From: The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/06/AR2008080603683.html?hpid=topnews
By N.C. Aizenman
A surge in Hispanic immigration over the past decade has dramatically altered the racial and ethnic composition of the region's youngest residents, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released today.
As with minorities in general, immigrants tend to be younger than non-Hispanic whites and still in their childbearing years. As a result, in five suburban Washington counties, more than half of children age 4 and younger were minorities when the annual Census Bureau survey was taken a year ago.
In three of the counties -- Prince William, Montgomery and Charles -- the share reached about 60 percent. And in Prince George's, where Hispanic immigration has supplemented an even larger African American population, more than 90 percent of these children are minorities.
The implications for governments and communities are wide-ranging, demographers said. As the current crop of youngsters reaches kindergarten age, school systems that would otherwise be losing students will continue to grow or remain stable. They will also need to accommodate an ever-larger number of students who were raised in immigrant households where English was not spoken.
In addition, although most Hispanic children younger than 5 are native-born U.S. citizens and therefore eligible for government health care and other benefits, research indicates that if their parents are not U.S. citizens, they will be less likely to claim assistance, said Michael Fix, director of studies at the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute.
"All of this really reinforces the importance for counties to increase their investment in early childhood development now," Fix said ."If you don't make that investment, one of the penalties you pay down the line is that you have kids in school who don't speak English well and whose overall performance lags behind."
Fix pointed to studies indicating that as many as 75 percent of elementary school children learning English as a second language were born in the United States.
"Even more worrisome is that over half of the English-as-a-second-language learners in high school were native born," Fix added.
As these minority children mature, counties that until fairly recently were dominated by non-Hispanic whites are likely to shift to majority-minority status, said William Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution.
"The bubbling up [of minorities] that we're now seeing at the younger ages will continue to move up through the age range, through the teenage years, the working-age years and then the housing-buying years," he said. "The child population is really a microcosm of the future."
Minorities had already grown to 47 percent of the population in Charles and 48 percent in Prince William in July 2007, up from about one-third in 2000. Montgomery, at 46 percent minority, is also getting close.
Demographers cautioned, however, that the extreme ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of area minorities makes it difficult to make broad predictions about the impact of the region's impending shift to majority-minority status.
In Prince George's, for instance, 62 percent of children younger than 5 are non-Hispanic blacks, and they include a substantial share born to affluent families.
Similarly, in Fairfax County, Asian children account for 17 percent of those younger than 5. Often born to upwardly mobile immigrant professionals who encourage them to supplement regular schoolwork with additional classes, Asian students are disproportionately represented among the county's top-performing students. And last month it was announced that for the first time Asian Americans will outnumber whites at the county's most prestigious public magnet school, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
Nor can Hispanic immigrants, who hail from a wide range of nations, be easily categorized.
"You cannot necessarily predict that just because they'll become majority-minority, all these schools will become low-income," Fix said. "The Washington area has one of the most diverse foreign populations in the nation."
Adding to the complexity of the picture is that the Census Bureau collected its data through July 2007, before the current economic downturn and before Prince William and other counties adopted initiatives against illegal immigration.
In Prince William, the percentage of students enrolled in classes for English as a second language dropped nearly 5 percent from a record of 13,404 in September to 12,775 by the end of the school year. The impact of the downturn and immigration restrictions will be reflected in Census Bureau data to be released next year.
Related
Minority Children Become MajorityGraphic In five of Washington's suburban counties, the majority of children younger than 5 as of last summer were members of minority groups. The number grew over the past decade, largely because of Hispanic immigration.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Easy as ABC: Web apps for students
From: Webware
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10005482-2.html
Posted by Harrison Hoffman
Summer is, unfortunately, almost over and that means that students are starting to head back to school in the coming weeks. There are so many online tools that can help students today to stay more organized and productive that I thought I would outline a few here and hopefully ease the pain of the upcoming school year.
Remember The Milk
Remember The Milk is the best online to-do list out there right now. It plugs into a slew of other services, including their killer Gmail add-on, Netvibes, iGoogle, Jott, offline support with Google Gears, and a promised iPhone standalone app. Given its wide array of features, it should instantly help any student to prioritize their tasks and become more efficient.
Google Docs/Calendar/Gmail/Scholar
I decided to lump all of Google's services that are good for students together. I think that they provide a tremendous amount of value to users and can be put to great use in an academic setting. Google Docs provides a web interface for a suite of tools to make, view, edit, and share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. As I've said before, the features of Google Docs might not be on par with its Office counterparts, but it really shines when it comes to sharing and collaboration. This makes it perfect for working on group projects or spreading notes around.
Google Calendar can help keep a student's hectic schedule in line. Managing time is one of the hardest parts of being a student and Google Calendar can help . Did I mention that Remember The Milk integrates with it also?
Gmail includes a lot of great features to keep your incoming stream of email organized and prioritized. Gmail's labels help to keep your email organized and bring attention to those requiring your attention. It's helpful, even if you don't receive a large volume of email.
Google Scholar provides an excellent resource for students, looking for sources for research papers. While most schools already provide resources for students in this department, Google Scholar's excellent search provides a good point of discovery.
Evernote
Evernote is a great new web service to handle all of your notes, photos, and clippings from around the web. It has clients for Mac, PC, and various mobile phones, including the iPhone. Robert Scoble did a nice interview and demo with the company's CEO if you want to get a thorough overview. While it might be hard, at first, to integrate Evernote into your workflow, your productivity and organization will see the benefits.
