Bullying!

The Center of Social and Emotional Education identifies research whereby bullying can be reduced up to 50 percent when there's a schoolwide commitment to ending it. Why should a school be committed to reducing bullying? Well, considering Maslow's hiearchy of needs, it becomes easy to understand a student who is physically or emotionally intimidated will not be having basic safety needs nor love and belonging needs satisfied. Therefore his or her education WILL be adversely affected. Any teacher, class, or school truly commited to building a sense of community MUST recognize bullying is an act that should inspire moral outrage.
Stand Up to Bullying! If you are feeling apathetic about this need, don't worry! Your apathy and lack of empathy is the very reason why bullying needs to be addressed directly and systematically. Given my AAA model required for system change (Awareness... Acceptance...then Action), minimally allow yourself the opportunity to become more aware of bullying and the problems it causes. Bully Prevention Awareness Week begins this Sunday, October 4, and the whole child partner: The Center for Social and Emotional Education is providing a variety of resources, including powerpoints, to help engage students and adults to both prevent bullying and encourage "upstander" behavior.
To find out more, visit:http://www.bullybust.org/
The Keith Valley Middle School in Horsham, PA is implimenting a Bullying Prevention Program called KV K'NEX . As part of this program, during the first week of school a guest speaker was invited to speak with the entire school. John Halligan and his wife lost their 13 year old son, Ryan, to suicide in 2003 because of bullying at school.
Take a few moments for professional development and explore the wealth of available resources to help raise awareness.

Some Tips for Student Teachers and First-Year Teachers

Student teaching is both a rewarding and challenging time. A teacher's first year is a time of professional growth beyond imagination! The following links should provide valuable resources during this initial foray toward pedagogical growth:
http://712educators.about.com/od/teachingstrategies/tp/studentteaching.htm

http://www.teachingheart.net/newteacher.html

Stay Informed About H1N1 Flu Virus.

The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) has developed a H1N1 Web page , designed to be your definitive source for the latest H1N1 virus developments and resources. The website's mission is to help minimize the flu's effect on student learning by utilizing a variety of resources and information from ASCD, the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and others. The web-page will be continually updated as more resources and information become available.

Links to Content-Specific Resources

The internet provides a wealth of resources for in-service and pre-service teachers. Becoming wise consumers of information and learning to identify effective websites compared to those primarily seeking to sell a service is an important skill in itself. The goal of this post with embedded links is to provide resources that will make an educator's work more efficient and effective.

Multidisciplinary:

The New York State Education Department's (NYSED) Curriculum, Instruction & Instructional Technology (CI&IT) E-Blast home page is available and provides links to content-specific resources, E-Blast archives and employment opportunities. Interested parties can receive email notifications of the monthly CI&IT E-Blast news and updates by sending an email request by clicking on the link below. Please submit all relevant contact information in your request. Sign up for E-Blast email notifications

S.C.O.R.E. - Schools of California Online Resources for Educators provides a lot of links in math, science, social studies, and language arts, including full lesson plans with embedded links for resources.

History and Social Studies:

ProjectExplorer provides students with access to peoples and places theymay never have seen or knew existed. ProjectExplorer’s online film series, photos, travel blogs, and encyclopedia-style research are provided free-of-charge. ProjectExplorer’s programs cover multiple subject areas that foster cross-cultural understanding. This site features blogs, movies, cultural info, and more about countries and regions around the world. Currently developed for middle, elementary and higher (lower elementary under development) in Jordan,South Africa and Shakespeare's England, the development continues. The principals are all young adults, and the orientation is fresh andinquisitive.

World History for Us All is a powerful, innovative model curriculum for teaching world history in middle and high schools. World History for Us All is a national collaboration of K-12 teachers, collegiate instructors, and educational technology specialists. It is a project of San Diego State University in cooperation with the National Center for History in the Schools at UCLA. World History for Us All is a continuing project. Elements under development will appear on the site in the coming months.

The goal of the Just Choices program is to assist teachers in encouraging grade 6-12 students to explore new ideas and reevaluate old ones while developing a strong understanding and appreciation of historical and contemporary social justice movements. Through this program, students will learn how their everyday choices affect others in society and will be inspired to take on issues with passionate civic engagement. Teachers can order a free teacher's guide, worksheets, poster, and video.

