Fall 2008 ESA Co-Directors: Joe Lenz [email protected]Erik Person [email protected]ESA Education Specialists: Penny Adams Education Specialist [email protected]Erin Dale Northwest Area Reads Coach [email protected]Cris Owens Education Specialist [email protected]Marilyn Schlekeway New Teacher Mentor [email protected]Holly Schumacher Teacher Mentor/Dakota Character [email protected]South Dakota Counts Math Specialist: Tracy Mittleider [email protected]Data Analysis/ “Data Retreats” School Improvement Assistance Curriculum Mapping Tech Paths Instructional Strategies 6+1 Writing Instruction Brain-Based Teaching Whole Faculty Study Groups Improving Assessment Administrative Support eMetric Data System Step Up to Writing Writing to Win Comprehensive PD Planning Achievement Series Northwest Area Reads** New Teacher Mentoring** DIBELS (**at a cost to the participating schools) South Dakota Education Service Agency www.sdesa.k12.sd.us/esa5 www.sdesa.k12.sd.us/esa5 1315 1488 1351 1221 0 500 1000 1500 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2008-09 365 397 286 477 0 100 200 300 400 500 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Total number of teachers and administra- tors served by ESA 5 Number of college credits earned through ESA 5 professional development Holly Schumacher New Staff Member Northwest Area Schools/ESA 5 is pleased to announce the addition of a new staff mem- ber, Holly Schumacher. Hol- ly will be training in the Da- kota Character program with Penny Adams, and will re- place her as Dakota Charac- ter ESA 5 Coordinator/Coach in October of this year. She will also be working closely with Marilyn Schlekeway in the mentoring program and will serve as a mentor to sev- eral new teachers in our area. Holly was born and raised in Herreid, so is very familiar with this area and its people. She graduated from Herreid High School and went on to Northern State University to major in elementary education, with a minor in coaching. Following col- lege graduation, Holly was hired as an elementary teacher in Warner, South Dakota. Over the course of her time in Warner, she also taught elementary art and P.E. In addition to her academic duties, she coached cheerleading, girls’ basketball and track. Holly continued her teaching career last year in Herreid, where she taught sixth grade social studies and reading, K-8 P.E., and served as the K-12 guidance counselor and testing coordinator. She currently lives in Herreid, SD with her six-year-old son, Clayton. They en- joy spending family time at her parent’s home on Mina Lake in Mina, SD. Besides her varied experiences, Holly brings to us her youth- ful enthusiasm and an avid desire to assist school dis- tricts, their teachers, and students in reaching success. We are proud to welcome Holly Schumacher to our team. 1
Transcript
EFall 2008
Contents:ESA 5 New Staff 1 Highly Qualified 2 Systems Change 2 Big Ideas Competition 2
South Dakota Counts Math Specialist: Tracy Mittleider [email protected]
Data Analysis/ “Data Retreats” School Improvement Assistance Curriculum Mapping Tech Paths Instructional Strategies 6+1 Writing Instruction Brain-Based Teaching Whole Faculty Study Groups Improving Assessment Administrative Support eMetric Data System Step Up to Writing Writing to Win Comprehensive PD Planning Achievement Series Northwest Area Reads** New Teacher Mentoring** DIBELS
(**at a cost to the participating schools)
ESA REGION 5 CONTACTS
ESA 5 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
South Dakota Education Service Agencywww.sdesa.k12.sd.us/esa5
S A 5 NEWS
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14881351 1221
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2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2008-09
Total number of teachers and administrators served by ESA 5
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477
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500
2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08
Number of college credits earned through ESA 5 professional development activities
Total number of teachers and administra-tors served by ESA 5
Number of college credits earned through ESA 5 professional development
Holly Schumacher
New Staff Member
Northwest Area Schools/ESA 5 is pleased to announce the addition of a new staff mem-ber, Holly Schumacher. Hol-ly will be training in the Da-kota Character program with Penny Adams, and will re-place her as Dakota Charac-ter ESA 5 Coordinator/Coach in October of this year. She will also be working closely with Marilyn Schlekeway in the mentoring program and will serve as a mentor to sev-eral new teachers in our area. Holly was born and raised in Herreid, so is very familiar with this area and its people. She graduated from Herreid High School and went on to Northern State University to major in elementary education, with a minor in coaching. Following col-lege graduation, Holly was hired as an elementary teacher in Warner, South Dakota. Over the course of her time in Warner, she also taught elementary art and P.E. In addition to her academic duties, she coached cheerleading, girls’ basketball and track. Holly continued her teaching career last year in Herreid, where she taught sixth grade social studies and reading, K-8 P.E., and served as the K-12 guidance counselor and testing coordinator. She currently lives in Herreid, SD with her six-year-old son, Clayton. They en-joy spending family time at her parent’s home on Mina Lake in Mina, SD.
Besides her varied experiences, Holly brings to us her youth-ful enthusiasm and an avid desire to assist school dis-tricts, their teachers, and students in reaching success. We are proud to welcome Holly Schumacher to our team.
