Same Shoes 4 Years

Each morning, I receive an NEA Morning Update. The following is a story that I just had to share with all of you. I copy/pasted the blurb from the email, but the full story is available if you click on the St. Petersburg Times link.

"High Schooler Focuses Senior Project On Well-Worn Shoes."

"High School Student Turns The St. Petersburg (FL) Times (5/7, Solochek) reports that Land O'Lakes High School senior Ben Hedblom has worn the same pair of black sneakers everyday since ninth grade. "Four years ago, Hedblom made a wager with Spanish teacher Adrian Antonini that he would wear the same shoes through to graduation day. The loser would shave his hair and eyebrows." Hedblom says that "the lessons he has learned from wearing" the now tattered, treadless shoes "propelled him to a perfect score on his senior class project." The project focused "on the psychology behind his effort," namely "the initial perceptions that people had when seeing his ratty old shoes, and how he would persuade them to understand that it's not all about the shoes." Hedblom noted of his four-year shoe experience, "I've learned a lot about self image. You are what you believe you are.""

This is a short clip of Spike Dolomite-Ward who is an Executive Director speaking on the importance of arts in the public schools. Spike Dolomite-Ward is part of the San Fernando Valley school system. She encourages that the arts remain in school districts. Some of the important comments she makes stood out to me. She said that we are doing a disservice not using two sides of the brain. Including the arts is a "critical component to well rounded education." I was happy to find out that in March, Spike Dolomite Ward and others get together to hold a valley wide fine arts and performing arts festival. Arts have lately been the first classes to with the budget cuts, why do you think this is? Do you have any suggestions on how the arts can be saved?

Augmented Communication Device for Special Education Learning.

There is a little girl that I work with at John Muir Elementary school who is completely paralyzed but she has a normal IQ. She cannot speak, walk, feed herself, or go to the bathroom on her own, but she is very smart. Just recently through her IEP plan, the school was able to provide her with an augmented communication device. She is learning to use this device in order to allow her to communicate. the device works by reading the movement of her eyes. The problem for many children who are receiving these devices is that they are not properly trained on how to use them and then the money spent on the machine goes down the drain. The girl I work with, has a similar problem. No one is training her how to use her device, because there is a lack of knowledge in the system. There are certain centers around the nation that provide this service, but they do not come cheap, and they are not that nearby. This is a problem because a machine that could open the world up to this little girl, could also end up in the garage because she never learns to use it and doesn't stay motivated. Do any of you have other solutions to this problem?

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

Education Summit

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/race-to-the-top/obama-should-call-an-education.html

This author, Valerie Strauss, feels that President Obama should call an educational summit in which he further shapes his policies for the future of the nation's education system. It was noted in her article that all sides of the education platform are against his policy, that should make it clear to President Obama that the policy needs further tweaking to improve the system.

His reform program suggests that there are four ways in which a low-performing school can reform.

1. Turnaround Model: replace the principal and half the staff. (The principal and staff may not be the only factors in why the students aren't doing well).

2. Restart: Turn the school into a charter school. (I agree with Strauss, the school should start from the ground up to initiate the core values, not as a replacement).

3. School Closure: Shut the school down and send the students to schools in high achieving areas. (What good will closing a school be? It will just increase the amount of students in other schools/classrooms. Many classes are at maximum capacity (or more) and will only increase the likelyhood of not doing well.)

4. Transformation Model: Replace the principal. (There are other factors that lead to why a school isn't doing well. The principal might be an excellent principal and replacing them might just take the school backwards.)

I feel that Strauss has a point in her article where she states that teachers should be uniting and sharing what works in the classroom: working together, instead of competing against each other like giant corporations.

Do you feel that an educational summit is necessary for the changes this reform wants to make?

Bilingual Education

The image above may seem odd at first glance but the Chinese character is being used in a demonstration by the teacher to show how the word "eye" is written in Mandarin. We've discussed in other classes the rise of charter schools and the limiting effects of "English Only" education. Both of these concepts are at the center of a TIME magazine education article describing the cognitive and future professional benefits of a full immersion language school. The school this boy attends is the Yinghua Academy in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a charter school where students learn basic subjects of math, art, and history... in Mandarin Chinese. The goal of this program is: "to introduce kids to the language and culture as early as possible — ideally, before age 12, while they're still absorbing information like sponges. Kindergartners and first-graders are taught exclusively in Mandarin, and a single period of English is introduced in second grade. By sixth grade, kids are learning half in English and half in Mandarin, with the expectation of proficiency in both." I thought this was interesting and significant in not only what is happening in education today but for the job market that students will be entering in the future, what an asset to be able to speak Mandarin Chinese--with China being one of the most rapidly developing economies.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1938738,00.html#ixzz0lhriPR9K

Kindergarten Cutoff Date

Just before I was about to interview the vice principal of the school that I am observing at, I overheard him talking to the principal about a very relevant issue. This issue is the possible change in the cutoff date for incoming kindergarteners. Though the bill would not be fully implemented until 2012, this is a hot issue in education right now. So, what are the pros and cons of pushing back the cutoff date? On the positive side, teachers would have fewer children in their classrooms that are not ready for the subject content. In a kindergarten class that I was in last semester, one of the boys still wore pull-ups, and another got so frustrated, daily, with the lessons, because he just couldn’t understand. Both of these boys were four at the time. So, it would clearly save children and teachers from frustration. Also, it would save the government $700 million a year. But, the flip side is that parents would have to pay for pre-school or daycare if their child didn’t hit the new September 1^st cutoff date. (The current cutoff date in California is December 2^nd)

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/politics/Kindergarten-Age-Rules-Could-Change-90847919.html

Project GLAD

www.projectglad.com


Project GLAD, which stands for guided language acquisition design, is a program that uses new strategies to help promote literacy in the classroom. The strategies involve a lot of visual learning. The strategy aims to incorporate language arts: speaking, listening, reading, and writing across the curriculum. It focuses on the importance of promoting literacy development in all areas of the classroom. I have had the opportunity to see a demonstration of Project GLAD and I thought it was a very unique and fun way to incorporate literacy in the classroom, as well as fully engage the students in what is being learned. The website offers information about Project GLAD, and about training for the program. It also lists upcoming events, and contact information for the program. How do you think this approach will help students in the classroom? In what ways would you incorporate these strategies into your own classroom, and where in the curriculum would you use them?

