From: The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/technology/17essay.html?_r=1&ex=1219636800&en=fbef563b4a0bcbea&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin
By STEVE LOHR
COUNT me a technological optimist, but I have always thought that the people who advocate putting computers in classrooms as a way to transform education were well intentioned but wide of the mark. It’s not the problem, and it’s not the answer.
Yet as a new school year begins, the time may have come to reconsider how large a role technology can play in changing education. There are promising examples, both in the United States and abroad, and they share some characteristics. The ratio of computers to pupils is one to one. Technology isn’t off in a computer lab. Computing is an integral tool in all disciplines, always at the ready.
Web-based education software has matured in the last few years, so that students, teachers and families can be linked through networks. Until recently, computing in the classroom amounted to students doing Internet searches, sending e-mail and mastering word processing, presentation programs and spreadsheets. That’s useful stuff, to be sure, but not something that alters how schools work.
The new Web education networks can open the door to broader changes. Parents become more engaged because they can monitor their children’s attendance, punctuality, homework and performance, and can get tips for helping them at home. Teachers can share methods, lesson plans and online curriculum materials.
In the classroom, the emphasis can shift to project-based learning, a real break with the textbook-and-lecture model of education. In a high school class, a project might begin with a hypothetical letter from the White House that says oil prices are spiking, the economy is faltering and the president’s poll numbers are falling. The assignment would be to devise a new energy policy in two weeks. The shared Web space for the project, for example, would include the White House letter, the sources the students must consult, their work plan and timetable, assignments for each student, the assessment criteria for their grades and, eventually, the paper the team delivers. Oral presentations would be required.
The project-based approach, some educators say, encourages active learning and produces better performance in class and on standardized tests.
The educational bottom line, it seems, is that while computer technology has matured and become more affordable, the most significant development has been a deeper understanding of how to use the technology.
“Unless you change how you teach and how kids work, new technology is not really going to make a difference,” said Bob Pearlman, a former teacher who is the director of strategic planning for the New Technology Foundation, a nonprofit organization.
The foundation, based in Napa, Calif., has developed a model for project-based teaching and is at the forefront of the drive for technology-enabled reform of education. Forty-two schools in nine states are trying the foundation’s model, and their numbers are growing rapidly.
Behind the efforts, of course, are concerns that K-12 public schools are falling short in preparing students for the twin challenges of globalization and technological change. Worries about the nation’s future competitiveness led to the creation in 2002 of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a coalition whose members include the Department of Education and technology companies like Apple, Cisco Systems, Dell and Microsoft.
The government-industry partnership identifies a set of skills that mirror those that the New Technology Foundation model is meant to nurture. Those skills include collaboration, systems thinking, self-direction and communication, both online and in person.
State officials in Indiana took a look at the foundation’s model and offered travel grants for local teachers and administrators to visit its schools in California. Sally Nichols, an English teacher, came away impressed and signed up for the new project-based teaching program at her school, Decatur Central High School in Indianapolis.
Last year, Ms. Nichols and another teacher taught a biology and literature class for freshmen. (Cross-disciplinary courses are common in the New Technology model.) Typically, half of freshmen fail biology, but under the project-based model the failure rate was cut in half.
“There’s a lot of ownership by the kids in their work instead of teachers lecturing and being the givers of all knowledge,” Ms. Nichols explained. “The classes are just much more alive. They don’t sleep in class.”
IN Indiana, the number of schools using the foundation model will increase to six this year, and an additional dozen communities have signed up for the next year, said David Shane, a member of the state board of education. “It’s caught fire in Indiana, and we’ve got to have this kind of education to prepare our young people for the future in a global economy that is immersed in technology.”
The extra cost for schools that have adopted the New Technology model is about $1,000 per student a year, once a school is set up, says Mr. Pearlman of the foundation. After the first three years, the extra cost should decline considerably, he said.
In England, where the government has promoted technology in schools for a decade, the experiment with technology-driven change in education is further along.
Five years ago, the government gave computers to students at two schools in high-crime neighborhoods in Birmingham. For the students, a Web-based portal is the virtual doorway for assignments, school social activities, online mentoring, discussion groups and e-mail. Even students who are suspended from school for a few days beg not to lose their access to the portal, says Sir Mark Grundy, 49, the executive principal of Shireland Collegiate Academy and the George Salter Collegiate Academy. Today, the schools are among the top in the nation in yearly improvements in students’ performance in reading and math tests.
Sir Mark says he is convinced that advances in computing, combined with improved understanding of how to tailor the technology to different students, can help transform education.
“This is the best Trojan horse for causing change in schools that I have ever seen,” he said
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Instant Messaging Found to Slow Students' Reading
From: Education Week
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/08/27/01im.h28.html?tmp=1021845040
By Debra Viadero
Vol. 28, Issue 01
Students who send and receive instant messages while completing a reading assignment take longer to get through their texts but apparently still manage to understand what they’re reading, according to one of the first studies to explore how the practice affects academic learning.
“Students who are managing busy lives may think they are accomplishing more by multitasking, but they will actually need more time to achieve the same level of performance on an academic task,” said Laura L. Bowman, a psychology professor at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.
Ms. Bowman and her colleagues based their conclusions on a study of 59 college students who were tracked in a university laboratory while they read a selection from a college psychology textbook on a computer screen and received instant messages. The researchers presented their findings today during the annual meeting here of the American Psychological Association, a Washington-based group representing 148,000 psychologists and educators.
For the experiment, students were randomly assigned to take part in one of three groups. The first group read the text on screen with no interruptions. The second group answered instant messages first and then did their reading. The third group multitasked, fielding instant messages as they read. Instant messaging is a form of real-time online written communication that is faster than normal e-mail.
More Time on Task
The messages, which included questions such as “What classes are you taking this semester?” were designed to be typical in context and in frequency to the instant messages students would normally receive on their computers.
Even after taking into account the time students spent on the instant messaging, the researchers found, the third group took about 15 minutes longer than the other two groups to complete the reading—roughly 50 percent more time than the other two groups took.
All three groups, however, fared about the same on a test given later on to check their understanding of the text. The researchers said that last finding runs counter to other studies of students’ electronic media use, which suggest that students’ academic performance suffers when, for example, a television is playing in the background.
A study the authors published last year, in fact, found that students who reported high use of electronic media were more likely than avid book readers to have problems with becoming distracted in their reading.
“We thought for sure that we were going to find that the multitasking students were going to show a decrement in performance,” said Ms. Bowman.
Pausing to Reread?
Researchers theorized that one reason that the multitasking students did as well—but took longer—may be that they went back and reread passages after they paused to answer instant messages.
Study co-author Laura E. Levine, an associate professor of psychology at Central Connecticut, said that, although their study focuses on college-age students, the findings probably also hold true for younger students, many of who are also regular users of instant messaging on their home computers.
Their study is one of several on the effects of electronic technology on learning that are due to be presented at the August 14-17 meeting. Other studies focus on video games and how they affect learning or children’s predisposition to take part in violent activities.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/08/27/01im.h28.html?tmp=1021845040
By Debra Viadero
Vol. 28, Issue 01
Students who send and receive instant messages while completing a reading assignment take longer to get through their texts but apparently still manage to understand what they’re reading, according to one of the first studies to explore how the practice affects academic learning.
“Students who are managing busy lives may think they are accomplishing more by multitasking, but they will actually need more time to achieve the same level of performance on an academic task,” said Laura L. Bowman, a psychology professor at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.
Ms. Bowman and her colleagues based their conclusions on a study of 59 college students who were tracked in a university laboratory while they read a selection from a college psychology textbook on a computer screen and received instant messages. The researchers presented their findings today during the annual meeting here of the American Psychological Association, a Washington-based group representing 148,000 psychologists and educators.
For the experiment, students were randomly assigned to take part in one of three groups. The first group read the text on screen with no interruptions. The second group answered instant messages first and then did their reading. The third group multitasked, fielding instant messages as they read. Instant messaging is a form of real-time online written communication that is faster than normal e-mail.
More Time on Task
The messages, which included questions such as “What classes are you taking this semester?” were designed to be typical in context and in frequency to the instant messages students would normally receive on their computers.
Even after taking into account the time students spent on the instant messaging, the researchers found, the third group took about 15 minutes longer than the other two groups to complete the reading—roughly 50 percent more time than the other two groups took.
All three groups, however, fared about the same on a test given later on to check their understanding of the text. The researchers said that last finding runs counter to other studies of students’ electronic media use, which suggest that students’ academic performance suffers when, for example, a television is playing in the background.
A study the authors published last year, in fact, found that students who reported high use of electronic media were more likely than avid book readers to have problems with becoming distracted in their reading.
“We thought for sure that we were going to find that the multitasking students were going to show a decrement in performance,” said Ms. Bowman.
Pausing to Reread?
Researchers theorized that one reason that the multitasking students did as well—but took longer—may be that they went back and reread passages after they paused to answer instant messages.
