Volume 12, Issue 2 January 14

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This weekly newsletter is published by Education World®, the largest FREE resource on the Web for teachers and school administrators. Don't miss our eight other FREE newsletters. Education World posts new content daily--bookmark us to get every new article and resource! January 14, 2013 Volume 12, Issue 2 This Week's Featured Story: Students in an App-Based World Sections Lesson Plans Professional Development Technology Administrators Education Headlines

This week's newsletter is brought to you by Ready®. Ready® makes a huge difference in student proficiency. Recent research shows that in one urban community in New York with more than 250 schools, the ones that used Ready® for only a few months had a significantly higher percentage of students achieving proficiency on the 2013 New York State Assessment—a measure of student mastery on the Common Core— than schools that did not use Ready. See why it works—download a sample lesson.

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Lesson Plans

Timely and Practical Lesson Ideas Lesson Plan Booster: Was Einstein Wrong? Recent findings concerning the gravitational interaction of three dead stars could poke holes in Einstein’s famous theory. Five Lessons for Teaching About Tolerance These lessons teach about Dr. King’s dream of a world where people are judged by their character, not their skin color. Best Instructional Videos: Geology Geology may be a science that moves very slowly, but a number of videos bring the subject to life for students. Lesson to Celebrate Diversity: The Unity Necklace Students use the activity of building a necklace to learn more about each other and explore diversity. Lesson: What is Hip-Hop? This creative lesson lets 6th to12th-graders define hip-hop and think about its cultural significance. Character Lesson: Connect With Yourself Grade K-6 students express desired character traits through a personalized art activity. Search for more lesson plans by subject. Explore our full collection of Lesson Plans of the Day. This Week’s Teacher-Submitted Lesson Plan Outgroup Experiment Reveals Bias, Stereotyping Let students experience the bias and stereotyping often experienced by people who are different. (Grades 6-12) See more Teacher-Submitted Lesson Plans. This Week’s Early Childhood Resource Winter Beach Party Turn up the heat, turn on the bright lights, play some beach music, and serve summer treats. See more Early Childhood Activities. Fun Features Here are a few of EducationWorld’s many learning games and activities. Classroom Olympic Games Grade 3-12 students compete in activities that emphasize skills and knowledge as well as some luck. Internet Scavenger Hunt: Winter Weather Watch Kids research facts about winter storms. Like these? We’ve got hundreds more, many of which include convenient printables: Backpack-tivities Seeking fun ways to involve parents and guardians? Try these take-home activities. It All Adds Up Students use challenging math puzzlers to practice skills. Word Search Puzzles Kids practice spelling and critical thinking with these classic activities. Mystery State Students learn state facts while solving these mysteries.

Bookmark our home page, EducationWorld.com, and come back often to find new content posted daily. From Web site reviews to iPad app reviews. From strategies that work to worksheets. From Every-Day Edits to holiday ideas. From classroom tips to classroom tech. From lesson of the day to weekly headlines. From 5-minute fillers to Lesson Boosters.

Professional Development

Featured Cold-Weather Student Safety: Parent Tips Share these tips with parents to keep students safe when playing outside in the cold. A Samurai’s Perspective on the Classroom If professional development seminars aren’t getting the job done, consider the advice of a 16th-century Japanese swordsman. Eight Grammar Survival Tricks Teach students these tips to help them ace the grammar section of the SAT. Infuse Video-Game Motivation into Traditional Lessons Gamification is way for teachers to successfully teaching both the content and a love of learning. Teach Kids to Control Their Volume Level Use a "traffic light" to help students understand the level of quiet they are expected to maintain. The Appeal of What’s Real How am I ensuring that students know how this concept relates to their lives? To access more great content, check out our Professional Development Archive and our Professional Development Channel Page. Highlighted Columnist Dr. Fred Jones: Tools for Teaching Tips for Substitutes Get advice for when you are about to have a substitute, and when you are about to be a substitute. See more Professional Development Columnists. This Week's Classroom Tips Differentiated Instruction, Flexibility Make Multi-Age Classes Work Find tips for planning lessons in multi-grade classes. Access additional Classroom Management Tips.

Explore the Education World Community The new Education World Community, a FREE professional network for educators, offers teachers and administrators the opportunity to meaningfully interact with others in the field. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out this powerful resource.  Join today!

