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TABLE OF
City Educators Feature
September 2011
4 Technology
Tony Trussol writes about how technology changed the way we teach.
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Recognition
MNPS added two to the Human Resources Team
7 Motivating Students
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12 Early Grades Reading
Tenn. DOE announces the launch of ReadTennessee.org
14 Fashion
Read about retailers who offer nice discounts to teachers.
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Five effective ways to motivate your students.
On Page 8, discover why countless teachers in the United States get called into the principal's office to defend Internet posts about their school, students, or social activities they have undertaken. CITY EDUCATORS is published bi-monthly (Aug/Sep, Oct/Nov, Dec/Jan, Feb/Mar, Apr/May, Jun/Jul) by Michael David Media, Michael Thompson, Owner. Post Office Box 2513, Brentwood, Tennessee 37024, (615) 832-5388. DISTRIBUTION: Free subscription to qualified recipients. See Website for additional distribution information. All rights are strictly reserved, and reproduction in whole or in part is expressly prohibited without prior written permission from the publisher. CITY EDUCATORS is funded privately and is not affiliated with--nor does it necessarily reflect the opinions of--the local school district, education associations, its advertisers, or any other entity. CITY EDUCATORS is printed in the USA. Web address: http://www.michaeldavidmedia.com. Copyright Š 2011 Michael David Media.
President/Publisher Michael Thompson Vice President Deborah Thompson Editorial Contributors Cameo Bobo Jennifer Dobson Dr. Erick E. Huth Deborah Thompson Michael Thompson Tony Trussol Advertising Sales Lori Dreiling (615) 512-9641 Published by Michael David Media P.O. Box 2513 | Brentwood, TN 37024 Tel. (615) 832-5388 | Fax (615) 832-1040 www.cityeducators.com info@cityeducators.com
City Educators
Technology
How Technology has Changed the Way Children are Taught BY TONY TRUSSOL
Research in schools across America has shown that those classrooms which employ active and reactive technology produce better results than those which don't. Having said that, there is little point in denying that when taught by creative, imaginative, knowledgeable and skilful
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September 2011
teachers, just about any subject can be brought alive and so enjoyed by even the most disinterested of children.
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Logic suggests then, that when bringing together these teachers and the latest technology in education, a potential for inspirational learning can be born.
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ne case study revealed that of those children taught with the aid of classroom technology, such as interactive whiteboards and student response s y s t e m s, 5 0 p e r c e n t achieved the required grade to achieve TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) commendation, compared to their peers in a nondigital environment—only 8.7 per cent of whom achieved the grade. In the s a m e s t u d y, i t w a s revealed that 100 percent of fifth grade students studying in the digital classroom achieved the TAKS pass rate, compared to 73.2 percent of their peers being taught in non-digital classrooms.
when implemented successfully. Technology in classrooms can take many forms, from the combination of interactive whiteboards with software packages developed for particular age groups, classroom sizes, intellect and subjects, to student response systems that allow teachers to set shorter or longer deadlines based on each student's ability. Such inventions are not designed to replace "good old fashioned teaching", or to make it possible for just anybody to teach, but are instead there to complement tried and tested traditional teaching methods. They are also there to bring the classroom in line with how young people in the modern day interact outside of school and communicate with friends and peers.
Such inventions are not designed to replace "good old fashioned teaching."
With statistics like these, albeit the results of tests from a small demographic, it is difficult to deny the potential that technology in education offers
Technolog y means that children are increasingly taught according to their p a r t i c u l a r d e ve l o p m e n t speeds and needs but without the need for teachers and tutors to hold time and labor intensive one-on-one sessions or for them to teach to the lowest common denominator. It is these allowances that can have a huge impact not only on the way children learn and how successfully they absorb information, but also on their levels of confidence in an educational environment and outside of the classroom, in their social lives.
