Ms. K
Flip Flops…Spring Bulletin Board Idea
I happened across this bulletin board when I visited another school for professional development. I couldn’t resist snapping a picture of it because of the clever flip flops that the children made. They wrote simple sentences on them, however they would make nice places to write a published piece of short poetry about summer or spring time.
Only 55% of Students Graduate in this School System…What Is Being Done About it?
Washing DC public schools are ranked 51st in the nation. Only 14% of students are proficient in reading by the 8th grade, and only 55% graduate high school. Because the schools were failing, the Opportunity Scholarship Program was initiated which gave 3300 low income students a scholarship to attend a private school and to escape the failing DC public education system. The results from this voucher program were astounding. Ninety-one percent of the low income students graduated who obtained a voucher as compared to the 55% of students who attended the DC public schools. Sadly, although the program had amazing success, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) in 2009 decided against allowing any new students into the program. President Obama was also not in favor of giving funds to this program and claimed the scholarship had not shown successful results. To read more about this …http://blog.heritage.org/2011/03/31/morning-bell-an-opportunity-to-throw-kids-a-lifeline/
Too Many Papers Collecting On Your Desk? Try This
In the busy school day, papers can easily be placed haphazardly on your desk and other surfaces. To help keep papers organized, make files for each topic you teach. If you run off extra copies instead of throwing them away, keep the extras in your files. You will be able to use them for students who need extra practice, to lend to another teacher, and to use next year. Making a file for each month when the year starts will allow you to place seasonal worksheets, ideas, or bulletin board supplies in an easy to find location. If you happen to find a Valentine’s Day activity in November, you can file it in your February file and easily find it when the occasion approaches. Also, create a binder for professional development handouts, newsletters, and memos so you may easily refer to them when needed. Keep student work separated in paper trays by subject or class and immediately clip them together or put them in a folder before removing them to keep them from getting mixed up. In order to maintain organization of paper flow, make sure to set up your file system before the school year begins so that each paper will have a place. If the school year begins without a filing system, you are most likely not going to take the time to create one in the midst of the flurry of school activities, and your paper piles will rival Mt. Everest.
Improve Your Students’ Engagement During Reading/Writing Workshop
Visiting with a colleague, she passionately shared with me the amazing difference that a book called The Daily Five had made in her literacy instruction. My colleague, who is a veteran teacher, learned about this at a differentiation conference, and she tried using the methods for the first time this school year. Other teachers have come into her room during her reading workshop and see the quality of student engagement. They insist that she share what she is doing to have students so engaged. The Daily Five improves students’ stamina to read voraciously on their own and to independently work on their own while the teacher pulls small groups. The small groups are more targeted to individual needs because the teacher spends less time with each student and doesn’t have to attend to students who are working independently. To read more about “The Daily Five” visit this link: http://www.thedailycafe.com/public/department38.cfm.
Need to Organize Your Classroom…Take Advantage of a Teacher Discount
Wow! Walking into the Container Store exudes endless possibilities of organization to a classroom teacher, or anyone for that matter. Now walk into the Container Store with a little more confidence in your purchasing power. They offer a 15% discount to educators. Follow this link to sign up for your discount card: http://www.containerstore.com/teachers/index.htm.
Is Money the Answer To Failing Urban Public Schools?
Gerry Garibaldi, a former Hollywood screenwriter and now an English teacher at an urban high school in Connecticut, authored an article in the local newspaper. Garibaldi has witnessed the wealth of funding that is lavished upon low income population schools (Title I funding) which translates into books, modern tools, and facilities such as Smart Boards, Elmo document cameras, computerized libraries etc. However, one problem money cannot solve in Garibaldi’s classroom is teen pregnancy. In Connecticut unwed mothers are bestowed with many state and federal benefits–medical coverage when the mother is pregnant, medical coverage for the baby and mother after birth, child care, Section 8 housing, Nutrition Assistance Program, cash assistance, and a $35/hr. tutor before and after the baby is born. These mothers often drop out of school reading on a 5th grade level yet more money is spent on these services, and the bureaucracy wonders why the system continues to fail. To read more of Garibaldi’s article visit: http://www.city-journal.org/2011/21_1_teen-pregnancy.html
Clever Tip for Teaching Capacity Conversions
I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I photographed this clever capacity tool from a classroom teacher. I told her to save some items to hang on the wall for visual learners to reference pints, cups, quarts, and gallons. I mentioned having one of her students save a milk carton from lunch to represent a cup, however she went a step further. She made a cup, pint, quart, and gallon all from milk cartons. Students are able to see how many milk cartons or cups are in each type of measurement. 
You Can Save Money Finding A New Spring Outfit
If you are getting spring fever with the sunny spring weather and want to buy a new outfit, then save a little money with an educator discount available at New York and Company. Just show your teacher id at New York and Company to receive a 15% discount off of your total purchase.
Is Testing Practice Beneficial to Your Students?
Educators, at this time in the year, you and your students are most likely tired of preparing for testing. If you work in an under performing school, you are certain to have spent much time teaching your students test taking strategies and having them practice test taking formats. All the while as teachers, we feel that we are “burning students out” on test taking and wonder if they will be so tired of test taking that they neglect to perform on the real state test. A new study shows that test taking practice actually helps students learn. The data from this test shows that the more often information is recalled from the memory, the easier it is to remember and thus improves learning.
If you would like to read more about this study, follow this link. http://www.foxnews.com/health/2010/10/15/sorry-kids-tests-help-learn/.
