December 9, 2016

Happy Friday and another week closer to Christmas break. I would like to thank all of you for cheering for an Oklahoma victory last Saturday, it really paid off as they won their 10th Big 12 Championship and 46th Conference Championship. 

Next week we have a district in-service day on Wednesday. Your groups' CIA members will be sending out an agenda, if they haven't already, before then. I would like to take this time to discuss/remind why we are doing this curriculum work. One of the best ways to increase student achievement is to have a clear curriculum that is the same for every student. Those of you who teach common classes, need to assure that all students, no matter their teacher, receive the same curriculum. When I say the same curriculum, I am not implying you have to teach the class the exact same way, but you do need to have the same essential learnings, texts, and writing assignments. 

As we move through our curriculum work, we will be creating the common assessments and developing pacing guides. This is an important step as it will help us when the time comes that people decide to retire. With the development of pacing guides, new teachers will have a better understanding of what we are talking about when they are told what they need to teach. This will ultimately help out our students and their learning.

I will be attending a school finance conference in Des Moines on Wednesday and Thursday next week. So if you need to call for a sub, please call Mr. Utesch Wednesday and Thursday morning.

Have a great weekend!

Staff News

Please keep Adam Moss and his family in your prayers as his grandma passed away on Wednesday morning.

If you haven't heard, Stephanie Feenstra will be leaving us to take a new position with Floyd Valley Home Health. Her last official day will be January 2, 2017. Stehpanie Buhman will be moving into this spot, and Stacey Nelson will be comeing back to work with Josh and Mrs. Klingbeil.

Staff as Learners

Students as Leaders

Congrats to the Dance Team on division 1 ratings in their three routines and the 4th place finish in Pom!

Congrats to the following students who were selected for the Northwest Iowa Honor Orchestra and Symphony: Kajsa Hallberg, Sarah Meis, Anthony Lamoreaux, Sarah Benton, Tessa Hansen, and Mary Meis. The performance is on January 26th at Dordt College.

Assistant Principal's News

LCHS Student Council is hosting their annual Sno-Ball dance tonight, 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 last Thursday 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.

Librarian's Corner

A while back, I gave you information on a Google add-on that helps you create a rubric and apply it to a student's Google doc so it will help you grade it. Kaizena is another add-on that allows for feedback before final submission, peer review, and/or a digital grading tool. You can use it with typing, or, with a microphone, which all of the laptops have built in. You must be using Google classroom in order for it to work. 

Instructional Coaches' Tidbits

Back by popular demand (well, really due to teachers kicking and screaming) Google has returned the ability to cite web sources in your Google documents by simply clicking a quotation mark found on your search results. Right now your citation style choices are MLA/APA and Chicago. Click here to learn more.

wizer.me is an interactive digital worksheet tool. The reason it caught my eye was the ability to create matching (go to the 9:20 mark of the first video option) and fill on an image worksheets.

Success Center Update

We are starting to see more students coming into the Success Center for help without being coaxed or assigned, and that's a very good thing.  We have been working hard to lose that "homework completion" image of the past, and I very much appreciate your support of this program as a tool for student success.  The next hurdle is to figure out how to get students to come in before they are at the point of panic. "Proactive" is always better than "Reactive." Please remember that I am happy to help, and the earlier in the project, assignment, lesson you are, the more I can reinforce what you are doing.  

Articles Worth Reading

6 Easy Steps for Setting Up Google Portfolios

Resources on Learning From Failure

Low Budget High Quality Videos for the Flipped Classroom

Upcoming Events

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 @ Trinity Christian in Hull
- 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