Sharpen Your Teaching Skills With Online Courses

Interested in learning a new technology? Or, how to better create learning materials? Or, how to effectively teach disabled students?

Local universities and colleges, like Kennesaw State University, are offering online courses targeted exclusively to educators. Best of all, the courses are conveniently online, typically last only 6 weeks, and are easy on your wallet [classes range from $139 to $179 with most classes costing only $139].

Here is just a sample of the classes available to you:

Understanding Adolescents

Solving Classroom Discipline Problems

Creating a Classroom Website

Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 in the Classroom

Survival Kit for New Teachers

For a complete list of these courses, click here.

State Stimulus Money Plugging Budget Holes

A new report reveals that several states are using economic stimulus money to recover from budget losses.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently stated:

“From the very beginning, we have made it clear that this education stimulus funding is intended to supplement local education dollars, not replace them.”

What does this mean for states like Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania who have been singled out for not correctly using the stimulus? According to the Associated Press, Duncan is in charge of $5 billion worth of stimulus grant money meant for school districts to adopt Obama-supported plans, including charter schools. And, Duncan alone has the power to distribute the funds to those school districts deemed worthy, and the accused states may be withheld incentive money.

But, who’s to blame for the lack of control over the stimulus? According to the Associated Press article, congress negated to establish hard rules on how to spend the money – a common theme of late.

R.I.P, Cursive

It’s official; cursive is dead. My 3rd grade teacher would have something to say about a recent Washington Post article declaring the inevitable end of cursive handwriting. 

I, on the other hand, agree whole-heartedly with the article.  The author argues that with the increased use of technology in the classroom, less time is focused on the art of cursive handwriting. The skill is reduced to little more than a formality in many of our states’ 3rd grade classrooms.  Many may object to the extinction of this ‘art’ form, but signatures aside, when do we use it?   

And, more importantly, which is more critical to our students’ futures? Perfect handwriting or experience with technology? Unless companies start hiring calligraphists, I put my money on the latter.

An Easy Way Students Can “Get” Literature

A new form of cliff notes has arrived – and it’s interactive.

Poised to supplement such works as Great Expectations, The Crucible, and The Scarlett Letter, 60secondrecap.com streams short videos summarizing important elements of classic literature. Enthusiastic host and founder Jenny Sawyer provides students with an overview of each piece, along with a 21st century perspective on the plot, characters, themes, and motifs.

With books being added every week, this site is sure to become a popular tool for students [and teachers] and is already making headlines.

Take a look at this recap for Great Expectations.

more about “60 Second Recap | Great Expectations …“, posted with vodpod

Events of 9/11 to be Taught in Schools

Last week, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani announced a plan that includes a 9/11 curriculum to be taught in several schools throughout the U.S. The curriculum will be tested this year at schools in New York, California, Indiana, Alabama, New Jersey, Illinois, and Kansas.

From the Associated Press:

“[The curriculum] was developed with the help of educators by the Brick, New Jersey-based Sept. 11 Education Trust, and was based on primary sources, archival footage and more than 70 interviews with witnesses, family members of victims and politicians, including Giuliani and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a New York senator at the time of the attacks.

The curriculum is taught through videos, lessons and interactive exercises, including one that requires students to use Google Earth software to map global terrorist activity.”

This could be a real eye-opening program for all those middle and high schoolers who don’t have any recollection of those important events. It will be interesting to see how this curriculum is received and if it will be implemented in more states down the road.

Is a Website In Your Future?

I noticed early on in my teaching career that there was a huge disconnect between teachers and parents. In my county, there currently is an online system in place that allows parents to see test and homework scores – the “too late” system. It’s “too late,” because by the time the parents see these grades, their kids are already failing. A complicated log-in process, along with common glitches in the system, doesn’t help matters either.

I developed a solution to these problems – my own website for my students and their parents – ShareTheLesson.com. The site’s content includes resources like class lessons, PowerPoints, homework assignments, test dates, resources, and more.

Sites like Microsoft Office Live, WordPress, and BlogSpace, allow you to develop a website for free. And, you don’t have to know fancy web language either.

I would recommend a website for every teacher. I know my students check it regularly [both in class and on their own free time], and I am consistently getting compliments from parents on the easy navigation and reliability of the site. Plus, parents can now take a proactive approach to their children’s education, instead of a reactive approach.

Check Out ‘Teacher Resources’

Teachers, check out the resource links below for innovative websites you can use in the classroom.

Example: games like Jeopardy allow you to develop an entire game online – no more arts and crafts with index cards.

New resources will be updated regularly, so continue to check in with us!

No Habla Ingles?

Is your state seeing a substantial increase of students learning English? Check out this map from the NY Times that shows the growth rate of English learners for your state.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/13/us/ELL-students.html?ref=education

Welcome!

Welcome to our new blog, The Education Wire. This blog is dedicated to all things education – news, policy, teaching techniques, and learning technologies. Our goal is to be a one-stop resource for teachers, parents, and anyone else interested in the goings-on of our nation’s education system.