Saturday, May 20, 2017

Educational Links 5/21/17

Summer Reading Picks for Educators




Free Online Tool Supports Differentiated Literacy Instruction

School Suspensions Take a Toll on Kids With IEPs and 504 Plans

Makerspaces are much less common in low-income schools where the academic focus remains on raising test scores, often through drill and practice. However, many communities of color have long traditions of using their hands for work and play that get left out of the discussion around making. Existing inequities play out when adults engage with kids around tinkering or making. And, while makerspaces are a unique kind of learning space, many of the techniques thoughtful educators are using to improve their interactions with students could be used in other venues.

Take a Walk With Ludwig

Vienna Woods, lessing-photo,com
A picnic would be lovely.

Beethoven - 6th Symphony - Pastoral

Toscanini Conducts Beethoven Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale" (1/7) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC-EPsvdi6E&list=PL955763D26B1B9865 

What America Means To Me

...and the pursuit of happiness.

This is what America means to me: 

 1. A fair chance for everyone to succeed to the best of their ability. Here's a link (this should be old news)--

Dream Act Becomes Law in California

http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/dream-act/ 

 

2. Speaking of dreams 

...to be judged by the content of our character.

Thank you, Dr. King, et al, for speaking up for us all and enhancing our liberty.


Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Speech 'I have a Dream' 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqsUd0b4vHY&noredirect=1 


 3. Choice in government through voting

 

If you are in California, this is where you can register to vote, or update your information. Nowadays, you can vote no matter your ethnicity, and even if you are female.

That was some kind of hard work to gain the right to vote in America. Thank you everyone, I appreciate your validation in getting me the vote even before I was born.


http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vr.htm


4. Sacrificing for what you believe in to the extent of helping other countries become democracies.

Pfc. Haviland John Link (Uncle Johnny)

 My mom's brother was killed at Bloody Ridge, North Korea, with UN forces in 1951. He assisted in the liberation of South Korea; maybe the day will come all Korea will be a united democracy. Our family still misses the singing, boogie-woogie piano playing jokester Johnny. He received the Purple Heart for throwing himself on a grenade to protect his fellow soldiers.


This is a link to the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

http://www.vfw.org/ 

 And America means so much more. 




                                            This is Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, D.C.

              'No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.'                                           So said General Douglas MacArthur.

  

Friday, May 19, 2017

Educational Links 5/20/17

10 Mobile Learning Trends You Must Know About

http://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/trends/2786-mobile-learning-trends

Children Must Be Taught to Collaborate, Studies Say


The Difference Between Sensory Processing Issues and ADHD


Lessons From The Nation's Oldest Voucher Program

Why Effective Practice Is Just As Important As the Hours of Practice

Can Equity Be Taught?

Memorial Day in the Classroom: Resources for Teachers



For most students, Memorial Day means a three-day weekend, one last mini-break before the end of the school year. But the last Monday in May is the perfect opportunity to use class time to open a discussion with students about the men and women who have died while serving in the U.S. armed forces and their legacies.

ADHD--What To Do

ADHD Is Fuel for Adventure

http://www.outsideonline.com/2048391/adhd-fuel-adventure 

EARLY WARNING SIGNS OF ADHD MOST PEOPLE MISS

http://www.healthist.co/2016/01/30/early-warning-signs-of-adhd-most-people-miss/ 

4 Key Symptoms of ADHD

https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/add-adhd/key-symptoms-signs-adhd 

When ADHD Isn't What It Seems 

http://www.specialneedsdigest.com/2016/02/when-adhd-isnt-what-it-seems.html :

This site is an excellent resource:

http://www.additudemag.com/channel/adhd-learning-disabilities/index.html

Exercise Is Adderall Minus the Profits

https://www.inverse.com/article/10577-exercise-is-adderall-minus-the-profits 

An old-school paradigm for treating ADHD can replace habit-forming drugs, but isn't profitable enough for the pharmaceutical age.

Yasmin Tayag


Kids' Activities For Summer (Warning: Its Gonna Be Wet)


Is that where we'll land, dad?

1. The sky tonight. And it's warm out! 
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/astroskymap/ 
2. This is a teachery type article that can also translate for families and friends. 
 

