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NEW TEACHERS: WHAT DO I SAY TO PARENTS?
Novice teachers are far more likely to find the right words in sensitive parent-teacher conferences when they've had a chance to rehearse, say the authors of this article in the Summer 2009 web-only edition of Educational Leadership. Teacher educators Benjamin Dotger and Mara Sapon-Shevin describe the "Parent/Caregiver Conferencing Model," a semester-long teacher-development program "designed to provide pre- and inservice teachers with multiple opportunities to practice communicating with parents." They include both teacher and researcher "learnings" from the work and some implications for practice. The article includes a link to a seven-minute video of a simulated conference between a teacher and a parent of a bullied student.
SOCIAL STUDIES: U.S. CONSTITUTION
Constitution Day comes early in the school year (September 17). If your federally mandated lesson plan (smile) needs a polish, visit this site created by U.S. Constitution devotee Steve Mount, which includes descriptions and versions of the Constitution suitable for students at various stages of development (K-3, 4-7, 8-12) and some special features for ESL students, including a Spanish version. The site offers a large collection of other documents related to the development of democratic institutions.
INSIGHTS: MIDDLE SCHOOL ADVISORY
John Niska, an ed prof at Rhode Island College, shares observations gathered while helping 35 RI schools develop student advisories -- in a state where such programs were recently mandated for all middle level schools. One lesson learned: "Faculty must come to believe advisory, as part of personalization, benefits a student's overall performance and that each faculty member is responsible for every student's growth." ALSO see this advice from the field about "what works" in advisories.
TEACHING WITH SOCIAL NETWORKING TOOLS
Edutopia editor David Markus nails it: "Social-networking Web sites get a lot of flak for ensnaring kids in their vapid vortex, but this type of tech tool has great potential." The new article Markus is promoting, "Kids Create and Critique on Social Networks," examines the pros and cons of using SN tools in classrooms and other youth projects. As an example, it highlights a private website called "Remix World," supported by the Digital Youth Project. With the announcement of Google Wave, the potential to create secure school-based social networks is growing. This story may get educators thinking beyond MySpace.
THE ENGLISH COMPANION PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY
Speaking of social networking tools, I recently joined the NING-based site The English Companion, populated primarily by K12 teachers of English/Language Arts, with enough higher ed types and wandering English majors to add variety. The group's slogan is: "Where English teachers meet to help each other." It's a large group (thousands) but NING allows subgroups within a community like this - and TEC has plenty. Sample: Elementary Teachers; Graphic Novels and Comics; NCTE members; AP lit; Teaching Reading; Adolescent lit; NWP; Poetry Roundtable; Librarians; Project Based Learning; etc. It's open to anyone. Definitely worth some of your virtual time.
NINTH GRADE TRANSITIONS
In early May I spent a week in Mobile County AL learning about the district's notable school reform effort. One recent strategic move makes great sense - reorganizing the system's change initiatives around K-12 feeder patterns. EL, MS and HS principals in the feeder meet together regularly to consider the big improvement picture. That's a perfect setting to review this recent report from Public/Private Ventures on "The Importance of Preparing Middle School Students for the Transition to Ninth Grade." The 12-pager considers why many middle school students find transition so difficult; the earmarks of a successful transition; and what schools can do to ease difficulties. A quick, helpful read.
SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL LEARNING TEAMS
In an interview at the TLN Teacher Voices blog, professional learning teams expert Anne Jolly talks about the latest edition of her popular how-to book, Team to Teach: A Facilitator's Guide to Professional Learning Teams, and shares some secrets from a decade of work with PLCs. Effective learning communities "are teacher leadership hothouses," says Jolly, whose book includes more than 100 pages of helpful tools to get new communities off on the right foot. Jolly is a veteran middle grades science teacher and a former Alabama teacher of the year.
SCIENCE TEACHERS' ADVICE NEEDED - ALCOHOL BOOK
Aimee Stern, a communications consultant specializing in education, is preparing a book of advice for parents on teen alcohol use, sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She writes: "We are looking for science teachers who are willing to be interviewed for inclusion in a book for parents about the science of how alcohol affects teens' bodies. Teachers will be asked for advice on how parents can explain and engage teens in science." If you've been a middle school parent, all the better. Contact her at: aimee@sterncommdc.com. The link above leads to a Facebook page about the project.