Technology

Featured Students in an App, App, App, App World Learn what it means to be “app-dependent” versus “app-enabled,” and how this affects today’s students. iPad App Review: ABC Circus This app teaches younger learners letter writing, letter names/sounds, and letter phonics. Tech in the Classroom: Google Chromebook Chromebooks are inexpensive laptops running Google’s Chrome browser and offering more functionality than a tablet. Teaching “Relative and Absolute” in Excel This is a difficult Excel concept for students to grasp. Read ideas for teaching it effectively. Sites to See: Support Staff Get resources for paraprofessionals, school nurses, bus drivers, custodians, food service workers and others. The Learning Machine The Science Machine: Sun, Light & Shadows Science Topics: Light, astronomy (Grades 2-4) The Math Machine: Cookie Dough Math Skills: spelling number words; converting number words to digits; place value (Grades K-5) The Reading Machine: Fun City Reading Skills: spelling (Grades 1-3)

Administrators

Featured Use Crowdfunding to Raise Money: Top 9 Tips Schools are increasingly turning to this 21st-century method of fundraising. Learn how to do it right. Ask Dr. Lynch: Constructivist Leadership for Schools Constructivism occurs when schools foster a trusting environment that awakens potential, does away with old assumptions and creates meaning. U.S. News Ranks Top Online Programs The rankings help students who are increasingly seeking online education programs. What's the Most Frustrating Part of Being a Principal? Principals reflect on unfunded mandates, kids who fall through the cracks, a lack of parent support and more. Graphic Agendas for Lively Meetings Keep the group on track, clarify the work to be done, and have some fun at the same time. Red Carpet Readers "A Night at the Oscars" event highlighted the connection between reading and the silver screen. Highlighted Columnist Pete Hall: 57 Games A "can't" attitude is the only thing holding back many schools from breaking achievement records. To browse more Administrator Columns, visit our archive.

Education Headlines

When Computers Are Co-Teachers Here at the charter school Aspire Titan Academy, a principal, 12 teachers, and more than 300 students have signed on to a controversial learning revolution. For nearly three hours a day, they are trading large group instruction for a more personalized approach, one that relies on technology to help with teaching. Students Stranded After Hundreds of Miami-Dade School Bus Drivers Miss Work Scores of Miami-Dade students were late to school Friday--and some briefly stranded at their bus stops--when hundreds of bus drivers declined to show up for work in an apparent protest over wages and benefits. Oklahoma Bill Would Ease School Policies on Imaginary, Toy Guns Schoolchildren in Oklahoma could not be punished for chewing their breakfast pastries into the shape of a gun, under a bill introduced this week by a Republican legislator. Former School Principal Says She Was Fired for Opposing 'Disrespectful' Practice Noelle Roni, former principal of Peak to Peak Elementary School, says higher-ups at the school became angry with her when she demanded that cafeteria workers stop stamping the hands of children who did not have enough money in their account to pay for lunch. School-Based Mentoring Helps Students With Attendance, Grades and Self-Esteem Some drawing and a slice of pizza can be enough to spark a friendship that can last for many years. A mentor "Try-It" lunch Thursday at Oscar Howe Elementary School let adults check out the school-based mentor program without making a commitment. Granite Falls Parents Angry Over School's Handling of Online Student Threats Parents packed a meeting at Granite Falls High School on Thursday night, outraged about how the school has been handling online death threats made to students. State Launches Probe of EBR School System The state is launching an investigation of the East Baton Rouge Parish school system amid allegations of "discrepancies among student graduation records," state Superintendent of Education John White said Thursday. NY-Based Democracy Prep to Take Over Struggling Imagine Southeast Charter School New York-based charter school operator Democracy Prep has agreed to take over Imagine Southeast, a large public charter elementary school in Ward 8 that narrowly escaped being closed last year for poor academic performance. Other Items of Interest Community Discussion of the Week Name an EdTech trend you see for 2014. How will it transform K-12 education?

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Schoolnotes.com School-To-Home Communication Now, New.SchoolNotes.com is the FREE platform that can help keep you, your students, and their parents "on the same page." You can post homework, create and share flashcards, keep a calendar of upcoming events, and upload documents, images, and favorite URLs all to YOUR page! Students and parents can automatically receive notification when you update your SchoolNotes page.

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