Sunday, December 27, 2009

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS ACROSTIC FOR EDUCATORS *

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words. - Robert Frost

An acrostic poem uses the letters in a topic word to begin each line. All lines of the poem relate to the topic word. It seems like an appropriate, timely and fun way to offer some resolutions educators could make regarding the teaching of our children. Finding the funding for them is a resolution we should all be making.

* The following Education Acrostic has contributors from many walks of life in Seattle – legislator, doctor, chef, community activist, community college consultant, glass blower, photographer, real estate broker, historian, special education assistant, career and vocational education administrator, and information technology manager.

E Empathy, civility, and other social skills should be taught in consecutive steps, and uniformly, throughout grades K-12. This includes mandatory classes on relationships, parenting and financial responsibility from middle school on. There should be “how to” classes in cooking, nutrition, finances, etc.

D Develop a ten-year plan guaranteeing that 90% of graduating high school students would be college ready regardless of whether or not they choose to go on to higher education.

U Understand that we are only one segment of a global society and that our students need to have classes with real world situations which help broaden their understanding of the people and cultures of the world in which we live.

C Career and technical education (vocational education) should be given more emphasis and respect in the high schools.

A Art, music and drama should be funded and in every school.
(See December 13 article about Drawing on art from the community)

T “Teaching to the test” is not fair to anyone. Re-evaluate standardized testing. Remember that kids come in with different skill levels and social experiences. The playing field is not level, and the “one test for all” is not a fair assessment of student academic growth, or school achievement.

I Integrate parents into the learning by phoning with positive messages as well as concerns. Arrange home visits when possible. Lessen school anxiety for parents who have had negative academic experiences by inviting them in as partners in their children’s education. Make it easy and fun with “pizza and pop” dinner meetings. Throw in on-site baby sitting for younger children by older students.

O Offer assistance to parents of challenging children with parenting classes, emotional, and non-judgemental support. So that parents can be better homework helpers, offer them tutoring in areas where they feel weak. So that all students can learn, as is their right, remove disruptive students from the room temporarily until they can return as cooperating class members.

N Never, ever give up on a child or let him/her think he/she is somehow lacking intellectually. Find the child’s strengths and expand on them. All children are special and have such strengths. This suggestion is for parents, teachers and administrators alike.

*********************************************************************************

BOOK NOOK

If you want to make your own acrostic poem or have your students or children make them, learn more by going to:


http://www.readwritethink.org/Materials/ACROSTIC/

For wonderful, silly, and child savvy poems, read Lunch Box Mail and Other Poems. These clever, and unique peeks at how kids think are written and engagingly illustrated by Jenny Whitehead. (http://jennywhitehead.com/) Here is one example about a parent trying to pry herself away from a reluctant kindergartener on the first day of school:

My precious dear, my sweetie pie,
I know it’s hard to say bye-bye,
but please let go of Mommy’s thigh.
You’re just a little scared, I know…”
“MOMMY, I DON’T WANT TO GO.”

Sunday, December 20, 2009

WIND THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES


This post was posted as a guest editorial in the Seattle Times on December 24, 2009. To view on the Seattle Times site, click here.


Christmas! 'Tis the season for kinding the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial fire of charity in the heart. -Washington Irving-


Sixty years ago a little girl stood with her classmates in a formation, five across and seven deep, the front row holding lighted candles, waiting for a signal from the teacher to begin. The long hall was darkened as were the classrooms on either side. The pitch pipe sounded, the group drew breath and the haunting melody began. “Wind through the olive trees softly did blow. Round little Bethlehem long, long ago. Sheep on the hillside lay, whiter than snow. Shepherds were watching them, long, long ago.” Filled with joy and pride, they sang as they processed down the hall knowing that every child in the entire school was listening and waiting with excitement for their own turn to sing a joyful song.

Fast forward sixty years to a 21st century public elementary school. Gone are the beautiful old songs that many of us remember, gone also anything approaching a lighted candle. In its place are many school hallways devoid of holiday art as individual school leadership teams try not to offend one group or another. In interpreting guidelines for holiday art and music, educators often take an extreme approach – just don’t do it.