Easybib
This one is a little bit of an old school pick, but it's an indispensable resource for every student. Easybib lets you pick from a variety of types of sources, then you just fill in all of the information that you can, and Easybib will automatically generate a MLA or APA formatted works cited page.
Facebook
Apart from being the premiere social network for students, Facebook also offers some applications, such as Courses 2.0 and Study Groups that have academic value. These applications leverage Facebook's social networking features in order to connect students for the purpose of studying or collaborating on coursework. Facebook is also a necessity for any college student, if for no other purpose than meeting new people and staying in the loop on parties around campus.
Socialbib
Socialbib is a really interesting service, where students offer up old textbooks that they no longer have a need for and trade them for ones that they do need. This could potentially cut down on otherwise absurdly expensive textbooks for students.
Those are my recommendations for making school life a little easier. Services like these are easing the load put on students and making everything slightly more enjoyable. For the students out there, what web apps do you find yourself using?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10005482-2.html
Posted by Harrison Hoffman
Summer is, unfortunately, almost over and that means that students are starting to head back to school in the coming weeks. There are so many online tools that can help students today to stay more organized and productive that I thought I would outline a few here and hopefully ease the pain of the upcoming school year.
Remember The Milk
Remember The Milk is the best online to-do list out there right now. It plugs into a slew of other services, including their killer Gmail add-on, Netvibes, iGoogle, Jott, offline support with Google Gears, and a promised iPhone standalone app. Given its wide array of features, it should instantly help any student to prioritize their tasks and become more efficient.
Google Docs/Calendar/Gmail/Scholar
I decided to lump all of Google's services that are good for students together. I think that they provide a tremendous amount of value to users and can be put to great use in an academic setting. Google Docs provides a web interface for a suite of tools to make, view, edit, and share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. As I've said before, the features of Google Docs might not be on par with its Office counterparts, but it really shines when it comes to sharing and collaboration. This makes it perfect for working on group projects or spreading notes around.
Google Calendar can help keep a student's hectic schedule in line. Managing time is one of the hardest parts of being a student and Google Calendar can help . Did I mention that Remember The Milk integrates with it also?
Gmail includes a lot of great features to keep your incoming stream of email organized and prioritized. Gmail's labels help to keep your email organized and bring attention to those requiring your attention. It's helpful, even if you don't receive a large volume of email.
Google Scholar provides an excellent resource for students, looking for sources for research papers. While most schools already provide resources for students in this department, Google Scholar's excellent search provides a good point of discovery.
Evernote
Evernote is a great new web service to handle all of your notes, photos, and clippings from around the web. It has clients for Mac, PC, and various mobile phones, including the iPhone. Robert Scoble did a nice interview and demo with the company's CEO if you want to get a thorough overview. While it might be hard, at first, to integrate Evernote into your workflow, your productivity and organization will see the benefits.
Easybib
This one is a little bit of an old school pick, but it's an indispensable resource for every student. Easybib lets you pick from a variety of types of sources, then you just fill in all of the information that you can, and Easybib will automatically generate a MLA or APA formatted works cited page.
Apart from being the premiere social network for students, Facebook also offers some applications, such as Courses 2.0 and Study Groups that have academic value. These applications leverage Facebook's social networking features in order to connect students for the purpose of studying or collaborating on coursework. Facebook is also a necessity for any college student, if for no other purpose than meeting new people and staying in the loop on parties around campus.
Socialbib
Socialbib is a really interesting service, where students offer up old textbooks that they no longer have a need for and trade them for ones that they do need. This could potentially cut down on otherwise absurdly expensive textbooks for students.
Those are my recommendations for making school life a little easier. Services like these are easing the load put on students and making everything slightly more enjoyable. For the students out there, what web apps do you find yourself using?
Fewer Minnesota students hit yearly progress goals
From: Minnesota Public Radio
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/08/05/average_yearly_progress/?refid=0
by Tim Nelson
Minnesota is falling farther behind a key national education goal. Rankings just released by the state's Department of Education show the number of schools making annual yearly progress fell nearly 10 percent last year. And for the first time, most of the decline was in the suburbs.
St. Paul, Minn. — This is one of those good news, bad news stories.
The good news came earlier this summer, when test results showed that Minnesota kids improved their reading and math scores on the statewide tests they took in April.
The trouble is, they didn't improve enough. Each year, the No Child Left Behind education law ratchets up the goals for standardized tests a little bit, intended to get every kid learning at a level appropriate for their age. Every kid is supposed to catch up by 2014.
But even though students did get better test scores this year, only half the schools in Minnesota made the higher federal goal this year. That's down from two-thirds last year and three-quarters in 2006.
Most of this year's decline was in the suburbs, since Minneapolis and St. Paul schools showed little change. Only four more urban schools were added to the state's watch list this year, out of about 160.
But data from the Minnesota Department of Education show that more than half of the 208 schools that are new to the state's watch list are in the outlying Twin Cities area.
That list now includes surprises like Edina High school, Eastview High School in Apple Valley and Woodbury Junior High. Students in fully half the suburban schools are considered to not be making good progress, compared to a third just last year.
Jim Angermeyr, an analyst with Bloomington Public Schools, which added a school to the watch list this year, says the district itself is also on the list for the first time.
