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December 03, 2005
OOOO Oklahoma
Yes and the wind does come sweepin' down the plains. It was supposed to be 62 degrees in Oklahoma City yesterday, but with a wind chill factor it felt like 30. Well, it felt like 30 to me. Wow, I'm spoiled and not used to this.
However, I had a great visit- actually great 2 visits with folks from the Oklahoma State Department of Education http://www.sde.state.ok.us/home/defaultie.html. If the weather was cold, the reception was contrastingly warm and friendly from those I met with in the department.
My first visit was with Dr. Jennifer Watson, Team Leader for the Office of Standards and Curriculum and the curriculum cabinet. What a great group. I just fit right into their agenda and asked questions about content areas of English/Language Arts, math, science, social studies, and fine arts. They shared about gifted and talented, a bit about preschool, and a lot about Ag in the Classroom. I laughed because in California I'm not sure how many children in Los Angeles or San Francisco know much about agriculture, but where I'm from in Glenn County, ag is a BIG deal. In Oklahoma it's a BIG deal too. I felt right at home.
The group was in the middle of a variety of conferences targeting improving instuction in the various content areas. They were very pleased with the reception by the teachers and the progress they'd made. They also shared their PASS program which is their standards-based instruction system. They'd even put their standards into small grade level booklets for the teachers to use. That has been a big hit.
After having been in a huge state like Texas, it was delightful to see a group of people who knew teachers by name and went out and met with them at their schools on a regular basis. It's tough to do that in the big states. That's probably one of the reasons I like being in a small county. I know everyone. It makes a difference for teachers, parents, and children when you know who they are.
Thanks Jennifer and your group for your hospitality.
Next was a visit about preschool. See that one on the next entry.
Posted by Dr Joni at December 3, 2005 07:55 AM