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Show I I I Kids learn in a wide variety of learning styles Home and School: Vital Links by LILY ESKELSEN President, Utah Education Association In the past Ive sometimes felt like some mad scientist, looking for the secret formula which would transform my children. It would work backwards, of course. Instead of turning human beings into monsters, it would turn my boys into . . . well . . you get the picture. Every parent, every teacher, longs for that magical chemical combination. We all want the experts to help us memorize the proper procedure for any given situation. One that will turn our little charges into picture-perfechildren. And the more we believe in the secret formula, the more frightened we become. Because until we find it, we see ourselves as inept Dr. Frankcnsteins whose creations will grow up to be warped, little Igors, forever blaming us as the cause of all their adult troubles. The pressure to be the perfect parent, flawless teacher, is overwhelming. But the search for a ct perfectly flawless formula forrais-in- g children will end in frustration. It simply does not exist. What works with one child will surely fail with another. What worked with a Five year old will be obsolete when shes 7. And Ive given up even pretending to be consistent. Ive decided its not a human trait. My kids may as well learn how to deal with people who sometimes lose their tempers, who sometimes cry, and who sometimes are too tired to care. So relax. Set reasonable rules with reasonable rewards and reasonable consequences. Understand in advance that your kids will hate your rules, think the rewards are too little and the consequences too great. But let your kids know that you intend to do your job in the best way you know how. Mistakes and all. No secret formulas. Just a little common sense. r North Sevier High School News v Angela Freeman This week marks another step in the progression of the school year. Volleyball, cross country and football have ended. Now we move on to Girls Basketball, Boys basketball and Wrestling. Looking back on last week there was an Assembly on Thursday, 31st, where the Cheerleaders performed a small skit and presented each varsity athlete who participated in the three fall sports, with a small gift. The cheerleaders also gave Spirit Sticks to the classes that showed the most spirit during the assembly. Both the Senor Class and Sophomore Class received a Spirit Stick. That night a Halloween Dance was put on by the PTS A. Many people had fun dressing up and attending the dance. Friday and Saturday, November 1 and 2, state volleyball tournament was held at Southern Utah University in Cedar city. Our team had a bye for their First game, and played South Sevier at 4:30 p.m. That ended up being about a 20 15-minute game as we won 15-was Our next game Saturday morning at 9 a.m. against Rich-FielWe easily won the First game, 15-then lost the scecond game, In the third game it seemed that our team began to get too nervous to play, as RichField took the lead and held on to it to the end. That game ended w ith 1 5 , taking 1, 0. d. 8, 11-1- 5. 7-- It us out of the championship brackeL Our last game was with Morgan as we played for 3rd and 4th placings. Our team seemed to still be in their disappointed state of mind as they went into that game. Morgan won the first game, 15-but we came back in the second game and won The third game was close but ended in favor of Morgan, 15-1That loss bumped us down to 4th place, while Morgan took 3rd. Others placing were Richfield, 1st, Delta 2nd, San Juan, 5th, Grantsville, 6lh, Manti, 7th, Park City 8th. Toward the end of the Tournastument, the Academic dents were announced and given awards. Among them was one from NSHS, Courtney Christensen. The combined grade point average of the ten students named was 3.96. Good job, Courtney. Monday, November 4th, group pictures were taken for the NSHS Yearbook. On Tuesday, 5th, the Forest Service sent some representatives here to talk to Juniors and Seniors about Summer jobs. Finally, there will be a Back to Back Dance on Friday, 8th, from 9 p.m. to Midnight. This will be put 8, 5. 3. All-Sta- te on by the Boys Basketball team. The first Basketball games are coming up so watch for tryouts and go tryout!. for high schoolers pays to take tougher classes If the recently released Ameri- can College Test (ACT) scores are any indication, it pays for high school students to take tough classes, according to UEA Action, November 1991. Utah high school students who took the more demanding classes got markedly higher scores on the teat, which 68 of all college-boun- d high school graduates throughout the state took last year. Theres a big gap between the composite ACT scores of students who took at least four years of English and three years of math, and social studies and science those students who did not. Class of 1991 students who opted for the more formidable schedule averaged a composite score of 22.5 on the ACT. Those who didnt scored 20.3. The ACT format has changed this year. New version tests student on English, math, reading and science reasoning. The last two sections are new. Utah students outdid the national average score on four sections out of the Five reported. These were: Nation Utah 20.3 20.6 English 21.1 Reading 21.9 Science 20.7 Reasoning 21.2 20.6 21 Composite But Utahs average math score the same as last year was 19.7 and lower than the 21.2 national level. Utah female students ACT scores ranked higher than males in English, but males scored higher on the math, reading, science reasoning and composite sections. Students learn a great variety of ways, according to Supt. Brent Rock. The teaching method that may be wonderful for one student, may be unacceptable for another. There should be no rigid, unadaptable method of teaching, he adds. VARIETY: School changes bring mixed emotions Continued from Page 