American Education Week

November 12th through the 16th marks the annual observance of American Education Week.  

Public schools are the backbone of our democracy, providing our young people with the tools they need to maintain our nations precious values of freedom, civility, and equality.  Schools equip our children with the skills and abilities needed for a productive future.  

Schools are the glue that hold communities together.  They bring parents, children, educators, civic leaders and elected officials around a common enterprise.

All the adults in our schools, whether they are teachers, subs, bus drivers, cooks, associates, librarians, nurses or secretaries, work tirelessly to serve our children and communities with care and professionalism. And this doesn't go unnoticed.

We are truly blessed to have such caring and dedicated adults working with our children daily in Alta and Aurelia.

Strengthening School Culture and Climate

School climate is a key factor that determines whether young people will feel safe in school or not.  In the first few minutes of entering any school, you can develop a feel for the school.  What you see on the walls, posters, student work.  Are there rules posted that all begin with the word "Don't"?  How you are greeted (or not) by both adults and students in the hallway impacts your "feel" for the school.  Are they helpful and interested in who you are and how they can help? Do they make eye contact?  This "feel" you develop is and indicator of school climate.

A new student on his/her first day of classes walks into homeroom, looks across the aisle and says to another student, "What's this place like?" The other student proceeds to tell the new kid who the nice teachers are, who the mean teachers are, areas of the school to avoid, which cliques are in power, what events are fun to attend, and what the sports program is like. The student is describing the school culture to an outsider. The strongest influence on how young people treat each other is the culture of the school.

School climate is created by the attitudes, beliefs, values and norms that underlie the instructional practices, the level of academic achievement and the operation of the school.  It is driven by how well the adults, and how fairly the adults in a school create, implement and model these beliefs, values, and norms.  Schools with a strong, positive school climate have adults that model behaviors that strengthen the climate.  Learning student names and greeting them by name, responding to negative behaviors in a respectful manner, are example of modeling that can strengthen a school climate.  

The product of a good school climate is a strong school culture.  School culture is "the way we do that here". or the way "we don't do that here."  This includes "how we do relationships at this school." In a school with a strong culture, any staff or student will be able to explain and demonstrate "how we do that here."

Culture and climate are aspects of an interactive system. Changes in one, produce changes in the other.  School culture feeds back to climate, and climate back to culture. Climate is established by the actions of the adults and sets the tone or feel of the school.  Culture is how students and staff behave in the context of the climate created by the adults.

Culture and climate is something that we, as a shared district, are continually focusing upon and analyzing. Creating a safe and caring environment for our students is at the top of our list. It has an impact on how the students perform academically, and emotionally.

One example of how this is played out in many schools has to do with harassment. All schools have a policy forbidding bullying and harassment by students. If a student reports harassment to one adult at school they may get a wide variety of responses from the adult including being told to, "Ignore it", or "Tell them to stop", or worse, "Boys will be boys". Or, if they report to another adult they may get a swift, direct response including intervention with the perpetrator and protection for the victim from further abuse. Inconsistency or lack of staff response creates a climate of uncertainty and undermines trust between students and staff. This message is instilled in the school culture. Undermining trust affects the culture by creating a less dependable environment and less trust between students and staff.  This is an example that we hope is not played out in our schools in Alta and Aurelia.

Over the course of this school year, you will see or hear about activities in our schools that directly address bullying/harassment, as well as school climate and culture.  Inviting in the Highway Patrol recently to present to students of all grade levels (and parents) on bullying and cyber-bullying is one example.  Continued support of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, Hands and Words Program, Character Counts is critical in developing the norms of "how we treat each other in this school."  Additionally, using older middle school and high school students to mentor or serve as "big buddies" for elementary students creates a culture of sharing, giving and serving as a positive role model.

Teachers are in the beginning stages of being trained in PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports).  PBIS is a framework or approach for assisting school personnel in addressing student behaviors and discipline in a more positive, pro-active manner. PBIS IS NOT a packaged curriculum, scripted intervention strategy. 

PBIS IS a prevention-oriented way for school personnel to manage classrooms, hallways, lunch rooms, playgrounds in a manner that is less stressful, more direct, and incorporates modeling of the positive behaviors as well as reasonable consequences for negative behaviors.

Preventing bullying and harassment, creating positive student-to-student and teacher-to -student interactions are a key to strengthening a school's culture and climate.  It is a cycle of continuous improvement which is always at the forefront of what we do as school system.

