Acronym Overload

A few weeks ago, I had to stay after school for a SILT meeting. SILT was established because of our school district’s commitment to VPAT, with hopes of increasing NCLB and CATS indexes (from the KCCT) in an effort to meet AYP. Of course, SILT needs to remember to report to DILT, a strong instructional arm of SCPS. A focus on CC 4.1 and close examination of PCs should help, I am told. Same with a recommitment to teaching and modeling TRIBE.

5 Ways to Put that Interactive Whiteboard to Good Use

Good news: the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009(ARRA) provides funds for technology that will improve teaching and learning. It specifically mentions technology-enabled white boards.

Bad news: This fall, teachers across the nation will be hunting for the interactive white board’s power switch and wondering why they just can’t unplug the thing and use their dry erase markers. After all, they know how to use the dry erase markers.

Reading with Sticky Notes

As a high school English/Language Arts teacher, I have to confess: my preparation to teach reading was pretty minimal. I took the Reading in the Content Areas class as an undergrad, but little prepared me for Connie, the frustrated reader.

Using Google Docs in the Classroom

Imagine a classroom where students collaborate and edit one another’s essays. Where student work is never lost and the hard drive never again munches through the last half hour of someone’s writing.

This is the land of Google Docs, a free, Internet-based word processor that allows students to create and share documents online. Sure, it doesn’t have the features that standard word processing programs have, but Google Docs gets words on the screen, allows for collaboration, and gives teachers access to student documents. And it’s free. Free is good.

More Students Qualify for Section 504 Plans

More students will qualify for Section 504 plans because of the Americans with Disabilities Amended Act (ADAA), which took effect January 1 of this year. Section 504, or just 504, refers to a part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that ensures that public entities, including public schools, accommodate students with disabilities. The ADAA changes flow down to the Rehabilitation Act so that both are in alignment.

Five Tips to Translating K12 Outreach Materials for Parents

As the effects of global communication and travel alter the face of our world, the ethnic and linguistic makeup of the United States is changing as well. What was predominately an English-speaking nation with strong Western European cultural roots is swiftly evolving into a complex mix of ethnicities, languages and cultures.

With this rising tide of change, how can K12 professionals keep up and effectively reach out to this new, increasingly multicultural American population? As all good educators know, it is imperative to understand parents and students and speak directly to their experience. By delivering culturally appropriate translations that have been approved by the focus community itself, your materials will ring true for the K12 audience.

15-minute exam review challenge: historicaltweets.com

It’s a Friday in late May. The weather’s sunny and warm. Senioritis has hit the school hard and your mind is wandering, too. But exams are around the corner and real work must be done.

For a fun 15-minute review break, try putting your subject matter through Twitter’s formula and see what the kids create.

Little Homework? Parents, Teachers, and Kids Should Be Relieved

Several times this year, I have heard coworkers lament the fact their young children are, at times, swamped with homework assignments. I have spoken to parents who struggle to help students complete potentially confusing assignments. There are often disputes over homework because “zeroes” are entered in grade books for missing homework. And, of course, I hear daily student complaints about that dreaded “H” word.

To Call or Not to Call: That Continues to Be the Question

Ask a question and no one volunteers: should you call on a student? You have a quite, but capable student who rarely or never participates: should you call on that student?

Views on the value of cold calling, as it’s referred to in the literature, are mixed. Faculty who do call on a student whose hand is not raised do so for a variety of reasons. Not knowing when they might be called on keeps students more attentive and better focused on the content. Being called on and successfully responding may help develop students’ confidence and motivate them to participate more. The quality of discussion improves when more people participate, and because research has documented what most of us have experienced – that only a few students regularly participate – calling on students adds to the conversation.