"Suburbs have been able to dodge that bullet a bit longer than urban schools because they are both less diverse and have fewer of the high risk students. As a group that was probably next in line to be flagged, it was probably suburban schools."
They aren't likely to be alone for long, either. By next year most of the schools in the state will probably be on the state's watch list.
Being on that list can trigger a whole list of penalties, from forcing schools to offer private tutoring, replacing the staff and even sending kids elsewhere.
Very few schools are facing anything that drastic, though.
About half the schools that didn't make the grade this year fell short in only one of about ten factors that are used to calculate annual progress, or AYP. Those factors range from attendance to how kids with subsidized meals scored on tests.
"It might have been English Language Learners, or special education students," said Education Commissioner Alice Seagren.
There's more to consider about a school than whether its legally defined as in need of improvement, she says.
"You have to look in general at your school site. We don't have that many districts or schools that have chronically underperformed," said Seagren. "So you have to look at the total package, if you will, before you get real concerned."
The state is rising to the occasion, according to Seagren. It launched math and science academies this summer to better train teachers and last year started similar program for school principals. Better teaching is widely considered a good way to turn the trend around.
But the steady decline in the number of schools considered to be working is the center of a growing debate in education.
Minnesota Congressman Tim Walz has been at the center of the debate this summer. A former Mankato teacher, the First District Democrat also authored a bill to suspend the federal sanctions for schools that don't make the grade, at least temporarily. Schools need help, he says.
"If you're going to have these penalties, they better be showing that they're doing what we want them to do. As it appears right now, they take resources from the school and lower the scores. I'd say that's indicative of what's happening, so I'd like to see a change in it."
Walz's bill was turned down in a preliminary hearing, but it's helping spur sentiment in Washington that the goal of getting every kid to grade level in the next six years may be unrealistic.
A final set of this year's test results, from a new science test, is due out later this summer.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/08/05/average_yearly_progress/?refid=0
by Tim Nelson
Minnesota is falling farther behind a key national education goal. Rankings just released by the state's Department of Education show the number of schools making annual yearly progress fell nearly 10 percent last year. And for the first time, most of the decline was in the suburbs.
St. Paul, Minn. — This is one of those good news, bad news stories.
The good news came earlier this summer, when test results showed that Minnesota kids improved their reading and math scores on the statewide tests they took in April.
The trouble is, they didn't improve enough. Each year, the No Child Left Behind education law ratchets up the goals for standardized tests a little bit, intended to get every kid learning at a level appropriate for their age. Every kid is supposed to catch up by 2014.
But even though students did get better test scores this year, only half the schools in Minnesota made the higher federal goal this year. That's down from two-thirds last year and three-quarters in 2006.
Most of this year's decline was in the suburbs, since Minneapolis and St. Paul schools showed little change. Only four more urban schools were added to the state's watch list this year, out of about 160.
But data from the Minnesota Department of Education show that more than half of the 208 schools that are new to the state's watch list are in the outlying Twin Cities area.
That list now includes surprises like Edina High school, Eastview High School in Apple Valley and Woodbury Junior High. Students in fully half the suburban schools are considered to not be making good progress, compared to a third just last year.
Jim Angermeyr, an analyst with Bloomington Public Schools, which added a school to the watch list this year, says the district itself is also on the list for the first time.
"Suburbs have been able to dodge that bullet a bit longer than urban schools because they are both less diverse and have fewer of the high risk students. As a group that was probably next in line to be flagged, it was probably suburban schools."
They aren't likely to be alone for long, either. By next year most of the schools in the state will probably be on the state's watch list.
Being on that list can trigger a whole list of penalties, from forcing schools to offer private tutoring, replacing the staff and even sending kids elsewhere.
Very few schools are facing anything that drastic, though.
About half the schools that didn't make the grade this year fell short in only one of about ten factors that are used to calculate annual progress, or AYP. Those factors range from attendance to how kids with subsidized meals scored on tests.
"It might have been English Language Learners, or special education students," said Education Commissioner Alice Seagren.
There's more to consider about a school than whether its legally defined as in need of improvement, she says.
"You have to look in general at your school site. We don't have that many districts or schools that have chronically underperformed," said Seagren. "So you have to look at the total package, if you will, before you get real concerned."
The state is rising to the occasion, according to Seagren. It launched math and science academies this summer to better train teachers and last year started similar program for school principals. Better teaching is widely considered a good way to turn the trend around.
But the steady decline in the number of schools considered to be working is the center of a growing debate in education.
Minnesota Congressman Tim Walz has been at the center of the debate this summer. A former Mankato teacher, the First District Democrat also authored a bill to suspend the federal sanctions for schools that don't make the grade, at least temporarily. Schools need help, he says.
"If you're going to have these penalties, they better be showing that they're doing what we want them to do. As it appears right now, they take resources from the school and lower the scores. I'd say that's indicative of what's happening, so I'd like to see a change in it."
Walz's bill was turned down in a preliminary hearing, but it's helping spur sentiment in Washington that the goal of getting every kid to grade level in the next six years may be unrealistic.
A final set of this year's test results, from a new science test, is due out later this summer.
Ariz. educators embrace trend of technology in their curriculum
From: The Arizona Republic
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2008/08/06/20080806bts-classtech0806.html
by Megan Gordon
Just two decades ago, many schools had only a few computers and taught lessons about typing. But Monday marked a drastic change for Arizona schools as one of the first K-5 technology academies opened its doors to students.
