Sunday, January 18, 2015

Special Education students connect aerospace and real life

     One of the great things about Twitter is there are so many great ideas out there that you pick up information you can use and be inspired by that you would never think of yourself. Philip Capobianco (@CapoOttawa) from I presume Ottawa, Canada tweeted this story out about a teacher doing an awesome technology program with his special eductionstudents. You will be impressed with his results. Think Stand and Deliver meets Top Gun only with his lucky students.

 

O'side students fly model planes

By 6 a.m.
 
Mark Nicholson, special needs teacher at Jefferson Middle School in Oceanside, retrieved a motorized glider that serves as the cornerstone to a program where he teaches students about aerospace principles.
Mark Nicholson, special needs teacher at Jefferson Middle School in Oceanside, retrieved a motorized glider that serves as the cornerstone to a program where he teaches students about aerospace principles. — Charlie Neuman
 
At Oceanside’s Jefferson Middle School, special-needs teacher and aviation buff Mark Nicholson is showing his students the ropes on how to fly a battery-powered glider — and that’s not all.
Nicholson is using Civil Air Patrol lessons that teach everything from aerodynamics and windsock construction to airplane anatomy and algebra concepts on radius and distance. He connects the theories taught in books and on computers to a real life application.
photo

Aerospace ed. for special needs kids

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He hopes the program catches on with other teachers at the school, and that students might even get the chance to fly in a real plane if he garners enough support.
Some of Nicholson’s students have already said they want to become pilots one day.
“That’s what I want to be,” said seventh grader James Smith. “It’s better than playing a video game.” U.S. Air Force Maj. Thomas Scott, director of the Civil Air Patrol’s aerospace education California wing, said that Nicholson’s approach to teaching is unique in that he’s trying to incorporate the Patrol’s lesson plans at a school. The group’s approach is more typically found in after-school programs or clubs, Scott said.
“His way of integrating this into a special-needs program is something we’ve not seen before,” Scott said.
The Civil Air Patrol is a volunteer civilian auxiliary of the Air Force, and is tasked with search and rescue operations, aerospace education for youth, and cadet programs for teenagers.
The glider, instructional materials and software to simulate flying are part of a curriculum package provided by the Civil Aviation Patrol that the middle school purchased with a $720 grant from the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce.
The package includes other educational elements as well, including lessons on rocketry and robotics, for instance. On the drawing board are plans to build and fire off rockets, perhaps from a field behind the middle school.
While the glider program for his special needs students began just a few months ago, Nicholson plans to roll out a larger aerospace education program that would include all 650 students in Jefferson’s 6-8 grades.
Aviation is more than a pastime for Nicholson, who said he has been flying single-engine planes for nearly 30 years and expects to earn his wings to become a flight instructor in a few months.
Jefferson Principal Marie Higareda de Ochoa said the aerospace education program addresses “common core standards” by connecting concepts taught in her school’s math department with flying the glider.
“The proverbial question asked by eighth graders is, ‘Why do I have to learn algebra if it’s never used?’ Well, they learn it and have a culminating activity with the model airplane.’”
At the moment, the program has been structured around only Nicholson’s 19 special needs students.
Every Monday, before 8 a.m., seventh graders like James Smith and Alvaro Sabino look forward to the lessons.
First, they huddle around a computer to test fly a simulated glider plane. It’s all guided with software and a joy stick, just like a video game. The joy stick moves the rudder and ailerons to give the glider movement to the left or right, or a rise or fall in elevation.
 
