Nose and other non-ear piercings

The Bancroft-Rosalie School student handboook prohibits the wearing of visible body piercing jewelry at school on any body part other than the ear. Covering it with a band-aid is not an option. It is acceptable to remove the jewelry and use a plastic flesh-colored stud to prevent the hole from closing.Some students feel that this is limiting their ability to "express themselves." What the rule is meant to do is establish a reasonable expectation for how far students are allowed to go when trying to draw attention to themselves without distracting students from the real purpose for which they attend school- to learn and prepare themselves for life after high school.

President Obama's speech to students

Bancroft-Rosalie School will not be showing today's 11:00 am speech to the students. The controversy surrounding the speech is something I don't want to get in the middle of. I suggest that parents or students who want to view the speech access the speech through the internet. I believe that it will be made available through videostreaming.
The message that students need to stay in school is an important one, and that message is delivered regularly to our high school students. We make it a priority to encourage all students to continue their education after high school.

Kindergarten play- Omaha World Herald article

I imagine I will have several people cutting out the front page article from the Sunday Omaha World herald on playing in kindergarten and putting it in my mailbox. Put away the scissors, I already read it and completely disagree with the notion that kindergarten should be spent playing. The World Herald is responding to a statement from the early childhood people at the Nebraska Department of Education, who do not want students taught by direct instruction.I have attended all of the state reading panel meetings organized by Nebraska Reading First and have heard Nebraska Department of Education early childhood specialist Melody Hobson talk about how "play" is just as effective at teaching early literacy skills as other methods. There are no scientific studies to support this idea. Her belief is based on "brain research" and how some cognitive theorists believe the brain operates.
Reading First schools in Nebraska have shown evidence that direct, explicit teaching of phonemic awareness and phonics is an effective way to teach kindergarten students to read. And it is effective with all types of students, i.e. special education students, english language learners, children living in poverty. This was not mentioned in the World Herald article.
There are an increasing number of schools in Nebraska adopting the Reading First methods of instruction in kindergarten and the early childhood people in Lincoln are not happy about it. The early childhood statement that they are presenting to the Nebraska State Board of Education is aimed at countering this trend. Fortunately, there are a growing number of school administrators in Nebraska who are looking at scientific reading research and not "brain research."
The early childhood office is also the group mandating that any child who turns five before October 15 should attend kindergarten, no five year olds in public pre-schools. Age and maturity shouldn't matter if all they are going to do is play. I can't find a school administrator in Northeast Nebraska who thinks this mandate is a good idea.
I am committed to teaching kindergarten students to read using direct, explicit instruction methods, regardless of what propaganda is printed in the World Herald. I will talk about the misinformation that was included in the article in a later blog.

Flu vaccinations for students

The Logan-Elkhorn Valley Health Department is encouraging all parents to vaccinate their children for the H1N1 flu. They are not sure when the vaccine will be available, but they plan to get to each school and do a large group vaccination clinic when possible.
Permission slips and vaccine information statements will be sent to the schools when more information is available regarding the actual date of the clinic. These permission slips will be sent home with the parent and will have a definitive return by date so that the proper amount of vaccine can be issued. These forms will be very important. They will hold the information parents will need to base the decision of getting their child vaccinated.

Educational consultant visits B-R

Ray Hall, educational consultant for the National Institute For Direct Instruction, visited the B-R elementary Monday and Tuesday. He was here to provide feedback on the reading, language, spelling and math programs taught at B-R.
The reading Program, Reading Mastery, teaches students essential decoding and comprehension skills. The beginning grade levels teach students how to break the code and to read fluently. The intermediate grade levels use social studies and science concepts in stories to teach students how to learn from what they read. The upper levels introduce students to many pieces of classic literature.
The language program teaches receptive and expressive language skills. The early levels focus on the oral language concepts that students need to understand the academic classroom and start the students on the writing process. The middle levels provide full immersion into narrative writing. The upper levels move students into expository and critique writing plus higher order thinking skills.
The math program, Connecting Math Concepts, is designed so that all students will learn to compute, solve problems and think mathematically. The rationale for the program is that understanding math requires making connections between related math concepts and the world around us. The program ensures that students understand these connections, and it establishes relationships between concepts and their applications.

Saxon Math

Students in Math 7 through Geometry will be taught using a new math math series, Saxon Math. Saxon focuses on student mastery of math skills. Each day a new skill is introduced with a few problems requiring the use of those skills. The majority of the class time is spent practicing previously learned skills until they are mastered. The teacher monitors students working and re-teaching when necessary. Mastery tests are given every five lessons.
Saxon course 1 is 7th grade math, course 2 is 8th grade math, course 3 is pre-algebra, then Algebra and Geometry. Seventh grade students have been placed in course 1 or 3 based on results of a placement test given last spring. Eighth grade students placed in course 2 or Algebra. Students that may not have given their best effort in the spring were given a chance to re-take the placement test the week before school started.
Here are the two possible sequences for 7th grade students:
Grade 7- Course 1
Grade 8- Course 2
9th grade- Course 3
10th grade- Algebra
11th grade- Geometry
12th grade- Algebra II
or
Grade 7- Course 3
Grade 8- Algebra
9th grade- Geometry
10th grade- Algebra II
11th grade- Trigonometry
12th grade- Calculus
Once all students are properly placed in the curriculum, Applied Math I and II will be eliminated. It is a goal that nearly all students will complete Algebra II before graduation, since completion of this course is a good predictor of success in college.

Health Science students get HIPAA training

HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. The HIPAA training informs students about the requirements for patient confidentiality in the health care workplace. Hospitals require HIPAA training before students can job shadow. Anna Berg, a registered nurse at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in West Point, visited the Health Science class today and informed students about HIPAA.

Part of the Health Science class curriculum is to inform the students about careers in health care. With HIPAA training, Mr. Zavadil will be able to take the students into health care facilities on short field trips once a month.