Scales Technology Academy in Tempe boasts a 1-1 ratio of students to laptop computers. The school's principal, David Diokno, said it is the first Arizona elementary school to do so. The Arizona Department of Education does not track such information.
"We saw that there was a need that was expressed by parents in our district," Diokno said. "We did a lot of research, and now we're opening a brand-new school with close to 600 students."
The academy is part of a growing trend within state districts to incorporate technology into classrooms. Almost every school district has some ban on tech toys that many say interfere with classroom discipline, such as cellphones and iPods. Recently, many of these districts are using some of the banned technology as a way to educate students in the classroom.
"A lot of our classrooms use Smart Boards," said Kristen Landry, Madison Elementary School District marketing and communication director. "The computer image is projected onto a screen. The students can go up to the screen and touch it. It's almost like the iPhone."
Smart Board is a product many districts around the Valley have integrated into classrooms. This interactive white board combines the uses of overheads, scanners, projectors and the Internet into one system. It can cost upwards of $5,000 to install one Smart Board.
"I truly believe Smart Boards can be used in every single classroom subject," said Diokno, whose school has the board in every class. "Almost any subject you can think of can be enhanced through the power of the interactive white board."
Other tech toys that districts use are Nintendo Wii for fitness and education games, podcasts and Internet resources such as YouTube and Google Earth. VoiceThread is a Web site that allows teachers to upload classroom videos for students to comment on.
"I can put a picture or a video of something that is going on in our class on (the site) and after, kids can plug a microphone into the computer and add comments or thoughts verbally," said John Enright, a second-grade teacher at Madison Rose Lane Elementary School in Phoenix. "It's kind of like graffiti or message board. It's one way that I can assess kids who have trouble learning in the written form."
With all the new technology, some parents are worried that it has become a "convenient curriculum."
"It's made things way too easy for assignments. It's too cosmetic and too easy," said Chandler resident David Harbster, a parent of two grown children. "To me, the computer is just a very big fancy filing cabinet. I think we need to slow this baby down. It's a two-dimensional space on a computer, but we live in a three-dimensional world."
Harbster said he agrees that technology is a good learning tool but believes that many schools are overusing it.
"It's almost become a video drug," he said. "I think it's becoming, "How much we can do?' rather than asking what the real benefits of this technology are. It's very seductive, and it's designed to be that way. And schools are trying to stay ahead as best they can, but it's too much."
Diokno said Scales Technology Academy stresses Tempe Elementary School District's curriculum standards but uses technology to enhance the learning process.
"We're not going to be only about technology. We're going to infuse it into the curriculum," he said. "Our kids are in the digital age. So now we are enhancing our curriculum through the infusion of technology. It's an added resource."
Many teachers and districts are at different stages of the implementation of technology in the classroom. Although it may be challenging and time-consuming to keep up with new technology uses, Madison teacher Enright said it is how children learn.
"I think the imagery we use with technology is really a more effective way to teach kids than simply telling them something," he said. "The bonus is a lot of those materials are interactive, which is a better model of teaching."
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2008/08/06/20080806bts-classtech0806.html
by Megan Gordon
Just two decades ago, many schools had only a few computers and taught lessons about typing. But Monday marked a drastic change for Arizona schools as one of the first K-5 technology academies opened its doors to students.
Scales Technology Academy in Tempe boasts a 1-1 ratio of students to laptop computers. The school's principal, David Diokno, said it is the first Arizona elementary school to do so. The Arizona Department of Education does not track such information.
"We saw that there was a need that was expressed by parents in our district," Diokno said. "We did a lot of research, and now we're opening a brand-new school with close to 600 students."
The academy is part of a growing trend within state districts to incorporate technology into classrooms. Almost every school district has some ban on tech toys that many say interfere with classroom discipline, such as cellphones and iPods. Recently, many of these districts are using some of the banned technology as a way to educate students in the classroom.
"A lot of our classrooms use Smart Boards," said Kristen Landry, Madison Elementary School District marketing and communication director. "The computer image is projected onto a screen. The students can go up to the screen and touch it. It's almost like the iPhone."
Smart Board is a product many districts around the Valley have integrated into classrooms. This interactive white board combines the uses of overheads, scanners, projectors and the Internet into one system. It can cost upwards of $5,000 to install one Smart Board.
"I truly believe Smart Boards can be used in every single classroom subject," said Diokno, whose school has the board in every class. "Almost any subject you can think of can be enhanced through the power of the interactive white board."
Other tech toys that districts use are Nintendo Wii for fitness and education games, podcasts and Internet resources such as YouTube and Google Earth. VoiceThread is a Web site that allows teachers to upload classroom videos for students to comment on.
"I can put a picture or a video of something that is going on in our class on (the site) and after, kids can plug a microphone into the computer and add comments or thoughts verbally," said John Enright, a second-grade teacher at Madison Rose Lane Elementary School in Phoenix. "It's kind of like graffiti or message board. It's one way that I can assess kids who have trouble learning in the written form."
With all the new technology, some parents are worried that it has become a "convenient curriculum."
"It's made things way too easy for assignments. It's too cosmetic and too easy," said Chandler resident David Harbster, a parent of two grown children. "To me, the computer is just a very big fancy filing cabinet. I think we need to slow this baby down. It's a two-dimensional space on a computer, but we live in a three-dimensional world."