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September 2011
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City Educators
Recognition
MNPS Adds 2 to the Human Resources Team In July, Metro Nashville Public Schools broadened its human resources team to include Scott Lindsey, the new Director of Employee Relations, and Craig Ott, the new Executive Director of Human Resources Operations.
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indsey is now responsible for Title VI and Title IX issues, workplace investigations and other employee issues, as well as the new teacher evaluation system. Ott will be responsible for the substitute office, employee benefits, and recruiting and staffing.
Ott comes to MNPS from Sumner County Schools where he served as assistant director of schools for human resources. There he oversaw labor and employee relations, labor negotiations, recr uiting, compensation, benefits, policy/procedures and communications.
Lindsey joins the district from the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Development Disabilities where he served as assistant director of human resources. In his previous position, Lindsey oversaw more than 1,000 employees spread across the state's five campuses.
Prior to his position with Sumner County, Ott served as director of human resources for Starwood Hotels and Gaylord Entertainment, as well as director of corporate employee services and new product development for Vacation Club International. He also spent 11 years with Marriott Hotels, Resorts & Suites, overseeing human resources, food & beverage, and personnel services. He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa.
Lindsey has held a variety of positions, including manager of Equal Employment Opportunity for the City of Chattanooga, regional call center manager at Unum Insurance Company, and program manager for Metro Government of Nashville/Davidson County.
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Lindsey has a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a master's in human resource development from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He is a member of the National Honor Society for HRD and is certified as a Professional in Human Resources (PHR).
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September 2011
We welcome Ott and Lindsey to the MNPS Human Resources team!
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Effective Ways to Motivate Your Students BY JENNIFER DOBSON
Regardless of the grade you teach, motivation is the driving force behind all forms of learning. In order to acquire and absorb new information, skills and practices students need to want to do so. Before you can motivate your students you must make them understand the relevance of the learning activity or assignment and encourage them t o m a ke c o n n e c t i o n s between the activity and relevance in the real world.
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he Five R's of motivation, relevance, real world, relationships, results and recognition can be embedded within your teaching approach in order to motivate your students to become life long learners.
1. Relevance - to the age and ability level of your students... In order to engage your students in the learning process, it is vital to ensure that the information, activities and resources that you utilize in your Continued on Page 10
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Social Net BY ERICK E. HUTH, ED. D.
Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and LinkedIn can be useful tools to keep people connected. Yet, countless nited States get teachers in the United called into the principal's rincipal's office to defend Internet posts about out their school, students, or sociall activities they have undertaken. Modern employers and institutions of higherr lar learning search popular social networks to see what applicants post. Since parents ame, it's a and students do the same, great idea to use caution ion on social media sites.
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emember, daily interaction with children causes teachers to be held to a higher standard than others in our society. For example, it may be appropriate to share one's anticipations of a good time while on the upcoming honeymoon, but it may not be socially acceptable for a teacher to talk about having sex on his or her honeymoon on a social networking page to which students have access. Several years ago, a certain Ms. Johnston, accepted multiple friend requests from her students because she didn't want to hurt their feelings. Parents started calling the principal early in the spring semester of her first year of employment to complain about Ms.
tworks Like Facebook Teachers often forget that, just because they work in a school with someone, that individual may not be their friend! A few years ago, one teacher who was frustrated by the actions of his principal took to posting critical comments about her on a social networking site. Members had been asked to keep all posts on the site private, but someone chose to download the teacher's posts and supply them to the principal. Not only did the teacher have a lot of explaining Avoiding social networking to do, but the principal later attempted to A Av can protect you to some exercise retribution by placing him on a plan of extent but is not a assistance for some trumped-up nonsense.
