March 10, 2017
Mr. Borchers and Mrs. Addison are starting to work on the master schedule for next school year. I have had several teachers request study hall duty for their 7th class since they only have 6 to teach. When I consider who I assign study hall and lunch duty, I take into consideration what department you teach in and how many others from that department also have a duty. For instance, next year I need to have 6 people assigned to 5th period duty. I do not want to have more than 2 people from each department have duty during that time, otherwise it will load up their other sections and it makes it more difficult to get students courses they request. This will leave 4 others that will have a study hall duty and 2 more that will be assigned the commons before school.
If you know of students that should not be placed together, please let Mr. Borchers and Mrs. Addison know. They can add a student avoid constraint so when the computer loads the students into the schedule, the computer will avoid putting them in the same courses if possible.
Iowa Assessments will be given the first week of April. Mrs. Addison will get more info out. We will give our local assessments the week of April 24. Neal and I will meet with the Juniors as we get closer to that date to inform the students who need to take the random sample test in Social Studies and Health. All Juniors will then take Math, Science, and English assessments during that week in class.
Next week we have a district in-service day on Wednesday. Also the quarter is done on March 21. Grades will be due on the 23rd at 8:30. Please make sure you have everything updated and comments under Quarter 3.
Thank you for those who have organized PASS Plan meetings. You will noticed that the form has changed. If you don't have the updated form, please visit our PD website for this year and download a new copy. Items that changed are the interventions. We want to know what you have already tried in class under this section. Also, each role should be filled out. Even if the parent refuses to come in, still put down what you expect the parent to do. After teacher role, teacher recommendation was added. This section is not mandatory to fill out, but if you think the student would benefit from some other type of service, this is where you would note that.
Have a great weekend, hopefully the snow will stay away.
Staff News
Please keep Tracy Meylor in your thoughts as she still heals from her surgury and cancer treatments.
Please keep Susan Reed in your thoughts as she will have a cardiac ablation procedure on March 22.
Please keep Susan Reed in your thoughts as she will have a cardiac ablation procedure on March 22.
Staff as Learners
Terry Fitzgerald and Judy Zeka attended a social studies workshop on Wednesday of this week.
Joann Johnson attended a FACs workshop day with NWAEA on Thursday.
Joann Johnson attended a FACs workshop day with NWAEA on Thursday.
Students as Leaders
Good Luck to the students who qualified to perform at State IE Speech. They will be traveling to Sioux City East on Saturday.
Congrats to Claire Ohlrichs for qualifying for public speaking at the state FFA Conference.
Congrats to Claire Ohlrichs for qualifying for public speaking at the state FFA Conference.
Assistant Principal's News
How to Assess Students' Learning and Performance:https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/assesslearning/index.html
When creating an assignment it is always important to consider the following areas. As we look to begin the development of common formative assessments it will be beneficial to think about these specifics:
1. Learning Objectives: What do you want students to learn in your course? What can they do to show you that they have learned it? To determine assignments that truly serve your course objectives, it may be useful to write out your objectives in this form: I want my students to be able to ______. Use active, measurable verbs as you complete that sentence.
2. Design Assignments that are Interesting and Challenging: Think about how you can focus your students' thinking in ways that are creative, challenging, and motivating. Think beyond a worksheet and a paragraph!
3. Double-Check Alignment: After you create the lesson, go back to your learning objective and make sure there is still a good match between what you want students to learn and what you are asking them to do. If there is a mismatch, then be prepared to adjust either the assignment or the learning objectives.
Keep up the great work with students. Remember to be consistent with your rules and to follow through with students who are struggling to do the right thing with their behavior and their homework. Keep in perspective those things that need to be addressed in class verses sending them to the office.
Remember to make two positive phone calls this next week to parents who may have a student that is struggling. Give them something good to hear and reward those "little things" that are being accomplished in your classrooms!
Librarian's Corner
EdPuzzle (https://edpuzzle.com/) is a great way to engage students with a video and keep track of their understanding. You can create a log in for you, as well as your students. Then, find a video that will enhance the curriculum, add it to EdPuzzle and then create questions or bits of information to check student's comprehension. You can even use 360 degree videos from YouTube without the Virtual reality viewers. Here is an instructional video from Jonathan Frye on the 360 aspect https://youtu.be/EMDWQc9UpaU . The EdPuzzle site, itself, has a short tutorial on creating your project. Good luck!Instructional Coaches' Tid Bits
When creating text dependent questions consider the following:
- Choose interesting texts worthy of reading and rereading.
- Show students how to cite specific text to support answers.
- Provide opportunities for higher order thinking that are worthy of asking.
- Go “inside” rather than “outside” of texts.
- Don’t allow students to skim for answers. (IA Dept. of Ed Literacy in Soc. Studies)
Success Center Update
Article Worth Reading
True Grit: The Best Measure of Success and How to Teach It5 Steps to Foster Grit in the Classroom
Upcoming Events
Saturday, March 11
- IHSSA Individual Events Speech State Contest @ SC East
Tuesday, March 14
- 4:30 pm Boy/Girl Track Lakes Conference Indoor Meet @ Buena Vista University
Saturday, March 18
- Show Choir @ Hinton
Monday, March 20
- TBD - Girl/Boy Track @ The University of South Dakota
Tuesday, March 21
- End of Third Quarter
Saturday, March 25
- State Solo/Small Ensembles Contest
- Noon - Boy/Girl Track @ SDSU
Monday, March 27
- 8:00 am IE Speech All-State Festival
- 6:30 pm NHS Induction
Thursday, March 30
- 5:00 pm Boy/Girl Track @ Unity Christian
Friday, March 31
- National History Day District Contest
- Blood Drive @ LCHS
Tuesday, April 4
- 4:00 pm Boy Tennis vs. Sioux City East
- 4:30 pm Girl Track vs. Cherokee, OABCIG and SBL
- 4:30 pm Boy Track @ MOC
Thursday, April 6
- Sine Nomine Honor Band @ MS Auditorium
- Orchestra Festival @ UNI
- 9:30 am Robotics @ Des Moines
- 4:00 pm Boy Golf vs. Western Christian
- 4:00 pm Girl Tennis vs. Cherokee
- 4:00 pm Boy Tennis @ Cherokee
- 5:00 pm Boy Track @ Cherokee
Friday, April 7
- Music Booster Auction
- 4:30 pm Boy Golf @ Hinton
- 5:00 pm Music Booster Pancake Supper
- 5:00 pm Girl Track @ Cherokee
Be Extraordinary!
Mark
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