Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Music teacher inspires his students without the district means to educate them

 .  Mr. Sollecito is the much loved music teacher at Howard Wood Elementary School in Torrance, CA. He inspires his students and makes music fun, despite the fact that he doesn't have his own classroom and that most of his students can't afford instruments. Watch as the Ultimate Surprises team transforms an empty space into a dream music room that will have Mr. Sollecito and the kids singing a happy tune.    Just think what would happen if Ty Pennington met Pimp My Ride

They'll also get a surprise visit from a celebrity musician that's going to rock their world!  The inspirational Video story from Yahoo below.

http://screen.yahoo.com/episode-4-mr-sollecito-s-ultimate-school-of-rock-30854776.html

Elementary school kids raise money for a school in Africa

In a story that never gets old, some students in Huron Valley's Heritage Elementary school has raised nearly $2,100 to help students they may never meet face to face with the basic needs for a school. Judy Marx writes this story. 

Elementary school kids raise money for a school in Africa



The 610 K-5th graders at Huron Valley School District’s Heritage Elementary School have raised more than $2,000 to provide toilets and other necessities to a school in Kenya, Africa.

The project began when second-grade teacher Shonna Dolley returned from a family trip to Kenya last summer to visit the remote village of Ukwala, where her son-in-law’s 94-year-old grandmother lives.

 There is no running water or electricity in the village and 1,000 students attend the Yenga Primary School in Ukwala, in a dilapidated building with only 12 teachers, a few seats, no desks and eight latrines.

Dolley’s photos and stories of the village and students were so compelling that Heritage students immediately began planning what they could do to help the elementary school nearly 8,000 miles away.
At the request of Dolley and Heritage principal Deirdre Brady, Yenga Headmaster Joseph Ochieng listed several priority items needed for the school, including latrines, a well and a new classroom.

The Heritage Student Lighthouse Team immediately set the goal of raising $800 for eight new bathroom stalls and started a Change Drive for the purpose.

Student Michaela Kilano said that the parents thought the Change Drive was a great idea.

“Our goal was $800,” student Nathan Tebay, explained, “Some kids went into their piggy banks or got change from their moms and dads.”

“…or found coins under the couch cushions,” Jacob Sposita, a member of the student Heritage Data Team, which sorted and counted the money as it came in.

Only four days after the drive began, Brady announced the students had toped their goal with a grand total of $2,096.71. The additional money will be used to help the school with other needs.
Competition between classrooms was an incentive that helped drive the numbers up, but it was the enthusiasm of the young fund-raisers that assured their success.

“Our students have learned that they can change the world one moment at a time,” said Brady.

“They were appalled by what they saw and heard about Yenga School and took immediate action to organize a Change Drive. The project was totally student driven. They knew that everyone could put in at least a penny!”

 “If you really think about it,” said fifth-grader Elizabeth Piscopink, “we had to help them. We have so much and they have so little. Their most precious possession in the school is a broken-down cabinet, where they store books that are falling apart.

“These kids are like us in a lot of ways,” Elizabeth said. “They play soccer. The girls like to make bracelets. But they need so much. They don’t even have a playground.”

Yenga families pay tuition so that their children can attend school, where they begin to learn English in the fifth grade. Possibly a few will be able to continue beyond elementary school.

The school’s headmaster said his students are amazed that people in America know about them and want to help them. He said he is hoping people from Michigan will travel to Yenga to see for themselves that their dollars are being spent in the right way.

In the fall of 2011 Heritage Elementary became a “Leader In Me” school, embedding Sean Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People into all aspects of life at school.

A cultural shift occurred as students became empowered to take ownership of their academic work, behaviors, and leadership roles in the school.

This year, Habit 8 — Find Your Voice, was introduced. Students are now empowered to speak up for themselves and others and stand up for what is right.
The Student Lighthouse Team agrees and hopes that other schools in Michigan will want to partner with them to help Yenga. The 5th graders are considering whether they would want to build a classroom or a playground next.

Those interested in finding out more about the Yenga project, can contact Brady at deirdre.brady@hvs.org

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Mott woodshop students make old-fashioned students for area elementary school

      

     
     Waterford Mott teacher Beau Everitt's wood shop students have been making old-fashioned Christmas for various Waterford Elementary students for three years. This year's recipients were from Sandburg Elementary in Waterford.
90 Second video story is below

http://youtu.be/XEH23pBsFSU

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Michigan superintendent Michael Flanagan gives a holiday message


Michigan superintendent Michael Flanagan gives a holiday message to the school community in this two minute message.

http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,4615,7-140-37818_45256-291546--,00.html

Inside America's Safest School

     If your school or district wants to rate themselves based upon how this school controls their security and keeps their school community safe, Middleton Elementary School near Chicago is nearly as hard as the CIA to break into. From teachers and administrators who have video piped to their smart phones and a double set of locked doors greet all visitors no matter who you are. No ID means you will not get you passed the front door. How do you rate, read on. A video story from ABC News with print story below it.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/advanced-security-system-school-built-safety-mind-18013570