Teacher Quality and Student Achievement

Recent research shows a distinct correlation between teacher quality and student achievement. A correlation proved to be stronger than the correlation between student race and nationality and achievement. This research proves that qualified teachers based on: content knowledge, teaching experience, professional certification, and overall academic ability are paramount to the academic success of their students. This article shows that because quality teachers are so effective in creating high student achievement, there exists a necessity for more qualified teachers in lower economic and minority school. It is important to not only implement the dispositions of quality teachers in your own classroom but advocate for the existence of more quality teachers throughout the country. Quality teachers are essential to the academic success and achievement of their students and possess the power to create strong students.

http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Research_Q_consider/

Health Education Gets a Federal Boost

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/04/19/health-education-gets-a-federal-boost

This is a very interesting article about integrating technology into health education. Since one of the major contributing factors to child obesity is the amount of "screen time" they get, some schools are trying to turn student screen time into an educational experience. While some schools are showing more videos aimed towards relevant health education (scenarios discussing nutrition, health, body image, etc.), others are being a bit more proactive and actually assigning students to look up the nutritional information of the foods they eat most often, and then recording them on their MacBooks. Of course, one of the most important components to health education is exercise, and there are a few fun tips about lesson plans, games, and outdoor activities that will help students become more physically active. I like that this program encourages students to become informed about their personal health and learn how to make health lifestyle choices throughout their lives, not just during P.E. class.

Technology and Motivation

Middle School is a hard age to teach, the students seem unengaged and unmotivated to learn the material the teachers present. However, based on current research, Middle school students are motivated by experiential learning activities. Effective technology-based activities require students to do more than look up information; they require students to "do" something with it. Using technology actively engages the students with the content and allows the students to learn easier, according to the research. Technology provides students with a hands-on learning experience, they develop lasting skills that translate into higher levels of student achievement. The article explains different types of technology that can be integrated into the lesson, for example WebQuests, Digital Portfolios, and E-Pals. Using technology in the classroom provides a powerful tool and a positive impact.

Using Technology to Motivate Middle School Students

Researchers turn to Preschool

Los Angeles Times writer Carla Rivera published an article on April 19, 2010 in regards to the benefits in the development of young children after attending preschool. Specifically highlighting Los Angeles Universal Preschool programs, where researchers “measured the readiness skills of 437 children at 24 preschools in the fall of 2008 and reassessed 364 of those children in spring 2009” (Rivera, 2010, http://www.latimes.com). Los Angeles Universal Preschool chief operating officer, Celia C. Ayala, mentions that the affects of children attending preschool has “little research” and support, which fascinated me, because at this age children are rapidly learning and growing each day (Rivera, 2010, http://www.latimes.com). I know from experience working at Kindercare and helping with my goddaughter who is four now and is attending preschool, that children at this age learn at an extreme rate and are excited to discover new things even as basic as knowing when to say please and thank you. The article describes that the “skills that were assessed included proficiency in using crayons, washing hands, controlling impulses, expressing needs, counting to 10 and recognizing letters of the alphabet as well as shapes and colors” (Rivera, 2010, http://www.latimes.com). These in addition to many other skills are taught at preschool such as nursery rhymes, motor skills, new words each day, and how to eat properly at the table. However, preschool is not all about learning and making discoveries, it should involve dramatic play, games, crafts, and social contexts for children to begin learning how to communicate. Through this study a reported increase of “46%” in the use of these behaviors by preschoolers occurred within a school year and a significant increase for English Language Learners was evident in the results too (Rivera, 2010, http://www.latimes.com). I really enjoyed reading this article, because I strongly support children attending preschool; however, preschools are all designed differently and I feel some can be too overbearing for a young child. I still have memories of my preschool days and feel that I was more prepared for attending Kindergarten as a result. In general, preschool is designed for learning, discovery, enjoyment, making friends, and preparation for future schooling. What do you all think about children attending preschool and at what age should they start?

This article can be found at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0420-preschool-20100419,0,2289045.story

Differentiated Instruction

Differentiation is the practice of providing more individualized instruction and assignments based on students’ learning styles, abilities, interests, etc. This video gives some great examples of ways to incorporate differentiated instruction in the classroom. There are some good ideas provided about how to immediately input differentiation into the class. The video also explains why differentiation is so important. Students learn best when they are challenged slightly above their comfort level. Differentiated instruction allows for students to actively participate in their learning and feel like they are an important part of the class. Your classroom will be filled with students of different abilities and learning styles, so learning ways to reach every student is a necessary part of becoming an effective teacher. I hope to run my classroom someday with differentiated instruction in mind. I hope to find ways to arrange my teaching to accommodate for different assignments that will engage every student and therefore allow for them to be successful.

The Cost of Education!

For a long time there has been a debate between private and public education. Which is better? Most would say private, because it costs so much more for parents to send their kids to a private school. But public school is the other alternative, where taxpayers pay per child. But what if someone told you that taxpayers pay equal to or more per student who attends a public school than parents who pay to send their child to a private school. In this video, CATO Institute reveals some shocking numbers of the real cost of education. They expose truthful numbers that the taxpayers are often not aware of. When schools publicize the dollars they spend on students, CATO says that they often leave out certain expenditures. Why do they do this?

They probably do this to show taxpayers that it really is not as much as private institutions. What would happen if everyone knew that the costs were about the same? Would there be a bigger debate between public vs. private schooling? I fear there would be a bigger issue. It would be a bigger problem for both public and private. Parents, who send their children to private school, think that they are giving their child a better education for their money. Public schools depend on public support, and this publicity might hurt them. This issue is much bigger than just cost, but cost is a factor in all education and an issue to be concerned about.

Making Special Education Approriate

I subscribe to a weekly newsletter from the National Education Association, and I always scan it for articles regarding special education.

Disability rights law is still fairly new in our country, but according to the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA), students with disabilities are entitled to a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. If at any time parents feel that their public school district does not provide their children with an appropriate education, they can press charges or even put their children in private schools and have the district pay the tuition.

In Greenwich, Connecticut, it seems that their special education program is struggling. In the last year, 46 cases arose in which families invoked their due process rights. In order to see why these families do not feel the special education in the Greenwich district is appropriate, they are sending graduate school students in to do research and follow families through the process of their cases.

I think it is really wise of the Greenwich school district to recognize that perhaps there is a problem with their program and to make an effort to research and resolve those problems. Do all school districts respond in this sort of way, or do they let cases like this arise all of the time? I think it would be fascinating to be one of those grad students involved because it would give greater understanding to what families of students with disabilities go through and to also gain a better understanding of what an appropriate education is. It will be interesting to hear what the grad students' findings are.