Johnston's My Space photos. The principal investigated and found several photos of her on a bed dressed in nothing but a bikini. Ms. Johnston was immediately placed on leave pending an investigation. In the end, her employment was not renewed for the subsequent year. While the photographs were far from lewd, the fact that Ms. Johnston J exposed po her students to the images showed poor judgment judg inconsistent with society's expectations ex for teacherstudent interaction.
perfect solution. Sometimes students will create fake sites in their teacher's names in an attempt to belittle or harm them. So, it's always a good idea to claim your identity on Face book, so your students can't. Just because you ca have hav a an account doesn't mean you have to post! Teachers should Teachers T sho remember to: avoid accepting i friend f i d requests from students or keep students in a separate list from adult friends, use private settings for most everything, join only groups that will reflect well on you as a professional, monitor the posts your friends make on your wall, remove inappropriate posts or block posts from friends who tend to make inappropriate comments, untag photos of yourself that you don't want students to see, accept only true friend or trusted acquaintances, avoid posting anything that could be conceived of as vulgar, distasteful, insensitive, prejudicial, or otherwise inappropriate, make sure jokes and other off-hand comments you post cannot hurt you if taken out of context, consider posting nothing at all
The best way to avoid trouble is to know what your school district's expectations are related to employees use of social networking. Some districts attempt to forbid teachers from using such sites. However, there are some constitutional issues when employers place unreasonable restrictions on the free-speech rights of their employees on their own time. Still, it's good to know the boss's expectations no matter how irrational they are! Use the newspaper test for social networking. If you wouldn't want your mother to see that photo of you at last Friday night's party or read your Facebook post on the front page of the hometown paper, don't post it! Once something is on the Internet, it's impossible to erase, retrieve, or d e s t r o y. U s e caution, common sense, and good judgment on your social networks!
because Internet posts are never truly private, and Erick E. Huth, Ed. D., avoid talking about your school, students, colleagues, is MNEA Vice President and supervisors.
Internet posts are never truly private. Avoid talking about your school, students, colleagues, and supervisors.
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September 2011
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Continued from Page 7
lesson plans are suited to your students. You must ensure relevance by aiming at the age and/or ability level of the students in your class. If you have students of widely differing ability levels then it is important to incorporate strategies that can cater for these differing levels. Group work can encourage peer tutoring, for example, where more able students help less able students.
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Real life situations can excite and interest the learner and assist them in maintaining motivation and focus. Placing lessons in to context connects and motivates the learner in ways that factual instruction cannot. Simply asking students to list the ways in which information or situations connect with their own lives can be a great starting point. Tables tracing cause and effect are also useful. For example, if you are teaching the concept of recycling to students, you could ask them to rule up a table with three columns headed 'Effect on Me', 'Effect on my Town', 'Effect on my Country'.
Activities can be structured to include 'extended learning elements' to enrich the task for gifted and talented individuals or more structured and straight forward tasks for students who require additional support. Catering to different learning styles, for example visual, kinesthetic or auditory can ensure that the teaching approach is relevant to the learner.
3. Relationships - Relating learning to students own interests
2. Real World - How does this information relate to real life and real world situations?
Using students' particular interests to motivate them to learn is an excellent technique. Bringing popular
CITY EDUCATORS MAGAZINE
September 2011
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culture into the classroom is an excellent way to do this. For example, using TV characters or popular movies to link with themes of work, a unit on astronomy can be linked with Star Wars movies, learning ABC's using Dora the Explorer interactive games online. 4. Results - What is the end result of the learning, what is the goal or the outcome or the end product?
information and what they will achieve by the end of the lesson. This approach focuses on outcomes based educational approaches and has been proven to be a highly effective.
Real life situations can excite and interest the learner and assist them in maintaining motivation and focus.
5. Recognition - How to recognize effort and ways to reward effective learning... Reward good learning! Praise, charts, free time, stickers, sweets, trips, and good grades - the possibilities are endless.