Holiday assembly planners work hard to show some holiday spirit without actually saying “Merry Christmas.” “Frosty the Snowman”, “Jingle Bells” and other secular songs take the place of “Silent Night” or “Away in a Manger” - victims of political correctness as we try to fit everything into the same inclusive mold. In many schools teachers carefully avoid any reference to Christmas even though once outside the school house door, the greater community is alive with Christmas trees, menorahs, flickering lights, holiday music and Santas in every mall. A big frustration is the notion that Santa, Christmas trees, wreaths, etc are considered religious. But of course we have the folks who say that these secular symbols may have been rooted in religion, therefore they really should go.

It feels like we have lost something special as we strive to be all things to all people. Who started the movement to take Christmas out of the schools? Atheists and agnostics? People of other religious beliefs? People willing to sacrifice past traditions in the name of cultural awareness? Newcomers to the country who do not relate to our cultural norms? Overly zealous interpreters of the constitution?

I surfed the net looking for answers and happened upon Austin Cline and his atheism blog (November, 2003). I found what he said about Christmas in the schools very interesting and somewhat surprising. He said, among other things that “The solution is for the school to plan programs in December that include sacred music, but aren’t dominated by it . . . and . . . to make sure that a variety of traditions and cultures are represented – not just in December, but throughout the school year.” He goes on to say that an important principle is balance. “It makes little sense to completely ignore all religious connections to the holiday season, but it would also be wrong to assume that those religious connections are all that matter or that everyone shares the same religious beliefs about the season. Public schools are, after all, supposed to be there for everyone in the community.” I like what he says.

I surfed further and found good archived information from the time of President Clinton and Education Secretary Richard Riley where guidelines were explained and sources for more information cited. The gist was basically the same, although it took three times as many pages and words to say it. (http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/08-1995/religion.html)

In talking to a Seattle colleague I was pleased to hear that in one South Seattle Elementary school with a large ESL population, the month of December was devoted to stories about religious celebrations around the world. She spoke of one kindergartener from Somalia who sat rapt, as a tradition about his own country was shared. I’m touched by that.

So, let's give back to teachers the freedom to teach songs like "Wind Through the Olive Trees" for holiday assemblies. It should be their right to do so. People should be aware that singing such songs does not make a religious experience. Singing "Silent Night" does not make me a Christian. Singing "I Have a Little Dredyl does not make me Jewish. They are cultural songs that children enjoy singing. The same can be said for putting up pictures of Christmas trees or Menorahs. Neither singing nor making holiday arts and crafts is promoting religion. Let’s add the wonders of international celebrations to our schools so that our children gain an appreciation of all the world’s people. Let’s take some time away from “meeting the standards” to celebrate with each other during a traditional time of giving. Let’s do this so that in sixty years today’s children can also reflect on childhood school memories filled with warmth, love and candle glow.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Wind Through The Olive Trees " words and music: http://www.doofusmusic.com/PDF/Winds_AH.pdf

My book choice for the week is Christmas Cookies by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. It is a wonderful vocabulary builder with a high interest theme. Who can resist holiday cookies? Each page has an important word and definition with amazing illustrations by Jane Dyer. A few words include anticipation, prosperity, charitable, reciprocate, perseverance, plus many, many more. Along with the definitions and drawings is a call to think about altruism and manners.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

DRAWING FROM THE COMMUNITY FOR ART

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.
- Pablo Picasso -

I was substituting in a kindergarten class in Seattle’s Schmitz Park Elementary on Friday and two things struck me:

1. Fortunate indeed is the school that can have an “artist in residence” or “art mentor” since art instruction is often one of the first curriculum areas on the budget chopping block.

2. I also learned something new that day – how to make smooth versus rough lines – which put me in mind of Robert Fulglhum’s famous essay: All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten. (http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm)

Beverly Harding Buehler is the artist mentor at this school in a three-year program funded entirely by the P.T.A. and called Arts Teach. Based on a teacher training model of concept-based art education piloted by Arts Impact, (www.arts-impact.org/about/bios.cfm) each involved teacher becomes competent in the teaching of visual arts by observing and partnering with the visiting artist. All K-5 students participate and learn, in a prescribed sequence, various art techniques that give each child a tool box of skills. Students work with such things as charcoal, sumi ink, water color, oil pastels and chalk. As Beverly confidently said, “No kid at this West Seattle school will ever say that they can’t draw.”