More information about the situation can be found at http://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/School-district-looks-to-seek-outside-perspective-452918.php#page-1

Less Testing, More Learning

This article talks about the huge debate of Standardized testing and No Child Left Behind. When Obama came into office, all eyes were on him to see what he was going to do about education and the problems with No Child Left behind. This article talks about how students are constantly under the microscope and being graded, judged, and evaluated and what that is doing to them in the classroom as well as what it does to the teacher. How do you feel about No Child Left Behind? Do you think that it is helpful to student’s education? Do you believe it should be changed or fixed to better education? This will be a constant debate for the fact that there are both pros and cons.


http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/less-testing-more-learning.html

Art in Education

Art has proven to be very beneficial to students. For it is through art, that many students can express themselves, create meaning, and be creative! Today there are so many schools that do not integrate the arts (music, movement, drama, and fine art) into their curriculum. The reasons why there has been such a fall-out of using the arts is because of the lack of time and money that many believe needs to be spent on the arts to be able to teach it effectively. However, what many teachers do not realize is that they can easily integrate the arts within their lesson plans, and use it to relate to other subjects without having to spend any time or money at all. For some teachers, being able to find the right resources to use to integrate the arts can be very difficult and time consuming. But by going to http://incredibleart.org/ teachers can find a number of different sources, information, and lesson plans on fine art that they can use. This site provides lesson plans specific to grade levels, subjects, etc. It also provides resources such as books, art supplies, and even information about specific artists and their work of art that teachers can use to help teach art and integrate it into their classroom. This website is a great source for teachers to use to bring back art into education!

http://incredibleart.org/

Millions of public school children to be affected by educator layoffs; At least 125,000 educators expecting pink slips

This video addresses the need that adults are not the only ones affected by budget cuts in the schools. Students are the ones who are losing out on a rich education by having larger classroom sizes, fewer resources, and crowed buses. Senator Tom Harkin (D) from Iowa has proposed the Senate to pass the Keep Our Educators Working Act. This act calls for $23 billion dollars to the existing bill to save thousands of jobs for educators and supporters in Iowa. Iowa State Education Association President Chris Bern urged the Senate to pass this bill because “students did not ask to go to school during a recession” and they should not be shorthanded on a quality education. This sets a model for other states to demand help in trying to save educator jobs. President Obama is working on plans to overhaul NCLB but what is California doing to help save its educators?

Multicultural Education; Diversity Issues in the Classroom

Dealing with Errors in Math Textbooks

According to Diana Lambert with The Sacramento Bee, two districts, Sacramento City Unified and Folsom Cordova, have discovered pervasive errors in the adopted Macmillan/McGraw-Hill math series for K-6th. It is not uncommon for textbooks to contain a few typos, but that is not the case this time. Students cannot count the flies in the picture if there is no picture on the page! Five times three does NOT equal five, although it does in the 2nd grade math text. In addition, educators have found that lesson plans and homework assignments do not always match and there are numerous mistakes in the answer keys. According to the news article, 90 errors have been found in the 4th grade text. These texts were definitely not cheap. Prior to being added to the state-approved text list, it had been thoroughly reviewed and the publisher was supposed to make the required corrections.
What happens when a text contains so many errors? "Teachers begin to question themselves," said Folsom Cordova teacher David Chun. "It develops a student mistrust in the program." It also turns math into a Bloopers game in which students have to find the errors!
This issue of textbooks containing errors relates to educators being knowledgeable within the content area—knowledgeable enough to know when the textbook is wrong. What do you think about a published, state-approved textbook having such pervasive errors? Do you see a parallel to asking students to be responsible for revising their work? What do you think about using the errors as a way to engage students with the math concepts and challenging them to be critical of texts?

"Sacramento-area Districts Deal with Problem Math Books" was published April 1, 2010.

Chapman is Working to CONNECT with English Learners

Chapman University and the Orange County Department of Education have worked together to create Project CONNECT. This project provides professional development to Orange County teachers to help them meet the needs of English Learners in their classrooms. The project is working in concert with Chapman University to provide veteran teachers with alternative ways to receive their new certification. It is also gathering materials and resources like realia, thematic kits, books, and teacher resources to support English Learners. They are also providing many conferences and networks for teachers to learn and discuss the best ways to teach English Learners. I thought this was very useful to students in our Tapestries class because these materials and conferences are very accessible to us because most of them are located on the Chapman campus. In the future, almost all of us will have English Learners in our classrooms and Project CONNECT is a great way to prepare for our future classrooms.

Reversing Readicide

One of the lessons regarding teaching to the standards that has been learned by one high school teacher is that we are committing "readicide." Students are being overwhelmed with the many requirements that the standards impose on the curriculum that teachers are compelled to teach. One teacher in our own area, at Magnolia High School in Anaheim, has written a pointed critique of that practice, and his book has been favorably received by thousands of teachers. Kelly Gallagher, in his book Readicide, describes and critiques those practices that encourage readicide--including exhaustive coverage of books that students should be allowed to enjoy. Instead, the state requires that they analyze them to death! In the process, they learn to hate reading. Here's a link, then, to "Reversing Readicide," an article that summarizes the key points Gallagher makes in his book. What do you think? Is this something we can turn around? As a future teacher, it's up to you!

TFK!

I remember when I was little and my 3rd grade teacher gave us a magazine every month that we could read to our hearts content about everything interesting around the world! That magazine was Time For Kids. I loved reading TFK because it gave me a look at what was happening in science and medicine, politics, nations around the world, what was going on in the oceans, and anything else that i might want to know about in a way that a child could understand. Time For Kids is a magazine (and now also a website) designed for children to learn about what is happening around the world in a manner that they can understand and get excited about. It is produced by Time Magazine and I have found can be a wonderful tool in the classroom. TFK is set up to work in grades K-6th and is separated into appropriate reading levels for these ages.

After thinking about what good TFK might do in a classroom, I thought about other magazines that might be helpful as well and took a look at the kids' websites as well. Here are some very interesting links that you might find useful!


http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/teachers
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/
http://www.highlights.com/
http://www.sikids.com/
http://www.kidsdiscover.com/

Free Field Trips

The two most dreaded words that can possibly exist for an educator are "budget cuts." With budget cuts, students miss out on a lot of educational opportunities; but as future teachers we need to find resources that will allow our students to still experience the wonders of this world. What better way to integrate real life situations into a classroom than by actually exploring. When I was in elementary school, my third graded teacher tried to get us motivated about specific subjects so she would take us on cool and exciting field trips. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, schools and teachers are being limited to the field trips they can take. Looking through the internet I came across this amazing website, which gives amazing suggestions of free field trips that are literally across the street or around the block. Field Trip Factory gives great ideas for field trips for any grade level, from kindergarten to high school. I definitely think that kids would enjoy any of the field trips mentioned in this website especially since it takes them out of the classroom and into their community.

