A study of the NCLB Reading First program found that teachers were spending more time on reading instruction but that there was no significant difference in reading comprehension between those schools that used the program and those that didn't.
See interim report here.
Relate Articles:
Washington Post: "Billions for an Inside Game on Reading"
NCTE Elementary Section: "Reading First Called 'Ineffective.'"
Reading First: The Naked Truth
Gary Stager at Huffington Post: The Surge Against First Graders
What do you think? Are there any lessons to be learned here?
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Standardized Testing in Maine
Listen to Episode 18 - "Stop. Put Your Pencils Down." at Wicked Decent Learning
DOE - Maine High School Assessment - SAT
Maine Educational Assessment (MEA)
Wikipedia: SAT
What are your thoughts on standardized testing in Maine?
DOE - Maine High School Assessment - SAT
Maine Educational Assessment (MEA)
Wikipedia: SAT
What are your thoughts on standardized testing in Maine?
Free Technology for Teachers
Western Maine's own Richard Byrne shares a wealth of free technology resources and how teachers can use them on his daily-updated blog, Free Technology for Teachers. His reviews are based on carefully checking out the latest developments and concisely reporting on how they might be used in the classroom and elsewhere. I find that dropping into his blog saves a great deal of time in sorting through the plethora of new applications . . . Richard does it for us.
Maine Sheet Music Source
An incredibly rich resource of Maine sheet music and more . . . a Maine gem. Click here and get ready to make some music! Did I mention that it is free?
Crazy or Stupid?
"We are told accountability is essential — by people who refuse to be accountable for underfunding schools, who fail to address the social needs of children created by inequalities and who think simple answers exist for complex problems. Accountability flows both ways. I may be crazy, but I am not stupid."
I regularly check out AASA's excellent monthly online publication, The School Administrator, for articles on education. A visit to Paul Houston's column is always a must. This morning I read his "Crazy or Stupid?" offering in which we speaks to issues of accountability and blame.
Recent Issues:
- May 2008 — Values-Based Navigation
- April 2008 — The Work of Transformation
- March 2008 — The Arts at K-12’s Center Stage
- February 2008 — Globalization and Education
- January 2008 — Healthy Bodies, Well Minds
- December 2007 — Life Beyond the Superintendency
- November 2007 — The Immigrants Among Us
- October 2007 — Legal Fallout
- September 2007 — Personalizing Schooling
- August 2007 — Where's Graduate Study Going?
- June 2007 — Personal Evaluation
- May 2007 — Personal Technology
- April 2007 — Professional Networking
- March 2007 — Primacy of the Superintendency
- February 2007 — Gifted Education Left Behind
- January 2007 — Measuring Academic Growth
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Cartoon Creation
How to Use Comic Life in the Classroom
Online Educational Comic Generator for Kids of All Ages
ToonDoo - The Cartoon Strip Creator - Create, Publish, Share, Discuss!
Cartoon Youself!
ReadWriteThink - Comic Creator
Comics in Education
Cartooning for Kids
Teacher's Guide for the Professional Cartoonist
ARTSEDGE: Drawing Political Cartoons
Political Cartoons in the Classroom
Using Political Cartoons in the Classroom
Storyboarding
Cartoon Smart
Cartoon credit
New Books, New Readers
I had an absolutely delightful morning assisting Oxford Hills adult education teacher, Ramsey Ludlow, in taping a class designed by the Maine Humanities Council called New Books, New Readers. Mary Alice Crosby, in cooperation with local literacy teachers, facilitates this book group, which consists of adults who are learning to read. Books have been chosen according to theme and readability and discussed in an informal and emotionally-safe atmosphere with an emphasis on connecting with the lives of the participants. Students get to keep the books.
The just-completed series called "Telling Our Stories" includes the following:
This is an excellent model on many levels. Making these connections is important in encouraging persistence in working on the needed reading and writing skills. Oxford Hills Adult Education teachers help participants in developing skills before the discussion group . . . and follow up after the discussion is over.Session 1: Recalling Our Past
- When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant
- Miz Berlin Walks by Jane Yolen
- Leon’s Story by Leon Walter Tillage
Session 2: Discovering Our StoriesSession 3: Other Ways of Telling
- When Clay Sings by Byrd Baylor
- Family Pictures by Carmen Lomas Garza
- Arctic Memories by Normee Ekoomiak
For discussion: How do we tell our own stories? Why are they important? How do we decide what to tell? What do we learn from telling our own stories? From reading others’ stories? How and why do we share our stories with others? How do our personal stories connect to the stories of our communities and country?
