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Monthly Archives: September 2010
Senate Passes Continuing Resolution: Spending Frozen at FY2010 Levels
On September 29, 2010, the US Senate passed a budgetary measure called a continuing resolution (CR) which will allow the government to remain open through December 3, 2010. Under the CR, funding will continue at FY 2010 enacted levels for most programs, including all education programs. President Obama had requested that Congress provide additional education funding for some programs including the popular college tuition grant program, Pell Grants, but the measure passed without these requests. The Senate passed the CR 84-14 and it will now go to the House of Representatives, which is expected to pass it without exception. To… Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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not quite ready for the S.A.T.s
I’ve been testing every morning for the last three days. It’s a district assessment for reading and it involves a lot of phonemic awareness activities, like: “Say ‘nice’. Now say it again without the /n/”. I have to record all the answers on this fancy Palm Pilot which then uploads all the student data into the computer.
It’s a worthwhile test, actually, and it gives a pretty accurate picture of the students’ reading abilities (I can’t say that for all tests, unfortunately).
Usually the general ed. teachers are supposed to administer this test to their own students. But I don’t know what the district is thinking! They give us a deadline, and then they’re all: “Yeah, just pull one student at a time to the back of the room while the other students are doing something else.”
Umm…. First of all this test takes 30 to 40 minutes to administer PER CHILD. Secondly, have the geniuses up at the district level never spent time with children? Especially young children? They are not independent and quiet enough to “do something else” while the teacher tests.
So the first grade teacher that I work with is pretty sure that I’m some sort of saint because I volunteered to do all the testing for this one. I really don’t mind — it’s kind of a nice break from routine.
I feel bad for the kids that I know are really low, though. I have to give them a list of words to read, and even if they can’t, they still have to try. I say “do your best”, and if I sense that they are getting discouraged, I say something like “we just want to know which words to practice this year.”
I was testing one such student yesterday. I gave him the word list to read (it starts out: get, cut, bump…). And he said:
“I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.”
So I gave him my spiel about doing your best and just finding out what words he needs to practice. Then he turns to me and says:
“Yeah, I need to practice these before I go to college!”
While I was busy laughing on the inside, he added: “‘Cuz I’m going to college next year!”
Posted in Testing
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Soooooooo Much Planning……….
I feel like I’m finally conquering my biggest problem. PLANNING. I have never really had the time, nor did I know what I was doing. Although I do not claim to be an expert, I am so much better. I have to. I’m teaching a combination 4/5 split. So, I have really been a stickler [...]
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Posted in teaching
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Department of Education Launches TEACH.gov
The Department of Education’s new Web site, TEACH.gov, is designed to inspire people who are ready to make a difference and join those already making a difference in the classroom. At TEACH.gov prospective educators can learn what it’s really like to be a teacher and find the tools to launch a career in education. Current and prospective special educators will find additional resources at CEC’s specialedcareers.org. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Rep. Chu to Introduce Community-Based Education Legislation
According to a recent study from the Education Testing Service, over half of the influential factors in student achievement come from outside the school walls. Special education relies on this community school partnership to ensure students with disabilities receive the critical transition and wrap around services they need. For exactly this reason, CEC is an original endorser of The Developing Innovative Partnerships and Learning Opportunities that Motivate Achievement (DIPLOMA) Act and applauds Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) for her support of this legislation. She will introduce the Act in the House of Representatives this week. The DIPLOMA Act empowers states to… Continue reading
Posted in U.S. Congress
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I Have Readers!
Although teaching General Education is exhausting, I am slowly getting the hang of it. The one thing that’s soooooooooo great is that almost all of my students are readers. I have this one 4th grade student, who I will name Lisa, who reads 199 w.p.m. before mistakes. She read “If You’re Reading This, It’s Not [...]
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Posted in teaching
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So Swamped!
I have been so swamped. I have to say that teaching General Education is soooooooooo different than teaching Special Education. For one thing, I have to teach more subjects. For my special education students, I only taught Reading (Phonics, Intervention, etc…) all day long. Here, I actually have to switch & teach all the required [...]
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Posted in teaching
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Circuit Court Rules Alternate Certification Candidates Not Highly Qualified under NCLB
In a controversial decision, the Ninth Circuit has ruled that a federal regulation allowing participants in alternative certification programs, who are merely working toward full state certification, actually fail to meet Congress’s definition of Highly Qualified in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, currently known as No Child Left Behind. The suit, Renee v. Duncan, was filed by two students in California, their parents and two nonprofits – Californians for Justice and California Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. The suit alleged that NCLB’s regulation allowing candidates in alternative certification programs to be deemed highly qualified violates the plain… Continue reading
Posted in NCLB/ESEA
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not that i’m a perfectionist or anything
Fine motor skills can be so elusive in the first grade.
We have hand sanitizer bottles placed around the classroom in an ever-losing battle against germs. We tell the kids: “Just one pump!” after they sneeze or pick their nose or something. But even though we give them this direction, they somehow manage to form a puddle of hand sanitizer in the palm of their hands. Then they start rubbing it together, splashing it onto themselves and others standing nearby. Pretty soon it’s dripping down their elbows….
AND THE GLUE!!
Obviously I know better than to give them all white glue (you know, in those Elmers bottles with the orange twist tops). I thought I would be safe with stick glue. And, to be fair, maybe about half of the first graders can use a glue stick without ensuing disaster. But the other half? They twist that glue all the way up out of the container so that they have all two inches of it exposed. Then they press really hard on their paper, smooshing the glue and breaking the stick part. Then when they’re done (and smooshed glue is coating the sides of their stick), they just smash down the cap over top, not thinking to twist the glue back down into its’ container.
I’m thinking a few mini-lessons are in order….
Posted in Classroom Life
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eating in class
I was in seventh grade. I was sitting in Science class, and it was quite early in the morning. It was still dark out, so it must have been sometime in the winter.
I forget what the teacher’s point was…. all I remember is that she had a 2-Liter bottle of Sprite sitting unopened on her desk.
She picked it up and held it in front of us. “Who can tell me some of the properties of Sprite?” she asked.
No one answered.
“Come on, now. What does it taste like?”
I raised my hand: “I think it would be easier to answer this question if we all had a taste of the Sprite.”
To my utter surprise, she reluctantly agreed (it may have been all of the excited cheering coming from the rest of the students). And we all had a cup of pop that morning.
I honestly couldn’t tell you anything else about seventh grade science. I don’t even remember that teacher’s name! But I do remember the day we talked about the properties of Sprite.
Taste is a powerful thing, and I hope to incorporate more of it into my lessons! Maybe not quite to this extent (I don’t have the leeway to veer too far from our basal reader series), but maybe in smaller doses….
The teacher who had my kids last year read this book to them:
Then she did a whole week’s unit on pumpkin stuff and at the end they had a pumpkin tasting: pumpkin soup, pumpkin donuts, pumpkin seeds, and pumpkin bread!
If you ask my kids today what they remember about Kindergarten, they will all start yelling about pumpkin food! I’m thinking of creating a literature unit on the sequel to that book, and incorporating a “tasting” as well!
Do you like to incorporate taste into your lessons? How do you do it?
Posted in Classroom Life, Personal, Reflections, teaching
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