September 21, 2018

Happy Homecoming Friday! Classes will run normal until 4th period. Then all students will be dismissed. The pep rally/coronation begins at 1:00 pm with the parade following at 2:15. 

During advisory on Monday, please have the students complete the 1st quarter midterm reflection. It will be on the backside of the goal sheet they filled out during the first week of school. Teachers that have Juniors will need to do this next week as we are having a Junior class meeting to kick off their prom fundraiser.

Just a reminder, 1st quarter mid-term is Monday. Please make sure grades are updated over the weekend and progress reports will be sent home on Monday. This would be a good time to start arranging PASS plan meetings for students at risk. I would call and try to set up meetings during conferences on Oct. 1 and 4. Those will run from 5:00 to 8:30 pm. 

On Tuesday, Dr. Webner will be giving a tour to Senator Jim Carlin at 1:30 pm. We also have our 2nd building meeting next week. We will meet in the Library at 7:00 am for a presentation by Joy Gonnerman on ENDS.

Reminder to get me any potential new courses for next year. I will need to look at them before we put them in the course description booklet. I would like these by the end of October. The form to request a new class can be found on the website I shared at the beginning of the year. We will start the registration process in December as the counselors visit classes and students sign up for classes. 

This week, Neal and I caught 3 students with a vape or the juice for a vape. Please be aware of what kids are doing in class. One of the students was taking hits of it during his classes. His device was a thin rectangle that would easily fit in your hand to hide. We were told that it is happening in the bathrooms, in class, and in the parking lot.

Have a great weekend!
Mark

Assistant Principal's Happenings

Thank you to everyone who helped out with our Homecoming activities this week.  We have 99 parade entries for the parade today and I am excited to say that it is the largest parade we have had.  Thank you to everyone who supported our efforts in collecting socks for our sock drive and also for participating in our student council dress up days.  Your participation shows our students that you care and it is greatly appreciated.

Remember to be consistent with your class rules.  Now that homecoming is over, our students may feel the need to test the waters.  Mid-term is on Monday, so do not hesitate to make phone calls home to share how your students are doing (positive or negative).

Next Friday, September 28th the special education department will have a meeting in the office conference room at 8:00 am.

Librarian's News

Now that Homecoming is over, I have a bit more time available. I do not have a class in the middle school this year, so if you would like to schedule me to work with you and/or your classes, please let me know. I would love to collaborate with you on projects. Our order of non-fiction books arrived yesterday. There are a number of Opposing Viewpoints books, as well as a new set of Pros and Cons for the lower readers. These topics include animal testing, paying college athletes, playing video games, vaccines, and more. 

Instructional Coaches Technology Tid Bits

3 Ways for Students to Steal Your Password--this article shows ways students can steal teacher and administrator passwords. One of the ways is a key logger. This is a device that can be picked up off of Amazon for $50 and plugs into any available USB port.

Do you use social media? Do you ever put information about your classes/students online? Consider taking a few minutes to read Protecting Student Privacy on Social Media: Do's and Don'ts for Teachers.

Success Center Update

One of the instructional practices we use often in the Success Center is scaffolding.  Scaffolding breaks a task down into smaller, more manageable chunks that the child has a better chance of mastering.  There are two components to scaffolding.  First, each smaller "chunk" is treated as a skill, so students are focusing on one task instead of the bigger picture.  As they master the smaller chunks, they are better able to see the relevance of the whole.  Second, as skills are mastered and students become more confident, the supports are faded (withdrawn) gradually so that each student more independently demonstrates performance of that skill.  This is particularly valuable when we are working with students who are missing critical skills or are really struggling with either comprehension or with understanding complex ideas.  Although scaffolds can be applied to the teaching of all skills, they are amazingly effective when teaching higher-level cognitive strategies, especially when the steps or procedures to carry out these strategies are more implicit.  In your classes, can you think of skills or concepts your students regularly struggle to master?  Scaffolding might prove to be a valuable approach to teaching those skills.

