By Rhonda Alves
Assistant Academic Director
Someone called the other day and asked for some information I had included in my last column. When I directed her to the column on the web site, she admitted that she’d seen it but that it was just so long and “ugggghhhh!”
I’m not really sure how to spell the grunt she emitted, but I definitely understood her meaning. I will try not to be so “ugggghhhh!” in this column, but some times important details are just flat-out dull. One can stir up just so much excitement about participation cards, selections on the music memory contest tape, and whether or not a campus has received the A+ Handbook. I think a column on rodeo clowning would be much more fun to write, but I’m not a rodeo clown and I don’t work for a rodeo clown-related organization. At least not yet. I don’t think the rodeo clowns would want me working for them; I’m pretty slow. A bull would get me the first time out of the chute. Some might even contend that I’m already “full of bull” but apparently this does not save me from the “ugggghhhh!” category.
So here goes with some long-winded bull....
District meets are occurring, and I am anxious to hear about them. Please call, email or fax comments to me. I’m interested in the impact early competition has on the quality of performances and the quantity of entries. What problems occurred? Will you ever have a meet this early again? Do you have any hair left?
Our final fall UIL workshop for coaches and sponsors occurred recently at the University of Texas at Austin. This is the first year that UIL included sessions specifically for elementary and junior high coaches. We also conducted sessions at the University of North Texas in Denton, Sam Houston State University in Huntsville and the University of Texas Pan American in Edinburg.
I appreciate the contributions made by presenters, who for the most part were local classroom teachers. I think attendance will grow as more people are aware that free coaching sessions for elementary and junior high sponsors are offered at the annual UIL Student Activities Conferences (SACs). The name is misleading in that all EJH sessions are for coaches only, but I think we can be more effective by focusing on the needs of the adults at the workshops.
We offered six sessions at each SAC this fall, but I plan to add three more next year. Please get the word out to your peers, and let me know the type of sessions you are interested in attending. Don’t forget to put the Capital Conference in Austin on your calendar for the summer. This two-day workshop, to be held June 29-30, includes sessions on coaching strategies, motivation ideas for students and teachers, effective strategies for administering programs and much more.
I came back from the SACs with a lot of questions and ideas generated by participants. I heard no consensus on the idea of a two-year list for music memory. The cost of materials for the event does seem to be a big concern for districts, but no one liked the idea of a 3rd grader encountering the same titles in the 4th grade. Please let me hear your ideas on the topic. I don’t want to “fix what ain’t broke.”
I heard a lot of favorable and some dissenting comments about the idea of adding a proofreading section to the spelling contest. The format would most likely be comprised of passages containing words from the spelling lists. In order to add a component to the contest, the number of words on the lists would probably be reduced from the current 60 for grades 3-4 to 50; from 90 for grades 5-6 to 80; and from 120 for grades 7-8 to 110.
A lot of concern was also expressed about the amount of time that occurs in the storytelling contest between the telling of the story and the performance of the last speaker. Some students may wait up to an hour before they compete, and this is a really long time for second and third graders.
The idea of a geography contest for elementary and junior high students was raised, and people expressed an interest in UIL articulating the specific subjects to be covered on the science tests.
In the ready writing contest, it was requested that elementary and junior high students be allowed to use a standard thesaurus and dictionary just as high school competitors are allowed to do. Contest rules cannot be altered without the approval of the Legislative Council, which meets in June and October.
Please contact me with you ideas and suggestions regarding these and any other ideas you may have for elementary and junior high academic contests.
On that note, the Legislative Council met Oct. 15-16 in Austin. It is official: the Merriam Webster’s Intermediate Dictionary will be the only official dictionary for elementary and junior high contests beginning with the 2001-2002 school year. Contestants may use any dictionary, but test writers will take material from the Intermediate Dictionary, and the test key will reflect page numbers from it, also. The Council also passed a rule changing the process by which the team score is calculated in the art contest. The current rules require that the highest team member’s score count as 50 percent of the overall score. Beginning with the 2001-2002 school year, all team members’ scores will count equally toward the overall team score. The philosophy for the change is that the new system will make the score simpler to compute and render each competitor’s performance equally significant.
If your campus intends to compete in a UIL district meet, you need to return a participation card. “Ugggghhhh!” You may do this on-line at the UIL web site. The link is on the academics page. If you don’t know if you are registered, please call or email me. If you do not already subscribe to the elementary and junior high listserve, please do so. Look for instructions on this page.
Best wishes for a successful UIL district meet and a great school year, and I apologize for any distress incurred due to the length and text of this column. It is possible that you just have heartburn.