Thursday, November 19, 2009

Ted Sizer

Ted Sizer focused on high schools during his career but his books changed my teaching and the way I interacted with kids completely.

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-ted-sizer24-2009oct24,0,3562085.story

Friday, November 6, 2009

Literacy a Schoolwide Job

This article from Education Week talks about how one high school is making literacy a priority!

Education Week

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Technology in the Classroom!!!!

Check out this article. Students use GPS to learn about geography.

GPS

Monday, August 17, 2009

Interesting Web Site to Share With Parents!

Playful Learning is a homegrown website that was created to share useful and interesting information with families regarding the growth and development of their children.


http://www.playfulearning.com/Playful_Learning/Playful_Learning.html

What Book Got You Hooked?

"What Book Got You Hooked?" invites readers everywhere to celebrate unforgettable books from childhood and help provide new books to the children who need them most. First Book asks visitors to share the memory of the books that made them readers and then vote for the state to receive 50,000 new books from First Book, helping to get more kids hooked on reading.
Past winners include Oklahoma in 2007 and Kentucky in 2008, with each state receiving 50,000 new books for children in need.

Join us this year in sharing the joy of great books with kids who need them most.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Education Week: Follow the Stimulus Money

Want to know where your tax dollars are goiong? What are the feds, states and districts doing with all that ARRA money? Take a look at this interactive map!

Education Week: Follow the Stimulus Money

Sotomayor’s Record on Education Scrutinized

Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama’s choice for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, has ruled on a variety of issues with implications for education during her 17 years on the federal bench, including cases relating to racial matters, students with disabilities, and the strip-search of adolescents.

Read more.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

ALGEBRA FOR ALL The Push for Higher Math

To counter the notion that mathematics ability is inscribed in DNA, school officials and corporate executives are waging a public relations campaign for the hearts and minds of the average math student. Their goal is to immerse more middle school students in algebra and toughen high school math requirements so graduates can compete for increasingly technical jobs. Their message: Advanced math is not only for rocket scientists.

Read more!

Tying Education To Future Goals May Boost Grades More Than Helping With Homework

Helping middle school students with their homework may not be the best way to get them on the honor roll. But telling them how important academic performance is to their future job prospects and providing specific strategies to study and learn might clinch the grades, according to a research review.

Read more

Monday, April 20, 2009

Debunking the Myths of Columbine, 10 Years Later

From CNN:

What do you remember about April 20, 1999?

If you recall that two unpopular teenage boys from the Trench Coat Mafia sought revenge against the jocks by shooting up Columbine High School, you're wrong. But you're not alone.

Ten years after the massacre in Littleton, Colorado, there's still a collective memory of two Goth-obsessed loners, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who went on a shooting rampage and killed 12 of their classmates and a teacher, injured 23 others and then turned their guns on themselves.

Journalist and author Dave Cullen was one of the first to take on what he calls the myths of Columbine. He kept at it for a decade, challenging what the media and law enforcement officials reported.

"Kids had never been attacked in this kind of way until Columbine," he recently told CNN. "I just had to find out what happened to those kids."

Cullen's book,"Columbine," was released this month -- just in time for today's 10th anniversary of the shooting at the Colorado high school. While tackling popular misconceptions, Cullen also gives a riveting account of what happened that day and how the survivors view the event that marked their lives forever.

Cullen concluded that the killers weren't part of the Trench Coat Mafia, that they weren't bullied by other students and that they didn't target popular jocks, African-Americans or any other group. A school shooting wasn't their initial intent, he said. They wanted to bomb their school in an attack they hoped would make them more infamous than Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

Read More>>>

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Interesting web site

Whether you are a science teacher or not, you will find interesting articles to share with students and your own kids at Scienceline. Scienceline is a student-run webzine published by the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program at New York University.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Middle Tier Math: Articles of Interest

I will post articles here for people to puruse before 0ur meeting.

Algebra in 8th Grade

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Benefits of Inquiry-Based Learning

Benefits of Inquiry-Based Learning by Sharon Longert

Our 21st Century students will enter a job market that is different from the traditional workplace of the 20th century of their parents and grandparents. They will need to be prepared to collect, synthesize, and analyze information; they will need to be prepared to work cooperatively with others to respond to changing social, economic, and global conditions. They will also be using technology to communicate their ideas, thoughts and final products. The traditional approaches that employ narrow tasks, rote memorization, and simple procedures will not develop critical thinkers or effective writers and speakers.

Read more

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Rewards for Students Under a Microscope

Interesting article about rewarding students!

For decades, psychologists have warned against giving children prizes or money for their performance in school. “Extrinsic” rewards, they say — a stuffed animal for a 4-year-old who learns her alphabet, cash for a good report card in middle or high school — can undermine the joy of learning for its own sake and can even lead to cheating.

Click here to read more!

Student Response Systems

In Search Of Answers, Teachers Turn To Clickers

Check out this report on NPR. I guess ILHS is on the cutting edge again!!!!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101343866&ft=1&f=1013

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Blogging for teachers and students, made easy

10 ways to use your blog to teach

There are many ways you can use a blog in your teaching, here are ten to get you started:

1. Post materials and resources
The web is a fantastic tool when it comes to distributing resources - all you have to do on your Edublog is upload, or copy and paste, your materials to your blog and they’ll be instantly accessible by your student from school and from home. What’s more, you can easily manage who gets to access them through password and plugin safety measures.

Read more.

