< Greenholme Teachers' Forum>

Subject: re: wonderful website for social stories

2011-11-16T08:35:00.000-08:00

A wonderful Website and resources for Autism student:

www.speakingofspeech.com

STORYVALUESINTERACTIVE

2011-09-16T07:04:00.000-07:00

The TDSB Storyvalues Interactive site (www.svtdsb.com)

Storyvalues Interactive, is the new Storyvalues online program licensed by the TDSB for the 2011-2012 school year.Attached, please find a flyer with the URL and log-in information for the TDSB Storyvalues Interactive website for use in schools. Please feel free to forward this flyer to staff. The program also has a component that is available for students to use at home.Shortly, we will be emailing a separate flyer with the Storyvalues-Home web address and login information as well, which can be printed and sent home to families.Here is a brief description of the Storyvalues Interactive program:· The TDSB Storyvalues Interactive site (www.svtdsb.com) features 40 classic myths and folktales as a foundation for literacy, social emotional learning, equity / diversity, music, art and an array of curricular areas of study. · Each of the 40 stories appear in recorded form, with narration enhanced by culturally accurate music and read-along text; perfect for active listening and creative visualization. Written versions are provided as well.· 20 of the stories feature richly designed interactive web pages with videos, audio files, samples of world music and art, allowing students to interact with a diverse world of shared artistic and literary traditions. The remaining 20 stories are presented as audio recordings with read along text and classroom follow up materials.· Extensive story-based classroom follow up discussion and activity suggestions emphasize cooperative learning, creative problem solving and inclusive community building. The school material features an index with grade specific curriculum connections.· Together with the home access component, Storyvalues Interactive is designed to help facilitate parental involvement in school literacy and community building initiatives.We will be sending monthly newsletters with tips on how to best use Storyvalues at school and home, story recommendations for special holidays or observances and featured school projects. We hope you will enjoy using Storyvalues Interactive in your school this year.
Contact me for Users name and for password
(www.svtdsb.com)

Storyvalues- Online story

2010-11-10T19:58:00.000-08:00

Since 2008 the TDSB has licensed Storyvalues for use in all TDSB schools.

Storyvalues is an online story-based SEL, Language, Literacy, Arts and Bullying Prevention program.

To access the program, go to your school's TDSB library webpage or type in www.svtdsb.com in your web browser. (Note - www.svtdsb.com canot be accessed via Google search.)

www.cherylthornton.com
www.storyvalues.com

Gateway to Special Education

2010-10-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

www.teachspeced.ca

Teachers’ Gateway to Special Education
OTF is pleased to announce the launch of a new special education resource for teachers and school support personnel.
Developed by OTF, with funding from the Ministry of Education, the new website provides specific strategies and resources to help teachers address the unique needs of students from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Well organized and extremely user friendly, the Teachers’ Gateway to Special Education includes links to board special education plans, Ministry documents and other helpful resources. The Gateway includes definitions of key special education terms, and can be used as a practical guide for teachers building Individual Education Plans (IEPs).
To access the Teachers’ Gateway to Special Education, go to www.teachspeced.ca

Math Websites

2010-09-21T12:02:00.000-07:00

http://www.linktolearning.com
Click on the Mathematics icon and the Math 3 Under the Sea link to go to:
http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/me3us/flash/index.html?launch=true
ChooseAddition or Subtraction
Also: Addition with Regrouping
Subtraction with Regrouping
Click on the crystals to start an interactive activity. Students can do
the operation and enter the digits to show their calculations.
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/topic_t_1.html
Base Blocks Addition – use base ten blocks to model grouping in addition
Students group (lasso) ones to make a tens rod and move it to the tens column.
Base Blocks Subtraction – use base ten blocks to model separation of groups in
subtraction. Students can move (regroup) a tens rod into the ones column in order to
subtract.
http://www.aplusmath.com/flashcards/index.html
Choose Advanced Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division
Select addition and subtraction problems for two and 3 digit addition and subtraction.
Mathisfun.com
http://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/index.html
Instructions for the operations and worksheets to print off
http://www.ixl.com/math/grade/third/
many games and activities for skills students learn in the third grade organized into
categories including: Addition, Subtraction, Place Value…

Ontario Curriculum based All subjects

2010-09-21T11:56:00.000-07:00

http://www.linktolearning.com/

Media - Literacy Ideas and Links

2010-06-18T13:43:00.000-07:00

Some resources which can you help you in your planning:
1) The Ministry’s Guide to Effective Literacy Instruction (volume 7) - it was written for Grades 4-6, but the sample lessons can be adapted for any level. Click
here to look at it.
2) There is also an e-workshop series with some excellent modules: http://www.eworkshop.on.ca/edu/core.cfm?p=modView.cfm&l=1&modid=32&c=3&navid=modView
3) In your schools, there should be a helpful resource with a purple cover called Media Studies (K-12) from the TDSB - it provides a good overview of the key concepts, as well as the triangle framework which can be used to help students deconstruct a text.
4) The Media Awareness Network website has lessons by grade: http://www.media-awareness.ca
5) A good source for public service announcements (PSAs) can be found at the Concerned Children's Advertisers website:http://cca-kids.ca
6) From my own personal media literacy guru at home: www.media-literacy.ca

Pioneers Resources

2010-06-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

pioneer game - for tomorrow - S.O.S.

http://www.saskschools.ca/~gregory/fun.html

Bhullar Brothers

2010-06-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

Watch this video about my nephews:
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/video?id=7478084

http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1087336

7-foot brothers from India could be college hoops' next twin towers

Combined, they stand 14 feet, 6 inches tall. And surely college basketball recruiters soon will be sizing up brothers Sim Bhullar (7-4, 285, 17 years old) and Tanveer Bhullar (7-2, 260, and just 15) as they play for the private Kiski School in Pennsylvania.
Rivals.com reports the two -- born in India -- have improved steadily under Kiski coach Daryn Freedman, who has been an assistant in the NBA and at Division I schools. Sim averaged about 16 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks in his sophomore season. Tanveer averaged about 12 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks as a freshman.
Their father stands 6-1 and their mother is 5-10. The family initially moved from India to Toronto, but they put the boys in a U.S. school because of better basketball possibilities. Kiski is an all-boys prep school of 210 students 30 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Tackles the issues of racial discrimination in the workplace

2010-06-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

Work for All is produced by the National Film Board of Canada with the Participation of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.
The NFB Mediatheque is located at 150 John St, at Richmond St W, near Osgoode subway station.
For more information, call 416-973-3012 or visit www.NFB.ca/mediatheque
http://workforall.nfb.ca/

Panellists include Dr. Judith Nicholson

http://www.wlu.ca/homepage.php?ct_id=2256&f_id=35&grp_id=2610>

from Wilfrid Laurier University, multimedia artist Wayne Dunkley http://www.sharemyworld.net/
and Aisling Chin-Yee http://workforall.nfb.ca/
, line producer of the Work for All project. The evening will be moderated by Dr. Ayman Al-Yassini, Executive Director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation http://www.crr.ca/

Website to create invitation for any special Occasion

2010-06-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.hp.com/hho/hp_create/themes_otherthemes_occasion.html

other themes all occasion Page 19

Khan Academy

2010-05-31T20:44:00.000-07:00

It has youtube lessons for all sorts of academic concepts from basic addition to university level concepts.

www.khanacademy.org

Stories On-line

2010-05-12T11:46:00.000-07:00

Below is an interactive website where students can watch and listen to stories on-line.

http://www.speakaboos.com/

Mental Health Resources

2010-05-10T21:30:00.001-07:00

This is an excellent resource for teacher, administrators, and guidance staff and may provide a framework for assessing which issues require school based or community based intervention. It could be really useful in determining which cases are appropriate to refer to social work. The principles are guided toward k-8 but defining the issue can be used at all ages and stages.

http://www.brocku.ca/teacherresource/ABC/bigpicture.php

http://www.brocku.ca/teacherresource/ABC/bigpicture.php

Free documentaries

2010-02-17T05:56:00.001-08:00

http://freedocumentaries.org/

Yep, free. And they are respecting copyright.
http://freedocumentaries.org/
Including SuperSize Me, The Road to Guantanamo, several Micheal Moore and much more.
Thanks to another TELer for pointing out that you can select "medium" size and that seems to work, avoiding the SQL error.
It does make the screen quite small though.

Making Inferences

2010-02-03T05:39:00.000-08:00

This interactive website on inferencing that primary students could use.

http://www.brainpopjr.com/reading/comprehension/makeinferences/

What Do Teachers Make?

2009-10-19T09:24:00.000-07:00

What Do Teachers Make?
The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life.
One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"
To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"
Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, then began...)
"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner.
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.
You want to know what I make? (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table)
I make kids wonder.
I make them question.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.
I teach them to write and then I make them write.. Keyboarding isn't everything.
I make them read, read, read.
I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.
I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity.
I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.
I make my students stand, placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, One Nation Under God, because we live in the United States of America.
Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life. (Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)
Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. You want to know what I make? I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make Mr. CEO?
His jaw dropped, he went silent.
THIS IS WORTH SENDING TO EVERY TEACHER, EVERY CEO, EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW.
Even all your personal teachers like mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, coaches and your spiritual leaders/teachers.
A profound answer!!!

Teacher Layoffs in Washington, D.C., Spark Huge Protest

2009-10-19T08:31:00.000-07:00

Teacher Layoffs in Washington, D.C., Spark Huge Protest
http://www.aft.org/news/2009/wtu-rally.htm

Math Websites

2009-10-07T13:08:00.000-07:00

Grades 7-9
http://cemc2.math.uwaterloo.ca/wired_math/

Grades 4-6
http://cemc.uwaterloo.ca/resources/problems4web.html

http://cemc2.math.uwaterloo.ca/mathfrog/

http://www.cemc.uwaterloo.ca/resources/emmynoether.html

Dr. Martin Luther King

2009-02-11T13:16:00.000-08:00

Very Inspirational Speech
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid823433113/bctid8350011001

Barack Obama, President - Inauguration 2009

2009-01-29T06:54:00.000-08:00

Historical Moments pictures
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/01/the_inauguration_of_president.html

Algebra Lessons/Reviews

2009-01-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

http://www.algebasics.com/

Science Fair and Math

2008-11-28T11:13:00.000-08:00

http://www.virtualsciencefair.com/
http://www.power4bones.com/
Request your FREE Tickets and / or register for the PD Session here or cut and paste this address into your browser:
www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/school/events/teacherevents
• Destination Space (4-8)
• Journey to the Red Planet (4-8)
• Solar System Revealed (4-8)
• Space Mission: Voyage to Mars (5-12)
• Cosmic Connections (9)
• Mars Explored (9-12)
• You and the Universe (9-12)
http://www.curriculum.org/index2.shtml
http://www.eworkshop.on.ca/edu/core.cfm

Forms of writing

2008-11-20T12:16:00.001-08:00

http://www.tweakit.co.uk/attachments/1060.pdf

Literacy website

2008-10-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/teacher_resources/literacy_pages/comprehension_strategies.htm

Useful Math Websites

2008-09-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

A Maths Dictionary for Kids www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com
3 and Up
• contains useful definitions of math terms that children
will encounter in school
• gives children opportunity to practice with the
Definitions
Cool Math 4 Kids www.coolmath4kids.com

1 – 6 • teaches many concepts such as addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division and allows children to practice
• children may need help reading the lessons
Parent – Ed: The Parents Place at
CoolMath www.coolmath.com/parents/
• this site provides helpful hints for parents on how to
help their child
• also provides links to other math sites and games
Rainforest Math www.rainforestmaths.com
K – 6 • provides numerous interactive math activities for all
grades from kindergarten to grade 6 in many math strands
National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics
http://illuminations.nctm.org/
K – 12
• explore a library of 91 online activities
• children may require adult help to read instructions
Mathfrog
http://cemc.uwaterloo.ca/mathfrog/index.shtml
4 – 6
• a website of free mathematics, free resources, and online
games
• contains a teacher and parent section which provides
instructions to the games as well as a description of
concepts being used
• some online games also provide a follow up page which
can be printed on and worked on after children play the
game
National Library of Virtual
Manipulatives
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/index.html
K - 12
• interactive tutorials of many math concepts similar to
Ontario’s 5 strands of math
• younger children will need adult help to read
instructions
A Plus Math www.aplusmath.com
1 - 6
• children can practice math facts in areas such as
addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, rounding
and analog clocks
LearningBox.com www.learningbox.com/base10/BaseTen.html
1 – 3 • use this site to reinforce the use of base ten blocks
Northwest Vision and Learning
Centre
www.visionandlearningcenter.com/tangram/tangram.php
1 - 6
• allows children an opportunity to practice solving
tangram puzzles which are excellent ways to improve
problem solving, shape concepts, and visual memory
Harcourt School www.harcourtschool.com/activity/mmath/mmath_lion.html
1 -2
• an online game which gives children a chance to practice
using a number line
Math Drills www.math-drills.com/
1 – 5
• free math worksheets
Nelson Math www.mathk8.nelson.com/
3 - 5
• support for at-home activities, fun and useful web links,
and tips for using the Internet safely
• children can practice what is learned at school using
online quizzes and reviews
TLS Books.com www.tlsbooks.com/mathworksheets.htm
K – 5
• find printable worksheets on various math topics
• you will need Adobe Reader 6 or greater to access the
worksheets
Oswego City School District www.oswego.org/staff/cchamber/techno/games.htm
3 - 5 • this site contains various interactive math activities

