Saturday, December 2, 2017

Educational Links 12/3/17



'We need to make sure excluded children still get the chance of a decent education'


Setting Up Students for Productive Group Work


Do You Know Your School's Vision? Tips on Making a Meaningful Mission Statement


3 Ways Teachers Can Celebrate the Holidays with Cultural Sensitivity



How to introduce kindergarteners to computers



The Evolution of the Networked Educator


Teaching digital literacy in a new era of skepticism



Surfing the web lately can be like stepping through the looking glass, where right is left and up is down. Fabricated news stories are going viral. Elected officials are declaring legitimate news stories fake.
Helping students separate fact from fiction is no longer a matter of pointing them toward credible news sources such as CNN, the New York Times, The Guardian and other world media outlets. That’s because credulity isn’t the issue anymore, says philosophy professor Michael Lynch.

Friday, December 1, 2017

Educational Links 12/2/17

How a new model of autism treatment uses robots


Teaching About the Holidays in Public Schools



7 Books Featuring Characters With Dyslexia or ADHD


Showcasing Creativity in School Construction

Teaching Parents the Right 'Questions to Ask' in Schools


A whopping 6.5M students lack high-speed internet



9 Things Teachers Wish You Knew About Learning Disabilities



When you hear about learning disabilities, you probably think of school children having trouble with reading, writing, or math—and that might mean dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia respectively. But learning disabilities are neurological processing problems that take many forms. They can be manifested in hearing (auditory processing disorder), speaking (language processing disorder), and weakness in such areas as eye-hand coordination and interpreting nonverbal cues. Learning disabilities cannot be cured, but with proper intervention and support, those with learning disabilities can do well in school, at work, and in life. 

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Educational Links 12/1/17


What Does It Take to Create Diverse Schools? Meet the Pioneers Making It Happen



View the Evolution of Digital Technology



Top 10 Resources for STEM Fundin


Having Patience as a Teacher: How to Cope with Inevitable Pet Peeves


School Planners Face Daunting Task in Matching Facilities, Enrollment

Cultivating a Love of Reading in the Digital Age



The reluctance to confirm that a child is “dyslexic” goes beyond avoiding a label that could harm kids. Public schools nationwide have long refused to use the word, allowing many of them to avoid providing special education services as required by federal law. According to dozens of interviews with parents, students, researchers, lawyers and teachers across the country, many public schools are not identifying students with dyslexia and are ignoring their needs.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Educational Links 11/30/17

The Relationship Between School Leaders and Hope


Stunning: Research shows intense spike in children’s media use


The Festival of Lights: 18 Mighty Girl Hanukkah Books



When Students See Themselves As Digital First


3 Literacy Practices That Work


Helping Your Child Cope With Anger and Frustration


Trump Taps New Special Education Chief


The nation may soon be getting a new top special education official.
President Donald Trump said this week that he will nominate Johnny Collett to be assistant secretary of education for special education and rehabilitative services at the U.S. Department of Education.

MzTeachuh's Christmas Playlist


Here is  the hot-of-the-griddle 2017 Playlist of Christmas Music for your background soundtrack or sing-a-long. Or maybe in the class you can put it up on the screen and join of the artists from awhile back in a relaxing round of songs. Some of these songs might bring a tear, or inspire some good cheer or charity. That's what music does!

Have a lovely holiday season!

MzTeachuh's Christmas Playlist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnEbRaFaqfg&list=PLA2SFaAnpsdCfFUnFy2ZnlECMJP6bDtkQ&index=1

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Educational Links 11/29/17

Are We Thinking About Reading Comprehension All Wrong?

Talking About Public Education: The Good, the Deceptive, and the Destructive


Why Many Autistic Girls Are Overlooked


Who is evaluating US schools?


7 Ways to Promote Positive Student Mental Health



6 ways video technologies are fundamentally shaping education


Ninety-nine percent of institutions report they have teachers regularly incorporating video technologies in their curriculum. More than half are using video for student assignments, with 21 percent reporting that more than half of their students actively create video (up from 10 percent in 2016). Seventy-three percent of higher education institutions use video technologies for remote teaching and learning.

Cheesy Jokes and Serious Thoughts for Christmas




    What has four legs, a red nose and flies?   Rudolf the Red-Nosed Roadkill.




What is Frosty's favorite dinner?

Spaghetti and snowballs.




                                          Where doe Santa keep his red suit?    In his Santa Clauset.





 Knock, knock.

Who's there?




Earl.

Earl who?

Earl I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.



                                                     Why does Santa use reindeer to pull his sleigh?

