Saturday, June 9, 2012

MzTeachuh: Specialize as a Teacher Tweets of the Day (6/9/12)...

MzTeachuh: Specialize as a Teacher Tweets of the Day (6/9/12)...: This information is from the state of California, but a teacher can specialize anywhere. Be inspired. http://www.ctc.ca.gov/cre...

Specialize as a Teacher Tweets of the Day (6/9/12)

This information is from the state of California, but a teacher can specialize anywhere. Be inspired.

http://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/CREDS/specialist-instruct.html

Specialist Instruction Credential

Specialist Instruction Credentials authorize the holder to teach or provide services in the area of specialization listed on the credential. All specialist instruction credentials require the individual to complete a Commission-accredited program in the area of specialization, or an equivalent preparation program at a regionally-accredited institution outside of California.

Agriculture Specialist Instruction
Early Childhood Education Specialist Instruction
Gifted Education Specialist Instruction
Health Science Specialist Instruction
Mathematics Specialist Instruction

I am putting up this info to inspire you to diversify, keeping competitive in the teaching market. Check what may be up and coming in your area.

There are many ways to obtain specialized credentials also.

The information below is from this link: http://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/default-current.html

Credentials

It is wise to improve your knowledge of technology.Here's a couple of links to give you some background if you're not the 'tech guy' at school.

Encouraging Teacher Technology Use

http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech159.shtml

This site has a large variety of resources to inspire you to expand your expertise.

A General Education teacher can also have training to collaborate with Special Education and mainstream students with handicaps. This teacher flexibility aids the kids and makes a teacher more valuable in the big picture.

MzTeachuh: Summer: Vivaldi and Van Gogh

MzTeachuh: Summer: Vivaldi and Van Gogh: Poppies and Butterflies, Van Gogh The intensity of insects buzzing, the sirocco searing across your face. Flowers bloom then fade daily...

Summer: Vivaldi and Van Gogh

Poppies and Butterflies, Van Gogh

The intensity of insects buzzing, the sirocco searing across your face. Flowers bloom then fade daily. Can music sound like the dizzying daze of summer? Vivaldi thought so.

Antonio Vivaldi - Summer (Full) - The Four Seasons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY1p-FmjT1M

(P.S. Don't forget to hydrate. Just listening to this can make you thirsty.)

MzTeachuh: I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthen...

MzTeachuh: I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthen...: Another metaphor--it's always darkest just before the dawn. Hang tough, friends.

I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me

Another metaphor--it's always darkest just before the dawn (uptick).

Hang tough, friends.

Friday, June 8, 2012

MzTeachuh: Rachmaninoff and Ivan Aivazovsky--Just for my Rus...

MzTeachuh: Rachmaninoff and Ivan Aivazovsky--Just for my Rus...: The Tenth Wave (1850) Ivan Aivazovsky All the movement of the sea and also human emotions. Sergei Rachmaninoff plays his Piano Co...

Rachmaninoff and Ivan Aivazovsky--Just for my Russian Friends

The Tenth Wave (1850) Ivan Aivazovsky

All the movement of the sea and also human emotions.

Sergei Rachmaninoff plays his Piano Concerto No. 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8l37utZxMQ

MzTeachuh: Summer in the City

MzTeachuh: Summer in the City: Yep, that's the city. Fire hydrants and sidewalks. I found some advice on how to deal with the steaming hot city summers. With music, to...

Summer in the City

Yep, that's the city. Fire hydrants and sidewalks.

I found some advice on how to deal with the steaming hot city summers. With music, too.

Lovin' Spoonful - Summer In The City (1966)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbQK-w2ARsw&feature=related

'Summer In The City: Urban Strategies for Keeping Cool'

http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/summer-in-the-city-urban-strategies-for-keeping-cool.html

Go to the pool or the park

Visit a Museum

Find a Fire Hydrant (in a suburb? find a lawn sprinkler)

Hitting the bookstores

Grocery Store Freezers (don't forget to buy a Sidewalk Sundae.)

I think they have Sidewalk Sundaes in New York.

Some cities have beaches, or lakes, or rivers.

More music!

The Drifters perform 'Under the Boardwalk' live on QVC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjD0Ne3CuaY

Or maybe up on the roof when you need some quiet time.

The Drifters perform 'Up on the Roof' live

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1441644043303616609#editor/target=post;postID=3036047768121187518

Or maybe a summer day in a Chicago city park with a picnic and music--the Fourth of July?

I could dig it.

