January 27, 2017

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Happy Friday! I hope everyone was able to enjoy the unexpected short week. Nothing messes things up more than having time off in the middle of the week. 

 The basketball games that were scheduled for Tuesday were moved to Saturday. I believe the girls will play at 2 and the boys around 4. This will just be varsity games that day. 

 Wednesday, Feb. 1 we will have our extra hour meeting that was originally scheduled for Jan. 25. Please continue to work on your curriculum from district in-service. 

 With the snow days, I will move midterm to 2/14. For those of you who have trimester classes the last day of trimester 2 will stay 2/23. 

 As we get into 3rd quarter, please do not wait too long to have PASS plans if you see a student who is already at risk. Most of the time, behaviors won't change without a little pressure. It is better to put that pressure on earlier than to wait for them to be in a big hole. When you have these meetings, please make sure to get me a copy of the plan. On the plan, we have a spot for follow up meetings or phone calls, please make sure you are following up with the parents on the agreed upon dates on the plan. I would prefer you talk to the parent rather than email. 

 Enjoy the weekend and hope for no more snow.

Staff News

Please keep the Moss Family in your thoughts as Brandi's grandma passed away on Wednesday.

Staff As Learners

Doug Martin is off in India, helping with the NASA International Space Competition, not finding a wife as the students are claiming. I am sure he will have some adventures to share with us when he gets back.

Students as Leaders


We had 35 groups that performed at the District Speech Contest last Saturday, and we earned 24 I ratings and 11 II's. We have 88 students who will go on to state contest, and many of them are double-entered. Nearly all of our team members get the chance to perform at state contest! The State Speech Contest will be in Spencer on Feb. 4.


Assistant Principal's Corner

Librarian's News

Google Extensions are always being developed. One that can help dyslexic readers is BeeLine Reader. Once this extension is added, the reader has the option to activate it to change colors in the text to aid in reading. Unfortunately, the first 30 days are free and then one can only use it 5 times per day. Read Aloud: A Text to Speech Voice Reader will read aloud the text on a website to the reader. This is free. It is a beta version, which means there are changes, but it allows the user to set the speed, voice (including language), and pitch. This one start reading when you click on the play button. A different read aloud extension is the  TTSReader - Unlimited Text-To-Speech. 
This extension allows the user to copy and paste the text into the box, so it will only read 
the section inserted. Languages are English, Spanish, French, German and a few Asian 
languages. There are three speeds with this site. 


Instructional Coaches' Tid Bits

This tip is aimed at PowerPoint users. Click here to learn how to use grids and lines to better align your text and images on your slides. It will take you 5-7 minutes to read and follow the directions.

 If you are someone who does not regularly update the apps on your phone you should continue reading. Legacy versions of Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and slides Mobile Apps are shutting down effective April 3, 2017. That just means you will need to update your app if you want to continue using it on your phone. Click here if you would like to read more.

 Now this one may seem a bit out there to some of you but think of it as a stepping stone into the world of creating VR. CoSpaces gives your students the opportunity to create a VR story. Using Google Cardboard and a cell phone, students could actually move around in the virtual reality scene they create.

 Plan on doing any flying any time soon? How about a list of wireless passwords from airports around the world. This appears to be a crowdsourced document.

 For iphone and ipad users (sorry Android) Office Lens could prove to be a handy app. It trims, enhances and makes pictures of whiteboards and documents readable. It can convert images to editable Word and PowerPoint files too.

 Keyboard shortcut of the week: I recently learned that while going through a webpage, if you press the "space bar" the page will scroll down one page length. If you hold the "shift" key while pressing the "space bar" the page will scroll up one page length.
Success Center Update

All but a small handful of students have taken the semester two screening of the STAR Reading Assessment.  Now is a great time to take a look at the screening report.  That report breaks down the list of students per grade and groups them in four categories: urgent intervention, in need of intervention, on "watch", and proficient.  Knowing that information will help make decisions as to what should be done to bring them all to proficient over the next couple of months.

 To reach the SCREENING report, log into STAR, click on the STAR Reading tile, select REPORTS, select SCREENING (three up from the bottom of the top grouping,) and customize the following in the report:  Choose your grade, change the reporting period to Quarter Two, Change the benchmark to SCHOOL, and choose all five STUDENT DETAIL boxes.  Everything else stays as is.  and RUN THE REPORT.  

 It sounds scary, but it's just five little mouse clicks.  Taking a few minutes to do that will give you a lot of information.  If you need help or would like a paper printout, I am happy to help.  Special thanks to the English teachers and Mrs. Reed for their help getting everyone to take it.


Articles Worth Reading

Are College Lectures Unfair?
The Growing Role of Technology in Personalized Learning

 Jordan Helms is at the helm of the boat for Jayhawks


Upcoming Events

Friday, January 27
- 4:45 pm Boy/Girl JV Basketball @ ELC
- 5:00 pm Wrestling @ Emmetsburg
- 6:15 pm Girl Varsity Basketball @ ELC
- 7:45 pm Boy Varsity Basketball @ ELC

Saturday, January 28
- 10:00 am Bowling LeMars Invite
- 2:00 pm Girl Varsity Basketball vs. Cherokee
- 4:00 pm Boy Varsity Basketball vs. Cherokee
- 7:30 pm Show Choir Performance

Monday, January 30
- State Show/Jazz Choir Contest
- 3:30 pm Bowling @ Ida vs. OABCIG
- 5:45 pm Girl JV Basketball vs. Heelan
- 6:30 pm Girl Freshmen Basketball vs. Spencer
- 7:30 pm Girl Varsity Basketball vs. Heelan
- 7:45 pm Boy Freshmen Basketball vs. Spencer

Tuesday, January 31
- 4:45 pm Boy/Girl JV Basketball vs. Storm Lake
- 6:00 pm Wrestling @ SC North
- 6:15 pm Girl Varsity Basketball vs. Storm Lake
- 7:45 pm Boy Varsity Basketball vs. Storm Lake

Thursday, February 2
- Quiz Bowl @ Morningside
- 6:00 pm Boy Freshmen Basketball vs. Cherokee
- 6:30 pm Large Group Speech Showcase

Friday, February 3
- Morningside Jazz Festival
- 4:45 pm Boy/Girl JV Basketball @ Spirit Lake
- 6:15 pm Girl Varsity Basketball @ Spirit Lake
- 7:45 pm Boy Varsity Basketball @ Spirit Lake

Saturday, February 4
- State Large Group Speech Contest @ Spencer
- 9:00 pm Boy Varsity Basketball vs. Sioux Center @ Sioux Fall Pentagon
Be Extraordinary,
Mark




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