School Safety: Inside One School’s Extraordinary Security Measures

While schools across America reassess their security measures in the wake of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., one school outside of Chicago takes safety to a whole new level.
The security measures at Middleton Elementary School start the moment you set foot on campus, with a camera-equipped doorbell. When you ring the doorbell, school employees inside are immediately able to see you, both through a window and on a security camera.
“They can assess your demeanor,” Kate Donegan, the superintendent of Skokie School District 73 ½, said in an interview with ABC News.
Once the employees let you through the first set of doors, you are only able to go as far as a vestibule. There you hand over your ID so the school can run a quick background check using a visitor management system devised by Raptor Technologies. According to the company’s CEO, Jim Vesterman, only 8,000 schools in the country are using that system, while more than 100,000 continue to use the old-fashioned pen-and-paper system, which do not do as much to drive away unwanted intruders.
“Each element that you add is a deterrent,” Vesterman said.
In the wake of the Newtown shooting, Vesterman told ABC News his company has been “flooded” with calls to put in place the new system. Back at Middleton, if you pass the background check, you are given a new photo ID — attached to a bright orange lanyard — to wear the entire time you are inside the school. Even parents who come to the school on a daily basis still have to wear the lanyard.
“The rules apply to everyone,” Donegan said.
The security measures don’t end there. Once you don your lanyard and pass through a second set of locked doors, you enter the school’s main hallway, while security cameras continue to feed live video back into the front office.
It all comes at a cost. Donegan’s school district — with the help of security consultant Paul Timm of RETA Security — has spent more than $175,000 on the system in the last two years. For a district of only three schools and 1100 students, that is a lot of money, but it is all worth it, she said.
“I don’t know that there’s too big a pricetag to put on kids being as safe as they can be,” Donegan said.
“So often we hear we can’t afford it, but what we can’t afford is another terrible incident,” Timm said.
Classroom doors open inward — not outward — and lock from the inside, providing teachers and students security if an intruder is in the hallway. Some employees carry digital two-way radios, enabling them to communicate at all times with the push of a button. Administrators such as Donegan are able to watch the school’s security video on their mobile devices. Barricades line the edge of the school’s parking lot, keeping cars from pulling up close to the entrance.
Teachers say all the security makes them feel safe inside the school.
“I think the most important thing is just keeping the kids safe,” fourth-grade teacher Dara Sacher said.
Parents like Charlene Abraham, whose son Matthew attends Middleton, say they feel better about dropping off their kids knowing the school has such substantial security measures in place.
“We’re sending our kids to school to learn, not to worry about whether they’re going to come home or not,” she said.
In the wake of the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook last Friday, Donegan’s district is now even looking into installing bullet-resistant glass for the school building. While Middleton’s security measures continue to put administrators, teachers, parents and students at ease, Sacher said she thinks that more extreme measures — such as arming teachers, an idea pushed by Oregon state Rep. Dennis Richardson — are a step too far.
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable being armed,” Sacher said. “Even if you trained people, I think it’d be better to keep the guns out of school rather than arm teachers.”

Monday, December 17, 2012

Oakland Schools' Mary Masson talks about Conscous Discipline



     In a 3 minute video interview, Mary Masson of Oakland Schools answers questions about the conscious discipline program. Masson was at Sandburg Elementary in Waterford and was training teachers on the schoolwide implementation of the program. The video link is below.

http://youtu.be/x7bbVVLB8hA
 

Sunday, December 16, 2012

A grant helps Waterford Mott art teacher give college opportunity

    

     There is an art to writing a grant. I was lucky enough to win one in Georgia and the $3,000 in equipment helped my students achieve using technology for my broadcast journalism program. At Waterford Mott, an art teacher won a Waterford Foundation grant and brought in Oakland University professor Eugene Clark who taught students how to draw anatomy and apply it to art, science and math. Students learned about putting together portfolios for college and had an experience they will most likely never forget. For all those teachers still waiting to win a grant, keep writing. They are competitive and winning one will keep you writing after you see what your students get out of it. The Oakland Press video story is also posted on You Tube.



 http://youtu.be/00oqDqAp6RA

The National Association of School Psychologists talks about how to handle Sandy Hook

A note was sent to subscribers of Teaching Tolerance and I thought that the best thing to do is pass it along. It goes without saying that everyone's thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected in this tragedy.

Dear Friend of Teaching Tolerance,

When the news about the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School broke on Friday, we quickly issued some advice for teachers heading back to school on Monday.

Sadly, we had that advice ready. In the wake of last summer's shootings at the movie theater in Aurora, Colo. and at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wis., we had decided to write a magazine article exploring ways teachers could help students cope in the aftermath of violence.
This handout from the National Association of School Psychologists may be used by other organizations without receiving specific permission as long as it is reprinted or posted to websites verbatim, credits NASP, and includes links to the NASP website.  More in-depth information is available now and additional information on related topics will be posted over the next few days.

A National Tragedy: Helping Children Cope

Tips for Parents and Teachers

Whenever a national tragedy occurs, such as terrorist attacks or natural disasters, children, like many people, may be confused or frightened. Most likely they will look to adults for information and guidance on how to react.  Parents and school personnel can help children cope first and foremost by establishing a sense of safety and security. As more information becomes available, adults can continue to help children work through their emotions and perhaps even use the process as a learning experience.

All Adults Should:

  1. Model calm and control.  Children take their emotional cues from the significant adults in their lives. Avoid appearing anxious or frightened.
  2. Reassure children that they are safe and (if true) so are the other important adults in their lives. Depending on the situation, point out factors that help insure their immediate safety and that of their community.
  3. Remind them that trustworthy people are in charge.  Explain that the government emergency workers, police, firefighters, doctors, and the military are helping people who are hurt and are working to ensure that no further tragedies occur.
  4. Let children know that it is okay to feel upset.  Explain that all feelings are okay when a tragedy like this occurs.  Let children talk about their feelings and help put them into perspective.  Even anger is okay, but children may need help and patience from adults to assist them in expressing these feelings appropriately.
  5. Observe children’s emotional state.  Depending on their age, children may not express their concerns verbally. Changes in behavior, appetite, and sleep patterns can also indicate a child’s level of grief, anxiety or discomfort.  Children will express their emotions differently. There is no right or wrong way to feel or express grief. 
  6. Look for children at greater risk.  Children who have had a past traumatic experience or personal loss, suffer from depression or other mental illness, or with special needs may be at greater risk for severe reactions than others.  Be particularly observant for those who may be at risk of suicide.  Seek the help of mental health professional if you are at all concerned.
  7. Tell children the truth. Don’t try to pretend the event has not occurred or that it is not serious.  Children are smart.  They will be more worried if they think you are too afraid to tell them what is happening.
  8. Stick to the facts.  Don’t embellish or speculate about what has happened and what might happen. Don’t dwell on the scale or scope of the tragedy, particularly with young children.
  9. Keep your explanations developmentally appropriate. Early elementary school children need brief, simple information that should be balanced with reassurances that the daily structures of their lives will not change. Upper elementary and early middle school children will be more vocal in asking questions about whether they truly are safe and what is being done at their school.  They may need assistance separating reality from fantasy. Upper middle school and high school students will have strong and varying opinions about the causes of violence and threats to safety in schools and society.  They will share concrete suggestions about how to make school safer and how to prevent tragedies in society. They will be more committed to doing something to help the victims and affected community.  For all children, encourage them to verbalize their thoughts and feelings. Be a good listener!
  10. Monitor your own stress level.  Don’t ignore your own feelings of anxiety, grief, and anger. Talking to friends, family members, religious leaders, and mental health counselors can help. It is okay to let your children know that you are sad, but that you believe things will get better. You will be better able to support your children if you can express your own emotions in a productive manner. Get appropriate sleep, nutrition, and exercise.

What Parents Can Do:

  1. Focus on your children over the week following the tragedy.  Tell them you love them and everything will be okay. Try to help them understand what has happened, keeping in mind their developmental level.
  2. Make time to talk with your children.  Remember if you do not talk to your children about this incident someone else will. Take some time and determine what you wish to say.
  3. Stay close to your children. Your physical presence will reassure them and give you the opportunity to monitor their reaction. Many children will want actual physical contact.  Give plenty of hugs.  Let them sit close to you, and make sure to take extra time at bedtime to cuddle and to reassure them that they are loved and safe. 
  4. Limit your child’s television viewing of these events.  If they must watch, watch with them for a brief time; then turn the set off.  Don’t sit mesmerized re-watching the same events over and over again.
  5. Maintain a “normal” routine. To the extent possible stick to your family’s normal routine for dinner, homework, chores, bedtime, etc., but don’t be inflexible.  Children may have a hard time concentrating on schoolwork or falling asleep at night.
  6. Spend extra time reading or playing quiet games with your children before bed.  These activities are calming, foster a sense of closeness and security, and reinforce a sense of normalcy. Spend more time tucking them in.  Let them sleep with a light on if they ask for it.
  7. Safeguard your children’s physical health.  Stress can take a physical toll on children as well as adults.  Make sure your children get appropriate sleep, exercise, and nutrition.
  8. Consider praying or thinking hopeful thoughts for the victims and their families.  It may be a good time to take your children to your place of worship, write a poem, or draw a picture to help your child express their feelings and feel that they are somehow supporting the victims and their families.
  9. Find out what resources your school has in place to help children cope.  Most schools are likely to be open and often are a good place for children to regain a sense of normalcy.  Being with their friends and teachers can help.  Schools should also have a plan for making counseling available to children and adults who need it. 

What Schools Can Do:

  1. Assure children that they are safe and that schools are well prepared to take care of all children at all times.
  2. Maintain structure and stability within the schools. It would be best, however, not to have tests or major projects within the next few days.
  3. Have a plan for the first few days back at school.  Include school psychologists, counselors, and crisis team members in planning the school’s response.
  4. Provide teachers and parents with information about what to say and do for children in school and at home.
  5. Have teachers provide information directly to their students, not during the public address announcements.
  6. Have school psychologists and counselors available to talk to students and staff who may need or want extra support.
  7. Be aware of students who may have recently experienced a personal tragedy or a have personal connection to victims or their families.  Even a child who has merely visited the affected area or community may have a strong reaction. Provide these students extra support and leniency if necessary. 
  8. Know what community resources are available for children who may need extra counseling. School psychologists can be very helpful in directing families to the right community resources.
  9. Allow time for age appropriate classroom discussion and activities. Do not expect teachers to provide all of the answers.  They should ask questions and guide the discussion, but not dominate it.  Other activities can include art and writing projects, play acting, and physical games.
  10. Be careful not to stereotype people or countries that might be associated with the tragedy. Children can easily generalize negative statements and develop prejudice. Talk about tolerance and justice versus vengeance. Stop any bullying or teasing of students immediately.
  11. Refer children who exhibit extreme anxiety, fear or anger to mental health counselors in the school. Inform their parents.
  12. Provide an outlet for students’ desire to help.  Consider making get well cards or sending letters to the families and survivors of the tragedy, or writing thank you letters to doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals as well as emergency rescue workers, firefighters and police.
  13. Monitor or restrict viewing scenes of the event as well as the aftermath.
For information on helping children and youth with this crisis, contact NASP at (301) 657-0270 or visit NASP’s website at www.nasponline.org



Here are some excellent resources with solid advice:
Tomorrow, all your students--and you--will need some extra nurturing. Listen to your students and other educators. Talk with parents about how you can work together to ensure children feel safe and know how to summon brave thoughts to balance their fears. And know, that this weekend at least, the nation remembered just how much our teachers care about our kids.

Sincerely,


http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/terror_general.aspx

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Nick Adkins is a Children's Artist hoping his work will catch on

     We have all heard of starving artists. They are as common as Starbucks. Nick Adkins writes childrens books and does a fine job. He writes with themes and does both the illustrations and writings of his books and when no publisher could be found, he went to a do-it-yourself publishing company. He previews his latest book and his  contact information to visit classrooms and schools is located in the three minute video.