Teachers Working Together to Implement Iowa Core Curriculum

Over 500 educators from 10 school districts met Friday (Sept. 14) for collaborative professional development focused on improving student achievement through developing deeper understanding of the Iowa Core. Teachers from the districts listed below, engaged with teachers in grade and content-alike peer groups from across the southwest portion of Prairie Lakes AEA:

Albert City-Truesdale

Alta-Aurelia

East Sac County

Gilmore City-Bradgate

Laurens-Marathon

Newell-Fonda

Pocahontas Area

Ridge View

Sioux Central

West Bend-Mallard

Teachers and administrators gathered at three different sites to develop concept-based lesson plans through the Iowa Core. (Kindergarten-second grade teachers were in the Storm Lake AEA office. Third-fifth grade teachers met at the Pocahontas AEA office. The remaining teachers worked at Pocahontas Are High School, the host site for this first meeting.

Iowa’s small rural schools have a long history of working together forming consortiums and addressing emerging concerns collectively.

Just ask any teacher in Iowa what they want for their students and they will tell you they want them to have the best education possible. Bringing rural Iowa teachers together to have the opportunity to develop a common understanding of the Iowa Core Curriculum, in a supportive environment where they can learn and share with their experiences, hopes and dreams for their students, is priceless; it’s true collaboration.

Teachers who teach in small rural schools have a limited ability to collaborate with others who teach the same grade level or content area. Bringing teachers together in grade-alike groups gives them an opportunity to build relationships beyond their buildings across district boundaries. Relationships can, and often do, spill over into the classroom as teachers utilize technologies to connect their students with those across the consortium and beyond. Collaborative professional development creates connections that deepen the learning for all those involved.

As teachers engaged in unpacking the Iowa Core Curriculum, they expand their knowledge and ability to apply the newly gained lessons in their classrooms. Student achievement increases as teachers collaboratively build deeper and richer lessons inspiring each other to stretch their students further.

It is important for all of Iowa’s teachers and students to be successful, not just those in our own districts. Coming together for collaborative professional development not only enriches our teachers’ knowledge of the Iowa Core Curriculum; it is evidence of our local school boards’ commitment to improving student learning. It speaks well of our boards to having the courage to allow for alignment our district calendar with other school districts, and for providing the resources necessary to make this learning opportunity available to our teachers and in turn our students. It is great to see area school districts working together to help everyone achieve success!

Changes in Iowa Law on Stopping for School Buses

As the new school year begins, drivers to remain vigilant as students and school buses return to the roadways. That means: Put the cell phone away, set your cup of coffee down, don't look in your rear-view mirror to fix your hair. Concentrate on who and what is around you. Our ultimate goal is to make sure everyone safely arrives at their destination. Motorists should avoid distractions and obey school bus and school zone traffic laws so we have the safest possible environment for students boarding and exiting buses.  

The bill known as "Kadyn's Law," in memory of Kadyn Halverson, went into effect with the governor's signature March 16, 2012. The 7-year-old first grader from Kensett was killed last May by a driver who had illegally passed a stopped school bus. 

The new provisions increase the penalties for drivers who fail to abide by the law (Iowa Code 321.372) on stopped school buses. Previously, a motorist who passed a bus when the red warning lights were flashing was fined $200. The new Iowa law increased the penalty to at least $250 and as high as $675 for a first offense and up to 30 days in jail. For subsequent violations, a driver could face fines of up to $1,875. A driver who violates the law and causes an injury could face added fines, jail time and license suspension. 

In addition to the situations described below, drivers should never pass on the right. Violations of Iowa's motor vehicle laws should be reported to local law enforcement. 

Scenario 1 – You are traveling on a two-lane or three-lane

• Nearing the bus from the rear; drivers must always stop when either the amber lights or red lights are flashing. Stop no closer than 15 feet from the bus. 

• Meeting the bus from the front; drivers must slow their vehicles to 20 mph when amber lights are flashing. Stop when the lights change to red and the stop arm comes out. Remain stopped until the lights stop flashing and the stop arm is withdrawn.

Scenario 2 – You are traveling on a road with two or more lanes in each direction

• Stop if nearing the bus from the rear when amber or red lights are flashing. Stop no closer than 15 feet from the bus.

• When meeting the bus in one of the opposite two lanes (or more), you do not need to stop even if the bus has stopped with lights flashing and stop arm out. The bus is not permitted to load or unload children who must cross this type of roadway unless there are official traffic control devices or police officers present.

The Education We Need

At the end of the Second World War the average American needed only a fourth grade education to be in the 50th percentile in salary. In the 1990’s, a twelfth grade education was necessary to reach the same level. Today, a college graduate earns more than twice as much as someone with less than 12 years of education.

