Monday Morning Memo --- November 18, 2013
Upcoming Events:

 

MON. (11/18)  Teaching & Learning Abound!

 

                     Search & Rescue Training, 8am -11am In Room 500

                     Volunteers Received A Confirmation Email On 11/15

                      

TUES. (11/19) Teaching & Learning Abound!

 

                     First Aid / Triage Training, 8am - 11am In Room 500

                     Volunteers Received A Confirmation Email On 11/15

 

                    *Girls Volleyball @ Orange Lutheran, 7pm in CIF Semifinals*

                 

 WED. (11/20) LATE START DAY, 1st Period Begins @ 8:37am

                     Click Here For Schedule

 

 

THUR. (11/21) NIGHTTIME PEP RALLY FOR CIF PLAYOFF SPORTS

Students, Parents, Coaches, and Community Members...

We would like to invite you to an evening Pep Rally this Thursday, under the lights of John Barnes Field at 5:30pm, as we celebrate the ongoing successes of our Fall Sports Programs still competing in the CIF Playoffs.  
 
There'll Be Food Trucks, Free Giveaways For T-Shirts & Foam-Fingers, A Live Band, Pep Speeches From Captains & Coaches, Performances, And Of Course... The Best Student Section In The Country As Voted By MaxPreps Sports!
 
Football, Girls Volleyball, and Girls Cross Country are still competing this week. And this Pep Rally is sure to help them bring home another CIF Championship to add to our count!!!!
 

FRI. (11/22)   INSTRUCTIONAL NETWORKING, Observing Kathy Currie

                    Space Is Still Available For Periods 1/2 or 3/4 To Participate

                    Please email [email protected] to reserve a spot...

 

                    DISTRICT COLLEGE DAY --- Wear Your College Gear :)

 

                    Los Al Live, Comedy Improv Show. 3pm & 7pm, In Black Box

 

                    ***PLAYOFF FOOTBALL GAME @ FULLERTON, 7:00pm***

                    

SAT. (11/23)  CIF FINALS In Girls X-Country @ Mt. San Antonio College

 

                     CIF FINALS Girls Volleyball @ Santiago Canyon College, 8pm

                     (Pending A Victory On Tuesday Night vs. Orange Lutheran)

 

& On The Horizon...


11/25 ---  Full Emergency Evacuation Drill, 2nd Period
11/27-29 Thanksgiving Week :)
11/30 --- Seal Beach Tree Lighting Ceremony 
12/5-7 -- Show Choir's Holiday Show, 7pm

Unlimited Possibilities...
The Art Of The Tie:
How What Teachers Wear Makes A Difference In The Classroom...
Mr. Moses, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Contreras, all pose for the camera in their various attire... although they wear different styles, and have different interests in clothing, the one thing they do all have in common is that they always wear a tie...

***Disclaimer:  Teachers who wear ties are not automatically more effective or more professional than teachers who don't.  There is no substitute in the classroom for someone with content knowledge, relational skill, and a flair for connecting and motivating young people... ever.  No matter how they dress.
 
So why do teachers wear ties if it doesn't make them teach better?
 
SEPARATION.  Many young teachers, both male and female, are in danger of students thinking/perceiving that the relationship formulated between pupil and educator is one of "friendship," or between two people of equal standing in the eyes of the law.  Part of this has to do with the literal closeness in age between 20-something teachers and 18 or 19 year-old students, and some of this has to do with the maturity of those involved in classroom relationships.  As a strategy, dressing in a manner that significantly strays from the often-comfortable clothing that students wear can work to distinguish the stark differences that can and should exist between teacher and student.  In general, students don't wear ties... and if teachers, male or female, wear items of clothing reserved for more adult or professional settings, students are likely to understand that any relationship formulated with a teacher is one of mentorship or apprenticeship, not sameness or comradery.
 
EFFORT. Ties aren't easy to put on.  And whether you're a woman dressing professionally for the workplace, or a man tying a double-windsor, there's quite a bit of effort that goes into getting dressed nicely in the morning.  Taking this time in getting dressed is often a much different approach than slipping on some skinny jeans and running your fingers through your hair before heading to 1st period in the morning.  This difference in effort makes sense, and students often reflect a level of respect in class for their teachers commensurate with the amount of effort they perceive being put into their learning.  
 
Fortunately at Los Al, we all have a sense of professionalism and school spirit when it comes to getting dressed and going to work.  But even so, there's a lot to be said about paying attention to the ongoing manner in which we present ourselves to students.  We all have days when we "don't wear a tie," both literally and metaphorically, in class.  That's okay.... 
 
As long as we're cognizant of our students' perceptions, and their impact on the cycle of teaching and learning, we'll always be ready to throw on some spiffy neckwear should we need it :)
Los Al Students Raise $1,000 For Meg Cutuli, Our Queen Of Hearts Candidate For LAEF!!!

Last Friday, November 15th, 4th Period Classes at Los Alamitos High School competed in a "Dollar Drive" to raise money for LAEF Queen Of Hearts Candidate Meg Cutuli.

Well, the results are in, and LAHS students raised nearly $1,000 to donate to Boardmember Cutuli's campaign.  Way to go Griffins!  And good luck to the entire King & Queen Court :)
Republican / Democrat Debate On Campus
Rick Simpson v. Colin Edwards 

A big shout out to PTSA for organizing a political debate between Rick Simpson (D), Deputy Chief Of Staff for California Assembly Speaker John Perez, and former Los Al grad Colin Edwards (R), who now works in Assemblyman Travis Allen's office.
 