Study co-author Laura E. Levine, an associate professor of psychology at Central Connecticut, said that, although their study focuses on college-age students, the findings probably also hold true for younger students, many of who are also regular users of instant messaging on their home computers.
Their study is one of several on the effects of electronic technology on learning that are due to be presented at the August 14-17 meeting. Other studies focus on video games and how they affect learning or children’s predisposition to take part in violent activities.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Four-day week on the rise in education
From: eSchool News
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=54858
By Dennis Carter, Assistant Editor, eSchool News
Primary Topic Channel: State Policy
High gas prices, long commutes have colleges and K-12 schools taking a close look at longer days, shorter weeks
School districts and universities are taking cues from the business world and instituting four-day weeks, a trend that some say could become the norm as gas prices and energy costs continue to rise.
Experimenting with four-day school weeks is becoming popular in some of the country's most remote school districts, where buses travel hundreds of miles for student pickups, drop offs, and sporting events. Some colleges and universities have begun offering four-day weeks for employees and students, although most campuses don't close shop on Fridays. Instead, administrators are authorizing alternative schedules as an employee-friendly policy designed to soothe the sting of increasingly costly daily commutes.
Some school systems, during the past year, have eliminated Friday from the work schedule in Minnesota, Kentucky, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah.
Bob Dolazel, superintendent of the rural White Pine School District in Nevada, said piloting the four-day week in the district's K-12 school has saved on energy costs, but has also created more classroom time for students.
"Our motivation at the time was improving the amount of instructional time our students have," said Dolazel, schools chief since 2000. Sporting events, he said, cut down on students' class time because some games were more than 100 miles from White Pines, meaning teams would have to leave with several hours left in the school day. With only 115 students in the school, having a couple dozen leave for an athletic event was detrimental, Dolazel said. Now, all athletic events are scheduled for Fridays and Saturdays, meaning class is not interrupted by team schedules.
With budgets in trouble in most states today, colleges and school districts see alternative scheduling as a way to save money. The White Pines School District is facing a 14 percent budget cut for the coming school year. But Dolazel said employees and students have praised the three-day weekend, even though each remaining school day had to be extended by about two hours.
"If gas prices were a dollar a gallon, they'd still want to have a four-day school week," he said. "They really enjoy it. … It has overwhelming support here."
Following the lead of its local government, Oakland University in Rochester Hills, Mich., began offering four-day weeks to its employees in July. In June, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson announced a four-day workweek for government employees, who work 10-hour days Monday-Thursday.
Ted Montgomery, a spokesman for the university, said it was deemed unfeasible to offer four-day weeks for students. Employees can choose which day they take off during the week, as long as they coordinate it with class schedules. The pilot program ends Aug. 30. Oakland officials will decide whether to extend the four-day option into the fall semester, Montgomery said.
"I don't see why, if all the results come in and there have been no issues, that it wouldn't be continued," said Montgomery, who participated in the four-day week pilot for three weeks and saved about $120 on gas. "I haven't heard of any problems so far, honestly."
Oakland University officials said shortening the workweek would not just save employees money, but it would also bolster productivity, as many national studies have shown.
"The compressed work week is a win-win. The 20 percent reduction in fuel consumption is good for the environment and good for our employees on an individual level," John Beaghan, vice president for Finance and Administration, said in a statement.
Montgomery said there was an environmental component to the university's policy. "We have a little smaller carbon footprint," he said.
Rex L. Facer, an assistant professor of public finance who has studied alternative workweeks at Brigham Young University in Utah, said school officials began exploring nontraditional work schedules when employees' daily commutes began to have a major impact on their finances. But the numerous studies – including published work Facer has helped research – that show employee production and contentment rises with the option of a four-day week has made the decision easier on many campuses.
"The big driver is gas prices from the employee's perspective," said Facer, a member of the Brigham Young faculty for seven years. "From the campus perspective, it's all about energy costs … since local schools districts and higher education are huge consumers of energy."
Despite a slight drop in gas prices late this summer, Facer and school officials nationwide don't expect the alternative schedules to disappear. Facer said it wasn't until gas prices were considered dire that employers and schools embraced nontraditional work hours.
"It appears that $4 a gallon was a magic point," he said. "The interest really did skyrocket at that point."
Facer said his research showed that about one-third of people surveyed preferred a four-day workweek, while one-third preferred coming in on Fridays. The other one-third of those surveyed said they did not have a preference.
Conversations about instituting a four-day week at Brigham Young University are in their "formative stages," Facer said, a move that would mimic the state government's four-day week policy. Utah reportedly became the first state government in the country to stray from the traditional five-day week early this summer.
Utah's Rich School District switched to a four-day week for the same reasons White Pines officials had – lengthy commutes and rising energy prices. Rich County Superintendent Dale Lamborn said the policy has been popular with employees and students, but some parents have pined for the five-day week.
"Parents are concerned about after-school care on Fridays," he said, adding that the state school board is expected either to nix the program or extend it this fall.
The Rich School District saves about $1,500 a week on fuel costs for buses that pick up students more than 50 miles from their schools every morning.
Lamborn was not sure how much money the district had saved on heating and air conditioning since implementing a four-day week, but said, "It has really saved us significant money. We'll stay on it as long as we can." He said 90 percent of students and employees approve of Monday-Thursday school weeks.
Cost cutting will be a consideration as long as gas prices hover around $4, Lamborn said, but having student athletes in class for four extended school days has been a focus of faculty and staff.
"While cost savings are a benefit, you still have to prioritize what's best instructionally for your students," he said.
Links:
Oakland University
Rich School District
White Pines School District
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=54858
By Dennis Carter, Assistant Editor, eSchool News
Primary Topic Channel: State Policy
High gas prices, long commutes have colleges and K-12 schools taking a close look at longer days, shorter weeks
School districts and universities are taking cues from the business world and instituting four-day weeks, a trend that some say could become the norm as gas prices and energy costs continue to rise.
Experimenting with four-day school weeks is becoming popular in some of the country's most remote school districts, where buses travel hundreds of miles for student pickups, drop offs, and sporting events. Some colleges and universities have begun offering four-day weeks for employees and students, although most campuses don't close shop on Fridays. Instead, administrators are authorizing alternative schedules as an employee-friendly policy designed to soothe the sting of increasingly costly daily commutes.
Some school systems, during the past year, have eliminated Friday from the work schedule in Minnesota, Kentucky, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah.
Bob Dolazel, superintendent of the rural White Pine School District in Nevada, said piloting the four-day week in the district's K-12 school has saved on energy costs, but has also created more classroom time for students.
"Our motivation at the time was improving the amount of instructional time our students have," said Dolazel, schools chief since 2000. Sporting events, he said, cut down on students' class time because some games were more than 100 miles from White Pines, meaning teams would have to leave with several hours left in the school day. With only 115 students in the school, having a couple dozen leave for an athletic event was detrimental, Dolazel said. Now, all athletic events are scheduled for Fridays and Saturdays, meaning class is not interrupted by team schedules.
With budgets in trouble in most states today, colleges and school districts see alternative scheduling as a way to save money. The White Pines School District is facing a 14 percent budget cut for the coming school year. But Dolazel said employees and students have praised the three-day weekend, even though each remaining school day had to be extended by about two hours.
"If gas prices were a dollar a gallon, they'd still want to have a four-day school week," he said. "They really enjoy it. … It has overwhelming support here."
Following the lead of its local government, Oakland University in Rochester Hills, Mich., began offering four-day weeks to its employees in July. In June, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson announced a four-day workweek for government employees, who work 10-hour days Monday-Thursday.
Ted Montgomery, a spokesman for the university, said it was deemed unfeasible to offer four-day weeks for students. Employees can choose which day they take off during the week, as long as they coordinate it with class schedules. The pilot program ends Aug. 30. Oakland officials will decide whether to extend the four-day option into the fall semester, Montgomery said.
"I don't see why, if all the results come in and there have been no issues, that it wouldn't be continued," said Montgomery, who participated in the four-day week pilot for three weeks and saved about $120 on gas. "I haven't heard of any problems so far, honestly."
Oakland University officials said shortening the workweek would not just save employees money, but it would also bolster productivity, as many national studies have shown.
"The compressed work week is a win-win. The 20 percent reduction in fuel consumption is good for the environment and good for our employees on an individual level," John Beaghan, vice president for Finance and Administration, said in a statement.
Montgomery said there was an environmental component to the university's policy. "We have a little smaller carbon footprint," he said.
Rex L. Facer, an assistant professor of public finance who has studied alternative workweeks at Brigham Young University in Utah, said school officials began exploring nontraditional work schedules when employees' daily commutes began to have a major impact on their finances. But the numerous studies – including published work Facer has helped research – that show employee production and contentment rises with the option of a four-day week has made the decision easier on many campuses.
"The big driver is gas prices from the employee's perspective," said Facer, a member of the Brigham Young faculty for seven years. "From the campus perspective, it's all about energy costs … since local schools districts and higher education are huge consumers of energy."
