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Upcoming Events:
MON. (3/11) PTSA Meeting - 10am, Room 500
Sophomore College Night
7pm in PAC
TUES. (3/12) CAHSEE - English (All 10th Graders)
Special Bell Schedule Here
EEATT Tech Meeting After School
Room 700 --- Dan Bennett's Room
WED. (3/13) CAHSEE - Math (All 10th Graders)
THUR. (3/14) STAFF MEETING @ 7am in Room 500
BELL SCHEDULE COMMITTEE BEGINS!
Dr. Kropp Walkthrough, 10am - Noon
EVERY 15 MINUTES
Car Crash @ Lunch / Names Read
FRI. (3/15) EVERY 15 MINUTES
Assembly Schedule
Spring Sports Are In Season!!!
Go support our Baseball, Boys Golf, Lacrosse, Softball, Swimming, Boys Tennis, Track & Field, and Boys Volleyball teams!!!
& On The Horizon...
Mar. 19 Ondrea Reed, Hopkinson Principal, to walk
classrooms and visit Los Al in the a.m.
Mar. 19 Sally Neiser, Oak Principal, to walk
classrooms and observe integrated tech @
Los Al in the afternoon
Mar. 20 Mr. Griffin - PAC @ 7pm
Mar. 25 School Site Council Meeting, 6pm in Room 500
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CAHSEE TESTING THIS WEEK:
Please Remind Students To Test Their Best... Here's Why 
Back in the time of Bill & Ted, it was all about "passing" the test. Now, though, it's about "proficiency." Here's what that means...
Los Alamitos High School has a +98% first-time 10th grade pass rate on the California High School Exit Exam. And the state and Federal government both say we can still do considerably better... What they means is that by
2014, the goal of NCLB is for all students to be Proficient or Advanced in every high-stakes assessment they participate in that tests their standards-based education. Last year, 83% of students in English, and 78% of students in Math scored proficient or higher on their CAHSEE exams in March. This year, the expectation is that this will again increase.
So, what does this mean for your classroom?
It means that the cultural ethos Los Al has long established bodes well for student success across multiple contexts. Here, at Los Al, we value competition. We thrive on being the best at whatever it is we endeavor to try, and we look forward to challenges that better prepare us for our lives outside of the classroom.
We've all already worked hard to identify students that might need extra support leading up to Tuesday's CAHSEE, and we've intervened in their education to provide the best foundation possible for these students to succeed.
Leading up to Tuesday's exam, you can remind your students that their success will be a byproduct of the rigor, work ethic, and teaching and learning outcomes of your class.
2-week CAHSEE Prep courses can be effective... but nothing beats 10 years of a demanding, high-quality education provided by caring professionals who want nothing more than to hep students, and best represent their school.
Our CAHSEE proficiency rates are bound to soar...
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Wanna Throw A Pie At Their Teacher?
These 1,000 Students Did...
That's a lot of pie... Students donated $1, $2, and $3 a pie to INTERACT CLUB just for a chance to show their teachers how much they love them...
Intended to be held outside, a quick hail storm meant that the pie-throwing had to take place in Room 500.
Sorry Custodial Staff!!! Sorrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyy!!!!
Despite students' best efforts, nobody could wipe that smile off Mr. Heeren's face...
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Ms. Merrell and Mr. Farvour stare at each other in disbelief... What'd they get into?
 
The two faces of Mr. Jones... After getting pied alongside Mr. Martinez, Mr. Jones headed to the Science Shower for a quick rinse... Unfortunately, he forgot a change of clothes --- Oops! --- and taught for the rest of the day in undersized lost-and-found sweats and a hoodie.  A day we'll remember forever...
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"Swing Away!"
A Strategy For Rigor In The Classroom...
See that "donut" on Pujols' bat? Think of your class as Batting Practice, or an On-Deck Circle, and your students will be almost guaranteed to succeed...
It doesn't really matter whose class I was in --- but let's pretend it was the one owned by the person who wrote the "Mussolini Agenda" in the top-right corner of this Memo --- when I heard an analogy for teaching and learning that resonated with me in my bones... all that matters is that it happened. And that I'll never forget it.
Here, I promise to do my best to relay the sentiment exactly how it was communicated to students.
Student #1: "But we're never going to have write 12-page papers on the AP Exam, are we?"
Teacher: "Nooooooo...."
Student #1: "Then why do we have to do them now?"
Student #2: "Yeah, this seems like a lot of work for something that we don't have to do on the test..."
Teacher: "Ahhh... I'm glad you brought that up. You are absolutely right to suggest that this won't be a part of the AP Exam, and that this assignment may actually be harder than the kind of writing you'll have to do then. But, have you ever watched baseball?"
Students #1 & #2: "Yeah, sure..."
Teacher: "Have you ever seen what batters do in a baseball game just before they get up to bat? They stand in the On-Deck circle and swing two or three bats at a time. Do you know why they do that? Why do they do that if, when it's their turn, they'll only be expected to swing with one bat?"
Student #2: "Because then it'll be easier."
Teacher: "Because they can just swing away... And that's what I want you to do on the AP Test: swing away. It won't be an issue of whether or not your skilled or strong enough, you'll be prepared."
Students #1, #2, #3... #38: "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...."
I tell you, I haven't been in such agreement about the way to think about rigor in the classroom in a long time...
Ask any counselor, and they'll tell you that almost every student who has gone off to college returns with the exact same words on their lips, "I had no idea how prepared Los Al had made me."
Swing away, Griffins... Swing away!!!
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Los Al InvenTeams Gets Visited By MIT!