Chicago.- Saturday in the park Original

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEm7IY6wrSw&feature=related

Chicago: music, park and picnic

I would also say baseball, but the park in San Francisco is always just the right temperature, and I don't want to make the Dodgers fans upset.


The stadium for the S F Giants is a work of art itself.

Carly Simon: Take Me Out to the Ballgame

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRqHM6dOUJI

MzTeachuh: Improve Your Reading Tweets of the Day (6/8/12)

MzTeachuh: Improve Your Reading Tweets of the Day (6/8/12): Is improving reading always a task? Some folks think not. I think the point of this article is the difference between exercising with you...

Improve Your Reading Tweets of the Day (6/8/12)

Is improving reading always a task? Some folks think not.

I think the point of this article is the difference between exercising with your kids and the dog in the park and joining the Marines. Reading can be a kicking back experience that improves your skills as well as a full-on concentrating assault.

1. '7 Pleasurable Ways to Improve Your Reading Ability'

http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/7-pleasurable-ways-to-improve-your-reading-ability/

Joke books are good.

1. Read about things that interest you.

2. Read material that is at your level, or just a little difficult for you.

3. Learn to read in depth, stay on the same subject for a while.

4. If you have trouble reading, listen first.

5. Let your imagination get involved.

6. Don’t worry about what you don’t understand.

7. Recognize that the key is to read a lot.

2. 'Strategies to Improve Reading Skills at Home or School

Reading Improvement Strategies'

http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/instructionalmaterials/a/actvtoimprvread.htm

This article emphasizes various method for improvement for those with learning disabilities that could be auditory or visual.

3. Here is the Cal Poly link again. I believe it was put together for the students there. It is very good, not judgmental, very logical, even kind.

http://sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl/readingimprovement.html

MzTeachuh: Film Review: Prometheus

MzTeachuh: Film Review: Prometheus: A very perfect prequel. Questions answered, new ones proposed. Couldn't ask for more. Ripley the original. Shaw--will she succeed? ...

Film Review: Prometheus

A very perfect prequel. Questions answered, new ones proposed. Couldn't ask for more.

Love the heroines in these films. Ripley, the defiant. Shaw the irrepressible. Two tough cookies. The Alien franchise does it again. Thank you Ripleys.

The philosophical questions aren't really burdensome in this films, they almost make sense. Actually, in alignment with the other Alien franchise, this movie does make sense. Only a sci fi fan could say that. Although in 2091, you would think scientist/explorers would leave their helmets on while investigating an alien planet. Enough said.

Shaw--will she succeed?

Ripley the original.

This film really earns an 'R' rating. Please don't take young children to this. It's really gross. Remember, this is a huge screen they would see this on. Even early teens really shouldn't see this.

I will forgive them using Chopin's 'Raindrops,' but just barely. Classical music should be pristeen.

I suggest only watching the teaser trailer, the second gives quite a bit away.

Prometheus Teaser Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XrKAQioPR8&feature=relmfu

Prometheus - Official Full HD Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHcHYisZFLU

I am absolutely waiting for the next film to see what happens with Shaw (woops, did I give anything away?)

MzTeachuh: Thank You Cal Poly: Reading Improvement Ideas

MzTeachuh: Thank You Cal Poly: Reading Improvement Ideas: This is a no-big-deal approach to reading improvement from the science rich campus of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. This can really help. The...

Thank You Cal Poly: Reading Improvement Ideas

This is a no-big-deal approach to reading improvement from the science rich campus of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. This can really help.

The Basic Program -
1. Two or three times a day, read something you enjoy for 15 to 20 minutes without stopping. Time yourself to within 30 seconds.
2. Record your reading rate and chart your progress. Recording and charting are essential if you wish to make real progress.
Speed - push yourself gently as you read. If your mind wanders, get it back on track.
Vocabulary - Wait until you've finished reading to look up unfamiliar words. (If you stop, you'll reduce your level of comprehension.)
Comprehension - to improve comprehension, recite the chapter after closing the book. See how many specific details you can recall. The more you interact with your text, the more you'll recall. Recollection and comprehension require a vigorous approach.
Practice - twice a week for an hour, use Speed Reader II at the Academic Skills Center. This excellent computer reading program will boost your rate, eventually resulting in skill transfer. Phone us to reserve a time slot.
Rate Goals - set reading rate goals for yourself. A 10% increase in your reading rate over the previous record is a good rule of thumb.
Skimming & Scanning - find an interesting newspaper column or magazine article. Rapidly read the article, sampling just the first sentence or two of each paragraph and a few key words. Jot down all the facts you can remember. Then reread the article slowly, giving yourself a point for every item you can recall.

