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It's Always Time for Reading!
Get tips on making NEA's Read Across America a yearlong celebration.

  Teaching & Learning


Recent Stories:
Disciplinary Alternative Education Hearings Set
What Does It Mean to Be an Educator? Make a Video
NBC News Archives on Demand--It's Free

Bunnytown Promotes Read Across America
As part of
NEA’s annual Read Across America project (www.nea.org/readacross), Disney Channel produced a Public Service Announcement exclusively for Smart Television Alliance promoting reading with characters from the comedic hit Playhouse Disney series for preschoolers, “Bunnytown.”  http://www.smarttelevisionalliance.org/
site/PageServer?pagename=bunnytown

Nominate a Star of Teaching
The U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative is accepting nominations for 2008 American Stars of Teaching. Parents, students, colleagues, school administrators and others can nominate an exemplary teacher who they believe has the qualities to be an American Star of Teaching. http://www.t2tweb.us/AmStar/Nominate.asp

Own Your Own Future Launches
Own Your Own Future is a student outreach campaign to encourage Texas youth to stay in school, graduate, and pursue their passion. It was launched Feb. 21 by the Texas Education Agency through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The flagship component of the integrated campaign, www.OwnYourOwnFuture.com, is designed to show teens that graduating from high school is the first step toward college and a career.

H-E-B Chair: 'Public Schools Have an Incredible Challenge'
Charles Butt, chairman and CEO of H-E-B, is also a great supporter of public education, through H-E-B's Excellence in Teaching Awards, which carry up to $25,000, and through Raise Your Hand Texas, a pro-public education group of business and community leaders. Here's an excerpt from Butt's recent interview with the San Antonio Express-News.

Q: What do you think about the accountability movement and standardized testing?

A: There are some areas in which there are analogies between business and education and there are many areas when there are not analogies. In this case, I do think that there is an analogy. Years ago, decades ago in business, accounting was something that was just a record of the past and it really wasn't a guide to the future. And then new techniques developed -- new metrics, new approaches to measuring progress and so forth of every kind in every aspect of business activity. Many companies used that brilliantly and some companies that didn't use it fell aside. But some companies overused it and they got tangled up in their socks because they got so tied up in measurement and accounting that they forgot to serve the customer, and they took up so much of their people's time in filling out reports and measuring how Team X did against Team Y or Jim did against John, that they didn't do a good job for anybody. We need to back up, rethink it, and get a system that is right for the parents, right for the students, right for the school, right for the government entities involved, right for the public -- that everybody can understand and that helps the student, that's not in business to penalize the student or to make the schools look bad, which some people like to use it for. So, yes I am for accountability and testing, but I think we've gone overboard and need to rethink the whole thing.

Read the whole San Antonio Express-News interview at http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/stories/
MYSA050507.excprohebutt.en.782c2cf8.html
.

Fulbright Teacher Exchange Programs
The Taiwan Teacher Exchange application deadline is March 3, but there are always a variety of opportunities in the offing. Read about the programs and download applications at  http://www.fulbrightexchanges.org/View/ViewOtherOpps.asp

Want to Be a Summer Park Ranger?
The Teacher to Ranger to Teacher (TRT) Program links National Park units with teachers from low income school districts. Under this program, selected teachers spend the summer working as park rangers, often living in the park. They perform various duties depending on their interests and the needs of the park, including developing and presenting interpretive programs for the general public, staffing the visitor center desk, developing curriculum-based materials for the park, or taking on special projects.

 

Then, during the school year, these teacher-rangers bring the parks into the classroom by developing and presenting curriculum-based lesson plans that draw on their summer's experience. In April, during National Park Week, teacher-rangers wear their NPS uniforms to school, discuss their summer as a park ranger, and engage students and other teachers in activities that relate to America's national parks.

For additional information about the Teacher Ranger program go to http://www.nps.gov/wupa/forteachers/trt.htm. 

Response to Intervention: What It Is, How It Works
TSTA's Teaching & Learning Staff has information for you. more

Nominate Someone for the Texas Women's Hall of Fame
Categories for nominees include leadership, historic preservation, health, physical fitness, education and performing arts. more

“Harry Potter” Author Is Top Pick for Substitute Teacher
The people have cast their votes. The celebrity America would most like to have as a substitute educator for a day is J.K. Rowling, creator of the “Harry Potter” fantasy series.  

Perhaps students at “Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry” were to thank for the last-minute surge that broke a virtual three-way tie for first place. With 25% of the vote, Rowling grabbed top honors in the second annual Substitute Educators Day poll sponsored by NEA. The runners-up include Microsoft founder Bill Gates (23%) followed by golf superstar Tiger Woods (21%), “Ugly Betty” actress America Ferrera (18%) and blockbuster movie director/producer Steven Spielberg (13%). NEA received more than 4,500 responses to the poll, which was conducted in advance of Substitute Educators Day, part of American Education Week, Nov. 11-17. The poll comes at a time when school districts are facing a shortage of substitute educators. In a survey completed by Utah State University, 96 percent of the nation’s school districts said they had trouble recruiting and keeping substitutes. 