                                Because the elephants kept crashing through the roof.



What is the best Christmas carol in the Twilight movies?

I'm Dreaming of a Bite Christmas.



What has a red suit, a white beard and rows of razor sharp teeth? Santa Jaws.



What would you call your wedding anniversary if it was December 25th?

A Marry Christmas.



Who had a beard, webbed feet and wrote "A Christmas Carol?"

Charles Duckens.



What do you call being caught in a chimney with a fat man?

Santa Claustrophobia.



 What happened when the family cat swallowed some tinsel?

He needed a tinselectomy.



Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Anna. 

Anna who?

Anna partridge in a pear tree.



Question: Why was Santa's little helper depressed?
Because he had low elf esteem.

What is Santa's favorite American state?
Idaho-ho-ho.

Question: What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?
Answer: Frostbite.


Where does Christmas come before Thanksgiving?
In the dictionary. 

This is for English teachers. 
Q: What do you call Santa's Helpers?
A: Subordinate Clauses


What is the snowman’s breakfast?
Answer: Frosted flakes!



How do snowmen greet each other?
Answer
 : Ice to meet you!


You just had to know eventually I would get to the funny cat pics.



Now for the serious talk. Christmas is a full on holiday--it smells good (catch that scent from the cinnamon pine cones?), looks sparkly and cute (lights up again), feels cozy  (snuggly blankets in front of the fire with hot cocoa or wassail), tastes yummy (yeah, bite the head off that gingerbread man!), sounds great (all types of music singing cheer and closeness and holiday, etc.) It is entertaining with endless gifts,  movies and music and fun.



Except for that annoying bell the Salvation Army persists in ringing at the front of stores. That is so annoying to be bugged to give to the less fortunate. The homeless, or impaired, or orphaned--is that my business? 


Shouldn't we have a right not to have them bug us? Isn't that the separation of church and state? I don't need all that Jesus stuff at this holiday, like giving to the poor, or kindness to strangers if I don't wish to. Peace and forgiveness. That's my business. Condemnation for behavior that's nobody's business but mine. And I shouldn't have to be reminded on a public street. At school Jesus and all that radical Christian stuff has been eradicated. When can I finally have a secular holiday?

Well, first of all the very word holiday is rooted from holyday.  A day to meditate on the spiritual side of life. Christmas means Christ worship in the old days. He is still memorialized as the greatest teacher who ever lived, the proclaimer of brotherhood, kindness and conscience. All the major religions admire him. Why is he considered so irritating to some Americans?

He was an all or nothing sort of person. You were with him or not. He was who he said he was or not. No in between. Forgiveness, purity, mercy. Very, very hard precepts. It is hard to hang with Jesus. Its all or nothing with Christ.

Students in public schools who profess Christianity are in danger of having their civil rights violated by some administrators and staff who find the message of Christ to be very irritating--not only those horrendous ten commandments, but that part about not lusting or lying  and giving to the poor and such. These leaders will nail kids for even saying, 'Merry Christmas.' 

Not much holiday spirit there. Or tolerance. I've observed it first hand towards kids and staff. I was told even playing Handel's Messiah was against the separation of church and state. So, I chose to play it anyway, thinking you have to take a stand sometimes. Might as well be Handel. No problems arose. No lawsuits.

It is our obligation as a democracy to extend tolerance to all. Even the annoying, I-Am-The-Only-Way Jesus, and his followers.

Monday, November 27, 2017

Educational Links 11/28/17

Do students buy into maker culture?


3 Ways Assistive Technology Supports Students with Disabilities

8 Amazing, Creative, Must-See Videos to Promote Recycling at School

Tips for Awakening the Thinkers in Your Room


App of the Week: Collaborative storytelling


This no-brainer tool combats teacher turnover






Sunday, November 26, 2017

Educational Links 11/27/17


Amplify Your ELLs' Voice With Video Storytelling

https://www.commonsense.org/education/teaching-strategies/amplify-your-ells-voices-with-digital-storytelling?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social 


10 Ways to Prevent Winter Colds (Even if You Teach Kindergarten)


When teachers are better at raising test scores, their students are less happy, study finds

Types of Behavior Assessments

Restorative Practices Just Might Be the Secret to a Good Night’s Sleep


Three PD Courses Starting This Week



Afterschool program environments linked to academic confidence and skills



Tes talks to… Alfie Kohn




We need a radical rethink on the way we view classroom behaviour and how teachers manage it, the US expert tells Simon Creasey. In fact, he argues, we need to avoid talking about the very concept of ‘behaviour’ completely.