An Arizona native! I graduated from Northwestern Lutheran Academy in Mobridge, South Dakota in 1979. NWLA was a prep. school of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran synod. It had three tracts of education: General ed., Teacher ed., and Prep. for synodical training for pastors at Northwestern Lutheran Seminary. I chose the teacher tract. After high school, I went to Dr. Martin Luther College in New Ulm Minnesota. It has been renamed and is known as Martin Luther College. MLC is our synod's teacher's college. My minor was science. I entered public education after graduation and began teaching at Bellair Elementary where I taught for nine years before moving to Las Brisas for two years. Then, on to Copper Creek and Finally at Highland Lakes where I enjoy teaching science. I attended NAU and received my Master of Arts in Science Teaching degree in August of 2007. 
     Fishing ,camping and hiking are my favorite hobbies. I like to read mostly about fishing and science news. I also collect minerals and rocks and view the planets through my telescope. I share these interests with my three children and my wife.
     The quote below sums up my educational philosophy. 
    “Different students will achieve understanding in different ways, and different students will achieve different degrees of depth and breadth of understanding depending on interest, ability and context. But all students can develop the knowledge and skills described in the Standards, even as some students go well beyond these levels.”

National Research Council. (1996). The national science education standards.   Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

I beleive in differentiation. If you visit my classroom you may  5 or more different science lessons going on at the same time; self driven, and guided by a standards based syllabus. Assessment is most often through modeling while explaining and being asked to elaborate on certain points. This interview process informs my teaching for each individual child much more accurately than a paper/ pencil test where a student can guess correctly and I would never know it. This process also allows me to identify the misconceptions students bring to their new learning. It allows me to give a challenge that willl help the student create a competing mental model to their own and allows the student to come to that , "Ah Ha!" moment . It builds self confidence in one's own ability to solve problems. I developed this method of teaching throughout my master's program and have had great success for the past 10 years.

This will be my 6th year teaching gifted students. Because of the students, the support of their parents and the support of my administrators, I still look forward to teaching every day. This is my calling. I value it as such.

Welcome 2017/2018 parents and students.

Sincerely,

Hank Shoop

Classroom Expectations

Engage in activities enthusiastically and stay focused.

Be open to divergent perspective and other participants’ point of view.

Share in the responsibility for the success of your work.

Limit side conversations during periods of direct instruction.

Use of technology (cell phone, laptop, iPad, etc.) is purposeful and related to learning.

Show respect to everyone and everything in the classroom.