowl @ South O'Brien
- Varsity Wrestling @ Lewis Central
- 4:00 pm JV Boy/Girl Basketball vs. SBL
- 5:30 pm Girl Varsity Basketball vs. SBL
- 7:15 pm Boy Varsity Basketball vs. SBL

Monday, December 12
- 3:30 pm Bowling vs. MMCRU
- 6:00 pm Spanish Club Christmas Party
- 6:00 pm Girl Freshmen Basketball vs. Unity Christian
- 7:00 pm Boy Freshmen Basketball vs. Unity Christian

Tuesday, December 13
- 4:45 pm Boy/Girl JV Basketball @ Cherokee
- 6:15 pm Girl Varsity Basketball @ Cherokee
- 7:45 pm Boy Varsity Basketball @ Cherokee

Wednesday, December 14
- 1:30 pm Dismissal
- 7:00 pm Athletic Booster Club Meeting

Thursday, December 15
- 6:00 pm Girl Freshmen Basketball @ Western Christian
- 6:00 pm Varsity/JV Wrestling vs. Cherokee and Spirit Lake
- 7:15 pm Boy Freshmen Basketball @ Western Christian

Friday, December 16
- 4:45 pm Boy/Girl JV Basketball vs. ELC
- 6:15 pm Girl Basketball vs. ELC
- 7:45 pm Boy Basketball vs. ELC

Saturday, December 17
- Robotics Competition @ Manson
- 10:00 am Varsity/JV Wrestling @ Spencer
- 11:30 am Boy Freshmen Basketball @ Heelan
- 1:00 pm Boy Freshmen Basketball @ Heelan
- 2:30 pm Boy JV Basketball @ Heelan
- 4:00 pm Boy Varsity Basketball @ Heelan

Monday, December 19
- 3:30 pm Boy/Girl Varsity/JV Bowling vs. Sioux Central
- 7:30 pm HS Holiday Concert

Tuesday, December 20
- 6:00 pm Boys JV Basketball vs. Sioux City East
- 7:30 pm Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Sioux City East

Thursday, December 22
- 1 hr early out

Tuesday, January 3
- 4:45 pm Boy/Girl JV Basketball @ Storm Lake
- 6:00 pm Varsity/JV Wrestling vs. Akron-Westfield & Sioux City West
- 6:15 pm Girl Varsity Basketball @ Strom Lake
- 7:45 pm Boy Varsity Basketball @ Strom Lake

Thursday, January 5
- 4:00 pm Boy/Girl Varsity/JV Bowling @ Remsen
- 6:00 pm Girl Freshmen Basketball vs. Sheldon
- 6:00 pm Varsity/JV Wrestling @ HMS
- 7:15 pm Boy Freshmen Basketball vs. Sheldon

Friday, January 6
- 4:45 pm Boy/Girl JV Basketball vs. Spirit Lake
- 6:15 pm Girl Varsity Basketball vs. Spirit Lake
- 7:45 pm Boy Varsity Basketball vs. Spirit Lake



Be Extraordinary,
Mark

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