You can surf to class!

Thank you, Cal Poly. You're the coolest. And you're at San Luis Obispo, about the most beautiful beach in central Cali.

This is the article: Study Skills Library Personal Reading Improvement
http://sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl/readingimprovement.html

Article about how students don't know how to study from EdWeek:

Research Finds Students Short on Study Savvy

Most-effective tactics are the least favored

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/06/06/33study.h31.html?cmp=ENL-EU-MOSTPOP

Isn't that excellent to have a problem and solution in the same blog? Only on the internet.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

MzTeachuh: Captured by Monet Tweets of the Day (6/7/12)

MzTeachuh: Captured by Monet Tweets of the Day(6/7/12): My daughter and I are planning a trip to include Giverny, and Monet's garden. Also Rouen, and Monet's church. (I realize it is Rouen Cathedr...

Captured by Monet Tweets of the Day (6/7/12)

My daughter and I are planning a trip to include Giverny, and Monet's garden. Also Rouen, and Monet's church. (I realize it is Rouen Cathedral, and not really Monet's Church; but it is his church to me.) We want to take the Chunnel, and arise like Diana out of the sea, then taking a train across the French countryside. Yes, we'll see the City of Lights (Paris). But the country is where I think my heart will rejoice. And Provence, too, where Van Gogh lived. We're not even painters, but you don't have to be a full-out artist to be captured by Monet.

Monet's 'Water Lillies."

"I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it" quote by Shakespeare--I mean it also

Monet's Church

Today there was a great article about Monet, and links to several others. I realize his obsessive-compulsive tendancies about painting, and how they affected his first wife aren't ever discussed. Are we right to appreciate the art at such a high cost? I don't know. But what wonderful art.

Monet lived a long time gardening.

Here's a link about how Monet developed his garden.

'Monet's Green Thumb: How Art Grew From A Garden'

http://www.npr.org/2012/06/07/154007039/monets-green-thumb-how-art-grew-from-a-garden

'Monet The Gardener: Life, And Art, Grow At Giverny'

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128245987

Monet's home. It's there and open to visitors!

Monet's technique didn't just happen one day. He and the other Impressionists worked and worked, discussed, observed, and studied. They took the new opportunities of less class structure in France to work their art in a new perspective without the consent or approval of the 'upper' class. Power to the people. People who were painting.

'Monet's Canvas Cathedrals: A Life Study Of Light'

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128221023

The community of artists influenced each other. Young Monet had a mentor in Boudin, and also had a chance to view the Englishman Turner's paintings, and collaborate with the American Whistler. No man is an island, so to speak.

'Eugene Boudin: The Man Who Inspired Monet'

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128174560

Following his passion left us such a wonderful inheritance. What will we leave?

MzTeachuh: Summer Projects for Kids

MzTeachuh: Summer Projects for Kids: Lots of great ideas for the good ole summer time. A Day (or Night) at the Museum 1. 'Summer Learning Projects for Kids : How Parents ...

Summer Projects for Kids

Lots of great ideas for the good ole summer time.

A Day (or Night) at the Museum

1. 'Summer Learning Projects for Kids: How Parents Can Make Education Fun'

Special outings, say to the museum, is fun for you grown-ups, too.

http://suite101.com/article/summer-learning-projects-for-kids-a55583

Put it on your calendar.

I had no idea every day in summer wasn't a learning day, but I was stuck teaching summer school many years. So, here it is, all organized.

2. Summer Learning Day June 21, 2012

I believe Sylvan helps out with this,

http://www.summerlearning.org/?page=sldplan

Walmart participates, too.

3. 'Ten fun ways to keep your child learning this summer

Backyard gardens, puppet theaters, scrapbooks and crafts are some of the ways to keep your children active and their minds working all summer long.'

http://www.greatschools.org/students/summer-activities/68-summer-learning-activities-that-are-practically-free.gs?page=2

These suggestions are way too exciting--we'd need an endless summer for this.

I think we have a winner.

1. Grow the biggest zucchini in your neighborhood.

2. Clip, paste and write about your family adventures.

3. Get theatrical.

4. Make chocolate mousse or build a bird feeder. Or both!

5. Paint the picket fence, baby-sit or volunteer at a soup kitchen.

6. Become the family's junior travel agent.

7. Visit a jelly bean factory or a glassblowing studio.
Or a jelly bean blowing studio.

Punch and Judy eat your heart out.