There are three reasons why scaffolding is an effective instructional practice.  First, breaking a task into smaller, more manageable pieces helps students who might otherwise struggle with the larger, more complex task achieve success.  Also, smaller pieces can be addressed using instruction that is more targeted and specific to the learning needs of the student(s).  Finally, withdrawing or fading the support as skills are learned reinforces independent (and higher-order) thinking skills.

But does scaffolding really work?  Absolutely!  Students are more confident and more successful during independent practice because they more thoroughly understand the concept/skill due to the scaffolding process, and frustration is reduced for both the student and the teacher.  

You are welcome to come and see how we use scaffolding in the Success Center, and I have resources I will gladly share.  If you have a concept or skill you believe would benefit from a scaffolded approach, I would be happy to help you create those supports for your students.

Article Worth Reading

How to Make Your Questions Essential

Upcoming Activities

1:00 pm Homecoming Coronation and Pep Rally

2:15 pm Homecoming Parade

7:00 pm Varsity Football vs. Storm Lake

9:00 pm Homecoming Dance

Saturday, September 22

8:30 am JV Volleyball @ Western Christian Tournament

9:00 am Varsity Volleyball @ Unity Christian Tournament

Monday, September 24

5:30 pm Freshmen Volleyball @ Hinton

6:15 pm JV Football @ Sioux Center

7:00 pm JV Volleyball @ Hinton

Tuesday, September 25

5:30 pm Freshmen Volleyball vs. Heelan

6:50 pm JV Volleyball vs. Heelan

Thursday, September 27

4:30 pm Boy/Girl Cross Country @ Covington Links Golf Course @ SSC

Friday, September 28

4:00 pm Freshmen Football @ SBL

7:00 pm Varsity Football @ SBL

Saturday, September 29

Starfest Marching Band Contest @ SC

8:00 am Varsity Volleyball @ Urbandale Tournament

Monday, October 1

4:30 pm Freshmen Volleyball @ Western Christian Tournament

5:00 - 8:30 pm Parent Teacher Conferences

6:30 pm JV Football vs. MOC-Floyd Valley

Tuesday, October 2

4:30 pm Boy Cross Country @ Cherokee

5:30 pm JV/Freshmen Volleyball @ Spirit Lake

6:50 pm Varsity Volleyball @ Spirit Lake

Thursday, October 4

4:45 pm Girl Cross Country @ Fort Dodge

5:00 - 8:30 pm Parent Teacher Conferences

5:30 pm JV/Freshmen Volleyball @ Cherokee

6:50 pm Varsity Volleyball @ Cherokee

Friday, October 5

4:00 pm Freshmen Football vs. Heelan

7:00 pm Varsity Football vs. Heelan

Saturday, October 6
State Marching Band @ Sheldon
8:30 am Varsity Volleyball @ Western Tournament

Monday, October 8
4:30 pm Cross Country @ Spirit Lake
6:00 pm College Fair
6:15 pm JV Football @ Boyden-Hull

Tuesday, October 9
5:00 pm Large Group Speech Kick Off Meeting
5:30 pm JV/Freshmen Volleyball vs. ELC
6:50 pm Varsity Volleyball vs. ELC

Wednesday, October 10
8:30 am PSAT testing

Thursday, October 11
4:30 pm JV/Varsity Volleyball @ SSC
5:00 pm Freshmen Volleyball @ SSC

Friday, October 12
4:15 pm Freshmen Football vs. Spencer
4:30 pm Cross Country @ Unity Christian
5:00 pm Music Booster Soup and Pie Supper
7:00 pm Varsity Football vs. Spencer
Halftime - Mass Band Show

Saturday, October 13
Dutchman Field Competition @ MOC
8:30 am Freshmen Volleyball Home Tournament
8:30 am Varsity Volleyball @ Sioux City East

Monday, October 15
4:30 pm JV Volleyball Home Tournament
6:30 pm JV Football vs. Spencer

Tuesday, October 16
7:30 pm Vocal Concert

Wednesday, October 17
2:00 pm ASVAB Testing

Friday, October 19
4:00 pm Freshmen Football @ Denison-Schleswig
7:00 pm Varsity Football @ Denison-Schleswig