Students from the 3rd period classes of Mr. Hart, Ms. Hinz-Smith, and Mr. Courtemarche got to ask questions in the lecture hall about the state of California's democracy, AB 484, and the raising costs of college tuition.  
The Feedback Loop...
How The Details Make Us Better 

From left to right, Mr. Moellenkamp, Ms. Hinz-Smith, Ms. Walrath, Ms. Brucculeri, and Ms. Carthew all give feedback to a student or group of students in a clear, honest, and specific manner.

If you want to get better at something (like Math), it's probably best to heed the advice of someone that knows more than you... like a teacher.  In fact, it's through
Giants Players Reveal Secrets of Field Goal Kicking
the dialogue of a teacher and pupil that learners acquire skill and mastery. 
 
But this is just the beginning. Once the general skill of a task is taught and learned, students can continue to push for a deeper understanding of concepts so that they understand more fully and completely the depths to which something is known or can be applied.
 
A good example of this is kicking a field goal.  Most of us can grab two friends, and between us figure out a way to kick a 35-yard field goal in less than a few hours.  But what about if we had to do it in a game?  What if it was 40 yards?  What if it was windy?  What if it was to win the Superbowl? What if????
 
All those variables lend themselves to professional field goal kickers knowing a lot about what it takes to kick a field goal.  Like the fact that you only have 1.25 seconds to execute the kick before it's likely to get blocked.  Or that the laces need to be out when the ball is kicked.  Or that you only have a zone of 2 square inches for placement accuracy, etc...
 
The bottom line is:  there's a lot to be learned about everything.  If we keep giving students feedback, and continue to push them deeper and farther than ever before, they'll eventually find topics and subject matter that they want to be field goal kickers in.  

Laces out, Griffins! 
Week 11 2013-2014... IN THIS ISSUE:
Upcoming Events
The Art Of The Tie... How What Teachers Wear Matters
Los Al Students Raise $1,000 For Queen Of Hearts
Republican / Democrat Debate On Campus...
The Feedback Loop... How The Details Make Us Better
Grit, Not I.Q., Is The Greatest Predictor Of Student Success
The Reviews Are In: THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK
Google Showcase
School Board Member Dr. Barke Guest Lectures @ Los Al
 
 
THE TRACK & FIELD IS OFFICIALLY OPEN!!!
(In the photo above, School Board President Dave Boyer speaks at the 
Track & Field Complex's Ribbon Cutting on Tuesday, November 12, 2013)
 
Grit, Not I.Q., Is The Greatest Predictor Of Educational Success...
So How Do We Cultivate It?

Click on the word GRIT above to hear Professor Angela Lee Duckworth's TEDtalk on the personality trait research has shown is most linked to academic success.

Is intelligence inherited or developed?
 
Wait... don't answer that.  That question is sure to cause a fight in 1 out of 2 households that value and discuss education frequently as a part of their discourse.
 
Instead, ask this question:  Do You Have Grit?
 
Angela Lee Duckworth: The key to success? Grit
In order for you to answer tha question, of course, you have to know/understand exactly what GRIT is, where it comes from, how it works, and why it's so important that you have it.
 
Luckily, Professor Angela Lee Duckworth, of The University Of Pennsylvania, has taken care of all that in a recent TEDtalk from earlier this year.  In her talk, Professor Duckworth succinctly explains that ""Grit is living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint..." ... "The gritty individual approaches achievement as a marathon; his or her advantage is stamina."
 
Going forward into the Common Core, this is the soft skill that we'll be developing best practices around.  As we increase rigor, and are hyper-intentional about building the successes and failures of our classroom, we should do so for the purposes of developing grit.  We should look at models of perseverance in athletes, politicians, colleagues, and friends, and analyze them for the nuanced differences and similarities that exist around each example.
 
Angela Lee Duckworth thinks that we need to be gritty about developing grit.  This doesn't mean lowering GPA's and not building scaffolds for students to conquer deeply challenging tasks... but it does mean getting some knees scraped, and then getting back up to stand taller than ever.
 
Are you gritty?

Take Professor Duckworth's test and find out... or, give it to your class for them to see for themselves:   GRIT TEST.
The Review Are In!
Los Al Drama's THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK Is A Huge Hit!
Los Al Drama 2013 - The Diary Of Anne Frank





 
If you didn't get a chance to take in Los Al Drama's Fall Production on the Main Stage of the PAC, you missed an exemplary display of acting, direction, technical production, and more.

To quench the curiosity of those that missed the show, click here for a look at some of the first reviews!
School Board Member Dr. Jeff Barke Guest Lectures @ Los Al... 
And He's Giving Prescriptions For A Healthy Lifestyle Out For Free To All 9th Graders :)

What's the best food for me to eat?"

What's worse for you, cigarettes or marijuana?

Question like these, and more, were asked and answered during Dr. Barke's visit to Mr. Contreras' Health classes last Friday.  

Students got a chance to hear from a medical doctor about the choice-making they read about and discuss every day in Health.  And the best part was, Dr. Barke was able to bring to the class, both, a practical real-world lens on how certain choices impact personal health, as well as a perspective rooted in research and empirical data.

From the current studies referenced and highlighted in Dr. Barke's presentation, to the anecdotes of patients he's worked with over the years, students felt connected to the presentation and found value in having another voice lead the class, even if only for an hour.

And that's the thing about Guest Lecturers, they disrupt the inherent monotony of one teacher running the show... no matter how didactic and engaging we try to be.

In this digital age, sometimes a good TEDtalk is enough to allow a good Guest Speaker into your room a while.  In fact, I even used that strategy in this week's Monday Morning Memo... Thank You Professor Duckworth!
 

14 Student Athletes Sign NCAA Letters Of Intent!

In Just The First Of Three Signing Days This Year, 
Los Al Is On Pace to Send 40+ Griffins To Compete 
In Athletics At The Next Level In 2014
 

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Los Alamitos High School
3591 Cerritos Ave.
Los Alamitos, CA 90720   
(562) 799-4780