Welcome to Newell-Fonda

Welcome back for the 2012-13 school year! It has been a great start back and will be a year marked with many changes. The first change has already taken place with the beginning of demolotion of the shop building.

This will make room for the 13 classroom addition and shop. The second phase of the project will be a gymnasium, media center, and commons space off of the gym. The projected occupancy of all of the projects will be August 2014. This will be a year of many changes and challenges, but we know the end product is what we need to keep in mind.

 As construction begins, please be respectful of the construction zone, we will keep our website up-to-date with pictures of what is going on. Because the shell is a precast building, meaning that they are made of poured concrete and assembled in sections, we will not see a lot of substantial building until December. With the site now cleared, let the building begin!

The picture to the right is a view from the east parking lot looking west. This is the former site of the shop and playground.

 In phase II, the south tower, seen in the background, will also be demolished to make room for the new practice gymnasium and media center. Destination 2014 is in full swing!

Weight Room Addition

The Newell-Fonda Community School is into an addition possible by the generous donation of Don Anderson. Mr. Anderson had set up a trust fund many years ago. For the first 10 years, the fund provided scholarships for Newell-Fonda graduates who were entering any medical field related career. This fund provided many students opportunities to establish themselves into a career of service in the medical field.

At the end of 10 years, the principal (approximately $325,000) was to be divided up and used by 4 specified groups within the school district. The 4 areas are Music, Speech, Art, and Athletics. Committees were formed for each area and recommendations made on the use of money. One of the goals was to provide an impact on students of the Newell-Fonda district as long-term as possible.

The Athletic committee had long seen a need for a improved weight room facility. The have dedicated the entire share of the Anderson Trust Athletic apportionment to the construction of a new weight room facility which is located north of the small gym. Below are progress pictures provided by Scott Kilbride, bus driver and photographer extraordinaire. Thank you to Scott for sharing his photos. Substantial completion will be near or by November 1st.



This is a view looking south from the railroad tracks. The wall directly behind is the small gym.



The exterior framing is nearly complete. The four large windows will look north and provide a lot of natural light.



This view is from the west, you can see the old bus barn and the big gym in the background. There will be an entrance door on both the east and west, seen at right, to the weight room.

Check back for continued updates.

Debt Solution

We appear to be heading into an out of control spiral but Warren Buffett offered his advice to put an end to budget deficits. Sometimes the solutions are just so simple.

Warren Buffett, pictured here adorably eating a parfait, presented his quick and easy solution to America’s debt problem today on CNBC: “I could end the deficit in five minutes. You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than three percent of GDP all sitting members of congress are ineligible for reelection.

Innovation

Here is an article shared with me from our AEA Chief Administrator, Jeff Herzberg. In his email Jeff states

You may have all caught this article but it should be read by every staff member, community member and board member in rural Iowa...

The article, When Factories Vanish, So Can Innovators, discusses the impact to other industries because of losing manufacturing jobs in the United States. How do schools reverse what the article points to? “Young people stop thinking about making things,” Mr. Jordan says. “It is no longer in their heads. They have a different mental orientation."

If this is true, how do we get them thinking about making things? To be creative and innovative?

Counting Hours vs Days

I have mixed feelings of counting hours versus counting days when inclement weather comes into play. I guess one of my views would be to have the flexibility to make up time missed by extending the day or starting earlier when temps are more conducive to staying in school. The part we must remember is that we had 2 early dismissals due to heat.

Your thoughts pro and con.

MLK Day - What is Your Dream?

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and one of the most famous speeches ever known, "I Have A Dream", an attempt to identify Dreams for Education. What is your Dream as related to Education? What will it take to make it happen? Are you working within a system that encourages change?

"I Have A Dream.....