Hope this website helps and motivates you to go out and explore the wonders of our communities. :)

http://www.fieldtripfactory.com/default.aspx

Set of National Standards. Is it a Good Idea?

I found this article to be very interesting. Forty eight of the U.S. state governors came together to propose a national standards system. NCLB wanted proficiency by 2014. So the states were left to determine what they felt their students should learn, hence the difference in curriculum and what-not. This point of this proposal is to have a national system of standards that cover the core curriculum for math, language, and history.

Do you feel that it would be a good idea to have a national standards system?

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/governors-state-education-officials-propose-national-education-standards/story?id=10063270

"Funding Cliff"

As I was searching through the web I came up this article that was written last month. After reading Jonathan Kozol’s book, The Shame of a Nation: the restoration of apartheid schooling in America, I have been more aware about the effects of economic distress in schools. It is sad to hear and see what is happening in low Socio-Economic Status (SES) schools and how the education of the children is affected by budget cuts, low qualified teachers and lack of resources. After reading this article I was dumbfounded to see that many of the nation’s schools will no longer have federal money to spend since most of them maximized the budget given to them. This only makes me wonder what will happen to the American school system. As of right now we see that poor funding tends to hurt the education that student receive, which unfortunately affect many low SES schools, so what will happen to the schools who are hanging off the "funding cliff?" What can we do as future educators?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/education/08educ.html

Political Textbooks?

I found an interesting article describing a recent vote among Texas lawmakers with a ruling in favor of promoting conservative ideals in their schools textbooks and curriculums. I don't want to say here which ideology is right: conservative or liberal; but shouldn't we be teaching students history in an unbiased and apolitical way? Conservative ideals these books will promote include highlights on the NRA and a diminished look at liberal spokesman Thomas Jefferson.

Here is a link to the article: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1973276,00.html

Classroom 2.0

Classroom 2.0 is a social networking site for educators and future educators. This site is wonderful because it brings teachers together. After you sign up, the site advisors will check your information and make sure that you are joining the site for the right purposes. After being admitted, the doors open to a wonderful site full of information and networking. Teachers begin blogs asking for advice and bringing up new topics in education. It is also wonderful for new teachers to network with experienced teachers. My favorite part about the site is that they do multiple daily live webcasts about different topics. Each week there are amazing people speaking on the site about informative topics for teachers. For example, this week there are topics such as E-books and libraries, Digital tools and math, and Job Opportunities for in Collaborative Learning. These are just to name a few. This site is wonderful because it connects real educators with other educators and is a learning environment for experienced and inexperienced teachers alike. Another great thing that this site does, is connect educators together from around the world. This is a great opportunity to learn about opportunities abroad and to establish penpals with teachers classrooms in other countries. The opportunities are endless. Sign Up! It's so worth it!!!
http://www.classroom20.com/

School Banned Spanish

A secretary claims that she was fired because her principal banned her from speaking Spanish to non-English speaking parents. The truth is that she was hired as a bilingual secretary, but when the new principal took over, all staff employees were “no longer allowed to speak Spanish to parents.” Yikes! Well, this definitely stirred up some trouble. The case is in the federal court right now. So, what do you think? This comes from a district where as much as 16% of the students are Latino. I think that in order to get parents informed, and into the classroom to volunteer, Spanish must be spoken by the secretary when needed. After all, parent involvement boosts student success, doesn’t it?! After the principal set this policy in the school, many parents were misunderstood, ignored, and upset. This is certainly a controversial issue in education today. It definitely applies to our county as well.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/02/07/1230320/worker-school-banned-spanish.html

Discovery Science Center

The Discovery Science Center located in Santa Ana is a playground filled with scientific experiments for young children. The facility itself is a wonderful resource for any educator able to schedule a field trip, but the Discovery Science Center also has valuable programs available to educators free of charge. The first of these is the Teacher Education Network (TEN), a network for Southern California science teachers. TEN members can also receive rewards for their participation, such as free field trips and outreach programs. Another program for developing professionals is the standard based TEAMS (Teacher Education Advancement in Math and Science). Each month, a TEAMS workshop addresses math, science and language arts concepts through story books like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. At the end of these workshops, teachers will receive a copy of the lesson plan and $60 worth of classroom materials for free. Lastly, and the most interesting, is the Free Educators’ Evening of Science; a relaxing preview of upcoming educational programs after which drinks and hors d’oeuvres are provided. If you are interested in any of these programs above, I encourage you do visit the professional development department of the Discovery Science Center using the link below.

http://www.discoverycube.org/education.aspx?q=11

Success in High Need Schools

I know that finding a teaching job is difficult in this economy right now and a lot of people are finding a job wherever they can, including in low socioeconomic schools and high need schools. The environment is a very different one but, and this article explains what can establish success in High-Need schools. There is a huge achievement gap in these schools, and the teacher turnover rate is also high. These High-Need schools need great teachers that "must assemble pertinent knowledge, commitment, and action to reduce the gap between our highest and lowest performing schools." Preparing leaders to address the achievement gap in high-need schools poses a challenge for educators, high poverty schools, and our nation. School leaders must demonstrate a heightened awareness of how schools initiate the national mission whereby “the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself.” (Obama, 2009). Although complex issues surround poverty and diversity, the first steps to action may not prove as illusive as we may fear. The same values and desire we bring to surmount other educational challenges can guide us in how to better understand and meet the needs of children in low socio-economic and poverty-ridden schools. It must begin with competent and caring leadership. This article reviews key resources for understanding how a new generation of school principals is making a difference in closing the achievement gap in high-need schools.

"Yes We Can" Success in High-Need schools

Behavior Management in a Court Room!