To read the rest, click below. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/jan/15/oceanside-teacher-educates-students-on-flying/2/?#article-copy
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Saturday, January 17, 2015

Too Much Sitting? Five Movement Strategies That Get Students Thinking



Too Much Sitting? Five Movement Strategies That Get Kids Thinking
by Kenny McKee
flickeringbrad-effective-teacherEach day more research confirms the link between movement and learning. Brain researcher David Sousa claims that physical activity increases the amount of oxygen in our blood, and this oxygen is related to enhanced learning and memory. A recent Washington Post article suggests that many student behaviors we associate with ADHD may stem from an overall lack of physical movement  – both in and out of school. In addition, a phenomenally popular blog post by Alexis Wiggins recently touched upon how much sitting students actually do every day, and how all that sitting affects energy levels and learning.
However, many secondary teachers struggle to integrate movement into the classroom. I know that as a former English teacher, movement found its way into many of my “special” lessons, but it was often a missing ingredient of daily instruction. For example, when students created commercials, searched for books in the library, or carried out debates, movement was inevitable. However, when the main focus of a lesson was reading and writing (as many are in the English classroom), movement was minimal.
I’ve included some strategies that teachers of any content area can use to integrate movement into lessons.  When you have a lesson that looks “sedentary,” integrating one of these strategies will surely increase students’ learning and engagement.
1. Gallery Walks/Chalk Talks
In some lessons, students may need to analyze multiple texts. Why not post those texts on the walls, and have students rotate through them in small groups? I have used this strategy with students analyzing primary and secondary documents for DBQ’s (document-based questions) in history classes. One colleague has students analyze magazine ads for rhetorical techniques in her English class.
Gallery walks can also feature student-created texts, even digital ones. A colleague who teaches earth science once had student groups create informational Animoto videos on different geographic formations. She then had students participate in a digital gallery walk where they watched the student-created videos on laptops, and took notes on each geographic formation.
Chalk Talks are gallery walks where students are asked to respond to texts. For example, quotes could be posted, and student could post their reactions to them. In a math class, students could solve a problem on chart paper, and explain their process. Other students could then use Post-Its to write comments or critiques of their solution and process.
2. White Board Meetings
White Board Meetings are a strategy I have seen two science teachers use often.  Essentially, students will investigate a situation (often using a data set). Students will then make sense of the problem in a group. They will display their findings on a mini-whiteboard. Usually, students are required to show information in graphs, pictures, mathematics, and writing.  Once students post their information on whiteboards, they present their findings.  Students can then receive feedback and answer questions about their information.
3. North Pole-South Pole/Continuum
This strategy is great for formative assessment or assessing background knowledge. Essentially, one side of the room represents one idea, and the other side of the room represents an opposing idea.
For example, I used the strategy while teaching in a statistics class recently. My “North Pole” was “I feel extremely confident in how well I can comprehend and remember information in the statistics textbook.” My “South Pole” was “I feel NO confidence in how well I can comprehend and remember information in the statistics textbook.” Students were asked to align themselves with how they felt. If they had a more moderate response, they positioned themselves more closely to the center of the room, showing a continuum of student confidence. Their responses affected how I presented an array of note-taking strategies and which students I worked with more closely during the lesson.
4. Musical Mingle
This strategy works along the same lines as Musical Chairs, but you simply ask students to stand. I often develop a series of questions that I want to ask students before the lesson begins (to assess background knowledge) or after the lesson (to assess learning). I ask all of the students to stand. When I play the music, they will meander around. When the music stops, I announce a question and they will discuss responses with a person close to them. Once students have had the opportunity to talk, we then repeat the process.
One caveat to this strategy is limiting your questions. Generally, any more than three or four questions results in diminished focus.  Once the activity is completed, students to share some of their discussion points with the whole class. Most students feel confident sharing in the whole class because they have had an opportunity to clarify their thinking with a partner earlier.
5.  Stations
Most educators view stations as a staple of the elementary school classroom, but they are also extremely effective in middle and high schools. Stations can be utilized for differentiation. For example, based upon students’ current writing trends, a teacher could place students at station based upon areas they need to practice. Activities can be on paper, or they can be embedded digitally using QR Codes. Other stations may be rotational, such as short writing prompts, differing math problems, selected poems to analyze, or different activities for new vocabulary or concepts.
Kenneth McKee is a high school literacy coach for Buncombe County Schools in Asheville, NC. His interests include teacher leadership, disciplinary literacies, and partnership approaches to instructional coaching. He is a 2014 ASCD Emerging Leader. Connect with him on his blog (kennycmckee.com) or on Twitter (@kennycmckee); image attribution flickr user flickeringbrad; Too Much Sitting? 5 Movement Strategies That Get Students Thinking
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Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty

Wow! That headline is a reality I would not have seen coming a generation ago. But those days are here and how do educators adjust their practices. The story below is an emotional one. There are many teachers that go the extra mile to help students on a very personal level from building relationships to providing what most of us would call basic human needs. Our current laws are outdated and are focusing on outstanding classroom achievement when teachers have to build a foundation just so a student from poverty can function before they can thrive.
 