• That People stop others when they begin to talk negative about education while not knowing facts
• That People are aware they are always selling Newell-Fonda with every interaction both in person and online
• That People are proud to be part of something special and their actions support this
• That teachers, students, and patrons feel they are treated with respect and fairly when they come to our school
• That all staff treat each student as our best customer
• That people feel they can approach all administrators with constructive dialogue in an effort to make the system better
• That change is embraced as the norm rather than another thing we have to do
• That students embrace and excel with the tools we provide
• That people embrace being an active participant of “The Great Conversation” as referenced by Jamie Vollmer in his book Schools Cannot Do It Alone
• That Iowa can impact teaching and learning
• That our students can connect with learners from all over the United States
• That business and industry connect with schools to move change"

These are a few of my "dreams" for our system that I feel are important as we move forward.

Our entire staff, certified and non-certified, are reading the book by Jamie Vollmer as referenced above and I am hearing some promising comments from our dialogue. Change will occur and our employees are empowered to initiate the change.

I would encourage all to push on your system and stretch your staff. Iowa has a lot of talent working in its schools and they need to be given the opportunity to share outside of their four walls.

Be sure and check out the visions shared on our new DE Director's blog where he asks 3 questions to Iowa educators. It appears change will be supported from the top, this is a great time to be in education!

Pardon The Disruption - Back to Teaching

So you went to a tech conference at Newell-Fonda or Sigourney as part of the #iowa1to1 and picked up some tips on how to integrate technology and teach differently. You got back to your school shared your new enthusiasm with your students and they were inspired. You carried that into day 2, 3 and perhaps into the next week. But now we are 10 days post-conference and some are resorting back to the old way of teaching. In essence, you are sending the message to your students "Pardon The Disruption" - Back to my old teaching styles.

Being a master learner is about continually researching ways to improve teaching, trying new methods, reflecting on your craft, sharing with a peer, and trying again. Clayton Christiansen discusses why schools struggle to teach differently, or fight through the disruption. Teaching in a 1 to 1 provides the opportunities to teach differently. While tech integration provides challenges, tech can help in both changing technology and changing pedagogy.

What can you do to help push through the challenges? Have you touched base with new relationships from the conference? Have you shared a success or failure from something you tried? Have you followed the #iowa1to1 hashtag on twitter? Have you joined a group on the Iowa 1 to 1 Ning? Have you asked for help from a new group on the Iowa 1 to 1 Ning?

Don't procrastinate any longer--connect and expand with your Personal Learning Network(PLN). Procrastination inhibits change leading to improved student engagement. Push yourself into action. There will always be reasons not to but there are plenty of reasons to change---most notable, the students in your classroom. Don't let the disruption stop you from changing.

My "Tin Cup" List

At the recent Technology and Learning conference held at Newell-Fonda and Sigourney, I have heard about a lot of the learning that took place. My opening comment for the day was "this is your learning, you are responsible". During the conference, I tweeted a comment I heard which was "I just want to take 1 thing home and implement it".

So, with so much information and ideas being exchanged, where are you at? I am referring to it as the "Tin Cup List" since a bucket can be overwhelming and inhibit any implementation of the ideas or tools you learned. Now you are back in the classroom; have you taken action?

What have you implemented the new ideas? Have you modeled blogging, posting to a blog, or reaching out to your Personal Learning Network (PLN)? What have you changed in your teaching? Have you shared this with your students? Have you emptied your tin cup or bucket?

There are many other questions to be answered, now is the time to take action....Join the conversation.

Down The Home Stretch!

Construction activity is at an all-time high. Many trades are busy putting the finishing touches on rooms as fast as possible. We are on schedule to hold registration on August 10, from 10:00 - 7:00 in the new commons. We will have so much more room for large crowds during the registration process and will be in a controlled environment. Below are some updated photos as we continue to make progress.

This is the high school office. The window that is open is a roll top access so not everyone will need to come into the office. This is where Dana Seivert, high school secretary will be located.

The 4 classrooms all have ample storage. You can also see the carpet tiles are now installed in all the rooms.

This is a white board with a protective cover still on it. Each classroom has a white board in the front of the room.