Despite a slight drop in gas prices late this summer, Facer and school officials nationwide don't expect the alternative schedules to disappear. Facer said it wasn't until gas prices were considered dire that employers and schools embraced nontraditional work hours.
"It appears that $4 a gallon was a magic point," he said. "The interest really did skyrocket at that point."
Facer said his research showed that about one-third of people surveyed preferred a four-day workweek, while one-third preferred coming in on Fridays. The other one-third of those surveyed said they did not have a preference.
Conversations about instituting a four-day week at Brigham Young University are in their "formative stages," Facer said, a move that would mimic the state government's four-day week policy. Utah reportedly became the first state government in the country to stray from the traditional five-day week early this summer.
Utah's Rich School District switched to a four-day week for the same reasons White Pines officials had – lengthy commutes and rising energy prices. Rich County Superintendent Dale Lamborn said the policy has been popular with employees and students, but some parents have pined for the five-day week.
"Parents are concerned about after-school care on Fridays," he said, adding that the state school board is expected either to nix the program or extend it this fall.
The Rich School District saves about $1,500 a week on fuel costs for buses that pick up students more than 50 miles from their schools every morning.
Lamborn was not sure how much money the district had saved on heating and air conditioning since implementing a four-day week, but said, "It has really saved us significant money. We'll stay on it as long as we can." He said 90 percent of students and employees approve of Monday-Thursday school weeks.
Cost cutting will be a consideration as long as gas prices hover around $4, Lamborn said, but having student athletes in class for four extended school days has been a focus of faculty and staff.
"While cost savings are a benefit, you still have to prioritize what's best instructionally for your students," he said.
Links:
Oakland University
Rich School District
White Pines School District
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Teaching Secrets: The First Days of School (Part 2)
From: Teacher Magazine
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/08/13/43tln_fungpart2.h19.html?tmp=1296946997
By Jane Fung
In the first installment of Milken Award-winning teacher Jane Fung’s advice for new educators, she offered start-up tips, ideas about classroom procedures, and notes on what to do when you get the keys to your first classroom. In this second installment, Jane shares more insights gathered from her own teaching practice and the experiences of her colleagues and former mentees.
I did my student teaching in kindergarten and just got a position teaching 3rd grade. What do I do now?
Begin by finding out what the 3rd grade curriculum or course of study is for your particular school. In many cases you can easily find grade-level state or district standards online. It would be helpful to review the expectations from the previous grade and the one following, just to give you a better understanding of how the skills and concepts develop over time.
If you have difficulty finding your curriculum online, the next thing to try is to contact the principal or school. Someone at the school site should have information on curriculum—if not the principal, there may be a coordinator or another teacher who could provide the information you need. Ask if you can borrow or look over the 3rd grade materials used at the school. If your district has summer school or year-round schools, go observe in a 3rd grade classroom. Observing a 3rd grade class will give you a general idea of what to expect in the fall. Once school is open, seek out other 3rd grade teachers and introduce yourself. See if you can arrange to observe a veteran teacher. Your grade-level team can be your greatest resource and support!
I want to establish strong communication with families this year. How do I begin?
You can start communication with parents before the first day of school. Teachers can call home to welcome students and talk to the parents before school starts. I like to send postcards to new students introducing myself. Other teachers hold special class events such as class picnics in the park or an ice cream social before the first day. An opening letter from you on the first day of school is a wonderful way to introduce yourself to the families you will work with. Along with the letter, I also send home a family survey. The data gathered provides insight and invaluable information about my students and families right from the start. Here are some things I include in my family survey:
When communicating with parents, be open, honest, and professional. Know that you will not be able to please or satisfy everyone, but don’t take it personal. Their child is their main concern, while you speak for your entire class. If you should come across a situation or parental concern you are not sure how to handle, ask for help. Seek out advice from other teachers and/or your administrator. It’s OK not to know everything!
I have just begun my teaching career and I already feel overwhelmed. Is there anything I can do?
Your first year of teaching can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also be extremely stressful and time consuming. First year teachers (and experienced teachers, too) seem to have the most trouble with time management. They often feel overwhelmed by paperwork and planning. So here’s the truth: There will always be something else you can do in your classroom or at home related to school. You don’t have to do it all, and you shouldn’t. Here are few words of wisdom from recent first-year teachers on how to handle the stress and lack of time in your first year of teaching:
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/08/13/43tln_fungpart2.h19.html?tmp=1296946997
By Jane Fung
In the first installment of Milken Award-winning teacher Jane Fung’s advice for new educators, she offered start-up tips, ideas about classroom procedures, and notes on what to do when you get the keys to your first classroom. In this second installment, Jane shares more insights gathered from her own teaching practice and the experiences of her colleagues and former mentees.
I did my student teaching in kindergarten and just got a position teaching 3rd grade. What do I do now?
Begin by finding out what the 3rd grade curriculum or course of study is for your particular school. In many cases you can easily find grade-level state or district standards online. It would be helpful to review the expectations from the previous grade and the one following, just to give you a better understanding of how the skills and concepts develop over time.
If you have difficulty finding your curriculum online, the next thing to try is to contact the principal or school. Someone at the school site should have information on curriculum—if not the principal, there may be a coordinator or another teacher who could provide the information you need. Ask if you can borrow or look over the 3rd grade materials used at the school. If your district has summer school or year-round schools, go observe in a 3rd grade classroom. Observing a 3rd grade class will give you a general idea of what to expect in the fall. Once school is open, seek out other 3rd grade teachers and introduce yourself. See if you can arrange to observe a veteran teacher. Your grade-level team can be your greatest resource and support!
I want to establish strong communication with families this year. How do I begin?
You can start communication with parents before the first day of school. Teachers can call home to welcome students and talk to the parents before school starts. I like to send postcards to new students introducing myself. Other teachers hold special class events such as class picnics in the park or an ice cream social before the first day. An opening letter from you on the first day of school is a wonderful way to introduce yourself to the families you will work with. Along with the letter, I also send home a family survey. The data gathered provides insight and invaluable information about my students and families right from the start. Here are some things I include in my family survey:
- What languages are spoken at home?
- Is there someone to help your child with homework?
- Emergency phone numbers, emails, updated address
- Food allergies/Health issues/Diet• Celebrations and Cultural Awareness
- Child’s Strengths
- Special Needs
- Interests and Talents (parents love this)
- Areas of Concerns, if any
- Expectations for the year
- Questions
When communicating with parents, be open, honest, and professional. Know that you will not be able to please or satisfy everyone, but don’t take it personal. Their child is their main concern, while you speak for your entire class. If you should come across a situation or parental concern you are not sure how to handle, ask for help. Seek out advice from other teachers and/or your administrator. It’s OK not to know everything!
I have just begun my teaching career and I already feel overwhelmed. Is there anything I can do?
Your first year of teaching can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also be extremely stressful and time consuming. First year teachers (and experienced teachers, too) seem to have the most trouble with time management. They often feel overwhelmed by paperwork and planning. So here’s the truth: There will always be something else you can do in your classroom or at home related to school. You don’t have to do it all, and you shouldn’t. Here are few words of wisdom from recent first-year teachers on how to handle the stress and lack of time in your first year of teaching:
- “Be patient with yourself.”
- “It is important to let it go when you leave school.”
- “Set deadlines for yourself. Don't wait until the last minute for planning, filling out paperwork, grading, and doing report cards. Try to do a little bit as you go.”
- “Never take work home. It won’t get done!”
- “I was an excited first-year teacher filled with ideas of changing the world. I expected to leave work every day feeling like I was making a difference. I expected big dramatic changes and progress. I realize now that every day isn't going to feel that way, and that you need to learn to appreciate the little changes and growth you see because it all adds up by the end of the year.”
- “Smile and laugh. When you are frustrated, remember why you chose education.”
- “Distance yourself from the negative people.”
- “Remember to take time for yourself. Do things you enjoy. Read for pleasure, run, start a scrapbook, play a sport, sing or play a musical instrument. You need the me time, so you don't get burned out.”
- "Even if you cry every morning until October on the way to school, you will make it and learn to love it.”
- “I finally just had to realize everything wasn't going to be done right, and nobody expected that of me. You don’t expect your students to read after one lesson; don’t expect to be a perfect teacher right off the bat. It’s a process and you will get there, just as your students will.”
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Up To Age 11, Most Kids Aren't Heavy Internet Users
From: Media Post Publications
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=88340
by Karlene Lukovitz
Yes, today's kids are extremely techno-savvy, and most use the Internet, along with spending hours on video games and communicating with their friends through mobile devices.
Still, relatively few kids are heavy Net users. Furthermore, most are still into TV, books and "old fashioned" toys, as well as tech-oriented entertainment, according to a new Packaged Facts report, "The Kids and Tweens Market in the U.S."
According to Simmons Kids NCS data cited by PF:
Multicultural kids are more likely to have action figures and enter contests and sweepstakes, and less likely to have board games and collect cards.
