Education World Administrator's Desk Volume 6, Issue 35

Dear Education Leaders, This free Administrator's Desk newsletter is published weekly by Education World®, the largest free, independent resource on the Web for educators. If you enjoy this newsletter, please feel free to forward it to others. If this newsletter has been forwarded to you, you may sign up to receive it at http://www.educationworld.com/maillist.shtml. To unsubscribe, see instructions at the bottom of this email. Education World remains a free resource thanks to the support of our advertisers -- so please click on ads of interest and visit our advertisers' sites. Thank you. =========================================================================== This week's newsletter is sponsored by TEACHER'S HELPER®. TEACHER'S HELPER® Give Students the EXTRA PRACTICE They Need. Have you found that some skill sets require extra practice? Tired of spending time searching the Internet for ideas and downloading files from unproven sources? Do you need to stretch your education dollar to get more for your money? In response to these questions, the publishers of THE MAILBOX magazine created TEACHER'S HELPER to give students the extra practice needed to make the grade in today's classrooms. Find out for yourself with a FREE trial issue. Click here! =========================================================================== This week's newsletter is sponsored by Smart Television Alliance. National Educator & Television Survey How much does violence and sex on television affect behavior in the classroom? Does the surge in summer viewing impact kids' back-to-school readiness? Your opinions can make a difference. Take our educator survey now. ============================================================================ Volume 6 Issue 35 August 26, 2008 Teaching Heroes: Toss the Zeros Facing gradebooks filled with zeros, some schools and individual teachers have decided that they simply won't accept incomplete assignments or "zeros." Kids who don't turn in finished work lose their recess or put in "working lunches" until it is done. While the approach can't promise flawless work, it does force students who don't meet their responsibilities independently to put forth some effort. Along with grades that more accurately reflect mastery of content, the frequent result is better retention, improved grades, and a renewed sense of self-confidence as a student. Included: Three "no zeros" approaches that work. http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin531.shtml Carlton Ashby: The Power Is In You Three Keys to Student Success: Relationships, Relationships, Relationships Every day, I am reminded of how fortunate I am to teach at a school where teachers are committed to building relationships. All of us care deeply about building relationships with our students, their parents, our colleagues, and our community. http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/columnists/ashby/ashby001.shtml Diane Hodges' Looking Forward to Monday Morning Ideas you can use to drive your staff happy! This week… Theme Lunch Mondays --- Many Themes --- Salad Bar Potluck --- Food Rewards --- Quote This! --- Grin and Share It! http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/ columnists/hodges/hodges003.shtml   George Pawlas: Pawlas on PR for PRincipals Share the Pride: Six Statements of Pride Get Year Off to a Great Start EdWorld columnist George Pawlas shares the "six pride statements" concept. With six positive statements about your school on the tip of your tongue, you'll never lack for the right words to say when you're out in the community or talking with the media. http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/columnists/pawlas/pawlas001.shtml Pete Hall's Always Strive To Be a Better You! T2: Togetherness and Teamwork There is a Kilimanjaro-sized mountain of research supporting the creation of teams. Quotes such as "many hands make light work," "two heads are better than one," and "it takes a village to raise a child" could not be more apropos than they are in today's schoolhouses. We need each other. http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/columnists/hall/hall011.shtml Attendance and Truancy School leaders recognize that attendance is one of the keys to improving student achievement. To that end, principals have developed many programs aimed at increasing attendance. The articles in this archive share stories and practical tips that are sure to help as you search for ways to improve attendance in your school. The Principal Poet Mr. Ivan, Education World's Principal Poet, presents this week's poem, "School Bus." The yellow bus holds children, And I ride it every day. In morning, it heads off to school. At night it goes the other way… http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/columnists/ivan/ivan032.shtml Education Humor With Regina Barreca Who's at a New School This Year? "Neither the fancy new credential nor the well-rehearsed script…necessarily prepare you for the 'blind date' quality of that first meeting with this year's new students. Your new class will be -- shockingly enough -- new. And you'll be a new teacher." http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/columnists/barreca/barreca021.shtml Partners for Student Success "SMART" Night Builds Interest in Science, Math, and Relevant Technology One South Carolina designed a Science, Math