     The following story was first tweeted by Erin Klein is an eye opener. I knew more students were in reduced and free lunch than ever. Some schools offer free breakfasts due to grants received and it is an awesome thing to see all students receive this benefit so it does not stigmatize anyone. But this is not just about lunch. I think this is a powerful story.

Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty


Three-year-old Saria Amaya waits with her mother after receiving shoes and school supplies during a charity event in October to help more than 4,000 underprivileged children at the Fred Jordan Mission in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles. Children from low-income families now make up a majority of public school students in the nation, according to a new report. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)
By Lyndsey Layton January 16 at 7:40 PM
For the first time in at least 50 years, a majority of U.S. public school students come from low-income families, according to a new analysis of 2013 federal data, a statistic that has profound implications for the nation.
The Southern Education Foundation reports that 51 percent of students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in the 2012-2013 school year were eligible for the federal program that provides free and reduced-price lunches. The lunch program is a rough proxy for poverty, but the explosion in the number of needy children in the nation’s public classrooms is a recent phenomenon that has been gaining attention among educators, public officials and researchers.
“We’ve all known this was the trend, that we would get to a majority, but it’s here sooner rather than later,” said Michael A. Rebell of the Campaign for Educational Equity at Teachers College at Columbia University, noting that the poverty rate has been increasing even as the economy has improved. “A lot of people at the top are doing much better, but the people at the bottom are not doing better at all. Those are the people who have the most children and send their children to public school.”
The shift to a majority-poor student population means that in public schools, a growing number of children start kindergarten already trailing their more privileged peers and rarely, if ever, catch up. They are less likely to have support at home, are less frequently exposed to enriching activities outside of school, and are more likely to drop out and never attend college.
It also means that education policy, funding decisions and classroom instruction must adapt to the needy children who arrive at school each day.
“When they first come in my door in the morning, the first thing I do is an inventory of immediate needs: Did you eat? Are you clean? A big part of my job is making them feel safe,” said Sonya Romero-Smith, a veteran teacher at Lew Wallace Elementary School in Albuquerque. Fourteen of her 18 kindergartners are eligible for free lunches.
She helps them clean up with bathroom wipes and toothbrushes, and she stocks a drawer with clean socks, underwear, pants and shoes.
Romero-Smith, 40, who has been a teacher for 19 years, became a foster mother in November to two girls, sisters who attend her school. They had been homeless, their father living on the streets and their mother in jail, she said. When she brought the girls home, she was shocked by the disarray of their young lives.
“Getting rid of bedbugs, that took us a while. Night terrors, that took a little while. Hoarding food, flushing a toilet and washing hands, it took us a little while,” she said. “You spend some time with little ones like this and it’s gut wrenching. . . . These kids aren’t thinking, ‘Am I going to take a test today?’ They’re thinking, ‘Am I going to be okay?’ ”
The job of teacher has expanded to “counselor, therapist, doctor, parent, attorney,” she said.
Schools, already under intense pressure to deliver better test results and meet more rigorous standards, face the doubly difficult task of trying to raise the achievement of poor children so that they approach the same level as their more affluent peers.
“This is a watershed moment when you look at that map,” said Kent McGuire, president of the Southern Education Foundation, the nation’s oldest education philanthropy, referring to a large swath of the country filled with high-poverty schools.
“The fact is, we’ve had growing inequality in the country for many years,” he said. “It didn’t happen overnight, but it’s steadily been happening. Government used to be a source of leadership and innovation around issues of economic prosperity and upward mobility. Now we’re a country disinclined to invest in our young people.”
