Greyish brown Saturday

Black Friday is over, but the Official Holiday Shopping Season is just getting in full swing so I'm sure the day is a darkish color of some sort. Time for my annual reminder that the mostest painlessest way to help Interversity is to start here:

http://interversity.org/booklist

when headed to Amazon.com to buy books, movies, CDs, games, toys,. computers, sail boats or anyotherthing on your gift list. Maybe not sail boats.

It doesn't cost you any more, but Interversity gets a bit of commission for each item you buy, including third-party vendors.

Thanks for your help!

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Bush meant well

Submitted by eric on 14 April, 2007 - 08:30

The headline on CNN's website the past couple of days:

Bush: NCLB not meant to punish schools, but to help them

Er, I wonder. If punishment was not the intent, why is the law more punitive than supportive?

"It is important for all of us to make it clear that accountability is not a way to punish anybody," Bush told supporters of the law in a meeting at the White House. "It's an essential component to making sure that our system, our education system, frankly is not discriminatory."

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UFO iLLUSiON iDENTiFiED!

Submitted by Aliensleuth on 9 April, 2007 - 14:32

UFO* i L L U S i O N* i D E N T i F i E D !*
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
written 7-10-05 by Tracy J. Crockett
I had my first UFO sighting, in Provo, Utah, at 9:50pm on July 3rd, 3004. It began when
A strange cloud appeared over my head, which was in the shape of an upward- pointing finger. Looking above it, I saw for one full hour- 60 UFOs which moved in a variety of strange ways. All of the UFOs looked in every way to be ordinary stars!

In the following year, through a series of "UFO visitations" carried out- I believe- by a race of benevolent Aliens, I was given the clues which pointed to an astonishing illusion which has been created above us by: An exceedingly MALEVOLENT Alien race!

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Boys vs. Girls Revisited...

Submitted by frstbrn24 on 30 November, 2006 - 17:33

Since my initial studies in this topic... I have really sharpened my focus on this matter! THE MINDS OF BOYS has thusfar been the most incredible read... to the point where I have been buying copies for parents of my students!

Our school had an afterschool round table discussion for this book... and 1/3 of our staff attended! The increased attention is fabulous and my students will only benefit from this effort!

Been reading tons... creating mini-powerpoint reviews as I go along (still have some that I want to create, but currently reading books on the use of DATA)

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Should cell phones be banned in schools?

Submitted by eric on 14 November, 2006 - 23:01
yes, and flush 'em down the toilet when they're confiscated
29% (17 votes)
no, there are better ways to reduce the annoyance they inspire
71% (41 votes)
Total votes: 58
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Cell phone ban: a bad idea

Submitted by eric on 14 November, 2006 - 22:21

NYC schools' cell phone ban earns parents' ire

NEW YORK (AP) -- Parents who oppose the cell phone ban in New York's public schools are ranting in e-mails to the city's government that the policy is unreasonable, irresponsible, and hints at "thoughtless fascism."

Here's a tricky issue, one that will have various strong but opposing arguments and no clearly satisfactory solution, I humbly predict. For cell phones ain't going away. They may change, but if anything they will only become smaller and more thoroughly integrated in the usual human accessories — there's been talk for years about "wearable" computers, for instance, so it's easy to imagine cell phone technology woven into fabrics, built into eyeglasses, attached to caps, maybe someday surgically imbricated into the human body.

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Exhaustion...

Submitted by frstbrn24 on 1 November, 2006 - 22:47

I have NO idea what is going on with me... I am not usually this "tired" before March... next week only marks the end of 1st quarter!

Been taking care of myself...working out, watching what I eat, taking vitamins, etc... It still is not keeping my work from taxing my resources though. Two cups of coffee has absolutely no effect on my fatigue...

Is there anyone else fighting this so early on in the year? How do you combat it? Any advice would be welcome...

Anyway...
On the homefront, we are constantly striving to "hit" the mark and make it so all kids "get it"; I am currently working on conflict after working on foreshadowing... plot was easy enough, but 7th graders have difficulty locating foreshadowing clues... we reworked the lesson... and it was so much fun! Students had to act out the foreshadowing scenes from The Landlady; talk about enjoying a lesson! I have had so much fun with these kids... they are filled with energy and creative genius! Now to be able to reflect that back to them so they can all relish the learning experience...

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Parents... and the desired relationships...

Submitted by frstbrn24 on 25 October, 2006 - 21:38

Each year since getting NBs, I have been working to foster stronger parent-teacher relationships. The fall-out effect has been fabulous on what it does for my kids...each year, each set of parents proves that I am getting better at this.

I think the trick might be... put yourself into their shoes. Look at the school from their viewpoint, look at your student as they look at their child, work to meet their needs.

Thankfully, this year we had an Open House. This made my job that much easier. We went three years without a contract and did not have an Open House... creating the scenario where any communication had to be intiated by either party... and then, it was usually for a reason.

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Teaching... learning... teaching... and learning yet again!

Submitted by frstbrn24 on 1 October, 2006 - 20:38

Sometimes I feel as though I am on top of the world...

Finally have the relationship I want with my students' parents...and found that is truly the key to success with these middle school darlings that I have come to know and love.

On the urging of my 8th graders last year (it was my second year with them after I followed them from the 7th grade); they thought it was a fabulous idea for me to repeat the process with a new group of students. So far, so good. We have been in school for a month now... and I am in contact with over 55% of my parents already. If I could stop being so darn tired, I would be able to reach out to more...

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NCLB corruption revealed

Submitted by eric on 1 October, 2006 - 09:26

Michael Grunwald writes in The Washington Post today about the political, intellectual and economic inbreeding NCLB has spawned (and that spawned NCLB). Below are a few excerpts from The Education Issue:

The centerpiece of the new research-based approach was Reading First, a $1 billion-a-year effort to help low-income schools adopt strategies "that have been proven to prevent or remediate reading failure" through rigorous peer-reviewed studies. "Quite simply, Reading First focuses on what works, and will support proven methods of early reading instruction," the Education Department promised.

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