Video Interview is at...
http://youtu.be/_xOyqJMg_Po

Link to Nick on Facebook... https://www.facebook.com/#!/StoriesByNickAdkins


Monday, December 10, 2012

Hamilin Elementary students are part of non profit to build orphanage overseas

Rochester Hills second-graders create nonprofit to help build orphanages overseas WITH VIDEO


After Hamlin Elementary School teacher Kristin Cumming taught her class about the living conditions overseas, the Rochester Hills second-graders were shocked to learn that many children live without basic necessities.

“They were completely surprised to hear that some kids don't have meals or that some kids might take food out of the trash to eat it,” Cumming said. “I talked to my class about how, for Christmas, they might want a Wii or a (Nintendo) DS. Kids around the world just want food, and they didn’t understand that until then.”

And so the idea was born, with the help of Cumming’s friend Chandler Yatooma, to create a nonprofit where students can help provide basic needs to other children around the world. Fittingly, they named the nonprofit Classrooms Helping Kids.

Cumming’s second-grade class was hands-on in creating the organization. The students are featured in the promotion video, wrote the script and helped design the nonprofit’s logo.
Yatooma, a former teacher in the Bloomfield Hills School District, said, “People think, because they’re kids, they can’t do anything to help out. But I think people really underestimate the potential of children.”



Cumming and Yatooma have partnered with rescue orphanage organizations to start fundraising programs within Oakland County schools to build orphanages around Latin America. And two orphanages in India already have been built through their organization this year.

Cumming said, as soon as the ribbons were cut, the kids in India ran into their new homes and jumped on their  new beds.

“The kids selected for the homes get three meals a day, a backpack, school shoes and school uniforms,” Cumming said. “Along with house parents who are teaching them and raising them, they are also enrolled in school. A lot of times, in other countries, orphans aren’t allowed to attend school until they are officially registered by the government. They need to have a home to be registered for school.”

The house parents live within the country and donated the land where the orphanage is built.
Yatooma said, “Before the orphanage was built, (the house parents) had 50 kids sleeping outside of their home and sleeping on the floor of their home.”

Cumming and Yatooma will work with schools in Oakland County to tailor a plan with different fundraising options, such as selling wristbands, T-shirts, hat days and the like. They also can host school assemblies or help teachers form a lesson plan to teach students about the living conditions in Latin America.

“We will come in and do all the work for them,” Yatooma said.

Local businesses Outdoor Creations Group, A Plus Painting and Mattress Closeout Center have donated money for the promotional materials, so 100 percent of funds raised by students will go toward building orphanages.

Cumming said, with many school fundraisers, students don’t understand why they are bringing in cans of soup. She wanted to create a curriculum-based fundraising opportunity where students can be directly involved.

“We want to teach kids in America to be leaders and philanthropists. What better way to do that than to show them how to raise money to help other kids from around the world,” Cumming said.

The cost for an orphanage, which houses between 12 and 25 kids, is $15,000 to $25,000. Cumming said, for a school of 600 students, each child would only need to raise $27 to build an orphanage. A plaque will be made to hang inside the orphanage, engraved with the name of the school which sponsored it. The students also can become pen pals with the children in the orphanage they helped open.

Yatooma said people have told her they don’t understand why she is helping children in other countries.

“If people need help, help them. It doesn’t matter what country they live in,” Yatooma said. “We have a foster-care system here. No one will ever let a kid just live on the street. They don’t have that there.”

Yatooma said, when she visited India, she talked to orphans about their stories and learned many were forced into child labor.
Cumming added, “In America, we have homeless people. But we also have homeless shelters. Homeless people in India have nothing.”

“(America) has a government and structure that gives aid to people. Other governments may not have that in place.”

FYI

Schools interested in collaborating with the 501(c)3 nonprofit Classrooms Helping Kids can call 248-633-8535 or email info@classroomshelpingkids.org. To donate money to help open an orphanage in Latin America, visit classroomshelpingkids.org or mail a check to 1605 S. Telegraph Road in Bloomfield Township

How to grade our teachers is a matter to Royal Oak Agency

How to grade our teachers? Royal Oak agency releases its recommendations for teacher evaluations WITH VIDEO




A Royal Oak-based education advocacy agency is releasing its own recommendations for teacher evaluations as local districts and the Michigan Council for Educator Effectiveness create new models to ensure children achieve in the classroom.

Based on their findings, leaders at The Education Trust-Midwest, based in Royal Oak, said their surveys have shown most districts do not have an adequate model in use at this time.

While new state legislation was approved in 2011 that required all Michigan districts to evaluate teachers under a rating system that includes “ineffective,” “minimally effective,” “effective” and “highly effective” as soon as their teacher contracts expired, local districts had little time to develop the evaluation tool.

Their teacher evaluation programs might be temporary until the state model is provided by the Michigan Council for Educator Effectiveness.
Any school district will be able to use the new state model, which will save the cost of creating its own.

But some districts prefer their own model and will be allowed to use it as long as it follows state standards to be handed down by the Michigan Department of Education, said David Zeman, director of content and communications.

In “Good for Teachers, Good for Students,” its second report in a series on teacher evaluations, Education-Midwest has released a new survey of 28 districts in various types of communities — rural, urban, suburban, small and large.

 




Zeman and Drew Jacobs, data and policy analyst, said this year’s sample and a previous report indicate local school districts are struggling to come up with a high-quality evaluation tool that will include observation and provide feedback and support to teachers who are struggling. 
Among their several recommendations is that there should be directions on how to do an evaluation so each teacher is evaluated under the same standards; that the evaluation be more than a checklist; and that it provide feedback to the teacher and support toward strengthening any weaknesses.

Also key in their report is including student growth and results of the state’s standardized testing in the evaluation model to gauge teachers’ impact on student learning.

Only one Oakland County public school district was among the agency’s list of 28 that Education-Midwest contacted. That was Pontiac schools, which Education-Midwest said provided no information for the study.

