March 2010   Building a Better Teacher 10 daily lesson reminders:   Circulate How’s my ratio Engage and expect 100% SSLANT (Smile, Sit up, Listen, Ask and Answer Questions, Nod for Understanding, Track the speaker) Complete sentences Check for understanding Cold call Rigor and joy Keep pace urgent End class purposefully   Teachers at Uncommon Schools have plastered the walls with writing and vocabulary hints so that wherever a student looks, he can see a way to improve. One poster reads “POWER writing”:   Purpose and Plan Organize Write Edit Revise and Rewrite   ER…ER…ER…   Another wall is entitled “In Memoriam,” and below are lists of words that have “died” and been replaced with other, stronger words. One poster reads “‘small’ has been snuffed out,” and “slight” “minor,” and “unimportant” are written beneath. Another reads “‘funny’ went belly up”, with “witty,” “bizarre,” and “comical” below.   Hear How We Get There. Talk to Teachers and Leaders. We know that without great teachers and leaders, little else matters. During a half hour call, learn more about how the work of Uncommon staff helps close the achievement gap. Sunday, March 14, 2010, 7:00 PM - 7:30 PM EST A Webinar Discussion on Special Education Meghan Fitzgerald, Director of Special Education, Uncommon Schools Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 8:00 PM - 8:30 PM EST A Webinar Discussion on College Readiness Adam Kendis, Director of College Studies at North Star Academy College Preparatory High School   View our Taxonomy of Effective Teaching Practices! Strong Voice Technique Positive Framing Technique Click here to view the Uncommon video! February 2010 Cuffe has an active license to Safari Montage system. You can access Safari via cpsondemandk8.cps.k12.il.us, then choose Cuffe Math & Science and use your CPS username and password to login. Safari Montage can only be accessed at school while on the CPS network. For more information or assistance, please ask Ms. Hicks, your friendly school librarian. ...bring your students to the the Tracey Hayes Science Lab on the 2nd floor to use our SmartBoard for interactive lessons. Book Worm Angels is Chicago's only literacy program providing in-classroom lending libraries to public elementary schools where the majority of students read below grade level.   NEW: Click this link to watch an Introduction to Book Worm Angels. READ TO YOUR TEENS Under the impression that classroom read-alouds are strictly for the elementary school set? Not so, says an article in the January 4 issue of Education Week, which reports an increase in reading aloud to middle school and high school students. Picture books can be used to support classroom curriculum, and reading a novel out loud can help frame real-life events and capture students’ interest. But you already knew that, right? Share this article with other educators and members of the home-schooling community, along with a few booklists to help them get started. Giving Students Time to Respond Finding the right amount of time can boost participation How much time do you give your students to answer questions posed in class? Most teachers give students a second or less to respond, but a large body of research shows that this is far too little. Studies have found that teachers achieve the best results when they pause for three to seven seconds after asking a higher-level question. When given this time, students respond more thoughtfully and are able to make more meaningful connections to the content. But more time isn't always better. Studies also show that waiting too long creates apathy and boredom. Giving students seven seconds to answer a straightforward question is probably too much. The best solution is to vary the response time based on the difficulty of the question while closely monitoring your students' level of engagement. When engagement decreases, you may need to move more quickly or ask questions that are more or less challenging. Continue reading how varying the time given to respond can raise achievement . Flocab on The Today Show Students in New York City show off their knowledge and rhymes Flocabulary kicked off 2010 with an appearance on The Today Show! They caught up with us in a classroom in Brooklyn, where some fourth graders were rhyming, smiling and learning new words from The Word Up Project . A few days later, CBS News found us working with some 7th graders in the Bronx . You can view both clips as well as many others on our videos page . Watch the Video  Passion is Contagious! A teacher in Texas isn't afraid to put it all on the line Donna McMeen is an 8th grade English Language Arts teacher near Dallas, Texas. A passionate teacher dedicated to making sure her students stay motivated in the classroom, Donna decided to try using hip-hop to connect to