Harbster said he agrees that technology is a good learning tool but believes that many schools are overusing it.
"It's almost become a video drug," he said. "I think it's becoming, "How much we can do?' rather than asking what the real benefits of this technology are. It's very seductive, and it's designed to be that way. And schools are trying to stay ahead as best they can, but it's too much."
Diokno said Scales Technology Academy stresses Tempe Elementary School District's curriculum standards but uses technology to enhance the learning process.
"We're not going to be only about technology. We're going to infuse it into the curriculum," he said. "Our kids are in the digital age. So now we are enhancing our curriculum through the infusion of technology. It's an added resource."
Many teachers and districts are at different stages of the implementation of technology in the classroom. Although it may be challenging and time-consuming to keep up with new technology uses, Madison teacher Enright said it is how children learn.
"I think the imagery we use with technology is really a more effective way to teach kids than simply telling them something," he said. "The bonus is a lot of those materials are interactive, which is a better model of teaching."
A positive attitude is key to maintaining a positive classroom climate
From: Teachers At Risk
http://www.teachersatrisk.com/2008/08/06/a-positive-attittude-is-key-to-maintaining-a-positive-classroom-climate/
http://www.teachersatrisk.com/2008/08/06/a-positive-attittude-is-key-to-maintaining-a-positive-classroom-climate/
A positive attitude is key to maintaining a positive classroom environment.
I couldn’t agree more with Wade Boggs when he says
A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results.
In an earlier post, I wrote about how I set about establishing a positive classroom climate at the beginning of the semester and included the Slideshare presentation that I created to summarize the classroom agreements and what they meant. If you want a copy of the Slideshare presentation I’ve created , just email me I’d be delighted to send it to you.
Implementing the classroom agreements of mutual respect, appreciation/no put downs, attentive listening and the right to pass establishes a positive classroom climate where students can feel save and valued. Of course establishing a safe, positive climate and maintaining it day in and day out are two different things. What’s the key to maintaining that safe, positive classroom climate once it is established. Without a doubt, it’s a positive attitude.
If you have a positive attitude you’ll believe and act as if all students will be successful in your class. If you have a positive attitude there are no losers in your classroom despite what you’ve might have heard. Students will live up to your expectations. Think and act as if students are trouble, believe me they won’t disappoint you. I’ve learned that the hard way in my early years of teaching.
Let me give you an example of what I mean. I’ve found that often well meaning colleagues will give me a heads up about the troublemakers they’ve had in their classes. When they find out I’ll be teaching these kids, they tell me how bad the students were. Just for a nanosecond I think great. Just what I need- trouble making students. But then I quickly remind myself that attitude is not a useful attitude to have about these new students whom I don’t even know. I really try hard not to prejudge them. I figure even if these kids were troublesome in the past, it doesn’t mean they are now. Things change.
A few years back I had two students whom I’ll call Chris and Kyle, not their real names of course. They came to my class with a negative reputation and promptly started living up to it. After a few days I decided that I wasn’t going to engage these kids in their battle. It would be totally counter productive to use all my energy battling with these two fourteen year olds, and besides they’d probably win the battle. So I decided that I needed to sit down and talk with them to see what’s going on.
Chris and Kyle proudly told me about their reputation for being bad in class. I told them I didn’t believe they it. They couldn’t believe that I hadn’t heard about them, so they promptly gave me all kinds of proof to support their reputation.
I decided that I would show them I didn’t believe that they were trouble makers and would treat them with respect and worked extra hard to develop a positive relationship with them. Whenever they were disrespectful to me, I’d go to them quietly and ask them why they were being disrespectful to me when I wasn’t being disrespectful to them. I did the same thing when they weren’t listening attentively or showing appreciation. They’d actually apologize for their inappropriate behaviour. I figured being disrespectful had just become a habit with them, and they would learn to be respectful over time. It wasn’t easy, but these two students got to see that they didn’t need to live up to their reputation as trouble makers because I refused to see our relationship as student vs teacher, as them vs me. I really did respect them as human beings and really did expect them to respect me as a human being.
I thank the classroom agreements of mutual respect/no put downs , appreciation, attentive listening and the right to pass for establishing a positive framework that enabled mutual respect to develop. Chris and Kyle became my biggest boosters and did all kinds of positive PR for me and even came back to visit all the time to laugh about how immature they were in grade nine and how they were not like that now. They were proud of being respectful and not of being troublesome.
I truly believe that a teacher’s positive attitude does cause a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. A teacher’s positive attitude is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results. Just because I believe this doesn’t mean that I don’t forget this lesson too from time to time because I get distracted by the challenges of my own life, and I regretfully adopt a negative attitude towards a student. I know better, but I also know I’m human and not perfect. When this happens, I apologize to show my respect for them. I want them to see mutual respect in action in my classroom.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Teaching Secrets: The First Days of School (Part 1)
From: Teacher Magazine
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/08/05/43tln_fungpart1.h19.html
By Jane Fung
You’ve earned your first teaching job. Congratulations! Now what do you do? As I anticipate my 22nd opening day of school in California, I think back to my first years of teaching and all those things I wish I had known then that I know now. To help make your life as a new teacher a little easier these first few months of school, I’ve interviewed some of my friends (colleagues, mentees, and former student teachers) and collected a few helpful hints. As you read through them, please feel free to contribute your own ideas in the Comments section.
