Jul

2

The village is volunteering to educate the child

Filed Under "At-risk" students, Goals, Teacher Support, motivating students | 1 Comment

It takes a village to raise a child. We’ve probably all heard that said many times before. I feel that educating a child also takes the village. Teachers in their classrooms can’t do it alone. There’s just not enough time to give all students the one- on -one attention they deserve. Teachers need help from the community, from the village, and thankfully many people do volunteer their time and talents to help kids learn in and out of school. For that teachers and kids are grateful because we really do need the help.

I’d like to share a video with you that @wfryer via Twitter brought to my attention about what some communities are doing to educate their children. “Dave Eggers: 2008 TED Prize wish: Once Upon a School”.

You’ll be blown away by what you’ll see and hear- talk about thinking outside the box about ways to engage kids to learn. It’s absolutely amazing. I encourage you to go to Once Upon a School after you have viewed the video to take up the challenge with the practical ideas that people have shared.

Let me just tell you a bit about Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers’ first book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Since then he’s written two more novels and launched an independent publishing house, which publishes books, a quarterly literary journal (McSweeney’s), a DVD-based review of short films (Wholpin), a monthly magazine (The Believer) and the Voice of Witness project.

Meanwhile, Eggers has established himself as a philanthropist and teacher-at-large. In 1998 he launched 826 Valencia, a San Francisco-based writing and tutoring lab for young people, which has since opened six more chapters across the United States. He has extended his advocacy of students by supporting their educators, instituting a monthly grant for exceptional Bay Area teachers. His TED Prize wish is for more people to follow him into getting involved in your local school — and talk about it — through the website

Oct

11

Class Disrupted: Disorder and Its Effects on Learning and School Culture

Filed Under Teacher Support | 1 Comment

I’d like to pass along the link to a conference, Class Disrupted: Disorder and It’s Effects on Learning and School Culture ,that Alison Kleigman of The Common Good Organization sent me today. Here’s the link http://cgood.org/schools-events-76.html. Now I don’t have any affiliation with The Common Good Organization whatsoever, but I thought people might be interested to know about the Organization and the conference. Even if you can’t attend the conference, there’s interesting reading to be found. Take a look. The topic for the conference is certainly timely.

Jul

9

Should teachers have to pay to plug in the fan in their classrooms?

Filed Under Teacher Support, The Way I See It | 2 Comments

fan.jpg Should I have to pay to plug in the fan I use to cool my classroom? Thankfully, I haven’t been asked to do so, but amazingly some teachers are being asked to do just this. Read on

Got a desk clock in your office? How about a small fan, a little extra light or even a mini-fridge?

Plugging in those personal amenities at work will cost teachers and employees money in a small, but growing, number of school districts. By making employees who bring in fans, space heaters and other small devices pay a fee to offset the electricity those appliances use, district administrators think they have a promising new way to help control costs after years of budget cuts. Grosse Pointe Public Schools initiated a “pay to plug” measure last spring, and Chippewa Valley Public Schools is considering doing the same for this fall.

Now I’m wondering if those teachers will get reimbursed for the approximately $500 dollars a year of their own after tax dollars that teachers on average spend for supplies for their classrooms. Lets see. $500.00 for school supplies - $ 25.00 for electricity = $475.00 You know what? It might not be a bad idea for teachers to pay to plug in the fan and get reimbursed for the school supplies they buy. At least the way I see it.

PS.

I know I said I was taking a break from Teachers At Risk for three weeks and it’s only a week. What can I say. :)

Next Page →



Powered by FeedBlitz

AddThis Feed Button