A Portal of Media Litaracy

2008-09-11T19:59:00.000-07:00

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=J4yApagnr0s&feature=user

More primary resources

2008-09-04T19:52:00.001-07:00

Literacy Centres (Primary)

2008-09-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

http://www.ourschoolfamily.com/Literacy.htm

http://www.ourschoolfamily.com/Learning%20Together.htm

http://www.ourschoolfamily.com/Class%20Books.htm

http://www.ourschoolfamily.com/Writing.htm

http://www.ourschoolfamily.com/Literature%20Extensions%20and%20Responses.htm

http://www.ourschoolfamily.com/Literacy%20Props.htm

http://www.ourschoolfamily.com/AuthorLabels.htm

http://www.ourschoolfamily.com/BookLabels.htm

http://www.ourschoolfamily.com/Nursery%20Rhymes.htm

Literacy links

2008-08-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

Literacy Links
Reading Workshop

Writing Workshop

Classroom Library

Spelling & Word Study

Guided Reading

Literacy Bulletin Boards

Literacy Centers

Kindergarten Buddy Reading

Comprehension Strategies

Language Arts - Reading, writing and much More

2008-08-28T19:16:00.000-07:00

http://reading.ecb.org/

http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3/Reading%20Workshop.htm

http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3/writing%20workshop1.htm

http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3/library.htm

Welcome to teaching and Learning

2008-08-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to share our "hot off the press" 2008/2009 Welcome to Teaching & Learning Booklet which provides (hopefully!) a good overview of our programs for your first 5 years of teaching. Our goal is build instructional excellence in our classrooms by supporting you along your personal continuum of professional learning and growth, as you live "the heart and the art" of teaching and learning with your students!
Jim Strachan

Some more Useful Websites

2008-08-27T20:34:00.000-07:00

Some Useful Websites
MATH
http://lrt.ednet.ns.ca/PD/BLM/table_of_contents.htm

- This site provides quick templates such as hundreds charts, multiplication tables, fraction circles, money, and all the other manipulatives

SOCIAL STUDIES
http://www.canadainfolink.ca/teach.htm

http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/islam/history/history.htm

ART (Information/activities for visual arts and music)
http://www.brigantine.atlnet.org/GigapaletteGALLERY/websites/ARTiculationFinal/MainPages/Ele
mentsMain.htm
http://www.musictechteacher.com/musicquizzes.htm

http://numbera.com/musictheory/theory/notation.aspx

SCIENCE
http://www.torontozoo.com/Animals/details.asp?AnimalId=401

- This site is a link to the Toronto Zoo. It also has quick facts for the animals that can be found in the various pavillions (can be tied in with a research assignment)

Curriculum Expectations

2008-08-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/8314/currgrid.htm

This site offers the curriculum expectations for each grade/each subject on one page.

Literacy Mini posters

2008-08-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

Make a Connection to Facts
· This reminds me of …
· This part is like …
· This is similar to …
· I guess this idea of ____ is
· The differences are …
· I’ve heard this before in …
· I’ve learned something like ____ before in …
· like ____ in real life.
· I’ve seen something on TV/in a movie that showed this ____ .
To Make Inferences, Skilled Readers
· Understand the intonation of characters’ words
· Identify characters’ beliefs, personalities, and motivation
· Understand characters’ relationships to one another
· Provide details about the setting
· Provide explanations or offer details for events or ideas in the text
· Recognize the author’s biases
· Relate what is happening to their own knowledge of the world
· Offer conclusions from facts presented in the text
· Figure out the meaning of unknown words from context clues
· Figure out the grammatical function of an unknown word
Ask a Question
· Why did …?
· Why is this _____ here?
· How is this ____ like this ____?
· Why …?
· Who is …?
· What does ____ mean?
· Do you think that …?
· I don’t get this part here where it says …
How To Make An Inference
Question
It Says
I Say
And So
1. Read the question.
2. Find information from the text that will help you answer the question.
3. Think about what you know about that information.
4. Combine what the text says with what you know to come up with the answer.

Teachers' resources websites

2008-08-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

Fabulous teacher websites...feel free to add your personal favourites:

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/
http://www.atozteacherstuff.com

The Girl Who Silenced the World at the UN

2008-06-09T06:55:00.000-07:00

Severn Suzuki's speech at UN Earth Smmit

12 Year Old Girl Silences the UN.

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=433

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6Sb6RmRMbBY

Enhance Learning with Technology -Differentiated Instructions

2008-06-06T06:22:00.000-07:00

Differentiated Instyructions:
Enhancing Learning with Technology (Differentiated Instruction) - I think that it is very useful site too. I came across it and it looks pretty good. Let me know what you think! http://members.shaw.ca/priscillatheroux/differentiating.html

Inspiration

2008-05-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

Ideas for teachers
http://www.lakelandschools.org/EDTECH/Inspir.htm
Smart Ideas
http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/Products/SMART%2BIdeas/Sample%2Bmaps.htm

Dreamweaver WebDesigner

2008-05-21T12:50:00.000-07:00

Quick Dreamweaver Tip

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=OPdD1SfcB4Y&feature=user

Dreamweaver Drop Down Menu

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=QzDcMq_bu94&feature=relatedDreamweaver Tutorial - Create a basic Webpage Insert Content

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6rRLw5ggOg&feature=related

Eduational youTube sites and Smart Board Training-Demo

2008-05-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

A Vision of K-12 Student Today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8
Connected Classroom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC928e629iM
Did you know?
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U&feature=rA
A vision of students today
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o&feature=related
Smartboard Training
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=HUQCjKYqPc0&feature=related
smart board Training 2
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=cb-iYBEuyzU&feature=related
Smart board Demo
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=319sEUWZ6zk&feature=related

More ESL Resources

2008-05-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

www.eslgames.com
BBC Schools
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/index.shtml
CanTeach
http://www.canteach.ca/links/linkengsec.html
California State University ESL Lesson Plans and Resources
http://www.csun.edu/~hcedu013/eslplans.html
David’s ESL Café’s Idea Cookbook
http://www.eslcafe.com/idea/index.cgi
EnglishRaven.com
http://www.englishraven.com/Main.html
ESLGold
http://www.eslgold.com/
ESL KidStuff
http://www.eslkidstuff.com/
ESLPDF
http://www.eslpdf.com/
ESLPoint.com
http://www.eslpoint.com/
ESL Teacher Talk
http://www.eslteachertalk.com/
ESL Teacher Tips E-zine
http://www.english-teaching-info.com/esl-teacher-tips-newsletter.html
ESL Teaching Tips
http://www.eslteachingtips.com/
Interesting Things for ESL Students
http://www.manythings.org/
Lanternfish
http://bogglesworldesl.com/
LearnEnglishFeelGood.com
http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/
onestopEnglish
http://www.onestopenglish.com/index.asp?catid=59495
Owl Writing Lab ESL Resources for Teachers
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslteacher.html
SimplyESL
http://www.simplyesl.com/
ESL Language Schools
http://esllanguageschools.suite101.com/
TEFL.NET - because you teach English
http://www.tefl.net/
The Literacy Web
http://www.literacy.uconn.edu/

ESL - Resource Websites

2008-05-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

ESL Websites:
• DEN (Digital Education Network) – Cdn. Website with reading comprehension, accompanying exercises in math and writing
http://www2.actden.com/writ_den/menu.htm
• Self-Study Quizzes for ESL Students – over 1000 grammar and vocabulary quizzes and trivia questions on a variety of topics
http://a4esl.org/
• Interesting Things for ESL Students – offers many things from crosswords, scrambled sentences, a speech synthesizer, computer assisted writing www.manythings.org
• ESL Blue – a Cdn. website (Quebec) with materials at all levels
http://ww2.college-em.qc.ca/prof/epritchard/trouindx.htm
• Comprehensive site by Eva Leaston
http://eleaston.com/
http://www.settlement.org/
• a very comprehensive site for new immigrants, the Newcomers Guide to Ontario is part of this site
• Magda’s ESL Resources – a comprehensive site where you will find the above links as well as others (online picture dictionaries are really good)
http://eslresources.ca/
• TESL-J – the internet TESL Journal for Teachers of ESL, great professional development link http://iteslj.org/
• TESL-L – an electronic mailing list for ESL teachers, 12000 teachers belong to it http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/~tesl-l/
• TESL/TEFL/TESOL/ESL/EFL/ESOL Links – links to sites for teachers and students http://iteslj.org/links/
• ESL-Loop Site – can find more ESL sites
http://www.linguistic-funland.com/esloop/esloop.html
• The Multi-literacy Project -- A research collaboration of students, educators and researchers http://www.multiliteracies.ca/

Asian Heritage Resources

2008-05-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

A poem against Guns and Voilence & Real Toronto Youtube Website

2008-04-24T19:55:00.000-07:00

How many memorials
I have to erect in the city?
How many times I have to stand
In the circle to pray
For the fallen heroes?
How many times I have to stop
Having my dinner during the evening news?
My God where are you?
Now I need you the most.
My heart is on fire and
The feathers of my guardian angel are burning.
Look around us.
People with no hope
Walking like zombie
Don't erect a memorial or put flowers
Where I was gunned down. Throw all the guns and drugs in a pyre
And give me hope for tomorrow.
by Ifti Nasim
Chicago
(Reggie Nunnery,a young man, was gunned down in gang cross fire. Reggie was an innocent by stander)
Please visit this You Tube website for Real Toronto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjhJgR4ZR8A
Please visit this you tube website for "VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS"
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=JZVoVDgc-Og&feature=related

The Importance of Reflection

2008-04-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

Below you will find some ideas, resources and strategies that encourage and support students as they reflect on their ability to make meaning and learn.
• Within the Beginning Teachers resource booklet, Building Effective Classrooms: http://schools.tdsb.on.ca/asit/standards/btstart/BTClassM.pdf , Jim provides examples of three dimensions of reflection questions: content focused reflection, collaborative focused reflection, and personal focused reflection. We need to provide students with opportunities to reflect in all dimensions regularly.
• In the article, "Reading, Responding, Reflecting" by Lifford. et al, English Journal, March, 2000 (I have attached the articleJ) A strategy called pictograms is reviewed. Similar to mind mapping, pictograms is one non-linguistic way for students to express their thoughts and feelings. In pictograms, students visualize the reading process through drawings. Students think about the steps they go through from the time they begin reading to making sense of what they have read. This is captured in a series of pictures which give teachers insight and students understanding in a concrete manner.
• Another non-linguistic way for students to reflect upon their learning is through creating and interpreting graphs. When students see and discuss data for themselves they are more likely to internalize the information. The process encourages ownership of their learning goals. This website provides a simple graph making tool for students to create and interpret data:
http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/
• Attentive listening during a reflecting conversation is another way for teachers to have a "window" into their students' thinking. In Coaching 101, page 2, Jim provides a simple framework for a conference/conversation teachers can have with their students: http://schools.tdsb.on.ca/asit/standards/btstart/Coaching101.pdf Scaling questions encourage the learner to focus on the positive and then to identify one strategy or step to doing a little "better" in the future.