One of the reasons Schmitz Park embarked on this ambitious path was the realization that when asked to create a scientific 3-D drawing of a plant on the 4th grade WASL, it became clear that most kids did not have the skills to do so.

The original idea was to link art to science and math – a natural progression when you think of geometric lines, forms and shapes. But then teachers began taking what was learned and using it as a writing prompt. For example, in 3rd grade students used different marks to do two drawings. Using charcoal and white or toned paper, students might show a tornado with thick, bold curving lines. Another drawing might be made using a white conte crayon to portray a misty day. The next step would be to describe their perfect storm in a creative writing exercise.

This exciting concept of teaching teachers to be visual arts instructors can answer the budget problems mentioned above. So far only a few schools in Seattle have had the benefit of such a program. It would be great if your school planning team could log on to Arts Impact, and begin to make a financial plan for getting art in your classrooms in this creative and comprehensive way. Ms. Buehler also talked to me about author Daniel Pink's Book, A Whole New Mind. She says he makes the case that our children need the skills they get from art to be competitive in what is called the conceptual age.

By the way, kindergarteners in Room 4 learned to make rough lines by brushing black ink on rice paper using only a damp brush. To get a smooth line the brush had to be very wet and heavy with ink. Guess what! It works. All children felt successful as each work of art was displayed. Later I thought about Robert Fulghum and his essay. It was one more thing I needed to know, and I learned it in kindergarten!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

AFGHANISTAN UNVEILED TO SEATTLE ELEMENTARY STUDENTS

Intercultural dialogue is the best guarantee of a more peaceful, just and sustainable world. - Robert Alan

They filed, barefoot and silent down the long hall, boys first followed by girls, to a room where a woman in red pants and a beautifully embroidered red tunic stood silently awaiting them. She pointed to one side of a tape line for the boys to sit down, while the girls went to the other side, facing her. They sat "criss cross applesauce" in the darkened room, their eyes drawn to a large map of Afghanistan and surrounding countries projected on the wall. On this December day the entire fourth grade of Coe Elementary School was about to take an "armchair adventure" to North Central Afghanistan to see what life was really like there, and to make some sobering comparisons. Their guide's name was Julia Bolz, a former Seattle business immigration attorney turned international activist. I was lucky enough to be a substitute teacher in one of the fourth grade classes, and to feel the impact of a very special presentation.

During the next forty-five minutes they learned that schools are in short supply, and often attended only by boys. Never are boys and girls allowed to be together, playing, or socializing. They learned that Afghan families often live on $1.00 a day, and have no electricity, running water or indoor plumbing. Families live in structures made of mud. With no money for furniture, people sit on dirt floors with their feet under them. They learned that the family hierarchy goes from adult male, to male child, to adult female, to female child in that order, with adult males receiving the first and most of any portion or possession. Children daily get up as early as 5:00 a.m. to fetch water, often walking more than l5 minutes to get a substance almost as precious as gold. Each person in the family is entitled to a bucket a day, and depending on the family size, this could mean many trips back and forth to the well for the young water-carriers. To bring this message home several Coe students had the chance to try lifting heavy buckets of water, and hoisting them with help upon their heads. During this eye-opening adventure, hats with various meanings (celebratory, everyday, mosque, different ethnic groups, etc.) were given to random students - boys first, of course. The hats were varied and often colorful. Girls were shown burkas, and two were able to try them on. They covered every inch of the female body, with only a small slatted area for looking out. The girls reported they were hot, heavy, and uncomfortable. Coe students sat enraptured as their "armchair field trip" unfolded.

