Topics in Education

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Leadership:

National Teacher of the Year lays out vision for the profession
Teachers need a clear career path established in which they earn additional compensation as they improve and take on new responsibilities, says Rebecca Mieliwocki, 2012 National Teacher of the Year. Mieliwocki, a seventh-grade science teacher, in this interview says that career path includes taking on the roles of mentor teacher, master-teacher and veteran-teacher, rather than leaving the classroom to become an administrator.

 What is the meaning of true teacher leadership?
Are teacher-leaders mouthpieces or token voices that are ignored, teacher Anthony Cody wonders in this blog post. Cody writes that teachers asked to "have a seat at the table," should consider why they are being asked and what there is to gain. True teacher leadership, he writes, comes from teachers' ability to organize from the ground up and form relationships with each other. Education Week Teacher/Living in Dialogue blog

Should K-12 education take cues from the business world?
Education should be viewed as a business, SmartBrief's Joseph Riddle writes in this blog post. He gives an example of technology firms, which seek to recruit the best and brightest employees. Schools should take the same view when recruiting teachers, while also adopting a business philosophy that focuses on the development of their professional workforce. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Education

Technology:

Are schools technologically prepared for online assessments?
Common Core State Standards assessments are expected to be given online to students in two years, but many school administrators say they are unsure about what kind of technology, or how much bandwidth, they will need to administer the online tests. "There are so many unknowns about the [common core] assessment. We know there's going to be a deficit, but we don't yet know where we stand," said Melissa Fincher, Georgia's associate superintendent for assessment and accountability. Digital Directions (premium article access compliments of EdWeek.org)

Educator offers advice for teachers just getting started on Twitter
Educator Bill Ferriter offers tips in this blog post on how teachers should spend their first weeks on Twitter to build their network faster. Among his suggestions are for teachers to use hashtags, which are short identifiers for conversations, in their postings and use them to sort through, plus comment on, other teachers' messages. "Spend time each day and/or week sifting through the streams of messages being shared by people that you are following and find ways to lend a hand," Ferriter writes. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Education (11/6)

How to engage online learners
In the November issue of Education Update, writer Stacey Curdie-Meade outlines several unique benefits of online learning, among them its asynchronous nature. Her article zeroes in on how different student groups can benefit from online learning and explains how educators can leverage the advantages of an online learning environment and keep students engaged. Read on.

Whiteboards have a variety of classroom uses
Larry Ferlazzo, in this blog post, compiles suggestions from teachers and readers about incorporating interactive whiteboards. Teachers should think of interactive whiteboards as a portal to the Internet, where they can access various digital tools and resources, middle-school technology integrationist Ben Stern writes. Fourth-grade teacher Patti Grayson suggests using whiteboards to display an iPad screen and engage in Skype sessions. Meanwhile, sixth-grade teacher Bill Ferriter warns that the use of the devices may reinforce traditional presentation-style instruction rather than collaborative learning. Education Week Teacher/Classroom Q & A With Larry Ferlazzo

Utah lawmakers encourage schools to allow more technology
Educators and lawmakers in Utah learned about new approaches to the classroom at a this week's Digital Learning Summit. Students came to speak about the individualized education benefits that technology can offer, while legislators said teachers should do more to let students incorporate devices in the learning experience. "Students bring more computing capacity into a classroom than the school owns, and we ought to be utilizing that," state Sen. Howard Stephenson (R) said. The Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)

Student Learning

Are "old school" teaching methods still relevant?
Author Annie Murphy Paul suggests in this blog post that "old school" learning methods such as memorizing math facts, cursive handwriting and argumentation should not be discarded as teachers adopt more progressive instructional methods. For example, she cites research that shows students made more errors on complex math problems when they could not automatically recall their math facts. The key is to use the older methods, such as memorization, as the foundation for higher-level thinking, she writes. Time.com/Ideas blog (11/8)

How to inspire the best in your students
Whether you're interested in helping kids build intrapersonal and interpersonal skills or looking for in-class activities that support social-emotional learning, Inservice contributor Julia Liapidova recommends Jonathan C. Erwin's "Inspiring the Best in Students." Visit the ASCD blog for an activity, excerpted from the book, that can help your students explore perceptions and understand how they can differ.

High school engages visual learners with art projects
A Newark, Ohio, high school is testing a "school within a school" concept to better engage students who are visual learners. Under the program, participating students complete visual art projects for academic courses, such as English and social studies, and then display the artwork they created. Officials say the program allows students who think differently to still be successful and earn the credits they need to graduate. The Advocate (Newark, Ohio) (11/4)

School focuses on importance of communication skills
Teaching social literacy skills to students is a priority at Peak Preparatory, a Dallas-based charter school. Administrators say they have put emphasis on social skills for all grades, K-12, and apply certain standards to all social interaction. They say they want students to hone their communication skills by learning how to speak clearly and to listen actively, which they say can better prepare students for the rigors of college. The Dallas Morning News (free content)

Should financial education be taught in schools?
Financial education is emerging as a core subject in some schools -- a trend supported by financial literacy advocates who say such lessons should not be left to parents. Advocates say that teaching students about money early on could help avoid another financial crisis and will benefit the economy. "We don't ask parents to teach math and physics and history," said Annamaria Lusardi, economics professor at George Washington University. "Why would we ask them to teach financial literacy?"