Reading And Writing Together

2008-04-23T12:30:00.000-07:00

Reading, Responding and Reflecting
JEAN LIFFORD, BARBARA BYRON, JEAN ECKBLAD, AND CAROL ZIEMIAN
Background
Why do so many of our students, even so-called good students, year after year “construct”the same misreadings of many of the literary texts used in class? Why, forinstance, do students insist that Eveline is simply behaving as a dutiful daughter when she refuses to run away with Frank, thus ignoring Joyce’s description of her as “passive, like a helpless animal”? Why do students agree with narrators like Jack in Canin’sstory, “Lies,” that the father tells the truth and the mother lies, or with eas . . . Rather they create something in the process of reading and what they create depends not only on the text itself but also on who the readers are and what they bring with them to the reading” (Probst 62). As Constance Weaver proposes in Reading Process and Practice, “The reader brings meaning to the text in order to get meaning from it” (38). Like process writing, this approach did encourage our students to see themselves as meaning makers when it came to reading; no longer did they view literature class simply as a game of “Guess what’s in the teacher’s brain.” By responding in journals about their reactions to what they read, students did consider the emotions, insights, and connections to their own life experiences that the text elicited. And they did appreciate this focus on their ideas. In surveys, they made such statements as, “Now my ideas are valued,” or “Now I do much more thinking when I read.” However, even with this emphasis on the reading strategies that students could employ to access and understand increasingly difficult texts, we did not see these strategies becoming an inherent part of their reading, thinking, comprehending process. As Probst also noticed, while students did become more actively engaged in the reading process when they wrote in response journals about their transactions with works, too often their responses were loose and strayed from the text. It soon became evident to us that telling students to speculate, hypothesize, question, reflect, and wonder in their journals did not always result in responses where they actually thought about ambiguities, tried to fill in gaps, or pondered contradictory or alternative interpretations. Instead, students seemed to want to “naturalize” a text by judging characters and events according to their own values (McCormick, Fowler, and Waller 120). According to Martha Rozett in Talking Back to Shakespeare, student readers often reduce texts to fit their experiences. They “apply interpretive conventions that frequently put a good deal of emphasis on characters as responsible members of society, accountable for the consequences of their behavior” (16). In addition, as Michael Smith explores in Understanding Unreliable Narrators, students find it too easy to ignore point of view, assuming that narrators are reliable and that, most likely, authors are speaking through the central character (144). Moreover, in responding to poetry or to especially dense or ambiguous passages in prose pieces, students miss specific clues to meaning by ignoring pronoun referents; attending superficially to word patterns; and skipping over confusing passages, terms, and vocabulary. Study In English classes grades six through twelve, then, we have experimented with more direct instruction of the explicit strategies that students should use when reading. Perhaps equally important, we have included more frequent, ongoing, diverse opportunities for students to debrief and reflect on their effectiveness in integrating these strategies into their reading processes. As Laura Soldner states in “Self- Assessment and the Reflective Reader,” activities that encourage students to write about their thinking and reading strategies help them to “examine whether what they are doing is working in order to build on their successes or to reflect upon the difficulties they are experiencing so they may determine for themselves what steps to take to resolve their struggles with reading and learning” (2). The Rhode Island English Language Arts Frameworks devotes an entire standard to metacognition and self-evaluation: Students will be aware of how they gain meaning from text, how they create text to communicate meaning, and how their previous knowledge and experiences are brought to bear on text. This consciousness is crucial if students are to adjust or adapt their thinking strategies to changing circumstances.
For our overall program of comprehension instruction we found the profiles of what thoughtful readers do developed by David Pearson, Laura Roehler, Janice Dole, and Gerald Duffy most helpful. Thoughtful readers (1) use prior knowledge, (2) “monitor their comprehension” as they read, (3) use fix-up strategies to repair comprehension that “has gone awry,” (4) “are able to determine what’s important” in reading, (5) “synthesize information when they read,” (6) “draw inferences during and after reading,” and (7) ask questions. Pearson et al. also offer some instructional “rules of thumb.” These include (1) teaching a small number of key strategies well and applying them frequently, (2) recognizing that reading is not a set of isolated skills picked up sequentially; rather it is a “process of emerging expertise,” and (3) treating reading strategies as adaptable. In addition, Pearson and his colleagues emphasize the importance of metacognition by concluding that good reading instruction helps students to “develop understanding about reading,” in terms of both large concepts and “how, when, and where” to use specific strategies (153–169). In addition to these broad comprehension factors that help students construct meaning, John Chapman suggests that teachers focus on explicit factors of language structure that students need to consider if they are to develop a meaningful big picture. In other words, two processes are at work almost simultaneously. As I. A. Richards posits, readers must both construe meaning (complete a careful literal reading) and at the same time construct meaning (question, wonder, and interpret) (Berthoff 18). Activities for Practicing Strategies As part of our current literature instruction, in addition to the typical reader-response, open-ended prompts we had been using, we now include a number of activities that help our students practice specific strategies and reflect on and assess how effectively they use these strategies when they read. Writing is fundamental to most of these activities. The very act of writing not only reflects thinking, but actually stimulates it. Beginning writing activities for each unit, then, consist of exploratory journal E n g l i s h J o u r n a l writing, focused responses, and reflective pieces. These activities, what Peter Elbow calls first-order writing, help students to develop or “complicate” their thinking, and they are, of course, by nature active, eliciting discovery exploration, and hypothesis. To help our students, particularly younger students, figure out how to begin to respond, we model our own thinking processes. As we read aloud a text, we make explicit to students what we are thinking. We consider implications of the title, make predictions, and ask ourselves questions: Who is this person? What is he like? What is he doing? Why is he acting in a particular way? We attempt to answer these questions as we learn new information. We also try to show how we connect the events in the text to events in our own lives, to other books we have read, to movies we have seen. After modeling our thinking for about a third of the story, we ask the class to list what they have noticed about our strategies. The students then continue to read the story and, in journals or with a partner, practice responding and building meaning, using the strategies modeled. Supporting the premise that “all learning begins with a question,” we frequently ask our students to jot down all questions that a literary text raises. Next, we sometimes have our students complete
a “write along.” This process began as a “thinkaloud” modeling technique for the beginning of a book where the students shared their thought processes with the rest of the class (Davey 44–47). However, we soon modified this technique to the “write-along,” where they do the same thing, but on paper. After each paragraph readers write about what went on in their heads during the reading: what they visualized, what they discovered, what words they didn’t recognize, what expectations were aroused, etc. This method, while time consuming, is particularly effective with less able students. Not only do they learn from their peers during classsharing, but the act of writing about one paragraph at a time engages them more fully in actually thinking about what they read, while also guiding them to attend to the specific details of the passage. A more sophisticated version of the “write along” is Vendler’s “line-by-line” technique used for poetry. Students produce wonderful responses to poetry with this technique. For a unit on Shakespeare’s sonnets the class began with Sonnet 73 (“That time of year . . .”), writing all the thoughts and questions that surfaced in their minds after reading each line of the poem. Together they shared their thoughts, discussing images, shifts in meaning, and implications. Next, pairs of students chose two sonnets, wrote line-by-lines for both sonnets,
shared and discussed them with each other, and then each student in the pair elected to write an analysis of one sonnet. The resulting essays were wonderful and revealed close, thoughtful analyses of the twenty or so sonnets selected. Supporting the premise that “all learning begins with a question,” we frequently ask our students to jot down all questions that a literary text raises. Upon completing their list of questions, students are asked to reread the piece and then write a response that focuses on some or all of the questions they originally asked. This focused response can then be used to generate topics for an essay, analyzing more fully the meaning they have constructed. Recently a group of ninth-grade students followed this procedure for “Reunion,” which appeared on the 1988 AP exam. They developed perceptive questions about point of view, theme, author’s purpose, etc. They asked, Why hasn’t the narrator seen his father since the divorce? Why did he suddenly want to see his father? Why is the father “his future, his doom”? What significance does the narrator’s journey hold? Their ensuing responses led to perceptive analyses of the prose piece. One student wrote about her embarrassment for the boy in “Reunion.” She also explored the possible reasons for the father’s failure to “grow up” as well as the boy’s assumption that he must become like his father. She also connected the piece to Of Mice and Men and Tuck Everlasting. Her final essay stressed the feelings of loneliness the boy reveals as he struggles to sort out the complex emotions that surface from seeing his father. Paraphrasing is an activity that even our more able students benefit from, for we agree with Ann Berthoff that it is an essential but often neglected reading skill (19–20). Last June a group of sophomore students completing an end-of-the year review were impressed with how much they remembered of Antigone, which they had studied months before. When the teacher commented on their recollection, one student countered with, “Well, what did you expect? We practically had to rewrite the whole play in our journals.” And the juniors who had been working on this strategy most of the year said that they knew they really understood something when they could put it in their own words. One commented, “If I get fouled up when trying to explain [what I’ve read to someone else], I know I have to read it over.” Another more open-ended journal activity that encourages students to return to a text and read more closely is to have them select and write about sentences that they think are significant. They can then share their ideas in pairs, come to some agreement as to which sentences seem most important, and even rank order the sentences. This procedure encourages students to begin to think about thematic implications and gives them solid quotes to integrate into any essay they may write on the text. Last year one student with many past failures captured the merit of this system when he struggled to find a quote with which to begin his essay. “I base the whole idea for my paper on that quote,” he said. In addition to these writing activities that help students think, question, and wonder as a means of constructing meaning, we have also come to realize that, as texts become denser, more ambiguous, and more challenging, students need direct instruction on how to figure out some of the more literal levels of meaning—what Richards refers to as “construing meaning.” As Chapman notes, children must become conscious of language structure, and in order for this to happen, factors of that structure— including language variety, tone, and elements of cohesion—must be made explicit. Cohesion can be described as the things within a text that provide clues for the integration of meaning. Linguists refer to anaphora, the process of linking what is being read now with what went before, and to anaphoric chains, the linguistic linking mechanisms that tie texts together, including reference groups, substitutions, ellipses, conjunctions, and lexical cohesion. Chapman says that some students only come to grasp the use of reference groups (e.g., personal or demonstrative pronouns), substitutions (appositives), and ellipses (omissions) late in secondary school. Students in two junior classes concentrated on lexical chains throughout the year. Some students had never before understood the connection between these ideas—which they had thought of as “grammar”—and the unraveling of challenging passages in reading. One of the first activities was with Oliver Wendell Holmes’s poem “The Chambered Nautilus,” found in most junior anthologies. Classes commonly had difficulty with this poem because they missed the referents for the appositives or the places where there are pronoun shifts. An added difficulty is the use of metaphors, so that in the first stanza, for example, the pronoun “its” in line four refers grammatically to “the venturous bark,” itself an appositive for the “ship of pearl,” which is a metaphor for the nautilus shell. Asked during third term what they had learned from the work we had done with several reading strategies, one student said, “When I read something that jumps around from he to she to it, I . . . stop and think about each one. In the past I probably would have taken a less productive approach.” Her classmate wrote that in the past she would get “confused” because she “would think that one pronoun always referred to the same thing. But when we [worked on] this, I realized, ‘duh,’ it doesn’t always refer to the same thing.”
In June the students were asked to respond specifically to the work we had done on the lexical chains. Most felt that their awareness of these connections had made a difference, especially in their reading of poems and particularly dense prose. A young man commented: At first it wasn’t a big deal to [identify the antecedents to the pronouns]. Then we started reading more poetry, which is confusing to me anyway. It helped out a great deal to have . . . skill in [finding] what the pronoun refers to. For example, in “First Death in Nova Scotia” the second stanza has tons of his’s. After looking for a while you could finally figure out that they refer to the loon. A classmate said, “More difficult selections become easier because I can make connections. Seemingly impossible poems become simple.” Metacognition In spite of their success, all of these activities by themselves are not enough. While they provide lots of opportunities for students to practice various strategies, they do not necessarily help students recognize when to apply them; therefore, students also need to develop a conscious awareness of exactly how strategies help them to transact with texts. A few years ago we put into place a performance assessment program that asks students at the beginning of the year to complete self-evaluations of reading. This one-time evaluation, however, was not enough, for although many students would check off that they regularly “question, wonder and hypothesize” when they read, “reread and examine sections of the text that are confusing or ambiguous,” “broaden or change [their] original interpretation when necessary,” and “recognize and evaluate the point of view of the narrator,” their written responses suggested that they did not in fact practice these strategies. We began by asking our students to comment on their strengths as readers. We soon realized that we were not providing enough specific and formal opportunities for students to do this kind of reflecting. Because we had not asked students to think about reading strategies and evaluate their own reading processes on a consistent basis, they had not been able to internalize understandings to the degree we had hoped. Jack Thomson advocates providing ongoing opportunities for helping students become conscious of the constructive strategies they use in their reading, for in doing so they can move to higher levels of response and gain greater control of what they are reading: This reflexive understanding is very powerful knowledge, and it helps people control their own learning processes. If we know what we know, and if we know how we came to know it, we are powerful people . . . [And] once readers realize how and why they have read a text in a particular way, they can then choose to read it in alternative ways. (132, 144) Recently, we decided to incorporate more frequent opportunities for students to reflect on and analyze their reading practices. While we have always suggested that students test their interpretations by making sure that their ideas are not contradicted by elements of the text, and, as Wilhelm says, “Nothing is projected for which there is no verbal basis” (27), students have not found this kind of self-testing easy. Again, by providing specific occasions for them to revisit reading responses, perhaps students would become more self-conscious and more in control of the way they respond to texts. We began by asking our students to comment on their strengths as readers. Some of the more sophisticated responses included such comments as, “I read over sections more than once and look for different meanings,” or “I look for things that could possibly be used for documenting a theme later on.” However, like their self-evaluations, their responses in reading journals did not support their assessment of their reading strengths. For instance, one group of students read and responded to a series of short stories and autobiographical excerpts such as Joyce’s “Eveline” and Canin’s “Lies.” In these responses they tended to evaluate the characters’ decisions in moral terms; they failed to consider the author’s criticism of the world in which the character lived; and they neglected to consider the implications of the character’s language or what the character said as an indication of who the character might be. Although teacher comments— What do you mean by this? What might be the character’s motivation? What does this show about her? Don’t stray so far from the text.