The data show poor students spread across the country, but the highest rates are concentrated in Southern and Western states. In 21 states, at least half the public school children were eligible for free and reduced-price lunches — ranging from Mississippi, where more than 70 percent of students were from low-income families, to Illinois, where one of every two students was low-income.
Carey Wright, Mississippi’s state superintendent of education, said quality preschool is the key to helping poor children.
“That’s huge,” she said. “These children can learn at the highest levels, but you have to provide for them. You can’t assume they have books at home, or they visit the library or go on vacations. You have to think about what you’re doing across the state and ensuring they’re getting what other children get.”
Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, was born in a charity hospital in 1959 to a single mother. Federal programs helped shrink the obstacles he faced, first by providing him with Head Start, the early-childhood education program, and later, Pell grants to help pay tuition at the University of Texas, he said.
The country needs to make that same commitment today to help poor children, he said.
“Even at 8 or 9 years old, I knew that America wanted me to succeed,” he said. “What we know is that the mobility escalator has simply stopped for some Americans. I was able to ride that mobility escalator in part because there were so many people, and parts of our society, cheering me on.”
“We need to fix the escalator,” he said. “We fix it by recommitting ourselves to the idea of public education. We have the capacity. The question is, do we have the will?”
The new report raises questions among educators and officials about whether states and the federal government are devoting enough money — and using it effectively — to meet the complex needs of poor children.
The Obama administration wants Congress to add $1 billion to the $14.4 billion it spends annually to help states educate poor children. It also wants Congress to fund preschool for those from low-income families. Collectively, the states and the federal government spend about $500 billion annually on primary and secondary schools, about $79 billion of it from Washington.
The amount spent on each student can vary wildly from state to state. States with high student-poverty rates tend to spend less per student: Of the 27 states with the highest percentages of student poverty, all but five spent less than the national average of $10,938 per student.
Republicans in Congress have been wary of new spending programs, arguing that more money is not necessarily the answer and that federal dollars could be more effective if redundant programs were streamlined and more power was given to states.
Many Republicans also think that the government ought to give tax dollars to low-income families to use as vouchers for private-school tuition, believing that is a better alternative to public schools.
GOP leaders in Congress have rebuffed President Obama’s calls to fund preschool for low-income families, although a number of Republican and Democratic governors have initiated state programs in the past several years.
The report comes as Congress begins debate about rewriting the country’s main federal education law, first passed as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty” and designed to help states educate poor children. The most recent version of the law, known as No Child Left Behind, has emphasized accountability and outcomes, measuring whether schools met benchmarks and sanctioning them when they fell short.
That federal focus on results, as opposed to need, is wrong­headed, Rebell said.
“We have to think about how to give these kids a meaningful education,” he said. “We have to give them quality teachers, small class sizes, up-to-date equipment. But in addition, if we’re serious, we have to do things that overcome the damages­ of poverty. We have to meet their health needs, their mental health needs, after-school programs, summer programs, parent engagement, early-childhood services. These are the so-called wraparound services. Some people think of them as add-ons. They’re not. They’re imperative.”
Lyndsey Layton has been covering national education since 2011, writing about everything from parent trigger laws to poverty’s impact on education to the shifting politics of school reform.
 
To find out more...

Erin Klein @KleinErin 

Scholastic Top Teacher. MACUL 2014 Teacher of the Year. Blogger. Member. SMART Exemplary Educator. ASCD Emerging Leader. NAIS ToF.