However, since the survey was done earlier this year, Pontiac school district has completed its new evaluation system created by administrators and teachers, said Pontiac Superintendent Brian Dougherty. Even though it was put in place this past year, it has been modified since.

Both Michigan Education Association President Aimee McKeever and Pontiac school Superintendent say it is a good one.

“The one the district had last year was thrown together and no input was taken from us,” McKeever explained. “The previous administration was not as open to input from teachers as the current one (which has) “a better attitude and better tone.

“We want an atmosphere that is truly fair and reflects what we need to have so we have high-quality teachers. That is our goal as well as the administrations.

“We certainly want to be evaluated,” McKeever said.

Dougherty said one part of the evaluation program will be that teachers, on a voluntary basis, will demonstrate teaching units that will be video-taped for critique. Some will be provided for colleagues to watch as a model for teaching a particular subject.

McKeever said the videos might be given to parents or put on the local education channel for parents to use as a tool in helping their children achieve.
Both the superintendent and the union president said they don’t want the evaluation to be a punitive one.

Dougherty agrees with Zeman and Jacobs that evaluations must be done through observation in the classroom to help identify areas where teachers excel and need professional development.

However, he does not agree that master teachers should be asked to observe in the classroom to assist the principal. He doesn’t believe a teacher should be put in the position of evaluating a colleague.

However, the superintendent does believe that it is good to identify highly skilled teachers who can model teaching skills via video for teachers who need additional development.

Dougherty also agrees with the Education-Midwest recommendations that good evaluations will give a district the information needed to learn what the areas of weakness are in a building or districtwide and provide professional development for that specific need.

If an individual teacher is a preponderance of weakness, a plan of action will be provided.

Midwest’s first report earlier this year, “Strengthening Michigan’s Teacher Force,” focused on teacher effectiveness ratings in 10 state school districts — two of them in Oakland County — that raised concerns among agency leaders.

That report indicated almost all teachers were deemed “effective” under their rating system, with few in the “minimally effective” or “highly effective,” area. This means, Midwest said, that school administrators might not be identifying struggling teachers and giving them extra support.

Nor are the majority of districts identifying the best teachers so they can be called on to be school leaders, the report indicated.

To see the reports, visit www.edtrustmidwest.org.
Contact Staff writer Diana Dillaber Murray at 248-745-4638, email diana.dillaber@oakpress.com or Twitter @DDillybar.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Conscious Discipline Changing Students into Proactive Thinkers



Becky Bailey Ph.D.
Shubert is a character in Conscious Discipline
    






I had the opportunity to visit Sandberg Elementary in Waterford where they employ with the help of Oakland Schools' Mary Masson, the tools to help students to be proactive thinkers not only in the classroom, but in order to better manage their personal lives. Daily role play, per interaction and tools are used to help students. Started by Ph.D. Becky Bailey, the brain based activities help students think with the front part of their brains and to be more productive students.
The Oakland Press video story appears on News at Noon, their online website and in the Master Educator blog and soon to be website.


 http://youtu.be/fdJZ-pG6Pgg


- Professional 4:40 Video

http://youtu.be/4Cyl1xfC4ik Oakland Press 2 Minute Video and

Interview with Principal Steve Garrison- 90 Seconds- http://youtu.be/8P6JbiEXP64
 

Interview with Oakland Schools Mary Masson 3 Minutes- http://youtu.be/x7bbVVLB8hA

 
Interview with teacher Gail Baker 1 minute-  http://youtu.be/qkOXyMl8BdQ

 

« Will Common Core State Standards Accelerate or Slow Innovation? | Main | 6 Innovations in Social Emotional Learning » Teachers Should Have the Option of Working in Teacher-Led Schools By Tom Vander Ark on November 28, 2012 7:00 AM | No comments Ted Kolderie told me about teacher-led schools 2000. He convinced me to visit Minnesota New Country School (MNCS) where teachers had created an innovative project-based and fully individualized school -- and they were in charge. MNCS teachers had formed a co-op and applied for a charter and operated with full autonomy. I announced that it was "the coolest school in America." Trusting Teacher With School Success , a new book by Kim Farris-Berg and Edward Dirkswager, is an in depth look at teacher-led schools--why and how they work and the key ingredients of success. Every teacher should have the opportunity to work in a teacher-led environment and should read this book to find out why. The central question of the book is "what would teachers do if they had the autonomy not just to make classroom decisions, but to collectively--with their colleagues--make the decisions influencing whole school success?" Join an online discussion about the book starting November 29, 2012 at TrustingTeachers.org. Every few days the authors will address a new chapter. Discussions will run through January. The authors outline 10 key autonomies: Selecting colleagues Transferring and/or terminating colleagues Evaluating colleagues Setting staff pattern (including size of staff and the allocation of personnel to teaching and/or other positions) Selecting and deselecting leaders Determining budget Determining salaries and benefits Determining learning program and learning materials (including teaching methods, curriculum, and levels of technology); and Setting the schedule (classes, school hours, length of school year). The authors identified and studied 11 schools that had at least six of the autonomies and had been operation for at least three years. The 11 schools showed high correlation with the attributes of high performing organizations and shared eight practices: Share purpose , which always focuses on students as individuals, and use it as the basis of decisions aimed at school improvement. Participate in collaboration and leadership for the good of the whole school , not just a classroom. Encourage colleagues and students to be active, ongoing learners in an effort to nurture everyone's engagement and motivation. Develop or adopt learning programs that individualize student learning. Address social and discipline problems as part of student learning. Broaden the definition and scope of student achievement and assessment . Encourage teacher improvement using 360 degree, peer- and self-evaluation methods as well as peer coaching and mentoring. Make budget trade-offs to meet the needs of the students they serve. The book refers to "autonomous teachers," which is slightly misleading, these are partially autonomous schools that are teacher-led. The semantics matter because, having visited most of these schools I find teachers in these environments highly accountable to each other, students and parents. They are actually less autonomous than teachers in traditional schools, but they operate as owners, which makes all the difference in the world. We've had a high level of nearly autonomous individual practice in most schools for decades and it doesn't work very well. In some respect, teachers in the studied schools have less autonomy than what is considered traditional. Teachers in the studied schools are bound together in an accountable collective with a shared mission with a great deal of responsibility to each other and their students. The key ingredient, that I would have emphasized more, is the performance contract that creates conditions of partial-autonomy and describes the relationship with the authorizer. The new push for better teacher evaluation may create problems for some of these schools -- another reason the performance contract is so important. The success of these schools may start with the governance model -- teacher led charters -- but they are also small, focused, mission-driven, student-centered, and (for the most part) competency-based. They say it's not about small, but it would be hard to make this work in a building with 100 teachers. There's little mention of cooperatives in the book but that's how the original schools were formed and I find it both descriptive and a useful organizational structure. As education shifts from a place to a bundle of personal digital learning services, it creates opportunities for teachers to ban together to provide online and blended services, for example: an online AP teacher co-op, an online speech therapy co-op, a foreign language co-op. Another reason for exploring co-ops is that the 11 case studies are hand-crafted schools (as Deborah Meier would say, recreated daily in a meeting of the faculty) and it begs the question of scalability. Co-ops strike me as scalable structures for supporting teacher-led schools. One of the exciting things about the shift to personal digital learning is the explosion of career options for learning professionals -- more school models, more learning services, and more ways to contribute. In every other profession, there is a choice of working for a government services, a large private practice, a professional partnership, or as a sole practitioner. Teachers should have the same options. Teacher-led environments aren't for everyone. There's a lot of responsibility and hard work that goes with being an 'owner', but it does reframe accountability as a gift, a promise, and a practice. Teacher-led schools are a great idea. As the authors admit, they are not for everyone. But given the advantages outlined in this book, there should be thousands not dozens.