—helped somewhat, students did not necessarily apply this kind of practice to the next story they read. Even when specifically directed to consider endings carefully and to notice how the words the characters use provide wonderful clues about the character, the students did not find it easy to apply guidelines. What is interesting, though, is that the students, on the whole, did a very thorough job of responding to their peers. They made the following kinds of statements: Discuss the ending further; what does she mean by her last sentence? How has she emotionally changed? What do you make of this? What are Alice’s characteristics that lead you to say this? Why do you think she does this? What fascinates us is that they can make these kinds of statements about their peer’s work but still continue to misread themselves. Perhaps having the language to describe one’s reading process is just the first step. Perhaps, like the reading process itself, any conscious application of strategies is a recursive as well as a spiraling procedure. It is recursive in that it begins and returns to an act of reading and spiraling in that each act of reflecting should help the reader gain increasing control over strategies. We asked our students to think about all the steps they go through from the time they begin to read to the time they feel they have made sense of what they have read. Another metacognitive activity that we now use at intervals is to ask the students to reread all of their responses, as well as the comments we had written on them, and then write again about their strengths and weaknesses as readers. One student listed several items she needed to work on: “to expand ideas instead of dropping them, to explore implications, to be less vague and define words, to avoid overstatements.” Another student wrote that she needs “to try to go deeper into the text and explore possible implications . . . and try not to use big morals and other overstatements.” Another said that she wanted “to work on examining the author’s ideas word by word . . . and to work more on trying to figure out the point of the story.” A fourth said that he wanted to develop his ideas more and to “consider the author’s point more and the author’s attitude toward the character and his world.” Again, though, having the language and applying it to one’s reading processes were two different matters. After directly teaching a variety of specific strategies and providing diverse opportunities to reflect on how effectively the students used these strategies, we experimented with Walter Haney’s suggestion that the students visualize their reading processes through a series of drawings or pictograms. Haney, Professor of Research at the Center for the Study of Testing, Evaluation, and Educational Policy at Boston College’s Graduate School of Education, has been doing research on how drawings can be used to elicit, in a jargon-free way, feelings and thinking processes. In particular, he has had those in educational settings draw pictures as a means of gaining insight into perceptions about a school and its culture. Like Dr. Haney, we have found the pictogram activity to be a most enlightening exercise. We asked our students to think about all the steps they go through from the time they begin to read to the time they feel they have made sense of what they have read. “Think about all the thought processes you go through. Try to capture all that is involved in a series of drawings or pictograms,” we told them. Not only do these drawings provide us with a great deal of insight into how our students read, but they have also helped the students themselves to understand in a most concrete way some of the thinking that goes on in their brains when they read. We find that the range of strategies included in the drawings mirrors strikingly the level of sophistication of the reader. In analyzing the pictograms of a cross section of sixth graders, for example, we are able to see that they use a wide range of reading strategies. Most of the students indicate that they reread, sound out words, and look up words in the dictionary. They also try to construe the meaning of words from context and go back and forth trying to gain meaning. In addition, students use writing to help them understand a text. They take notes, respond in journals, write down definitions, and draw pictures. Many also stop periodically to check for comprehension. What is apparent, though, is that better readers usually have more strategies to call upon. One sixth grader, for instance, pictures ten steps as part of her reading process (Figure 1). Her pictograms reveal that she sees reading as a very complex activity where the reader has to visualize what is happening; develop questions about any difficult passages; consider how the text relates to life; and, through writing, construct a meaning. Her pictogram also delineates reading as a recursive process of questioning, hypothesizing, writing, rereading, more speculating, and more writing. While indicative of some fairly mature reading strategies, her drawing includes steps that are typical of many of the sixth graders who participated in this exercise. We credit this understanding to the increasing use of reading journals, literature circles, and performance assessment in the elementary grades. E n g l i s h J o u r n a l 51 Overall, though, what we notice in their pictograms is that sixth graders tend to be more concerned with sounding out words and finding their meanings than are older students. (Interestingly, though, older students concentrate on the word level when they encounter very challenging reading such as poems whose meaning is often too cryptic to be derived from context.) Some sixth graders, however, depend too much on this narrow range of strategies. A second sixth grader captures the reading processes of students who are still struggling at the word level. Some of these students are absorbed with word meanings, and some, like the one whose pictogram appears in Figure 2, sees reading as decoding. To this student reading is simply a process of sounding out words. If he can read the words, he has “read” the book. Interestingly, we used to find more of these readers, even in high school, when phonics was sometimes emphasized at the expense of meaning. Instruction now focuses on a balanced program of both phonics and reading for meaning, decreasing the numbers of students who are primarily word callers. An analysis of a cross-section of drawings by older students provides equally fascinating insights into their reading processes. (Figure 3 is a representative drawing.) One characteristic of almost all of the drawings is the absence of any reference to a teacher. Given all the arguments critics have made over the years about how teachers have made students dependent on their authority and on their questions, we think these pictograms are a startling indication that reader-response practices have at least removed the teacher from center stage. Another item that most students include in their drawings has to do with the act of writing. In some form or other these students, like many of the sixth graders, indicate that writing is an integral part of the way they construct meaning. Whether they are sitting at desks, lying on their beds, or using symbols to represent various steps, journals,pencils, and pictograms of stick figures writing are evident in each visualization. Again, perhaps more than we have realized, reader-response theory has influenced our students’ reading processes. The very fact that they indicate that they can write about a text without teacher intervention suggests an overall confidence in reading ability that we did not see seven or eight years ago. Another generality that surfaces is the students’ awareness of the recursive nature of reading. The majority capture in some way the act of rereading, revisiting, or rethinking some part of the text being read. Some even devote more than one pictogram to this rereading, rethinking procedure. In interviews they verified that they reread in order to look more closely at specific words and also to make sense of confusing passages. One student mentioned that he used to think that rereading was bad. “Now I learned that this is good because it allows me to pick up details I missed the first time.” Another student in his visualization has the stick figure say, “Step 4 repeat steps 2 (I’m reading it again for subtleties.) and 3 (I’m confused at some points.)” Several also make specific reference to times of confusion when they read. They indicate confusion either through the use of a question mark in a bubble above a head or through statements in the bubbles such as, “I don’t know what’s going on here,” or “I’m confused.” An equal number of students depict light bulbs above the head. One student even has two light bulbs at two different points in her ten-step reading process. These question marks and light bulbs suggest very active kinds of reading, reading where the students seem to struggle to cope with complex or difficult passages and to construct meaning out of that confusion. The majority of the students, too, in bubbles above the thinkers’ heads, draw scenes from what they are reading, indicating that visualizing characters and actions in their heads is an ongoing part of their reading processes. A large number of students, in addition, include a minimum of five steps as part of their reading process visualization, while most have many more steps. Perhaps the number of steps that students use to describe their reading processes reflects, to some degree, their awareness of all that they must do as they try to make sense of a text. Interestingly, the students who include fewer steps also tend to write the least in their journal responses. Another item that appears on many of the visualizations of older students involves some kind of discussion, either between two students or in a group in a class setting. Some even add both small-group and whole-class discussions. In interviews they state that discussion is often key to the way they make sense of a text. Student talk helps them to process their thinking, and the ideas of others inspire them to make connections and come up with new understandings. The group discussion, then, does not conclude the series of drawings but instead serves as a tool for the student’s rethinking. Typical of those who draw about student talk, one student pictures light bulbs above the One student mentioned that he used to think that rereading was bad. students’ heads in group discussion, while another member of the group has bubbled above his head the words, “I never thought of that.” In other words, students feel that group or class discussions do not provide them with a final message about the text. The discussion, instead, helps them to think in new ways about the text and to integrate these new ideas with the ones they have already formed. Several pictograms indicate changes in mood: frustration, perplexity, then elation. Many students, in fact, end their visualizations with a pictogram of a smiling face. These variations, however, also seem to verify that the students perceive that reading is not a passive activity and that they must actually “transact” with the text if any meaning is to be constructed. A pictogram drawn by a senior (Figure 4) illustrates the sophisticated reading strategies an excellent reader can orchestrate. During an interview this student confidently and unhesitatingly explained his visualization: I always read with a pen or pencil in hand as I was taught. I jot down passages that I find important. The first thing I do is discover the point of view—the head with the I, He, They—where they’re speaking from so that I can tell what might be true or false. Next—the picture with the earth, sun, and stars—I look for connections to the universal level of meaning. The three faces, happy, sad, and no expression, basically represent the attitude of the character involved, what his thoughts are, whether positive or negative. The tree, rock and animal also relate to relationships, the relationship to nature. The picture of the head with a brain represents what the character might be thinking. The question mark relates to the purpose of the character’s existence and the various aspects of his personality. The arrows pointing at the character relate to all the external forces acting on the character. The three houses and a bunch of people represent society in general and how the character is accepted.
This student’s visualization is especially interesting and complex. In particular, his focus on all the forces at work on a character as well as how the character perceives those forces would suggest a willingness to be tentative as he reads, allowing new insights to lead tore considerations of meaning. The student did mention that his reading is still improving. “I’m OK at themes and analyzing the text, but I need to spend more time on specific language as well as point of view,” he said. Overall, though, he felt that drawing the actual steps of his reading process has made him much more conscious of what he should be doing when he reads. In addition to the wealth of information that we teachers have gathered from these drawings, the students’ follow-up interviews revealed that they, too, had learned a lot. As one student so succinctly said, “Now that I’m more conscious of this process, I can concentrate on doing these things when I read.” Many of us notice that, in subsequent journal entries, this visualization exercise has helped students apply more of the strategies mentioned in their pictograms. The overall improvement in reader-response activities most likely results from the accumulation of various metacognitive tasks that we have incorporated throughout our classes. But we also think that the pictograms of their thinking processes and the follow-up explanations for each of the steps pictured have been a force in helping students actually internalize these strategies. As Kathleen Black states, “This method [drawing pictures illustrating procedures] was used in the belief that the abstract, visual nature of the task would discourage students from giving standard and possibly untrue responses to the question of how they went about writing a paper” (207). The visualizations also counter, to some extent, concerns that any measures of metacognition may simply measure recall of taught procedures, not applied understandings (University of Oklahoma 1). From what we have seen in our students’ subsequent reading responses, Kathleen Black is right. Although Dedham students had been taught the procedures and even learned the language to describe reading processes, they had not always translated these procedures and this language into actual practice. The nonstandard approach of drawing pictograms, though, has encouraged students to think about how they think. The drawings, then, work in two ways: They bring to a conscious level what has been “below conscious awareness” (University of Oklahoma 1) at the same time that they reinforce and concretize the importance of higher-level thinking and reading strategies. The visualization activity, combined with a greater emphasis on direct instruction of strategies, increased opportunities for students to practice strategies, and the effort and time put into metacognitive activities has resulted, we conclude, in more probing, careful, open-minded reading. As Robert Marzano states in Assessing Student Outcomes,“Human beings have the ability to control their own behavior, even their own thought processes, by using effective habits of mind” (23). Selfassessment is at the heart of learning to develop these habits of mind. John Abbott, in his article on the kinds of classrooms that develop broad intelligence, agrees. He says, “The ability to think about your own thinking is essential in a world of continuous change. Through metacognition, we can develop skills that are genuinely transferable . . . This deep reflective capability is what helps us devel0p new possibilities”