Michigan · http://www.kleinspiration.com
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Monday, January 12, 2015

The Tech Detectives: Students Take Ownership of Technology

The Tech Detectives: Students Take Ownership of Technology


The Tech Detectives use Zello to communicate with each other.
Photo credit: Brad Currie
Editor's Note: Two Black River Middle School teachers, Laura Garrison and Kathy Vespignani, contributed to this post. Laura teaches 6-8th grade technology, and Kathy teaches 6-8th grade performing arts.
Picture it: a middle school in Anytown, U.S.A. has a teacher that is struggling to figure out why her SmartBoard is acting up. Typically she would submit a "tech request" and wait an extended period of time for it to be fixed. One issue, though -- she needs the device now for a very important math lesson. She suddenly remembers that a group of students called the "Tech Detectives" can come to the rescue and fix the problem. Within minutes, several students arrive, play around with a few wires and buttons, and the malfunction is addressed in no time.

Students to the Rescue

The Tech Detectives Club was created at Black River Middle School in Chester, New Jersey as a way for students to take ownership of the technology they utilize during their various learning experiences. Based on feedback from various school stakeholders who have a passion for technology, it was deemed necessary to start a club that arms students with a strong technological skill set. On a regular basis, students create tutorials, assist teachers, learn about technology trends, collaboratively problem solve issues, and gain exposure to career readiness. The excitement generated from this program is truly remarkable. Below, you will find guidance on how to start your very own Tech Detectives Club.

Tech Detectives organizing a laptop cart.
Photo Credit: Brad Currie
There is no doubt that the first thing needed to make this sort of program happen is unwavering support from school stakeholders. Administration and the board of education must provide the resources necessary to ensure that students are provided with a sound educational experience. Teachers must be willing to tap into students' knowledge of technology and, when called upon, supervise students after school. Parents are needed to encourage active involvement, provide transportation after school, and secure monies at the PTO (Parent Teachers Organization) level. Community members must be willing to visit school, provide real-world knowledge, and show students what it takes to be successful in the world of technology. Finally, students must be willing to take on the challenge of being part of a team that contributes to improving school culture and ensuring technology issues are addressed. This level of support positions the Tech Detectives to troubleshoot the school's technology issues or fix a certain problem that a teacher may be having with his or her classroom technology. In addition, members can provide a technology lesson to a teacher that may have just purchased a new iPad or Kindle Fire and wants to know how to use it. Some of the troubleshooting involves fixing laptops and carts that are not functioning properly. Also, members will fix SmartBoards and document cameras that teachers may be having a problem utilizing. Online tutorials are also created to help teachers understand how to use various forms of technology. Check out this tutorial:

5 Responsibilities of Faculty Advisors

The backbone behind the success of this program is a vision that encompasses student empowerment, collaboration, and career readiness. Right at the top, though, is a strong teacher or teachers to harness the energy of a group of students ready to solve all of the school's technology issues one emergency at a time. While this club does not replace the school's support technicians, it does deflect some of the simple troubleshooting to students who can help. The advisors' responsibilities include:

1. Finding the Technology Needs of the Staff

Advisors send out an email to the staff to find out if a laptop cart needs cleaning up. Sometimes students themselves see the need during class, and they ask the teacher directly if they could benefit from the services of the student techs.

2. Learning and Sharing the Strengths of Each Student

Each student that walks through the door has something to bring to the group. Cultivating a spirit of sharing and collaboration is paramount to success within the group.

3. Planning a Diverse Schedule of Jobs

During one club meeting, the students and advisor(s) may be headed in three different directions: one group off to service a laptop cart, one group to check out a glitchy interactive whiteboard, another group to create a “how-to” video in the library.

4. Community Outreach

The students have skills to share, and there are members of the community that would love to learn. Members of a local senior citizens' group, the "50+ Club," are eager receivers of the information. Sensitivity training lessons are a topic of discussion before students are sent to help.

5. Involve Parents

Students of the tech clubs very often have parents that are professionals in a high-tech field. Having them share their experience can validate the students' involvement in the club.
Overall, the club is a win-win for all who are involved. The students have a confidence boost, the teachers receive needed help, community members and parents build partnerships with students, and administration can see how their unwavering support can help redefine student success.
Does your school have Tech Detectives or a similar club? What's your experience with providing this kind of opportunity to young people?
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What if Tests Were Only Used for Guidance, Not Consequences?