"9 Ways to Have Success at School"
This report is full of tips to help guide parents and children struggling with ADD/ADHD through the school year more effectively, and with less time and aggravation. The report is available as a FREE download at: http://www.adhdschoolreport.com

Bullying Prevention
Childhood bullying is a significant problem across the country.  It can cause school absenteeism, mental and physical stress, poor school performance, poor self-esteem, and, in some cases, school violence. Statistics show that 160,000 children in the United States miss school each day as a result of being bullied. Find classroom and community activities and materials, and online training at http://www.pacerkidsagainstbullying.org.  In addition, the NEA Professional Library (go to www.nea.org/bookstore and search for "bullying") offers these great resources to help you "bullyproof" your school or classroom: 

  • Bullyproof (an educator's guide with suggested lesson plans)

  • Quit it! (focused on K-3 activities)

  • Linking Bullyproof (strategies for grades 4 and 5)

Engineering Design Challenge Plant Growth Chamber
During the 2007-2008 school year, join NASA's Engineering Design Challenge to design, analyze, build and assess plant growth chambers as part of a standards-based activity related to the STS-118 space shuttle mission. Growth chambers, much like the space plant chambers students will design and build, are part of the education payload on STS-118. The first Educator Astronaut, Barbara Morgan, and her fellow crewmates took two growth chambers along with 10 million basil seeds. These seeds will be exposed to microgravity and brought back to Earth to be used in classrooms throughout the nation.
Engineering Design Challenge Flier

Physical Fitness Challenge
NASA's Fit Explorer project is a scientific and physical approach to human health and fitness on Earth and in space. While using standards-based classroom science activities related to the STS-118 shuttle mission and human spaceflight in general, students will learn about NASA's exploration mission and the requirements of living in space. They will perform physical activities, including: Base Station Walk-Back, Spacewalking, Jumping for the Moon, simulated crew strength training and a mission control exercise. The Fit Explorer project will run from fall 2007 through summer 2008. Be a Fit Explorer Flier

Updated TAKS Calendar
Texas Education Agency has posted the Student Assessment Testing Calendar for 2007-08.
more

NEA Academy Launches!
NEA has launched the new NEA Academy website, devoted to supporting the professional development of teachers and education support professionals. The site will feature web-based lessons, classroom tips, and professional development courses, including the popular classroom management course "I Can Do It " as well as the NEA Teacher Toolkit and career information.

“The site is in its infancy,” says Jan Collins, NEA CIO and CEO of the Academy.  “We have plans in store to add exciting courses such as Effective Courses in Diverse Classrooms as well as more lessons and classroom tips.  Stay tuned – NEA Academy is new, fresh and exciting.” more

Texas Gets a "D" on Teacher Prep Programs
Texas Education Agency reports that Texas received a “D” from the National Center for Teacher Quality on educator preparation programs offered in the state. This was at a work session conducted yesterday for board members of the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC). The board members, a lot of them newly appointed, heard reports from staff regarding the number of programs currently approved by the board, the number of hours each program required for fulfillment of the program, the number of applicants for the last three years enrolled in programs around the state, and the number that failed to fulfill the requirements to become certified as educators.

One board member stated that the numbers and statistics were staggering, and questioned staff whether there was anything the board could do to make educator preparation programs more accountable in Texas. TEA staff discussed with the board members possible options through the rule making process, and all agreed that more accountability is necessary either fashioned after charter school accountability which could also include a rating system so that applicants are aware of which programs are better than others.

It appears that more attention will be focused on educator preparation programs by SBEC in future meetings with the proposal of new rules regulating these programs more strictly.  -- Portia Bosse

10 Minute Business Cards
If you’ve been thinking about printing your own business cards, Staples Copy & Print centers can now create and print personalized, full-color business cards in as little as 10 minutes. 

NEA Gives Educators Tools to Handle Autism
NEA's The Puzzle of Autism explains common autistic characteristics and suggests effective classroom strategies for improving the communication, sensory, social and behavioral skills of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The guide:

  • Provides educators with a general understanding of ASD;

  • Explains the characteristics exhibited by students with ASD;

  • Suggests evidence-based effective strategies for students with ASD; and

  • Identifies resources where additional information on ASD can be found.

Copies can be purchased from NEA’s Professional Library: http://store.nea.org/NEABookstore/
control/productdetails?item_id=1148100 

The complete guide can be downloaded at http://www.nea.org/specialed/images/autismpuzzle.pdf

Grants Available for Mentors to Beginning Teachers
The Request for Application for the Beginning Teacher Induction and Mentoring grant was authorized by House Bill 1 to fund certain activities of mentoring programs designed to increase retention of beginning teachers.  The program is designed to allow eligible campuses to assign a qualified mentor teacher to each classroom teacher who has less than two years of teaching experience.  All school districts and open enrollment charter schools in Texas may apply for a grant on behalf of one or more eligible campuses based on criteria set in the RFA to establish or enhance a beginning teacher induction and mentoring program.  Go to http://www.tea.state.tx.us  and click on "HB 1 Implementation."

College for Texans Website
Looking for one place to find all there is to know about going to college or technical school in Texas? Go to http://www.CollegeForTexans.com. Admissions, financial aid, and free test prep are just a few areas found on the site. 

How to Renew Your State Certification
The State Board for Educator Certification site walks you through the steps to renewing your state certification.

Free Professional Development Opportunities

Get more tips on the Ideas, Contests, Freebies page!


 

 

 

 

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