 

Teachers Should Have the Option of Working in Teacher-Led Schools

Ted Kolderie told me about teacher-led schools 2000. He convinced me to visit Minnesota New Country School (MNCS) where teachers had created an innovative project-based and fully individualized school -- and they were in charge. MNCS teachers had formed a co-op and applied for a charter and operated with full autonomy. I announced that it was "the coolest school in America."

Trusting Teacher With School Success , a new book by Kim Farris-Berg and Edward Dirkswager, is an in depth look at teacher-led schools--why and how they work and the key ingredients of success. Every teacher should have the opportunity to work in a teacher-led environment and should read this book to find out why.

The central question of the book is "what would teachers do if they had the autonomy not just to make classroom decisions, but to collectively--with their colleagues--make the decisions influencing whole school success?"

Join an online discussion about the book starting November 29, 2012 at TrustingTeachers.org. Every few days the authors will address a new chapter. Discussions will run through January.

The authors outline 10 key autonomies:
  1. Selecting colleagues
  2. Transferring and/or terminating colleagues
  3. Evaluating colleagues
  4. Setting staff pattern (including size of staff and the allocation of personnel to teaching and/or other positions)
  5. Selecting and deselecting leaders
  6. Determining budget
  7. Determining salaries and benefits
  8. Determining learning program and learning materials (including teaching methods, curriculum, and levels of technology); and
  9. Setting the schedule (classes, school hours, length of school year).

The authors identified and studied 11 schools that had at least six of the autonomies and had been operation for at least three years. The 11 schools showed high correlation with the attributes of high performing organizations and shared eight practices:
  1. Share purpose , which always focuses on students as individuals, and use it as the basis of decisions aimed at school improvement.
  2. Participate in collaboration and leadership for the good of the whole school , not just a classroom.
  3. Encourage colleagues and students to be active, ongoing learners in an effort to nurture everyone's engagement and motivation.
  4. Develop or adopt learning programs that individualize student learning.
  5. Address social and discipline problems as part of student learning.
  6. Broaden the definition and scope of student achievement and assessment .
  7. Encourage teacher improvement using 360 degree, peer- and self-evaluation methods as well as peer coaching and mentoring.
  8. Make budget trade-offs to meet the needs of the students they serve.

The book refers to "autonomous teachers," which is slightly misleading, these are partially autonomous schools that are teacher-led. The semantics matter because, having visited most of these schools I find teachers in these environments highly accountable to each other, students and parents. They are actually less autonomous than teachers in traditional schools, but they operate as owners, which makes all the difference in the world.

We've had a high level of nearly autonomous individual practice in most schools for decades and it doesn't work very well. In some respect, teachers in the studied schools have less autonomy than what is considered traditional. Teachers in the studied schools are bound together in an accountable collective with a shared mission with a great deal of responsibility to each other and their students.

The key ingredient, that I would have emphasized more, is the performance contract that creates conditions of partial-autonomy and describes the relationship with the authorizer.
The new push for better teacher evaluation may create problems for some of these schools -- another reason the performance contract is so important.

The success of these schools may start with the governance model -- teacher led charters -- but they are also small, focused, mission-driven, student-centered, and (for the most part) competency-based. They say it's not about small, but it would be hard to make this work in a building with 100 teachers.

There's little mention of cooperatives in the book but that's how the original schools were formed and I find it both descriptive and a useful organizational structure. As education shifts from a place to a bundle of personal digital learning services, it creates opportunities for teachers to ban together to provide online and blended services, for example: an online AP teacher co-op, an online speech therapy co-op, a foreign language co-op.

Another reason for exploring co-ops is that the 11 case studies are hand-crafted schools (as Deborah Meier would say, recreated daily in a meeting of the faculty) and it begs the question of scalability. Co-ops strike me as scalable structures for supporting teacher-led schools.