Critical Media Literacy Resources

2008-04-23T10:07:00.000-07:00

Resources
Listed are some media education resources designed to assist teachers:
The Association for Media Literacy www.aml.ca, provides visitors with articles and reviews; resources for teachers; and news about upcoming events, conferences and initiatives being undertaken by the AML. It also provides visitors with a connection to media education initiatives around the world through national and international organizations. The AML is the official subject association for Media Literacy in Ontario.
The CBC www.cbc.ca contains program schedules and streaming audio listening opportunities, but also offers transcripts of interviews and programs, as well as original writing by Canadian authors.
Center for Media Literacy www.medialit.org is an educational organization that provides professional development and educational resources nationally in the United States.
Don’t Buy It – Get Media Smart pbskids.org/dontbuyit is a website designed for elementary students. It features interactive activities for students, as well as informative sections for both teachers and parents.
The English Language Arts Network www.elan.on.ca provides ongoing support for teachers looking for new ideas.
Film Education (UK) www.filmeducation.org produces feature movie study aids for UK teachers.
British Film Institute www.bfi.org.uk supports film studies in the UK with a variety of quality resources, including courses, print, and online.
Independent Media Centre www.indymedia.org , Alternet www.alternet.org and Adbusters adbusters.org provide students with alternatives to mainstream media for news and information. Media studies promote a multiple-perspective approach to reading and viewing the media.
Media Awareness Network www.media-awareness.ca features a wide range of resources – in English et en Francais – including lessons and resources for teachers, information for parents, educational games and student modules.
Media Ed www.mediaed.org.uk is for teachers, students and anyone else who is interested in media and moving-image education in primary, secondary, further and informal education.
Media Education Kit for Teachers, Students and Parents
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001492/149278E.pdf
Written by several media educators for Unesco, this document can be downloaded for free as a PDF. It provides a balanced account of the field.
- 1 - Media Literacy: Resources Resources
Media Literacy Clearing House www.frankwbaker.com is a site that contains ongoing support for media education, primarily linked to U.S. initiatives.
The Media Literacy Resource Guide contains many useful teaching ideas and is available at the Government of Ontario Bookstore (1-800-668-9938).
Media Studies: K-12. Toronto: Toronto District School Board, 2005.
MuchMusic Media Education. http://www.muchmusic.com/mediaed/ This site provides visitors with information on MuchMusic’s media literacy and social issues programming. Broadcast dates for programs are listed and teachers are welcome to tape programs off-air. Study guides for the programs can be downloaded free of charge.
National Institute on Family and the Media (Mediawise) www.mediafamily.org is a website that seeks to educate and inform the public. The site also offers ideas and kits for purchase by educators.
National Public Radio www.npr.org offers similar features to those indicated for the CBC, but in an American context.
Newseum www.newseum.org is a site that archives mainstream news and includes today’s front-pages, where students can examine and retrieve hundreds of front pages from 40 countries.
Pulse 24 www.cp24.com contains both writing and video news stories.
Think Literacy 7-10. Ministry of Education. http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/studentsuccess/thinkliteracy/files/ThinkLitMedia.pdf
This document contains practical ideas and strategies for the implementation of media literacy in the classroom.
YouTube www.youtube.com provides access to thousands of videos on a number of subjects.
There are also several books that may prove useful in the classroom:
Anderson, Careiro, Sinclair. Responding to Media Violence. Markham, ON: Pembroke Press, 1996. This book provides activities for the classroom, common perceptions and factors that influence children’s behaviours. Order directly through Pembroke Publishers.
Buckingham, David. Media Education: Literacy, Learning and Contemporary Culture. 2003. (Blackwell is North American distributor). This is a comprehensive book, covering topics from ideology to using the new digital media. Order from Amazon.com
- 2 - Media Literacy: Resources Resources
Canadian Teachers’ Federation. Kids Take on Media – Full Report, Teacher/Student Activity Guide, Workshop for Parents. 2003, $10.00. This is a resource that includes the opinion of kids on subjects such as movies, TV, and video games. Order from http://www.ctf-fce.ca/e/publications/ctf_publications.asp
Duncan, Barry, Janine D’Ippolito, Cam Macpherson and Carolyn Wilson. Mass Media And Popular Culture (Version Two). Thomas Nelson, Toronto, 1996. After an introductory section that provides a conceptual framework for the study of media, the text is organized by themes: e.g. Representation, Global Citizen, Selling Values, New and Converging Technologies. There is also a binder of supplementary readings and materials for photocopying.
Beach, Richard. teachingmedialiteracy.com: A web-linked Guide to Resources and Activities. Teachers College Press, 2007. (In Canada, order through The University of Toronto Press.) This 130 page book covers all the key issues and skills necessary for fostering media literacy in the classroom.
Kozolanko, Kirsten. Ed. Media Education and Educating the Media. From the periodical Our schools, Ourselves. Fall 2007, Vol 17, no.1. $12.00. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives 410-75 Albert St., Ottawa, On K1P 5E7. This publication offers a good cross section of articles, both theoretical and practical.
Media Sense. Toronto: Thomas Nelson, 1998. Three activity-based books for elementary school students, ages 8-12. This provides numerous practical activities throughout.
Potter. Media Literacy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc, 2005. This is a book designed for the development of media literacy skills for students. Order it through Amazon.com .
- 3 - Media Literacy: Resources

Free Encylopedia

2008-04-21T12:36:00.000-07:00

http://www.veropedia.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wi/Main_Page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wi/Main_Page

Mindset

2008-04-21T10:53:00.001-07:00

Here is an interesting story with a moral to share. It's called 'Mindset'
As I was passing the elephants, I suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from the ropes they were tied to but for some reason, they did not.
I saw a trainer near by and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

"Well," he said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free."
I was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?

Information for Field Trips/Excursions

2008-04-11T09:47:00.000-07:00

http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/school/events/teacherevents/default.asp

http://www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca/children/overview.htm

Casa Loma (Toronto)
http://www.casaloma.org/Main/MainDyn.asp
Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto)
http://www.rom.on.ca/?lang=en-CA
Toronto Zoo
http://www.torontozoo.com/schools/?lang=en-CA

The list of organizations offering free admission and discounts across Ontario keeps growing.

A number of recent examples among the growing list offering discounts to College members include:
- Adjustable Beds Plus (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-CA#bedsplus)

- Black Creek Pioneer Village (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-CA#black_creek)

- Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-
CA#bushplane)
- Dynamic Earth (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-CA#dynamic)

- Greg Frewin Theatre (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-CA#magic)

- Museums of Mississauga (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-
CA#mississauga_museums)
Mysteriously Yours (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-CA#mystery)

Toronto Heli Tours (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-CA#helitours)

Your membership card provides proof that you are a professional teacher licensed to teach in Ontario's publicly funded schools.
Be sure to show your card when you're purchasing supplies or visiting major attractions. Many book sellers, museums, zoos and office supply stores provide discounts to teachers.
For a complete list of organizations that offer discounts to members, see the College web site (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-CA).
If you visit an attraction that's not on our discount list, you might ask them to consider participating in our discount program. Organizations can e-mail discounts@oct.ca for more information.

Aristotle's Ethics For Everyone

2008-04-09T12:04:00.000-07:00

Aristotle's Ethics for Everyone
For Aristotle, there's really nothing mysterious about ethics. People do what they do because they want to be happy. If only they were a little wiser, they might actually get what they want--by doing what's right.
Empiricist Ethics
Aristotle was an empiricist. Unlike his teacher, Plato, he rejected the idea that philosophy should be based mainly on theoretical investigations. Instead, Aristotle argued that you should start by taking a good, hard look at the world and derive your theories from what you find.
Aristotle's primary assumption is that everything has a purpose, or telos. An excellent object is one that fully achieves its purpose. A knife's purpose is to cut, so an excellent knife is one that cuts well. A human being's purpose--the thing that separates us from other animals--is rationality. So an excellent person is one who is fully rational.
Applied Wisdom
Of course, Aristotle realized that we can't just sit around rationalizing all day. We have to use our heads to make real-world decisions, including ethical ones. Aristotle called this "practical wisdom": the capacity to react appropriately to changing circumstances.
People get better at practical wisdom as they gain life experience. Children, for example, often desire bad things until parents teach them what's good. Adults, on the other hand, ought to be able to judge for themselves. Of course, even adults sometimes want bad things, but practice makes perfect. Aristotle thought that by habitually doing good, you can align your desires with what wisdom says is right.
Have a Good God
So what's right? According to Aristotle, the most important human desire is for eudaimonia, a Greek term that literally means "having a good god." The term is usually translated as "happiness," but a better translation might be "success" or "fulfillment." Wanting eudaimonia makes perfect sense, Aristotle says--as long as you understand that it isn't some fleeting emotion. Rather, such "fulfillment" is a by-product of living your life right. It's the ultimate perk of virtuous living.
Every virtue, Aristotle argues, is a "golden mean" between deficiency and excess. Courage, for example, is a happy medium between cowardice and foolhardiness. People who can't find such "golden means" are neither virtuous nor truly happy. They can't reach eudaimonia. Only the virtuous can.
Politic Behavior
Aristotle also said that we humans are intrinsically political beings. Our lives take on moral purpose through our interactions with other people--our families, friends, and fellow citizens--and no truly virtuous act benefits an individual at the expense of the community. Rather, virtuous folks find fulfillment within societies they fashion together.
Since we develop practical wisdom and virtue through constant practice, society clearly plays a key role in moral education. But instruction alone is never enough. "With regard to virtue," Aristotle writes, "it is not enough to know, but we must try to have and use it."
--Mark Diller

Enjoy your Spring Garden

2008-04-02T19:38:00.000-07:00

Springtime, Everyone!!!
Click on the link below. You will get a black page.
Click your mouse anywhere (& everywhere) on the page & see what happens! Better yet, click & drag your mouse over the black page... Enjoy!!
http://www.procreo.jp/labo/flower_garden.swf