I will begin my first teaching assignment very soon. Any quick pointers?
No matter where or what you teach, there are some common things you can do to make your first weeks and months in the classroom a little easier. Here are just a few of them:
Find a Friend – Don’t work alone in your classroom. Go out and meet other teachers and staff. They are your best resource for getting to know your school. Find a mentor! There will always be teachers who are willing to open up their classrooms, time, and expertise to help. Be open to working within and outside of your grade-level. Collaborating with others will not only help you develop as an educator, but your students will benefit from the experience as well.
Take a Tour – Get to know your school’s physical layout. Walk around with a colleague or explore on your own. Find the bathrooms (adults and students) and how to access them. Will you need a key? Where are the nurse, resource teacher, office manager, cafeteria, and plant manager located? Where are the different grade-levels located? Where do students play during recess? (I hope you have recess.)
Planning & Schedules – Ask other teachers at your grade-level what they usually do for the first week. Plan time and activities during the first days for students to get to know each other and you. Overplan! It is much easier to have more planned and not get to everything than not to have enough. Create a general schedule for the first days of school. You can always adjust times accordingly when needed later on.
Procedures – Have a plan for classroom procedures. Will students sharpen pencils as needed? When can they use the bathroom? Are cell phones allowed? Where are materials kept? (More tips below.)
Classroom Management & Expectations – Know your discipline/classroom management strategies. Take time to think about what is and is not acceptable in your classroom. What kinds of things are NOT okay? How are you going to handle them? Think about what kind of learning environment you would like to create for and with students. Work as a class to set expectations for behavior and work habits. Chart, model, practice, and reinforce behavior expectations. Keep it simple—having a long list of rules may be difficult to monitor and enforce. Some of my primary school favorites are: Be Nice, Be Responsible, and Be Safe.
Take Notes – Have a place where you can jot down observations quickly throughout the day. Informal observations early in the year can be helpful further down the road if you have a student who may have a special need or is displaying behavior that continues to disrupt the class. Date each observation.
Know Your Students – Before school starts, find out who your students are. Do any of them have special needs and/or an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that you should be aware of? What level of English development are the English Learners in the class? Do you have students that are identified as gifted and talented? Having more information about your students will help you better plan for their needs.
Take Time to Celebrate – Teaching is not easy, but it can be extremely rewarding. Sometimes we forget to celebrate the small accomplishments that take place everyday in our class. Take time each day to recognize something positive. Share it with a friend, loved one or colleague.
What school procedures should I know before the start of the school year?
Here are some basic things to know before students arrive (or as shortly thereafter as possible!):
Getting your first set of keys to the classroom is like getting keys to your first car or home. You are filled with excitement, but a little nervous at the same time. First step, find your classroom! Once you figure out how to unlock the door, step inside and just sit down. Words of caution, all classrooms are not the same. I have walked into a brand new, clean, empty classroom waiting to be moved into; and also dirty classrooms filled with unwanted materials left by the previous occupant. Whatever the condition, this is your classroom now. With luck, it will be home for at least the next school year, so make it yours.
It’s a good idea to survey the furniture and equipment in the room. Do you have enough chairs and tables/desks for students? Is there a place to store your materials? Are the computers working? Where is the projector, CD player, and screen? Start a list of things that are missing or needed. You may not get that kidney-shaped table or extra teacher chair, but it can’t hurt to ask.
Now comes the fun part, arranging the tables and chairs. Sometimes you have a picture in your mind of how you want the desks arranged — and other times you may not know where to begin. If you need ideas, take a peek inside other teachers’ classrooms. Talk to them about why the room is arranged that way and think about your own ideas for the classroom. Visualize where you may be teaching in the room and make sure all students will be able to see. Think about traffic flow; will there be enough room for students to move within the classroom without bumping into each other?
Some teachers can set up a room and leave it the entire year, but I am not one of them. If the class set-up does not work for students once they get there, I change it until it does. It’s your room; play with it until it works for you and your students.
One final tip for now: I’d be surprised to learn that there is a new teacher in America who hasn’t come across Harry and Rosemary Wong’s invaluable book, The First Days of School. But you may be less familiar with their eight-year series of advice columns, many of which are also aimed at the needs of novice teachers. Check them out!
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/08/05/43tln_fungpart1.h19.html
By Jane Fung
You’ve earned your first teaching job. Congratulations! Now what do you do? As I anticipate my 22nd opening day of school in California, I think back to my first years of teaching and all those things I wish I had known then that I know now. To help make your life as a new teacher a little easier these first few months of school, I’ve interviewed some of my friends (colleagues, mentees, and former student teachers) and collected a few helpful hints. As you read through them, please feel free to contribute your own ideas in the Comments section.
I will begin my first teaching assignment very soon. Any quick pointers?
No matter where or what you teach, there are some common things you can do to make your first weeks and months in the classroom a little easier. Here are just a few of them:
Find a Friend – Don’t work alone in your classroom. Go out and meet other teachers and staff. They are your best resource for getting to know your school. Find a mentor! There will always be teachers who are willing to open up their classrooms, time, and expertise to help. Be open to working within and outside of your grade-level. Collaborating with others will not only help you develop as an educator, but your students will benefit from the experience as well.