her students. She soon had students singing along in class and writing and performing their own songs for various projects. Here is Donna's feel-good story. "Mrs. McMeen, do you ever use rap music in class?" An inquisitive student who loved the fact that I used music in my classroom posed this question; however, I avoided rap music because of inappropriate lyrics and content. My immediate response was, "Not yet because I cannot find any without bad words, but I will certainly keep searching!" Ironically in January of 2005 I attended a Texas Counsel of Teachers for English Language Arts (TCTELA) conference in Houston, Texas. As I scanned the program that displayed all workshops being presented one caught my eye, "Flocabulary: Shakespeare is Hip-Hop." As a veteran educator, I continuously search for workshops that could actually improve my teaching techniques and introduce me to something that could engage my students in ELA education. I wondered if this workshop could aid me when I was teaching Shakespeare by showing me how to incorporate music. Continue reading how Donna took the plunge into educational hip-hop Favorite Website Having trouble remembering things? Join the club. Last year, I began a quest to find ways to improve my memory and I discovered Memorize.com, a fun online program that’s perfect for classroom teachers. (Plus, the price is right: it’s free.) Memorize.com helps kids (big and little) create flashcards and study them using the Memorize interface. Begin by creating a personal account for yourself and then have your students set up their own individual accounts. It’s easy to get started: just click “Create.” Memorize.com also has a ton of dialog boxes that make it very easy to create flashcards. A two-column table appears and students simply enter a word, phrase, or question in one box, and the corresponding response or answer in an adjacent box—and voila! they’ve created a digital flashcard.. For example, a student getting ready for an art history exam might put the name of a painting (The Scream) on one “side” of the flashcard, and the artist’s name (Edvard Much) on the other Once the flashcards are made, simply click “Memorize” and a new dialog box comes up and begins quizzing the student using their flashcards. If they can’t remember the correct answer, there’s a button that will provide it. Students can also quiz themselves starting with the answer, Jeopardy-style. It’s also possible to go back and add to or modify a set of existing flashcards. Memorize.com offers starter flashcard sets on a variety of topics, such as countries and capitals, United States presidents, drivers license testing, and even the anatomy of the knee. The best part about these starter sets is that they are editable, and users can save a copy to their own accounts to customize. This can be a real time-saver for classroom teachers looking to provide study tools to their students. You can mix and match different groups of flashcards or keep them separate in your Memorize space. And since this is a Web-based tool, your students will be able to review their flashcards anytime they’re on the Internet. Icing on the cake – Memorize,com has just added a diagram and map wizard that allows users to easily create and label these formats. Let’s all make a new resolution to buildup those brain muscles. Memorize it! What can you do at memorize.com? Try memorizing... Know your capitals? Try this memorize table by clicking a (memorize) link: Country (memorize) Capital (memorize) United States Washington DC China Beijing Japan Tokyo India New Delhi Try creating... Click to create a page using a simple wizard: create page No signup is required! Popular pages today Mideast Countries Map, National Basketball Association, Headlines, US State Capitals, Bones, US States Map, American Football Positions, European Countries Map, Spanish, Flags, Piano, Wine, Elements, Phonetic Alphabet, Capitals, Dog Breeds, Greek Alphabet, Airport Codes, Stock Symbols, Roman Numerals See more at Popular.   See Categories or search (right of page) to find more tables, or Memorize Quickstart, Editing Quickstart or Sharing Quickstart to read more. Kind words from users 'This website is AWESOME! [...] thank you SO MUCH. Your website ROCKS!!' --Shannon 'It was very easy to create a new table with the information that I wanted to memorize.' --Ann 'Finding this site has made a huge difference in my studying. I'm framing all the material I'm getting now in flashcard format - Q/A.' --Zane Try a memorize diagram!       Label (memorize) Ocean (memorize) A Pacific B Arctic C Atlantic D Indian   Click a (memorize) link in the table to start. See Some Pages With Diagrams for more diagrams or create your own via the Diagram Wizard.      Remember you matter, educators make the world go around!