My research topic deals with classroom and behavior management and during my research I stumbled upon a news article in Los Angeles Times titled, "Truly a Jury of Their Peers" (Kim, LA Times, 2010). After reading the article I could not believe the story itself; I have never heard of anything like this. The news article proceeded to explain that high school students from Dorsey High School are one of "17 groups" that meet after school in a court room to act as a jury to their peers, "deciding the cases of first time juvenile offenders accused of misdemeanors, such as petty theft" (Kim, LA Times, 2010). Wow, is the first thing that came to mind while reading this description of the group, I did not know whether to think of how influential this could be in a troubled teens life and that of the jury or how disastrous this could be. I know in inner cities, revenge is a common event; however, I would hope that the experience of this would benefit both parties and as the article notes students "do better in school and are no longer in trouble" after undergoing this trial (17 year old, LA Times, 2010). This could certainly in a classroom, but I wanted to know what you all thought about this article? In addition, I can see how this can help behavior management in the classroom for both parties, do you think this is something you would support your students to become involved in if teaching at Dorsey High School? I encourage you all to read the 2 page article, it is truly something I have never heard of before. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-teen-court22-2010mar22,0,4418530.story?page=1. Article By: Los Angeles Times Writer Victoria Kim, March 22, 2010

High Expectations

An article in Teacher Magazine showed that although a majority of teachers and principals believe that having High Expectations for their students is important, a small amount of teachers and principals believe that all their students can succeed academically. We often talk about having high expectations for our students. Our classes teach us to make sure our expectations for our student's achievements are high, but it would be helpful to talk about what this looks like in a classroom. How can we have high expectations for our students on a day to day basis? How will actually having high expectations change our classrooms and our students?

http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2010/03/17/metlife_expectations.html

Mobile Lessons

This article in Education Week talks about how many teachers are trying to make lessons accessible via cell phones or other mobile devices. By allowing access on these types of devices, teachers are providing students with more opportunities to access important information and become more involved in the learning. This task comes with some difficulties, though. Not all portable devices are capable of such tasks. They may not have the capabilities to run the lessons, which would not be beneficial to these students. The use of these mobile lessons has created some bonding experiences for some teachers who are currently using it. They cause the teachers to work together more closely and share information and tips. Do you think that these mobile lessons are beneficial? To whom are they beneficial? What are some of the benefits? What are some other drawbacks, which are not listed?

Link: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/03/18/26mobilecontent.h29.html

The SciGirls site and series, sponsored by PBS, encourages girls to become more interested in and aware of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This site offers girls the opportunity to create their own STEM profiles, through which they can upload and share posts about STEM related activities, questions, or current events. They also receive newsletters and information about upcoming events in their areas. There are also helpful teacher links and suggestions for integrating STEM activities into the classroom, with options to select specific grade levels for optimal compliance with standards. This is a fun and educational way to get students interested in STEM, particularly females, since there is currently such a high social concern for young girls in these areas.

Going to School During Spring Break?!?

I know everyone is excited for spring break next week, but what if we were students at a “chronically failing” high school and during spring break, we attended tutoring review sessions to prepare for standardized testing? I don’t know about you, but I believe spring break is meant to be a break! Even if there are projects, papers and work (one of the major pitfalls of a semester system), at least we do not have to attend classes and tutoring sessions with teachers at school.

Spruce High School in Texas held math review sessions during spring break for a group of 87 students. This was an attempt to increase the scores on the upcoming Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests. The threat is that the school will be closed if they fail to meet the standards again.

What do you think about holding review sessions during spring break? Do you think this was a necessary step in an attempt to raise test scores? With the smaller groupings of students, do you think the more individualized attention will ultimately lead to more learning and thus, higher scores? Do you think taking away that break from school is overall beneficial for students?

This article by Diane Rado was published March 17, 2010 in The Dallas Morning News.

Middle School Gets Students Pumped About Reading

I work in the Reading Center in the College of Educational Studies, and, the other day, my boss told me about a video called "Gotta Keep Reading." Teachers at a Florida middle school were brainstorming ideas on how promote reading in their classrooms. According to the Orlando Sentinnel, the school's reading coach said that "Students have a lot of other interests. Oftentimes, reading takes a back seat to that." Therefore, teachers and staff decided to take the lyrics of the popular Black Eyed Peas song "I Gotta Feeling" and change it to a song called "I Gotta Keep Reading." They then taught all 1700 students plus faculty and staff dance moves so that they could create a flash mob video. Oprah Winfrey heard about the video and talked about the school on her talk show. Not only did it give the school some well-deserved publicity, but creating the video has also sparked students' interest in reading just as the school's teachers hoped it would.

This video reminds me a lot about what we're reflecting on in our Tapestry class. Integrating core subjects with the arts is a great way to inspire students to learn. Not only will we be creating lesson plans that incorporate the arts, but integrating different subjects within our classrooms has been a theme throughout many of our Liberal Studies courses. I think "I Gotta Keep Reading" is a great example of how music can inspire students and how little ideas that teachers have can make a huge, nation-wide impact.

You can read more information at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/os-oprah-ocoee-middle-video-030510-20100305,0,3588100.story

School Bullying

Bullying has become a major and serious issue in schools today. What once began as innocent teasing and name calling among children has now become more hurtful on a greater scale. It is found within the school, after school, and now it is even found outside of school on the internet (known as cyber bullying). Bullying has led to many children having a number of self-esteem, emotional and psychological issues. In addition, bullying has led to children dropping out of school, becoming depressed, and even leading some to commit suicide or mass murder. Now more than ever it is important for teachers, parents, and students alike to become educated about bullying. This website provides a number of articles with information and resources about bullying. "The warning signs of bullying," "how to prevent bullying," etc provide insight on these topics and how to prevent bullying. The site also provides videos, links, questions/answers, and quizzes on bullying, to help viewers gain a better understanding of the subject matter. By using all of the various resources and information that are provided on this site about bullying; teachers, parents, and students alike can now become more educated about bullying. It can only be hoped that by doing so, we can prevent and stop bullying from occurring, and children can once again feel safe and secure in school.

Bullying at School and Online

Nutrition in Schools

The video is about First Lady Michelle Obama kicking off Lets Move. Lets Move is a program designed to tackle childhood obesity by encouraging exercise and healthy eating. The First Lady is joined by Cabinet members, athletes, educators, students and others at the kickoff event.
I believe obesity is becoming something that needs to be addressed by teachers. Students in their early ages are being exposed to unhealthy eating habits. Most students are uneducated about their eating habits and therefore I think it would be a god idea for teachers to step in. Teachers are people students look up to and therefore would take into consideration what he or she says. As a caretaker of his or her students, I believe that the student’s lifestyles should be addresses. Just as if another person or the child was causing harm to him or herself would be unacceptable, so should the food that enters their body that may be harmful. What are you own thoughts about nutrition in schools?