Marketers focused on virtual strategies include the Nickelodeon Kid and Family Group, which created a games and virtual world group in June, and superpower Disney, which has announced plans to invest between $5 and $10 million on each of 10 virtual worlds it is developing based on Disney characters and franchises.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=88340
by Karlene Lukovitz
Yes, today's kids are extremely techno-savvy, and most use the Internet, along with spending hours on video games and communicating with their friends through mobile devices.
Still, relatively few kids are heavy Net users. Furthermore, most are still into TV, books and "old fashioned" toys, as well as tech-oriented entertainment, according to a new Packaged Facts report, "The Kids and Tweens Market in the U.S."
According to Simmons Kids NCS data cited by PF:
- While the "vast majority" of 6- to-11-year-olds use the Net, 55% of 9- to-11-year-old boys and 46% of girls in the same age group report using the Internet for less than an hour, or not at all, during the past week.
- A substantial majority of kids of all ages read books other than schoolbooks. Multicultural kids are as likely as non-Hispanic white kids to read books outside of school. In general, girls are more likely than boys to read books, and interest in reading books is highest among girls in the 7- to-9-year-old age range.
- Most younger boys still have cars and trucks, crayons, building sets, water guns, puzzles and stuffed toys, while older boys are partial to card games. Most girls in both the kids and tweens age groups own toys such as crayons, clothes and accessories for dolls, card games, stuffed animals and arts and crafts activity kits.
Multicultural kids are more likely to have action figures and enter contests and sweepstakes, and less likely to have board games and collect cards.
- While TV's attraction for kids is certainly being diluted by other media, more than 40% of 9- to-11-year-olds watch two or more hours of television on school days. Furthermore, half of the 10 Web sites most popular among 6- to-11-year-olds are sites directly related to television networks.
- About 80% of younger kids and 90% of older kids use computers at school, and 75% of younger kids and 85% of older kids use computers at home. One in four girls and one in five boys in the 9- to-11-year-old age group have a computer in their room. Kids are most likely to spend their time on computers playing games.
- Framingham, Mass.-based IDC projects that by 2010 there will be 9 million cell phone users in the U.S. in the 9-and-under age group, who will generate $1.6 billion in revenue.
- Nielsen data released in June showed that kids ages 2 to 11 viewed more online video from home than adults during the month of April (51 streams per child viewer versus 44 per adult viewer).
Marketers focused on virtual strategies include the Nickelodeon Kid and Family Group, which created a games and virtual world group in June, and superpower Disney, which has announced plans to invest between $5 and $10 million on each of 10 virtual worlds it is developing based on Disney characters and franchises.
Free online game teaches students about Chinese language, culture
From: eSchool News
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/site-of-the-week/site/index.cfm?i=54847
A new online role-playing game, designed by a U.S. professor who is a top researcher in Chinese education, aims to help students and adults learn more about the culture and languages of China. Called Zon, the game requires free registration but is entirely browser-based, so users can play from home or school. By interacting in the Zon environment, students are exposed to Chinese language and cultural knowledge; everything they do in the game is another chance to learn new words, phrases, and cultural information. "Games are supposed to be fun and educational," Sichuan native Yong Zhao, now a Michigan State University distinguished professor of educational psychology and technology and the creator of Zon, told the Detroit Free Press. "This game offers a vicarious, virtual experience of China."
http://enterzon.com
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/site-of-the-week/site/index.cfm?i=54847
A new online role-playing game, designed by a U.S. professor who is a top researcher in Chinese education, aims to help students and adults learn more about the culture and languages of China. Called Zon, the game requires free registration but is entirely browser-based, so users can play from home or school. By interacting in the Zon environment, students are exposed to Chinese language and cultural knowledge; everything they do in the game is another chance to learn new words, phrases, and cultural information. "Games are supposed to be fun and educational," Sichuan native Yong Zhao, now a Michigan State University distinguished professor of educational psychology and technology and the creator of Zon, told the Detroit Free Press. "This game offers a vicarious, virtual experience of China."
http://enterzon.com
Student Learning-Strengths Inventory
From: NEA
http://www.nea.org/lessons/tt070806.html
Teaching Theme of the Week
Use an online inventory to determine students' learning strengths and intelligences.
Subjects: all subjects
Grade Levels: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
Objectives Students will:
Materials Needed
An inventory of students' learning styles can build self-esteem by helping them discover their strengths; learn about areas in which they might need to make more effort; and appreciate the differences among themselves.
Published inventories are readily available to help teachers and students determine their learning strengths. You also can find some excellent free resources online:
What's Your Learning Style?Students can take this inventory online. (Set aside a time for each student to complete the inventory at a classroom computer, or have the entire class complete the inventory during computer lab time.) Students can print the report, which shows whether they are stronger visual, auditory, or tactile learners.
For younger students, you might create a printed inventory that provides each of the 30 prompts in this activity. Beneath each statement, type the four possible responses -- very little like me; a little like me; like me; or a lot like me -- so students can circle the one that applies to them. Then you or a helper can input student responses into the online form and print a report for each student.
How Many Ways Are You Smart? ( PDF, 12K, 1pg.)This simple printable (pdf) page provides an easy tool for discovering which of eight intelligences students favor. Students can do the activity on their own by simply folding the inventory sheet in half and making a checkmark next to each of the 24 statements that describe them. Then, they unfold the paper and tally the results. Be sure students share the results with you!
Multiple Intelligences InventoryIf you're looking for a more in-depth MI inventory, this one provides ten statements that relate to each of nine intelligences. Students identify the statements that describe them as learners. They then tally and graph the results on their own. If you're looking for additional statements related to each of the intelligences, you might use the Web page What Are My Learning Strengths?
You might also share with students some of what the inventory means. The Multiple Intelligences Kids' Page offers some kid-friendly explanations.
With older students, you might want to turn this activity into a research project in which they research "multiple intelligences" and learn more about the intelligence(s) they favor.
You also can learn more about a teacher who has used learning inventories in the classroom in the Education World article Your Students: No Two Are Alike
Those are just a few of the many resources you'll find online that can help you (and your students) learn more about the learning styles your they favor. Following are some additional resources:
http://www.nea.org/lessons/tt070806.html
Teaching Theme of the Week
Use an online inventory to determine students' learning strengths and intelligences.
Subjects: all subjects
Grade Levels: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
Objectives Students will:
- take an online inventory to determine their learning strengths and weaknesses,
- create graphs to show their learning strengths. (optional),
- build self-esteem by learning about their personal learning strengths,
- learn about areas where they might need to work harder, and
- learn to appreciate differences among their classmates.
Materials Needed
- one or more of the online resources listed below
- paper and supplies for creating graphs to show learning strengths
An inventory of students' learning styles can build self-esteem by helping them discover their strengths; learn about areas in which they might need to make more effort; and appreciate the differences among themselves.
Published inventories are readily available to help teachers and students determine their learning strengths. You also can find some excellent free resources online:
What's Your Learning Style?Students can take this inventory online. (Set aside a time for each student to complete the inventory at a classroom computer, or have the entire class complete the inventory during computer lab time.) Students can print the report, which shows whether they are stronger visual, auditory, or tactile learners.
For younger students, you might create a printed inventory that provides each of the 30 prompts in this activity. Beneath each statement, type the four possible responses -- very little like me; a little like me; like me; or a lot like me -- so students can circle the one that applies to them. Then you or a helper can input student responses into the online form and print a report for each student.
How Many Ways Are You Smart? ( PDF, 12K, 1pg.)This simple printable (pdf) page provides an easy tool for discovering which of eight intelligences students favor. Students can do the activity on their own by simply folding the inventory sheet in half and making a checkmark next to each of the 24 statements that describe them. Then, they unfold the paper and tally the results. Be sure students share the results with you!
Multiple Intelligences InventoryIf you're looking for a more in-depth MI inventory, this one provides ten statements that relate to each of nine intelligences. Students identify the statements that describe them as learners. They then tally and graph the results on their own. If you're looking for additional statements related to each of the intelligences, you might use the Web page What Are My Learning Strengths?
You might also share with students some of what the inventory means. The Multiple Intelligences Kids' Page offers some kid-friendly explanations.
With older students, you might want to turn this activity into a research project in which they research "multiple intelligences" and learn more about the intelligence(s) they favor.
You also can learn more about a teacher who has used learning inventories in the classroom in the Education World article Your Students: No Two Are Alike
Those are just a few of the many resources you'll find online that can help you (and your students) learn more about the learning styles your they favor. Following are some additional resources:
- Abiator's Online Learning Styles Inventory
- Multiple Intelligences Self-Inventory (Scroll to "multiple intelligences animation" and click.)
- Multiple Intelligences: Find Your Strengths
Note: The informal inventories above represent only a small sampling of the available tools; the results should not be used as a sole measure of students' learning strengths or abilities.
Assessment Students share (in words, pictures, or writing -- depending on their learning strengths) what they learned about how they learn.