One of the exciting things about the shift to personal digital learning is the explosion of career options for learning professionals -- more school models, more learning services, and more ways to contribute. In every other profession, there is a choice of working for a government services, a large private practice, a professional partnership, or as a sole practitioner. Teachers should have the same options.

Teacher-led environments aren't for everyone. There's a lot of responsibility and hard work that goes with being an 'owner', but it does reframe accountability as a gift, a promise, and a practice.
Teacher-led schools are a great idea. As the authors admit, they are not for everyone. But given the advantages outlined in this book, there should be thousands not dozens.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Students learn they can empathize those with disabilities

Students Get Real Insight Into Abilities

Growing up, I remember the children in“special ed” seemed to live in an alternate universe within our school. Regardless of the distinctions in their challenges, they all were placed together in one class, shuttled around as one throng, rarely included in the activities the rest of us took for granted.
Mercifully, we’ve come a long way (not far enough, of course, but ‘tis the season of being thankful, so I’m offering this as an example of progress.)
My sixth-grader came home recently brimming with thoughts after a lesson on empathy and disabilities at her school. October was Disabilities Awareness Month. I didn’t know anything about it so my first understanding came only through my daughter who has a reporter’s eye for detail and a willingness to tell her mom all about her day.
She said they had a lesson in what it felt like to have certain disabilities. Instead of just talking about it or showing a video, they let the students experience of each challenge.
“For dyslexia, we got to read from a page that was impossible to understand it was so mixed up,” she said.
“What did that teach you?” I asked.
“That your brain has to work really, really hard if you have dyslexia and that it’s really cool how they can teach you to retrain your brain to make learning easier,” she explained.
She went on to describe how the lesson included demonstrations of people talking really loud and then having Post-it notes tickling the backs of their necks to help them experience the sensory overload often felt by children with autism.
Here’s how the lesson was later described on the school newsletter:
“Our special education staff and social workers set up hands-on stations in the library. At these stations, activities were set up for all staff to role-play a moment in the life of a student with a learning disability. Examples included an autistic student in the classroom, a student taking a test with ADHD, a student reading with the challenge of dyslexia, and a fine and gross motor activity demonstrated how impairment can affect the simplest tasks. Teachers and administrators were engaged in the activities and felt they really were reminded about the challenges many of our students face.”
After the experience, my daughter said all the kids were talking about how they all felt like they had “some parts of all the disabilities.” She said a lot of the kids said “hey, I feel like that a lot,” or “I get nervous when that happens all the time.” She said the chance to “live” with the disability and hear it described so vividly—even for only a few minutes –made a huge impression on her classmates, many of whom were convinced they, too, share similar challenges.
This kind of empathy can only be learned through living it. And it is a priceless life lesson.
As an educator, I see this as experiential learning and social justice teaching at its best. As a parent, I am even more grateful.
Cytrynbaum is executive director of the Chicago Innocence Project and teaches a city-wide investigative journalism course

MEA President talks about the Freedom to Freeload Bill

Statement from MEA President Steve Cook on deceptive ’Freedom to Freeload’ bill

EAST LANSING, Mich., Dec. 6, 2012 — Gov. Rick Snyder and Republican leadership today announced they would push so-called “right-to-work” bills that include public and private workers while carving out exemptions for police and firefighters. Swift legislative action on these bills is already underway. The following statement can be attributed to Michigan Education Association President Steve Cook:
“As time is ticking on the lame duck Legislature, extremist politicians are in a hurry to continue their assault on working families while exacting political revenge against union members who didn’t support their bids for reelection. Today’s swift announcement, introduction and subsequent passage of so-called ‘right-to-work’ legislation is just another political attack on Michigan’s middle class, and it does nothing to help dig our state out of an economic hole. 
“We elected leaders who we thought would work together to create jobs, steer our economy back to fiscal strength, and restore the American Dream for the middle class. Instead, Governor Snyder and his allies in the Legislature are fulfilling their extremist agenda by going after working families—setting the wrong priorities and making the wrong choices.
“Let’s be clear. This legislation is not about improving the economy or creating jobs—this is political payback that puts big corporations and special-interest CEOs before Michigan’s working families. In states with so-called ‘right-to-work’ laws, workers make an average of $1,500 less per year, 21 percent more people lack health insurance and workplace deaths are 51 percent higher than states without the law. On average, workers in ‘right-to-work’ states have a lower standard of living, bring home less pay and go without health insurance more frequently. That hurts small businesses as consumer spending is reduced, causing a ripple effect that will further hurt Michigan’s economy.
“Worst of all is the utter lies about what this does. No one is forced to join a union – that’s already illegal. This allows workers to get out of paying their fair share of what it costs to negotiate the contract they benefit from.  Whether proponents call this ‘right-to-work’ or ‘freedom-to-work’, it’s really just ‘Freedom to Freeload.’
“This deceptive and divisive concept will not help Michigan’s economy get back on track. As we have seen in other states like Ohio and Wisconsin, everyone gets hurt when politicians put their agendas ahead of the people who elected them. Instead of distractions that silence the voices of workers, our elected leaders should focus on finding ways to create more jobs, help struggling families and get our state’s economy moving again.”

Contact: Doug Pratt, MEA Director of Public Affairs, 517-337-5566

Thursday, December 6, 2012

A classroom for teachers a hands on way to learn their craft

     If there is one thing I am trying to do with the Master Educator blog is to show how best practices through research and data and effectively brought into the classroom is the cornerstone on how to help students learn. To take it one step further, using video to demonstrate these practices and tell the story and show how students benefit from the practice will drive the profession one step forward. The following story below comes from the Detroit News and is a well written one at that.

