Girl Uses Google Translate To Ask New Classmate To Sit With Her At Lunch

Taylor PittmanParents Associate Editor, The Huffington Post

Source: LINK

Key Points: The importance to teach our students manners and to be kind to everyone. Teach students that language should not be a barrier, especially with all the current communication technology.

Relevance: We tell students to be nice and kind to everyone but with everything going on, it is hard. Our students need to see and hear stories like these in order to feel comfortable making new connections. I found this story very powerful. 

Audience: parents and children

Homework vs. No Homework Is the Wrong Question

Homework vs. No Homework Is the Wrong Question
Found on Edutopia.org, here:
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/homework-vs-no-homework-wrong-question-maurice-elias

Published March 19th, 2015
Written by Maurice Elias

This blog post tackles the long debated question, "should students be given homework?" Directly from the article: "The real question we should be asking is, 'What do we believe should happen after the end of the school day to help ensure that students retain what they have learned and are primed to learn more?'"

The approach is not to attempt to answer this question but instead reiterate the purpose that homework shouldn't imply "work" and that students should be encouraged to be learners, even outside of the classroom. Elias describes how home activities like reading should be encouraged and that students should be learning at home to "better understand the world around them in terms of civics, science, and the arts." This kind of learning can be enhanced with the encouragement and stance being taken from the school to support good parenting models in the home. The goal of this article is to show how homework doesn't necessarily need to be just that "home-work" but can be an extension of the learning process that takes place outside of school.

The audience targeted in this blog post is parents and educators as means to achieve a sense of cooperation between the two to enhance student learning.

NEA - Advice for New Special Education Teachers

Advice for New Special Ed Teachers...

The Title sums it up pretty well.  I found this article very interesting, Glenn's tips and tricks come from 28+ years of teaching.  A good reminder if you are feeling unsure, frustrated or.....



http://www.nea.org/tools/advice-for-new-special-education-teachers.html

Opting Out of State Standardize Tests

I found an article on OregonLive about the debate of standardize tests. Students are being ask to take more and more standardize tests. These test are supposed to measure for a school's report card and for individual student academic achievement. The concern for parents is whether or not these tests are really worth it. In the article, the author discusses how some parents are responding to the tests and what they're doing to opt out of them. The school districts felt differently.

http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2015/02/states_start_responding_to_bac.html#incart_river

In the article, the author introduces a standardize test called PARCC that aligns itself with the Common Core Standards. Here is a link to their website if you're interested in looking around (http://parcc.pearson.com/). I noticed that the testing company is run through Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson was the same company who administered my Essential Academic Skills Test (ORELA- state requirement) for getting into our masters program. I found it interesting that Pearson was involved in both state tests, administering ORELA and PARCC. (Side note: Pearson is a British Company) Thoughts??

After investigating Pearson, I found the article below that describes how closely connected Pearson is with the our government. Everything is always about money.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/pearson-education-115026.html

Parent-Teacher Communication

Larry Ferlazzo
What ‘Star Wars’ Can Teach Educators About Parent EngagementEducation Week Teacher
Published Online February 23, 2011
Complete URL: http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2011/02/23/tln_starwars.html
This article offers some practical advice for teachers regarding parent–teacher conferences. I will admit it is a bit corny, but there were valid points made too. The author created a mnemonic device with the name LEIA – for Princess Leia from Star Wars. LEIA: L for listening, E for empathy, I for imaging, and A for asking. He went on to describe scenes from Star Wars where Leia demonstrated the above mentioned skills, and then related them to how teachers could implement such skills to effectively communicate with parents. Ultimately the author sees the importance of parent-teacher relationships, and with his simple mnemonic hopes to inspire teachers to work on their communication with parents. He ends with: “May the Force of genuine engagement be with you.” This article was light hearted and useful. It was a nice change from many of the articles I have been reading. The intended audience is teachers. I find this article relevant to any person wanting to work on basic communication skills.

Obstacles To Better School Counseling

"Obstacles to better school counseling -- and what to do about it," by Valerie Strauss

The Washington Post

Posted Online on February 2, 2011

Complete URL:  http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/obstacles-to-better-school-cou.html

Ms. Strauss' column, "The Answer Sheet - A School Survival Guide for Parents (and Everyone Else)" reprinted this article written by Patrick O'Connor, past president of the National Association for College Admission Counseling.  Mr. O'Connor writes about the frustrations many parents have with their school counselors not being able to fully address and deal with the issues of their children.  He says that he and and all of the school counselors would, surprisingly, agree with you.  The counselors simply do not have the manpower and the time to adequately deal with all of the many issues each student deals with.  The average caseload of counselors is over 450 students plus many other tasks which do not even pertain to their job descriptions are assigned to the counselors and they will simply not have time for everyone.

Mr. O'Connor recommends trying to resolve this problem by asking parents to go to the school counselor along with maybe two other parents and asking what you can do to assist them in making their job easier.  A meeting with the principal should follow next, "where it’s time for a frank, fair discussion about the school’s counseling services. A balanced presentation of the frustrations you’ve experienced and the realization that the counselor is hamstrung will do more to improve a school counselor’s week than any party could.  Your meeting with the principal is over only after there is an agreement to a policy review, a town hall meeting, or a parent-led task force to study the problem and publicize solutions."  O'Connor then offers a few other ideas to assist the beleaguered counseling staff.

This article really surprised me as I have never considered the counseling department needing assistance.  For some strange reason I always assumed they were simply waiting to counsel students and, though they were busy, would be there waiting and ready to help kids in whatever issues they faced.  Parents, students and teachers need to understand what counselors face and what they can do to assist the counseling staff.  Also, the article suggests that since the school or the counselors cannot do all the heavy lifting, the solutions to student's issues starts at home and only with the parent's involvement will problems get resolved.