Happy Friday! I don't know about you, but I always think the short weeks seem to take more out of me than the normal 5 day school week. Maybe I am trying to squeeze too much into the 4 days.
I hope everyone had a great week! Adam and I are trying to make an effort to be out in the halls more. I am also starting to visit classrooms. I have made into a few classrooms this week already and have seen some good activities taking place. Please continue to challenge our students and push them out of their comfort zones.
Some dates you will want to keep in mind: September 13 - In-Service, September 19 - Evac Drill, September 20 - Midterm, September 21 - School Picture Day, September 27 - In-Service, and September 29 - Homecoming.
For the evac drill, if your classes crosses 3rd Ave, please make sure the students are up on the sidewalk and not standing in the street. Chief Schipper asked that we remind the students as they will have fire trucks coming down the street. Otherwise, he was happy with our first drill. Please make sure you take roll and report any students that are missing. If you take roll orally, please remind students not to say here for a classmate that is not there. We had this happen to one of the students I had report to the office. Also check for extra's, you never know if I'll send to other evac site to make sure these students are reported as extras.
For midterms, please enter comments under Q1. Any student with a grade of D+ to F should have comments. This also would be a good time to start scheduling PASS Plan meetings. Parent Teacher Conferences are on Oct. 5 & 9. This would be a good time to schedule meetings with the parents you need to see rather than wait and see if they schedule conferences.
The DE has still not provided much guidance on the book bans. Please remember that your classroom library needs to meet this law. We are not required to publish list of classroom libraries, but it is still good practice for you to have a list of books that you do have in your room available for students to check out.
Enjoy your weekend, it is the Iowa-Iowa State game weekend. This year the game is being sponsored by the Iowa DCI and DraftKings.
Mark
Assistant Principal's Happenings
Homecoming Duty Sign Up: Most of you have signed up already-- thank you! Please talk to Mark or I if you have extenuating circumstances. We could use a few more for the dance if you are so inclined.
Things I'm Thinking About--The Goal of Management/Discipline:
(I'm always thinking about something, and I invite your thoughts when we meet in the hallway sometime!)
The goal of classroom discipline (and school discipline, for that matter) is not to squeeze every ounce of pain out of a noncompliant student for punishment's sake, but rather to change the behavior of the student. What I ultimately want is for the student's improper behavior to be replaced with proper behavior. For the student's own good I want them to exhibit proper behavior so that they can do their best work. This takes a lot of patience, repetition, consistency, and explicitly teaching behavior that we want to see.
One tool that can help with this are Stop and Go signs. These come from Tracey Sadoski and may be useful to you. (Thank you, Tracey!) How it works: as a student's behavior becomes more disruptive, we walk over to them and quietly place the "stop sign" on their desk. This is a "hit and run"-style intervention -- you place the sign on the desk and walk away, avoiding a power struggle in the moment. You can see the message on the file. I really like the "re-training" opportunity. Not every consequence has to be a half hour detention. Perhaps the most appropriate consequence would be to come back for a 5 minute "retraining" session. It's short, sweet, gets to the point, and doesn't punish the teacher for 30 minutes. And retraining can occur as often as necessary to achieve proficiency.
This is not a perfect solution for all behaviors and I'm not requiring you to use it. But it is another tool to put in your tool kit, and it is a tool that gives us more precise results. And as always, if I can support you in your "re-training" efforts, please let me know. I'm proud of our staff for getting our school year off to a good start -- much of that is a result of your ongoing patience and consistency in "re-training" endeavors. Thank you!
Looking Ahead: Next week Thursday (14th) and Friday (15th) I will be out of the building, attending Special Ed training in Sioux City.
For Fun: Verse 2 of the ChatGPT "alma mater" song, below.....
With a Side Note: (Interestingly, the Bulldogs are playing my alma mater tonight, Boyden-Hull. Asher will be the 3rd generation Moss to play at Hesla Field and I might even get my dad to sit on the visitor's side, which is kind of a big deal in my family. And just to show we shouldn't take ourselves too seriously -- here is my junior year football picture circa 1996. I kept it in my classroom to prove to my students that I used to have hair! And why are those shoulder pads so HUUUUGE??!!??) Go Dogs!!
(Verse 2)
From dawn's first light to the setting sun,
We learn and grow, our journey's just begun.
With teachers who guide us, we'll reach for the skies,
As Bulldogs, we'll conquer, with fire in our eyes.
(Chorus)
Oh, Le Mars Bulldogs, we're fierce and bold,
Through every challenge, we're a stronghold.
In classrooms and fields, we proudly strive,
For victory and knowledge, side by side.
Keep being awesome --
Adam
_______
Upcoming Activities
Friday, September 8
7:00 pm Varsity Football vs. BHRV & Rock Valley HS
Monday, September 11
10:00 am Boys Golf @ Whispering Creek Golf Course
5:00 pm Freshmen Volleyball @ SC West
Tuesday, September 12
10:00 am Boys Golf @ Whispering Creek Golf Course
4:30 pm Freshmen Volleyball @ SC West
5:00 pm Cross Country @ Storm Lake
5:30 pm JV Volleyball @ SC West
7:00 pm Varsity Volleyball @ SC West
Wednesday, September 13
Vocal Pre All State @ Heelan
Thursday, September 14
4:30 pm Freshmen Football vs. SC East @ East Middle School
Friday, September 15
6:30 pm Fall Activities Senior Night
7:00 pm Varsity Football vs. MOC
Saturday, September 16
9:00 am JV Volleyball @ Unity Chrisitian
9:00 am Varsity Volleyball @ Cherokee
Monday, September 18
4:30 pm Freshmen Volleyball @ Unity Christian
6:00 pm JV Football vs. CB AL
Tuesday, September 19
4:30 pm Freshmen Volleyball vs. Sioux City East
5:30 pm JV Volleyball vs. Sioux City East
7:00 pm Varsity Volleyball vs. Sioux City East
Thursday, September 21
Picture Day
9:30 am Boys Golf vs. CB AL @ Dodge Riverside Golf Course
5:00 pm Cross Country @ Sioux Center
Friday, September 22
4:45 pm Freshmen Football @ Spencer
7:00 pm Varsity Football @ Spencer
Saturday, September 23
8:30 am JV Volleyball @ Western Christian
9:00 am Varsity Volleyball @ Spencer
Monday, September 25
6:00 pm JV Football vs. Spencer
Tuesday, September 26
10:00 am Boyos Golf @ Green Valley MRAC Conference Meet
4:30 pm Freshmen Volleyball vs. CB AL
5:30 pm JV Volleyball vs. CB AL
7:00 pm Varsity Volleyball vs. CB AL
Wednesday, September 27
1:00 pm JV Boy Golf @ Floyd Park
Thursday, September 28
4:30 pm Cross Country @ Covington Links - South Sioux City
4:30 pm Varsity Volleyball - Le Mars Tournament
Friday, September 29
1:00 pm Coronation
2:15 pm Parade
4:15 pm Freshmen Football vs. SC West
7:00 pm Varsity Football vs.SC West
9:00 pm Homecoming Dance
Saturday, September 30
TBD - Starfest Marching Band Competition
TBD - Algona Band Days Festival
Comments
Post a Comment