Shoshone Education Foundation

Click on the link for more information about the Shoshone Education Foundation.  A donation in someone's name makes an excellent Christmas gift. 
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxzaG9zaG9uZWpvaW50c2Nob29sc3xneDoyNzE3YmIxMDQxZmY3NWNh

Parent to school coordinator, Ms. Rodriquez

My name is Tara Rodriguez and I am from Ontario, Oregon; OHS class of 2001!  I attended Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario before transferring to Eastern Oregon University (extension campus in Ontario).  I was able to complete all my schooling in Ontario;1st through Bachelor.  Most of my work experience before teaching has been at Wal-Mart cashiering.  I loved it, because I got to work with people from all walks of life.  That is why I am so excited to be working here in Shoshone as the Parent Liaison.  I am able to meet so many people from the school and community; it has been and will continue to be a delight.  I enjoy spending time with my 3 daughters, scrapbooking, watching movies, meeting new people, reading books, camping, and pretty much any activity in which I can enjoy a nice conversation with someone.  If we haven't met, feel free to come down to the school or give me a call.  My extension is 352 and I would love to share with anyone what my position is here at the school.  In short, I am here to empower parents to become active participants in their child's education.  For so long, there has been a separation of home and school, but research has proven that the more connections there are between home, school, and the community, the better chance your children have to succeed in school as well as move on to college.  I am excited to be here and hope to meet as many people as possible. 

School Resource Officer

Someone asked the other day if we have a school resource officer.  We do.  The county Sheriff has assigned an officer to work with all three school districts in Lincoln County.  Officer Gregory works with the Principals.  One of his duties is to consult on any acts or alleged acts of violence in the school.  Every act or alleged act of violence is referred the Mr. Gregory!  Many time people will ask, or in some cases threaten to take an issue to law enforcement.  As a matter of policy, we refer those cases already to Mr. Gregory.  This is not to say the police take action each time a referral is made.  The opposite is actually true;  most situations do not require law enforcement.  But, it is always a good idea to check and to use this valuable service. 

Bio for Ms. Cain, 5th grade teacher

I am Anni Cain! I am from a small town in Central Washington called Monitor. I was born and raised there and attended Central Washington University where I graduated in June of 2011. I have certification in K-8 Elementary Education as well as a minor in Teaching English as a Second Language. I enjoy the outdoors, fishing, and playing guitar in my spare time. This is my first teaching job and I have very high hopes and ambitions for a successful year!

Interesting article

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/06/living/teachers-want-to-tell-parents/index.html

This article is interesting.  It has been the beginning of quite a bit of discussion nationally about parent/teacher relationships.  It does point out a national trend of the difficulties teachers have with delivery of so called "bad news."  The bottom line is in order to be effective, teachers have to share with parents what they observe, and the process works better if parents share what they observe. 

Mr. Sant intro!

We have several new staff members this year.  I have asked each of them to write a short bio so we can share.  Here is Mr. Sant's bio. 

Anthon Leon Sant is a formerly retired educator with over 40 years experience in public education.  I have served as a secondary teacher, principal, and superintendent during that time.  After I retired, my wife Chris and I served an 18 month mission in the Family and Church History Mission in Salt Lake City. When we returned from the mission,  I began substitute teaching in Gooding and Shoshone.  This year I was asked to be a long term substitute here in Shoshone which soon became a regular teaching assignment.

    Other than teaching, I enjoy travelling with my wife, visiting our children and grandchildren, and Church volunteering.  I am a reader.  In addition to the scriptures, I read everything from autobiographies to mysteries to adventure to science fiction to fancies. 

Title one parent survey

Tara Rodriquez, is the Shoshone School District new Parent Liason.  This is a new grant funded position.  The position is designed to bridge the gap between parents and teachers.  Her objective is to form strong parent to school parnerships around student learning.  She recently had a "get to know you" night sponsored by the district Title one department.  At that event, Ms. Rodriquez and Ms. Rose developed a survey.  If you did not get a chance to take the survey, the link to  it is:

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22DDT94UKW5

Just click on the link, and it will take you to the survey.  Ms. Rodriquez and Ms. Rose will use the results to formulate further plans. 

Teacher Training

Our school district has spent a tremendous amount of time and energy in the last two years on teacher training.  As we discussed in an earlier post, our basic model of training is the PLC, but we do have activities beyond our PLC meetings.  Research has shown that teacher training is best when it is relevant and job embedded.  In order to continue with the trainings schedule we have, the elementary teaching staff and the high school staff will be visiting other schools on October 28.  The purpose of the visit is to observe other schools in order to consider ideas for our teachers.  Teachers that work together in training tend to have the focus more on the relevance and job embedded aspect of training, we know works so well.  This is a great opportunity for our teachers to learn by observing and collaboration with other districts teachers. 

Friday!

One of the reasons the district decided to move to the four day instructional week this year was for the increased opportunities on Friday.  The Friday enrichment's have been well attended and have provided opportunities for our children they would not have had in the former instructional schedule.  I would like to particularly invite middle school students that need extra help to attend the Friday study halls.  If a student falls behind, they have been personally invited to attend.  However, you do not need an invitation to attend.  Any student that wants to stay on pace or just wants a good place to study may attend.  This is a great opportunity, however, in order for it to be effective students must take advantage of the opportunity when presented.  I would extend a special invitation to middle school students to attend the study hall.

PLC meetings

As many of you know, the Shoshone teachers meet at least once a month in the evening for what are called PLC meetings.  PLC meetings are based on four key questions:

What do students need to know and be able to do?  How will we know when they have learned it? What will we do when they haven’t learned it?  What will we do when they already know it?

The "big ideas" of PLC meetings are to meet to 1.  Ensure students learn 2.  Develop a culture of collaboration 3.  Focus on results, not actions

One of the founders of the PLC model describes it as:

 “Professional learning communities judge their effectiveness on the basis of results. Working together to improve student achievement becomes the routine work of everyone in the school. Every teacher team participates in an ongoing process of identifying the current level of student achievement, establishing a goal to improve the current level, working together to achieve that goal, and providing evidence of progress.

Friend of education

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc&feature=player_embedded

From time to time, people have said to me that students today have 'changed.'  It has been suggested that children today have a short attention span due to technological changes.  It is true that the modern student needs to be taught differently, and a lot of that is due to technology.  But technology has been a great benefit to teaching, learning and in turn life.  You are reading this blog thanks to technology.  We can disperse information faster and more efficiently today.  As technology continues to evolve, it will change teaching and learning even more.  It does not replace the "basics" it only enhances the teaching of the "basics."  Steve Jobs was great friend of education.  He believed technological advancments would improve our lives in all areas, including education.  At one point, he felt Apple would be an 'education' company.  RIP