In addition to showing what life is like for most Afghan children, Ms. Bolz was bringing thanks from students at a girls' school constructed with funds donated by school communities like Coe. Books, pencils and paper had been sent to Afghan girls, and cards of appreciation were returned. A new roof is now needed at this school for girls and a drive is on to raise money for that. I was sold on the idea and will definitely make a contribution. This happened on Friday and it has been on my mind ever since. Changing weapons for textbooks is one of the goals. Bringing about understanding of each others' cultures is another. To me, Julia Bolz, and others like her, are true heros as they make a difference one day, one donation, and one dream at a time.


I encourage each of you to log on to http://bigthink.com/juliabolz to see some short videos by Julia about her work. The book, Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, will bring further enlightenment and inspiration about another man's effort to change the world one school at a time. Check out this website as well: http://www.threecupsoftea.com/.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

FLASH, CRASH, RUMBLE AND ROLL - December Book Review and Lesson Plan

"My heart is singing for joy this morning. A miracle has happened! The light of understanding has shone upon my little pupil's mind, and behold, all things are changed." - Anne Sullivan
 
Dear Readers,
My blog is evolving into a "one-stop shop" for educators, parents, and people interested in education. My goal is to have:
 
1. A weekly blog commentary
2. A monthly review of a book I have found useful, with a lesson plan that has worked for me.
3. A blog list that is filled with resources for the following:
  • Teachers on all levels including special education.
  • Washington State Teaching and Learning Standards
  • A really neat set of lists for the 220 Dolch words.
  • Homeschooling.
  • Information about charter schools.
  • Tips on classroom management.
  • Information about multiple intelligences and how to determine your own learning style.
  • What's going on in the U.S. Department of Education.
  • What's going on This Week in Education.
  • Several cool sites for printables, ideas and additional lesson plans for every grade level.
  • How and where to get post secondary scholarships.
  • Tips on writing and starting your own blog.
  • Some of my favorite blogs that are full of good information
  • Access to top N.Y. Times columnists. (Check out Opinionator)
  • And finally, a link to my website for enrichment ideas for your class and your school.
I love motivating kids to learn and making lesson plans to that end. So I would also be willing to design lessons around your favorite books for a small fee. Please feel free to e-mail me if that would interest you.
Finally, I hope you will share some of your classroom experiences with the rest of us. If you have a pesky problem and want ideas, perhaps this would be a good venue. So, teachers, log on and let's learn together.
Jan

Flash, Crash, Rumble, And Roll by Franklyn Mansfield Branley
With a lesson plan by Jan Lind-Sherman
When lightning flashes in the distance we wonder how close it is and whether it presents danger to us and our surroundings. In a book published nearly fifty years ago, Franklyn Branley explains this amazing, sometimes deadly phenomenon in a way children can clearly understand. They learn how and where it occurs, how to be safe, and to not be afraid of these powerful and beautiful acts of nature. I highly recommend adding this book to your science library and to explore other similar "read and find out" books by the now deceased Dr. Branley.
LESSON PLAN

1. Do KWL Chart. (Know, Want to know, Learned)
2. Read Story. Children can watch pictures on document camera or overhead projector and take written or picture notes, depending on age of children.
3. Talk about what students have learned.
4. Show art project and go over multiple intelligences center options.
5. Start writing about lightning and thunder
6. Share information

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES ACTIVITIES:

Verbal-linguistic – I love words
Hearing and discussing the story. Making the Chart.

Intrapersonal – I love working alone
Writing assignment – either facts or feelings about storms.

Logical-Mathematical – I love math and science
Count how far the lightning is – l-1000, 2-1000, 3-1000, 4-1000, 5-1000 and/or find a way of teaching the concept of “billions”. Experiment with the concept of how thunder happens by blowing up and popping bags. (See experiment below.)

Bodily-Kinesthetic – I love moving around
Role play or make skits of what to do to be safe during an electric storm.

Interpersonal – I love working with others
Read your story to another person/partner in the room.

Musical-Rhythmic - I love music
Sing a song based on information from the book to the tune of Brother John. You can make up a song yourself or the class can make one up together.