8. Turn a museum trip into a treasure hunt.

This is a very creative idea.

9. Get stickers, tattoos and comics for free.

10. Become an investment guru or a math wizard.
Or a dancer or a painter or an opera singer--just to balance out the right/left brain thing.

I think Number 8 is the best--buying the postcards first, then playing treasure hunt--that is very creative. Kudos. Great Schools, Great Idea.

4. 3 Cool Summer Learning Projects

Some more ideas to keep the kids active brain-wise.

http://momshomeroom.msn.com/parenting-articles/getting_involved/3-cool-summer-learning-projects/28838693

NASA actually provides instructions for the homemade rocket.Well, that'll make it okay.

This isn't the backyard, its an elementary school in Hawaii at Ford Island.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

MzTeachuh: Summer Reading Programs Tweets of the Day (6/6/12)...

MzTeachuh: Summer Reading Programs Tweets of the Day (6/6/12)...: 1.This is Scholastic's program online. Looks like fun. http://www.scholastic.com/summer/ 2. Make a deal with the bookstore. B...

Summer Reading Programs Tweets of the Day (6/6/12)

1.This is Scholastic's program online. Looks like fun.

http://www.scholastic.com/summer/

2. Make a deal with the bookstore.

Barnes & Noble Summer Reading

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/summer-reading/379003570

3. This is sponsored free by Sylvan. Looks like fun! (Do I keep saying that? I guess I think reading is fun!)

Best sellers for kids of the last 100 years.

http://www.bookadventure.com/Home.aspx

4. This would be worth some research. And Chuck E. Cheese, too.

A List of Summer Reading Programs for Kids That Give Free Books, Money and More

http://freebies.about.com/od/familyfreestuff/tp/summer-reading.htm

5. Have a Do-It-Yourself with your kids' friends. Sounds like fun to me (doh! I said it again.)
I used to have a reading party with my tutoring students at the end of the summer--we'd dress up as favorite characters. Not too original, but really cool since they kids had just fallen in love with reading for the first time.

MzTeachuh: Music For D-Day

MzTeachuh: Music For D-Day: Miller over-rehearsed? Maybe that's how you get perfection. What does America sound like? Like the music that got us through the Grea...

MzTeachuh: MzTeachuh: Music For D-Day

MzTeachuh: MzTeachuh: Music For D-Day: MzTeachuh: Music For D-Day : Miller over-rehearsed? Maybe that's how you get perfection. What does America sound like? Like the music th...

MzTeachuh: The Mr. Tumnus Faun Club, Members Only

MzTeachuh: The Mr. Tumnus Faun Club, Members Only: Maybe we could start a Mr. Tumnus Faun Club. I'm guessing that's a Pan flute. Narnia Soundtrack - Narnia Lullaby Mr. Tumnus' an...

MzTeachuh: The Mr. Tumnus Faun Club, Members Only

MzTeachuh: The Mr. Tumnus Faun Club, Members Only: Maybe we could start a Mr. Tumnus Faun Club. I'm guessing that's a Pan flute. Narnia Soundtrack - Narnia Lullaby Mr. Tumnus' an...

The Mr. Tumnus Faun Club, Members Only

Maybe we could start a Mr. Tumnus Faun Club.

I'm guessing that's a Pan flute.

Narnia Soundtrack - Narnia Lullaby

Mr. Tumnus' ancestor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=0_W7fMSBeJg

BBC The Chronicles Of Narnia "Mr Tumnus Tune"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1m8mwyRLK4

I think Claude Debussy was acquainted with him and that's why he wrote this:

Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol4bSKpvpoc

Per youtube, "A vintage performance of The London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski presents Debussy's "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" - featuring the paintings and visual arts of William A. Bouguereau, Gustave Courbet, Otto Theodor Gustav, Jules Joseph Lefebvre, and Spadecaller.This Debussy prelude was inspired by the famous poem, "Afternoon of a Faun," written by Stephane Mallarme."

MzTeachuh: Ray Bradbury ...What An Imagination!

MzTeachuh: Ray Bradbury ...What An Imagination!: Ray Bradbury, thinking something interesting, I bet. Writers stay with us in a unique way. Just pick up the book, watch the film or tele...

MzTeachuh: Ray Bradbury ...What An Imagination!

MzTeachuh: Ray Bradbury ...What An Imagination!: Ray Bradbury, thinking something interesting, I bet. Writers stay with us in a unique way. Just pick up the book, watch the film or tele...