1 turcs, new learning activities, and new concepts of curricular organization which will meet the needs of all students who attend North Sevier High School. The associate team, in conjunction with the school community council, will be responsible for the allocation of resources available to NSHS. Members of this committee are: Pam Anderson, Marcia Bosshardt, Diane Chivers, Kerry Frame, Tom Hales, Gordon Johnson Mike Jorgenson, Peggy Mason, Steve Miller, and Diane Reese. Along with Five members of the associate team, elected by the associate team. There will be a process of strategic planning to develop strategic directions, mission, and vision for North Sevier High School. Each member of the associate team will have opportunities to explore new learning paradigms, new concepts of curricular structure, and different models of schooling structures through site visits, professional inservices and conferences. This committee also met and developed the tools that will be used for the selection process. They will be looking at three criteria areas: 1) Personal Qualities; Integrity, Concern for others, 2) Leadership and Teaching learning. Qualities: Vision and risk taking, Problem framing and problem solving, team work, communication skills, knowledge of teaching strategies, creativity and imagination, ability to performance. 3) Professional Standing and Subject Area Competence: Certi- Self-estee- e, T gram (RSVP) for Sevier Valley Education, as well as the P.A.C.E. Center and the ESL program that teaches English as a second lan speakers. guage to non-natiSobrio s facility with Spanish has been an advantage for many ESL secrestudents. Leybas part-tim- e Larsen. is tary Kathy The RSVP program gives those over age 60 an opportunity to continue sharing their talents, skills and knowledge with segments of the community who need them. Volunteers will be involved at Cedar Ridge to help students who are dealing with drug abuse, violence, stress, poverty, divorce, and pregnancy. Parents with children age newborn to three years are the focus of the P.A.C.E. Center. Its purpose is to enhance the lives of parents and children through improved skills, attitudes, values and behaviors linked to reading. Teachers Denise Roberts and George Judd are heading up a newly Fication and endorsements and professionalism. The job openings will be open to existing staff at the high school at first and if all of the fifteen are not Filled the job positio1 openings will be opened up to other teachers in the district. Open at the high school are ten positions of 12 month contracts, four contracts for teaching positions and one contract for a school athletic director. Currently there are 17 positions at the high school. There are mixed emotions about the changes. When talking with the teachers there is great concern about a reduction in staff and the label that puts on the losers. They are also concerned with the educational flow that will take place at the high school when some teachers are chosen while others are not and how that will affect education. There are also concerns of nonteachers evaluating teaching positions and the validity of the screening process that will take place now through December 15, 1991. All in all most are worried about the end result even though most are encouraged with what can happen in the future, the result of change. As a direct result of meeting with parents almost on a daily basis, Shumway has been able to explain personally his approach to change and the direction that education could take after the new team of associates is named and they can start preparing next years goals. Parents are also excited about their new role serving on the steering committee and the evol vement they will have in the future of the high school. 5 not to set foot on foreign land, set foot on one's own country as a foreign land. he whole object of travel is G K. Cedar Ridge High School continues rapid growth After the addition of building units that more than doubled its floor space, some new staff were added to accommodate the 130 students now enrolled in the program. Tony Sobrio is a half time English teacher, and Sue Whitmore is an instructional assistant Both bring a wealth of experience and people skills to their new assignments. Sobrio is also fluent in Spanish and director Randy Brown, who speaks German, hopes to add these lancurricuguages to the Cedar Ridge lum eventually. New to the staff, but not to the district, isRonnaLeyba who heads the Retired Senior Volunteer Pro- in organized advisory council that will solicit community involvement, and propromote community-base- d grams and activities that further the educational mission of the school. Roberts and Judd hope to involve students, parents and community leaders in service projects and other worthwhile ventures. If its to be, its up to me is the theme of Cedar Ridge High School. The administrative philosophy is to work with students strengths t empower them with knowledge and skills so they will receive high school diplomas and be ready for jobs, parenting, citizenship, and other life challenges. Classifieds Work! Call Call 529-783- 9 528-311- 1 it is at last to A computerized scheduling system is making high school registration more hassle free, accords. ing to Sevier School District ofFi-cial- What this means, said special services director Duane Bresee, is that every student can be in the right class from Day One, and the instructor can begin instruction without concern for changes in class membership or textbook needs. Counselors, principals and school secretaries, who have the responsibility of working out class schedules, have been trained on the new Columbia program. Bresee said if all goes well, 95 of the scheduling for the new school year can be expected to be Finished before this school year ends. Even with hitches or complications such as shared teachers with middle schools, new students, ad