|
Upcoming Events:
MON. (12/3) New Teacher Follow-Up Meeting @ 2:30pm
(Room 154)
Site Council Meeting @ 5:30pm
(Room 500)
TUES. (12/4) Staff Meeting @ 7am In Room 500
Donuts & Coffee Provided. See You There!
WED. (12/5) Teaching & Learning Abounds!!!!
THUR. (12/6) SANDRA KAPLAN TRAINING DAY 2
Confirm Substitutes w/ Maureen
This Training Is Sure To Be Even More
Impactful Than The First One :)
Los Al To Host 20+ Exchange Students
From Japan Today! Be Sure To Make
Them "Heart" Los Al By The Time The
Day Is Done :)
Opening Night For The Los Al Choir's
"Holiday Spectacular" --- 7pm in PAC
FRI. (12/7) Los Al Choir's "Holiday Spectacular"
Runs Through Saturday Night... Get
Tickets Now!
Support Winter Sports: Boys & Girls
Soccer, and Boys & Girls Basketball are
all in full swing. Go out and catch a game
soon!
THIS WEEKEND --- Encourage Your Students To
Submit Their Video Submissions
For The iHeartLosAl Video Contest
Dec. 10 iPad Training/Conference (Off-campus, for those
who signed up)
Dec. 12 Leadership Council @ 7am In Room 500
Dec. 13 Technology Planning Session @ 2:30pm in Conf. A
Dec. 14 Our 2nd Instructional Round, visiting Ms. Currie
Dec. 19 FREE Holiday Breakfast For All Staff!!!!
|
 |
The Technology Gap...
And What We Can Do To Close It @ Los Al
So, this article is more of a question and call to action than it is a plan or proposal for solutions.
The technology gap is growing in education; and with students changing the way they learn, access content, and collaborate with one another, it is incumbent on us as educators to respond.
But how?
At Los Al, technology manifests itself in the following ways: Edmodo, iPads, SMARTBoards, Elmos, Haiku, blogging, cell phones, apps, Twitter, Facebook, Aeries, and so much more. A gap occurs, though, as students venture from class to class and experience these technologies differently, or not at all, depending on the setting.
This makes sense, of course. We're all learning these technologies alongside our students (and the rest of the world). The iPad, for example, has only been in existence for 3 years. And depending on when a teacher may have first purchased or experimented with one will certainly play into its usability as an instructional tool.
So, what's the solution?
The short answer is to not slow down! And we won't. Los Al will continue to foster creativity and innovation in our use of technology to enhance instruction, manage content, and facilitate collaboration. We're looking to equip teachers with the technology they need (and are curious about) in order to raise student achievement and prepare students for access to college and careers after high school.
But we need to find a way to speed up the learning curve and comfortability of adopting technology --- whatever the tool may be. And we need to do it now.
If you're interested in being part of this solution, or have ideas on how we can work to close the technology gap as it exists for teachers looking to enhance or modify their instruction and curriculum, please come to Los Al's Technology Planning Session, Thursday, December 13th from 2:30pm - 3:30pm in Conference Room A. There, we'll be looking for ideas on how to close the gap in technology use for classroom teachers, as early as now.
If you're interested in attending, just email jarnold@losal.org with the Subject Line "Technology Planning Session" to R.S.V.P.
With students like this bringing their Kindle to English class so they can better take notes and annotate text, there is a clear urgency for us to be smart and have a plan for how we'll roll out, and keep up, with technology as it expands in usership and functionality these next few years.
Let's see what comes out of our Technology Planning Session, and hopefully we can put some language and action towards closing the gap and meeting the ever-changing needs of our students.
|
Free Money!
DonorsChoose.org
Courtesy of DonorsChoose, these new Common Core Science books are now a part of Ms. Ferris' classroom library.
A little over a month ago, an email was sent to all Los Al teachers about an opportunity that existed for educators to submit requests to www.donorschoose.org for the purpose of fulfilling donation requests for education tools needed to enhance teaching and learning.
Many Los Al teachers submitted proposals, and among the teachers that have so far been funded are Choir Director Mr. Moellenkamp and science teacher Ms. Ferris.
***The word on the street is that big companies like Chevron and others have committed millions to Donors Choose this Fall for the purpose of charitable giving. This, of course, increases the likelihood of having your idea come to life!***
If you're interested in what the application looks like, just check out Ms. Ferris' fully-funded proposal page, here:
http://www.donorschoose.org/project/ms-ferris-biology-classroom-library/908060/
Donors Choose is wonderful organization, that has done tons to foster the same kind of creativity and innovation that we value here at Los Al. That is to say, teachers have the best solutions to their students' learning needs... and if we trust and support their ideas whole-heartedly, we're sure to make a world of difference!
So, what are you waiting for? Visit www.donorschoose.org, and get your project funded today! |
|
WASC'n It Out!:
How Los Al's Continuous Improvement Cycle Informs Our Action Plan...
In the picture above, WASC Focus Group Leaders work to formulate the details of our Action Plan going forward for Los Alamitos High School.
On Thursday, November 15th, WASC Chairperson Bill Moyer came to Los Al to meet teachers, talk with Focus Group Leaders and tour classrooms as part of a pre-visit for our upcoming WASC visitation in March.
The good news is, he loved what he saw!
And what's not to love?From the deep connections between students and staff across campus, to the embedded culture of pride that exists everywhere you turn, Mr. Moyer took notice of the hard work and big smiles evident on the faces of students and staff in every classroom we visited.
"There's a lot to be proud of at Los Al," he remarked :)
Ain't that the truth!