Best of the Icebreakers
From: NEA
http://www.nea.org/lessons/2005/tt050808.html
by Gary Hopkins
Teaching Theme of the Week
Education World has been collecting great icebreaker activities from teachers since 1997. This year, we take a look back and spotlight some of the best of the more than 150 ideas that teachers have shared.
Since we published the first edition of getting-to-know-you "icebreaker" activities in 1997, eleven more volumes have followed. Even today, new ideas continue to flow in. This is the first year we have not had more than a dozen new ideas to share with Education World readers, so, instead of sharing new ideas, we have decided to look back. The ten icebreakers that appear below are ten of the most original and powerful ideas we've seen through the years.
Maybe you'll find the perfect idea here for your first day of school. If not, be sure to check out more than 100 additional ideas that have been submitted over the years to our Icebreaker Activities Archive.
And, if you have an idea to share, be sure to join the Icebreaker conversation on Education World's message boards.
As I have always done, each idea below is credited to the teacher who submitted it to Education World.
Making Introductions
Many icebreaker activities are focused on helping teachers get to know their students and helping students get to know one another. These activities are fun ways to learn about students' backgrounds and personalities and to start to form bonds that will last all school year long.
Recipe Card Mix-Up Provide each student with a recipe or index card. Ahead of time choose about five questions that you might ask of students. Be as creative as you want with the questions. Possible questions might include the following:
The student that the teacher introduced continues the activity by calling up the student whose card he or she holds. Continue until all students have introduced someone to the class. When everyone has been introduced, take all the cards, shuffle them, and call out responses on one card at a time to see if students can remember who belongs to each card.Arlene Stoebner, Yankton School District, Yankton South Dakota
Getting-to-Know-You Venn Diagram Gather groups of three students. Supply a prepared three-circle Venn diagram (see an editable sample Word 82KB ) for each group. Students talk in their groups about themselves and the things they like to do. After a brief discussion, students must…
Student Dictionary Write five questions on the board. Questions might include the following:
Reynolds, Kim. proper noun. 1. Born in Riverside, California. 2. No brothers or sisters. 3.…
Have students bring in small pictures of themselves to paste next to their entries in the Student Dictionary. Bind the definitions into a book, and display it at your back-to-school open house for parents.Kim Reynolds, Warwick Elementary School, Fremont, California
Getting-to-Know-You Chart Create a large chart titled Getting to Know You. Include on the chart sections for students' names and interesting facts, such as how many people are in their families, how many pets they have, their favorite colors, favorite school subjects, favorite sports, and so on… Laminate the chart and hang it on the wall. On the first day of school, have each student "sign in." Leave the chart up for several weeks. The kids love to wander over to it when they have free time. They keep learning new things about one another. The chart can be a good source of "data" for a lesson in graph-making too.Charilyn Damigo, Liberty Baptist School, San Jose, California
Many Great Activities Start with a Good Book
Lots of great books offer fitting segues to getting-to-know-you activities. If you're a teacher who likes to read aloud to students, why not start the year with a read aloud that leads to a fun activity that will get students talking and interacting? Here are just a few possibilities…
Special Memories Book If you write a letter of introduction to students before the school year starts, include a request that students bring to school on the first day something that has a special memory attached to it. (If you do not send a before-school letter, you can make this activity the homework assignment for the first day.) Start the day by reading Mem Fox's popular book Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge. The story is about a little boy who befriends an older woman and gives her back memories that she has long forgotten. After reading the story, discuss what a memory is and list students' ideas. Then give each child an opportunity to share his or her special item and tell about the memories it carries. You might also use this as the first writing assignment of the year; have students write about the memories their objects spark, take pictures of the objects, and create a class book of memories.Cindy Kramer, West Side Elementary School, Cold Spring Harbor, New York
The Giving Tree Read aloud Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree and involve students in a discussion of the types of gifts the tree gave the boy; none of those gifts cost a thing. Then talk about the types of cost-free "gifts" the students can contribute to the class. Prepare a bulletin board that has the silhouette of a tree trunk and branches. Give each student a cutout apple. Have students write on their apples the things they can "give" to the class. Put the apples on the tree. This bulletin board makes a nice display for open house.Lori Napoli
Goal Setting With Booker T. I like to share at least one read-aloud book on the opening day of school. Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes and First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg are favorites. Most essential though, is More Than Anything Else by Marie Bradby. The biographical story of Booker T. Washington's youth uses beautiful language and illustrations to show how he learned to read as a young boy. After reading the book, we talk about his goals and how his determination to achieve them made them a reality. More Than Anything Else is an excellent tool for starting a discussion about students' goals for the school year.Heather Migdon, Dogwood Elementary School, Fairfax County, Virginia
Setting the Tone
The last two activities above are perfect ones for setting the tone for a productive and respectful school year. When the going gets rough -- when students are not respecting their classmates or when they are losing sight of their goals -- you could always refer back to the lessons learned from the "giving tree" or Booker T.
Following are a few more activities that can help you set a tone on the first day of school that will carry over thoughout the year.
Chain Gang Begin by asking students "Who can do something really well?" After a brief discussion about some of the students' talents, pass out paper and ask students to write down five things they do well. Then provide each student with five different-colored paper strips. Have each student write a different talent on each paper strip. Then create a mini paper chain by linking the five talent strips together. As students complete their mini chains, use extra strips of paper to link the mini chains together to create one long class chain. Have students stand and hold the growing chain as you link the pieces together. Once the entire chain is constructed and linked, lead a discussion about what the chain demonstrates. For example, it might illustrate that…
Kimberlee Woodward, substitute teacher, Waterford, Michigan
Puzzling It Out This activity is especially valuable if you have in your class students who are new to your school. Those students probably will be experiencing a range of emotions -- including fear, shyness, and uncertainty. Before the activity, create a word processing document containing many different messages -- preferably in different type sizes and fonts -- that convey such messages as
Ugly Words Are Out! As you discuss classroom expectations, introduce the idea that "ugly words" have no place in your classroom. Ask students what they think you mean by "ugly words." Then have the class generate a list of words that might be found on an ugly-word list, and write the words on a piece of chart paper. (Explain to students that any word that is considered a swear word would definitely be on the ugly-word list, so there is no need to mention them. Point out that the same is true for such words as dummy, jerk, dork, geek, hate, or ugly.) You might start the list with the word "can't." What about the word quit? Go around the room and give each student an opportunity to add an ugly word to the list. When you are satisfied that the students' supply of ugly words has run dry, dramatically rip the chart paper off the pad, let it fall to the floor, and stomp all over it. Next, rip it up and crush it into a ball. Finally, get a shovel, take students outside, and ceremoniously bury the list of ugly words. This activity willahave quite an impact: students will always remember the "ugly words" that will not be accepted in class.Becci Motes, Kelley-Smith Elementary School, Palatka, Florida
http://www.nea.org/lessons/2005/tt050808.html
by Gary Hopkins
Teaching Theme of the Week
Education World has been collecting great icebreaker activities from teachers since 1997. This year, we take a look back and spotlight some of the best of the more than 150 ideas that teachers have shared.
Since we published the first edition of getting-to-know-you "icebreaker" activities in 1997, eleven more volumes have followed. Even today, new ideas continue to flow in. This is the first year we have not had more than a dozen new ideas to share with Education World readers, so, instead of sharing new ideas, we have decided to look back. The ten icebreakers that appear below are ten of the most original and powerful ideas we've seen through the years.
Maybe you'll find the perfect idea here for your first day of school. If not, be sure to check out more than 100 additional ideas that have been submitted over the years to our Icebreaker Activities Archive.
And, if you have an idea to share, be sure to join the Icebreaker conversation on Education World's message boards.
As I have always done, each idea below is credited to the teacher who submitted it to Education World.
Making Introductions
Many icebreaker activities are focused on helping teachers get to know their students and helping students get to know one another. These activities are fun ways to learn about students' backgrounds and personalities and to start to form bonds that will last all school year long.
Recipe Card Mix-Up Provide each student with a recipe or index card. Ahead of time choose about five questions that you might ask of students. Be as creative as you want with the questions. Possible questions might include the following:
- What is the title of a favorite book?
- What do you like doing in your free time when you're not at school?
- What is your favorite board game?
- What is your favorite candy bar?
- If you could request your favorite meal for your birthday, what would that meal be?
The student that the teacher introduced continues the activity by calling up the student whose card he or she holds. Continue until all students have introduced someone to the class. When everyone has been introduced, take all the cards, shuffle them, and call out responses on one card at a time to see if students can remember who belongs to each card.Arlene Stoebner, Yankton School District, Yankton South Dakota
Getting-to-Know-You Venn Diagram Gather groups of three students. Supply a prepared three-circle Venn diagram (see an editable sample Word 82KB ) for each group. Students talk in their groups about themselves and the things they like to do. After a brief discussion, students must…
- Decide on at least three ways in which they are all alike; they write those things in the area of the diagram that intersects all three circles.
- Find ways in which they are like one other student in the group and record those ways in the appropriate areas of the diagram.