Take a Tour – Get to know your school’s physical layout. Walk around with a colleague or explore on your own. Find the bathrooms (adults and students) and how to access them. Will you need a key? Where are the nurse, resource teacher, office manager, cafeteria, and plant manager located? Where are the different grade-levels located? Where do students play during recess? (I hope you have recess.)
Planning & Schedules – Ask other teachers at your grade-level what they usually do for the first week. Plan time and activities during the first days for students to get to know each other and you. Overplan! It is much easier to have more planned and not get to everything than not to have enough. Create a general schedule for the first days of school. You can always adjust times accordingly when needed later on.
Procedures – Have a plan for classroom procedures. Will students sharpen pencils as needed? When can they use the bathroom? Are cell phones allowed? Where are materials kept? (More tips below.)
Classroom Management & Expectations – Know your discipline/classroom management strategies. Take time to think about what is and is not acceptable in your classroom. What kinds of things are NOT okay? How are you going to handle them? Think about what kind of learning environment you would like to create for and with students. Work as a class to set expectations for behavior and work habits. Chart, model, practice, and reinforce behavior expectations. Keep it simple—having a long list of rules may be difficult to monitor and enforce. Some of my primary school favorites are: Be Nice, Be Responsible, and Be Safe.
Take Notes – Have a place where you can jot down observations quickly throughout the day. Informal observations early in the year can be helpful further down the road if you have a student who may have a special need or is displaying behavior that continues to disrupt the class. Date each observation.
Know Your Students – Before school starts, find out who your students are. Do any of them have special needs and/or an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that you should be aware of? What level of English development are the English Learners in the class? Do you have students that are identified as gifted and talented? Having more information about your students will help you better plan for their needs.
Take Time to Celebrate – Teaching is not easy, but it can be extremely rewarding. Sometimes we forget to celebrate the small accomplishments that take place everyday in our class. Take time each day to recognize something positive. Share it with a friend, loved one or colleague.
What school procedures should I know before the start of the school year?
Here are some basic things to know before students arrive (or as shortly thereafter as possible!):
- How to take attendance and (if it’s not all computerized) where to send attendance cards.
- Where to sign in and out each day.
- Official reporting hours.
- How to arrange for a sub when ill.
- What is the general bell schedule for recess, lunch, and dismissal?
- How do students purchase a lunch and where do they eat?
- What if a student becomes ill or gets hurt in class?
- Where do students play at recess/lunch?
- Where (depending on grade level) do I pick up my students?
- Where do I dismiss students at the end of the day?
- In case of an emergency (or fire drill), what do I do?
- How do I contact the office if there is an emergency?
- How often will my class be cleaned?
- Procedures for ordering class materials and what is available.
- Where do I check out playground and/or PE equipment?
- Will I have a mentor?
Getting your first set of keys to the classroom is like getting keys to your first car or home. You are filled with excitement, but a little nervous at the same time. First step, find your classroom! Once you figure out how to unlock the door, step inside and just sit down. Words of caution, all classrooms are not the same. I have walked into a brand new, clean, empty classroom waiting to be moved into; and also dirty classrooms filled with unwanted materials left by the previous occupant. Whatever the condition, this is your classroom now. With luck, it will be home for at least the next school year, so make it yours.
It’s a good idea to survey the furniture and equipment in the room. Do you have enough chairs and tables/desks for students? Is there a place to store your materials? Are the computers working? Where is the projector, CD player, and screen? Start a list of things that are missing or needed. You may not get that kidney-shaped table or extra teacher chair, but it can’t hurt to ask.
Now comes the fun part, arranging the tables and chairs. Sometimes you have a picture in your mind of how you want the desks arranged — and other times you may not know where to begin. If you need ideas, take a peek inside other teachers’ classrooms. Talk to them about why the room is arranged that way and think about your own ideas for the classroom. Visualize where you may be teaching in the room and make sure all students will be able to see. Think about traffic flow; will there be enough room for students to move within the classroom without bumping into each other?
Some teachers can set up a room and leave it the entire year, but I am not one of them. If the class set-up does not work for students once they get there, I change it until it does. It’s your room; play with it until it works for you and your students.
One final tip for now: I’d be surprised to learn that there is a new teacher in America who hasn’t come across Harry and Rosemary Wong’s invaluable book, The First Days of School. But you may be less familiar with their eight-year series of advice columns, many of which are also aimed at the needs of novice teachers. Check them out!
Oregon Tech Looks To Be World's First Fully-Geothermal Campus
From: OPB News
http://news.opb.org/article/2760-oregon-tech-would-be-worlds-first-fully-geothermal-campus/
BY ETHAN LINDSEY
Oregon Institute of Technology, in Klamath Falls, outlined plans Tuesday, to build a $7.6 million geothermal power plant on campus.
In a few years' time, the school says it will become the first university in the world to be powered completely by hot water. Central Oregon correspondent Ethan Lindsey reports.
The school is already entirely heated by hot water.
And to hear boosters talk about it, the country's energy future is coming to the surface - right here.
Klamath Falls sits near a fault line in the planet's crust. Engineers can pull heat and energy right out of the earth.
It's cheap and renewable, says Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden. He was on campus to promote federal support for the project - to the tune of at least $1 million.
Ron Wyden: “Oregon, and in particular this part of the state, can be the Saudi Arabia of renewables. All the sun, and geothermal, and wind. We're really well positioned to go gangbusters on renewables.”
Critics say geothermal power is limited and won't be much more than a small piece of an overall energy solution.
