education summit education summit - Eric Rofes

Saturday, 10:30 am – 11:30 am SESSION 5
VIDEO SCREENING:
JUST A LITTLE REd dOT… (1 6)
When a new student comes to school wearing a dot on her forehead,
an Indian cultural symbol, some students express racist attitudes
and negative feelings. Another group
of students decides to educate their
schoolmates and find an ingenious way
to spread the message of respect for
people of all backgrounds. Based on a
true story. 35 minutes.
Nelson Hall East 115
LETTING GEOGRAPHY TAKE ON CONTROVERSIAL
ISSUES
Geography is a holistic, interdisciplinary perspective that gives incredible
latitude in the classroom. Its nature allows you to tackle controversial
subjects such as environmental degradation, population impact, urban
sprawl and promoting active citizenship. This session will feature geographic
resources and techniques on how to tackle controversial subjects
using geography and spatial analysis as tools.
A Humboldt State faculty member since 1971, DR. JOSEPH S. LEEP-
ER has been active in Geographic Education his whole career. He has
represented Region One on the State Social Science Council, been active
on history-social science at both local and state levels, and continues to
be active in social science education at Humboldt State. He received his
undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College where he also earned a provisional
Social Science teaching credential. He earned his two advanced
degrees at the University of Oregon. You can reach Dr. Leeper at jsl1@
humboldt.edu.
A relative newcomer to the Northcoast, DR. DENNIS FITZSIMONS has
been active in teacher preparation and teacher in-service workshops during
his university career. He was a very active presenter of teaching strategies
and workshops in Texas as part of the Texas Geographic Alliance.
Dennis continues his efforts locally and has given multiple presentations
before the Teaching American History (TAH) groups. He can be reached
at def4@humboldt.edu.
Founders Hall 179
SCHOOLS BASED ON LEARNER INITIATIVE AND
PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY
Relevant to the summit’s theme of democracy and social justice is the
time-tested Sudbury Valley School model. Sudbury schools are governed
by weekly meetings in which students and staff have one vote each in matters
including rules and staff employment. Justice Committee is the only
required activity in these egalitarian schools. This is learning about democracy
by doing it. A 30-minute video of Sudbury students and alumni
will be shown followed by a dialog with two organizers of a planned local
nonprofit Sudbury school.
DENNIS SHAUGHNESSY is an experienced and certified teacher and
has volunteered at the Sacramento Sudbury school. He sees the Sudbury
model as a way to take advantage of natural learning and motivation.
ALLISUN O’CONNELL is a child development student at HSU and is
passionate about the revolutionary principles of self- governance and selfdirected
learning put into practice at Sudbury schools. Reach her at problemsecretary@yahoo.com.
Nelson Hall East 116
11: 0 am – 1:00 pm LUNCH BREAK
Consider enjoying a hearty lunch at the J in the Jolly Giant Commons.
Perhaps you might visit the food booth in Goodwin Forum,
Nelson Hall East and pick up a snack. Met any interesting people
this summit? Why not invite them to lunch?
Special Lunchtime Opportunity
Saturday, 11: 0 am – 12:45 pm
A TOWN HALL MEETING
WHAT CAN WE DO TO RESCUE PUBLIC
EDUCATION FROM THE DISASTEROUS
EFFECTS OF HIGH-STAKES TESTING?
Laura Rose and Jan West, together with the Humboldt Educators and
Advocates for Responsible Testing, have developed a DVD presentation
to educate the public and our legislators about the un-winnable
situation into which high stakes testing has plunged our treasured
public school system. Less than 10% of our public schools are expected
to escape eventual sanctions and possible closures from No Child Left
Behind, and private, profit-based schools will grow at a stunning rate
to fatten the pockets of a few. Our DVD is designed to help the public
understand how and why we must change laws that are destined to
prevent America’s public school system from fostering equity, social
justice, and a well-balanced, rich curriculum for all children. With
co-sponsorship from Garry Eagles, Superintendent of the Humboldt
County Office of Education, and through gatherings of local teachers
and administrators, Jan and Laura have shared this presentation with
legislators Patti Berg and Wes Chesbro, and will soon share it with
Mike Thompson. In this special town meeting, we will follow the DVD
with a discussion of ideas for positive action, including the expectation
that our DVD will be ready to distribute or post on an Internet site.
LAURA ROSE was a classroom teacher for 25 years in local schools.
She spent several years training our local teachers in effective teaching
methods through the Humboldt County Office of Education, and she
has authored six books in teaching reading and writing through personal
connection and rich children’s literature. For the past ten years
she has been teaching student teachers in the Elementary Education
Credential Program at Humboldt State University. She can be reached
at lrose1@cox.net.
JAN WEST is a kindergarten/first grade teacher at Trinidad School,
a former Humboldt County Teacher of the Year, and recipient of the
Excellence in Teaching award. She served on the Humboldt County
Readiness Task Force and currently serves on the HSU Elementary
Education Partnership Council. Jan is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer
from Afghanistan with a special interest in multicultural education.
Together, Jan and Laura are dedicated to promoting developmentally
appropriate curriculum that awakens in each child the joys
of life-long learning across a rich curriculum, the timely acquisition of
basic intellectual, physical and social skills, and the promotion of democracy
through fostering social justice and equity. She can be reached
at jandjwest@cox.net.
Founders Hall 118
North Coast Education Summit 2006