My name is Steve Goliff.  I live with my wife of thirteen years, Emma, my daughter Valerie, 9, and son Kenny, 6.

Valerie is currenly enrolled in a musical theater class at the Seattle Children's Theater.  She acted in her sixth play last school year, playing Bagheera the panther in "Jungle Book."  In July 2006 she performed as "Kaa" in "Jungle Book" at the GRCC.  She also performed in “Pippi Longstocking” in June, 2005.  Kenny enjoyed participating in his "creative dramatics" class.  This past summer, my family went on a camping trip to Deception Pass.  We also spent a week at Crater Lake National Park.  The park is quite spectacular and the blue water is incredible.

            I have enjoyed coaching, along with Bill Hess, the fifth grade boys’ basketball team for the last six years.  It is a lot of fun teaching the basic skills and molding the kids into a team!  This year I will coach the girls' team.  We will be playing a six-game schedule starting at the end of January 2007.

           This is my third year teaching fourth grade at Lea Hill after four years in third grade.  Prior to that, I taught for five years in Los Angeles, CA, in second and third grades and I worked as a substitute teacher for four years in grades Kindergarten through six.  

            In May 2005 I completed my Masters Degree in Education, with a focus on Integrating Technology in the Classroom.  Our class is lucky enough to have three student computers.  We will have a schedule that allows each student about 40 minutes of computer time in the class each week.  On Tuesdays we will spend 45 minutes in the computer lab learning and practicing using computer programs.  We will practice using the Internet, Microsoft Word, and Power Point.  We will also work on opening and closing programs and saving documents.

            In class we will use a program called Larson’s Math.  It allows the kids to move at their own pace to reinforce math skills.  In addition, we are going to use a program called Accelerated Reader.  As kids complete independent reading books, they can take a short comprehension test and earn points for rewards.

            On our "online parent resources" page is a link to a "hot-list" of websites that our students can access from any Internet connection.  It contains five groups of sites to explore that are related to topics of study in class.  It is updated occasionally throughout the school year, so keep checking back to see what's new. 

           I look forward to successful school year for all!  Be sure to come by the class when you have a chance!