Character Development

2008-03-30T10:21:00.000-07:00

"Good Character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are to some extent a gift. Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to built it piece by piece - by thought, choice, courage and determination." John Luther
"Character is the firm foundation stone upon which one must built to win respect. Just as no worthy building can be erected on a weak foundation, so no lasting reputation worthy of respect can be built on a weak character" R. C Samel
Character Education:
The main goal for Character Education is to help schools create a frame work that will help shape the lives of children in assisting them to become fully developed and well-rounded persons, who will become contributing members and assets to their society.
Character Development
The Finding Common Ground: Character Development in Ontario Schools, K-12 is the Ministry mandate which involves a community consultation process to identify character traits that everyone can embrace to infuse Character Development into the curriculum. In late fall, the Director, Gerry Connelly, shared the Character Development consultation process developed to engage school communities in helping to define what character really means for all of us in the TDSB. Some of you may have seen her speak on a video as she spoke to a group of grade sixes at Pierre LaPorte Middle School.
In her Director’s BLOG, Gerry expresses the shared belief that student success is dependent on a safe, caring, inclusive learning environment where every student feels valued. She stated that, in addition to academic improvement, we continue to focus on the social, physical and emotional development of our students. Much of this starts with teaching our students about the value of character – respecting themselves and each other, making positive contributions to their school and community, thinking critically and creatively. By supporting the heart and art of teaching and learning in our classrooms, hallways, and our communities, we are nurturing the joy of learning. From there, everything is possible.
Following are the attributes Chosen for TDSB schools:
Respect, Co-operation
Responsibility, Teamwork, Honesty
Kindness & Caring, Empathy
Integrity, Fairness and Perseverance
To see the Director's announcement click here.
Useful Websites on Character Educatuon
Ministry of Education:
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/reports/literacy/booklet2006.pdf
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/shared.pdf
http://www.curriculum.org/edu/character/
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/character.html
Other Sites
http://www.charactermatters.ca/
http://www.character.org/
http://www.cfchildren.org/
http://www.characterfirst.com/education/index.html
http://www.charactercounts.org/
www.positivecoach.org/
http://www.giraffe.org/
http://www.ethicsed.org/
http://www.amenetwork.org/
http://globalethics.org/
http://www.devstu.org/
http://www.characterplus.org/
http://www.bu.edu/education/caec/
http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps/
http://www.ethics.org/
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/SchoolsOnline/character.html
http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/Chacter_Education/
http://www.uen.org/utahlink/activities/view_activity.cgi?activity_id=5399
http://www.cortland.edu/www/c4n5rs/
http://www.ascd.org/
http://www.makeadifference.com/
http://www.dontlaugh.org/
http://education.ufl.edu/web/?pid=305
http://www.nncc.org/Perents/ga.angry.html
http://www.tweensandteensnews.com/index.php
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/inclusiveeducation/findresources/behavioursupporttoolkit.asp
http://sitc.education.ed.ac.uk/Dealing_With_Disruption
http://lacoe.edu/
http://www.actsofkindness.org/
www.hwdsb.on.ca/characterbuildshamilton/
http://www.freethechildren.com/
http://www.futureaces.org/
http://www.kidsareworthit.com/
http://www.metowe.org/
http://www.moralintelligence.com/
http://www.cfchildren.org/
http://www.tribes.com/
http://www.realdiscipline.com/
http://www.characteredu.com/
http://www.primaryideas.co.uk/index_files/otherstuff.html
http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary/publications/banda/behaviour_nqt_course/ (This is a complete management course for new teachers.
http://www.senteacher.org/wk/certificates.php#
Signs(sign language ) for classroom management
http://www..drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2006/08_August/pg06a.html
Quotations
Looking for inspirational quotes on particular topics? Try the following websites.
http://www.quotationspage.com/qotd.html
http://www.quotesandsayings.com/finquoteframes.htm
Books
Character Matters: How to Help our Children Develop Good Judgement, Integrity, and Other Essential Virtues by Dr. Thomas Lickona (Simon & Schuster, New York)
Growing Character: 99 Successful Strategies for the Elementary Classroom by Deb Austen Brown (Character Development Group Inc., Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
Once Upon a Time: Storytelling to Teach Character and Prevent Bullying by Elisa Davy Pearmain (Character Development Group Inc., Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
Parenting for Good: Real World Advice for Parents by Marvin Berkowitz (Character Development Group Inc., Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
Shouting Won't Grow Dendrites by Marcia L. Tate (Corwin Press, California)
Smart & Good High Schools: Integrating Excellence and Ethics for Success in School, Work, and Beyond by Drs. Matthew Davidson and Thomas Lickona (Center for the 4th & 5th R's, State University New York, Cortland)

Extraordinary people

2008-03-26T20:46:00.000-07:00

Extraordinary people - The artist with no eyes, Esref Armagan
Please watch this....

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=L3AgO6H0H98&eurl=http://widget-58.slide.com/widgets/sf.swf

Interactive Math and Various Math Sites

2008-03-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

E-Lab
http://www.harcourtschool.com/elab/grade_3.html

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
http://matti.usu.edu/nlvm/nav/grade_g_2.html

Base 10 Blocks
http://ejad.best.vwh.net/java/b10blocks/description.html

Data Handling
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/revisewise/maths/data/

Various Math Sites
www.cyberbee.com/math.html
www.schooldiscovery.com/schrockguide/math.html
www.thecoo.edu/-aperter/mathsites.htm
www.math.rice.edu/-lanius/Lessons/
www.mathgoodies.com

Math Terms
www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com

Online Interactive Math Movies
www.knowthat.com
www.brainpop.com

Online Math Games
www.funbrain.com
www.lemonadegame.com

Also worth Exploring
www.figurethis.org
www.nelson.com
http://www.aaamath.com/
http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/wspages/math.htm

PROBABILITY BOOK/WEB SITE
http://www.ksu.edu/smartbooks/Lesson004.html

Starting Points -Math

2008-03-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

Starting Points - Math
http://www.ocdsb.edu.on.ca/Teacher_Res/
From the main page select CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS and then open Matrix File for each
subject in the Ontario Curriculum... What you'll find there are lesson Plans sorted by Grade Level
for each subject....thanks Ottawa-Carleton
http://illuminations.nctm.org/imath/index.html
Great resource...online Math Activities for kids from K to OAC...National Council of Teachers
of Math (US)....Resources, Lesson Plans...you name it..it’s here..awesome!
http://www.ocup.org/CD/html/unitdetails/units.php
The direct link to all the planner units written for Ontario Public School Boards (Grades 1 -
8)...you can browse the descriptions and download the units you'd like in .pdf format..worth the
drive to Acton!
http://www.avonmaitland.on.ca/~amdsbnet/
Avon Maitland School Board have linked sites for Students to the Ontario Curriculum at each
grade level. Each Grade also features links to lesson plans for Teachers (many developed within
their school board) ....may require a plug-in or 3 but definitely worth a visit!
http://www.edselect.com/
Collection of web sites chosen for classroom use by teachers and their students. These sites,
which match the Ontario Curriculum have been selected by Pat Elliott a certified Ontario teacher
with library specialist qualifications.
http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/vrc/index.html
Curriculum documents, specific lessons, sorted by Grade and Subject…lots of time in
Saskatchewan! Click on the Evergreen Curriculum link from the first page to begin!
http://www.occdsb.on.ca/~epr/online.htm
Karen Walkowiak (Ottawa Carelton Catholic School Board) has linked web resources for K -6
teachers by subject....this is a "work in progress" (Grade 7 & 8 "coming soon") but you'll find
something useful for the grade you teach.. http://hydra.educ.queensu.ca/CM/
An online "Community" for Math Educators...good O.C. resources....Queen's University...If you
click on the Info button on the first page it provides a very useful overview of the site..
http://linktolearning.com
It's an excellent starting point for teachers...very clearly laid out and it even includes actual
lessons you can use with your students....Created by Kevin McAsh, Computer Resource
Teacher with the York Region District School Board.
http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/math/index.shtml
a quick and simple way for you (or your students) to generate math worksheets..endless #'s of
them in fact!
http://www.syvum.com/teasers/
"Brain Teasers"...logical problem solving challenges...3 levels of difficulty...suitable for older
students (Gr. 7 - High School) or as "Class Problems" for Gr. 4 - 7...each one comes with an
explanation...many are quite challenging
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/8314/oeclgrid.htm
Brent Phillips - Grade 7/8 teacher in Halton has created a site full of K-8 O.C. links ....again very
useful as a resource
http://grassroots.mediacentre.com/ocdebridb/
Web Resources and on-line activities for Grade 7 and 8 Ontario Math Curriculum - created by
staff and students at an Ottawa school
http://www.allmath.com/
An exhaustive American site...links to lesson plans and flash card type activities for students
http://www.stfx.ca/special/mathproblems/welcome.html
St. Francis Xavier University...Math Word Problems sorted by Grades 5-12
http://www.mathpuzzle.com/
Extensive on-line collection of Math "Brain Teaser" type puzzles...
http://www.enc.org/
A web page for Math and Science Teachers in the U.S. There are lesson plans and Links.
http://www.funbrain.com/
A great site for teachers, parents and students. The site has links and resources for every subject.
http://www.sdsc.edu/Education/K-12_Resources/
This is an extensive list of Science and Math links.
http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/index.htm
The Statistic Canada Educational Resources web page. There are links for teachers and students.
http://forum.swarthmore.edu/
Math Forum Web page. Links and resources for Math teachers.
http://www.eduplace.com/math/brain/index.html
Part of Houghton-Mifflin site featuring "problem of the week" type brain teasers sorted by
Grade (3-4, 5-6, 7+).....Includes an archive of previous problems.
http://www.edunetconnect.com/
EduNet....Web Resources and Topic ideas for every subject connected to the Ontario
Curriculum...worth a visit
http://www.theteacherlist.ca/
Canadian, (IT Teacher in Edmonton)....found out about this at ECOO...you can subscribe to get
"a site a day" sent to your e-mailbox...also has lots of great links
http://www.mathstories.com/
4500 Word Problems sorted for Grades 1 -8....printable worksheets
http://juliet.stfx.ca/people/fac/pwang/mathpage/grade5.html
48 math problems written by Grade 5's..could be useful
http://www.thinkquest.org/library/
Searchable library of over 1100 student created sites...in all areas of the curriculum...a possible
starting point for student/teacher research about a specific topic...worth spending some time to
visit and bookmark sites for your students!

Data Poem

2008-03-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

Data
By J. Nadas

I’ve asked my friends a question
What’s your favourite game?
I’m doing a class survey
Let me write your name.

First I’ll do a tally
I’ll make a mark to show
How many kids like each game
And after that, I’ll know.

Then I’ll make a bar graph
A title, I’ll decide..
The axis looks like one big “L”
Numbers go up the left side.

Games are at the bottom
Hockey, tag and ball
Which game is the favourite?
Which bar will be so tall?

Supporting Beginning Teachers - Learning

2008-03-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

From A - Z (well actually to U), here is an alphabetical listing of TDSB and web resources designed to support Beginning Teachers and Mentors alike!
2007/2008 Timeline of Support & Growth
Accessing TEL: Download First Class Software
Accessing TEL: How to Log In
Accessing the Key to Learn: How to Log In
Connecting ICT & Literacy
Drama & Dance/Movement Handbook
Drama & Dance Treasure Chest
ECOSchools Guide
Education for All
Elementary Resources by Grade
Elementary Resources by Subject
Elementary Teachers of Toronto (ETT)
ESL/ELD Resource Guide
French Resource Guide (TDSB)

Grade 4 Resources & Ideas
Kindergarten: Dramatic Play in the K Program
Kindergarten & Grade 1: Establishing Routines
Kindergarten: Supplies & Materials Guide
Library Media Resources
Many Roots Many Voices
Mentoring: Beyond the Workshop
Mentoring: Ideas for Coaching
Mentoring: Information & Resources for Mentors
Mentoring: Models of Mentoring
Mentoring: Roles & Stances of an Effective Mentor
Mentoring: Tips for Mentors (from Protégés)
Mentoring: Tips for Protégés (from Mentors)
Mentoring: Voices of Mentors

Music Information & Planning Tools
New Teacher Induction Program (NTIP)
NTIP Aligned with Supports
OSSTF District 12 (Toronto)
Sample First Newsletter Home
Secondary Subject Associations
Social Sciences, Humanities & Family Studies
Special Education Resources
Tara's Bonfield School Units
TDSB Professional Library
Teacher Performance Appraisal
Teacher Resources for Student Success
Think Literacy Cross-Curricular Resources
Tippett Centre Resources for Teachers
Using Computers with your Students

Supporting Beginning Teachers - Assessing

2008-03-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

Effective Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting tools and ideas are a click away!
Fresh AER: Elementary
Fresh AER: Elementary Report Card Handbook
Fresh AER: Kindergarten
Fresh AER: Secondary
Ideas from Mentors & 2nd Year Teachers
Overview for Elementary Teachers
Overview for Secondary Teachers
Parent Interview Ideas
Report Card Comments: Some Ideas to Consider
Sample Elementary Report Card Comments
Secondary Report Card Comment Database
Secondary Sample A & E Plan
Using Differentiated Instruction (K - 12)

Supporting Beginning Teachers - Building

2008-03-20T07:15:00.000-07:00

Building effective Classrooms is such a powerful part of our work. Below you'll find some practical "teacher tested" ideas and resources to assist you in creating a classroom community.
Building Inclusion & Using Tribes
Classroom Layout Ideas
Getting Started: Ideas for Grades 1 - 3
Getting Started: Ideas for Grades 4 - 6
Getting Started: Ideas for Grades 7 - 8
Getting Started: Ideas for Kindergarten
Getting Started: Ideas for Secondary Teachers
Getting Started: Ideas for Special Education ISP
Getting Started: Ideas for Special Education Resource
Secondary Classroom Management Scenarios & Tips
Themes from Successful Classroom Practice (K - 12)
Tribes Implementation SlideShow
What is Tribes

Supporting Beginning Teachers - Building

2008-03-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

Supporting Beginning Teachers -Planning

2008-03-20T07:11:00.000-07:00

The best of Ontario Curriculum planning resources are all here. After all "life is too short"!
Elementary Curriculum Documents Sorted by Grade
Elementary Curriculum Documents Sorted by Subject
Elementary Curriculum Units
Elementary Long Range Plan Wizard
Elementary Timetabling Suggestions
ENO Curriculinks (K - 12)
Ontario Curriculum Web Resources (K - 12)
Secondary Course Profiles
Secondary Curriculum Documents Sorted by Grade
Secondary Curriculum Documents Sorted by Subject
Subject Resources (K - 12)
TDSB Curriculum Resources & Ordering Information
Trillium List of Approved Texts

Supporting Beginning Teachers

2008-03-20T07:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Teaching & Learning!
The Beginning Teachers Resources site is meant to be a starting point in our collaboration -- Enjoy!
Welcome/Why We Teach
Themes of Success
2007/2008 Timeline of Professional Learning
New Teacher Induction Program
Mentoring at Your School
Multiple Models of Mentoring
Roles and Stances of an Effective Mentor
Beginning Teacher Coaches and FOS Mentoring
Central System Mentoring
Online Mentoring
Voices from the Classroom
Sources & Resources

Download the full 12-pageWelcome to Teaching & Learning Brochure
Listen to the Welcome Podcast
Download newly published Resource Guides from the Ministry:NTIP Resource Guide for New Teachers NTIP Resource Guide for Mentors NTIP Resource Guide for Principals NTIP TPA Manual
Building Effective Classrooms Resource Guide for Beginning Teachers
Click here for 32 pages of practical ideas. Winter Institutes for Beginning Teachers & Mentors
Click here to browse the session choices. Job Embedded Learning Initiative (JELI) for Beginning Teachers
"Fresh JELI" has arrived for 2007/2008. All the information is in our JELI FAQ - Enjoy!