Students are highly motivated when they have a clear picture of the end result. What am I trying to achieve? Jennifer Dobson is an early childhood What are my main goals? What is educator and she invites you to visit MPM the end result? These questions School Supplies, her favorite website to get all should be used at the start of a unit of her teaching supplies! Visit of work, so that students then work towards the end www.mpmschoolsupplies.com and see all of the great classroom goal and stay focused and motivated. Always begin a materials and school furniture too. It's literally a one stop shop! lesson by explaining why students need to know the
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Encourages Early Grades Reading The Tennessee Department of Education announced the launch of ReadTennessee.org, a website that will help teachers, parents, and community members understand new curriculum standards and increased expectations for learning. The online toolkits provide information on promoting early grades reading and accelerating student achievement for young students across the state.
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September 2011
First Lady Crissy Haslam at Ride for Reading Event © All rights reserved by Crissy Haslam
Read Tennessee
“Research has shown that if children do not read on grade level by third grade, they may never catch up with their peers,” Tenn. First Lady Crissy Haslam said. “ReadTennessee.org's tool kits offer resources to parents, teachers and community members to help us improve early childhood literacy making our children competitive for college and prepared for a high quality workforce."
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ead Tennessee provides an easy to navigate resource for teachers, families and community members to utilize in the classroom and at home. Each section compiles information, activities, and tools to help inspire young children to engage and develop early grades reading and learning skills. These tools will help teachers create more challenging lessons, guide parents and
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guardians in better understanding what their child might be learning and doing at different stages of his/her development, and encourage community members to get informed and get involved in motivating our children towards successful futures.
“We encourage you to explore our website and to take advantage of the information provided to help accelerate the learning of Tennessee's children,” said Bobbi Lussier, Assistant Commissioner for School Readiness and Early Learning.
“We must support collaboration and innovation as drivers of our effort to expand opportun i t i e s f o r s t u d e n t s,” s a i d E d u c a t i o n Commissioner Kevin Huffman. “Our reading goals are very ambitious, and we have to continue to maintain focus on producing great student results.”
ReadTennessee.org is in partnership with the TDOE Division of School Readiness and Early Learning, Center for Literacy Studies at The University of Tennessee, Tennessee First to the Top, Tennessee Head Start, United Ways of Tennessee and the Office of the First Lady. Visit www.ReadTennessee.org to learn more.
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City Educators
Fashion
Quality at a Discount BY CAMEO BOBO
At what clothing store does Michelle Obama shop? Oprah Winfrey own stock? And teachers receive discounts? Why J.Crew of course! J.Crew, a nationwide retail and outlet store located in Green Hills Mall, offers a 15% teacher discount. This discount can be applied to ALL purchases including SALE and CLEARANCE ITEMS!
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n a recent visit to J. Crew, I was extremely impressed by the quality of the clothing carried for both women and men. The styles ranged from casual to dressy casual offering apparel that is well fitted for the teaching profession. I found silk tops, stylish dresses and basics for women and tees, jeans, and even suits for men! Of course, jewelry, hats, and other accessories acce ac ce where available to compliment the clot clothing but what really gained my attention were the shoes. J.Crew takes extra care in the production their shoes offering quality much similar to Prada and Gucci but at a much lower price! Each shoe carried by J. Crew is Made in Italy with extra detail given to the fit and comfort of each shoe. Quality and comfort? What more could a teacher desire! So if you're ready to update your back to school wardrobe, be sure to visit J.Crew for stylish, quality buys at a reasonable price. For more information on J. Crew visit: www.jcrew.com. Don't miss the next issue as I bring you more tips on places to shop to receive a teacher discount! Have a great school year! Ruthie shirtdress. The secret ingredient of J.Crew’s latest do-it-all, ’50s-inspired frock? A nipped waist and a pleated A-line skirt for a flattering-on-everyone fit.
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Wristy Business @ J. Crew Around the office, girls are letting their wrists do the talking. from bright hues to heavy metal, each set is completely unique.
GOD’S PRINCESS CLOTHING
Are you fearfully & wonderfully made? Based upon Psalm 139:14, God’s Princess Clothing encourages girls and women to know that they are each fearfully and wonderfully made by God. Our clothing offers a sportswear line with a princess perception. WWW.GODSPRINCESSCLOTHING.COM
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