Top 10 Things Middle-School Students Wish You Knew
It is true that all adults have been in the shoes of a middle school student age wise but teachers and administrators look at kids through the eyes of an adult with a lot more maturity and wisdom than the students they teach. The problem we have is that we have that maturity and wisdom and they hopefully will acquire enough of it while we are teaching them so we can show them a full measure of their potential. In an article written by Rachel Vail who has written over 30 books, she conversationally takes you to the mind of a middle school student from www.weareteachers.com
Here is a snippett from an article that you can check out below.
"What you tell me about myself matters way more than I hope you know. When you tell me I am something—smart, brave, kind, stupid, a trouble-maker, creative, a writer, a mathematician, funny, hard-working—I believe you."
That headline is a whopper. Most educators do some of the 11 described below superbly and your evaluations reflect it. Most teachers need some improvement in some areas. In an article from Edutopia written by Carrie Lam, she points out 11 ways educators could do self reflection on their teaching practices. While embracing change (below) is not number one, I think Carrie does a great job of outlining what every educator should think about.
. EMBRACES CHANGE.
In life, things don't always go according to plan. This is
particularly true when it comes to teaching. Be flexible and go with the
flow when change occurs. An effective teacher does not complain about
changes when a new principal arrives. They do not feel the need to
mention how good they had it at their last school or with their last
group of students compared to their current circumstances. Instead of
stressing about change, embrace it with both hands and show that you are
capable of hitting every curve ball that comes your way! To see the complete list, use the link below. http://bit.ly/1xAhlA5
Most districts go back next week and there are some teachers that can hardly wait and there are some that are waking up in a cold sweat dreading going back for the second half of the year. I have been watching classroom management videos from Rick Smith from Effective Classroom Management. In a post written by a terrified teacher who does not feel respected the night sweats have most likely already begun. As we know, if you do not have respect, you have little learning going on and a lot of chaos. Still, she is doing the right thing getting help.
“We’re almost halfway through the school year, and my classroom management is out of control. My students do not respect me at all, and it’s not just one or two of them--it’s become the culture of our classroom. The students just do not listen to me. I want to turn things around, but I’m worried it’s too late in the year. What can I do?” (My words are in red).
From the We are Teachers Staff From Janelle, we totally get it, and we’re here to say that it’s NEVER too late to get back the respect of your students. Here is some advice from our helpliners on how to start fresh.
Make achievement a group effort! Give "points" to each class for certain things that everyone does well (like following directions or everyone turning in the assignment), and then when the class accumulates a certain number of points, everyone gets a reward, like a homework pass. - Brenda M. I like Brenda's idea. I have been using Class Dojo and have customized behaviors for both the positive and negative behaviors. Kids really pay attention when you add or subtract points. I do have a token economy and students can buy snacks and driinks and homework passes. This has worked and the principal has bought snacks twice. Read on. I teach fifth grade and use Class Dojo. I keep a total of their points
for the month. Then they get a copy of the "menu" to fill out, choosing
how they will spend their points for the month. Only 14 points can be
carried over for the next month. The choices range from 15 points to 80.
It works well with little effort on my part! - Kate F.
Talking to peers is something that is encouraged. While you can always go to one teachers class and the kids are eating out of the teachers hand, trying the same in your class may find students still walking over you. According to Rick Smith, it is all about being consistent and having consequences that you follow through with.
This is from another teacher. Talk to other teachers about the classroom management strategies they use that work. A lot of it is setting an expectation and following it, and you can do that at any point during the year. It’s just a matter of sticking to it and being consistent. I use a point system and give bonus points for on-task students. - Heather S. This is a very prudent strategy. Do not embarrass students in front of peers. Having a system where they can speak to you in private while you keep teaching keeps your class focused on content rather than the battle happening where they are rivoted to it instead of learning.