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BIG I d e a
C o m -p e t i t i o n
Enters 2nd Year
The BIG Idea Com-petition is launching its
second year of competition this fall. High school students
in Aberdeen and the surround-ing region are invited to compete
in this business idea competition, and winners will receive over $4,000 in cash
awards and scholarships. Students may work individually or as a
team and will be able to submit their business idea applications online from September 1, 2008
through October 31, 2008. The online application, as well as various resources and examples, can be ac-
cessed at the BIG Idea website: www.absolutelyaberdeen.com/bigidea.
ESA 5 2008 SUMMER CLASSES SIZZLED!
This summer ESA 5 brought five classes to area educators. Each course of-fered new knowl-edge and graduate credit for all participants. Step up to Writing, taught by Erin Dale and Mari-lyn Schlekeway, was the first summer session of-fered. Thirty-one pre-kindergarten through high school level teachers from eight school districts gathered to learn how to teach writing using ef-fective research based strategies. Teachers left this course with more confidence and skills to use to impact their students’ progress in writing. The next workshop, The Autism Puzzle, was held in Mobridge on June 2nd – 3rd. Kathy Schmeichel, a special education teacher and par-ent of a child with Autism, taught this very infor-mative course. Thirty-seven people from eight districts and two area co-ops attended this work-shop. The participants covered all grade levels, and spanned a variety of backgrounds such as school psychologist, parents, school secretaries, teachers, paraprofessionals, and librarians. The diversity of this audience is an example of how our schools and communities function together, striving to meet the unique needs of all children. ESA 5 held two math workshops in June. Tracy Mittleider and Cris Owens taught one course on June 4th and 5th. This class, designed for el-ementary level teachers, focused on Cognitively Guided Instruction. Thirteen teachers from eight districts spent their time focusing on new ways to think about learning math and new teaching tech-niques to use in their classrooms. The second math course taught on June 25th and 26th brought a group of thirteen secondary level teachers togeth-er. The class was held at the Moreau River Sanc-tuary, south of Isabel. The class which focused on classroom proven teaching strategies was taught by two talented South Dakota teachers, Bob Schuh
from McIntosh and Jean Gomer from Deubrook. August arrived and found twenty-four teach-ers from eleven districts, gearing up for the upcom-ing school year by engaging in a class entitled Rec-ognizing and Deflecting Student Tactics, taught by Marilyn Schlekeway. This course focused on behavior management skills, and planning imple-mentation of those skills in the classroom. Teach-ers came away from this workshop knowing the importance of leading their students and not follow-ing them when it comes to behavior management. The summer courses were geared toward subject areas which the ESA had gained infor-mation on being high interest subjects from local leaders and teachers. We are pleased with the attendance at these workshops and will continue to have summer offerings for credit in the future.
October 15-17, 2008 Expand your understanding and practice of middle level education and network with like-minded educators at the 24th annual Midwest Regional Middle Level Conference.
ESA 5 To Present at Systems Change Conference
Need Help Becoming Highly Qualified?ESA 5 is leading a cohort of
individuals through the alter-native certification offered by South Dakota Department of Educa-tion. Alternative certification is a path to teacher certification where people who have a bach-elor’s degree and are employed as teachers can become certified. The program is set up collab-oratively through Northern State University and allows teachers to complete their twelve hours with-in one year.
The first courses offered are South Dakota Indian Studies and Education Psychology. The de-livery method is correspondence through NSU’s Office of Extended Studies with four local meetings of participants to support the coursework and offer some face-to-face interaction and discus-sion. Teachers needing just one of the courses may enroll with-out participating in the entire cohort. For more information, check out the ESA 5 website www.sdesa.k12.sd.us/esa5, or con-tact Erik Person, (605) 466-2206, [email protected].
Marilee Sprenger, an educational neuroscience con-sultant from Aurora University, has taught at all levels from pre-kindergarten to graduate school. For the past fifteen years she has been engaged in raising student achievement using brain-based teaching strategies, differentiation, and memory research. She has au-thored four books, including How to Teach So Students Remember, as well as numerous articles. The second key-note speaker will be Dr. Keith Sawyer, one of the country’s leading scientific experts on creativity and learning. Dr. Sawyer’s writings emphasize the impor-tance of creativity in today’s global economy and show how schools can redesign classrooms to result in more creative graduates. Also presenting breakout sessions at the Sys-tems Change Conference are ESA 5 personnel. ESA 5 will be highlighting some of the programs that we offer here in the northwest area of the state. The three ESA 5 sessions include: District PD Planning, Northwest Area READS, and New Teacher Mentoring. Registration and more information regarding the conference may be completed online at http://systemschange.midwestmaple.org/.
Kathy Schmeichel (standing) working with Teachers at the Autim workshop.
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Just For Fun Find this hidden chicken in our newsletter. The first person to email Joe Lenz with the answer will win a prize! Email Joe at: [email protected]
SD Counts is on its third year of imple-mentation. The math specialist and lead teachers in the schools are work-ing hard giving and getting training. Over the summer, the math specialists
and lead teachers took a six day geometry class at BHSU in Spearfish. The foundation of shapes, perimeter, area, and friendships grew throughout the week as we all learned together. The lead teachers and math specialists will be teaching the elementary teachers in their building Under-standing Student Thinking in Algebra throughout the year. Principals will also be finishing their Lenses on Learning training in October.