     It is really quite a revelation to think this way. Until No child left behind or no child gets ahead (whatever your perspective), some people are seeing the light that test scores are not everything. I believe that measuring a child's growth is important (who doesn't) and it is a lot easier to measure a child's pre and post test scores to see if they have grown. But some students do not test well and many learn in more than ways any can be measured on a standardized test. What test measures a child's ability to compare and contrast two photos or investigate a topic because of a child's curiosity to explore rather than not have the room to fit that curiosity into the curriculum. Educational reform has been going on forever and George Bush is not evil incarnate nor does either political party have all of the answers. The NAEP is considered by some to be an organization that has looked at this issue and has taken the high stakes issues out their testing mechanism. Read more and comment below.

 What if Tests Were Only Used for Guidance, Not Consequences?

By Catherine Gewertz on January 12, 2015 10:02 AM

We've been writing a lot in the past year about the rising opposition to standardized testing. Much of the pushback is about the stakes that are riding on these assessments, such as teachers' evaluations, students' promotion from grade to grade, and decisions about high school graduation. Another strain of opposition comes from heavy burden of testing—think about classroom tests, district-imposed tests, year-end state tests, and how many hours those consume.
To all of that unhappiness, it's interesting to offer a contrast: NAEP.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress has long been viewed as the gold standard of testing. Its questions are demanding, and its achievement standards high. But there's hardly a peep of public opposition to this test. And it's not hard to see why. It offers insight into how well K-12 schools are doing without imposing consequences on anyone.
As Exhibit A today, we're offering you a Jan. 5 letter sent by the principal of a Virginia high school to parents, announcing that it had been chosen as a site for NAEP's test of 17-year-olds. Take a look and see what jumps out for you.
When I look at it, I see the absence of nearly every single trigger point in today's testing debates. Every kid required to sit for hours and hours of tests? Nope. Here we have only two hours of testing, given to a sample of the school's students. Weeks of test prep? Nope. Students tied in knots over potentially bad test scores? Nope. NAEP has no effect on student grades. Students aren't even required take—let alone complete—the test, because NAEP results are drawn from a matrix sample nationally.
Of course there is a crucial difference between NAEP and states' summative assessments: while they offer a picture of national, and to a more limited extent, state and district performance, they can't measure how well individual students are doing. That kind of information has to come from other forms of assessment.
Nonetheless, as debate rages about tests (note our current coverage of opposition to annual tests in Congress, and support for them in the U.S. Department of Education), NAEP offers us an informative and sharp contrast. And it reiterates the question: what if all tests were used to offer insight into the teaching and learning process, without imposing consequences on anyone?
Good morning. I am pleased to announce that our school has been selected to participate in the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often referred to as the Nation's Report Card. NAEP is a program of the United States Department of Education and is an ongoing assessment of what our elementary, middle, and high school students know and can do in various academic subjects.
The NAEP assessment will take place on January 27, 2015. A random sample of our grade 12 students will be selected to take a technology-based pilot assessment in mathematics, reading, or science. You will be notified in mid-January if your child has been selected to participate. The assessment will take 120 minutes. Students do not need to study in preparation for NAEP; however, we do ask you to encourage your child/children to do their best on this important assessment.
All the information your child provides may only be used for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law [Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, 20 U.S.C §9573]. Your child's grades will not be affected. Your child may be excused from participation for any reason, is not required to finish the assessment, and may skip any question.
We depend on student participation to provide an accurate measure of student achievement to help inform improvements in education. Your child will represent many other students, so participation is very important. Results for individual students, schools, school divisions, or states will not be reported.
By taking part in NAEP, students contribute to improving American education and ensuring that all of our children receive the education they deserve. NAEP appreciates the participation of each child selected.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact me [principal's email address] or [instructional coordinator's name and email address]. If you would like additional information about NAEP or to view sample subject area and student questions, please visit http://nationsreportcard.gov/parents.asp. Thank you for you support of [school's name] and the NAEP assessment.

The big question for me is what do they do with the data and how do they determine which students are selected. What do you think?

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