Don't be afraid of calling parents; they can be your biggest advocate. If you do call a parent for negative behavior, also make sure you call that parent when the child has a good day as well. That will also help get the parents on your side. - Jodi W. Jodi is right. Many people will say that giving students discipline choices gives them options instead of backs them into the corner. Once a student knows you are following through, you have credibility. If they cannot or will not serve the consequence such as a lunch detention, let the student know they will get a phone call home or a referral to the administrator. Also, call home and ask for the student when they deserve praise. Let it be a short and to the point conversation. According to Smith, the parents will naturally want to know and may call you back. Invite the parents to come in or let them know you have an open door policy. We document our classroom issues on a computer program where we file both referrals and classroom issues. Let the student know you are trying to do the kindest thing to get their attention and ask them if they want to change. Their answers tell you what you need to know.
If students are being loud, my instinct used to be to raise my voice to try to be louder than them. Now, I’ve started doing the opposite--I’ll speak more quietly. This tends to intrigue them, and they’ll start hushing each other so they can hear what I have to say. Try it!-Erin F. Rick Smith mentioned above mentions that against all impulses to soften your voice, face the student, mention the behavior and tilt your posture slightly toward the student. The student will know you will use the consequences.
“Fake it ‘til you make it.” Even if you don’t feel like you are in control, act as though you are--cool, calm, collected. The next time you walk into the classroom, convey through your directions, expectations, and the way you carry yourself that anything less than respectful behavior will not be tolerated. Then have a plan for how to enforce those expectations. Avoid getting emotional or angry. - Greg T.
Teachers, what other advice do you have for those struggling with classroom management?
One resource is Rick Smith who wrote Effective Classroom Management. He gives plenty of tips and is a teacher trainer in this area. You can find his books on Amazon.
With scores of families and model trains to look at, there is no amount of hot chocolate that can offset the family having fun winter fun. The West Oakland Museum is a popular option for families that want to have an hour or two of family fun. For Seth Lampe and Paul Gribbell, it is a way to give back to a hobby they truly enjoy. "We have plenty of families that come and enjoy our trains." You really need more than one visit to truly appreciate what is going on at the museum. There are so many exhibits at the museum that you will easily overlook the recreated towns and even skinny dippers and hobo shacks.
You truly have to come in and see the several dozen train tracks and the looks of multi-generation families that watch part of the past come alive. Seth Lampe, a volunteer at The West Oakland Museum said many of the cars were hand crafted and some of the trains cost money that can only be recouped in wonder, not in cost.
Lampe also said The Railroad Museum is the home of the World's Longest
Model Train and it was running over the span of a fourty-foot bridge. Thousands of train cars on dozen of tracks. It is a fun and
inexpensive place to take your family. The train museum is open 11am-5pm through the holidays and Friday, Saturday and Sunday through March.
Here is a link to the photo story in the Oakland Press http://www.smugmug.com/photos/guest/8h8VGv/RailroadMuseum
248-613-9471
8275 Cooley lake Road
Commerce Twp. 48382
I remember Cunninghams but not the shack next to it.
You probably have never heard of the term "open-sourced" content. College students will though. With the rise of textbooks being to the point where students either do without them or play a game of chicken and buy them at the last minute and share with a friend, open-sourcing is a possible 2010's solution to the rising costs of going to college. Open-sourcing is where professors actually research what they are going to teach in class with other professors to find research friendly material that is reputable. Professors do not like keeping abreast of their topics as it is cumbersome and takes time. Some might even have to do that dreaded Google search. (They should try teaching public school where we do it every day and collegial plan online and with our team in meetings during the schoolday). We may even look at your research. What this is doing is the material gathered is being shared with students and the need for a textbook is nil. Now I know that research needs to be done in all fields but the current method is outdated and too costly to continue. Carrie Wells of the Baltimore Sun explains open-sourcing with professors and text book makers. What happens to current and future college students could help them in the pocketbook.
New strategy would drop college textbook costs to zero
Holding a whiteboard, the University of Maryland, College Park students scrawled their complaints and posed for a picture.