Water gun only by license.
Web-based Learning Units
Wonderful Water
 http://betterkidcare.psu.edu/angelunits/onehour/waterplay/waterlesson.html

3. It's PBS Kids again. http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/math-games/star-gazing/ 

Why does the big kid get the hose?
4.  Easy Water Activities for Kidshttp://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/easy-water-activities-for-kids.htm  
5.  Outdoor Games & Activities Using Water 
http://www.kidactivities.net/category/Games-Outside-Water.aspx  
6. Different kind of tweeting.
 The Great Backyard Bird Count is for kids!
 http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/kids  

My kind of bird watching.
 7. All Activities Issue - Nature: Bird Watchinghttp://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/all-activities-issue-nature-bird-watching  
8. Are you a joiner? How about the Junior Audobon Society?http://web4.audubon.org/educate/kids/  

Thursday, May 18, 2017

All American Cheesy Jokes and Serious Thoughts

Hurrah for the red, white and silly. And Garfield has just the lighthearted touch we sometimes need.

Try not to turn each of these jokes and riddles into too much of an opportunity to teach, though with younger children, you might have some 'splaining to do, Lucy.

Teacher: Where was the Declaration of Independence signed?
Student: On the bottom.



Teacher: The Declaration of Independence was written in Philadelphia. True or false?
Student: False. It was written in ink.

What did Paul Revere say at the end of his ride? I've got to get a softer saddle.

And just to be teachery, don't forget Longfellow's adventuresome poem, 'The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.' It's so cheesy, kids love it.


Embarrassed someone saw my crack.
Keep in torch!
Did you hear the one about the Liberty Bell? Yeah, it cracked me up.

What did the visitor say as he left the Statue of Liberty? Keep in torch.

What did one flag say to another--nothing, it just waved.




'What kind of tea do Americans thirst for? Liber--ty. Ha ha.'
                                    What colonists told the most jokes? Punsylvanians.


Very good read.
Now for a serious thought. The greatest founding father, in my opinion, was John Adams. He supported all citizens, and did not believe in slavery, not a bit. He and his family had no connection with slavery at all. He argued in  the Continental Congress for the abolition of slavery, foreseeing the schism it would cause in a new America; which it surely did in the Civil War. He and his wife Abigail supported integration in their home town of Braintree, Massuchusetts, in the local school. John Adams had the education, brilliance and insight to see that the colonies needed to empower all the people no matter what; he worried that the British would treat the American colonies as they had Ireland. He was humble enough to recommend Thomas Jefferson be the compiler and writer of the Congress' thoughts, but historians know it was Adams who was the prime thinker. He was an innovative diplomat, a President who would see the big picture, and a faithful and loving husband and father. I think the latter should count for a lot. Thank you, John Adams, for taking care of baby America.




Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. John Adams

Educational Links 5/19/17





The Ultimate List: 50 Strategies For Differentiated Instruction


The State of LD: Understanding the 1 in 5

How Parents Can Help Kids Develop A Sense Of Purpose


Goodbye ABCs: How One State is Moving Beyond Grade Levels and Graded Assessments


Why so many students hate history — and what to do about it


Foundation of Social-Emotional Learning

Game-Based Learning Takes Partisanship out of Civics Lessons and Provides Insight


When it comes to teaching students about the government, it’s hard to be nonpartisan — whether you are in a red or blue state. Teachers found this to be especially true during the contentious 2016 election.

Memorial Day and Regular Kids Who Were Heroes

This crew was delivering supplies to French civilians during the D Day invasion and was shot down. My dad's cousin, Blake Treece, T/Sgt. Radioman, is in the second row, fifth (l to r.)
My dad was from Marshall, Arkansas. He was 21 years old when Pearl Harbor happened. His older brother, Robert, had already volunteered to fly with the English in the Battle of Britain. As boys, they had built an airplane in the backyard, and dad had participated in a local aeronautical club as an
Robert, Grandma, Alphia, Larry, Maxine. Just after Pearl Harbor Day.
instructor. Both brothers were going to a teacher's college (Arkansas State Teacher's College), until Robert volunteered to fly with the British.
After Pearl Harbor Day,  my dad (Larry) joined the Navy, and my aunt Maxine joined the Army. Both my dad and Uncle Robert flew in the Pacific. My dad was a quick study, after flying Corsairs, became an instructor pilot. Robert became one of the first pilots to fly a B29 as part of the Billy Mitchell Group, sort of a test pilot while fighting the war.