The Problems with Tenure

This video talks about the politics of tenure. Tenure is very sensitive topic when it comes to teaching. This is a subject that is often talked about within the liberal studies program because it effects us all. Tenure is given to teachers after two full years of teaching and is a title that can not be taken away and gives great benefits. Once you have tenure, it is nearly impossible to get fired from teaching regardless of the results in your classroom. The debate with tenure is that all teachers should not receive it. Once teachers past this certain date, they get tenure without any question. I have talked about this idea in many classes and I believe something should be done. I think teachers should be observed or show that they deserve this wonderful opportunity. How do you think tenure should be decided? Is it too easy for bad teachers to get tenure? Is tenure even important? All of these questions run through teachers and administrators minds and we will probably never have all the answers or agree with everyone.

Building a Better Teacher

This is a recent article from the New York Times that I examined for one of my credential classes. It looks at the real problem behind struggling test scores. Doug Lemov went to many different struggling schools and found that the problem could be the way teachers are teaching. Therefore, he created a 357 page book on simple teaching techniques that could be incorporated into everyday use. For example, when giving directions to students, stand still. Students are more likely to pay attention to you if you are giving your full attention to them instead of passing out papers or multitasking in some other way. I tried a few of these strategies out with my tutee in my Literacy & Learning class and she really responded well to them. I really want to read this book and find out about more strategies to improve my teaching. This article also gave me a sense of responsibility in that it stresses that if a student or a class is not doing well in something the teacher needs to change his/her approach. You cannot put blame on your students, but you need to adjust your teaching strategies to support their needs.

Smart Shorties: Students mix rap music and math problems

Why is it that students can remember lyrics to songs and not basic math? A teacher in Toledo, OH found a way to connect the two. She noticed a large percent of the students in her class were not remembering basic skills math so she decided to come up with a fun new way to engage the students using rap songs. She creating a program called “Smart Shorties” which “is a music-based math program that takes popular rap songs and changes the lyrics to help kids memorize their math rules.” Since the students had to write the lyrics, they had to know the process. As a result the more times they wrote the song lyrics down about math and shared it with the class, the more the students internalized math skills. She has seen her class gone from 0 percent passing on the state test to 48 percent.
For more info visit
http://www.wtol.com/global/story.asp?s=12064046

Middle School Teacher Gives Student ''Minus 20% For Being A Loser'' Grade On Test

A middle school teacher in North Carolina has been writing "Loser" on her students' tests and even going as far as to grade students down for being "losers". This issue was brought up to me by the teacher that I am observing for my research paper. How can someone who believes that calling students "losers" is appropriate go into the teaching field? This news clip introduces the story and shows how much influence a teacher's dispositions, responses, and teaching techniques have on students. To the teacher, the notion of calling students "losers" was not serious nor inappropriate but to many students and parents this issue is very serious.




Teacher Grades Kids as 'Loser' - ABC News

Trends in Testing

Dr. James McLean, Dean of UA College of Education, discusses different trends in Educations. He first trend he discusses is about specific learning objectives. Tests force teachers to teach specific learning objectives rather general topics and general abilities. It has become this way because No Child Left Behind wants to measure accountability. The problem with measuring accountability is it doesn’t measure what has been learned. Dr. McLean states, “The purpose is not to improve learning as much as it is to measure what has been learned. It also has limited use in improving learning other than to make overarching judgments.” I found this statement to be one of the most powerful statements stated throughout this video. He further discusses the negative of testing takes away from teachers teaching general knowledge. The last trend he talks about is ACT and SAT scores. More colleges and universities are looking more at grades than standardized testing scores. The reason is that colleges can predict how successful a student’s grades will be in college by looking at the past grades a student achieved in high school. I very much agree with this because I can personally relate to it myself. My SAT and ACT scores really did not predict how successful I would be in college, my scores were very low. The only things those scores did was low my self-confidence in my abilities. Which shouldn’t have happened because I did so well in high school, and I am doing well in college.

I agree with Dr. McLean in every aspect of his interview. I think that in schools we put too much emphasis on tests rather than how much students are really learning. Higher test scores really mean nothing to the students, so why should they to us. I feel students are missing out on so much, just as he mentioned ‘general topics’ that can help students be more successful outside of school. Isn’t that why we go to school, so we are educated to survive outside of the school grounds? So, why is it that tests are such a big trend and not learning?

Discover Some Educational Fun at Discovery Science Center

To get your students’ imaginations flying high, have them go on a field trip to the Taco Bell Discovery Science Center (DSC) in Santa Ana. Whether the child enjoys science or math, or needs a more kinesthetic learning environment, this center is a place to explore, learn, and appreciate different aspects of science. Dino Quest, Virtual Volleyball, a Musical dancefloor, and events like Bubblefest offer notable learning experiences. A new, permanent Hockey Exhibit is at the Discovery Science Center featuring some fun facts about the sports and the NHL Anaheim Ducks. There are lesson plans online that give creative ideas or an experience at the center itself; there are many options and opportunities to educate minds. Someone from the DSC can come to your school too.

Education in rural part of Nigeria

When i watched this video i felt like crying because i never went to this type of school and i don't live in the rural part of Nigeria. The school in this video is a public primary school. also called elementary school which is mostly attended by children from less privillege families. The schools are taken care and supported by the Federal, state and local government of NIgeria. The schools are the way they are like in the video not because of lack of funds, but because of the egocentric nature of man.But despite all the problems and challenges the teachers and pupils face in terms of infrastructures, teaching materials, textbooks and all, the teachers,students, parents and community as a whole are willing and ready to help in the development of the school.......And also they all have hope.

"Nigeria education has evolved through a number of phases. The education system in Nigeria has been formed by a number of influences, - the colonial influence, the influence of the military rule in Nigeria and then the impact of independence and a new constitution. The progress of education in the southern states of Nigeria reveals the involvement of the Christian missionaries towards the education system in Nigeria during the colonial period. History of Nigeria EducationNigeria education was slowly but soundly developing during the colonial time until the conclusion of World War II. The Christian missionaries introduced the western education system in Nigeria in the mid nineteenth century. Three fundamentally distinct education systems existed in Nigeria in 1990. They were, - the indigenous system, the Quranic schools, and formal European-style educational institutions. Higher Education in Nigeria originated with the colonial government launching the Yaba Higher College in1934.

Education in Nigeria became the responsibility of the state and local councils according to the 1979 constitution. First six years of primary education was made mandatory, which was a significant factor in the development of education in Nigeria. There has been a noticeable upgrading of educational facilities in Nigeria in the latest years. The apparent rates for adult illiteracy in the year 2000 is 35.9%. Nigeria Education SystemAt present, there are 13 polytechnic colleges and four institutions of technology in Nigeria, along with a number of state universities, colleges, and schools. The local and state governments manage primary and secondary education in Nigeria. Higher education is the responsibility of both the federal and the state governments.