- Determine a few facts that make each of them unique and write those facts in the appropriate sections of the diagram.
Student Dictionary Write five questions on the board. Questions might include the following:
- What is your name?
- Where were you born?
- How many brothers or sisters do you have?
- What are their names?
- Do you have any pets?
Reynolds, Kim. proper noun. 1. Born in Riverside, California. 2. No brothers or sisters. 3.…
Have students bring in small pictures of themselves to paste next to their entries in the Student Dictionary. Bind the definitions into a book, and display it at your back-to-school open house for parents.Kim Reynolds, Warwick Elementary School, Fremont, California
Getting-to-Know-You Chart Create a large chart titled Getting to Know You. Include on the chart sections for students' names and interesting facts, such as how many people are in their families, how many pets they have, their favorite colors, favorite school subjects, favorite sports, and so on… Laminate the chart and hang it on the wall. On the first day of school, have each student "sign in." Leave the chart up for several weeks. The kids love to wander over to it when they have free time. They keep learning new things about one another. The chart can be a good source of "data" for a lesson in graph-making too.Charilyn Damigo, Liberty Baptist School, San Jose, California
Many Great Activities Start with a Good Book
Lots of great books offer fitting segues to getting-to-know-you activities. If you're a teacher who likes to read aloud to students, why not start the year with a read aloud that leads to a fun activity that will get students talking and interacting? Here are just a few possibilities…
Special Memories Book If you write a letter of introduction to students before the school year starts, include a request that students bring to school on the first day something that has a special memory attached to it. (If you do not send a before-school letter, you can make this activity the homework assignment for the first day.) Start the day by reading Mem Fox's popular book Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge. The story is about a little boy who befriends an older woman and gives her back memories that she has long forgotten. After reading the story, discuss what a memory is and list students' ideas. Then give each child an opportunity to share his or her special item and tell about the memories it carries. You might also use this as the first writing assignment of the year; have students write about the memories their objects spark, take pictures of the objects, and create a class book of memories.Cindy Kramer, West Side Elementary School, Cold Spring Harbor, New York
The Giving Tree Read aloud Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree and involve students in a discussion of the types of gifts the tree gave the boy; none of those gifts cost a thing. Then talk about the types of cost-free "gifts" the students can contribute to the class. Prepare a bulletin board that has the silhouette of a tree trunk and branches. Give each student a cutout apple. Have students write on their apples the things they can "give" to the class. Put the apples on the tree. This bulletin board makes a nice display for open house.Lori Napoli
Goal Setting With Booker T. I like to share at least one read-aloud book on the opening day of school. Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes and First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg are favorites. Most essential though, is More Than Anything Else by Marie Bradby. The biographical story of Booker T. Washington's youth uses beautiful language and illustrations to show how he learned to read as a young boy. After reading the book, we talk about his goals and how his determination to achieve them made them a reality. More Than Anything Else is an excellent tool for starting a discussion about students' goals for the school year.Heather Migdon, Dogwood Elementary School, Fairfax County, Virginia
Setting the Tone
The last two activities above are perfect ones for setting the tone for a productive and respectful school year. When the going gets rough -- when students are not respecting their classmates or when they are losing sight of their goals -- you could always refer back to the lessons learned from the "giving tree" or Booker T.
Following are a few more activities that can help you set a tone on the first day of school that will carry over thoughout the year.
Chain Gang Begin by asking students "Who can do something really well?" After a brief discussion about some of the students' talents, pass out paper and ask students to write down five things they do well. Then provide each student with five different-colored paper strips. Have each student write a different talent on each paper strip. Then create a mini paper chain by linking the five talent strips together. As students complete their mini chains, use extra strips of paper to link the mini chains together to create one long class chain. Have students stand and hold the growing chain as you link the pieces together. Once the entire chain is constructed and linked, lead a discussion about what the chain demonstrates. For example, it might illustrate that…
- All students have talents.
- The students in this class have many talents.
- If the students in this class work together, they can accomplish anything.
- Our class is stronger when students work together than when individual students work on their own.
Kimberlee Woodward, substitute teacher, Waterford, Michigan
Puzzling It Out This activity is especially valuable if you have in your class students who are new to your school. Those students probably will be experiencing a range of emotions -- including fear, shyness, and uncertainty. Before the activity, create a word processing document containing many different messages -- preferably in different type sizes and fonts -- that convey such messages as
- Welcome!
- Don't be puzzled, you'll fit right in!
- We're here for you!
Ugly Words Are Out! As you discuss classroom expectations, introduce the idea that "ugly words" have no place in your classroom. Ask students what they think you mean by "ugly words." Then have the class generate a list of words that might be found on an ugly-word list, and write the words on a piece of chart paper. (Explain to students that any word that is considered a swear word would definitely be on the ugly-word list, so there is no need to mention them. Point out that the same is true for such words as dummy, jerk, dork, geek, hate, or ugly.) You might start the list with the word "can't." What about the word quit? Go around the room and give each student an opportunity to add an ugly word to the list. When you are satisfied that the students' supply of ugly words has run dry, dramatically rip the chart paper off the pad, let it fall to the floor, and stomp all over it. Next, rip it up and crush it into a ball. Finally, get a shovel, take students outside, and ceremoniously bury the list of ugly words. This activity willahave quite an impact: students will always remember the "ugly words" that will not be accepted in class.Becci Motes, Kelley-Smith Elementary School, Palatka, Florida
Monday, August 11, 2008
What to know before buying your kid a cell phone
From: CNN Technology
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/ptech/08/11/cellphones.kids/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
By Jacque Wilson
(CNN) -- He was gone. Kristi and Claudio Lai turned around for just one minute and their son had disappeared at Sea World.
After frantically searching the park, they found him 15 minutes later on a jungle gym. That was when the Simi Valley, California, couple knew they wanted to get Giancarlo a GPS-equipped cell phone very soon.
Their son is 3 years old.
Cell phones are rare in preschool, but as parents fill their child's backpack this month with pens, pencils and other supplies, some may be wondering whether a wireless phone is a necessary back-to-school accessory.
More and more children are showing up at school each August with cell phones, and the Center on Media and Child Health Web site states that 54 percent of 8- to 12-year-olds will have a cell phone in the next three years.
For many parents, a cell phone's convenience and the peace of mind it offers -- being able to reach your child at any time, anywhere -- is hard to argue against. But should every kid have a cell phone? And how young is too young?
Here are some issues parents should consider before buying their child a cell phone for the upcoming year.
Cost
When Kathy Carter's 10-year-old son Jordan first got his cell phone, he downloaded 3 million songs and games. At least that's what it looked like to the Teaneck, New Jersey, mother when she got the phone bill.
"I had told him not to, and when I asked why he did it he said he just couldn't resist," Carter said.
Rebecca Banghart, of St. Thomas, Ontario, understands -- she used to sell cell phones.
"I've seen plenty of disgusted and disgruntled parents come in with phone bills in the hundreds [of dollars] for their kids," Banghart said. "And then there's the fact that kids will be kids. They play rough with and lose their toys. A phone will be no different."
Certainly the initial cost of a phone is something to consider. Do you want to buy a young child a $100 phone they could drop in a puddle? But perhaps more important is the type of plan you choose. Parents often can save money by choosing unlimited text-messaging options or a plan that restricts Internet access. See some child-friendly cell phone features »
School safety
Since the 1999 Columbine High School shootings and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many parents feel better having a way to contact their children. But hundreds of students on cell phones during an emergency can cause problems for responders.
"There's a huge difference between feeling safer and being safer," says Kenneth Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services.
According to Trump, students' cell phone use during emergencies can do three things: increase the spread of rumors about the situation, expedite parental traffic at a scene that needs to be controlled and accelerate the overload of cell-phone systems in the area.
Tom Hautton, an attorney for the National School Board Association, said that cell phones in schools also can lead to classroom distractions, text-message cheating and inappropriate photographs and videos being spread around campus.
On the other hand, Hautton said he understands how cell phones can ease safety concerns by allowing parents to contact their children when late to pick them up after school.
Sexual predators
The thought of sexual predators reaching her 12-year-old daughter through a cell phone never occurred to Kristi Lai. If your child were talking to someone like that, then you'd have to really not be aware of your kids, she said.
But flying under parents' radar is exactly what predators rely on, said Ted Thompson, president of the National Association to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children. He believes children's cell phones enable what he calls a sexual predator's "grooming" process.
"A cell phone is with the person who controls it, and most parents don't check cell phones," Thompson said. "It's so much more of a private device."
Sexual predators use technology to gain trust over time, Thompson said. A cell phone allows a predator to maintain an inappropriate relationship with a child while acting appropriately face-to-face when other adults might notice.
Thompson recommends parents use new cell-phone technology that allows them to monitor their children's text messages and locations.