The Lady Hamilton, B 29, Billy Mitchell Group.
Robert was captain of Lady Hamilton B 29, on a bombing mission that flew from India, over the Himalayas (called 'Flying the Hump') and China to Japan when the plane developed engine trouble, and the second target was chosen. Japanese Zeroes pursued. Robert, as captain, ordered most of the crew to parachute out (they were aided by Chinese and survived.) He and two other crew completed the mission but were shot down by the Zeroes, losing their lives in 1944.

College Memorial (OCA) with the names Robert Mills and Blake Treece.


My grandma's nephew and my dad's first cousin, Blake Treece, was a radio operator for a B-17 in the European theatre. Blake left the same college as his cousins to enlist. His plane was shot down in 1944 over France. The remains of the crew were buried by a French farmer, and recovered in 2006 due to  historical excavations of the Caen area. Blake and his crew members were then buried in 2006 in a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

Another of my grandmother's nephews and my dad's first cousin from Searcy, Arkansas, Claude A. McBride, served in the Army in the Philippines, being killed in action.

Regular kids from a most regular, simple town in America, Marshall, Arkansas. Where does the courage and brilliance come from? On this Memorial Day, by my observation as a teacher, the USA is filled with such courage and brilliance in all our boys and girls. Devotion, teamwork, collaboration that leads to heroic deeds develops in the minds, spirits, and souls of kids allowed to believe in their own capacity for excellence and their intrinsic value as citizens. Kids from all demographics and ethnicities, which is, of course, what America is made of.

I feel compassion for my little grandma in the photo, knowing she would lose her Robert. And her brother and sister would lose their Claude and not know ever what happened to Blake. (They passed away before his remains were found.)

We can value their choice to serve our country and expect the same excellence and commitment to all varieties of service to continue because all regular kids can be heroes. And they're sitting in your classrooms.

Blake's sister communicated with me after the original post in 2015, and told me about my dad's family in Arkansas. I'm very amazed and validated to have access to such information. Amazing world nowadays.

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Educational Links 5/18/15


Free Is Good

Open educational resources are free digital materials you can use with your students. Here are some ways to find them.


For Families With Special Needs, Vouchers Bring Choices, Not Guarantees


TEN APPS TO HELP STUDENTS DEVELOP WRITING SKILLS


Districts turn to mobile apps and social media to engage parents, survey says


Compliance is Not the End Goal of Education


70,000 Students With Disabilities Secluded, Restrained in School



The reasons the teachers I work with have chosen to stay at such a high-poverty school have everything to do with these abstract “working conditions” that aren’t as easy to quantify as criteria like class size, salary, or benefits. Deeply felt at a visceral level, these factors include respect, support, professional autonomy, opportunities to innovate, and the chance to collaborate with like-minded colleagues.

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Educational Links 5/17/18

Teaching Teachers to Address Race and Equity in the Classroom


Discover Calm: Build a Self-Regulation Tool Box

As schools adopt social-emotional programs, a new guide offers help



Is There a Link between Music and Math?


Invented Spelling Leads to Better Reading, Study Says


Google Pledges $50 Million to Close Education Gaps Worldwide


Bringing Poetry Outside


One of the ways we wrap up our spring poetry unit is with a Poetry on the Patio event in the courtyard of our school. For this event we invite classes from all around the school to come together and enjoy many different aspects of poetry. My students host various stations relating to poetry, and everyone else comes out to enjoy everything we have to offer. We recently held this event, and here I’d like to highlight some of our great poetry stations.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Educational Links 5/16/17





Your Brain Can Only Take So Much Focus


Split Dictation Activity


At a school in Brooklyn’s poorest neighborhood, literacy is up and disciplinary problems are down


Taking the Mystery Out of Dysgraphia


'Students need time to practice their science - but instead they are taught to simply regurgitate the facts'




Empathy and Leadership

No significant relationship can exist without trust. Without relationships, no significant learning occurs. As I continue to research and reflect on strategies to build powerful relationships with others, the topic of empathy has a consistent presence.  In simple terms, empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. So how does this connect to leadership?