and Relevant Technology (SMART) Night to build community by bringing parents, students, teachers, and others together for food and activities. The evening promotes a love of science, math, and technology. http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/partners/partners039.shtml Turnaround Tales Principal Sets Tone for Success A large urban school with a diverse population, Lincoln Elementary School in Mount Vernon, N.Y., nevertheless posts scores above those in wealthier neighborhoods. A management style that supports teachers helps make the difference. http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/nclbwork/nclbwork071.shtml Take Five for… Using A.M. announcements to build school community. http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/takefive/takefive003.shtml Principal Ideas Teacher personalities, celebrate teacher milestones, more... http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/ideas/ideas025.shtml Pawlas on PR What makes super teachers super? http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/pawlasPR/pawlasPR017.shtml How I Handled… A complaint about a teacher's use of sexual innuendo in the classroom. http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/how_i_handled/how_i_handled027.shtml Instant Meeting A simple strategy helps teachers keep their goals in sight. http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/meetingidea/meetingideas007.shtml Morning Math Boost math skills schoolwide with "Morning Math" questions for Week #1. http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/archives/morning_math.shtml Conventions & Conferences What's coming up? http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/archives/conventions.shtml Exceptional Event Opening-day parade. http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/exceptional_events/exceptional_events003.shtml Grant of the Week 2008 "Kids in Need" teacher grants… and more. http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/grants/additional_grants.shtml Join the Conversation On our "School Administrators" message board. http://forums.educationworld.com/ Newsletters 'R Us Copy and paste this free content into your teacher or school newsletters. The ABCs of Student Success C is for Choices Caught on the Web Addition MATHO (Grades 2-up) Newsletter Clipart Library Back to School Parent Newsletter Template Back to School Math @ Home Electronic Flash Cards quotED "The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them." http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/archives/newsletters.shtml From Our Leadership Archive School Culture Use this survey to improve your school's culture. Parent Handbook Put a little more punch in your parent handbook. Portable Classrooms Teachers tell how they've lived with, even liked, portables. Using TV for PR Districts use cable access to enhance public images. http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/archives/leadership.shtml   From the Principal Files Principals Set Goals for New School Year Education World's "Principal Files" principals share the goals they have set for the school year. (One restriction: Nobody was allowed to say "raise test scores" because that goal is a given.) The goals those principals shared are as varied as the schools they represent. Included: Goals related to curriculum, motivating teachers, involving parents… http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin239.shtml   Ideas for All Year Long If you're looking for ideas you can use all year long, we've got some great ones for you. Recording the school year in pictures, a year of special events, a classroom book club, fun games and "quick-tivities" for awkward moments… Those are just a few of the ideas you'll find here. http://www.educationworld.com/back_to_school/index.shtml#ideas Lesson Plan of the Day Click the link above to see dozens of recent Lesson Plans of the Day, including the five lessons below that were posted last week. Four Corner Fun - A multiple-choice review game. (Grades PK-12) Civil War Soldiers Battle Boredom - A Venn diagram activity. (3-8) Candy Colors - Figuring the mean, median, and mode. (3-12) "Mind Reader" Math Trick - A math-based card trick. (3-12) BIG Book - Create a "big book" of a favorite story. (K-2) http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/dailylp.shtml News for Kids Windmills, which used to dot the landscape, are making a comeback. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/newsforyou/newsforyou082.shtml Friday Fun A yearlong project creates a great end-of-year memento. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/friday/friday003.shtml Learning Game of the Week "Math BINGO" reinforces essential skills. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/learninggame/learninggame011.shtml Vicki Cobb's Show-Biz Science Do some chemistry magic with cabbage juice. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/showbiz_science/showbiz_science027.shtml *Early Childhood Center* Rhyme Time This week's poem for Early Childhood educators: My Home Early Childhood Teaching Themes Transportation Back to School http://www.educationworld.com/a_earlychildhood/newsletters/ Reader's Theater Will the Music Play? To mark the 50th anniversary of Symphony Land's world-famous Classical Music Festival, some musicians want to play modern music; others want to stick with the traditional. Will the dispute stop the music? http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/reading/ReadersTheater/ReadersTheater012.shtml Writing Lessons What Happened? Explore legends surrounding volcanoes, write your own legend. (Grades 3-12) http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/00-2/lp2038.shtml Create a Word Have fun making up new words, writing definitions for them. (Grades 3-12) http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/00-2/lp2182.shtml Go Figure What's for Lunch? Can students figure out which meal goes to which restaurant customer? http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/math/go_figure/go_figure003.shtml   Wire Side Chat Offering Teens Shoulders to Stand On Teenagers confronting adult-world issues probably wish there was simple advice for their grown-up questions. Retired educator William Lee Swisher has put together a short guide for adolescents that touches on finances, relationships, and responsibilities. http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat229.shtml Emma McDonald: The New Teacher Advisor Setting the Tone How do you set just the right tone from day one? The key is in your body language, eye contact, and tone of voice. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/mcdonald/mcdonald027.shtml Cathy Puett Miller: The Reading Coach Getting Parents Involved Highlight the power of reading at home with your parents and students by setting up your own "Is Your Home Reader Friendly?" program. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/miller/miller010.shtml Lorrie Jackson's Techtorial Create a Grade Book in Excel You can keep your grades organized and correctly averaged using Microsoft Excel. Just follow the four easy steps in this Techtorial and within minutes you'll be recording grades like a tech wizard. http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/techtorial/techtorial064.shtml Advice for First-Year Teachers Education World asked the "sophomores" who faced -- and survived -- their dreaded first year of teaching to reflect on their successes and failures -- and offer their best advice -- for this year's "freshman" class. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr152.shtml Alma Row's Gadget of the Week CamStudio This open-source program allows you to create videos of what you're doing on your computer -- and add narration. Great for making 'how to' vignettes! http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/gadget/gadget003.shtml Strategy of the Week Rules One of the most basic factors in establishing a positive classroom climate is the development of class rules. Learn how to develop and implement effective classroom rules from some of education's most respected classroom management experts. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/strategy/strategy040.shtml Reading Response Journals In an effort to encourage students to think and share more about what they read, some teachers have turned to reading response journals -- notebooks reserved for writing in response to literature -- and are gaining new insights. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev085.shtml   Each week, we ask readers to cast their votes in The Weekly Survey. Cast your vote in this week's question of interest to all educators. This Week's Survey Question A school district in Mississippi recently banned teachers from communicating with students by text messages or through online social networking sites. What do you think of this policy? http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/survey/survey180.shtml Last Week's Survey Results Did the high cost of gasoline force you to cut back on traveling this summer? http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/survey/survey179.shtml   Education Studies and Reports Are Laptops Improving Student Learning? Maine middle-schoolers enjoy using laptops, but test scores have not increased much since they were introduced in 2002. NCLB NCLB Standards Straining Some Schools An increasing number of schools in such states as Kentucky and Minnesota are finding it harder to meet tougher NCLB standards, data shows. Special Education Study to Examine Diet, Autism Link Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center are undertaking one of the first double-blind, clinical studies to determine whether gluten and dairy products play a role in autistic behavior as some parents have claimed. See more education news headlines in our EDscoops Archive.   TESTING IN TEXAS Since the average half-life of previous statewide tests (TABS,TEAMS, TAAS) has been 5 years, we have decided it is not too early to plan the next test. To tie it into the Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills (TEKS) we are introducing the Motivationally Effective Kit of Surprises (MEKS), or TEKS-MEKS. This new complete testing instrument will be the known as the Texas Assessment of Cognitive Operations (TACO). It will have a remedial version (soft TACO), a regular version (hard TACO), and an advanced version which has many, many pages (the Gordita). The new tests will be graded on a normed curve (the TACO bell). Districts will be offered a final report of their standings: the Summative Administrative Assessment Survey (SAAS--pronounced sauce). Ratings may be excellent (TACO bueno), satisfactory (mild SAAS), or unsatisfactory (hot SAAS). Districts receiving the latter will be put on probation with a Basic Educational Appraisal - Not Satisfactory (BEANS). A second failing rating will earn the dreaded supplement: REmediation FactoRs IdentifiED (REFRIED BEANS), which will cause a lot of hot air at meetings.   