From: Edublogs.org

Monday, February 16, 2009

All Work And No Play Makes For Troubling Trend In Early Education

ScienceDaily (Feb. 12, 2009) —

Parents and educators who favor traditional classroom-style learning over free, unstructured playtime in preschool and kindergarten may actually be stunting a child’s development instead of enhancing it, according to a University of Illinois professor who studies childhood learning and literacy development.

Anne Haas Dyson, a professor of curriculum and instruction in the U. of I. College of Education, says playtime for children is a “fundamental avenue” for learning, and attempts by parents and educators to create gifted children by bombarding them with information is well-intentioned but ultimately counterproductive.

Read more

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Teachers Win Lottery

From the Sacramento Bee:

Shasta Lake School staffers hit SuperLotto jackpot
menkoji@sacbee.com
Published Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009

SHASTA LAKE – It's the stuff of Hollywood screenplays: Small, rural school district struck by impossible budget cuts that can be resolved only with a pile of pink slips. Then, another slip of paper – a lottery ticket – brings a wave of fortune and new possibilities that could save the day.
That's the plot playing out in Gateway Unified School District in this small town just north of Redding.

"It's just disbelief," said Alicia Newman, an eighth-grade algebra teacher at Shasta Lake School.
Newman and 14 other teachers and administrators hit a $76 million SuperLotto Plus jackpot Saturday with a ticket they bought at the local Circle K.

The winning numbers – the same ones the educators have been playing for seven years – were announced Saturday night. The winners didn't realize that until Monday, and word didn't trickle out until Tuesday.

In the meantime, the town of Shasta Lake and its 10,000 residents have been abuzz with the mystery of who had purchased the $76 million ticket.

"I'm happy to say every person who won is at work today," said Helen Herd, principal of Shasta Lake School – and one of the new millionaires.

Read more:
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/v-print/story/1615318.html

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Grades

From: Inside Higher Ed

Imagining College Without Grades

SEATTLE — Is it time to move beyond grades? That was the question considered — largely in the affirmative — at a workshop Wednesday at the annual meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. It may seem counterintuitive to think that this is a time for colleges to consider giving up grades. Many college administrators feel that accreditors are breathing down their necks, demanding more and more evidence of student learning. With the economy falling apart, parents want to be assured that their children are learning something. And the vast majority of colleges award grades.

But when organizers of the workshop had audience members describe their experiences with grading, the closest they came to a fan was an associate provost who admitted that he saw grade inflation as completely out of control and said that for more students at his and similar institutions, the grade-point average range is around 3.4 to 3.8. It seemed that everyone else in the room had been motivated to attend by their sense that the system isn’t working: Other academic administrators who said grades had become meaningless. A registrar who said that she was struggling to understand the apparent inconsistencies in faculty members’ grades. A professor who tells his students that “grades are the death of composition.” Another said: “Grades create a facade of coherence.”

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/01/22/grades

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Inaugaration

From NHPTV

Presidential Inauguration

NHPTV will be airing live coverage of the Presidential Inauguration from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on January 20. We will also be streaming live video from our website beginning at 10:55 a.m.
Inauguration Resources

Inauguration 2009 Countdown Kit This site from the Smithsonian features lesson plans, online exhibits, websites and more.

Inauguration Day Events Discover the chronology of events on Inauguration day at this site from the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugurations.

The Inauguration of Barack Obama You'll find lesson plans, student podcasts, news coverage, and more at this site from PBS NewsHour.

An Oath for the Ages This 6-12 lesson plan from the NY Times students examine a historic presidential Inaugural Address, make predictions about the themes and ideas of Barack Obama's speech, then watch and analyze the Inaugural Address on January 20, 2009.

I Do Solemnly Swear: Presidential Inaugurations In this lesson plan for grades 3-5 from the National Endowment for the Humanities, students learn more about the ceremony and explore the historical and constitutional context for presidential inaugurations.

Inauguration Day Lesson Plans This site from the Pennsylvania Department of Education features a collection of lesson plans and teaching resources for grades K-12.

Inauguration Crafts and Activities Learn how to make a "Yes We Can" can, a presidential podium, and more at this site from Kaboose.


Try This!
Call up the White House website before noon on January 20. At exactly noon, hit refresh on your browser. The White House site should change from the Bush administration site to the Obama administration site!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Resources on Martin Luther King, Jr.

From NHPTV

Here are some sites that explore the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. This site from the Seattle Times features a photo gallery, biographical information, and classroom resources.

The King Center This site has biographical information, images, and audio files.

Martin Luther King, Jr. This site for students from Enchanted Learning features biographical information, printouts, and activity books.

Martin Luther King, Jr. This site for students from the Library of Congress features biographical information and additional stories about the Civil Rights Movement.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy of a Leader This site for kids from Scholastic features background information, images, and a quiz.

Let Freedom Ring: The Life & Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. In this grade 3-5 lesson plan from the National Endowment for the Humanities students learn about the life and work of civil rights leader using primary source materials and biographical information.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Me: Identifying with a Leader This unit from the International Reading Association explores ways to help elementary students make connections to Dr. King through reading, writing, listening, and speaking activities that not only provide a glimpse into Dr. King’s life, but empower students to help bring Dr. King’s dream into reality.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Technology Integration and Those Clickers

At our last mentor meeting someone mentioned the clickers you can use with students to gain feedback. It was mentioned that there is a lot of work that goes into setting the whole thing up and not many people use them. So, as I was looking for information on technology integration today I found this web site. I don’t know if the lessons are any good but I think it is heart-warming...okay maybe not but it is encouraging to know other people are doing the same work and we don’t need to completely reinvent the wheel.

Check it out!!

http://its.leesummit.k12.mo.us/cps.htm