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Upcoming Events:
MON. (1/21) Martin Luther King, Jr. Day --- No School
TUES. (1/22) Last Day Before Final Exams
THUR. (1/24) Final Exam Schedule - Periods 1, 3, and 5
FRI. (1/25) Teacher Planning Day --- No Students
SAT. (1/26) SAT Exam @ Los Al
ALL WEEK LONG... Support Winter Sports: Wrestling, Girls Water Polo, Boys & Girls Soccer, and Boys & Girls Basketball are all going on!
Jan. 21 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (No School)
Jan. 23 Student Finals - Periods 0, 2, 4, and 6
Jan. 24 Student Finals - Period 1, 3, and 5
Jan. 25 Pupil Free Day :)
Jan. 26 SAT
Jan. 28 iHeartLosAl Contest Awards Ceremony --- PAC @ 6pm
1/28-2/1 WINTER SPORTS PROMOTION WEEK --- Prizes and
Giveaways at every home match in every sport all week long!!!
Feb. 1 Pack The Gym Dance --- If students from either school go to
the Los Al v. Fountain Valley Boys Basketball Game, they get
into the dance for free
Feb. 5 Dr. Kropp Walkthrough @ Los Al
Feb. 7-9 Drama Show: Great Gatsby
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Slurpees & Hot Dogs:
A Lesson In Community Partnerships
The new 7-11 on Los Al Blvd. donated $711 to Los Alamitos High School just for being a good neighbor. "There's more where that came from!", says owners Balwinder Singh and Daljit Singh Randhawa.
The weather was perfect for 7-11's grand opening on Los Al Blvd. @ 3pm on Friday. Tons of students showed up, too, as owners Balwinder Singh and Daljit Singh Randhawa gave Los Alamitos High School a check for $711 in a show of community support.  Students were treated to free Slurpees all day long, and the store was packed with students from Los Al from the minute the bell to end school rang at 2:30pm. (Rumor has it somebody bought hot dogs for all the students in line at the store @ 3pm.)
The event signified everything that's great about all the local businesses in and around Los Al. Most businesses in our area have close relationships with our high school --- for example, reduced-price pizzas from Ameci's, free burritos from El Pollo Loco, free iHeartLosAl pciture from First Class Pictures, and of course Volcano Burger --- and 7-11 looks to partner with many of our Los Al Athletic and Arts programs to show support for our students throughout the year.
So the next time you've got a hankering for a hot dog, or need a strong cup of Joe on your way to work, think about 7-11...
They're more than just a neighbor... they're our friend :)
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So, You Think You Can Dance???:
If You're In Ms. Jones' Program, You Probably Can!
For those of us who can't even touch their toes, watching dancers like this just end up making our back hurt... The Dance Show was amazing this weekend!!!
What a show! The Los Al Dance Program put on their Winter Show this weekend, My Father's Closet, and it was a huge success! Sold out every night in the PAC, My Father's Closet exemplified everything that's amazing about our Arts programs at Los Al.
Close to 200 students danced to songs spanning the decades. And while it was clear how fortunate we are to have such talented and dedicated students, what really stood out to me was the level of planning, practice, and coordination it took to put on such an amazing program.
That's where Ms. Jones comes in...
In terms of te aching and learning, the Dance Show this weekend can be thought of as a Final Exam --- a culminating project in which students demonstrate everything they know. Clearly, their teacher has taught them well. From the hundreds of techniques and dance moves the students have mastered, to their confidence and showmanship, Ms. Jones has helped to create capable dancers whose confidence exuded throughout each stellar performance.
And consider this... every student from every level of the program got to dance in the show. That's differentiation! Proud parents watched their children beaming as they got to strut their stuff to routines that were challenging enough to push their limits, but within their realm of mastery to bolster their confidence.
Congratulations, Ms. Jones! Not only was the show amazing, but the teaching and learning on display was a joy for any educator to witness!
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The EEATT Menu:
Education Easily Advanced Through Technology
by Mark Celestin & Dan Bennett
Here's the digital version of the list of services we're starting to put together in our role as Technology Coach next semester. Please keep in mind that we're focused on providing solutions to instructional enhancements versus training a teacher on just an app or new device. What follows are a list of common focus areas teachers are often looking to enhance, and a beginning list of potential tools that may evolve one's practice.