CPS/City Sites

CPS

Staff CPS Mail - First Class email.

Admin CPS Mail - Email access for administrators.

Weekly SBCI Standards Based Lesson Plan Form (MS Word Format) - Type in lesson plans, save, and print out/email to the principal.

Academic Standards - View the Illinois and Chicago Standards online to assist with your lesson planning.

Chicago Teachers Union - Up to date information on union happenings.

CMSI - Main site of the Chicago Math & Science Initiative.

CPS Recommended Reading Lists - From K-12, the books students should read by grade. 25/year is required in CPS.

Golden Teachers - New Teacher Induction & Mentoring Program.

Human Resources - CPS Human Resource Department.

SBCI - Office of Standards-Based Instruction.

School Test Score & Demographic Reports - View test statistics of your school.

Test Prep Guides - Prepare your students to take standardized ISAT and Iowa Tests with these guides, available for free on the CPS website.

Uniform Discipline Code - Official Uniform Discipline Code for CPS.

City

Chicago Tribune: News in Education - Program designed to teach current events and connect all subjects using the Chicago Tribune.

Classmate Teacher Store - Popular Teacher store.

Lakeshore Teacher Store - Another popular Teacher store.

Illinois Sites

Certificate Renewal - Information on renewing your teaching certificate.

ISAT Test Information - Information for the ISAT test, including practice tests.

Learning Standards - Illinois Learning Standards.

State Board of Education - Official site of the State Board of Education.

Study Island - Site to assist students with preparing for the ISAT test.

Cable in the Classroom

Arts & Entertainment Classroom - Enter the Arts & Entertainment classroom for lesson plans and study guides which can be printed out for use in your classes.

C-SPAN Classroom - Rich study guides bring you valuable information about C-SPAN programs and authors.

Cable in the Classroom Home Page - Use it to locate video and Internet resources for the classroom.

Court TV Classroom - Choices and Consequences (C&C) offers Court TV’s coverage of courtroom trials and programs that focus on social issues and the legal system.

History Channel Classroom - Contains study guides, “Ideas From Teachers,” tips for using the programs in the classroom, and links to other related sites that deal with historical events and landmarks.

KidsNet - Lesson plans and activities for the CIC programming are provided in the areas of reading, science, geography, and personal development.

Nickelodeon Teachers - Educational home page for CIC member program network, Nickelodeon.

Weather Classroom - Information about The Weather Classroom, 33 8-minute instructional episodes with 200 online text pages; electronic field trips; and other instructional resources dealing with weather and how it affects our lives.

Miscellaneous Sites

Discipline/Special Ed/Health Resources

Attention Deficit Disorder Directory - A good resource to understanding this disorder.

Discipline Help - You can handle them all!

Special Education Resources - Very good site for Special Ed. teachers.

Educator Sites

AskERIC–Lesson Plans for all grades.

Core Knowledge Program -What should your students know in a particular grade? This site answers that question.

Education Week on the Web - Informative national education news magazine. Many articles available on the web.

Education World - Many teacher resources.

Icebreaker Activities Vol. 11 - Most teachers have a favorite icebreaker activity they repeat year after year. Is that the case with you? Or are you looking for a new, fun activity that will help you and your students get to know one another? Included: More than a dozen new icebreakers plus links to 150 more!

Lesson Plan Page - 2,000 free lesson plans.

MyGradebook.com - Manage Grades & Assignments online. Keep parents and students aware of their grades 24/7. 60 day free trial.

NEA - National Education Association.

Scholastic Web site - Official site of Scholastic.

SRA - Resource site for K-8 teachers.

Teachable Moment.org - Provides educators with timely teaching ideas to encourage critical thinking on issues of the day and foster a positive classroom environment.

Teachers.net - More teacher resources.

TeacherVision - Many teacher resources.

Language Arts

Reading

Harcourt Reading Products - Information on the Trophies and Language Books, as well as extension activities.

Junior Great Books - Enrichment literature books used in the Intermediate/Junior High grades.

Online Encyclopedia Britannica - Basic online encyclopedia.

Pizza Hut Book-IT Program - Information on how educators can enhance this school-wide program.

Webster Online Dictionary - Online dictionary and thesaurus.

Speaking

Debates in the Classroom - There’s no debate about it! Debates are a great tool for engaging students and livening up classroom curriculum.

Etymologically Speaking… - Where does the word “Nike” come from? From Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Learn where many of our words came from and how to integrate this into your language arts program.

Writing

Creative Writing Corner - Excellent writing resources.

Language Arts Worksheet Library - Highly recommended! This site has worksheets for similes, prepositions, and many other parts of speech.

Web English Teacher - Another great resource for English/Language Arts teachers.

Vocabulary University - Free vocabulary puzzles to enhance vocabulary mastery.

Mathematics & Science

Mathematics

Checking Up on Math - Materials which allow kids to make their own checkbooks and learn to use them.

