Educational Portfolio for Spencer Olmsted
Contact Information
Spencer Olmsted513 Central St NE
Olympia, WA 98506
(solmsted at yahoo)
2009-Current: 5th grade math and science teacher at Pioneer Elementary School in Olympia, Washington.
2006-2009: 5th grade teacher at L.P. Brown in Olympia.
Fall 2005: student taught in the 4th grade at Morning Star Elementary School in Bozeman, Montana.
Education
Links place content further down the page.Blog Entries
Graduate Work
Field trip to the Tinsley House at the Museum of the Rockies
Chess
I have been playing chess for over twenty years. Chess is an amazing game full of problem solving, computation, spatial manipulation and long term planning. It's also just a lot of fun.
These are all excellent grounds to play, but I have found through working with a number of chess coaches and parent volunteers that these reasons may not be the most important. Chess also teaches children how to lose. Most chess games end with one person beating another, and everybody loses from time to time. Learning how to lose helps children deal with situations in which they do not come out on top. This skill develops increased self worth and confidence. In the classroom, we set students up for success, but somewhere they must learn how to become great winners and losers.
Teaching Through Chess (Bozeman Chronicle May 2005)
Scholastic Chess Tournament