As our graduates prepare to take that step into the next phase of their lives they are entering an exciting world.  A world where society is being recreated. Knowledge will be its key resource, and knowledge workers will be the dominant group in its workforce. Peter Drucker, a writer, teacher and consultant, identifies three main characteristics of the knowledge-based society:

•Borderlessness, because knowledge travels even more effortlessly than money. •Upward mobility, available to everyone through easily acquired formal education.

•The potential for failure as well as success. Anyone can acquire the “means of production”, i.e., the knowledge required for the job, but not everyone can win.
Together, those three characteristics will make the knowledge society a highly competitive one, for organizations and individuals alike. Information technology, although only one of many new features of the next society, is already having one hugely important effect: it is allowing knowledge to spread near-instantly, and making it accessible to everyone. Given the ease and speed at which information travels, every institution in the knowledge society—not only businesses, but also schools, universities, hospitals and increasingly government agencies too—has to be globally competitive, even though most organizations will continue to be local in their activities and in their markets. This is because the Internet will keep customers everywhere informed on what is available anywhere in the world, and at what price.

It will not be “how much you know” that will be the key to success in this society, but “can you access the knowledge needed?”  Do you know where to find the information and do you know how to apply that information?  We often speak about the life-long learner.  In a knowledge-based economy, continuous learning will be essential to success.  If our graduates could take from our schools only one learned trait, I would want that one trait to be the ability to be a continuous, life-long learner.

In our school systems, children begin the job of being formal learners when they enter kindergarten.  For our graduates it seems like a long time ago when they enter that phase of their lives.  For us parents it seems only yesterday that we sent them off for the first day of school.  It was a time of joy, apprehension, excitement and fear for both the parents and the child.  Graduation brings back some of those same feelings for both. As I think about our graduates and what they will need to be successful in an ever-changing world, I am reminded of a story a number of years ago about what we learn in kindergarten and how important those lessons are to leading a successful, rewarding life.  I don’t know the author, but the words remain true.

Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school.
These are the things I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life.
Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. 
Remember the little seed in the plastic cup. The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.


The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation; Ecology and politics and sane living. Think of what a better world it would be if we all, had cookies and milk about 3 o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nations to always put things back where we found them and clean up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

Filling Their Packs

John Dewey said, "Education is not preparation for life. Education is life."

     There are few professions where you can see the impact of your work so vividly. There aren't many jobs where hero, friend and mentor are part of the job description. There are few careers that have such a lasting impact on an entire generation.

     I like teaching. I like learning about teaching. And I especially like reading others' teaching philosophies. I love it when teachers select analogies that explain, instruct and inspire. , such as, "teaching is like lighting a bonfire," or "teaching is like giving students wings"

     For me, teaching is a little like stuffing a backpack. You know the ones I mean, the heavy-duty, oversize backpacks that students shoulder down the halls of our schools. In these metaphorical backpacks, students carry with them the knowledge and skills they will need for their journey through life. When students enter our classrooms, their backpacks have already been partially filled by families, life experiences and other instructors. The backpacks are deep and sometimes it's hard to see what they are carrying in there.

     Through our teaching, we attempt to place items in our student's backpacks. All children do not arrive to school with a backpack full of the same experiences, nor are they all equally full. When students first enter our classrooms we must determine what is in the backpack and begin filling from there. We add the foundations of language, reading, mathematics, the mechanics of writing and skill development. We pack in sharing and caring, character development, listening skills. Art, music and physical wellness are placed in the pack as well.

     By this time, the students' backpacks are pretty full, but we're not done yet. Our next job is to expand their backpacks so that more will fit in them. We do this by asking them to analyze, question and think.

     As children grow and mature, we ask them to look at what is in their backpacks and apply the items to real world situations. Sometimes, we can actually see their backpacks grow in class as they experience new ways of thinking about an issue. And sometimes students have to discard something from the bottom of their backpacks that has lain there, unexamined, for many years to make room for a new idea.

     The good thing about stuffing a backpack is that it's a lot of fun! We also know that as soon as students are out of our sight, they dump things out of the backpack to lighten the load. With these characteristics in mind, we can't just force items into the backpack. We have to get students to want to carry our backpack stuffers around. So we try new things in teaching. What do students discard? How can we get items to stick around longer in the backpack? Will this exercise expand that backpack or not? Mistakes are okay, because we can always try again. In addition, we find that the students might not notice how heavy the backpack has become if the stuffing process is interesting and even entertaining.

     As our students prepare to graduate, they leave us, their backpacks full. Our sincere desire is that they journey farther than we have, see more, and achieve more. And somewhere along the way, they'll pull something out of their backpacks and think of a teacher who placed it there.

Schools across the country bring iPads to the classroom | McClatchy

Schools across the country bring iPads to the classroom | McClatchy