Health risks
In July, the University of Pittsburgh made headlines with a warning to faculty and staff: Limit your cell-phone use because of possible cancer risks. The message from the Cancer Institute director recommended that children use cell phones only for emergencies because their brains are still developing. See how electromagnetic waves affect a child's brain »
The university center's director for environmental oncology, Dr. Devra Davis, repeated the warning on CNN the next night.
Since cell phones have only been in widespread use for 10 years or so, the long-term effects of their radiation waves on the brain has yet to be determined, she said.
"Young children particularly need to be careful," she said. "We do not have enough information nor do we have enough time to be sure that cell phones are safe, and there's reason for concern that they may be harmful."
Davis's statement sums up the "jury's still out" aspect of this issue. Since cell phones have only been in widespread use for 10 years or so, the long-term effects of their radiation waves on the brain has yet to be determined.
Age, or responsibility?
Nani Sheats, of New Bern, North Carolina, said her parents gave her a cell phone for driving emergencies when she was 16. "I was so busy with school and sports that I rarely used the phone," she said.
Now a mother herself, Sheats plans to follow the same rule for her young children. Sheats and her husband will buy their kids phones only when they are old enough to spend time away from their parents without adult supervision.
Perhaps the biggest factor in children's cell-phone use -- bigger even than age -- is a child's responsibility level, Kathy Carter said. She and her son have conversations about the dangers a cell phone can bring, but they also embrace the wireless technology because of the convenience and comfort it offers.
Kristi Lai agrees that in the end, cell phones cannot serve as babysitters. Although she wants to buy Giancarlo a cell phone at a young age, she would never leave him or her 12-year-old daughter unattended, she said.
"It's just like anything else, and you have to monitor it," Lai said.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/ptech/08/11/cellphones.kids/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
By Jacque Wilson
(CNN) -- He was gone. Kristi and Claudio Lai turned around for just one minute and their son had disappeared at Sea World.
After frantically searching the park, they found him 15 minutes later on a jungle gym. That was when the Simi Valley, California, couple knew they wanted to get Giancarlo a GPS-equipped cell phone very soon.
Their son is 3 years old.
Cell phones are rare in preschool, but as parents fill their child's backpack this month with pens, pencils and other supplies, some may be wondering whether a wireless phone is a necessary back-to-school accessory.
More and more children are showing up at school each August with cell phones, and the Center on Media and Child Health Web site states that 54 percent of 8- to 12-year-olds will have a cell phone in the next three years.
For many parents, a cell phone's convenience and the peace of mind it offers -- being able to reach your child at any time, anywhere -- is hard to argue against. But should every kid have a cell phone? And how young is too young?
Here are some issues parents should consider before buying their child a cell phone for the upcoming year.
Cost
When Kathy Carter's 10-year-old son Jordan first got his cell phone, he downloaded 3 million songs and games. At least that's what it looked like to the Teaneck, New Jersey, mother when she got the phone bill.
"I had told him not to, and when I asked why he did it he said he just couldn't resist," Carter said.
Rebecca Banghart, of St. Thomas, Ontario, understands -- she used to sell cell phones.
"I've seen plenty of disgusted and disgruntled parents come in with phone bills in the hundreds [of dollars] for their kids," Banghart said. "And then there's the fact that kids will be kids. They play rough with and lose their toys. A phone will be no different."
Certainly the initial cost of a phone is something to consider. Do you want to buy a young child a $100 phone they could drop in a puddle? But perhaps more important is the type of plan you choose. Parents often can save money by choosing unlimited text-messaging options or a plan that restricts Internet access. See some child-friendly cell phone features »
School safety
Since the 1999 Columbine High School shootings and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many parents feel better having a way to contact their children. But hundreds of students on cell phones during an emergency can cause problems for responders.
"There's a huge difference between feeling safer and being safer," says Kenneth Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services.
According to Trump, students' cell phone use during emergencies can do three things: increase the spread of rumors about the situation, expedite parental traffic at a scene that needs to be controlled and accelerate the overload of cell-phone systems in the area.
Tom Hautton, an attorney for the National School Board Association, said that cell phones in schools also can lead to classroom distractions, text-message cheating and inappropriate photographs and videos being spread around campus.
On the other hand, Hautton said he understands how cell phones can ease safety concerns by allowing parents to contact their children when late to pick them up after school.
Sexual predators
The thought of sexual predators reaching her 12-year-old daughter through a cell phone never occurred to Kristi Lai. If your child were talking to someone like that, then you'd have to really not be aware of your kids, she said.
But flying under parents' radar is exactly what predators rely on, said Ted Thompson, president of the National Association to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children. He believes children's cell phones enable what he calls a sexual predator's "grooming" process.
"A cell phone is with the person who controls it, and most parents don't check cell phones," Thompson said. "It's so much more of a private device."
Sexual predators use technology to gain trust over time, Thompson said. A cell phone allows a predator to maintain an inappropriate relationship with a child while acting appropriately face-to-face when other adults might notice.
Thompson recommends parents use new cell-phone technology that allows them to monitor their children's text messages and locations.
Health risks
In July, the University of Pittsburgh made headlines with a warning to faculty and staff: Limit your cell-phone use because of possible cancer risks. The message from the Cancer Institute director recommended that children use cell phones only for emergencies because their brains are still developing. See how electromagnetic waves affect a child's brain »
The university center's director for environmental oncology, Dr. Devra Davis, repeated the warning on CNN the next night.
Since cell phones have only been in widespread use for 10 years or so, the long-term effects of their radiation waves on the brain has yet to be determined, she said.
"Young children particularly need to be careful," she said. "We do not have enough information nor do we have enough time to be sure that cell phones are safe, and there's reason for concern that they may be harmful."
Davis's statement sums up the "jury's still out" aspect of this issue. Since cell phones have only been in widespread use for 10 years or so, the long-term effects of their radiation waves on the brain has yet to be determined.
Age, or responsibility?
Nani Sheats, of New Bern, North Carolina, said her parents gave her a cell phone for driving emergencies when she was 16. "I was so busy with school and sports that I rarely used the phone," she said.
Now a mother herself, Sheats plans to follow the same rule for her young children. Sheats and her husband will buy their kids phones only when they are old enough to spend time away from their parents without adult supervision.
Perhaps the biggest factor in children's cell-phone use -- bigger even than age -- is a child's responsibility level, Kathy Carter said. She and her son have conversations about the dangers a cell phone can bring, but they also embrace the wireless technology because of the convenience and comfort it offers.
Kristi Lai agrees that in the end, cell phones cannot serve as babysitters. Although she wants to buy Giancarlo a cell phone at a young age, she would never leave him or her 12-year-old daughter unattended, she said.
"It's just like anything else, and you have to monitor it," Lai said.
Analysis: Young teachers must set clear boundaries with students
From: ASCD SmartBrief
http://www.smartbrief.com/news/ascd/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=C0DBB067-4547-484B-A8F0-A0C52D63FF63©id=1498C3AA-82C8-4B2F-91A0-3CA44D00F77D&sid=4ceba3f1-a5c5-4102-9957-b0453a377bea&brief=ascd
Palm Beach Post (Fla.), The (08/02)
Teachers' risque Facebook pages under scrutiny
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Do your ID cards need a makeover?
Monday, April 7, 2008
Kozol: Navigate NCLB with "mischievous irreverence"
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Related Stories
Teachers close in age to students lose sight of line
EducationNews.org Sunday, August 3, 2008
The Mire - Nicholas D. Kristof - Opinion - New York Times Blog
EducationNews.org Wednesday, April 30, 2008
No More “Guide on the Side” at The Core Knowledge Blog
EducationNews.org Wednesday, July 9, 2008
New Report From KIPP Charters - washingtonpost.com
Washington Post, The Monday, April 21, 2008
KIPP Study Finds High Student Attrition Amid Big Learning Gains
Education Week (premium article access compliments of Edweek.org) Tuesday, September 23, 2008
http://www.smartbrief.com/news/ascd/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=C0DBB067-4547-484B-A8F0-A0C52D63FF63©id=1498C3AA-82C8-4B2F-91A0-3CA44D00F77D&sid=4ceba3f1-a5c5-4102-9957-b0453a377bea&brief=ascd
Palm Beach Post (Fla.), The (08/02)
Teachers' risque Facebook pages under scrutiny
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Do your ID cards need a makeover?
Monday, April 7, 2008
Kozol: Navigate NCLB with "mischievous irreverence"
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Related Stories
Teachers close in age to students lose sight of line
EducationNews.org Sunday, August 3, 2008
The Mire - Nicholas D. Kristof - Opinion - New York Times Blog
EducationNews.org Wednesday, April 30, 2008
No More “Guide on the Side” at The Core Knowledge Blog
EducationNews.org Wednesday, July 9, 2008
New Report From KIPP Charters - washingtonpost.com
Washington Post, The Monday, April 21, 2008
KIPP Study Finds High Student Attrition Amid Big Learning Gains
Education Week (premium article access compliments of Edweek.org) Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Analysis: Young teachers must set clear boundaries with students
From: ASCD SmartBrief
http://www.smartbrief.com/news/ascd/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=C0DBB067-4547-484B-A8F0-A0C52D63FF63©id=1498C3AA-82C8-4B2F-91A0-3CA44D00F77D&sid=4ceba3f1-a5c5-4102-9957-b0453a377bea&brief=ascd
Palm Beach Post (Fla.), The (08/02)
Teachers' risque Facebook pages under scrutiny
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Do your ID cards need a makeover?