That Thing Really Purifies Water...
Oliver Chen leads a team of 20+ Los Al students in an MIT-funded science experiment designed to change the world..
Just one look at their website, and its pretty easy to tell how talented our Los Al InvenTeams students really are. They're working on a water purification system designed to be usable by underdeveloped countries in Africa and other Third World Nations.
http://www.losalinventeam.blogspot.com/
As part of a routine stop-in, Leigh Estabrooks came to Los Al last week and offered her support for the project before the students and Mr. Valenzuela, their coach and sponsor, head out to Cambridge this Summer to compete for the nation's top prize.
Good Luck InvenTeam! You've been under the guidance of Ms. Eatmon, Ms. Davenport, Mr. Valenzuela, and all of ROP for the last 2 years... You're well-prepared to succeed @ MIT in just a few months :)
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Student Learning Objectives are a powerful way to com-municate what students will be doing in class on a particular day. Above, is an example of an SLO from a Los Al teacher committed to orienting their students properly each and every lesson. Thank You WASC!
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A WASC Of A Week:
How Can You Not "Heart" Los Al?
Our Visiting Committee just before they delivered their Final Report to Los Al teachers & staff in the PAC. A big thanks for all their time and energy this past week. We appreciate the feedback!!!
Teaching is a sport. And just as it is with any athlete, or team, or coach, it is impossible to get better and grow one's skill set without meaningful feedback.
Enter WASC.
 The Western Association of Schools & Colleges has developed a helpful protocol to assist ALL schools in monitoring their progress towards particular goals, and providing feedback on curriculum, instruction, and program design from a perspective outside of the local context.
For our visit, Mr. Bill Moyer (APUSH teacher at Great Oaks High School in Temecula Valley) lead a team of 8 teachers, principals, and administrators who walked the hallways and classrooms of Los Al. They heard from staff, students, and parents during Focus Group discussions... and ultimately, were more than impressed by the community effort to educate the whole child that every Griffin stakeholder has completely bought into.
One observation that came up a number of times during the visit by Committee Members was the fact that "Los Al has such amazing students..."
True, indeed. But what makes our school really special --- and I mean really, really special --- is the quality, efficacy, and ingenuity of our teachers' instruction... and the support from parents and families we have to push students to their considerable heights.
WASC validated all of our efforts in this regard. And we couldn't be more grateful for the feedback :)
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Grade Yourself, Kid!
Changing The Grading Paradigm In Class, One Assignment At A Time
For this protocol, students grade themselves. The teacher also issues a grade, and if the two marks disagree they schedule a conference and talk until they agree on a single indication of effort and achievement.
Mr. Carthew knows a lot about art. And when he integrates that into how much he knows about learning and assessment, the outcome is a grading protocol that can be used by an teacher, in any class, for just about any assignment.
Here it is..
 Even though the layperson may see "art" as purely subjective, the fact is that our art teachers are teaching objective skills and frameworks behind the doors of their classrooms. Students are taught practices that they need to master (like perspective, shading, coloring, rounding corners, etc.), and they culminate these skills into a Final Project, usually, at the end of a unit.
In Mr. Carthew's class, as in most any class at Los Al, students are keenly aware of the expectations of the assignment beforehand, and are usually able to assess the quality of their work before receiving specific feedback from their teacher. To tap into this, Mr. Carthew allows students to grade themselves, and then defend their assessment through data if he and the student disagree.
"You'd be surprised at what they give themselves," Mr. Carthew said. "Students can be quite hard on themselves."
Of course, this protocol for grading is much less about assessment and "earning a grade" than it is about learning. Students learn from a valuable feedback protocol, regardless of the grade. The discussions, in this instance, are where the true learning occurs.
So, give it a try! Let students grade themselves and then set aside time to argue and defend with them while you both calibrate your goals and expectations...
It may turn this century-old grading paradigm on its head, but you'll be sure to maximize learning all the while :)
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Kobe & Nona & Landry:
Last Friday Night, These Three Were Inextricably Linked...
Ms. Rafferty can make anyone smile :)
Just a few minutes after Kobe torched him for 41, and hit three 3-pointers in the 4th quarter to send the game into overtime and eventually come out with a Lakers win... former Griffin Landry Fields met up with his Los Al counselor Ms. Rafferty to invite her onto the court for some picture-taking and high school reminiscing.
 Thank you, Nona, for your efforts to guide Landry through high school, and onto a wonderful career at Stanford and in the NBA...
And thank you Landry for representing Los Al so well...
Please feel free to guard Kobe anytime :)
Disclaimer: This article was written by a Lakers fan.
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The Recognition They Deserve...
At The February 26th School Board Meeting, These Griffins Received Honors
Kathy Currie gave a speech as she earned this year's LAUSD Teacher Of The Year award. She'll be headed to our County Finals later this year!
 Even a broken hand couldn't stop Maureen Motsinger from attending her much-deserved Classified Employee Of The Year recognition.
 Parents and supporters extraordinaire, Denise Keller and Judy Searing received this year's Heroes Of The Heart award from Los Alamitos High School.
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Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!!
Teachers across the district celebrate a legend
 Last week, a number of Los Al staff headed over to Hopkinson Elementary School in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday.
Dr. Seuss is, of course, still relevant in high school... From teaching "totalitarianism" in AP US History through THE BUTTER BATTLE, to understanding the meaning of "existential angst" in 12th grade Modern Literature through HORTON HEARS A WHO... the work of Dr. Seuss stays important well into adulthood.
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The many faces (and hair/beard configurations) of Mr. John Haygood. You're welcome!
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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