Ed News Bytes

Inspiration from nature

2010-10-19T12:31:00.002+10:00

‎"Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn." -Elizabeth Lawrence

Hope you're enjoying the beautiful wonders of fall! Here's a movie to inspire you. Click on the picture or here => http://bit.ly/b4NYn5

Powerpoint for teachers

2009-05-18T17:42:00.002+10:00

The website is designed to provide tips to improve technical aspects and ideas to help you make your powerpoint engaging in a classroom setting

Brain POP at school

2009-05-10T17:30:00.000+10:00

BrainPOP is an educational program, providing content spanning 6 main subjects including: Science, Math, English, Social Studies, Health and Technology. Within each subject, you will find hundreds of short, animated movies that speak to kids in a language and voice that they understand. Developed according to national standards (NCTM, NSES, & NCTE), BrainPOP's topics present students with an engaging, enlightening, and entertaining view of a given subject.

Visit Brain Pop

Comics across the Curriculum: Science, Math and Technology

2009-05-09T06:55:00.000+10:00

The combination of images, words and storytelling can be used to communicate just about anything. Exploring that notion, we spoke to cartoonists, authors and educators about how comics and graphic novels can be used to help readers learn and foster an enduring curiosity about science, technology and math. (full story)

The Evolution Revolution

2009-05-08T08:14:00.000+10:00

The Evolution Revolution

(From l.): Mary Ann Hoberman,
Deborah Heiligman, Tijs Goldschmidt
and Vicki Cobb.

Two hundred years after Charles Darwin began a discussion of human evolution, people are still talking. The discussion, and specifically the issue of teaching evolution to children, continued Sunday at a PEN World Voices panel held at powerHouse Books in Brooklyn. Entitled, "Evolution for Children: The Fight Goes On," the panel brought together authors Vicky Cobb, Tijs Goldschmidt, Deborah Heiligman and Mary Ann Hoberman, all of whom have been in the forefront in one way or another in the quest to keep the teaching of evolution in schools.

Reading is fundamental

2009-05-06T19:58:00.000+10:00

Reading Is Fundamental, UK is an initiative of the National Literacy Trust that helps children and young people (aged 0 to 19) to realise their potential by motivating them to read. We promote the fun of reading, the importance of book choice and the benefits to families of having books at home. Our projects provide motivational activities, opportunities for family and community involvement, and free books for children to choose and keep.

Periodic table of comic books

2009-05-05T15:59:00.000+10:00

http://www.uky.edu/Projects/Chemcomics/index.html
"Click on an element to see a list of comic book pages involving that element," then click on thumbnails to see the whole strip. Another wonderfully sneaky way to interest kids in science.

Teacher Appreciation Week

2009-05-05T10:06:00.002+10:00

"Often, when I am reading a good book, I stop and thank my teacher."

– Anonymous

One great teacher can make all the difference. Teachers may not always see the impact of their work on kids and families, but the testimonies we received from parents, teachers, and students themselves are proof that good teaching is a powerful thing. Read the notes of appreciation for inspiration to send an e-card to a teacher who has made a difference in your life. and more ...

Micromodules - short Internet lessons

2009-05-02T15:35:00.002+10:00

IMSA's Free Online MicroModules teaching and learning packages are short, self-directed lessons covering a wide range of Internet topics. MicroModules address knowledge, skills and dispositions needed to locate, evaluate and use Internet resources in a learning environment. Taking only 10-60 minutes to complete, the individual modules can be used by anyone from sixth grade through adult learners. Many modules have audio/video components, making them more interesting.

Get the link here

Picking the Right School for an Education Grad Degree

2009-05-02T06:58:00.000+10:00

Is it more important to go to a great school or a school near where you want to teach?

When California resident Joshua Arnold gained acceptance to Harvard University's Graduate School of Education, his decision to attend seemed simple—the school is first rate, and Harvard offered him a full scholarship. Harvard's mix of innovative theory and practical experience was exhilarating, but Arnold isn't sure how well it prepared him for the challenges he faces as a principal in South Central Los Angeles, knowledge he might have gained had he gone to ed school closer to home. "My program never talked about educating Latino students in the ways I needed or wanted," Arnold says. "Educating Latino students is not as much of a concern in Boston as it is in Los Angeles. In L.A. it's a really critical issue." ... read more

What Can Cognitive Psychology Do For Teachers?

2009-04-29T06:55:00.000+10:00

What, if anything, can knowledge gleaned from cognitive psychology do for classroom teachers? I have heard the gamut of opinions on this subject, from “Anyone who is not a teacher cannot tell teachers anything of value” to “Cognitive science is going to save American education.” (The former opinion was expressed by a teacher; the latter by a college president.)

Let me make explicit what, in my view, results from cognitive psychology can and cannot do for teachers.

read on ...

FIT kids act

2009-04-26T11:43:00.000+10:00

Students from Eagan High School in Eagan, Minnesota, discuss the FIT Kids Act and changes to current P.E. standards.

View

When Love Hurts, Schools Can Help

2009-04-23T07:49:00.000+10:00

Chris Brown’s arrest for assaulting Rihanna may have placed a national spotlight on dating violence, but with one in five high school girls reporting that they’re physically or sexually hurt by their partner, chances are that one may be a student of yours. Health teacher Ann Burke of North Kingstown, RI, created the Lindsay Ann Burke Memorial Fund to educate 7th through 12th graders about dating violence after her daughter was murdered a few years ago by her ex-boyfriend.

Did you have any hint that this would happen to Lindsay?

