| News about teaching and education excellence |  |
 | Notebook Connections shows how students can use a reader's notebook to respond to texts—beyond simply retelling the story—with 14 teacher-guided lessons and a variety of flexible assessment tools. Pair with Notebook Know-How (strategies for writer's notebook) to transform your reading & writing workshops. Click here for details! |
- Teaching students to become good citizens
 Teachers should take a more active role in shaping what students learn and by helping them become good citizens of the community, writes Benjamin Stern, a technology integrationist for a middle school in New York City. In this blog post that follows up on his call for teachers to abandon textbooks, Stern suggests that teachers should focus on ensuring students are properly prepared to be active and productive citizens. That includes a focus on developing character and judgment, he writes. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Education
(9/12)     
- Teachers share tips for using the iPad in the classroom
Some Los Angeles school teachers who use iPads in classroom lessons say it's necessary for teachers to give up some control to make the technology initiative successful. The teachers say they suggested students read but placed no limits on what students read, and asked them to use applications but did not say which ones. The teachers also found that the iPad enhances classroom lessons, but it is not a replacement for good teaching. T.H.E. Journal
(9/12)
 | A Powerful Technique for Teaching Children
When teachers use Interactive Modeling to teach classroom behaviors, skills, and routines, children learn quickly and better remember what they learned. The result: Less time needed for correcting and reteaching, more time available for teaching and learning, and a smoother day for everyone. Read sample chapters and order. |
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- L.A. to use students' achievement data to evaluate administrators
Los Angeles Unified School District has reached an agreement with a union that represents the city's 1,500 principals and assistant principals to evaluate administrators, based in part on students' achievement. The one-year agreement, announced Tuesday, does not specify how much weight will be given to students' achievement data and allows for the consideration of standardized test scores, Advanced Placement data and other measures. The district is still in negotiations with teachers over a similar evaluation system. Los Angeles Times (tiered subscription model)
(9/11)
- Fla. middle school offers African and African-American history class
John F. Kennedy Middle School in Riviera Beach is one of the first middle schools in Florida to offer a course in African and African-American history. The district has offered similar courses as electives in high schools through the years, but this is the first time such a class has been offered at the middle-school level. Educators said they hope the course will help the school's students, a majority of whom are African-American, feel more connected to academics by making the subject relevant to their lives. The Palm Beach Post (Fla.)
(9/10)
| Education Cartoon | | |
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| Developing Leaders | | |
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- Va. social studies teacher helps bring Antarctica into the classroom
Skype enabled students at Herman L. Horn Elementary School in Vinton, Va., to get a close-up view of ongoing research in Antarctica. Social studies teacher Amanda Lusk made contact with a scientist at the South Pole through a family friend of one of Lusk's students, and an online field trip was arranged. Students got to see the research facility and the rugged terrain outside, as well as ask questions of the scientists working there. T.H.E. Journal
(9/6)
| Policy News | | |
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- Idaho district recruits volunteers as substitute teachers
A school district in Idaho has reduced its budget for hiring substitute teachers and instead will rely on community volunteers. The volunteers will be required to pass a background check and drug test but not take an online training course normally required of substitute teachers. That change has drawn criticism from the local teachers' union, with officials questioning how such substitutes will benefit classroom instruction. Idaho Press-Tribune (Nampa)
(9/12)
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| The Buzz(CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENTS)
It's essential that we explicitly teach kids how visual information works—how to comprehend it and how to communicate with it. I See What You Mean is a practical guide to incorporating visual literacy—maps, diagrams, tables, graphs, and charts—throughout your K-8 curriculum. Preview the entire book online!
Firmly rooted in the world of middle school students, Caught in the Middle by David Booth shows you how to model writing, incorporate picture books, promote reader engagement and comprehension, interact with student journals, prompt discussion and self-assessment, and more. Preview the entire book online!
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