Upcoming Events

For a more complete list of professional development opportunities, visit www.southdakotapd.com.

• Regional PD: Learn from your peers

• Aligning Health and Reading with a HEAP of Books

• New event addresses laptops and learning

• Trainings address health education standards and assessment

• LifeSkills curriculum training to be held

• Healthcare Workforce Summit planned

• Save the date:
  2007 South Dakota Infinite Campus Interchange

Regional PD: Learn from your peers

This summer, the U.S. Department of Education is sponsoring 19 Teacher-to-Teacher regional workshops for teachers to learn from fellow educators who have had success in raising student achievement. Each workshop focuses on a specific subject or subjects (math and science, history, art, etc.) Registration is free, and meals will be supplied during scheduled activities. However, participants are responsible for transportation and lodging.

To learn about these opportunities, visit http://www.t2tweb.us/Workshops/Schedule.asp.  Registration is already under way for several venues.
 

Aligning Health and Reading with a HEAP of Books

You know how important health education is for students. But it’s no secret that finding time for it is difficult. Aligning Health and Reading with a HEAP of Books, June 4-6, is a practical solution for elementary and secondary teachers, school counselors, nurses and others for getting it all done in the little time you have!

The training, sponsored by Coordinated School Health, will be held at Black Hills State University in Spearfish.

Aligning Health and Reading with a HEAP of Books is designed to help teachers make connections between the health knowledge and skills their students should achieve in order to become health literate and the books they integrate into their daily lessons on reading and writing.

Participants will be eligible to receive one graduate credit through BHSU ($62) or one Department of Education renewal credit at no charge. Participants also may take the course for no credit.

For information, visit http://doe.sd.gov/oess/schoolhealth/training/index.asp.  Call Coordinated School Health at (605) 773-3261 or e-mail karen.keyser@state.sd.us or april.hodges@state.sd.us. 

 

New event addresses laptops and learning

The first-ever Laptop Institute will take place June 10-13 in Mitchell. The event will focus on using technology as an effective tool for learning. All educators are welcome to attend, not just those participating in the South Dakota Classroom Connections project.

Keynote speakers will include:

• David Warlick, author of several books on instructional technology and 21st century literacy
• Pamela Livingston, author of “1 to 1 Learning: Laptop Programs that Work”
• Tom Farrell, Dakota State University

To find out more about the Laptop Institute, please visit http://www.sddial.org/events/laptop_institute_07.htm. 

The event is hosted by DIAL, Dakota State University, the South Dakota Department of Education, and TIE.
 

Trainings address health education standards and assessment

Coordinated School Health will host two South Dakota Health Education Standards and Assessment Trainings this summer. The first will take place June 19-20 at the Holiday Inn Express in Fort Pierre. The second will be an online training June 1-29.

Participants will explore South Dakota’s health education standards, including the core concepts and skill categories. They will learn to align standards, assessment and instructional activities, as well as obtain practice in scoring students’ work. Participants will learn to differentiate between assessment for the purpose of accountability and assessment for the purpose of instructional improvement.

This training is appropriate for elementary teachers, curriculum directors, health education teachers, administrators, school counselors, school nurses, extension educators, and other interested individuals.

One hour of graduate credit through Augustana College ($50) or one Department of Education renewal credit (no charge) is available. Participants also may take the course for no credit.

For information, visit http://doe.sd.gov/oess/schoolhealth/training/index.asp.  Call Coordinated School Health at (605) 773-3261 or e-mail karen.keyser@state.sd.us or april.hodges@state.sd.us. 
 

LifeSkills curriculum training to be held

LifeSkills is a proven, highly effective, substance abuse prevention program designed to provide students with the necessary skills to resist social pressures to smoke, drink and use drugs; to help them develop greater self-esteem, self-mastery, and self-confidence; to enable children to effectively cope with social anxiety; and to increase their knowledge of the immediate consequences of substance use.

A LifeSkills training for teachers is set for June 25-26, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. each day, at Cedar Shore Resort in Oacoma.

Participants will be eligible to receive one graduate credit through Augustana College ($50) or one Department of Education renewal credit at no charge. Participants also may take the course for no credit.

For information, visit http://doe.sd.gov/oess/schoolhealth/training/index.asp.  Call Coordinated School Health at (605) 773-3261 or e-mail karen.keyser@state.sd.us or april.hodges@state.sd.us. 

Healthcare Workforce Summit planned

The South Dakota Healthcare Workforce Summit, “Preparing for the Challenge,” will be held July 24 at the Ramkota in Pierre. The summit is sponsored by the South Dakota Departments of Education, Health and Labor together with the South Dakota Board of Regents.

“The challenges facing South Dakota’s healthcare workforce are immense,” said Sandi Durick, assistant administrator of rural health for the South Dakota Department of Health. “At the same time the healthcare workforce in our state is aging and nearing retirement, we’re looking at a shrinking pool of potential replacements.”

As of June 2006, at least 50 percent of registered nurses, LPNs, pharmacists, dentists and physicians in the state were age 46 and over. In addition, the South Dakota State Data Center projects the numbers of South Dakotans of retirement age will increase 58 percent between 2005 and 2025. The result is that South Dakota is projected to need an additional 13,000 healthcare workers between 2004 and 2014.

For more information about the summit, visit the Department of Health’s Web site at http://ruralhealth.sd.gov or call 1-800-738-2301. Online registration for the summit is available.

Save the date:
2007 South Dakota Infinite Campus Interchange

Mark your calendars now for the 2007 South Dakota Infinite Campus Interchange, Oct. 2-3, 2007, at Cedar Shore Resort in Chamberlain.

Last year’s event drew an impressive 348 attendees, including technology coordinators, principals, teachers, and school secretaries. More information will be e-mailed this summer, including a link to register online.

This year’s event will feature more hands-on training, new presentations and a unique opportunity for you to network with state officials and colleagues from districts across South Dakota.