Create a Graph - Online tool that allows anyone can make an area, bar, pie or line graph and print it out or download the image to a computer or disk.

Math Goodies - Math Lesson Plans.

Math Word Problems for Children - One of the best sites on the net for math word problems. Thousands to choose from. Free samples are available to try the service.

Money Instructor - Learn how to write a check, make checking account deposits and withdrawals, manage and balance your checkbook, and checkbook reconciliation with your monthly bank checking account statement.

QuickMath - Automatic Math Solutions.

Saxon Math Publishers - Official site of our primary math program.

SuperKids Math Worksheet Creator - Create math worksheets for your class.

The Stock Market Game - The Stock Market Game gives students the chance to invest a hypothetical $100,000 in a real-time portfolio.

Science

Exploratorium - The Museum of Science.

NASA - Educator Resources.

National Science Foundation - Government site for Science enrichment.

Social Studies

Martin Luther King’s Birthday - Activities to do with your classroom.

Weekly Reader Online - Order one of the best Current Events magazines for your class. Complete with weekly lesson plans.

Fine Arts

Arts and Kids - National art contests.

Curricular Links

ALSC’s Great Websites for Kids
 http://www.ala.org/gwstemplate.cfm?secti…
Links to recommended sites for kids selected by the Association for Library Service to Children.

Calisphere: a World of Digital Resources
 http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifo…
The University of California’s collection of over 150,000 digitized primary sources about the history of California.

CyberBee
 http://www.cyberbee.com/
Includes information about how to integrate the Internet into the classroom, as well as activities, online treasure hunts and web links.

ECB Surf Report
 http://www.ecb.org/surf/
Showcases a selection of websites on a specific topic for elementary, middle and high school students and teachers each month.

EdSelect.com
 http://edselect.com/
A wealth of thematic and curricular links selected by a library specialist.

Educational Web Adventures
 http://www.eduweb.com/adventure.html
Links to interactive webpages on Art & Art History, History, Geography & Economics, and Science & Nature.

Eduscapes**
 http://www.eduscapes.com/
Thorough, well researched links arranged in commonly taught themes and subject areas. Go to 42explore.
Literature Ladders contains Internet resources for award winning books.

Elementary School Class Assignment Pathfinders
 http://www.lkwdpl.org/schools/schlpath.h…
Created by a public library on a wide variety of topics.

eThemes**
 http://www.emints.org/ethemes/index.shtm…
This is an excellent collection of over 400 teacher-created lists of links arranged by common themes taught in the classroom.

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
 http://free.ed.gov/

Infozone Pathfinders
 http://www.imcpl.org/kids/guides/index.h…
Recommended books and websites on different topics organized by the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library system.

Internet School Library Media C enter
 http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/index.ht…

Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators**
 http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide…

Kids Click  http://www.kidsclick.org/ Websites for kids organized by Dewey Decimal categories.

Library in the Sky: Educational Web Resources
 http://www.nwrel.org/sky/

National Geographic.com Features**
 http://www.nationalgeographic.com/featur…
This is a linked index of all of the excellent online topical features that National Geographic has created.

Neat New Stuff on the Net-Weekly Reviews
 http://marylaine.com/neatnew.html

NOVA Archive**
 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/archive/

Oregonian Newspaper Archive: 1851-1987
 http://libweb.uoregon.edu/dc/newspaper/o…

Rockingham County Public Schools: K-5 Links
Rockingham County Public Schools: 6-12 Links

SDCOE K-12 Resource
 http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/resources/res…
Links organized by subject area, compiled by the San Diego County Office of Education.

Student Atlas of Oregon
 http://studentatlasoforegon.pdx.edu/

Trackstar
 http://trackstar.hprtec.org/
Collections of web links by theme/grade level. Create and organize your own “track” of websites.

Thinkfinity
 http://www.thinkfinity.org/home.aspx
Formerly known as “MarcoPolo.” Content partners include: ArtsEdge, EconEdLink, EdSitement (Humanities), Illuminations (Math), National Geographic Xpeditions,Read•Write•Think, and Science NetLinks.

ThinkQuest
 http://www.thinkquest.org/library/

More Links for Teachers

See also links under :

Questions questions.html

Standards standards.html

Rubrics rubrics.html

Scaffolds scaffolds.html

Teacher Tools tools.html

Lesson resources

Open Source Curricula

More Sites for Lessons!