Can Legos spark interest in STEM?
Legos can be the building blocks of a science, technology, engineering and math education that fuels a career in engineering, Cathy Webb, a technology teacher and student learning-plan adviser at Edmonds Heights K-12 school in Edmonds, Wash., says in this interview. "Teaching them to creatively problem-solve, to break outside of the box of Lego bricks and look for the objects around them and build that into something that can solve some of the huge issues that we face. That would be my greatest wish, building young engineers," she adds. Forbes

Instructional model flips teaching, learning upside down
Students are getting first-hand knowledge of what it takes to be a teacher through a project in which students create video tutorials and teach concepts to their peers. The Web platform, called the Upside Down Academy, was part of a pilot program in which the Khan Academy model was used as the inspiration for a project-based curriculum for Envision schools, Kiera Chase, blended learning coach for Envision schools, writes in this blog post. Edutopia.org/Kiera Chase's blog

How teachers can help students "grow" their intelligence
Larry Ferlazzo compiles in this blog post a list of tips from "growth mindset" experts Carol Dweck and Lisa Blackwell, co-founders of Mindset Works, on how teachers can nurture students' belief that they can improve their intelligence, which research shows gives students greater motivation to achieve. Their suggestions include giving detailed feedback on what students can control, such as their effort on an assignment, and setting high expectations for what they can learn

Twitter is new "literary practice," professor says
As teenagers' use of the social-networking website Twitter increases, Michigan State University education professor Christine Greenhow suggests the site may have educational benefits as well. Greenhow found that students who used Twitter as part of academic lessons earned higher grades and were more engaged in lessons than their peers. MichiganRadio.org

Wash. students can take required history class online
Washington state history, a class required for high-school graduation in the Evergreen State, is now available online in a self-paced format for students who need flexibility for various reasons. The online history course is especially helpful for students in schools in which the course is not offered every semester. The course covers the history of Washington from its early settling through the present. T.H.E. Journal

Report finds little focus on civics education in U.S. schools
Instruction and testing in civics and government is lacking in many U.S. schools, according to a new report released Wednesday by the nonprofit Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE). Researchers cited a focus on other subjects under No Child Left Behind and other federal policies for the lack of assessments in civics and social studies. The report found, however, that 39 states require at least one high-school course in government or civics to graduate, though students' achievement in the courses is not measured on statewide tests. Education Week/Curriculum Matters blog

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Common Core State Standards

Pittsburgh Public Schools beef up math, literacy for common core
Pittsburgh Public Schools has begun increasing rigor in math and literacy as it incorporates Common Core State Standards. As a result, siblings in different grades will be learning some of the same material but at different times this year. Some concepts from Algebra 2 have been moved to Algebra 1 this year. "It really is a great example of ratcheting up the rigor," said Jerri Lippert, chief academic officer for Pittsburgh Public Schools. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Webcasts bring together common-core stakeholders
The American Federation of Teachers will present a series of informational online sessions on Nov. 13 to help educators who work with English-language learners to gain information about the role Common Core State Standards play in their classrooms. Key stakeholders speaking during the event include representatives from the two consortia responsible for developing common-core assessments, education reporter Lesli A. Maxwell writes in this blog post. Education Week/Learning the Language blog (11/5)

Common core guidelines released for English-language learners
The adoption of the Common Core State Standards is likely to set a higher bar for language skills for English-language learners. Now, a new framework, released by the Council of Chief State School Officers, is available to help schools make the transition. "We want to make sure that states are thinking about what they have to do to make sure that their ELLs are well supported," said Andrés Henríquez, an education program officer at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, a supporter of the framework. Education Week (premium article access compliments of EdWeek.org)

Common core becomes more popular among private schools
More private schools, including Catholic and Lutheran schools, now are adopting the Common Core State Standards -- agreed to by all but four states -- in part, to stay competitive with public schools. Some experts say parochial schools likely signed on after considering that textbook and test publishers planned to align their materials with the standards. Some private schools, however, have resisted the shift, saying they prefer to remain independent. Education Week (premium article access compliments of EdWeek.org)

Re-imagining teaching under the common core can boost engagement
As schools prepare to implement the Common Core State Standards, Lydia Dobyns, president of the nonprofit New Tech Network, offers some suggestions for helping teachers to turn the standards into engaging instruction. She points to Josh Hatala, a Rensselaer, N.Y., high-school social studies and language arts teacher, who used project-based learning on an American history assignment to encourage students to think critically, remain engaged, improve collaboration and information literacy skills that are part of the common core. The Huffington Post/The Blog

Common core sparks enthusiasm for professional development
Educators in Alabama say improved test scores are due to recent professional-development programs at the Key Leaders Network, a program from the Alabama Best Practices Center. Now, educators say such professional development will be increasingly important as schools in the state adopt the Common Core State Standards. The program encourages teachers to work collaboratively to improve schools, said Cathy Gassenheimer, executive vice president for the Alabama Best Practices Center. AL.com (Alabama)

Teachers

Evaluation system will expand to all Baltimore teachers
The Baltimore school district piloted a new evaluation method with 309 teachers last year, and now the system will be rolled out for all of the city's 6,000 educators. Next year, a more rigorous system will begin, basing half of each teacher's evaluation on student performance. The evaluation system is part of a statewide effort in Maryland's Race to the Top program. The Baltimore Sun/Inside Ed blog

How teachers can set up effective learning environments
The establishment of effective learning environments are required for students to achieve success, write teacher Rebecca Friedman and Chavi Abramson, who studies education at Thomas Edison University. They offer reasons why teachers may arrange desks in a "U" shape -- independent learning -- or in clusters, so students can work more in groups. They also suggest classroom-management strategies to keep students on task and avoid classroom interruptions. Education Next (11/2012)

Ore. school launches online professional-development program
A publicly funded charter school in Oregon is giving educators worldwide a front-row seat to learn about its Reggio-Emilia teaching approach. The school has launched an online teacher-development program about the Italian teaching method, which seeks to engage all of students' senses, take their interests into consideration and give them more autonomy over their own education. The program includes "emotional coaching" to help students resolve conflicts for themselves. The Oregonian (Portland)