Each week, Education World spotlights books of interest to educators. This week, read a brief summary of two more of our "top 50 books for educators." Montessori in the Classroom: A Teacher's Account of How Children Really Learn Montessori is one of those words in education that evokes a little mystery, especially for those of us who haven't really been immersed in the theories or practice associated with the name. This book takes an unusual approach to introducing us to Montessori: It is really a teacher's first-person account of the experience of teaching using Montessori methods, together with enough theory and practice to make it possible for other teachers to pick and choose those concepts that seem most applicable to their own "non-Montessori" classrooms. Click to learn more or to purchase this book. Case Studies for Teacher Problem Solving With 37 detailed case studies, this book takes almost a Harvard Business School approach to illuminating the problems teachers must solve in classrooms every day. Certainly, reading this book would present a classroom teacher with a number of situations that, even if he or she might never encounter those situations exactly, should open up new avenues of thought concerning situations indeed faced regularly. An advantage to this approach is its open-endedness; the reader is inspired to think independently rather than prescribed definite solutions. Click to learn more or to purchase this book. Click the icon to the right to see more books and many other products that are available in the Education World MarketPlace. ========================================================================== The Best of LEARNING GAMES If you enjoy Education World's weekly LEARNING GAMES feature, you'll love this book! Education World and the National Education Association (NEA) have joined forces to create a handy, pocket-size booklet of more than 30 of our most popular learning games. PLUS an extra bonus -- ten more games for classroom fun! These classroom games span the grades and the major subject areas -- and inject a healthy dose of fun into the serious business of teaching and learning. Looking to fill the end of a hectic day with something fun and educational? Looking for a great reward for students that will make valuable use of free time? Looking to reinforce basic skills with a fun activity? These games will fill the bill! Included in this 80-page booklet you'll find these games and more: Math Facts Race (Math, grades K-8) You Can Count on Spelling (Math and Language Arts, grades K-12) Find It... Fast! (All Subjects, grades K-12) Concentration Review Game (All Subjects, grades K-12) The Dictionary Game (Language Arts, grades 3-8) Play Ball: A Major League Review Game (All Subjects, grades K-12) Friendly Feud (All Subjects, grades K-12) Plus 35 more games! The Best of LEARNING GAMES is part of the Teacher Treasure Series, an NEA Professional Library Publication. http://store.nea.org/NEABookstore/control/productdetails?item_id=0696800 ========================================================================== Education World now incorporates www.SchoolNotes.com ~ "everybody on the same page!" The leading school-to-home communications platform, with FREE pages for teachers and automatic notification of parents and students when new homework is posted! For a modest $24.95 PER YEAR, upgrade to Personal Edition, "Super SchoolNotes," with thousands of resources linked to your state's standards. Click here for more information. ========================================================================== MORE FEATURES OF INTEREST! Reader's Theater More than two dozen scripts, perfect for the classroom. Best Books for Teaching About… Booklists for 30 popular teaching themes. Sign Up for Our Newsletters Ten free newsletters full of practical ideas. Special Education Center Tools for the special education community. TGIF Kick back and start your weekend off on a light note. Education World Techtorials Our tutorials take the terror out of technology. The Template Library A wide variety of templates to meet educators' needs. Wire Side Chats Each week, Education World chats with an expert in the field. Printables Library You're sure to find great resources here. Hundreds of printables! Meet Our Columnists Meet our team of columnists from many corners of the "education world." Teaching Themes for Early Childhood Sue LaBella offers teaching ideas for popular EC themes. Stress Relief Kit Take a deep breath. Then take a look here for great reading. Classroom Management 101 Real teachers share what they are doing to manage real classrooms. News for Kids News of our world written with kids in mind. Teacher's Guide included. ========================================================================== SIGN UP FOR OUR OTHER NEWSLETTERS We hope you enjoy receiving this Education World e-newsletter. Did you know that Education World offers eight other FREE weekly newsletters? Have you signed up to receive the... Education World JOBS NEWSLETTER? For those searching for a job in the education field, you will find new listings of teaching and administration jobs that have been submitted to Education World. 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