A classroom for teachers

Teaching lab offers educators a hands-on way to hone their craft- By Jennifer Chambers-  The Detroit News

Deborah Loewenberg Ball, dean of the University of Michigan School of Education, works with students from Ypsilanti Public Schools during the Elementary Mathematics Laboratory program. Ball said the lab makes teaching more open so people can see the work 3 million people are doing in the United States. (Bryan Mitchell / Special to The Detroit News)
Great teachers are not born — they're taught. That philosophy is the impetus behind a two-week teaching lab held annually at the University of Michigan's School of Education, where the teacher and her methods are under study by educators, policymakers and others who hope to learn more about what makes a great educator.
Every day for two weeks, a special mathematics class for underperforming upper elementary students from Ypsilanti Public Schools is taught by Deborah Loewenberg Ball, an experienced elementary school teacher who is also dean of the U-M School of Education.
The 2 1/2-hour class is conducted in a format similar to a surgical theater, where Ball performs a live teaching lesson with about two dozen students who have been asked to solve math problems individually and as a group.
Cameras tape the experience and microphones record student answers and Ball's techniques. A short distance away, adults watch, take notes and study Ball as she engages children in math.
Head of a Michigan council tasked with developing a new statewide teacher evaluation tool, Ball is known nationally for her work on teacher development practices. She said there are few opportunities for teachers to analyze the moves they make to help students learn.
The lab, Ball said, serves as a rich and unique setting for professional development for classroom teachers because it offers the opportunity to see teaching "live," watch the growth of students from one day to the next and discuss the work of teaching in public and in detail.
"Teaching is done behind closed doors. They (teachers) can describe it but they hardly ever get to watch the work of getting kids to pay attention and explain particular content," Ball said.
"This is putting teaching in the centerpieces and allowing educators with different kinds of expertise to talk about how would you get a student to pay attention. Everyone can benefit from having this by taking it back to their own practice."
In a classroom down the hall from the teaching lab on U-M's Ann Arbor campus, Ball meets with observers before the session with the children begins.
"We know math. How would we talk it? How should you say it to the children?" Ball poses to the group.
"Children don't have a concept of net worth or being in debt, so what are we trying to accomplish? Many students have not been taught mathematics as they should have been. They need a gateway — a framework in their mind."
Math — rather than English or reading — was chosen for the lab course because it is particularly difficult to teach, Ball said, and researchers know many students are having difficulty learning it.
"One of the reasons teaching math is so difficult is because most Americans haven't learned math very well," Ball said.
"It turns out when you are talking to students and trying to make it make sense, the fact you know the answer doesn't get you very much when you are trying to explain it. It's not obvious how you explain adding a negative number, and when you do it … you often say things that are confusing and wrong."
That's why the teaching lab works — it's where mistakes are made and then discussed with suggestions for future teaching methods, observers say.
Inside the School of Education at U-M, the lab is underway with 27 students seated at a U-shaped table all facing Ball, who stands in the middle.
One part of the lesson focuses on constructing and explaining fractions of fractions.
"I'd like you to draw one-third of one-third," Ball says. Students get busy writing their answers out; some whisper and fidget.
Through the day and its multiple lessons, Ball makes a point to connect with each student, get each student to speak in class and build routines for the class.

Accountable for learning

Nearly 200 people attended Ball's workshop this summer from across the United States, including lawmakers, parents and graduate students. Among them was Colleen Kuusinen, an education doctoral student at U-M.
Kuusinen said she has been watching how Ball leads a classroom discussion and how she positions it so students are learning from each other and not just her.
"She talks about the purposes behind discussions. For me as a teacher, I was never expressly taught about how to lead a discussion or the purpose of leading a discussion. It's very illuminating to hear her talk about what she does and the decisions she makes."
Beth Christensen, a fifth-grade math teacher at Pittsburgh's King School, said Ball establishes a culture where not only kids are held accountable for learning, but teachers are too.
"It's refreshing. It's a shame we don't have that in our school. Teachers are collaborators and learners. We see ourselves as education researchers," Christensen said. "There are so many decisions you make in a day. It's hard not to be paralyzed by fear."
State Board of Education member Eileen Weiser, who spent an afternoon observing Ball in the lab, said every teacher she knows truly wants to reach children and make a difference.
"It's very clear if we approach this very differently and make sure every child understands and knows basic concepts and how to use them, you can change a kid's life," Weiser said. "We can watch kids coming up and not learning math. If a teacher doesn't have these tools in their toolbox, it won't work."

Teaching made more visible

Michigan, which produces about 7,000 teachers a year, has 34 teacher preparation programs at higher education institutions. A recent ranking by the Michigan Department of Education listed four programs as "low-performing," three as considered "at-risk," nine as satisfactory and the rest as exemplary.
This fall, state Superintendent Mike Flanagan shut parts of teaching programs at Lake Superior State University and Olivet College after both were tagged as low-performing for several years.
The rankings are based on state exam pass rates, program completion and teacher exit surveys.
"I hope it's gotten the attention of all the deans. I think we do have the best teacher prep institutions in the country, but it's not ready for my granddaughter, who is using an iPad at age 2. What we want is quality," Flanagan said.
Armen Hratchian, vice president for education systems at Excellent Schools Detroit, said that considering the growing focus on accountability and teacher performance in Michigan, the state lacks opportunities for teachers to reflect on what works and to work on their craft.
Teachers can improve over time if given the right tools, said Hratchian, who observed Ball in the lab this summer.
"Teaching our kids is the most important profession there is. We should have a definition of what a prepared teacher looks like. We don't. I think that's huge challenge," he said. "We should be doing more on the front end and not hope that teachers learn how to teach while teaching."
Ball said the lab makes teaching more open so people can see the work 3 million people are doing in the United States. "It's actually pretty hard … this makes it more visible that teaching is complex work you can learn to do better. It doesn't take being some special person, but you need to learn how to do it and that is the central message. And we need to provide better opportunities for teachers to learn," she said.
jchambers@detroitnews.com
(313) 222-2269