The school says that's why it hopes the plant will also allow students to learn and research geothermal innovation.
http://news.opb.org/article/2760-oregon-tech-would-be-worlds-first-fully-geothermal-campus/
BY ETHAN LINDSEY
Oregon Institute of Technology, in Klamath Falls, outlined plans Tuesday, to build a $7.6 million geothermal power plant on campus.
In a few years' time, the school says it will become the first university in the world to be powered completely by hot water. Central Oregon correspondent Ethan Lindsey reports.
The school is already entirely heated by hot water.
And to hear boosters talk about it, the country's energy future is coming to the surface - right here.
Klamath Falls sits near a fault line in the planet's crust. Engineers can pull heat and energy right out of the earth.
It's cheap and renewable, says Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden. He was on campus to promote federal support for the project - to the tune of at least $1 million.
Ron Wyden: “Oregon, and in particular this part of the state, can be the Saudi Arabia of renewables. All the sun, and geothermal, and wind. We're really well positioned to go gangbusters on renewables.”
Critics say geothermal power is limited and won't be much more than a small piece of an overall energy solution.
The school says that's why it hopes the plant will also allow students to learn and research geothermal innovation.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Kids Who Sleep Poorly at Risk for Being Overweight
From: Health Day
http://healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=618082
Author: Robert Preidt
Even an hour's less rest linked to doubled chance of weight gain, study finds
MONDAY, Aug. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Getting too little sleep or not spending enough time in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is associated with being overweight among children and teens, a new U.S. study.
For three consecutive nights, researchers assessed the sleep patterns of 335 youngsters, aged 7 to 17. They looked at total sleep time, time spent in REM, and time it took to fall asleep. Body-mass index was checked at the start of the study, and 45 participants (13.4 percent) were overweight, while 49 (14.6 percent) were at risk for becoming overweight.
Compared to normal-weight children, those who were overweight slept about 22 minutes less per night and had lower sleep efficiency (percentage of time in bed that a person is asleep), shorter REM sleep, less eye activity during REM sleep, and a longer wait before the first REM period.
After they adjusted for other factors, the researchers concluded that one hour less of total sleep was associated with a twofold increased risk of being overweight. One hour less of REM sleep was associated with a threefold increased risk.
Although the precise mechanisms are currently under investigation, the association between short sleep duration and overweight may be attributed to the interaction of behavioral and biological changes as a result of sleep deprivation, wrote Dr. Xianchen Liu, of the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, and colleagues.
They explained that sleep loss causes changes in hormone levels that may affect hunger, and less sleep also means a person has more waking hours in which to eat. Sleep loss also contributes to fatigue the following day, which may lead to less physical activity and fewer calories burned.
Given the fact that the prevalence of overweight among children and adolescents continues to increase and chronic sleep insufficiency becomes more prevalent in modern society, family- and school-based sleep interventions that aim to enhance sleep hygiene and increase sleep duration may have important public health implications for the prevention and intervention of obesity and type 2 diabetes in children, the authors concluded.
"Furthermore, our results demonstrate an important relationship between REM sleep and high BMI and obesity, suggesting that the short sleep-obesity association may be attributed to reduced REM sleep time and decreased activity during REM sleep," they wrote.
The study was published in the August issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
More information
The Nemours Foundation has more about overweight and obesity in children.
http://healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=618082
Author: Robert Preidt
Even an hour's less rest linked to doubled chance of weight gain, study finds
MONDAY, Aug. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Getting too little sleep or not spending enough time in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is associated with being overweight among children and teens, a new U.S. study.
For three consecutive nights, researchers assessed the sleep patterns of 335 youngsters, aged 7 to 17. They looked at total sleep time, time spent in REM, and time it took to fall asleep. Body-mass index was checked at the start of the study, and 45 participants (13.4 percent) were overweight, while 49 (14.6 percent) were at risk for becoming overweight.
Compared to normal-weight children, those who were overweight slept about 22 minutes less per night and had lower sleep efficiency (percentage of time in bed that a person is asleep), shorter REM sleep, less eye activity during REM sleep, and a longer wait before the first REM period.
After they adjusted for other factors, the researchers concluded that one hour less of total sleep was associated with a twofold increased risk of being overweight. One hour less of REM sleep was associated with a threefold increased risk.
Although the precise mechanisms are currently under investigation, the association between short sleep duration and overweight may be attributed to the interaction of behavioral and biological changes as a result of sleep deprivation, wrote Dr. Xianchen Liu, of the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, and colleagues.
They explained that sleep loss causes changes in hormone levels that may affect hunger, and less sleep also means a person has more waking hours in which to eat. Sleep loss also contributes to fatigue the following day, which may lead to less physical activity and fewer calories burned.
Given the fact that the prevalence of overweight among children and adolescents continues to increase and chronic sleep insufficiency becomes more prevalent in modern society, family- and school-based sleep interventions that aim to enhance sleep hygiene and increase sleep duration may have important public health implications for the prevention and intervention of obesity and type 2 diabetes in children, the authors concluded.
"Furthermore, our results demonstrate an important relationship between REM sleep and high BMI and obesity, suggesting that the short sleep-obesity association may be attributed to reduced REM sleep time and decreased activity during REM sleep," they wrote.
The study was published in the August issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
More information
The Nemours Foundation has more about overweight and obesity in children.
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