"My
name is Justin and I spent $114 on ONE textbook," a student wrote. "My
name is Jeff and I spent $736 on textbooks," wrote another. The
images, posted online by the Student Government Association in recent
months, are designed to highlight the rapid rise in the price of college
textbooks over the past decade. This semester, the University System of
Maryland is exploring ways to bring that cost to zero with
"open-source" electronic textbooks — the latest experiment in changing
the way students in Maryland and across the nation are taught.
Unlike
electronic versions of textbooks sold by publishers, open-source
textbooks are made up of materials gathered from various sources and are
not protected by copyright.They are often designed to be
interactive, with links to source material and multimedia elements. The
materials are licensed openly, so anyone with an Internet connection can
access them.
A pilot program, which the university system
estimates is saving 1,100 students a combined $130,000, is the latest in
a shift on the nation's campuses toward digital learning. The
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the California State University
system and the Washington State college system are among those that have
built libraries of free online course materials in recent years.
Still, open-source textbooks, which have been around for several years, face challenges and have not caught on broadly.
"I
don't know if it's transforming higher ed yet," said Craig R. Vasey, a
member of the American Association of University Professors who uses
open-source materials in his logic class at the University of Mary
Washington in Virginia. "I think the textbook publishing business is
still doing very, very well."
In fact, the textbook industry is
also working to offer cheaper alternatives to hardcover textbooks and
even partnering with open-source textbook providers.
Educators at
all levels are still figuring out how to best use technology in the
classroom. For example, Baltimore County Superintendent Dallas Dance
announced recently that the district would aim to place a tablet or
laptop in the hand of every student within five years.
The pilot
program is part the University System of Maryland's recent strategy to
emphasize online learning. The system is also expanding its online-only
course offerings. And this spring, the University of Baltimore launched
its first online course open to anyone outside the state. The university
system is also experimenting with "course redesign," in which more
course material is presented online and class time is restructured to
focus more on discussion. Although
the open-source textbook concept has been embraced by student groups
such as the Student Government Association in College Park, university
officials say the challenges include connecting professors with the
materials they need for the textbooks and creating a system to assess
the quality of the books. Another complication: Many universities are bound to contracts
with private companies to run campus bookstores, where many students
purchase their textbooks. University System of Maryland financial
records show that the bookstore contracts are not always lucrative,
however — last year the system lost about $1 million.
Some
students and a growing number of professors and university
administrators say the cost of printed textbooks outweighs their
usefulness. Textbook prices have risen an average of 82 percent between
2002 and 2012, about three times faster than the rate of inflation,
according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
High
textbook prices are "quite ridiculous," said Jesse Fox, president of
the University System of Maryland Student Council, which lobbied system
officials to study open-source textbooks. Fox, a doctoral candidate at
the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, added, "The only reason
this is the case is textbook companies can do this. There's no check and
balance." The College Board estimates that the average college
student spends $1,200 a year on textbooks, and the costs are often
higher in fields like science or mathematics. The costs strain budgets
as families struggle to pay for higher education, and sometimes students
opt not to buy textbooks or put off purchases until late in the
semester, which can jeopardize their grades, according to student
groups, advocates and administrators. "The traditional model of
textbook is like a game of 'Survivor,' " said Meenu Singh, a College
Park student coordinating the textbook cost awareness campaign for the
Student Government Association. "It becomes a game of outwit and
outlast: Let's see how long we can last the semester without having to
buy the textbook, or outwit by trying to buy cheaper editions."
The
University System of Maryland's textbook pilot program stems from a
partnership with Lumen Learning, a Portland, Ore.-based companythat
helps professors access open-source content, tests, graphics and other
course materials that they can pull together into an electronic "book."
Lumen
Learning is providing the service for free to the Maryland system and
19 other universities nationwide through grants, said M.J. Bishop,
director of the system's Center for Innovation and Excellence in
Learning and Teaching, who is overseeing the pilot program.