I had an idea. No one else did. Everyone else said it wouldn’t go that far. Even though she hadn’t admitted to it, in my gut I thought something like this could happen. I was frantic. A lot of mothers have that gut feeling. But it’s not like I knew immediately. Lindsay, like us, had never been educated in domestic violence or dating violence. We didn’t know anyone who had experienced it. But I saw things that didn’t seem right, some red flags, and I started asking around. more » » »

European study shows when teachers like science, students do too

2009-04-22T17:39:00.000+10:00

Did you ever blame your teacher for hating science? If you answered yes, you're not alone. New research shows that the shrinking number of students in Europe who choose to study science is influenced by how schools and teachers shape their attitudes. .. more

Tech Giants Offer Help to Schools Seeking Stimulus Money

2009-04-20T09:54:00.000+10:00

Tech Giants Offer Help to Schools Seeking Stimulus Money
Anthony Salcito understands the economic challenges K–12 schools face today. That's why the general manager of U.S. education for Microsoft says the $115 billion in federal stimulus money earmarked for education has spurred the tech giant into action. “We’re focused on how we can partner with schools on using these funds,” says Salcito. “We can help articulate the roadmap and connect the dots.”

Other tech firms, including Apple, have also begun contacting schools, with some of them offering to set up seminars and webcasts to walk educators through the process of how to capture some of the money—and, of course, suggest ways to use it. more » » »

Carrying water

2009-04-17T18:18:00.000+10:00

(LP/MP):

Students explore a variety of ways water is collected where there is no infrastructure to deliver it to people's homes.

http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/3340

U.K. Mulls Blogging, Tweeting, Podcasting in Primary School Curriculum

2009-04-12T18:55:00.000+10:00

Blogging, tweeting, and podcasting are all good and fun, but what about including them in the school curriculum? Folks in the U.K. are considering an overhaul of their elementary school curriculum—and a draft proposal requires kids to master these Web technologies, reports the Guardian.

The proposed curriculum—which would also give teachers more freedom to decide what students concentrate on in classes—marks the biggest change to the U.K.’s primary school education in a decade, and “strips away hundreds of specifications about the scientific, geographical and historical knowledge pupils must accumulate before they are 11,” the Guardian says. more » » »

Discovery Conference Welcomes Educators Both in Person and Online

2009-04-11T18:13:00.000+10:00

Discovery Conference Welcomes Educators Both in Person and Online
Educators looking to freshen their lesson plans this year might want to check out Spring Into Action, Discovery Education’s fourth annual virtual conference to help teachers incorporate digital content into classwork.

Set for Saturday, April 25, the conference features both webcasts and 13 in-person events across the country highlighted by a virtual lecture, “Building School 2.0,” by Chris Lehmann, principal of the Science Leadership Academy, a Philadelphia high school. more » » »

Industry makes pitch that smartphones belong in the classroom

2009-04-10T18:03:00.001+10:00

The cellphone industry has a suggestion for improving the math skills of American students: spend more time on cellphones in the classroom.

http://adjix.com/4k67

Myers and Co launch 2nd chances

2009-04-07T14:42:00.001+10:00

Author Walter Dean Myers has joined forces with AdLit.org, the National Education Association and the National Council of Teachers of English for a new initiative called “Second Chances,” which is reaching out to parents, teachers and others who have an influence on the lives of children and teens.

check out the AdLit Web site.

Education Secretary Duncan Supports LGBT Anti-Bullying Efforts in Schools

2009-04-03T18:22:00.001+10:00

Education Secretary Arne Duncan says he’s committed to making schools safe for all students, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender expression.

To back up his words, Duncan recently met with Eliza Byard, executive director of the nonprofit Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), and a delegation of students and teachers to talk about the importance of anti-bullying efforts to the administration’s education reform agenda. more » » »

The Semantic Web in Education

2009-04-02T11:23:00.000+10:00

What happens when the read-write web gets smart enough to help us organize and evaluate the information it provides?

By Jason Ohler

The mantra of the information age has been “The more information the better!” But what happens when we search the web and get so much information that we can’t sort through it, let alone evaluate it? Enter the semantic web, or Web 3.0. Among other things, the semantic web makes information more meaningful to people by making it more understandable to machines.

... more

Educational cyber-playground

2009-03-31T21:35:00.001+10:00

http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/

“Provides information about U.S. K-12 public, private, and charter schools in all 50 states. Find Content for Music, Teachers, Internet, Technology, Literacy, Arts and Linguistics. For students, teachers, parents, and policy makers.”

Teaching Twitter could become a class act

2009-03-27T08:24:00.001+10:00

Saved

British school students may soon be learning about William Shakespeare and Ashton Kutcher.

British schoolchildren may soon be studying the tweets of Ashton Kutcher along with the sonnets of Shakespeare.

A leaked Government report due to be released shortly, recommends that British primary school teachers be given much more flexibility in deciding what lessons to teach.

And while it emphasises the continued necessity of teaching traditional subjects such as spelling, history and arithmetic, it also recommends that students be taught about online media and instructed about web-based skills including how to use a spell checker.

Magic studio

2009-03-26T20:06:00.001+10:00

http://www.magicstudio.co.uk/

“Magic Studio enables you to build and share interactive learning resources quickly and easily, with no specialist skills required. It's an online service so you don't have to install any complicated software - you can access your account from anywhere with a broadband connection. This means you can prepare content when and where it's convenient and have the flexibility to deliver learning wherever it's needed, both in and outside the classroom.”