Group items tagged

Per David Warlick blog - "A recent report (Ready to Innovate/pdf) from The Conference Board and Americans for the Arts, in partnership with the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), reminds us that creativity, and integral part of innovation, is among the top five skills that will become more important over the next five years. Yet, according to their survey, school superintendents and American business executives differ in some significant ways in what this means."

" Kristy Cooper's insanely rigorous mixed methods study, Eliciting Engagement in the High School Classroom: A Mixed-Methods Examination of Teaching Practices, published in the April 2014 American Educational Research Journal, does an exceptional job of showing what works. Cooper, an award-winning researcher at Michigan State University with an MA and Ed.D from Harvard, examined the impact of three well-supported strategies that teachers employ to increase student engagement. As you read each summary below, try to guess which practice had the greatest impact." Todd Finley shares the three methods and asks which has the most impact: 1) Lively teaching, 2) Academic Rigor and 3) Connective Instruction. A fantastic must-read on student engagement that you'll want to email your staff.

Dictionary of American Sign Language (could be useful for teaching students sign to use for classroom management purposes)

Guidance counselors and principals should read this article - not to share and tout as a defense of bullying for there is no defending meanness ever - not among adults and definitely not among children. However, it is time to de-escalate the frantic misreporting and hysteria that some are causing on the topic of bullying and suicide. Suicide is horrible and often the person who commits suicide is bullied -- here's a quote from the article that I thought was telling. This would be worth discussing with those who can maturely see the balance that is called for here and again, not to use it to excuse atrocious behavior. "Reporters are often reacting to other misinformed authorities.  For example, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd explained to reporters that he arrested two girls (one 12, the other 14) in Sedwick's death, after seeing a callous social media post from one of the girls, "We can't leave her out there, who else is she going to torment? Who else is she going to harass? Who is the next person she verbally and mentally abuses and attacks?" While it's a great quote, it implies that this girl has the ability, through random meanness, to inspire others to commit suicide. "Everything we know about unsafe reporting is being done here - describing the method(s), the simplistic explanation (bullying = suicide), the narrative that bullies are the villains and the girl that died, the victim," Wylie Tene, the public relations manager for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, wrote in an email to me. "She (the victim) is almost portrayed as a hero. Her smiling pictures are now juxtaposed with the two girls' mug shots. Her parents are portrayed as doing everything right, and the other girls parents did everything wrong and are part of the problem. This may be all true, and it also may be more complicated.""

So many great health and science lesson plans running around. This is from the American Heart Association and is three lessons to help kids. This from the site: "Sudden Cardiac Arrest can strike anyone, anywhere - and a victim's chance of survival depends on the people around them. Be the Beat offers free games, music, videos and giveaways to educate teens about recognizing a cardiac arrest, calling 911, CPR and using an AED, while they have fun! Schools play a vital role in this movement to train teen lifesavers. As a complement to your CPR and AED program, or other curriculum, check out our free resources and register now so we can keep you updated on the latest news. Then, encourage your students to play and learn on Be the Beat. Together we can create the next generation of lifesavers!" With summer approaching in the USA and the inevitable tragic drownings that always happen - your teaching could save someone's life!

Fantastic educational history resource.

Although the Articles of the Library Bill of Rights are unambiguous statements of basic principles that should govern the service of all libraries, questions do arise concerning application of these principles to specific library practices. Following are those documents designated by the Intellectual Freedom Committee as Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights and background statements detailing the philosophy and history of each. For convenience and easy reference, the documents are presented in alphabetical order. These documents are policies of the American Library Association, having been adopted by the ALA Council.

the way we educate millions of American children alienates students from a fundamental pleasure in learning,

"The most recent annual poll of the public's attitudes toward public schools conducted by Gallup indicates nearly two-thirds of American school parents (64 percent) believe there is too much emphasis on standardized tests. According to additional Gallup research performed in 2014, less than half of students in the United States agree with the following statement "I get to do what I do best every day." This is the very heart of one of the key ingredients of education: engaging students in learning."

I put this brief list together as a starting point to improve education. Difficult as the battle is with politicians and parents. http://www.textbooksfree.org/Education%20Axioms%20and%20Postulates.htm I am looking for suggestions.

Great Opportunity for Travel

There are interactive multimedia material for classroom integration in numerous curriculum areas.

Most of the articles seem to be available for free as pdfs.