BI-COUNTY BRIEF - SEPTEMBER 2008

  

Volume 6, Issue No. 2

September 2008

LOCAL TALENTS MAKE "TOGETHER WE GROW" SPECIAL
On Friday, October 10, 2008 the Monroe-Randolph Bi-County Teachers Institute will be held at Chester High School and Chester Grade School.  The morning will begin with a humorous, but inspiring, keynote presentation by Dr. Dale Henry.  Although Dr. Henry believes in the importance of laughter, his presentations always deliver a strong message packed with useful tools.
Participation by our local teachers promises to make this one of our best institutes.  We put the call out for our teachers to share their knowledge and best practices, and we have a great line-up.  What follows is a list of our local presenters:  Rhonda Black – Red Bud Elementary, Mary Bohnert – Chester Grade School, Steve Browning – Chester High, Cindy Busby – Valmeyer Elementary, Cookie Campbell – Coulterville Elementary –, Deborah Forsythe – Beck Area Career Center, Betty Gummersheimer – Valmeyer Jr. High, Randy Halleran – Waterloo High, Alisa Herrell – Chester Grade School, Stacie Herriman – Perandoe, Amy Juelfs – Valmeyer Elementary, Christopher Land – Chester High, Shelly Liefer – Red Bud Elementary, Stephen Livengood – Waterloo High, Dwight Lochhead – Chester High, Tim Lochhead – Chester Grade School, Mary Niebruegge – Valmeyer Elementary, Mark North – Sparta High, Marlene Palmer – Chester Grade School, Robin Renfroe – Chester Grade School, Jill Hick – Perandoe, Robin Hentis – Perandoe, Stephanie Rubach – Steeleville Elementary, Shirley Stegmann – Chester High, Jeremy Volkmar – Prairie du Rocher, and Tracy Wolf – Coulterville Elementary.  We want to thank these teachers for their willingness to present their best practices to other teachers. 

A VARIETY OF SESSIONS AWAIT OUR EDUCATORS
The staff at the Monroe-Randolph Regional Office of Education has worked hard to put together a comprehensive institute that will have programs beneficial for every teacher.  Here are a few of the highlights:
High school and middle school art teachers will want to participate in a double session taught by Savannah College of Art and Design Professor Jason Zimmer, instructing teachers how to use oil pastels to create Rembrandt-like portraits.  Band teachers will want to participate in the session taught by Barry Bernhardt, Director of Bands at Southeast Missouri State University.  Vocal music teachers will want to take advantage of a session entitled "Vocal Development: Yes, You Can Sing!" by SIU-E Professor Chris Eubank.
A number of SMARTBoard sessions are being presented.  If you are a novice and would like to know the basics, we have sessions for you.  Steve Browning and Dwight Lochhead of Chester will be offering sessions looking at the Airliner Wireless Slate, the Senteo Student Response System, and the TI SmartView to expand the possibilities for using your SMARTBoard learning system.  As schools continue to find ways of integrating technology into their classrooms, we have several other sessions designed to help.  Chester Grade School Principal Tim Lochhead will be showing how his staff has implemented and integrated different technologies into the classroom.  Their innovations were recently recognized in the nationwide educational magazine, "The Journal."  If you want to learn how to use Podcasting and Digital Audio in your classroom, take in Mary Ann Quivey's session.
Improving reading continues to be a focus in our classrooms, and our institute offers sessions for all ages.  Beth Spezia of WSIU lets us in on a multi-year research initiative with the U.S. Department of Education to develop public media that families can use to help children get ready to read.  She will share reading strategies for Pre-K and early childhood teachers.  For teachers in grades 4 through 8, Mary Niebruegge presents a snapshot of the Best Practices in theory and practice for improving student achievement in reading in the content areas.  Wendy Robinson joins us from the Heartland AEA 11 in Iowa to provide the rationale and guiding principles for developing a RTI framework in your school.  She will share the impact on educational outcomes and examples from practicing schools.  Marlene Palmer, a Title I reading teacher at Chester Grade School, will highlight their reading approach that was adapted from the Anna and DuQuoin model.  If you haven't seen the Shurley English method, you are in for a treat:  attend Cookie Campbell's session and see a presentation of the Shurley method, which uses jingles and a question-and-answer format to teach grammar.
A U. S. champion karate instructor, a bioreactor presentation, a character education session, a mentor forum, Internet safety, quantitative reasoning in math and science, agriculture education sessions, a Project Citizen session, a curator from the St. Louis Zoo, and the Cardinals Academic Program are some of the other sessions available at the institute.
You will want to take a look at the institute brochure that will be delivered to buildings toward the end of September and circle those sessions that interest you.  We look forward to an exciting and informative Bi-County Institute in October.   

BEST READING PRACTICES FOR THE CONTENT AREAS GRADES 4-6
Best Practices in Content Area Reading has been designed to ensure that all teachers in grades 4-8 and beyond, including special education teachers, have the skills they need to provide practical application of instructional strategies in reading, including ways to effectively identify and overcome reading barriers facing teachers in the middle and high schools. This course is designed to introduce grade-level-specific skills and activities in scientifically-based reading instructional practices: comprehension instructional strategies for fiction and informational text, vocabulary development, writing in response to reading, assessment and instructional planning, literacy classroom environments, differentiation, and English language learners.
For registration information, please visit your principal, who has been provided the course information and registration form. The first class begins October 21^st , and college credit is available.

TARGET TARGETS SCHOOLS WITH FIELD TRIP GRANTS
The Target Field Trip Grants Program will award U.S. educators grants of up to $800 each to fund a field trip for their students. Target Field Trip Grants may be used to fund trips to art museums, cultural events, civic experiences, and environmental sites. Up to five thousand grants will be awarded across the United States.
Grants will be awarded to educators, teachers, principals, para-professionals, and/or classified staff.
Applications must be submitted electronically between September 2, 2008, and November 1, 2008. Visit the Target Web site for further information and to register and complete the application form at http://sites.target.com/site/en/corporate/page.jsp?contentId=PRD03-002537 .       

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

September 10, 2008	New Teacher Welcome Dinner	St. Patrick Parish Center - Ruma	4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
September 16, 2008	TRS Information Meeting	Sparta Linciln MS Library	4:30 p.m.
September 17, 2008	TRS Information Meeting	Waterloo HS Library	4:30 p.m.
September 17, 2008	Training for Substitute Teachers	SWIC, Red Bud Campus	4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
September 25, 2008	Guidance Counselor Workshop	SWIC, Red Bud Campus	9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
October 10, 2008	Bi-County Teachers Institute	Chester High School	8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
October 16, 2008	Administrator Academy - Focused Walk	SWIC, Red Bud Campus	8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
October 21, 2008	Best Reading Practices - Grades 4-6	SWIC, Red Bud Campus	8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
October 21, 2008	Beginning Teacher - Communication	SWIC, Red Bud Campus	4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
October 22, 2008	Beginning Teacher - Communication	SWIC, Red Bud Campus	4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
October 24-28, 2008	Dauphin Island Sea Lab Expedition	Dauphin Island, Alabama
November 5, 2008	Beginning Teacher - The Effective Teacher	SWIC, Red Bud Campus	4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
November 5, 2008	Superintendents Council	SWIC, Red Bud Campus	9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
November 6, 2008	Beginning Teacher - The Effective Teacher	SWIC, Red Bud Campus	4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
November 18, 2008	Best Reading Practices - Content Area	SWIC, Red Bud Campus	8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
December 9, 2008	Best Reading Practices - Vocabulary Instr.	SWIC, Red Bud Campus	8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.