Monday, April 7, 2008
Kozol: Navigate NCLB with "mischievous irreverence"
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Related Stories
Teachers close in age to students lose sight of line
EducationNews.org Sunday, August 3, 2008
The Mire - Nicholas D. Kristof - Opinion - New York Times Blog
EducationNews.org Wednesday, April 30, 2008
No More “Guide on the Side” at The Core Knowledge Blog
EducationNews.org Wednesday, July 9, 2008
New Report From KIPP Charters - washingtonpost.com
Washington Post, The Monday, April 21, 2008
KIPP Study Finds High Student Attrition Amid Big Learning Gains
Education Week (premium article access compliments of Edweek.org) Tuesday, September 23, 2008
http://www.smartbrief.com/news/ascd/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=C0DBB067-4547-484B-A8F0-A0C52D63FF63©id=1498C3AA-82C8-4B2F-91A0-3CA44D00F77D&sid=4ceba3f1-a5c5-4102-9957-b0453a377bea&brief=ascd
Palm Beach Post (Fla.), The (08/02)
Teachers' risque Facebook pages under scrutiny
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Do your ID cards need a makeover?
Monday, April 7, 2008
Kozol: Navigate NCLB with "mischievous irreverence"
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Related Stories
Teachers close in age to students lose sight of line
EducationNews.org Sunday, August 3, 2008
The Mire - Nicholas D. Kristof - Opinion - New York Times Blog
EducationNews.org Wednesday, April 30, 2008
No More “Guide on the Side” at The Core Knowledge Blog
EducationNews.org Wednesday, July 9, 2008
New Report From KIPP Charters - washingtonpost.com
Washington Post, The Monday, April 21, 2008
KIPP Study Finds High Student Attrition Amid Big Learning Gains
Education Week (premium article access compliments of Edweek.org) Tuesday, September 23, 2008
More parents, educators question summer homework
From: ASCD SmartBrief
http://www.smartbrief.com/news/ascd/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=C0DBB067-4547-484B-A8F0-A0C52D63FF63©id=3DF40C00-EEE0-497C-B344-863588D6EC60&sid=4ceba3f1-a5c5-4102-9957-b0453a377bea&brief=ascd
Students who've thus far ignored their summer reading lists are starting to cram as the new school year looms, causing some parents and educators to question whether such summertime projects stress out students badly in need of a break. But proponents say summer work can stave off potential declines in scores and a slackening in study habits. Washington Post, The (08/05)
Educational video games can ease post-summer transition to school
Friday, August 31, 2007
More Arkansas teachers stayed on after state boosted salaries
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Wisconsin Senate votes to freeze virtual enrollment at current level
http://www.smartbrief.com/news/ascd/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=C0DBB067-4547-484B-A8F0-A0C52D63FF63©id=3DF40C00-EEE0-497C-B344-863588D6EC60&sid=4ceba3f1-a5c5-4102-9957-b0453a377bea&brief=ascd
Students who've thus far ignored their summer reading lists are starting to cram as the new school year looms, causing some parents and educators to question whether such summertime projects stress out students badly in need of a break. But proponents say summer work can stave off potential declines in scores and a slackening in study habits. Washington Post, The (08/05)
Educational video games can ease post-summer transition to school
Friday, August 31, 2007
More Arkansas teachers stayed on after state boosted salaries
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Wisconsin Senate votes to freeze virtual enrollment at current level
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Schools struggle to pay for English-learner program
From: The Arizona Republic
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2008/08/10/20080810bts-ell0810.html
by Ray Parker
Arizona public schools have struggled with how to pay for a new state program teaching immigrant students English, especially since districts requested around $300 million but received only $40 million.
At Arizona's largest district, with 73,000 students, for example, Mesa Public Schools administrators received $1.8 million in state money for the new English-learner program, but they expect to spend about $7 million.
It meant digging to find another $5.2 million out of a slim budget, which already had to be cut by $13 million. More than 100 district positions were left unfilled, including associate superintendent and school librarians.
This school year, 140,000 Arizona students not proficient in English will be given four hours a day of language instruction. That is slightly more than 10 percent of Arizona's 1 million public-school children in about 330 districts and charter schools.
Arizona is under a court order to improve instruction to children struggling to learn English.
The new English-learner program calls for:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2008/08/10/20080810bts-ell0810.html
by Ray Parker
Arizona public schools have struggled with how to pay for a new state program teaching immigrant students English, especially since districts requested around $300 million but received only $40 million.
At Arizona's largest district, with 73,000 students, for example, Mesa Public Schools administrators received $1.8 million in state money for the new English-learner program, but they expect to spend about $7 million.
It meant digging to find another $5.2 million out of a slim budget, which already had to be cut by $13 million. More than 100 district positions were left unfilled, including associate superintendent and school librarians.
This school year, 140,000 Arizona students not proficient in English will be given four hours a day of language instruction. That is slightly more than 10 percent of Arizona's 1 million public-school children in about 330 districts and charter schools.
Arizona is under a court order to improve instruction to children struggling to learn English.
The new English-learner program calls for:
- Four hours per day of English instruction in speaking, listening, grammar, reading and writing.
- English-learner students must be kept out of mainstream classes during those four hours.
- Students must be grouped according to four levels of English proficiency.
- Classes will be taught by highly qualified teachers or those certified to teach English as a second language.
Before the new program, many districts would put English-learner students in mainstream classrooms for the majority of the school day, while providing about 30 minutes of "pull-out" English instruction.
State-education officials said students could spend six or seven years in the old program before becoming proficient in English, while the new model means a much shorter track for learning English: about a year, especially for elementary students.
Tom Horne, state superintendent of public instruction, said: "They'll learn English quickly and then be able to compete with other (mainstream) kids in academics."
State funds fall short
For months, Arizona administrators have complained about the state's new English-language-learner funding.
Chris Thomas, president of the Madison School District school board, was among those frustrated by the state's $40 million for the new program, arguing it's too small and shortchanges some districts that have many English learners, while giving a windfall to others.
District administrators had originally requested $275 million to $300 million for the program.
At Chandler Unified School District, officials expect to spend $3 million on the new program, while receiving $1.6 million from the state.
Officials said they didn't expect class sizes to increase, but that won't be known until the school year gets under way.
The new program means changing classroom logistics for 3,500 English learners in the 35,000-student district.
It means hiring about 36 new teachers for English learners.
"This is the biggest change mandated from the state in my memory," said Susan Eissinger, associate superintendent for instruction. "We believe it's going to cost more than the allocation (from the state)."
At the Buckeye Union High School District, officials originally requested $600,000, which included construction money for additional classrooms at Buckeye Union High, where classrooms already were at capacity.
The district received $40,000. It covers hiring one English-language teacher, mileage reimbursement for travel between campuses, partial funding to hire substitute teachers to cover staff training, and computer-software licenses.
Adapting program to kids
The Legislature passed the 2006 law to try to resolve a 1994 lawsuit challenging Arizona's English-learner programs as violating federal mandates for equal opportunities in education.
The law called for a nine-member committee called the Arizona English Language Learners Task Force, which has created the new curriculum, called English Language Development models.
Districts submitted estimated budgets to the state about the cost of starting the new program, and some even retooled their expenses to align their cost with the state model.
"We were rejected several times," Thomas said. "We had to cut down a number of our costs."
Chandler Unified officials said the state money would cover hiring new ELL teachers.
But Eissinger said the district submitted additional expenses, such as for new course materials along with more training for current educators. The state did not cover those costs.
And there were other complications.
Districts sought alternatives to the state's English-learner teaching mandate. So far, the task force has approved three alternative models, which can be used by other districts under similar circumstances:
- The Higley Unified School District alternative: If there are fewer than 20 English learners in a three-grade span, such as grades K-2, then educators can use an individual language plan for those students.
- The Glendale Union High School District alternative: If English learners who are juniors and seniors pass the state language test at the "intermediate" level and are on track for graduation, then those students can spend fewer hours per day in the English-learner program.
- The Phoenix Union High School District alternative: When teaching the reading portion of the English-learner program, educators can use other academic material, such as history or social studies.
Chandler educator Tim Brethauer teaches an English-learner summer-school program at Willis Junior High.
He said the new program should conform to student needs.
"It should be based on the individual and choice," Brethauer said. "One size does not fit all."
Humberto Rosales, 17, has spent the past two years in the English-learner program and needed the summer-school credit to graduate his coming year at Chandler High, when he'll be enrolled in regular English classes.
"A lot depends on the teachers," he said. "I think (the new program) is OK if they don't speak English at all. It depends on the student."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)