Eleven professors at the College Park campus,
the University of Baltimore, Bowie State University and Coppin State
University are participating, in addition to two institutions not in the
state university system: Chesapeake College on the Eastern Shoreand St. Mary's College of Maryland. Scott
Roberts, a University of Maryland, College Park professor who teaches
an introductory psychology course, started writing his own open-source
textbook for the class in 2010 and is participating in the pilot
program. Faculty members are concerned about the burdensome cost of
printed textbooks, he said, but the alternatives can be complicated and
time-consuming. Roberts estimated that he spent 80 hours pulling
together open-source materials for his textbook, working late into the
night to write some sections himself when he could not find good
material.
Before the pilot, he said, he found no centralized place where
faculty members could gather open-source materials and relied heavily
on Google searches.
He was motivated, he said, by frustration over
textbook editions that were "constantly updated with little
justification" and by the desire to save students money.
Roberts said traditional textbooks provide some value,but
added, "The question is: Is it worth the cost that students are paying
for it? If we can get the job done without it, I think we have an
obligation to our students to do that."
Bishop, who believes
open-source textbooks will become more common, said the Maryland system
could develop its own library of quality open-source materials. Still,
she noted that quality control remains an issue.
"Anybody
at this point can write a textbook and put it out there for
consumption," she said. "It's still sort of a crapshoot, frankly, if the
textbook you just downloaded is going to have the kind of quality that
you want for your course."
Advocates for open-source textbooks
complain that publishing companies drive up costs by "bundling"
textbooks with CD-ROMs containing software that adds little value.
Publishers also often release new editions of textbooks, making it
difficult or impossible for students to resell their books after a
course ends.
The textbook publishing industry is "not opposed" to
open-source textbooks and is even partnering with some providers, said
David Anderson, executive director of higher education at the
Association of American Publishers. But he said traditional textbooks
can cost up to a few million dollars to produce, and he is skeptical
that such an effort can be re-created on a large scale for a product
distributed for free.
Anderson said traditional textbooks are
usually written by several academics and are peer-reviewed to ensure
they are accurate, free of typos and well-sourced. "When you're looking
at open-source textbooks, that may or may not be the case," he said.
Anderson
said the industry has already developed cheaper alternatives to the
hardcover, full-color textbook: three-ring-binder editions,
black-and-white editions or options for students to buy individual
chapters electronically. He pointed to CourseSmart, a company offering a
$200 package deal that enables students to rent electronic versions of
six textbooks.
Though
the concern over textbook costs is a perennial one, efforts by state
and university officials to reform the system have been largely
unsuccessful. In 2005, state lawmakers directed the university system to
evaluate a "textbook consortium" that would coordinate purchases with
an eye toward reducing prices.
But the university system
ultimately said the consortium would be unworkable. Among the reasons:
Universities had an obligation to honor their contracts with bookstores,
creating such a system was too expensive, and the measure could run
afoul of federal anti-trust laws. Student
advocates for open-source textbooks point to a study released in
January by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit advocacy
organization. About 65 percent of the 2,000 college students the group
surveyed across the country said they opted not to buy a textbook
because of the cost, and nearly all of those students were concerned it
would affect their grade in the course.
Roberts said the
Introduction to Psychology open-source textbook he created is now in use
by about 700 students each semester. The students he's surveyed are
generally pleased with the experience, he said, with the exception of a
few who prefer to have a printed textbook to write in.
There are
other benefits to open-source textbooks, he said. "Right now, if a study
comes out, it can take a year to show up in a textbook. We can update
it overnight."
In contrast to the work it takes for a professor to
create an open-source textbook, textbook publishers can make a
teacher's job easy, Roberts said. Professors who assign a textbook can
get a package of PowerPoint slides and prewritten exams from a
publisher, saving them time designing the course.
Roberts also
said publishing company sales tactics can be aggressive. Salespeople
will walk into a professor's office unannounced to pitch a textbook, he
said, or cold-call them.