Is Our Happiness Preordained?

2008-03-20T06:41:00.000-07:00

Is Our Happiness Preordained?
By Laura Blue
Though most of us spend a lifetime pursuing happiness, new research is showing that that goal may be largely out of our control. Two new studies this month add to a growing body of evidence that factors like genes and age may impact our general well-being more than our best day-to-day attempts at joy.

In one study, researchers at the University of Edinburgh suggest that genes account for about 50% of the variation in people's levels of happiness — the underlying determinant being genetically determined personality traits, like "being sociable, active, stable, hardworking and conscientious," says co-author Timothy Bates. What's more, says Bates, these happiness traits generally come as a package, so that if you have one you're likely to have them all.

Bates and his Edinburgh colleagues drew their conclusions after looking at survey data of 973 pairs of adult twins. They found that, on average, a pair of identical twins shared more personality traits than a pair of non-identical twins. And when asked how happy they were, the identical twin pairs responded much more similarly than other twins, suggesting that both happiness and personality have a strong genetic component. The study, published in Psychological Science, went one step further: it suggested that personality and happiness do not merely coexist, but that in fact innate personality traits cause happiness. Twins who had similar scores in key traits — extroversion, calmness and conscientiousness, for example — had similar happiness scores; once those traits were accounted for, however, the similarity in twins' happiness scores disappeared.

Another larger study, released in January ahead of its publication in Social Science & Medicine this month, shows that whatever people's individual happiness levels, we all tend to fall into a larger, cross-cultural and global pattern of joy. According to survey data representing 2 million people in more than 70 countries, happiness typically follows a U-shaped curve: among people in their mid-40s and younger, happiness trends downward with age, then climbs back up among older people. (That shift doesn't necessarily hold for the very old with severe health problems.) Across the world, people in their 40s generally claim to be less happy than those who are younger or older, and the global happiness nadir appears to hit somewhere around 44.

What happens at 44? Lots of things, but none that can be pinned down as the root cause of unhappiness. It's not anxiety from the kids, for starters. Even among the childless, those in midlife reported lower life satisfaction than the young or old, says study co-author Andrew Oswald, an economics professor at the University of Warwick in Britain. Other things that didn't alter the happiness curve: income, marital status or education. "You can adjust for 100 things and it doesn't go away," Oswald says. He and co-author David Blanchflower, an economist at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, also adjusted their results for cohort effects: their data spanned more than 30 years, making them confident that whatever makes people miserable about being middle-aged, it isn't related, say, to being born in the year 1960 and growing up with that generation's particular set of experiences.

At first glance, the new studies may appear at odds with some previous ones, largely because in happiness research, a lot depends on how you ask the question. Oswald and Blanchflower looked at responses to a sweeping, general question: "Taken all together, how would you say things are these days — would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy or not too happy?" (The wording changes slightly depending on where the survey was conducted, but the question is essentially the same.) In a 2001 study, Susan Charles at University of California, Irvine, measured something slightly different: changes in positive affect, or positive emotions, versus negative affect over more than 25 years. Charles found that positive affect stayed roughly stable through young adulthood and midlife, falling off a little in older age; negative affect, meanwhile, fell consistently with age.

Charles thinks that feelings like angst, disgust and anger may fade because as we get older we learn to care less about what others think of us, or perhaps because we become more adept at avoiding situations we don't like. (The Edinburgh researchers, too, found that older study participants scored lower than younger ones on scales of neuroticism — worry and nervousness — and higher on scales of agreeableness.) Oswald chalks up the midlife dip in happiness shown in his study to people "letting go of impossible aspirations" — first, there's the pain of fading youth and the realization that we may never accomplish all that we had dreamed, then the contentment we gain later in life through acceptance and self-awareness. "When you're young you can't do that," Oswald says.

An oft-cited finding from other happiness research suggests, however, that neither very good events nor very bad events seem to change people's happiness much in the long term. Most people, it seems, revert back to some kind of baseline happiness level within a couple years of even the most devastating events, like the death of a spouse or loss of limbs. Perhaps that kind of stability is due to heredity — those happiness-inducing personality traits that identical twins have been shown to share.

Still, lack of control doesn't necessarily mean lack of joy. "The research also shows that most people consider themselves happy most of the time," says University of Edinburgh's Bates. "We're wired to be optimistic. Most people think they're happier than most [other] people." And even if you aren't part of that lucky majority, Bates says, there's always that other 50% of overall life satisfaction that, according to his research, is not genetically predetermined. To feel happier, he recommends mimicking the personality traits of those who are: Be social, even if it's only with a few people; set achievable goals and work toward them; and concentrate on putting setbacks and worries in perspective. Don't worry, as the saying goes. Be happy.

• Find this article at:
• http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1721954,00.html

Huna: The Hidden Secret of Life

2008-03-19T12:02:00.000-07:00

What is Huna?
Huna is a system of belief originating in Hawaii. Huna is not a
religion but rather a way of living. In the Hawaiian Language, Huna
among other things means secret, the secret of life that our
ancestors have enjoyed and the very secret that most of us are
looking for. Huna can be applied to any aspect of your life to
receive the results that you want. With Huna, one has to remember
that everything is indeed possible. Huna is a unique system and yet
a system that is so universal that as you begin to learn Huna, you
will realize that you already know what I am talking about. Huna is
recognized by our soul because Huna is the "secret" within each of
us.
Understanding and accepting Huna will take a while based on your
current thoughts and the way you look at your life. There are seven
basic principles of Huna and of life.
Ike: The first principle of Huna says the world is what you think it
is.
You will realize you may have heard this from so many spiritual
leaders, speakers, books, movies and what not. This phrase is so
simple, yet, the realization of it, can be a life changing
experience. The world is what you think it is, your thoughts are
energy, we attract what we spend a majority of our time thinking of.
I will tell you this from my personal life, it is very easy for you
to be in pain when your thoughts are focused on the pain! It is that
simple, what you think of magnifies and expands.
Kala: There are no limits, everything is possible.
Imagine how unclear the first point would be without the second
principle of life.
Everything is indeed possible. Feeling that something is impossible
is just telling your mind, you can't do it! And when you tell your
mind, that you can't do it, that is exactly what happens. Whatever
you focus on expands so if you think you are a victim of daily life,
you are making yourself a victim of daily life.
Makia: Energy Flows where attention goes
The guiding principle of reiki, and many other forms of healing. As
I am writing this, my mouth is supposed to be quite numb because I
just got a few deep cavities filled, but the fact is its not. I am
perfectly normal and that is because as soon as I got home, I spent
5 minutes applying this principle to myself. So, if you start
focusing from today on, that Mondays will bring you harmony and new
opportunities, they will start to! Try it! Every time you catch
yourself thinking "Mondays just suck", just tell yourself "Nah, I
think Mondays are absolutely great, they are perfect and my day will
be in perfect harmony with my goals and everything around me". And,
note in your journal how many does of positive thinking leads to
positive mondays.
Manawa: Now is the moment of power.
So simple and yet again so life changing! We all know the past
cannot be undone and the future cannot be guaranteed. The present is
the only thing you can work with, even spellwork or meditations
effecting the tomorrow is done in the today. Today is your day,
tomorrow is unknown and yesterday is gone! Act today, do not be the
worst culprit by wasting your own time, or dwelling in the past or
dreaming in the future.
Aloha: To love is to be happy with
Anger or hatred, no matter how deep rooted can never bring
happiness. Even desires for revenge will never bring you happiness.
Love is the law of human life, going against it will only bring you
negative results. Love yourself, the world around you, love the
moment, love the challenge, love the power, love the circumstance,
love the enemy, love each soul.
Mana: All power comes from within.
When you say, "Yes, I can win the race", you are empowering yourself
to win. You are giving your body and mind permission to win. You
yourself are the only person in power. Your body, mind and
situations function on your will and directions.
Pono: Effectiveness is the measure of truth
A lot of you will not reach the bottom of this page. You will close
the page because a lot of what I am saying is more of a cliche to
you or because you are too scared that life can be this simple! You
believe the real secret of life can lie only in the nowhere, unknown
and unreachable by anyone alive. There is no problem in believing
that! None of us have learned to apply huna without questioning it
and its effectiveness. And the good news is, with Huna, you do not
blind faith in Huna to experiment and experience Huna working for
you. You can judge and see if what I am talking about holds any
truth in your life by experimenting with it and that is the only way
any method or system can prove its effectiveness to you. So, go
ahead and experiment. The bottom line with Huna is, "Yes, I have
experienced significant changes with Huna, and it has proven
efective to me, I believe it to be true, now is your chance to try
it, you should only believe what proves effective to you"

IS EXCESSIVE TELEVISION VIEWING IN CHILDREN LINKED TO ADHD?