Recent Weeks
KEEP MIDDLE SCHOOLERS ON THE GRADUATION PATH
A new "policy and practice" brief from Johns Hopkins University and the National Middle School Association is filled with key insights that can help district leaders and middle school teachers and principals greatly strengthen students' graduation "staying power" as they pass through grades 5-8. Based on more than a decade of research and development work, the crisp 16-page report draws on a decade-long study of several cohorts of Philadelphia students. The study sought to determine "how early in the middle grades could we see clear signals that students had fallen off the path to high school graduation" and - most important - what practical steps could be taken to keep them on the path?
CAPTURE STUDENT FEEDBACK
Surveying your students at year's end not only offers them a chance to say what they really think about their learning year, it can provide teachers with substantive feedback they can use to improve their practice in the year to come. Writing at Edutopia's Spiral Notebook Blog, veteran middle grades teacher Elena Aguilar describes her own student surveying methods, offering tips about preparing kids for the experience - and enough nuts-and-bolts details to get anyone started.
NEW TEACHERS: THE WONG WAY
While not everyone agrees with Harry Wong's approach to the first years of teaching, his book The First Days of School has sold over 3.3 million copies, serving as an anchor in many a first-year teacher's storm. Harry and Rosemary Wong also write a monthly column at the TeachersNet Gazette website titled "Effective Teaching," where many of their ideas for the novice educator can be found. The Gazette's June 2009 issue includes an annotated index of columns since 2000. The very first column from June '00 suggests that a First Day of School script can help establish the structure for a successful year.
IS EIGHTH GRADE GRADUATION OVERDONE?
Are high-end graduation ceremonies for eighth-graders sending the wrong message? Milwaukee columnist Eugene Kane wonders if schools who follow this practice might be setting the bar too low - encouraging some students to view eighth grade as a culminating event in their educational process, rather than the all-important last step into high school. Some minority parents disagree with Kane, contending that in a city with high dropout rates, any graduation is a cause for celebration. (Milwaukee Journal)
TWITTER WITH PARENTS
Would twittering with parents be a useful way for teachers to communicate with at least a segment of their "parent population"? Sixth grade teacher Bill Ferriter thinks so. In this post at the TLN Teacher Voices blog, Ferriter reflects on the pros and cons of Twitter use - and several teacher-readers add their thoughts and experiences. Consensus: It's not a sole solution but in situations where many families have easy access to Twitter, the "short-messaging" service could provide a quick, easy way to keep parents abreast of things without getting buried in email. BONUS RESOURCE: 25 Ways to Teach with Twitter.
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
History Now, the online American history journal, has assembled a quality package of content and resources on the Great Depression, including stories on Women in the Great Depession and the Federal Art Project. There's a heavily illustrated profile of home life in the tenements of New York City's Lower East Side and other resources, including adaptable lesson plans. To supplement this material with other primary resources, drop by Awesome Stories and browse their Great Depression narrative with its many links to images and artifacts from the 1930s. And be sure to visit the History Now archive to see 18 other themed issues, including the intriguing "19th Century Technology."
BLOOM'S DIGITAL TAXONOMY
New Zealand teacher Andrew Churches made a name for himself in edu-digital circles with this very useful article published in Technology & Learning magazine. It ties the revised Bloom's Taxonomy (updated in 2001) to problem-, project- and web-based learning. It's a must read for any teacher, principal (or IT leader) who is serious about shaping instruction around the needs and interests of the Digital Generation.
TEACHER-DRIVEN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Some teacher "training" may be necessary in schools and districts, but don't confuse it with professional development, says long-time middle grades advocate Hayes Mizell. Teachers across subjects and grades "understand what they don't know and what they aren't able to do better than anyone," says Mizell, the Distinguished Senior Fellow at the National Staff Development Council. When teachers are engaged in designing the professional development they need, "they are more motivated to take full advantage of it." Common sense? Then why isn't it more common? (NSDC Blog)
LOOKING FOR A PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCE?
Peruse this much-needed website under development by several educators in Canada. Educator's Professional Development (EPD) claims to be the world's largest "online database of professional development conferences and workshops for educators and teachers in the K-12 bracket." And that may well be true! You can search the database by date, education level, nation (lots of US listings), location or with keywords. There's some advertising but its not intrusive and thus far remains focused on events themselves.
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