What will Happen with our Education Budget?

What happens with our budget in education will not have the results most of us want unless we ALL speak up. Please let our legislators and the Governor know your opinions about the proposed 10%, or any, budget cuts to education in South Dakota. I have contacted them and I am asking you to do the same.
I will not elaborate too much here except for the belief that we do not HAVE to make this budget deficit correction in our state by hurting all the people who live here. Who goes into debt over a period of time and fixes the problem in one day? I have been in debt and have WORKED my way out of that debt with a plan to do so over a period of time. I made cut backs I could live with. I continued to pay my ongoing bills, I ate, and I even enjoyed my life! Can't our legislators figure out how to make a similar plan? Don't our legislators who we elect have enough creative thinking and backbone to stand up to our governor's proposed cuts?
Come on, let's get realistic about what we can live with and make those changes without making devastating education cuts which we will suffer from for many years while losing great educators as well. In my opinion, we cannot afford to make any cuts to education if we want to be true to our children and their futures.
Please speak up and support education in South Dakota!
http://legis.state.sd.us/index.aspx

School Board Recognition Week

 

2011 Northwest Area School Board



School Board Recognition Week in South Dakota

South Dakota has designated January 10 – 14, 2011 as School Board Recognition Week. ESA 5 would like to publicly thank all of the members of Northwest Area Schools board and all members of the twenty-one school boards across our region for serving on our local Boards of Education. Thank-you for your dedication to our children and our communities.

More than 880 South Dakotans are members of a local school board. The community members who serve on our school boards are responsible for setting the vision and goals for our districts. The school boards also hire quality educators, adopt policies and evaluate progress while keeping the interest of our students first, creating schools where all children can learn and grow.

Serving on a local school board has always been more than what the public sees: meetings once or twice a month and occasional tough issues such as the school calendar, building needs, dress codes, discipline policies, technology use, teacher professional development priorities, and salary negotiations, to name a few.
But beyond that, our board members play a very real role in preparing the districts’ students for an ever-changing world. They help spread the word about the individual and collective successes of our
students and our professional staff. And this year they will face perhaps the greatest test of their leadership as we work to ensure that tight financial situations don't translate into a reduction in the quality of education we can offer.
Our communities are fortunate to have such dedicated individuals on our school boards.

South Dakota School Board Recognition Week provides a
 perfect opportunity to honor the contributions being made daily by our school board members. Please take a moment to thank our public servants who care about education by serving on our school boards.

Tips to Engage Students in Learning

Check out this blog post for some entertaining and interesting information about engaging students



http://www.edutopia.org/blog/reengaging-students-andrew-marcinek

ESA Region 5 Principals focus on 21st Century Skills

Image via Wikipedia

 On November 17th, 13 principals will meet face to face in Mobridge to continue learning how to integrate 21st Century Skills and increase the use of technology in their schools. These principals began  learning together in August when ESA 5 implemented their Title II D grant work. Now these principals will share what they have been doing in their schools and support each other in their learning.
In order for the students and teachers in our schools to learn our leaders must continue to learn.
My hat is off to these leaders.

Related articles

• How Schools Can Stop Bullying (psychologytoday.com)
• Vancouver School District Late Start Days (clarkcountylive.com)

Internal Motivation

At the System's Change Conference in Chamberlain, October 13-15, Bob Sullo focused on internal motivation of learners.
Go to his website at http://www.internalmotivation.net/ for great resources and information.
You can access presentation materials at http://www.systemschange.midwestmaple.org/

My favorite quote from the conference is

"Learning is the consequence of thinking"

NWAS Staff attend Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Workshop

In September, Colette Enright, speech clinician, and Cindysue Pederson, early childhood teacher, for NWAS, attended a workshop in Pierre called FASD Understanding the Lifespan, Promoting and Improving Services. The workshop goal was to develop and implement public awareness and strategies for children, teens and adults who have a FASD.
Go to www.chiesman.org and click on the FASD link on the Development area for more information.

Technology Grant available for teachers!!!!

Applications for the Qwest Teachers & Technology Grant are now available!
The Qwest Teachers and Technology grant program will award a total of $25,000 to South Dakota teachers who put today's technology to use for their students.
Up to 10 teachers will receive an award. The award is given through a competitive application process to pre-K through 12th-grade teachers with ideas to use technology in the classroom to engage students, enhance student performance and prepare them for life in a technologically advanced world.
The grant application can be found online at http://www.doe.sd.gov/ofm/qwest.asp and must be submitted to the Department of Education by Nov. 19.


If you have any questions, please contact Erin Larsen at erin.larsen@state.sd.us or by phone at 605.773.2533.