2008-03-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

IS EXCESSIVE TELEVISION VIEWING IN CHILDREN LINKED TO ADHD?
Watching too much television has been implicated in increased violent behavior and obesity in young children, and now there is evidence that it may promote inattention. Researchers have found that television exposure in children ages 1 to 3 is associated with attention problems at age 7. Furthermore, the investigators concluded that each hour of television watched per day increases these children’s risk of attention problems, such as attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), by almost 10% at age 7.
Based on these findings, lead investigator Carolyn A. McCarty, PhD, and colleagues advised that efforts to limit television viewing in early childhood may be warranted. “Using a nationally representative survey sample, we found a significant association between the amount of television watched between ages 1 and 3 and subsequent attentional problems at age 7,” Dr. McCarty told NEUROPSYCHIATRY REVIEWS. “These results held when controlling for other factors that might explain this association, such as the amount of cognitive stimulation in the home.” Dr. McCarty is a Research Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Adjunct Research Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington in Seattle.
The findings are consistent with the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendation that parents not allow their children younger than 2 to watch television because of concerns that it affects early brain growth and the development of social, emotional, and cognitive skills. The American Academy of Pediatrics also encourages parents to exert caution—such as setting limits on television viewing, helping children develop media literacy skills to question, analyze, and evaluate television messages, and taking an active role in their children’s television viewing—in children older than 2. Although previous cross-sectional research has suggested that television viewing may be associated with decreased attention spans in children, longitudinal data of early television exposure and subsequent attention problems have been lacking, according to Dr. McCarty and colleagues.
THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE
The researchers sought to test the hypothesis that early television exposure (at ages 1 and 3) is associated with attention problems at age 7. They used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a representative longitudinal data set, and the main outcome was the hyperactivity subscale of the Behavioral Problems Index determined for all participants at age 7. The main predictor was hours of television watched daily at ages 1 and 3. The study controlled for other attributes of the home environment, including cognitive stimulation and emotional support. Children who were rated as 1.2 or more standard deviations above the mean were classified as having attention problems.
“Attention problems include impulsivity, restlessness, and difficulty concentrating,” explained Dr. McCarty. “We did not use a diagnostic test to assess whether the children had clinically evident ADHD but instead looked at the degree of attention problems their parents reported they had.”
Data were available for 1,278 children at age 1 and for 1,345 children at age 3. Children ages 1 to 3 were chosen to participate because their brains are still developing rapidly, and symptoms of attention problems, such as ADHD, do not typically manifest in children until later years, noted Dr. McCarty. The investigators found that children watched an average of 2.2 hours of television per day at age 1 and 3.6 hours per day at age 3. Ten percent of children subsequently developed attention problems at age 7. In a logistic regression model, hours of television viewed per day at both ages 1 and 3 was associated with attention problems at age 7.
TIME TO TURN OFF THE TELEVISION?
“Our results have some important implications if replicated in future studies,” the researchers summarized in the April issue of Pediatrics. “First, we added inattention to the previously studied deleterious consequences of excessive television viewing, including violent behavior and obesity. Second, our findings suggest that preventive action can be taken with respect to attentional problems in children. Limiting young children’s exposure to television as a medium during formative years of brain development consistent with the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations may reduce children’s subsequent risk of developing ADHD.”
ET TU, MISTER ROGERS?
Dr. McCarty’s team did not distinguish among different types of content of television programs in their study. “This study was designed to look at the impact of television as a medium rather than the content of programming,” Dr. McCarty pointed out. “It suggests that excessive viewing of television during early development is related to later attentional problems. However, we cannot infer causality based on the design of the study, nor can we surmise what kind of impact television viewing has on individuals later in development. Other research has certainly shown that some educational programs, such as ‘Sesame Street’ and ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,’ may be beneficial to the cognitive and creative development of school-aged children. However, no previous studies have looked at television viewing during the infant and toddler years, as we have. Clearly, our study has highlighted the need for more research to better understand the impact of media exposure on child development.”
AN “IMPORTANT” STUDY
In an editorial appearing in the same issue of Pediatrics, Jane M. Healy, PhD, called the study “important and long overdue. Approximately three decades ago, teachers of young children at all socioeconomic levels began to report troubling changes in their students, mainly centering on decreasing abilities to listen, pay attention, and engage in independent problem solving,” she reported. “Frequently, the teachers blamed the advent of fast-paced, attention-getting children’s programming for this trend. Now that the trend is viewed nationally as an ‘epidemic’ of ADHD, perhaps it is indeed time to ask the research questions so ably initiated by Christakis et al and to consider that pediatricians may have yet one more job to do in early parent education about placing limits on screen time.”
—Colby Stong
Suggested ReadingChristakis DA, Zimmerman FJ, DiGiuseppe DL, McCarty CA. Early television exposure and subsequent attentional problems in children. Pediatrics. 2004;113:708-713. Dennison BA, Erb TA, Jenkins PL. Television viewing and television in bedroom associated with overweight risk among low-income preschool children. Pediatrics. 2002;109:1028-1035. Healy JM. Early television exposure and subsequent attention problems in children [editorial]. Pediatrics. 2004;113:917-918. Huesmann LR, Moise-Titus J, Podolski CL, Eron LD. Longitudinal relations between children’s exposure to TV violence and their aggressive and violent behavior in young adulthood: 1977-1992. Dev Psychol. 2003;39:201-221.

Inspirational Video discovered by Nigel

2008-03-19T11:11:00.000-07:00

This is a very inspirational video clip from a guest on an Oprah program. Its about a Professor who is dying of cancer, and gave his final lecture on her show.
Please share this with your friends and family.

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=ithct48cqw

A/E/R Resources

2008-03-18T19:14:00.000-07:00

Fresh AER: Elementary
Fresh AER: Elementary Report Card Handbook
Fresh AER: Kindergarten
Ideas from Mentors & 2nd Year Teachers
Overview for Elementary Teachers
Overview for Secondary Teachers
Parent Interview Ideas
Sample Elementary Report Card Comments
- more A/E/R resources are available on the Beginning Teachers section of the Program web site on TDSBweb (the direct link below will work from any school computer):
http://tdsbweb/program/beginningteachers

Responsive Instructions

2008-03-18T19:09:00.000-07:00

According to Carol Ann Tomilson in The Differentiated Classroom, "Only teachers who utilize a variety of instructional models will be successful in maximizing the achievement of all students. Teachers need to "play to" students' strengths and mitigate students' learning weaknesses. This can be done only through the use of instructional variety."
Differentiation requires thoughtful planning and proactive approaches. When planning for students we should:
• Find out what students know and are able to do
• Let students in on what they are learning and why it is important
• Give students choices on how they will learn
• Give students choices on how they will demonstrate their learning
• Ask students about their interests
• Intentionally gather data about how students learn best
The websites below are great resources to help you address the diverse learning needs in your classroom.
Instructional Strategies that Work- This is one of my new favorite sites. I have been using it to plan Differentiated Instruction and High Yield Strategy sessions. Here you will find handy links to great on-line resources!
http://classroom.leanderisd.org/webs/marzano/identifying_similarities_and_differences.htm
Focus on Effectiveness- Integrating Technology into Research Based Strategies. This site focuses on the effective research based strategies reviewed in Marzano, Pollock and Pickering's text, Classroom Instruction That Works. Here you will find suggestions for integrating technology (e.g. digital cameras) into the nine research-based strategies.
http://www.netc.org/focus/strategies/rein.php
eworkshops- For elementary teachers. Click below if you haven't registered. This is a great site! It includes modules on Literacy and Numeracy with videos of teachers in action, activity sheets, lesson plans and more. You'll also find modules on Daily Physical Activity (DPA) from the government's Healthy Schools program,
http://www.eworkshop.on.ca/cfmx/edu/core.cfm
Links for K-12 Teachers. Here you will find many resources including sample lesson DI lesson plans and sample surveys to help students identify learning preferences; http://www.internet4classrooms.com/k12links.htm

Enhancing Learning with Technology (Differentiated Instruction) - I can't say that I have used this site. I came across it and it looks pretty good. Let me know what you think! http://members.shaw.ca/priscillatheroux/differentiating.html

Please remember,
If students aren't learning the way we teach‚ then we need to teach them the way they learn.
Dunn and Dunn

A/E/R Resources

2008-03-18T19:03:00.000-07:00

Fresh AER: Elementary
Fresh AER: Elementary Report Card Handbook
Fresh AER: Kindergarten
Ideas from Mentors & 2nd Year Teachers
Overview for Elementary Teachers
Parent Interview Ideas

Excuses

2008-03-18T18:42:00.000-07:00

My Excuse For My Excuse
Your excuse for making an excuse may be that you don't want something bad enough
In all likelihood, you may not achieve everything in life that you want. On the other hand, if you've achieved everything in life you've ever wanted, chances are that your goals haven't forced you to struggle enough to experience failure. Does this statement surprise you? It shouldn't. Why? If you've never set a target to achieve something difficult, you probably haven't stretched your abilities far enough.

Failure to achieve a goal is alright – that is a fact of life. But, what is not a fact of life is to expect success without doing anything to attain it. They are as many excuses NOT to realize a dream. In fact, it is very easy to find an excuse for every excus e you can invent as to why you haven't or can't achieve that greatest dream. It always amazes me that people who have the greatest excuses for underachievement are the biggest complainers. On the other hand, the greatest achievers are the ones who are getting it done because they know that they are the ones who are responsible to make it happen.

Excuses are only for those people who are unwilling to find the solution, here's the plain and simple solution to not having or acquiring what you want. Find a solution to your excuses and you will eliminate any reason not to get more, have more, or be more. You don't have to dream about a dream any longer – do it now with a vengeance burying any excuses once and for all.

Manners build Characters

2008-03-18T11:59:00.000-07:00

Manners
We say, "Thank you."
We say, "Please."
We don't interrupt or tease.
We don't argue. We don't fuss.
We listen when folks talk to us.
We share our things and take our turn.
Good manners aren't too hard to learn.
It's really easy, when you find.
Good manners means,
JUST BEING KIND!

Something worth a thought!!!!

2008-03-17T12:22:00.000-07:00

Something worth a thought!!!!
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to hot coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. It is, but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were eyeing each other¢s cups. Now if life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold Life, but the quality of Life doesn¢t change. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it." So, don¢t let the cups drive you... enjoy the coffee instead. Enjoy Life..

Some Important Quotes

2008-03-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

Some important quotes to read:
"The clothes on your back or the car that you drive or the house that you live in does not define you at all; it is how you treat your fellow human beings that identifies who you are."
- Unknown (to me)
"I do not think the measure of a civilization is how tall its buildings of concrete are, but rather how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and to fellow humans."
- Sun Bear of the Chippewa Tribe
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." - Albert Einstein (1879-1955), physicist, Nobel Prize 1921

Inspiring Quotes:

"When life throws you a lemon, make lemonade." - Murray Banks

"The first wealth is health." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt and dance like there's no one watching." (source unknown)

"What do we live for if not to make the world less difficult for each other." - George Eliot

"Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human Face." - Victor Hugo

"Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom." -Albert Einstein

"The man who never made a mistake never made anything." (source unknown)

"You have to be the change you want to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi

"You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself." - Galileo

"A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." - Christopher Reeves

"To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person that you are." (source unknown)

"You may be one person to the world; but you may also be the world to one person." (source unknown)

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein

"Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one's own sunshine." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Courage is not the absence of fear ... it is the mastery of it" (source unknown)

"There is no reality; only perception." - Dr. Phil McGraw

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." - Eleanor Roosevelt

“And in the end it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.” - Abraham Lincoln

“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” - Dale Carnegie

“It is not length of life, but depth of life.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Kindness is an inner desire that makes us want to do good things even if we do not get anything in return. It is the joy of our life to do them. When we do good things from this inner desire, there is kindness in everything we think, say, want and do.” - Emmanuel Swedenborg

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” - Buddha

Fear, resistance, and struggle are all in your head. Your heart is the part with the courage and wisdom. Live from there. Act from there. - Rhonda Hess
You have to be the best you can with what you have. - Rick Hansen

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. - Mahatma Gandhi

Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right. - Henry Ford
Other people see things and say, "Why?" But I dream things that never were and say "Why Not?" - J.F. Kennedy

Try not to become a man of success but a man of value. - Albert Einstein

Never let the fear of striking out get in your way. - George Herman ("Babe" Ruth)

Take twice as long to eat half as much. - Anonymous

There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. - Shakespeare
Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness. - Seneca

I have two doctors, my left leg and my right. - G.M. Trevelyan
You are pure potential. - Maat

Live the life you imagine. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.
-Henry David Thoreau

EarthHour Information

2008-03-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some important websites relating to EarthHour which on March 29:
http://www.earthhour.org/
http://www.yesican-science.ca/
http://resources.yesican-science.ca/Earth_Hour/earth_hour.html
http://www.earthhour.org/user/yvVs to register as a participant

Language Arts - Reading program for Young children

2008-03-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

Here is a very helpful and useful reading program website:
www.starfall.com

Educational and important websites

2008-03-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

Ontario Software Acquisition Program Advisory Committee
http://www.osapac.org

Technology ideas

http://www.tvdsb.on.ca/currcomptech/nets/list.asp?software=Inspiration

http://aitt.acadiau.ca/tutorials/Presentations8/

http://www.teach-nology.com/

http://www.sitesforteachers.com/

http://www.schoolhousetech.com/products/freeworksheets/index.htm

http://www.teachercreated.com/lessons/

http://www.worksheets4teachers.com/

Links to Learning
http://www.linktolearning.com

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/math/games/100-number-chart-one.html

Math

http://cemc2.math.uwaterloo.ca/mathfrog/

http://www.multiplication.com/classroom_games.htm

http://www.ies.co.jp/math/java/

http://www.aaamath.com

http://www.funbrain.com

Worksheets
http://mayflower.ma.swin.edu.au/dmex

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/numbertime/print/add_takeaway/index.shtml

Language

Graphic Organizers
http://www.educationoasis.com/

http://www.storylineonline.net/

Social Studies
http://www.tvokids.com/framesets/play.html?game=9&

Black History
http://www.africanhertour.org/story/conductors.html

http://www.blackhistorycanada.ca

http://www.blackhistorysociety.ca

http://www.cwo.com/~lucumi/women.html

Science
http://www.linktolearning.com/science.htm

Health
http://kidshealth.org/kid/

http://www.linktolearning.com/health/health.htm

http://www.teachnutrition.org/default.aspx?SectionId=156

The Arts
http://www.rhino.com/blackhistory/timeline.lasso

Anyway Poem By Mother Teresa

2008-03-05T07:24:00.000-08:00

Mother Teresa's Anyway Poem

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self‑centered;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;

Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;

Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;

Give the world the best you've got anyway.

2008-02-27T13:40:00.000-08:00

http://www.takingitglobal.org/home.html
http://podcastingclc.blogspot.com/
http://evolvingmedia.blogspot.com