Visual-Spatial – I love art
Make a diagram of the water cycle and/or do a creative picture of a stormy night. On a dark blue construction paper background paste cutouts of black paper trees, houses, mountains, water, boats, clouds, etc. Have yellow construction paper flashes of lightning coming from the clouds. Put student stories with their pictures and post them in the hall.
MAIN IDEAS
1. Be aware of dark clouds
2. Airplanes stay out of these clouds
3. Billions of droplets are in the clouds
4. The clouds are charged with electricity
5. The charge jumps from top to bottom of cloud or from one cloud to another which makes a flash.
6. It may flash to the ground and be very dangerous.
7. You then hear a loud sound called thunder.
8. Lightning pushes air into air which makes a sound.

Experiment: Blow up a paper bag, and hold it closed. With the other hand hit the bag and it will pop with a loud sound. What happened? Lightning splits the air, and when it rushes back together you hear the sound of thunder

9. Count 5 seconds for every mile from you to the lightning.
10. Animals do not like thunder. Dogs will hide, for example.
11. Lightning can kill people and other animals, knock over trees, and start fires.
12. We must respect lightning but we do not have to be afraid of it if we know what to do.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARE IN A THUNDER STORM
  • Get out of any water – lakes, pools, bathtubs, showers.
  • Stay inside.
  • Stay away from the stove, phone or windows.
  • If you are in a car, stay inside. It is safe.
  • If you are outdoors get down low. Do not be the tallest thing.
  • Get out from under trees.
  • Keep away from metal fences or metal pipes.
VOCABULARY FOR THIS LESSON
clouds / dark / air
earth / storm / droplet
electricity / particle / ion
charge / billions / flash
lightning / thunder / loud
crash / noise / sound
seconds / outdoors / rain
danger / downpour / safe

Monday, September 14, 2009

Overview



Teachers
Make learning exciting
Provide dynamic, thought-provoking lessons
Create life long learners and leaders
Guides and Mentors



A cinquain is a diamond shaped five line poem, and many examples can be found on line. Using a lot of “poetic license” I wrote the above verse about how I view teachers.

I spent a lot of time today thinking about what I want my blog to accomplish. Accuracy of information with respect to what is going on in our schools would be one thing. Almost everyone has opinions on the subject, but not a lot are factual. Helping to make our educational system better is another. But what can one person do? Classroom volunteers are indispensable in our schools. I decided that I am going to call myself an “internet volunteer” by helping with ideas in the classroom, and creating a forum for honest debate by people who want to improve the system, not just bash it. We can call it a “teacher pulpit.”

To start with, let's talk about books you can hold in your hand. I think book learning should never be replaced by on-line learning in the classroom in the same way I think a calculator should never take the place of mental math. Here's why:

1. Almost every classroom schedule has a “read aloud” time, often just after lunch recess, as children settle down and refocus. A teacher chooses a favorite chapter book which is read serially and daily. It can be an old classic like Moby Dick or the latest Harry Potter, but whatever the choice, it is a delicious time for all as the words float through the room and into young minds awaiting new growth. Often the teacher will stop and ask some searching questions which serve to increase the learning as well as making sure everyone is still awake. If the teacher reads with expression so much the better. Best of all is the teacher who has a dramatic flair, and dresses up in costume on occasion during the delivery.

2. Then there is DEARs (Drop everything and read) or SSR (sustained silent reading) where children choose a book and sit reading quietly. Even the youngest children can benefit by this time by looking at picture books and thinking about the words.

3. A good use of time for children who finish assignments early is to have a book on hand or to get one from the class library and read while everyone else finishes, so they can all go on to the next lesson.

4. For me, kicking off a new lesson with a relevant book is key to capturing the children’s interest and insuring the lesson’s success. I usually choose two books – one fiction and one non-fiction- so that there is a constant reminder of the differences. Let’s say I am starting a unit on bears and want the children to know as much as possible about the subject. I’ll take a simple example for very young children - Goldilocks and the Three Bears for fiction and Baby Bear by Aubrey Lang for non fiction. Understanding that children learn differently, and believing in Dr. Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, I would set up seven stations for extending knowledge of bears over several days. For those of you who don’t know what is meant by multiple intelligences, simply put, it means that we have seven kinds of intelligence we use for assimilating new information. In the past we were told there were three learning styles – linguistic, auditory and kinesthetic Dr. Gardner refined the ways we learn to include the following:

