This summer I spent a couple of weeks learning about technology with the Area 3 Writing Project at UC Davis. My instructor was former PV teacher, Gail Desler, who now works for Elk Grove USD. Gail started our week with this impressive video, Did You Know? Being in the position of a student helped me to relate to the frustration level of my students. I checked out this pop-up, Sue Water’s First Five Tips For Writing Better Blog Posts while I was writing my first post. It was filled with great tips I could use right from the start.
It is my hope that parents and students can use this blog to give feedback to me about my curriculum, classes, and activities that the PV Student Council plans. I want to hear about your ideas for increasing up student involvement and success.
Here is the first project for the leadership class…….. Leaders
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: a3wp, blogging, podcasting August 13, 2008
Thanks to the student council officers, Sonya, Alex, John, Kyle, Amanda, Chuck, William, Justin, Austin, Nick, and Lelia who came Monday afternoon to help make welcome back signs, generate ideas and enthusiasm, and celebrated a new school year with root beer floats. Special thanks to Stacia Watson and Lisa Kunkle for their super support and energy!!!
Posted in Uncategorized August 13, 2008
Wouldn’t it be great for our school if we could all be able to communicate together on an issue in one place without having to send out individual emails and replies???….wikis do just that.
Posted in General August 5, 2008
We have a new principal, Dr. Jerry Kosch, a new group of students, some new paint…….will those changes guarantee the success of 2008-2009? Changes promote optimism and hope for the future. However, the success of Pleasant Valley will be determined by the level of involvement inside and outside the classroom.
JOIN The TIMBER WOLF PACK!!!
Inside a classroom, the students who participate get the most out of a lesson. Participation includes actively listening, trying the lesson, asking clarifying questions, and completing the desired product.
Participation is the key for learning in the classroom. It also is is vitally important for the success of our school community.
There are a variety of ways for parents to participate and add energy to the student body of Pleasant Valley…attending information nights like Back-to-School and Open House and discussing student progress in a parent-teacher conference is a good start. It is my hope that more parents will also attend SITE council, the Booster Club, and school board meetings. Do you have an idea to boost either student or parent involvement at PVS? Most of all, I hope that you participate inside the classrooms, support the students’ activities, and chaperone dances and extra curricular events. Add your ideas and write a comment.
Posted in Uncategorized July 30, 2008
This summer my daughter graciously accompanied me on a trip of a lifetime…..to Halifax and Prince Edward Island. We biked, played on the beach, learned about the history of Canada, marveled at the rolling green hills, rivers, bays, red coastlines, and marvelous uncrowded beaches!!
Nothing is better than learning about history immersed in the setting!! The narratives and information about Captain James Cook and Lord Cornwallis in Halifax, Nova Scotia, imparted new perspectives from lessons previously learned in American history classes.
The highlight of the trip, however, was celebrating the haunts and home of one of my favorite characters in young adult literature, Anne Shirley, the young heroine from the series of Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Montgomery. Yes, I had the priviledge of walking through Green Gables, the beaches on which she played, the Cavendish church and the school environs that took on new life in her stories. My daughter and I enjoyed high tea at the Dalvay Inn, a Queen Anne revival mansion that served as the background scene in the movie, “Anne of Avonlea” when Morgan helped to pick up the pages of Anne’s novel when she fell asleep at the dunes.
To help students see what I experienced as well as get a feel of components that created the inspiration for Anne in the mind of Lucy Montgomery, I created a short movie –
greengables_0001
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Green Gables, Prince Edward Island July 29, 2008