(Back row) Tracy Mittleider, Jane Gebhart, Marlene Gustafson, Sandra Renner, Lau-rel Foust, Colette Pucwill, Marilyn Anderson (Front row) Jackie Richey, and Tanya Ford
In our country, a great education is not just about teaching core content and 21st century skills. Public schools have another role to play to prepare our students to succeed. We live in a democracy, and democracy is not a spectator sport. Students have to learn commonly-held values to function in our society. They have to learn their rights and responsibilities. Our public school communities must be places where stu-dents learn to work hard, show mutual respect, be honest, collaborate with others, take personal responsibility, and give back. Good citizenship in our na-tion demands these qualities. It also de-mands that people get involved in their communities and government. These new demands stretch the capabilities of old-style 20th century public schools. To-day’s public schools must reinvent them-selves to meet the challenges of a new world. (Public Schools-21st Century Style, Used with permission from Learning First Alliance, August-September, 2008). Dakota Character ESA 5 schools are prepar-ing to meet those 21st century challenges. Before school started in August, District Lead-ership Teams of Treatment A schools were uti-lizing the training they received in April of last year to orient their staff members to the Dako-ta Character program being implemented in their schools this year. Teams introduced staff
members to their action plan for the current year and involved them in selecting charac-ter traits on which the districts will base their programs. By the end of September, Treat-ment A schools will also have presented their communities with information about the pro-gram and will have received feedback from parents and community members on char-acter traits they feel should be emphasized.
Beginning in September, participating schools will receive three hours of professional development, concentrating on ways to inte-grate the program into the curriculum. At the end of the first year of treatment, staff mem-bers will have received a total of 15 hours of training to assist in program implementation. Graduate credit will be made available to staff members who participate in all training sessions.
On October 28th and 29th and on one day in February , all District Leadership Teams from Treatment A schools in ESA 5 will attend a net-working session to share ideas and review the progression of the program within their schools. Student, staff, and parent surveys will again be administered to both Treatment A and Treat-ment B schools from December to February.
Thank you to all districts who have agreed to participate in this innovative program aimed at assisting all students in reaching success.
October 28 and 29• - Networking for ESA 5 Dakota Character Treat-ment A Schools - Mobridge Grand River Casino
November 5-7• Systems Change Conference - Rapid City
November 19 • - Teacher Academy (more info. will be posted on our ESA 5 website as soon as finalized)
http://www.escweb.net/sd_esa5
Department of Education Unveils On-line Mentoring
The South Dakota Department of Education has announced that a new on-line mentoring program will be available this fall for first year teachers. While the program is not meant to replace existing, face-to-face mentoring programs, the online format has its advantag-es. Any teachers or administrators wanting more information about the program can check it out at this link: http://doe.sd.gov/oaqt.TTSN/nt_info.asp. For teachers wanting to apply, the username is TTSN, and the password is 25Q64py.
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structure: a short overview of the selected instructional strategy, research and specific recommendations for us-ing the strategy in the classroom, and specific examples of technologies that support the strategy. All chapters include teacher- and student-created examples in the form of ac-tual lesson plans, projects and products. The directions about using the tools listed are easy to follow, and teachers will find themselves eager to try them with their students.
A teacher might use chapter one, which focuses on Setting Objectives, as follows. This is the planning phase in which teachers identify the knowledge and skills that they want their students to have at the end of the lesson. Research shows that when students set their own learning goals, they are more motivated to learn. Technology can enhance goal setting by providing or-ganizational and communication tools that make goal setting easier for students. Teachers can also use tech-nology to identify standards and focus their teaching on them. The chapter covers the following technologies to use for setting objectives: word processing applications, organizing and brainstorming software, data collec-tion tools, Web resources and communication software. The authors identify the tools to use, give specific ex-amples of how they can be used, and list specific soft-ware and free or inexpensive online resources to use.
This practical guide can assist teachers in plan-ning for technology use in their classrooms with a high degree of confidence. Using technology with ef-fective instructional strategies increases students’ mo-tivation and achievement. This book can be a com-fortable guide for teachers who need support and provide ideas for teachers who are already doing a good job of integrating technology in their teaching.Written by Cris OwensESA 57-30-08
SPOTLIGHT ON THE WAK-PALA PUBLIC SCHOOL OF THE SMEE SCHOOL DISTRICT
teachers, instructional strategies classes, instruction-al coaching and overall school improvement support.
Superintendent Keith McVay proudly reports that the district continues to make progress on the Da-kota Step Test, increasing attendance and graduation rates and that the school has become a safe environ-ment for the students and staff. Goals for the district are to continue the current programs, implement in-structional coaching again, and begin utilizing North-west Area Multi-District Career and Technical Educa-tion programs to enhance their high school curriculum.
Wakpala School takes pride in their many accomplishments, and we applaud them in their continued success in educating their students!