Visual-Spatial - thinking in pictures
Logical-Mathematical – conceptual learning, especially logically and numerically
Verbal-Linguistic – thinking in words – listening – speaking
Bodily-Kinesthetic – learning through movement
Musical-rhythmic – learning through sounds, rhythms and patterns
Interpersonal – relating to others
Intrapersonal – self reflecting


To maximize the learning for all children I would set up literacy centers that might include an art project relating to bears, an engaging math activity, possibly in comparing small, medium, large, an audio center for listening to the stories/music, a drama corner for re-enacting the story, etc.

As time goes by I plan to share lesson plans on many topics using all of the intelligences. It is an amazing and engaging way for children to learn, and believe it or not, it can be easily assessed!

I said I would review a book a week for anyone interested in extracting and extending lessons from all the wonderful books now available. I bought five special ones at Barnes and Noble today and Punctuation Celebration by Elsa Knight Bruno is the first on my list for review.

Using truly funny and kid-friendly poems, the author writes about periods, question marks, exclamation points, commas, apostrophes, quotation marks, colons, semicolons, parentheses, ellipses, dashes, and hyphens. To teach quotation marks there is a mother yelling at her child to “Clean this messy room!”. Micky, who made a mighty mess by “spilling paint on Della’s dress (Now it’s being washed and pressed), will teach us about apostrophes. My favorite was the ellipses. “Ellipses points. . . three tiny dots . . are perfect for those silent spots. Their use, dear reader, is permitted when certain phrases are omitted.” The illustrations by Jenny Whitehead are filled with whimsical detail that will provide hours of fun for the reader. What a great book for teaching punctuation! We use star ratings for hotels and movies, with 5 stars being the highest. This is definitely a 5-star book for teachers and kids. I’d love to hear if you agree.

That’s it for today. More from my pulpit as I learn more about blogging.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Moving Forward:


Last night at the workshop, it all made sense.
As my teacher nudged me along.
But now I look out at a bright sunny day
And wonder if I was wrong?

My “about me” looks good and I like my first words
But now I’ve got writer’s block.
I guess I will start each blog with a poem
As I share my thoughts and self talk.


I saw Julie and Julia the other night, and I was touched – regardless of how many stars it did or didn’t get. Two great success stories in one. Maybe it was that movie that really started me on my blogging path. If Julie could do it, why not me? Granted French cooking can be more palatable than struggling to learn a new academic skill, but even academics can be easy if they are turned into fun experiences. And that’s how I like to teach.


For example, If you are want to teach or learn about Ancient Egypt, create an archeological dig in a box of sand containing broken dishes and other “artifacts”. Give your junior archeologists forks and let them experience a “dig” complete with recreating the broken pieces. This kind of experiential teaching is one way to make learning fun and memorable for kids. I can guarantee they will have an increased vocabulary which might include Egypt, pyramid, pharaoh, Nile River, archeologist, digging site, and many others depending on the various activities you provide. For those of you who want to increase your educational jargon, this is part of the “multiple intelligences” educational theory.

In the future I am thinking about reviewing a children’s book each week, giving ideas about how to present it as a learning experience to your child or classroom, and showing you how to create activities for the seven intelligences discussed in Dr. Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

School starts and I start too - writing, that is!

School started for my two youngest granddaughters yesterday - one in 3rd and one in 5th grade. They are in a great school with every possible advantage as they take the next step on their path to becoming successful adults and hopefully, lifelong learners.

I, too am starting. This is my first attempt at blogging. And why should anyone read what I write? After twenty years of teaching in my own classroom in Seattle's inner city, and three years of substitute teaching in over fifty Seattle schools, I have been told I should share my ideas for motivating kids and helping teachers and parents with fun ways to learn.


So now I am taking baby steps in this new, exciting way to learn. Here I sit at AFSB, Inc in Seattle, with a wonderful, patient instructor, who is taking me through a new learning adventure. I have gone through the mechanics of setting up my blog and I'm ready to go. Stay tuned!