Personalized education is alive and well in our Maine Adult Education communities!
Related Links at LIM Resources:
Digital Storytelling
Biography
Autobiography
Who
Jason Ohler:
Storytelling
Monday, April 28, 2008
TelstarToo Session: Blogging
“One of the reasons we fear these technologies is because we as teachers don’t yet understand them or use them. But the reality is that our students already do. It’s imperative that we be able to teach our kids how to use the tools effectively and appropriately because right now they have no models to follow.”Essential Question: How can classroom communication and collaboration be enhanced with the use of blogs?
~ Will Richardson
Connectivity and Warming Up
Blog Definition/Description
Why Blog?
- Blogs in Education at LIM Resources Wiki
- eMINTS eTHEMES: Using Online Journals and Blogs
- Using Weblogs to Promote Literacy in the Classroom
- Support Blogging Listing of School Bloggers
- International Edubloggers Directory
- Bloggers in Maine (Please add Maine education blogs that you are aware of . . .)
Promote Your Blog
...........................................................................................................................
Bonus: Drawing /Painting/Photo Editing Programs for the Classroom
...........................................................................................................................
Closing . . . .How did it go? What next?
Friday, April 25, 2008
Summer Professional Development Opportunities
Not finding a listing of group professional development opportunities in Maine for summer 2008, I thought it might be of value to start one here. What would you add to the list?
(You may either add in comments or use this wiki page).
June 5 Free FirstClass Day in Gorham
July 14 - 18 Teaching and Learning through Universal Design
June 22 - 26 Middle Level Education Institute
June 24 - 28 UMaine Summer Technology Institute
June 25 - 27 Free & Open Source Software in Education at Gould Academy
July 5 - 26 English Immersion for Adults
July 15 - 18 Forests of Maine Teachers' Tour (Maine Tree Foundation)
July 20 - 27 Stonecoast Writers' Conference
July 21 - 25 Teaching Science by Ocean Inquiry
July 21 - 25 AP Latin Literature Summer Institute at St. Joseph's
July 23 - 25 Castine Technology Institute
July 29 - August 1 Forest of Maine Teachers' Tour (Maine Tree Foundation)
July 29 - August 1 Agriculture in the Classroom
August 2 - 23 English Immersion for Adults
Summer: USM Professional Development Center
Summer: Maine Writing Project
(You may either add in comments or use this wiki page).
June 5 Free FirstClass Day in Gorham
July 14 - 18 Teaching and Learning through Universal Design
June 22 - 26 Middle Level Education Institute
June 24 - 28 UMaine Summer Technology Institute
June 25 - 27 Free & Open Source Software in Education at Gould Academy
July 5 - 26 English Immersion for Adults
July 15 - 18 Forests of Maine Teachers' Tour (Maine Tree Foundation)
July 20 - 27 Stonecoast Writers' Conference
July 21 - 25 Teaching Science by Ocean Inquiry
July 21 - 25 AP Latin Literature Summer Institute at St. Joseph's
July 23 - 25 Castine Technology Institute
July 29 - August 1 Forest of Maine Teachers' Tour (Maine Tree Foundation)
July 29 - August 1 Agriculture in the Classroom
August 2 - 23 English Immersion for Adults
Summer: USM Professional Development Center
Summer: Maine Writing Project
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Maine Writing Project
Rich Kent is the Director of the Maine Writing Project at UMO. Check out this rich portaportal on writing.
Friday, April 18, 2008
An Alternative to DOL
Jeff Anderson demonstrates a different approach to working with kids on editing skills at Maine's own Stenhouse Publishers.
Jeff's Site: Write Guy
Also check out this great resource by Lauren Wolter:
Notable Sentences . . . for Imitation and Creation
What approach do you take to editing?
Add to Editing at LIM Resources Wiki
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Breaking Even in Maine
Learn about personal finance and more at Nicole Ouellette's Breaking Even, Inc. Fascinating reading!
Related Resources at LIM Resources Wiki: Living Simply
What can you learn from a lobster?