Science:

Google Earth is a wonderful educational resource. Glenn A. Richard of Stony Brook University created a website that provides great strategies, including ready-to-use classroom activities, when using Google Earth for teaching geoscience

With its website, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute offers curious students the opportunity to explore biology...on screen, off screen, and in between. The Institute also offers free curriculum materials (including video tapes and/or DVDs!) on science topics for older students.

Physics may have been easy for Dr Einstein but the rest of use could benefit from having a great set of online games that demostrate physics concepts.

English Language and Linguistics:
Language in Use advances the philosophy of "hear it, see it, understand it, use it." The website aims to help students learn about - and teachers teach - the English language. There are tasks to help work through the material, expert advice and strategies for identifying unknown texts.

Grammar:

Grammar Monster is a great reference site that also acts as a tutorial

Why Education Needs to Be an Essential Element of Pollution Reduction Policy

Generally speaking "Cap and Trade" (C+T) is an environmental policy designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which is created by fossil fuels (oil, coal). Naturally, lobbyists for those industries are going to be critical of such a policy. C+T is also called "allowance trading", which seems to emphasize the economics and flexibility elements of the policy over the goal of pollution reduction. Any good idea for reducing greenhouse gases and controlling pollution is accountable to intelligent implementation. This includes C+T policy. Implementation shouldn't just focus upon economic incentives for achieving reductions in emissions. Education can be the greatest influence on behavior.
Sadly though, economics is what usually drives implementation of C+T policy, which will thereby make it either effective or doomed for failure. Currently C+T policy is at the macro level (big companies) but what if it was brought down to the level of individual responsibility (micro level)? Would it be beneficial for a single guy (no family or business requiring such a vehicle) to be "responsible" for his Hummer's comparative excessive carbon emissions? If another guy purchased a pollution free liquid hydrogen vehicle (initially at higher cost), should Mr "Pollution Free Vehicle" be encouraged to trade/sell his carbon credits to Mr "11 MPG Hummer"? Would such a micro level plan be more effective for further reducing total carbon dioxide emissions? Likewise, would charging for those plastic grocery bags add an incentive to consumers to bring reusable bags to their grocery stores?
Currently, the macro level C+T policy, in place since 1990, has been effective for reducing targeted areas of emission pollution so better implementation, emphasizing the cap on emissions rather than the trade of credits, should prove effective. Unfortunately, discussions on the effective implementation bring in politics influenced by the aforementioned lobbyists and partisanship desiring power rather than a universal desire to promote the important goal of pollution reduction.
Education must become an essential element of any policy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. When education on the importance of reducing polluting emissions is undertaken then the subsequent discussions on effective practices will become wiser and less partisan. It is essential for effective educators to be consumers and purveyors of knowledge related to global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, alternative energy, and government policy related to each.

What is the Whole Child Initiative?

The Whole Child Initiative proposes a broader definition of achievement and accountability that promotes the development of children who are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. The Learning Compact Redefined: A Call to Action, recommends a new compact with our young people. The Compact asks local, state, and national policymakers to ensure conditions that support comprehensive approaches to learning—for engaging the whole child.
It asks that communities look at the whole picture and make sure that:
Each student enters school healthy and learns about and practices a healthy lifestyle.
Each student learns in an intellectually challenging environment that is physically and emotionally safe for students and adults.
Each student is actively engaged in learning and is connected to the school and broader community.
Each student has access to personalized learning and is supported by qualified, caring adults.
Each graduate is challenged by a well-balanced curriculum and is prepared for success in college or further study and for employment in a global environment.
Download ASCD's whole child podcast on the first Thursday of every month and listen to archived episodes.
ASCD's Whole Child home page is found at: http://www.wholechildeducation.org/

What is the Task Force on Quality Inclusive Schools?

New York Higher Education Support Center (HESC) for Systems Change is an initiative of the Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID) within the State Education Department. The HESC was established at Syracuse University in 2001 as an outgrowth of the NY Partnership for Statewide Systems Change.
The HESC is committed to two goals:
1) To develop and to sustain high quality inclusive teacher preparation programs.
2) To engage in and to support the professional development efforts of selected schools in the seven regions of New York State.
http://www.inclusion-ny.org/region/nyc