The entrances on the east side of the addition are complete except for handrails on the ramps. The south entrance will be completed the end of this week and into next week.

Construction Update

The Newell-Fonda school addition is gaining momentum again now that some of the different trades are in place. The flooring subcontractor, Jannings, out of Carroll, Iowa has completed the kitchen quarry tile, the bathroom tile, and will start pouring the terrazzo in the commons today. The ceiling grid people are also working to install the grid in the kitchen and classrooms.

The painting is all completed except for the commons ceiling. That will need to wait until the floor is complete which would be in about 1 1/2 weeks. Kolacia, the general contractor, is also starting to form up the curbs(see below).

Installers shown laying the quarry tile in the kitchen. This is now complete.

Painting in the commons partially completed. Walls are now all complete.

Form work on the exterior has begun the week of June 1st.

Don't Take It For Granted: Teaching in a 1:1

To all staff working in a 1:1, and specifically the Newell-Fonda high school staff, currently wrapping up their second year of 1:1, and to our 5-8 staff who will be added to the 1:1 next Fall. When you operate in a 1:1 it is easy to take for granted what we have our hands on, which is the ability to do things differently for kids. To engage and challenge them in learning. Having the students take control of that learning, and leveraging technology to differentiate learning to fit the needs of each student.

Below is video from Russ Goerend, a 6th grade teacher from Waukee Middle School. You may need to watch the video more than once, because his son is pretty cute. He also has been a person I follow on Twitter, and from my interactions with him, both in person and through Twitter, he gets it. I don't want to put words into Russ' mouth, but in my mind, Russ understands that the 1:1 environment is not about the machine, but rather about changing teaching and learning. I got permission from Russ to share his video here, but I encourage you to check out his blog and comment on his ideas.

Make the most out of working in a 1:1 environment. Will it take work? absolutely, but if done correctly, it could be some of the most meaningful work for both teacher and student. Thanks to Russ for sharing his ideas, the guy deserves to teach in 1:1! So while Russ continues to wonder what it would be like to teach in a 1:1 school, those in a school need to take advantage of it every day. As you progress on the journey, make it about teaching and learning, not about the computer!

Update

Building Update

We have been given a guarantee that the building will be ready by August 5th. We have put off registration a week or so just in case any other delays add to that schedule, but it appears things are back on schedule. I have posted some pictures for those of you who don't get to the school.

The exterior brick work is complete as of April 2, 2010. The brick mason is finishing some odds and ends on the interior but for the most part are complete. The areas at both entrances (east entrance shown) are brick higher up and the rest of the building has a 4 foot brick and then a stucco looking surface will be applied the rest of the way up. The stucco contractor is due to arrive early to mid April.

Above, the window contractor begins the window installation. They did a great job and completed all of the window installation in 2 days. The had 1 broken piece of glass but will return and fix that.

Above, is a view from one of the classrooms to the south of the building through one of the newly installed windows. You can see the elementary playground in the background. Also, to the right, you can see the drywall divider between classrooms.

Most of the connections between the buildings are complete but are protected by a shelter to prevent access to curious teachers and students. Thanks again to all of our students, faculty, and community members who have been patient throughout this construction process.

Commons Floor is Poured!

The commons floor of the new addition was poured on Tuesday, February 16th. The photos below show the size of the commons area, which will serve as gathering area, student center, and lunch room.

Above, the grey machine in the background leveled the cement to finish depth automatically by receiving a signal from a laser level. Technology enabled them to pour the entire commons in one morning.
Motorized carts, background, replaces the standard wheel-barrow. Each cart holds a little more than 1/4 yard of concrete. Kolacia had 2 buggies and the could haul it as fast as the cement truck could haul it.

Workers bull-float a smoother finish after the machine does the initial leveling.
Another shot of the machine that leveled the concrete. The poles on the left and right communicated with a laser that dictates the depth of the concrete.