class changes, the usual mob scene on the First day of school was virtually nonexistent because students know where they were expected to be and didnt need to spend time working out scheduling problems. Changing to the trimester has made scheduling especially complex at the districts three high schools since the scheduling program available though the sate computer system i on the semester system. New hardware and software were required to interface with the state program, and scheduling takes about three hours with the new system. Students register at spring conferer. .es when,; with the help of their advisor, who evaluates their transcript and makes suggestions, classes needed for the next trimester are determined. After students declare their preferences, this information goes into the computer and a preliminary report tells the principal how many students are requesting the various classes. With this information the principal can then set class size limits and determine how many sections of each class will be needed. Bresee said that when the Columbia system was selected, those who trained the counselors, secretaries and principals in its use told them that it would be three years before things settled in completely. Bresee added that even though some foul-up- s had been expected, the start of the 1991-9- 2 school year was the smoothest ever. er t v Carnation Sale! School choice boundaries are approved 2. nd Computerized schedule system saves much time Chesterton The Sevier District School Board recently approved the school choice boundaries policy as follows: Studcrts may attend a school outside the attendance area in which they reside if pupilteacher ratios in the school to which the transfer is requested do not exceed a ratio of 24 to 1 in grades Kindergarten -3, and 28 to 1 in grades Exceptions to the pupilteacher ratio standard may be made where the academ ic, social and emotional welfare of the student is in question. Such exceptions must be approved by the principals of the schools involved and the superintendent or his designee. Students must provide their own transportation to attend a school outside their attendance area. Taken together, these components and others make up a students unique and individual earning personality or style. There is no one best way for all people to study or learn, but only a correct way for each individual to learn best. At school, we try to be as flexible and responsive to each students needs as possible. Of course, because we are dealing with large numbers of students, it is not always possible to as fully flexible as we would like, but at home it is easier for parents to adjust to their childs study needs. A word of caution: we are not talking bout study skills here, which are behaviors that need to be learned by all students as they get older. Study skills represent a students willingness to take the time to learn information and prepare for tests effectively and complete homework assignments in a timely fashion. Learning style is simply the way a student learns. Dontletyourchild tell you that his learning style is not to study at all! However, there is no point insisting that your child sit up in a straight backed chair in the dining room to do his homework if hes an informal learner who is more comfortable lounging on the sofa while reading his schoolbooks. If you notice your child moving around a It during study time, dont be alarmed as long as the work gets done. Some students learn best when interacting with others and might Find a study group useful. You can help your child figure out what works best for him by taking into consideration what he says works for him, your own observations of his personality and how he approaches learning and an assessment of how he is doing in school. Helping your child Find the best study method to suit his needs will help him be successful in school throughout life. Superintendent Brent Rock One of the challenges facing educators is Finding ways to accommodate the wide variety of learning styles among students. What do we mean by learning style? Take a unit of study like the arrival of the pilgrims on American shores in the early 17th century. Some students relate just Fine to the material as it is presented in the textbook. For others, the material has more meaning if they can get their hands on it by drawing pictures of the Mayflower or participating in a skit about that First, harsh winter. At home, some students will memorize the facts and dates they need to know about the colonization of America sitting at a table or desk, with a bright light overhead. Another student may learn better lying upside down on his bed with music in the background and dim lighting. Still another may need to take frequent breaks to get drinks of water or stretch his legs. There are over 20 different components that make up an individuals learning style and we have seen them all! A childs style of learning becomes discernible as early as kindergarten and will usually not change much throughout his school career, or in fact, throughout his life. One of the components that makes up learning style is reaction to environmental elements, such s preference for room temperature, background noise and lighting. Other components arise from a students level of curiosity, sense of time (past, present or future orientation), need for mobility, memory style and need for structure - or lack of structure. Whether a student is a morning or night person will also affect his learning style as will what motivates him to achieve and whether he is cautious or a risk taker. Cultural factors will also play a role in shaping a students style of learning. Save $1 to $5 JJ 23 Wrapped Carnations$1 .... Save$i.: Save$l.i Carnations, Vase $5.25 6 CArnations, Vase $7.50 Carnations, Vase $12.50 V2 ( Save $2.i .. SaveJS.i Flowers Say It Best! SaOna FMsTjJ Utah v185 East Main - Salina, 529-759- 8 Offer Expieres 1 I |