"They come and find you," he said.
Robert
Javonillo, a Coppin State professor participating in the pilot program,
said his Introduction to Biology students seemed "relieved" to learn
that their assigned course materials would be free. The hardcover
version of the textbook he assigned before costs $158. He said the
open-source materials have been high-quality, with the exception of some
of the illustrations, important for learning about biology.
"Maybe
one of the bigger issues is in certain academic circles, the rigor of a
course is judged by the textbook you use," he added. "If you stray from
that, you might be met by some furrowed brows."
Javonillo said it's too early to tell whether the different materials have affected his students' learning.
"I'm
optimistic about this lowering the cost of college attendance in the
near future, but I'd be curious about what the publishing companies are
going to do in response to this," he said.
"You can't beat free." cwells@baltsun.com
Parents who have told their children their entire lives that going to college was their 'babies' ticket to the good life only to see them struggle to find a job. While we all understand that their are no guarantees in life other than professor tenure and student loans, one college is offering to pay for a graduates student loans if they are not making at least 37K as graduates. Yes, you heard that right. There are some restrictions and fine print. Here's a little of it. Adrian
paid roughly $575,000 this year, or $1,165 per student, to take out
policies on 495 students. For those who graduate and get a job
that pays less than $20,000 a year, the college will make full monthly
student loan payments until they make $37,000 a year. With a job that
pays $20,000 to $37,000, the college will make payments on a sliding scale.
Thank God for Insurance. Adrian is a small private college that cherry picks its students. Will any other schools follow?
College sees benefits with loan promise
By Jeff Karoub Associated Press
ADRIAN, MICH. — When it came time to pick a college, Abby Slusher leaned toward a private school near her southeastern Michigan home for the small campus and class sizes. Her mother pushed Adrian College for another reason: a new program guaranteeing every graduate would make more than $37,000 or get some or all student loans reimbursed.
Adrian is among the first colleges to take out insurance policies on all incoming freshmen and transfer students who have student loans and at least two years of school remaining.
“She said, ‘Look at me, I’m still trying to pay my student loans off — this would be great. I don’t want you in this situation,’” said Slusher, 18, who is studying to become a social worker. “And seeing her in this situation, I don’t want that.”
The idea has been around for a few decades at Yale Law School and for specific programs elsewhere, such as seminary and social work degrees. Some small, religious schools started offering guarantees to all new students in recent years, but Adrian President Jeffrey Docking is taking it further by framing the program as a solution to skyrocketing tuition costs and student loan defaults. His crusade has gotten the attention of U.S. lawmakers and education officials.
“Obviously, we feel like this is a big solution to a big problem — maybe the biggest problem right now in higher education,” Docking said.
Adrian paid roughly $575,000 this year, or $1,165 per student, to take out policies on 495 students. For those who graduate and get a job that pays less than $20,000 a year, the college will make full monthly student loan payments until they make $37,000 a year. With a job that pays $20,000 to $37,000, the college will make payments on a sliding scale.
There’s no time limit for the payment plan, but the college caps total loan payments at $70,000 per student. Adrian’s annual cost of tuition, room and board is about $40,000 before any forms of financial aid.
The school has 1,700 students.
Docking already sees benefits: The entering freshmen class is up about 50 students to 570.
If anyone ever thought college was not really a higher educational place of learning and not big business, all you have to do is go to the local college bookstore. The prices of college textbooks are outrageous and it does not take a business major to figure out their is a monopoly on the books often written by professors teaching the course or a beneficial relationship between the college and the text book writer. Now books are not evil. I confess to reading the books to actually learn. The problem is the outrageous costs of the books, the number of outrageously priced books and the amount you get for them when you return them. Hence, when you have encountered a mousetrap, someone is going to build a better mousetrap. In the story by Valerie Strauss, the internet provides a solution (probably temporary) on how students are getting around this problem and a students response to why he illegally downloads them. The story and answers might surprise you.