Construction Update

Work continues on the addition on the Newell-Fonda PK-12 building. The commons is on schedule to have concrete on February 12th. All interior walls are framed up in the classrooms and high school office. The entire area is being heated by temporary heat to maintain 55 degree temperature. Temporary lighting If you have questions, contact Jeff Dicks, Superintendent @dicksj@newell-fonda.k12.ia.us or call (712)272-3324.

Above, shot from the new restrooms off of the commons.

Kitchen area has a lot of venting complete.

The framed wall is in between the classroom area.

Kitchen vent where all the heat producing appliances will be located.

High school office area framing is nearly complete. Will include principal's office, storage, secretary/reception area, and conference room.

Construction Update

The roof is 98% complete on the addition. This is great news as the weather will not be a deterrent to construction progress. The 2% remaining is where all the heating/air conditioning rooftop units will be installed. They are temporarily covered until the HVAC subcontractor arrives. All of the HVAC units are on site, an installation just needs to be completed.

The building is also now set up with a more permanent and efficient heat source as the general contractor is heating the entire area, especially the commons that needs to be thawed out in order to pour the floor.

The block layers have a few odds and ends on the commons restrooms before they begin to brick the exterior. The exterior consists of a 4 foot brick and then insulation covered by a stucco-type finish from the brick up.

More pictures will be posted soon.

Apple Open House - Making A Difference

On January 13th, Newell-Fonda CSD hosted an open house for other schools interested in implementing a 1:1 laptop program in their school. What an exciting day to see the enthusiasm of these 23 schools and nearly 85 participants. Those attending ranged from superintendents, principals, board members, teachers, and parents.

Spirit Lake CSD brought over 15 people in search of support of a PPEL vote on February 2 to implement a 1:1 in grades 5-12 and carts in grades K-4. In addition, they will be purchasing an array of additional technology. Because my parents live in the Great Lakes region, my dad ran across an editorial of one of the attendees. It would be easy to take offense to the comment "The school had everything to be a struggling or dormant school in a small rural town, with low enrollment and old facilities." But what followed, confirmed how we feel of the advantage we give our students each and every day. In addition, it confirms that our 1:1 becomes less and less about the laptop and more about changing instruction and learning. Read the entire article here.

Great job of involving the stakeholders by first year superintendent Dave Smith. I look forward in working with Spirit Lake in the future as the work towards a 1:1 program. Check out the web presence in pursuit of communicating to the community the importance of this vote. Good luck to superintendent Smith.

Apple Distinguished Recognition

Newell, IA December 23, 2009 – Newell-Fonda Community School is pleased to announce that it has been named an Apple Distinguished School for the implementation of its 1:1 laptop program. The Apple Distinguished School designation is reserved for schools that have implemented a 21st century vision of education using Apple technology. “Our 9-12 laptop program is changing the way we look at education,” states Superintendent Jeff Dicks.

Newell-Fonda is the first school district in Iowa to receive this distinction and 1 of only 53 in the nation. “By putting a device in the hands of each student, we have leveled the playing field. We see this as an opportunity to teach in real time, which means we are giving teachers and students access to the most relevant and up-to-date content on the internet.”

The selection of Newell-Fonda as an Apple Distinguished School highlights its successes in enhancing and extending teaching and learning with thoughtful and innovative implementations of technology. “We are able to collaborate with other schools not only in Iowa but also around the world, including Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay,” states Alynn Coppock, 9-12 principal. Coppock continues, “Because of the collaboration between our high school teachers and our elementary teachers, our first graders are also doing a project using Skype, a free product that enables them to video conference with 80 schools around the world.”

There will be a formal presentation by Apple on January 13, 2010 prior to an already scheduled technology open house. Apple will present the award at 9:00 a.m. followed by the open house. “We do an open house to allow other schools, board members, prospective students, and parents to see the power and advantages of a 1:1 learning environment,” Dicks states. Newell-Fonda is very excited to have the opportunity to teach their students to become responsible consumers of digital content. More information will be available concerning the open house.