Education is free but not compulsory at present in Nigeria. The formal education system includes six years of primary school, three years of junior secondary school, three years of senior secondary school, and four years of university education consequently directing towards a bachelor’s level degree in the majority of the subjects. The annual term of school in Nigeria stretch through ten months, and is sectioned into three ten to twelve weeks periods each at the pre-primary, primary, junior and senior secondary stages."

A Teacher's Aim, Vision, & Goal

Do you think you may be a substitute? you may need to prepare for some lesson plans. Or maybe you will need to tutor a struggling student in a specific area. Whether you are planning on teaching Pre-Kindergarten or 12th grade, this website is for you! Although there are member benefits, everyone has access to this wonderful resource. There are thousands of options, but everything is organized in a "teacher" fashion. You can search by grade, subject, and themes. There is an option to print out short stories if your school has a low budget. There are printables, graphic organizers, fun games, lesson plans, and even reminders of classroom management skills. With teachers being so busy, it is hard to keep up with current events; however, this website shows what is new and upcoming in the month. Plus, it incorporates how to discuss the current events in a creative manner for the classroom. You can improve and enhance your teaching skills with Teacher Vision.

"A Complete and Competitive Education"

http://thepage.time.com/remarks-obama-biden-to-national-governors-association-february-22-2010/

Above is a link to a transcript of speeches given by both Vice President Biden and President Obama. Their words clearly lay out what is happening now in education in America and have set the tone for what will be our tenure as educators. In his portion of the speech, Obama goes into detail describing the failings of the current educational system and his plans for fixing it by explaining the workings of his new "Race to the Top" program:

“We put $4 billion on the table and challenged states to compete for it, saying that if you embrace reforms that raise achievement, if you track and respond to student needs; if you evaluate and reward great teachers and principals and turn around failing schools, then we're going to help you make those reforms a reality. Many of you and your states already have, and that's why we're going to expand the Race to the Top program.”

I cannot help but think that this system will continue to hinder schools that are already struggling. We'll all have to wait and see how "what's happening now in education?" continues to change.

Layoffs in Education

Angeles school board on Tuesday approved a plan to close a $470 million budget gap in the next academic year by cutting more than 5,000 jobs if unions do not agree to givebacks and voters do not approve a parcel tax.

As some 300 employees protested outside the board offices, district Superintendent Ramon Cortines outlined a preliminary series of options to make up the revenue shortfall, saying that layoffs of teachers and other employees would be a last resort for the nation's second-largest school district.

Miriam Adler, a special education teacher at Verdugo Hills High, tells PinkSlipMixers how the cuts affect her school, students and her living expenses.

I posted this to see your thoughts about what is being done to the education system. In the video they said that the layoffs are discouraging students from going into the Liberal Studies field. Are you discouraged by it? If not, why?

This video is AMAZING! Its is an old Student Teaching training video (from the 1940's or 1950's I believe) and it I can't believe that I actually found it! As for the information that is shown in this video, I find that it is very different from what education is today. There are some teachers that say the old ways are the best and that we need to return to the basics, however I do not believe that we can do this. The times have changed so much that many things are no longer prevalent.

The classroom management skills in this video were amazing to me at first. There are so many things that we as education students have learned not to do and they are all in the beginning of this video. However as the movie continues, it is interesting to see the changes that are made and what lessons are being taught to future teachers. I find that there are still many things that we would never do today in the classroom because times have changed however there are a few things that I believe we can take from this video. Some of these things include the idea of a friendly attitude and even some comedy in the class, a development of mutual understanding between teacher and students, and the idea of positive feedback that can be seen at the end of the video while making some of the discipline not as harsh in front of the class (less humiliating). Just a thought.

So after watching the whole video, what do you agree with? What aspects are still important in today's classroom and what things might you point out to not do?

Reading by 9

Reading by 9 is a child literacy initiative that offers book lists, literacy programs and reading tips for parents and educators. Reading by 9 also accepts used book donations and distributes them to public schools through out southern California. I found that Reading by 9 was a helpful resource to any educator interested in promoting literacy amongst their students as well as offering information on how parents can become involved in their child's reading. At this moment, Reading by 9 is offering its 2009-2010 Parent Reading Guide for free. This reading guide includes a book list organized by grade level, story telling tips and kid's favorites. Best of all, the book is written in both English and Spanish. If anyone is interested in the Parent Reading Guide, please follow the link provided below to order your copy.


LA Times: Reading by 9

Out of Control Kids!

Today's observation brought to my attention the importance of classroom management. My group and I were privileged to talk to two completely different teachers (both taught science) and see how each of them managed their class. Which by the way was a total shocker! While one teacher had total control of his class the other was nowhere near. As future teachers, we all know it will take time for us to fully get a grasp on classroom management but along the way we must always look for resources to help us out. The most important thing I learned from today's observation is that it all comes down to the teacher and his abilities to handle the situation. The following link has great topics on classroom management; from schoolwide and classroom discipline to techniques that backfire. Classroom management not only will allow us to be effective educators but will also enable our students to effective learners. So don't let the students take control of the situation.

http://www.theteachersguide.com/ClassManagement.htm

Frontline- Learning in Virtual Worlds

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/resources/virtuallearning/

A very interesting take on the virtual gaming debate. As the number of students who are involved in online and interactive gaming continues to grow, it becomes more and more important for us as educators to familiarize ourselves with this virtual world. While this may help us connect and relate to our students, it is even more important that we look at the learning potential in these forums. This video raises some valid points about the opportunities created by online gaming for students to learn about themselves, how to successfully develop cooperative social skills, and other relevant real-life applications. This site provides some great questions for thought and discussion, which encourage students to examine the role virtual worlds can have in their real- world lives. There are also several online resources for teachers and students, as well as workshops and activities that can be taken into the classroom. Frontline even provides a forum for students and educators to share their thoughts on this topic. PBS.org is a powerful tool for educators that can help us keep our students up to date on current events, as well as challenge them to consider social issues as they affect our world.