Ray Bradbury ...What An Imagination!

Ray Bradbury, thinking something interesting, I bet.

Writers stay with us in a unique way. Just pick up the book, watch the film or television program. In the next few days, I'll probably watch "The Electric Grandmother." For a science fiction writer, Ray Bradbury had such warmth; his characters had depth of feeling.

He loved his family in the real world. I know we are to judge works of literature as stand alone, as if we didn't know anything about the author or poet at all. But I really like it that he loved his family.

And he used to visit a place called Lucerne Valley, the little library there, which isn't too far from where I live here in the back desert of California. It is really podunk. But it had some connection interesting to him about science fiction.

Here's more information about him and his interesting works.

http://www.raybradbury.com/ His site.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001969/ I actually own the Ray Bradbury Theater set.

Here is an interesting thought from someone who may have inspired some of these gadgets.

"We have too many cellphones. We've got too many internets. We have got to get rid of those machines. We have too many machines now."

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

MzTeachuh: Sailing on the Music of Debussy

MzTeachuh: Sailing on the Music of Debussy: 'Fishing Boats Entering Calais Harbor,' Turner This art and music simulate the ocean so well, you can smell the salt water, and want ...

Sailing on the Music of Debussy

'Fishing Boats Entering Calais Harbor,' Turner

This art and music simulate the ocean so well, you can smell the salt water, and want to tie yourself to the mast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._M._W._Turner

Turner, actually a controversial painter--check out 'The Slave Ship.' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Slave_Ship_%28painting%29

The music may make you a little seasick, just like the painting by Turner.

Claude Debussy: La Mer - First Movement

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66hX8Ms0FwE&feature=related

Claude Debussy: La Mer - Second Movement

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHnM3RSZyKo&feature=relmfu

Claude Debussy: La Mer - Third Movement

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doUPB0A3hFE&feature=relmfu

MzTeachuh: Learning Fun

MzTeachuh: Learning Fun: Kids don't realize that learning is work--so we might as well join the fun. Here are some ideas. 1. Loads of ideas and topics. My brain is...

Learning Fun

Kids don't realize that learning is work--so we might as well join the fun. Here are some ideas.

1. Loads of ideas and topics. My brain is fun, how about yours?

http://www.funbrain.com/

I want to live there.

2. Wow, Pandanda, I want to decorate my own treehouse.

http://www.primarygames.com/

What next?

3. These have a lot of left brain (math, analytical, logic.)

http://www.thekidzpage.com/learninggames/index.htm

4. Here's learning fun for very little people.

http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/preschool_games.html

PBS at it again--PBS Kids

5. Learning games, decoding for reading.

http://www.starfall.com/

MzTeachuh: Hot Educational Topics and Conferences

MzTeachuh: Hot Educational Topics and Conferences: Hot topics--here are plenty! Maybe a conference? ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) is a membership organizatio...

Hot Educational Topics and Conferences

Hot topics--here are plenty! Maybe a conference?
ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) is a membership organization that develops programs, products, and services essential to the way educators learn, teach, and lead.

http://www.ascd.org/research-a-topic.aspx

Planning ahead--will there be a Columbus Day in 2045?

1. '21st Century Skills: The Challenges Ahead'

Okay, let's see the task ahead.

2.'The Myth of the Culture of Poverty'

This really hits where we live.

3. 'Every Child, Every Day'

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar12/vol69/num06/Every-Child,-Every-Day.aspx

Must be a great book.

Great underscoring of reading guides. Take a look:

The six elements of effective reading instruction don't require much time or money—just educators' decision to put them in place.

1. Every child reads something he or she chooses.

2. Every child reads accurately.

3. Every child reads something he or she understands.

4. Every child writes about something personally meaningful.

5. Every child talks with peers about reading and writing.

6. Every child listens to a fluent adult read aloud.

We can't just go through the motions, teachers. The kids can learn well, but the reading instruction has to be sincere, regulated, and enthusiastic.

Pearson has a site called Mumsnet.

Looks, it's like my story!

One of a kind tie dye.

Got my backpack, let's go on a picnic.

http://thelongthread.com/?p=4054

Fun sewing will teach kids about needle and thread and maybe buttons. This site has more than this one project, but this looked the cutest to me.

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/crafts-by-type/sewing-fabric-projects/sewing-projects/backpack-shirt-922871/

More sewing. Lots of choices.

Its a softie!

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2011/06/21/sewing-with-kids-craft-camp/

This is just the beginning of a creative summer.