• About.com Secondary Lesson Plans http://7-12educators.about.com/bllessonplans.htm
• ArtsEdge http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/teach/les.cfm
• Educator's Reference Desk http://www.eduref.org/
  
• Cornell Gateways http://www.tc.cornell.edu/CTC-Main/Services/Education/Gateways/
• CNN SF Learning Resources http://literacynet.org/cnnsf/
• Educational Cyberplayground http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/TOC.asp
• EconEdLink http://www.economicsamerica.org/econedlink/
• Edsitement http://edsitement.neh.gov/
• Education Index http://www.educationindex.com/
• Explorasource http://www.explorasource.com
• Federal Resources for Academic Excellence http://www.ed.gov/free/
• Free Online Unit Studies http://www.alaska.net/~cccandc/free.htm
• Greece Athena: English Language Arts http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/
• High School Hub http://schmidel.com/hub.htm
• Holocaust Teacher Resource Center Lesson Plans http://www.holocaust-trc.org/lesson.htm
• Internet Learning Network http://www.getsmarter.org
• MCREL http://www.mcrel.org/connect/lesson.html
• Education @National Geographic.com http://www.nationalgeographic.com/education/
• NARA Digital Classroom http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/index.html
• NCREL http://www.ncrel.org/
• New Teacher Page http://www.new-teacher.com
• New York Times Learning Network http://www.nytimes.com/learning/
• Newspapers in Education http://nieonline.com/
• Newsweek Education Program http://school.newsweek.com/
• Pacific Bell Knowledge Network Explorer at http://www.kn.pacbell.com/
• PBS TeacherSource http://pbs.org/teachersource
• Professional Cartoonist (Editorial Cartoons with lesson plans) http://www.cagle.com/teacher/
• Project Based Learning Checklists http://pblchecklist.4teachers.org/
• Reading Group Choices http://www.readinggroupchoices.com/
• Science Bytes http://ur.utenn.edu/ut2kids/
• SCORE Virtual Fieldtrips http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/virtproj.html
• Sites for Teachers http://www.sitesforteachers.com/
• Smithsonian Education: Teaching Resources http://educate.si.edu/resources/resourcedir.html
• Smithsonian Lesson Plans http://educate.si.edu/resources/lessons/lessons.html
• Teacher Net http://www.teachnet.com
• Teacher Resources http://www.sonoma.edu/CThink/K12/k12class/trc.nclk
• Teacher Tidbytes http://www.teachertidbytes.com/WebResources.html
• Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/default.htm
• Teacher's Guide to the Professional Cartoonist's Index http://www.cagle.com/teacher/
• Teachers Connect http://www.ofps.dpi.state.nc.us/OFPS/tc/index.html
• TeachersFirst Professional Resources Matrix http://www.teachersfirst.com/prof.htm
• Teachers Helping Teachers http://www.pacificnet.net/~mandel/
• Teaching with Historic Places http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/
• Teachnet.Com http://www.teachnet.com/
  
• Virtual Field Trips http://www.field-guides.com
• World Lecture Hall http://www.utexas.edu/world/lecture/
• Zoom School http://www.enchantedlearning.com/school/

About change

• Center for Innovative Instructional Resources http://ghost.rider.edu/cii/
• LiveText: Teachers' College Columbia University http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/k12/livetext
• Active Learning Practices for Schools http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/
• Coalition of Essential Schools http://www.essentialschools.org/

• Filamentality http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/guides.html

• From Now On http://fno.org

• Annenberg Institute for School Reform http://www.annenberginstitute.org/

• Mission Critical (Critical thinking) http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/itl/

• Pathways to School Improvement http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/

Science Web Sites for Teachers

Interactive Math And Science Websites

Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science ...

Other Helpful Websites for Teachers

Social Studies Web Sites for Teachers

MATH WEBSITES FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

100 Awesome, Free Web Tools for Elementary Teachers | Smart Teaching

Sites for Teachers

Great Sites for Middle Grades Teachers

Best WebSites for Elementary Teachers

The Top 101 Web Sites for Teachers

100 Helpful Websites for New Teachers | Teaching Degree.org

Free Tools For Teachers

Microsoft PowerPoint