Importance of Family in the Classroom

I found an interesting article on the Earlychildhood NEWS website. It was titled “Inviting Family into the Classroom.” I think that this is an important topic to discuss and consider because the family plays a huge role in the success of the student. The article talks about the importance of having the family involved in the early classroom environment—very young students. The author, Kathreen Francis, says that often too little attention is paid to the family as active participants and in the daily curriculum. She also says that since parents are the “experts” on their children, they should be considered a critical part of their children’s success. She offers some ideas about how to incorporate the parents and families into the curriculum. By creating a family-friendly environment, the students’ families will feel welcome in the classroom and probably more likely to participate in the activities of the class. Communication with the families is crucial and teachers can also invite the families into the classroom for special events and to come into the classroom and take part in activities. Francis firmly believes in the role of parents and families in the classroom and I agree with her. You will certainly have more successful students if you have parents who are involved and make time to spend with their children.
Website:http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=766

DiscoveryEducation.com - Diabetes

http://discoveryeducation.com/diabetes/

A relevant news article on the DiscoveryEducation.com is its webpage for diabetes. The site reads, “The more you know, the more you can help.” This statement couldn’t be more true. The site goes further to detail different facts about diabetes; it lists the prevalence, usual age of onset, and total economic cost. The site also offers five downloadable lesson plans, and student interactives (vividly colorful and informative videos). Diabetes is certainly a noteworthy, current issue in education.

DiscoveryEducation.com is an excellent resource for teachers and prospective teachers alike. It offers numerous, colorful resources that can not only better educate teachers on current education topics, but can help teachers with their lesson planning. The website has a lesson plans page, parent corner, current education news, science fair section, contests and grants, and much more relevant material. This webpage is accessible to any person who would like to view it and use its resources; however, if you would like to have full access to the website (extended lesson plans and countless videos to use in conjunction with any lesson), you must pay an additional fee.

What Makes an Elementary School the "Best"?

As I was surfing through the Orange Country Register Online, I noticed an article in which they ranked the top 164 elementary schools in Orange County. Before I started to read the article, I assumed that all of the schools would be in higher-income communities, but I found that the Register used far more interesting and fair criteria.

Not only do the schools range in diversity, community, and income, but I also found that the author of the article took the teaching methods into account. The authors say that,

"Teachers at Orange County's best public elementary schools strive to understand every child who passes through their doorways and vigorously reach out to each one, at the child's own level – and take that child by the hand, confidently, to the next level."

Sometimes I feel that being future teachers, we can become idealistic about what teaching will be like, and that there could be a very harsh reality in store for us. I think it's great that these reporters really took the teachers of these schools into consideration. These seem like great teachers, ones that we're being taught to become like, and I think it's really inspiring that it's these teachers that not only make these schools the best, but that they're also given credit for it.

You can view this website for the article: http://www.ocregister.com/news/-232746--.html

Integrating Arts in Education

Integrating the Arts in Education is something that we have learned and practiced throughout our teacher education. The Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta is integrating the arts into education, and approaching teaching in a way that is different from how many classrooms run, but the students in the class are benefiting in many ways. How do you feel about integrating Arts in the Classroom? Do you agree with the way that the Ron Clark Academy is run, and would you want to implement this type of education in your classroom? Education should be about learning, and in our classroom we should be doing what best helps our students to learn. That should be the goal of our teaching.

A Hot Spot for Education News

After stumbling through the web looking for a news article or issue to blog about, I came across the website "Educationnext," (2009) which seems to be a website dedicated to posting anything and everything about education for elementary through high school. After scrolling down the home page I realized most of what I found in Google's search engine was conveniently at this website. I also noticed that you can register to this website and the website includes a personal blog for posts and comments. In my Foundations of Education course last semester I learned to appreciate and take interest in the news regarding education and issues regarding teaching and classroom management, etc. This website serves as a great example of a way to stay informed about the career we are involved with and how to better serve students, the school and the community by remaining informed and aware of the times in education. Some of the key articles I noticed were regarding President Obama and state standards and achievement, as well as, news articles related to charter schools (Found on the homepage). I am excited to search through this website to find out what other tools I can utilize to stay informed about education and to also keep this website in mind for future reading. I thought it was important to also note the mission statement of the website to obtain a better look at what the site promotes. Education Nexts' mission statement states they "present facts" at their face value, and "change" in education is "needed," and the site does not take sides but "goes where the evidence points" (President & Fellows of Harvard College, 2009, site mission statement). I encourage all of you to stay in touch with the news in education and to take a look at this website for there are many interesting articles. "Educationnext." (2009). President & Fellows of Harvard College and The Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University. http://educationnext.org/. The picture chosen is of the current published journal, as "Educationnext" is a website and a journal.

National Education Association

As we are all studying to become teachers I thought it would be good to share the national education association site. This site opens doors for many issues in the education world, for example the No Child Left Behind Act, educational funding, dropout prevention. It is a great way to keep connected with educational news as well as other teachers. It provides other tools, like how to integrate arts across the curriculum and includes articles that proves that arts is needed and can change children's thinking. It also includes lesson plans and suggestions for classroom management. This site is very informational and provides a network of connections. Check it out and keep connected with the education environment!

National Education Association

Health Education

Health education is so important for both teachers and students alike. In order for both to function and come to school every day to learn, they must be healthy. In the past, health education has been taught during P.E at least once or twice a week. Now, because schools are trying to cut back on costs, P.E is no longer offered in many schools, and or is offered for a limited time each week, thus health education is no longer taught as much as it should be. With diseases so easily spread in schools, and with childhood obesity on the rise,now more than ever it is important for students to learn about health, and it is important for teachers to incorporate it into their lessons. "KidsHealth in the classroom" offers valuable information on health for both kids, and teens alike and parents. Not only does it provide information on various types of illnesses, but it also includes information on how to stay healthy through exercise and eating right, information on how your body works, information on understanding your feelings and dealing with them, etc. In addition this website provides valuable information for teachers. It provides lesson plans based on the level or grade one teaches. Each lesson plan provides information, art projects, discussions, and tests on various health related issues. This site is a great resource for teachers, because they can learn about health issues or concerns in and outside of their classroom and then pass it on to their students. By teaching health to your students you can keep your students safe and healthy and by teaching your students about health early on, they can develop a better understanding on related issues, and they can develop a healthy lifestyle that they can continue later on in life.

Click here for Kids Health in the Classroom Website

In today's world I think that it is important that everyone be updated on the news of what is going on around the world. I know that we do not all have time to read the paper or look at online news sources. I believe that it is important as educators to keep students up to date on what is going on in the world. This is why I think that the CNN student news site is great for students to watch on a regular basis. It is a short video that talks about what is going on in the world and things that are related to the younger generations. Teachers could assign students to summarize it weekly or even let there students watch is a couple times a week. Having the knowledge of what is going on in the world is powerful and can help students feel smarter and more connected to the world.