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.

Blended Learning

Find more videos like this on Classroom 2.0


This video really caught my eye because we are all future teachers who are going to be making decisions about our own teaching styles. This school really incorporates technology in their curriculum. The students are doing the exploration while the teacher is facilitating the lesson. If your school had the budget for this kind of classroom, would you prefer to run your classroom with the blended learning system? I find pros and cons to this style of independent learning. I think that this type of class when incorporated with other teaching styles would work very well, but not on its own. It is important to build a community within a classroom and for the students to be learning in many different ways. Technology is certainly a wonderful tool to help students learn to think critically and explore different avenues that may otherwise not be available to them. I really like the way that the teacher has given an assignment, taught it, and then has asked the students to begin exploring their topics. The combination of teaching styles is very productive as long as the students are mature enough to utilize the system.

Classroom News, Ideas & More!

If you feel like you are under a lot of pressure in keeping up with news, ideas, and other resources, this website is for you! Earlychildhood NEWS is a wonderful website that has links to hot topics and current articles of what is going on with new developments and current information. The articles are clearly organized of specific areas that pertain to teachers. Also, this website has side links that connect to resources for teachers and parents. There are professional resources as well as ECN Radio, where you can listen to discussions to relevant issues. A great way to strengthen the classroom is by looking at the classroom ideas. These ideas provide curriculum that incorporate the arts, music, dance, crafts, physical activity, and recommended reading. More links are available so this great website will be useful to instill and engage learning.

No Child Left Behind

No Child Left Behind may possibly be one of the largest controversies in Education today. In this video our President, Barrack Obama, addresses an issue with No Child Left Behind and advises us on a change he would like to see happen with the Bill. First he focuses on Assessment tools being used and how they are inadequate. I appreciate that the President has acknowledged the fact that students can meet high standards. Students should not be belittled; they can always surprise us and exceed the standards we set for them as I discovered in Writing Essentials by Routman last semester. I also am glad the President realizes that schools progress at different rates and in their own ways. Yet something I feel he should take into account when it comes to assessment is the way we assess students. We are mainly assessing students each year by having them take big exams. These exams are creating high-test anxiety more than ever before. Also something important came to my attention while reading, “Building the Primary Classroom” by Toni S. Bickart. In this textbook it talks about Howard Gardner’s study where he recognizes that there are eight different intelligences. Only two intelligences of out of these eight are students that are actually good test takers. With this in mind I feel that there should be assessments for multiple types of intelligences in order to get accurate results of the larger intelligence community that might resident at a school.

Using the Olympics as a Framework

My research project revolves around the idea of integrating arts into the classroom. I chose this article, "Olympics Offer Cultural Lessons for Sartell Students," because it brings in the idea of the Winter Olympics, where students are able to learn about different cultures. The spirit of the Winter Olympics captured the interests of “Pine Meadow Elementary' School's 770 students”. The idea was comprised between the physical education teacher, art, media, and music teachers. The goal was to have the Olympics for the framework for lesson plans. This gave the teachers the ability to be creative with their lesson plans and incorporate different subjects together. It involved the entire school and it just added such a positive atmosphere to the school’s culture. Each class chose a country and learned about its’ culture. For example, one second grade class chose South Korea because the teacher’s mother was born there. He was able to connect with his students and share a part of his life with them. Also the class was learning how to write their names using calligraphy. Teachers came up with ways to incorporate their subjects around the curriculum. An art teacher had her class paint flags and took virtual tours of the country. There are just so many avenues the teachers can use. The article talks about how excited the children are. This shows how important it is to incorporate the arts into the classroom. The students are actively learning about other cultures. Throughout the week students were competing just like real Olympians. Education is always changing and finding new ways to incorporate the arts into the classroom is always an adventure. Without the support of the principle, teachers, students, and parents, this would not be what it is. It is amazing what teamwork can do.