A few years ago I listened to a curriculum coordinator give an example of what not to do in the age of NCLB accountability. The story was that a teacher had been able to engage an otherwise unmotivated learner by connecting with his interest in lobstering. The student was "hooked" and excitedly researched everything he could find about lobsters. With this information, he made an incredible presentation, using a variety of tools while developing a rich set of skills in doing so. The point of the coordinator was that despite the impressive amount of learning that had taken place, this was not the content that needed to be covered according to the curriculum . . . and so the teacher was wrong in encouraging it.What do you think?
What should curriculum contain?
Guide to Lobstering in Maine
Maine Lobster Industry
Maine Lobster
Lobster Institute
Wikipedia: American Lobster
Gulf of Maine: All about Lobsters
Photo Credit
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Memorizing Poetry
"What poem did you have to memorize in school? Do you still remember it? Is memorizing an effective educational strategy?"
These are questions that Deborah White asks in this week's article titled "Thursday's the Day to Pack a Poem" from her weekly column in the Bangor Daily News.
You can contact Deborah at conversationswithateacher@gmail.com
Memory and Memorization Resources at LIM Resources Wiki.
Extension: In this day of information at our fingertips, what is worth memorizing?
How long will it be before our computers will be embedded in our bodies? Will this be a good thing or a bad thing? See artificial intelligence at LIM Resouces.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
WalnutWiki - Take the Digital Plunge
Find some great resources from the Arts Institute session on using digital cameras in the classroom from Carol Waldon and Argy Nestor's WalnutWiki. Check for post-institute sharing at "Arts, Innovation and Creativity - Carrying On!"
Maine DOE Visual and Performing Arts
Maine Arts Blog
Maine Arts Portaportal
More on the Arts in Education . . .
More resources at LIM Resources Wiki:
Photo Editing
Digital Camera
Photo Resources
Please feel free to add, delete, modify, etc.
Maine DOE Visual and Performing Arts
Maine Arts Blog
Maine Arts Portaportal
More on the Arts in Education . . .
More resources at LIM Resources Wiki:
Photo Editing
Digital Camera
Photo Resources
Please feel free to add, delete, modify, etc.
OnTiME Podcast - Episode 4
From Vincent Vanier, President of ACTEM:
"Episode 4 of OnTiME has been released. We discussed the Apple Executive Summit, the upcoming PackageMaker sessions, and http://www.rememberthemilk.com if you're so inclined.
OnTiME can be downloaded from the iTunes music store by searching either for OnTiME or ACTEM, or you can download it directly from the ACTEM website at http://www.actem.org/Pages/ACTEM_OnTime/index "
Photo Credit
Monday, April 14, 2008
Comments about Lifestyle
by Olga LaPlante
I have had a random conversation with an assistant principal recently, and here is what was said:
"Are you an administrator?"
"Yes, an assistant principal."
"Did you teach before?"
"Yes."
"Would you go back to teaching?"
(Of course, I expect him to say something like, I would, or I work with the kids so much, I don't have time to think about it... Or something like that)
"No, I don't think I can take the pay cut. You get used to a certain lifestyle, you know."
Now if he were a teacher with that attitude, school would be a wrong place for this person. What do you think?
We are not doing this for free, right, but there has got to be some satisfaction that you get from your job, and it's not money.
I have had a random conversation with an assistant principal recently, and here is what was said:
"Are you an administrator?"
"Yes, an assistant principal."
"Did you teach before?"
"Yes."
"Would you go back to teaching?"
(Of course, I expect him to say something like, I would, or I work with the kids so much, I don't have time to think about it... Or something like that)
"No, I don't think I can take the pay cut. You get used to a certain lifestyle, you know."
Now if he were a teacher with that attitude, school would be a wrong place for this person. What do you think?
We are not doing this for free, right, but there has got to be some satisfaction that you get from your job, and it's not money.
TelstarToo Session: Wikis and Math
Today the participants of the TelstarToo PLC will be gathering resources for specific math skills and themes . . . and then adding them to a wiki resources page using LIM's Resources Wiki. Maine Learning Results for Math
K12 Station Math Search
42eXplore Mathematics
eMINTS eTHEMES for Math
Curriki for Math
Math from OER Commons
Math at LIM Resources
Custom Google Search for Math
Online Interactive Math Resources
Online Math Games
Problem Solving Strategies
Using Music with Math
Mathematics and Music
The Mathematical Magic of Music
Anyone else care to add a page relating to math?
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Learning from a Master Teacher
I found these posts on the HSHAWJR blog fascinating:Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Final Reflection
Thank you, Harold Shaw, Jr., for sharing them.
Photo Credit
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