BI-COUNTY BRIEF DECEMBER - 2008
Volume 6, Issue No. 5 December 2008
Happy Holidays
The staff at the Regional Office would like to extend to
you and yours our most sincere wishes for a
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
REGIONAL SUPERINTENDENT PODCAST
With the assistance of curriculum specialist Mary Ann Quivey, Dr. Kiehna has published his first podcast on the ROE's website at www.roe45.org. This audio publication provides tips on how to work with difficult parents. We hope this is just the first of many podcasts by the Regional Office.
HIGH SCHOOL DATA FOR RTI, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, AND SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
The State of Illinois provides for schools to administer the PLAN and EXPLORE tests with the ACT. Are you using the results to improve instruction? Do you know the College Readiness Standards the assessments measure? Have you had the time to evaluate test results and respond with instructional strategies? On January 23rd, the ROE will be conducting a working workshop on using the PLAN, EXPLORE, and ACT for RtI, Student Achievement, and School Improvement. The first part of this training is to look at the available resources for students, teachers, counselors and administrators. The second part of the training involves using these tools to analyze your specific data. Information and registration forms have been provided to each school's principal.
AQUADIC ILLINOIS AND ILLINOIS BIRDS RESOURCES TRUNKS
Aquatic Illinois and Illinois Birds have joined the popular resources trunks series from the IDNR Division of Education. Aquatic Illinois is targeted to grades five through nine and contains lessons, student activities, sampling equipment, field guides, posters, CD-ROMs, videos, aquatic specimens and many other supplemental resources. Illinois Birds is designed for educators of grades pre-K through six. In this trunk you'll find lessons, activities, CD-ROMs with bird songs, plush birds that sing, egg and skull replicas, posters, field guides, reference books and more. Several new lending locations have been added for all of the seven topics now available. Previous trunks include Illinois Fossils, Illinois Trees, Illinois Insects and Spiders, Illinois Wild Mammals and People and Animals from Illinois' Past. Go to http://dnr.state.il.us/education/CLASSRM/teach.htm to access the complete list of lending locations and their contact information. The trunks are available in Monroe and Randolph counties through the IDNR facility at Baldwin Lake (618-785-2555).
NEW ADDITION TO RESOURCE LIBRARY
We have recently added the DVD and book "Small-Group Reading Instruction: A Differentiated Teaching Model for Intermediate Readers, Grades 3-8." This book's classroom-tested and research-based model will enable you to provide quality reading instruction and tasks matched to students' instructional levels, along with ongoing assessment directly linked to instruction. The DVD contains approximately three hours of demonstration lessons critical for effective staff development training and focuses on the stages of beginning reading that are detailed in the book. Included in the kit is the book "Small-Group Reading Instruction: A Differentiated Teaching Model for Beginning and Struggling Readers."
2009 ILLINOIS STATE FOOD SANITATION COURSES
To meet the certification requirement, every employee of a business, school or establishment that serves food must complete fifteen hours of instruction from a licensed sanitation instructor and then successfully pass the Illinois State Food Service Sanitation Exam. A few of the dates for these courses in our area are January 5 & 12 & March 30 & April 6--Ramada Inn, 6900 N. Illinois/I-64, Fairview Heights; January 28 & 29 & March 11 & 12--Hampton Inn, 2175 Reed Station Pkwy., Carbondale; June 16 & 17 & October 20 & 21--Chester Memorial Hospital, Chester; October 10 & 17--Belleville Memorial Hospital, 4500 Memorial Drive, Belleville. For more information, you may call 1-800-705-8204 or visit their website at www.ctcfoodsanitation.com.
INVASIVE PLANT POSTERS AVAILABLE
New Illinois Invasive Plant publications are available from the University of Illinois and the Illinois Natural History Survey. Five posters highlight the four major habitats of Illinois (grassland, woodland, wetland and agriculture) and the top four invasive plants in those habitats. For copies of these free publications, contact Dawn Refsell at drefsell@illinois.edu and include your name, shipping address and quantity and titles you are requesting.
ILLINOIS PROFESSIONAL TEACHING STANDARDS - PART 2
Let's take a look at the standards in specifics for your classroom for Standard 11, Professional Conduct and Leadership. One of the performance indicators for this standard is that an effective teacher "uses a variety of instructional and intervention strategies prior to initiating a referral of a student for special education." What would this look like? Induction for the 21st Century Educator has developed the Illinois Continuum of Teacher Development (ICDT) with levels of teacher practice for this purpose: Emerging, teacher relies on ongoing assistance from more experienced colleagues for support, guidance and survival; Applying, teacher internalizes and applies what has been learned about effective teaching and becomes more self-directed and independent; Integrating, teacher is flexible and modifies and tailors classroom experiences according to student needs and is a facilitator in the classroom; and Innovating, teacher consistently leads in areas of teaching and professional development with complex integration of teaching and learning and continually reflects on teaching context.
| Performance Indicator | Emerging | Applying | Integrating | Innovating |
| 11.8 Using a Variety of Interventions Before Referrals |
Begins implementing instructional and intervention strategies prior to initiating a referral of a student for special education, with support and assistance from a mentor, general/special educator and/or other professionals. |
|
Implements interventions, collects and maintains data and modifies strategies, with student input, prior to initiating student referrals to special education. |
Supports other colleagues in using a variety of effective intervention strategies prior to initiating sutdent referrals to special education. |
CALANDAR OF EVENTS
December 5, 2008
Homeless Grant - Regional Partnership Meeting
SWIC, Red Bud Campus
12:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
December 9, 2008
Best Reading Practices - Vocabulary Instruction
SWIC, Red Bud Campus
8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
December 10, 2008
Mentor - Using Student Work to Guide Instruction
SWIC, Red Bud Campus
8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
December 12, 2008
RtI, SIP and DIP Plans Data Analysis
St. Patrick's - Ruma
8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
January 13, 2009
Best Reading Practices - Writing to Enhance Comp.
SWIC, Red Bud Campus
8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
January 23, 2009
Using PLAN, EXPLORE and ACT Data Effectively
SWIC, Red Bud Campus
8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
February 9, 10, 11, & 12
Team Quest (Adventures in Learning)
Old Columbia M.S. Gym
8:30 a.m.
February 10, 2009
Beginning Teacher: Using Student Work to Guide Instruction
SWIC, Red Bud Campus
4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
February 24, 2009
Best Reading Practices - Assessments & Planning
SWIC, Red Bud Campus
8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.