More students are illegally downloading college textbooks for free
It’s
hard (if not impossible) to know just how prevalent this practice is,
but some college students around the country are uploading their
expensive college textbooks onto the Internet so other students can
download them for free and avoid the hefty fees that are sometimes more
than $200 a book.
Vocativ.com has a story
titled “Why College Students are Stealing Their Textbooks,” which notes
that some students are even downloading them for ethics classes.
The cost to students of college textbooks skyrocketed 82 percent between 2002 and 2012, according to a 2013 report
by the U.S. General Accountability Office, the research arm of
Congress. As a result, students have been looking for less expensive
options, such as renting books — and, now, finding them on the Internet,
uploaded by other students.
In August, an organization called
the Book Industry Study Group, which represents publishers, retailers,
manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, librarians and others in the
industry, released a survey of
some 1,600 students and found, according to a release on the data, that
“students continue to become more sophisticated in acquiring their
course materials at the lowest cost as illicit and alternative
acquisition behaviors, from scanned copies to illegal downloads to the
use of pirated websites, continue to increase in frequency.”
College students are illegally downloading books and who can blame them
More students are illegally downloading college textbooks for free
It’s hard (if not impossible) to know just how prevalent this practice is, but some college students around the country are uploading their expensive college textbooks onto the Internet so other students can download them for free and avoid the hefty fees that are sometimes more than $200 a book. Vocativ.com has a story titled “Why College Students are Stealing Their Textbooks,” which notes that some students are even downloading them for ethics classes. The cost to students of college textbooks skyrocketed 82 percent between 2002 and 2012, according to a 2013 report by the U.S. General Accountability Office, the research arm of Congress. As a result, students have been looking for less expensive options, such as renting books — and, now, finding them on the Internet, uploaded by other students. In August, an organization called the Book Industry Study Group, which represents publishers, retailers, manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, librarians and others in the industry, released a survey of some 1,600 students and found, according to a release on the data, that “students continue to become more sophisticated in acquiring their course materials at the lowest cost as illicit and alternative acquisition behaviors, from scanned copies to illegal downloads to the use of pirated websites, continue to increase in frequency.” A year ago a student wrote on a Tumblr blog called “Children of the Stars” complaining about a professor who insisted that students buy an online version of a specific paperback sociology book for more than $200 — which the professor wrote himself — and would not allow them to purchase “an older, paperback edition of the same book for $5.” The student continued: “This is why we download,” and “Don’t ever, EVER buy the newest edition of a book,” which is followed by a list of Web sites with pirated books. As of 2:20 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, the post had 780,942 views. Vocativ.com decided to do an experiment to see how easy it would be to find college textbooks for free online. The story says:
We were curious how deep the selection of books is and how easy it is to download them, so we picked five typical freshman core courses, including Culture, Ethics and Economics at Barnard College, Humanities 1217 at the University of Wisconsin and Honors Philosophy 200 at Michigan State University. Working off the syllabi for these classes and others, we tried to download all our textbooks without paying a dime from the sites offered up by the “Children of the Stars” blogger…. We typed in the titles for our books, one by one, and found them all immediately. Within minutes, we had four textbooks on our hard drive: Herodutus’ Histories, Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and Physics: The Human Adventure.
The Web site said it found tweets from students across the country — “from New York University and Long Beach State to the University of Michigan and George Mason University touting the joys of shaving several thousand dollars off their college bills.” Here are some tweets about free textbook downloading that were published on Wednesday at “textbook pdf”:
trongod2000•3 months ago A
professor writes a book. Then requires all his students to buy it.
It's a monopoly and so he charges a crazy price. So the professor makes
a good salary from the school and then rakes it in from book sales.
Not good enough for the professor, he changes a couple of words and then
calls on the students to use the second edition thus preventing last
semester students from selling their books to the incoming class which
would bust the profs monopoly. They deserve to go to jail rather than
blame the students for busting a monopoly the school won't break because
it is getting a share of the high prices.
