Lesson Learned! Next Generation Science Standards

As we move to implement Common Core State Standards across multiple content areas, what is the next step in our Science classrooms? This article addresses new developments along the road to the Next Generation Science Standards:

http://smartblogs.com/education/2012/11/27/lesson-learned-next-generation-standards-build-challenges-encountered-1990s-douglas-f-haller-ed-m/

Next Generation Science Standards: http://www.nextgenscience.org/

Learnist

http://learni.st/
Learnist is like Pinterest for education.

Here's a brief overview from teacher blogger Hauna Zaich on Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/learnist-in-the-classroom-hauna-zaich


A Pinterest-Like Tool for Educators

This summer I discovered the website Learnist. It's like a Pinterest for education, as it allows users to collect web resources and add them to "Learnboards" to educate an audience about a particular subject. (Here’s an in-depth summary from Grockit, the company behind Learnist.) Once I created my account, I was hooked. Learnist became a great way for me to organize my collection of websites and online resources, and I found that the Learnist bookmarklet -- which allows users to add a URL without traveling back to the site -- made developing my Learnboards effortless.

I gathered infographics for my mass media unit, study guides for documentaries, articles to demonstrate themes from 1984, and TED Talks to model speaking skills to sixth graders. By using the re-add function, I even drew from the robust educational resources shared by other professionals who use Learnist.

Now, I hope to start uploading my own curriculum in order to inspire and support others in the teaching community and fully represent the depth of my units. Learnist lets me share resources technologically, freely and easily. And it enables me to represent myself as a lifelong learner to my peers and to my students.

How to Prevent Cheating

"How to Prevent Cheating", by C.M. Rubin

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/c-m-rubin/education-cheating_b_2156034.html

This is a great interview with Denise Pope, a Stanford University professor who researches cheating and cheating prevention. She cites specific steps we can all take to help students make the right choices while deepening their overall educational experience. This is relevant to ongoing discussions we've been having in our departments about how best to address cheating.

Edutopia's Understanding Common Core

From Edutopia, here is a webpage with a plethora of Common Core State Standards resources of every variety:

Resources for Understanding the Common Core State Standards

http://www.edutopia.org/common-core-state-standards-resources 

Double Blocked Algebra

Good news for math support classes at GHS: This article, from Education Next, cites new research showing that double blocks of Algebra not only boost students' success in math, but also across the curriculum.

http://educationnext.org/increasing-instructional-time-for-algebra-boosts-student-performance-and-graduation-rates/

Off the Clock: Giving Students More Time to Demonstrate Learning

Why should students have to fail before they are given the basic accommodation of extra time, asks one teacher.

LINK HERE

Seven Ideas for Meaningful Parent-Teacher Conferences

Seven Ideas for Meaningful Parent-Teacher Conferences

With Parent Conferences on the horizon, here are some ideas for making sure these days are truly meaningful time. I especially liked #1, 2, 4 and 7. - Kristyn Westphal

Parent Engagement

Dear Staff -

As we continue to look at the best ways to support our P-70 students, parent engagement is something where we could often use some extra strategies or support, particularly if the parents speak a first language other than English. Here is a helpful article, video, and set of strategies for supporting your work in parent engagement.

Finding Your Grading Compass

Michael Williams writes:

Recognizing the purpose and role of grading and how grading practices influence student or teacher success is an interesting discussion we, as educators, need to have with ourselves and others.

Carol Ann Tomlinson's article Finding Your Grading Compass from the November 2011 issue of Effective Grading Practices may help that discussion develop and might even lead to improved teacher success in relation to student performance.

Oregon Writing Project

Two writing workshops are happening this week at Lewis & Clark. Mark Hansen, co-director of the Oregon Writing Project, will be giving a workshop on "Turning Stories into Essays: Fostering Community and Developing Academic Writing Skills." His workshop will be held on Wednesday, October 17, from 5-7 at Lewis & Clark Chapel. 

Amy Lindahl, biology teacher at Grant High School, will teach "Writing Great Lab Reports: Science Writing Strategies that Work" on October 18, from 5-7 pm in room 108 in Rogers Hall on the Lewis & Clark Campus. 

You can just show up. Each workshop costs $30; however, if you are a current Lewis & Clark mentor, you may attend for free. 

For complete workshop listings and registration formats at: go.lclark.edu/graduate/workshop/series

Why Kids Should Grade Teachers

Anne Williams writes -

This article was quite thought-provoking for me. I agree that students have a valuable perspective; as the article says, "Kids stared at their teachers for hundreds of hours a year, which might explain their expertise. Their survey answers, it turned out, were more reliable than any other known measure of teacher performance—­including classroom observations and student test-score growth."  I'm interested in the idea of seeing students' perspectives in order to help improve my teaching, rather than as part of a professional evaluation. Just the questions posed to students were helpful for me to think about.

Read article here

Making Time For Feedback

This week’s article excerpt speaks to the situation in which Grant teachers currently find themselves - many students, and compressed time to provide adequate feedback to all. This article has some timely suggestions for making feedback count.

Link to article found here.

Oregon Writers Project

Dear OWP Friends,

As you probably know, our 2012 NWTSJ conference is back in Portland this year, at Madison High School -- Saturday, October 20th. Registration is open at our revamped website: www.nwtsj.org.

Our keynote speaker this year is Bob Peterson. Bob is a founding editor of Rethinking Schools magazine, and co-editor of numerous Rethinking Schools books, including Rethinking Elementary Education, Rethinking Mathematics, Rethinking Globalization, Rethinking Columbus, and Transforming Teacher Unions. He is also a founder of La Escuela Fratney, a two-way bilingual elementary school in Milwaukee, Wisc. Bob is currently the elected president of the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association.

As in years past, we'll be offering more than 60 outstanding workshops from educators around the Northwest. Many of the workshops will be facilitated by OWP teachers. Some of this year's workshops include:

-- Performance Slam Poetry: A tool for cross-cultural communication
-- Hidden Agender: Improving gender equity in your classroom
-- Education and Capitalism: Struggles for learning and liberation
-- Supporting Undocumented American Youth in Uncertain Times
-- Talking Back to Statistics: Mathematics as a tool for inquiry into the issue of gun violence
-- Understanding the Middle East Through Children's Literature
-- Scandalous! Examining scandals as student empowerment and unit focus
-- Social Justice Unionism
-- Empowering Students Through Action Research & Storytelling to Transform School Culture

And many, many more.

The conference also features a resource fair with exhibitors from community groups, social justice organizations, and non-profit publishers.

The NWTSJ conference is sponsored by Portland Area Rethinking Schools, Puget Sound Rethinking Schools, Olympia Educators for Social Justice, Social Equality Educators (Portland and Seattle), Oregon Writing Project, and Rethinking Schools magazine.

Spread the word and plan to join us Saturday, October 20th at Madison High School in Portland.www.nwtsj.org. Those of you who have attended one of our conferences know what an inspirational and idea-packed event this is. Don't miss it.

Curiosity in the Classroom

Intel and Discovery Education have teamed up to create a website “designed to bring teachers, students and families on a journey through life’s biggest questions”. Lesson plans and videos are designed for students in grades 6-12, and focus on STEM subjects.

Curiosity in the Classroom