Creating the Future of Learning

I was lucky enough to attend an event hosted by Scott McLeod, director of the Center of the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE), on December 11, 2009 in Ames, Iowa. Scott brought in Will Richardson, “Learner in Chief” at Connective Learning and the author of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms now in its 2nd Edition, published by Corwin Press. Will definitely left an impression on the 40 guests composed of superintendents, principals, Department of Education, AEA, and business and industry.

The speed of technology advances and how it is affecting business and the way business operates. "Businesses must be listening to this conversation or they will not last", stated Will Richardson. Those that are not believing the Twitter revolution, should know that Best Buy has 1200 people at the ready to answer questions via Twelpforce. If you are someone who complains about the "wait time" of a customer service call, you probably need to find an alternative way to ask your question. Twelpforce answers questions faster than their phone customer service.

How does this impact education? Is education listening to this conversation?

Todd Whitaker states that "we are no longer in the business of teaching anymore, we are in the business of learning". Helping teachers "learn" in this new environment will help them help their students. Below are some of the things that definitely made me stop and think: Please share your comments and become a participant in 21st century learning.

• Enabling students to connect with learners from all over the country who "share their passion" and can help them learn.
• A school's 3 year tech plan should be about curriculum.
• Need to have a curriculum in place to support having a device in every students hands.
• Are we teaching students to read and write in a linked environment (I am including many more links in this post) No one is teaching this; why?
• Our current assessments don't assess creativity ( a skill identified as critical by business)
• If our students are not Google-able by the time they graduate then we have failed them.
• Education is coming close to our "oh crap" moment. We can't just put devices in their hands but look at curriculum and assessment.
• Wikipedia has over 400,000 changes per day. Errors yes, but they can be changed.
• An MIT math textbook had over 100 errors but it can't be corrected without buying another textbook. Online or collaborative online texts can not only be changed but updated immediately.

I assure you, Newell-Fonda is listening to this conversation. Our laptop program was a great step in providing devices for each 9-12 student. Now we are seeing that is just a piece of the puzzle, and more important, we need to create a curriculum to support our access. The board will decide how much farther to expand our 1:1. During the grade realignment process, it was promised that grades 7-8 would be included. More updates on that after our December 14, 2009 board meeting.

Another step is addressing standards for 21st Century Learning like those of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). According to NCTE, 21st Century readers and writers need to be able to:

• Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
• Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and
cross-culturally
• Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of
purposes
• Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous
information
• Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts
• Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments

I fully understand this will not be easy and probably not met without some resistance and skepticism, but Newell-Fonda will take steps to improve. One thing we have done a pretty good job of is sharing our journey of our 1:1 program with others. In our second year, 12 other schools in Iowa have joined us and we need to continue to share, collaborate, and pursue partnerships.

Apple Open House - January 13, 2009, Newell-Fonda High School

Newell-Fonda High School in collaboration with Apple, Inc., will again host an open house to let other schools come see how a 1:1 works. This will be a 1 day event that will enable any visitor to see first-hand what teaching and learning looks like in a 1:1 environment. It will be an exciting day filled with more exciting news concerning Newell-Fonda's journey.

IASB Convention

I attended the Iowa Association of School Board Convention on November 19, 2009 and was moved by Coach Jim Johnson. Many of you may have heard of this story, but it is worth your time to watch again.

Now a graduate, J-Mac still helps with the basketball program.

Coach James Johnson - 6 Essential Keys for Making Your Dreams Come True

---

1.	FIND YOUR PASSION

2.	DISCOVER YOUR MISSION

3.

SET GOALS

4.	PERSEVERANCE

5.	CARPE DIEM: "SEIZE THE DAY"

6.	BE A TEAM PLAYER You can find more information at Coach Johnson's website.

Construction Moving Along

Bar joist in place on 2 of the classrooms.
A crane lowers bar joist into position 2 of the 4 classrooms. Bar joists were set on all 4 classrooms on November 9th.

This is the southeast classrooms. The alley will be the new entrance, with classrooms on the left and high school office on the right.