Osmond Elementary

updated February 14, 2008

Teachers

Osmond Encourages Academic Participation

Evidence of our success in encouraging students to fully participate in their education is seen through the Wyoming Comprehensive Assessment Program, which reports our school’s scores as among the highest statewide. We attribute this success to excellent teaching from Afton Elementary, our K-3 feeder school, and the abilities or our own teaching professionals. Our teachers continue to develop their teaching skills through a professional development program created by one of our own, Joseph Semadeni, who was recently awarded the Milken Family Foundation Teacher Award.

Mr Semadeni’s program relies upon principles of adult learning and human motivation to help teachers learn research-based instructional strategies that positively impact student achievement. In learning these strategies, our teachers have completed over 250 observations of one another teaching in the last year alone. Because of the program’s success at Osmond Elementary, Afton, Holdaway, and Metcalf schools are now using it; Star Valley secondary schools and Cokeville schools also plan to use the program.

Thanks to quality instruction and technology, Osmond can encourage all students to participate in math by allowing them to work at their own pace. Students pace themselves by setting individual goals through which they determine how much effort they must expend to perform well on frequent tests

Encouraging student participation in reading both fiction and non-fiction is also important. It happens through three main steps. First, teachers encourage reading practice through the Reading Renaissance program. Second, teachers help students develop reading skills that will allow them to succeed in reading non-ficiton, informational selections. Third, teachers provide reading incentives by allowing each student who completes reading goals to contribute in the creation of a group project. For example, given the patriotic theme this year, students are working to create a mosaic American flag. Painting a tile to place in the American flag rewards each student who meets individual reading goals. Projects from previous years have similarly included mosaics as well as fundraisers for hospital equipment.

Finally, teachers encourage student writing by using a common curriculum across grade levels. Regardless of the teacher to whom they are assigned or their age, students will learn writing through the same instructional techniques and terminology. This technique focuses on the premise that students must know good writing before they can create good writing. Consequently, students evaluate other’s writing parallel to practicing their own writing skills.