Here's the link: http://www.sctimes.com/article/20100211/NEWS01/102110051/1009

Using Real-Life Problem Solving and Technology in Math and Science

I found this article on the Education World World website entitled "In Touch with Math and Science." It discusses how some schools are using a program called STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) which encourages the use of technology integration in math and science. They also use real-life problems to introduce new math ideas and science concepts. For example, one teacher asked his class what the implcations would be for a 10,000 foot sea level rise due to global warming. The point of using these connections is to engage the students in their learning. As one teacher mentioned "more engagement ... leads to more learning."

Mandates Cheat Students and Educators

This opinion article discusses many relevant topics in education, including the recent investigation into some Georgia schools who have been accused of cheating on the standardized tests. The author is Mari Ann Roberts, a teacher in the Department of Teacher Education at Clayton State University. It was published 2/17/2010 in the Atlanta Journal.

Roberts begins her article with, “Take one flawed, underfunded federal education improvement act, like No Child Left Behind, add increasing pressure on individual schools to meet “Adequate Yearly Progress,” include some inane expectations that teachers can work miracles, sprinkle liberally with furlough days, suspended raises and budget cuts dating back to 2003 that will total more than $2.8 billion through the fiscal year ending next June. And what do you get? Whatever it is, it can’t be good.”

Roberts is not excusing cheating, but investigating the possible factors that may have resulted in systematic cheating at some schools. Roberts also argues that the way the current educational system is set up, students are cheated out of a meaningful education and teachers are cheated out of meaningful, purposeful, interactive teaching. Roberts is also critical of the standardized tests and performance-based pay.

I hope you enjoy the article!

Creating a Book

During my first few years of elementary school, my teachers would create a book featuring my best work and would bind it and present it to my parents to showcase how I had progressed during the year. Tikatok, a Barnes and Noble Company, provides a place in which you can upload your students photos and work to create a book. You can choose between a hardcover, softcover, or PDF E-Book.

This would work great for the end of the school year. You could ask your students to provide their favorite assignments or you could do it yourself. The possibilities are limitless. Enjoy!

Fun in the classroom!

I think this is an amazing classroom and a great way to get kids motivated. Like it has been talked about in many of our Liberal Study classes, arts and things of that sort have been lost through the education due to budget cuts and just not enough time. This seems like it would be a great project or activity to get students back into arts while keeping them engaged and having fun. Like it is said in the video, they are still learning and exploring the curriculum through the arts. Also, because they are engaged, they are more likely to then transfer the knowledge they gain throughout their life. It seems like a fun experience and another way to make school fun again for children.

Education City!

Education CIty is a wonderful and resourceful site for teachers, parents, and students. The site offers numerous activities for Math, English, Science, Literacy, French, German, and Spanish. The site promotes educational success by offering academic activities in the form of fun and entertaining online games. Education City may also be used as a method of evaluation. Teachers have the opportunity to assign specific assignments to their students and will be notified with their students' results. Many of the activities are focused on teaching concepts that are found on standardized tests. Education City provides fun and efficient methods for successful task and goal completion!

http://www.educationcity.com

Learner.org Has Loads of Interactives!

For those of you who aren't familiar with Learner.org, get ready for a free bonanza of learning modules, a treasure trove of cool ideas and interesting areas for exploration for kids who love to learn. Learner.org has a new area, called "Interactives," for Math, History, Science, Language Arts, and just about everything else.
Whenever I go to this site, I get lost in all the options it offers. At the Interactives page, I dove into "Collapse," a module for students and teachers alike that invites people to "Explore the collapse of four ancient civilizations. Learn how archaeologists find and interpret evidence." Ultimately, Collapse is about educating young people about sustainable practices in government, farming, and manufacturing. At the end of one post, the interactive asked, "Can a people avoid the collapse of their society and culture?" It then sends them to another link to explore that area.
Altogether, I found this fascinating. Sustainability is one of the most difficult concepts to grapple with, for some reason. Probably because we seem hell bent on using up our resources without any thought of conservation, and because we're not thinking of the finite nature of the planet, we're ignoring the obvious. "Collapse" is, of course, based on Jared Diamond's best-seller of the same name, only here it's translated into an accessible, interactive text with hyperlinks and activities for readers in grades 9-12. Check it out! Have some fun finding out about interactives! And take some time to explore Learner.org.