October 13, 2017

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Happy Friday! Congratulations goes out to Mr. Ohrlund and the Big Red Band. They placed 1st in class 3A in the Dutchman Field Championships. They also won 1st place in color guard and the 3A Spirit Award. On Wednesday, they performed at State Marching Band and received division 1 ratings. Great Job!

 Congrats to Coach Engebretson and the boys' cross country team for placing first at the Lakes Conference Meet on Tuesday.

 Congrats to Coach Moss and the girls' cross country team for placing runner up at the Lakes Conference Meet on Tuesday.

 As we near mid-October, the end of the quarter is on October 26. Grades will be due on the on the 27th at 8:00 am so we can run report cards and get them out that day. Please plan accordingly so grades will be accurate when report cards are ran. 

 Looking ahead, we have a district in-service on the 18th. Your CIA members will be getting agendas out to you before that. Our next building meeting is on the 25th at 7:00 am. 

 During advisory on Monday, the Robotics Team will be meeting with Mr. Wingert and Mr. Martin. I will also show the next video of in The Harbor series. The discussion questions are found on our website. We will watch episode 15 Jen Aragon. 

Have a great weekend!
Mark 

Staff News

I would like to welcome Mr. Martin and Mr. Starr back as they both will be returning working half days. It will be great to see both of them in the building and livening up their department meetings. 

Staff as Learners

We have a few staff members attending the ITEC Conference on October 16 and 17. They are Nancy Isebrand, Michael Bahr, Trent Eckstaine, and Erin Ohrlund.

Then Terry Fitzgerald and David Den Herder will be attending a training on the new Social Studies Standards the state adopted. This is on October 19 & 20.

The Science Department will be attending module 3 of the NGSS on October 24.

Students as Leaders

The following students will be competing at contest at DMACC on October 18: Robert Murra, Caden Ostermyer, Clay Luschen, Tyson Weiler, Abe Cerda, Logan Kibby, and Riley Kluver.

Assistant Principal's Happenings

The LCHS Student Council will be kicking off their annual fundraiser with the Support Siouxland Soldiers campaign.  This fall more than 130 local soldiers will be traveling overseas to fight for our freedom.  The student council will run their campaign starting at the October 13th football game.  It will be "Camo" night and we will begin collecting monetary donations as well as food donations for our packages that we send overseas to our soldiers.  We will collect items from October 13th - November 3rd.  Lists are posted throughout the building. If you would like your own detailed list, please ask Nancy Isebrand.

Librarian's News

Fake news still remains a hot topic. It is essential that is it covered in every subject area if they are doing any kind of online research. People need to know if a website, news, or posting is credible and accurate. Here is a quick checklist that can help you incorporate the lesson into any research project:Ten Questions for Fake News. If you want students (or you) to test their fake detection skills, try this free online game: Factitious. It is open source so it can be adapted for your needs or so students could input news stories to challenge others! 

Success Center Update

Last fall, Julie Theisen and I had the opportunity to attend The Domino Effect sponsored by Drake University and the Iowa Department of Corrections.  In this program, we were able to talk with offenders in the women's correctional system and to discuss the kinds of things their teachers might have done to make a difference in their lives.  Overwhelmingly, all of them said that having someone indicate that they cared had the potential to change the decisions they made.  

I have been able to continue this line of discussion in a course at Drake titled "The Impact of Poverty on Students, Teachers, Schools, and Communities."  One of the points that has been most eye-opening was introduced in the first chapter of Eric Jensen's Teaching With Poverty in Mind. "Studies of risk and resilience in children have shown that family income correlates significantly with children's academic success...and low-achieving high school students report a sense of alienation from their schools.  Believing that no one cares or that their teachers don't like them or talk down to them, students will often give up on academics" (Jensen, 2009, p. 11).  This has really made me take a second look at my students, not only how they interact with peers in the hallways but also how I talk to and about, and how I interact with them.  It's been very interesting! 

Instructional Coaches Corner

This tip is more for your personal use. If you are looking to purchase any of the Microsoft Office products for your home computer then click here. Your employment as a teacher at  K-12 school allows you to purchase Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2016 - Lifetime License. The WAH stands for "work at home." This means you are allowed to make this purchase with nthe understanding that you regularly undertake work tasks using a home device.

Google recently released some updates to Slides. Some of which are:

  • Capture ideas in Keep and import them into Slides
  • Link and sync slides from multiple presentations
  • Inserting diagrams or ready to use visualizations
  • Grid view of your slides
  • Skip slide feature
  • Slides can now use add-on features
  • Apps scripts for slides (more of a power user function)
As a reminder to everyone there are 2 carts containing 30 ipads each available for you to check out and use with your classes. Nancy sent out a Google form for you to use when you want to reserve them.

 Those of you who indicated interest in the Google Classroom and/or New Google Sites PD classes, I am still working on finding dates that will accommodate the majority of those interested:-)

 As always, if you have a technology activity you would like assistance with or maybe you have some vague idea of something you want to try and you need to talk it out with someone or maybe you have a PD class you would like to see offered, please contact me so that I can support you.

Articles Worth Reading

How You Can Begin Turning Around Challenging Student Behavior

Compassion as a Classroom Management Tool

Upcoming Events

Friday, October 13, 2017
- 4:30 pm Cross Country @ Orange City 
- 5:00 pm Soup and Pie Supper
- 7:00 pm Varsity Football vs Algona
- Halftime 7-12 Mass Band Show

Saturday, October 14, 2017
- 8:00 am Varsity Volleyball Tournament @ Heelan
- 9:00 am Freshmen Volleyball Tournament in Le Mars

Monday, October 16, 2017
- 4:30 pm JV Volleyball Tournament
- 5:00 pm Freshmen Football @ Spencer
- 6:30 pm Sophomore Football @ Spencer
- 7:00 pm Music Booster Meeting

Tuesday, October 17, 2017
- 7:00 pm 7-12 Vocal Concert in the competition gym

Wednesday, October 18, 2017
- 2:00 pm ASVAB testing
- 7:00 pm Athletic Booster Club Meeting

Friday, October 20, 2017
- 7:00 pm Varsity Football @ Humboldt

Saturday, October 21, 2017
- District All-State Music Auditions

Tuesday, October 24, 2017
- 6-12 Orchestra Concert

Thursday, October 26, 2017
- End of Quarter

Friday, October 27, 2017
- 7:00 pm Indoor Marching Band

Saturday, November 4, 2017
- NWI HS Honor Band Auditions @ Storm Lake
- State Dance Team Solo - Des Moines

Thursday, November 9, 2017
- 7:00 pm Fall Play - Little Theater

Friday, November 10, 2017
- 7:00 pm Fall Play - Little Theater

Saturday, November 11, 2017
- 7:00 pm Fall Play - Little Theater





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