Top Story

• How can teachers motivate students to learn?
  Surveys done through an ongoing partnership between California's Redwood City School District and Stanford University's John W. Gardner Center show classrooms that foster respect among peers and focus on individual feedback are more likely to motivate students and lead to higher scores on standardized tests. The data is encouraging to educators, researchers and others who say it shows students' motivation can improve throughout the school year. San Jose Mercury News (Calif.) (free registration) (5/29)

Object Lessons uses everyday objects—flags, shoes, paper, rocks, faces, and more—to convey core K-5 mathematical concepts through visual arts. 50 classroom-tested activities encourage problem solving and develop spatial abilities. Includes a bound-in CD-ROM with reproducibles and sample student work. Preview the entire book!

Focus on Practice

• Making team teaching work
  Two California teachers share their insights on team teaching in this blog post. High-school teachers Mike Fauteux and Rose Zapata say it's important to give and receive feedback. They suggest constructive criticism based on observation and data -- rather than subjective comments. It also is important to focus comments on the lessons and student achievement, rather than the teacher or a specific student, they say. Edutopia.org/Betty Ray's blog (5/27)

• Online platform to offer resources for teaching the common standards
  The Council of Chief State School Officers and five states that have adopted the Common Core State Standards will help design and test a resource for teachers implementing the new standards. The free open-source online platform will allow teachers to create and download resources, while also allowing them to access tools and a network of teachers. The initiative was launched amid concerns from teachers that they would not get the support they need to implement the standards. Education Week/Teacher Beat blog (5/27)

• How to keep vocabulary from confusing students
  Words often take on different meanings depending on the course, which can be confusing to students, writes instructional coach David Ginsburg. For example, when students "borrow a 1" in math class they will not give it back. To prevent confusion, Ginsburg suggests explaining to students the different meanings for the words rather than replacing them with other terms. Then, Ginsburg recommends a series of true and false questions to determine whether students understand the terms. Education Week Teacher/Coach G's Teaching Tips (5/28)

Schools Today

• Connecticut could limit enrollment of 4-year-olds in school
  Officials in Connecticut are considering requiring students to turn 5 by Oct. 1 -- not Jan. 1 as is the policy now -- to enroll in kindergarten amid concerns that 4-year-olds may not be developmentally prepared for school. The issue has raised concerns over equity, achievement gaps and access to education. Many wealthier parents have sought to prevent early enrollment in kindergarten to give students a leg up over their peers, but others worry about the effects of delayed enrollment on poor and minority children. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (5/27)

• Study: U.S. schools can learn lessons from abroad
  Most education reform efforts in the United States largely have been ineffective, according to a recent study from the National Center on Education and the Economy. The study recommends policymakers model their efforts after successful initiatives in other countries. Best practices include national standards, fewer and better tests, and efforts to improve teacher quality and salaries, the study finds. San Jose Mercury News (Calif.) (free registration) (5/28)

• Using social media effectively in schools
  Social networking has become an important vehicle for connecting people, but schools and educators have lagged behind in use. As many schools struggle to develop social-networking policies and ensure student safety, research shows that educators want to harness such tools for learning. The writers of this article cite a study suggesting that schools capitalize on students' interest in social media by determining which sites they most like to use, inform students of free learning opportunities available through social networking and teach them how to create their own blogs. District Administration magazine (5/2011)

• Other News

• PayPal co-founder offers stipends for student-entrepreneurs who forgo college
  Yahoo!/The Associated Press (5/29)

Developing Leaders

• Teachers reflect on the value of National Board Certification
  National Board Certified Teachers in Orange County, Calif., say the certification process can be grueling and humbling, but it inspires better teaching. One teacher said the process of personal reflection and research helped her evaluate and improve student engagement. Teachers say the experience should be seen as one that is primarily for personal enrichment and professional development, as many stipends for earning the certification have been eliminated and National Board Certified Teachers are not spared from layoffs. The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.) (5/27)

• NBCT seeks to open bilingual charter in California
  National Board Certified Teacher Steven Brownson plans to establish the Orange County Bilingual Academy, a public K-5 charter school where students can learn in either English and Spanish or English and Chinese. Brownson, who is fluent in Spanish and is learning Chinese, hopes to open the school in fall 2012 and eventually offer additional languages as well, if the school is approved. "Students are going to need a second language to survive in the world. It's critical for cultural understanding and jobs," he said. The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.) (5/28)

Policy News

• Should student-teachers be charged a fee?
  The Medford, N.J., district will charge student-teachers to teach in the district's schools beginning in September, a move believed to be the first policy of its kind in the country. The fees -- $1,200 for students at in-state colleges and $1,500 for those from outside the states -- are intended to help the district raise badly needed funds. However, college officials say the policy likely is to drastically reduce the number of student-teachers placed in the district, which had 30 last year. Courier-Post (Camden-Cherry Hill, N.J.) (5/30)

	The Buzz(CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENTS) No More "I'm Done!" guides primary teachers in fostering independent writers by setting up the right classroom environment and establishing routines that allow kids to move through the writing process at their own pace. Includes more than 50 mini-lessons. Browse the entire book online! Interested in learning more about advertising in Accomplished Teacher SmartBrief? Contact Joe Riddle at (202) 407-7857 or jriddle@smartbrief.com.

Most Read by Educators

Top five news stories selected by Accomplished Teacher® by SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• NBCT: Lessons from a student-teacher (Education Week Teacher (premium article access compliments of EdWeek.org))

• What teachers can learn from Lady Gaga (The Future of Teaching blog)

• Finishing the school year strong (Edutopia.org)

• Is there a better way to teach grammar? (Edutopia.org)

• How teacher collaboration helps schools succeed (The Deseret News (Salt Lake City))

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

NBPTS Update

• Last day for early bird registration for NBPTS Conference
  Today marks the deadline for accomplished teachers and other educators to take advantage of the early bird registration price of $295 for the 2011 National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Conference. "Reboot! Teaching Transformed" will be held July 27 to 30 in Washington, D.C. Keynote speakers include Diane Ravitch, Linda Darling-Hammond and National Board Certified Teacher Sarah Brown Wessling, the 2010 National Teacher of the Year. Find out more.

• Legislative agreement maintains support for teaching effectiveness in Washington state
  Washington state's House and Senate leaders recently reached a budget agreement that maintains the state's longtime commitment to National Board Certification for teachers. Washington has consistently ranked among the nation's leaders with respect to the number of teachers who have attained this advanced teaching credential each year. Read more.

Instructional Coaches - English, Math, Special Ed and ELD San Francisco Unified School District San Francisco, CA Principals Grande Yellowhead Public School Division No. 77 Edsosn, Alberta and Hinton, Alberta, Canada Master Teacher Bryan Independent School District Bryan, TX

SmartQuote

If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence, you have won even before you have started." --Marcus Garvey, Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur and orator