By Lori Ehde
It’s not live, but it’s the next-best thing.
Luverne art teachers Chris Nowatzki and Cloyce Smith are recording their lessons on i-movies, and storing them on a compact disc for later review.
They’ve accessed exemplary grant funds for the project, and presented examples of two art lessons to School Board members at their meeting Tuesday night.
One was an eight-minute lesson on pastels, in which Nowatzki recorded Smith’s hands working with pastels. Smith’s voice was then recorded over the i-movie to tell students what she was doing.
"It’s a great teaching tool, and its an excellent learning tool," Nowatzki told board members. "Students can slow it down and review it, frame by frame."
He pointed to several practical uses for the CDs, for example, if a student misses a lesson due to illness, or if he or she wants to review it for clarification, it’s available.
Also, it can be valuable for teachers who are planning to be absent. "If they know they’re going to be gone ahead of time, they can put it on a CD and the substitute can use it for reference material," Nowatzki said.
It took Nowatzki and Smith a week to record six lessons on CDs, and so far, only the art department has utilized the technology.
But Nowatzki said there’s potential for all areas of the district to benefit from the practice. He mentioned Mary Jo Graphenteen recording volleyball plays, for example.
"It takes a long time [to record a lesson] but we’ll be continuing our library build-up next summer," Nowatzki said.
The regular board meeting was scheduled for tonight, but was moved to Tuesday in order to canvass the votes from the Nov. 5 school board election.
All four incumbents, Becky Walgrave, Cary Radisewitz, Bill Stegemann and Dan Kopp were re-elected to new four-year terms.
In other business Tuesday, the board …
Heard the K-8 math meeting Monday night was well-presented, but not necessarily well-attended by parents. "I know a lot of teachers worked very hard preparing this information," said Elementary Principal Melody Tenhoff.
Reviewed the district’s health curriculum with Jan Olson, district curriculum coordinator. She brought the information to the board after Parents: The Anti-Drug and Violence Task Force asked what the district is doing to prepare and educate students on substance abuse.
She said students get their first real dose of anti-drug training in fifth grade with the DARE program presented by Rock County Sergeant Mike Winkels.
Superintendent Vince Schaefer pointed out that the district has a formal curriculum to address substance abuse, but he said, "You can rest assured there are plenty of opportunities for informal discussion on drug education, too."
Heard Middle School Principal Stacy Gillette’s response to governor-elect Tim Pawlenty’s proposal to abolish Profiles of Learning.
"It’s taken over 10 years to implement this program, and now we understand it," she said. "Our teachers have imbedded them in their curriculum, and we’ve figured out a system for record-keeping."
She said the state principals association is working with Pawlenty to encourage him to amend the Profiles, rather than abolish them.
The federal government’s "No Child Left Behind Act" requires standards, and she said the Profiles provide those standards necessary for districts to be eligible for federal funds.
Heard that report cards are about ready and that conferences are underway this week.
Accepted the retirement of bus driver Dale Hartz, effective Oct. 16.
Approved a medical leave of absence for paraprofessional Crystal Ellefson for approximately six weeks, starting Nov. 20.
Noted the next School Board meeting is 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 25, and Thanksgiving break is Nov. 27-29.