And one of those things is to be particularly proud of is the actual process by which WASC is taking place this cycle. Teacher leaders from stakeholder groups all across campus have taken tremendous ownership of this process, really maximizing the opportunity for WASC, and the idea of a Self-Study, to inform continuous school improvement in areas we're interested in growing in.
It's still being fleshed out, but the whole-school creation of our Action Plan is a perfect example of intense collaboration for the purpose of evolving our practices, strategies, and structures for the sake of our students.
Thank you to everyone for lending a voice and participating in the ongoing growth of our school. As we've talked about in our Home and Focus Groups, we're looking forward to the WASC process giving us further ideas in the area of Collaboration Time, our Honesty Code, and Academic Interventions so that Los Al can continue to deliver the most comprehensive and rigorous educational experience for high schoolers in all of Orange County.
|
|
|
|
 | The iHeartLosAl Video Submission
Contest Is In Full Effect!!!! |
Just click the link above to see an awesome video mash-up from students Oliver Chen and Kristal Chan. Or type "iHeartLosAl" into the Search Bar on YouTube to see other great submissions, too!
|
|
"Outage Window..."
A Lesson In Building, Building, And Building
 Yes! That's a two-story set... And, yes! They take tons of time to make and design.
For those who caught a glimpse of this year's Fall Drama "Outage Window," you were sure to have been impressed by the students' coming together to act and produce an amazing show for all to behold. What we sometimes forget, of course, is how much building needs to take place in order for it to all work successfully.
Building. Ms. Stembridge spends hours upon hours building the skills of our Griffin actors to the point where they not only know their lines, but immerse themselves in the characters they play. It's hard work, of course. And the time spent building the confidence of our actors helps facilitate the ownership of cast members for their roles.
Building. Ms. Grindstaff, Theatre Technician extraordinaire, literally helps build the set the Drama Department will use as part of their production. Considering that most of the students assigned to set-design have extremely limited experience hammering, screwing, designing, or painting, the work they end up completing is truly amazing.
Building. Amidst all that goes on to produce a show, tons of cohort-building takes place as groups of students, parents, teachers, and friends form meaningful bonds that outlast any week-long run of an actual production. The relationships built are rooted in shared experience, fun, and a sense of accomplishment. And those are, ultimately, the kinds of things that will last a lifetime. And that's what it takes to make a great production @ Los Al. Lots of time, tons of love, and the ability to build, build, and build so that the memories outlast the experience. |
|
Coaching Is Teaching:
In-Game Education Makes A World Of Difference...
P.E. Teacher, Health Teacher, and Girl's Volleyball Coach Mr. Huber educates his players during a called Time Out in the playoffs.
Any coach will tell you, on-field/in-game coaching is a lot like the classroom... only the results are sped up.
The strategies, however, are the same. Relationship building, just as it is in the classroom, is a critical component to any coach's success. As games progress, and coaches make decisions about playing time, positions, strategies, and more, everything can fall to the wayside if the trust and relationship between the coach and players isn't thick and real. (Ask a shooter to pass in the fourth quarter of a basketball game, and if he or she doesn't respect you as a coach, you may have to drum up another strategy.)
Or what about this framework? All issues of learning in the classroom can either be solved by increasing knowledge, motivation, or skill. The same is true for coaching, of course. And when the results are expected 60 minutes after the game starts, or by the end of the 4th quarter, working to fill in those gaps of knowledge, motivation, or skill takes ongoing assessment, extreme accountability, and instant feedback... Just like the classroom.
So, the next time you visit the classroom of an on-staff Coach, or see one of our incredible coaches leading students on the court, mat, field, or rink... consider reflecting on some of their practices and use it to inform your instruction.
You never know, there might be a lot a we can learn from each other, both, in the classroom and on the field :)
|
|
Metacognition:
Adding Depth & Complexity To Question Asking
A Bloom's Taxonomy assignment for students!
Developing a student's metacognitive skills is probably one of the hardest things for a teacher to accomplish. It takes tons of time to develop valuable tasks and assessments to ensure metacognition is taking place... and even then, it's still hard to measure.
But what about this?
English teacher Ms. Yoshihara-Ha asks students NOT to answer questions about their reading as a form of homework... but rather to ASK questions about the text and bring those to class. Even more rigorous, she front-loads her students with the content of Bloom's Taxonomy (a favorite of teacher-prep programs across the country), and then requires students to only ask Level 4 or Level 5 questions for full credit.
Pretty cool! By teaching students the same things teachers learn to become better question-askers, Ms. Yoshihara-Ha is taking metacognitive learning to new heights.
As part of their classroom discourse, students are asking deep and meaningful questions about the text for peers to answer and make sense of. Where Ms. Yoshihara-Ha may have been the one to ask these kinds of questions in the past, she can now spend her time "nudging" the conversation to her intended focus, all while students feel (and do) have control of the kinds of questions and responses they provide to each other about the literature at hand.
Of course, this kind of teaching and learning doesn't just apply to the Humanities. Metacgonitive strategies that teach students "how they learn" are applicable across every discipline imaginable. If you get a chance, demo some metacognitive tasks and assignments soon, and see if it doesn't do wonders towards building a student's self-efficacy and overall achievement in your class!
|
NEW PICTURE
DOWNLOADING SITE
From now on, if you need a picture from any of these Monday Morning Memos,
The pics there are high quality, easy to access, and always downloadable.
|
Los Alamitos High School
3591 Cerritos Ave.
Los Alamitos, CA 90720
|
|
|