Management:
Aeries -School grade system
Class Dojo - marking behavior and or partication during class
Class Cards - random caller and can record when they get it right or wrong
Fast Timer HD - Visible timer
Assessment: Socrative - android or iphone - team review / quiz Camera - live presentations, posters or assignment Learning Management System: Edmodo - website, storage of assignments, videos, maps,... extended learning, alerts... Extended learning: PCC (Edmodo) Voicethread - conversation in the cloud. Post videos, voice or images and then have a conversation online. Explain Everything ($3) - recordable presentation, similar to Power point. Doceri - a recordable whiteboard - can record what you write on the screen and say Sock Puppets - used to annimate conversation. Research: Chrome - robust browser Google Search - browser, QR scanner Instagrok - will research a term or idea and show you how it is connected to others Organization: Organizing your ipad Mail - School email Evernote - keeper of notes, annotate, include photos Camscanner - photo, annotate, (easier to choose annotation colors) share as pdf Noteability - ($2) annotates and organizes notes into books. Uploads easily to cloud. Dragon Dictation - will record your speech and transcribe to text Engagement: Prezi - annimated Powerpoint Facetime / Skype iMovie ($5) keynote ($10) - Apple's Powerpoint Video camera - to record interviews,... Simple Mind (Mind map), simple to use mind map Popplet ($5) - more advanced mind map - can add photos, drawings, export as pdf, jpeg Xtranormal - annimated cartoon that you script to present an idea Infographic - uses stats and visuals to convey a message or problem Storage: Dropbox - good for videos and general files (anything big), user friendly, 2 gigs, sign up as teacher - 1 gig for referral Google drive - good for lesson plans, worksheets (smaller things) 5 gigs Evernote - keeper of notes, annotate, include photos Need more info? Just contact:
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Click Anywhere On This Picture
To See What Mr. Carlson Does
Every Morning As A Coach!!!
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Social Science teacher, Dave Carlson, takes his job seriously... both of them! As a dedicated History teacher, he engages his students in learning all day long. And as one of the most accomplished Girls Water Polo coaches in the county, he engages his players with fierce preparation... of which winning is a byproduct!
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Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before: An Art Teacher, 2 Math Teachers, 2 History Teachers, And A Science Teacher All Walk Into A Copy Room...
Just a typical afternoon in the Copy Room. Here, Ms. McAdams, Ms. Fox, Ms. Meider, Mr. Farvour, Ms. Lundblad, and Mr. Bennett share stories and best practices from throughout the week. (Although, I also thought I heard something like "blah, blah... El Torito... blah, blah, blah, 4 o'clock...)
There's a story about Steve Jobs in Walter Isaacson's bigoraphy ( http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1451648537) that talks about the level of thoughtful design he put into creating the workplace environment at Apple after he was brought back on board in the late '90's. The story is that Jobs tore down every single wall at the Cupertino office, and eliminated "cubbies" so that everyone could see everyone else at any moment of the day. Jobs said he did this so that people could interact with each other more openly, and so more natural collaboration would take place throughout the day. Collaboration, as is evidenced by almost all of Apple's products, was a core value of Jobs'... and he believed better ideas came about when people worked together. For our professional community, the Copy Room is our Apple-inspired workspace. Though small, it is where people who may not always get the chance to talk during a normal day share ideas, teaching strategies, personal stories, and more. It is a place where relationships are strengthened, and collaboration is natural. And where we may end up borrowing a handout or tweaking a lesson as a result of a simple conversation with a friend or colleague. Oh, the Copy Room! A place where everyone goes, everyone's welcome, and everyone shares. It's the Apple Corporate Office of Los Al :) |
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"Collab" Is Fab: A Number Of Dynamic Duos Exist On Campus This Semester!
 Ah... the look On Mr. Malinoswki's face says it all! Clearly, Mr. Stembridge is showing off some amazing new teaching app on his phone, right? Or maybe it's the box score from UConn's latest Men's Basketball Game. Either way, these two are quickly becoming good friends, and even better colleagues!
The Collaborative Model of inclusive education has been all the rage this year @ Los Al. Under this paradigm, teams of teachers (usually 2) work together during a single class period to provide high quality instruction to, both, general education students and students with special needs.
Along with Gary Bowers, Michelle Kelly, Ryan Godfrey, Heidi Pelle-Reid, and Jackie Post, Lance Malinowski works to "push-in" with a general education teacher to assist in addressing the needs of all learners.
Fortunately for Lance, he's partnered with Mike Stembridge --- Los Al golf coach and Science teacher extraordinaire. Together, these two bounce all over the classroom, employing engagement strategies simply not possible with just one teacher in the room.
"Just watching them have a conversation keeps my attention," one student reported. "They're always having a good time, which leads to me having a good time, too!" (Of course, many of their interactions are planned out beforehand.)
Part of an effective model for collaborative teaching is the necessary prep time it takes to design a thoughtful lesson. So, Lance and Mike spend good portions of their day outside of class working together to create lessons that are both rigorous and accessible to all students in their class.
The data suggests that this model of teaching seems to be working. With Finals just around the corner, more students have higher grades heading into this week than ever before!
Keep up the great work, guys!
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 | XtraNormal Video About Cheating For
Los Al Staff Meeting, 1-15-13 |
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.
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Los Alamitos High School
3591 Cerritos Ave.
Los Alamitos, CA 90720
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