PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG URBAN M.S. TEACHER
http://snipurl.com/young_urban_tchr

English teacher Ariel Sacks began her career five years ago, after completing a residency program at New York City’s Bank Street College. After a three-year stint in Harlem, Sacks is beginning her second year in a public academy school in Brooklyn. In this essay she reflects on the supports, experiences and strategies that give her the ability to continue teaching in the inner city. Novice teachers will appreciate Sacks’ description of her classroom organization and management structure. “Not only is this structure practical,” she writes, “it also teaches students to be part of a group, to make decisions for themselves and reflect on them, and to begin to take responsibility for the well-being of the class.”

CONFRONTING THE PLAGIARISM PLAGUE
http://snipurl.com/plagiarism-plague

English teacher Kim Bochicchio was distressed to learn that graduates of her school system had a reputation for plagiarism among local colleges. Read this June 2008 story from Edutopia magazine to learn what Bochicchio did to address the issue in her own classroom. “The battle lines (were) drawn, but I waged my war against plagiarism, determined that, for my students’ sake, I would not — could not — lose.”
 
GET STARTED WITH CLASSROOM BLOGGING
http://snipurl.com/class_blogging

Gresham Brown teaches the upper elementary grades, but his advice at the Stenhouse Blog about getting starting with classroom blogging will be helpful to any teacher in grades 4-8 who has wondered whether this particular form of 21st century communication can really serve to advance student learning. Among the pluses Brown cites are writing and thinking-skills development, student engagement, and parent involvement. Brown describes the steps he took to create his blog, gain the necessary buy-in, and assure safety. You can leave questions for him in the Comments section.

DEALING WITH DIFFICULT COLLEAGUES
http://snipurl.com/jb_difficultcolleage

Jane Bluestein, well-known PD presenter and author of helpful books like “The Win-Win Classroom” (Corwin, 2007), offers an essay that can not only help you analyze colleagial conflict but learn ways to get important work accomplished despite personality differences. While you’re visiting Bluestein’s website, explore the articles and handouts she’s specifically tagged as useful to middle grades educators:
http://snipurl.com/ms_bluestein
LOST IN EIGHTH GRADE ALGEBRA?
http://snipurl.com/brookings_algebra

Since the 1990s, we’ve seen a major push to involve more middle schoolers in algebra by eighth grade. Nearly a third of all eighth graders took algebra in 2007, more than any other math course. But a new study from the Brookings Institution, using fine-grained data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, contends that large numbers of middle-schoolers are now struggling in advanced math classes. Reason? They are “woefully unprepared” due to weak basic math skills. In an Ed Week article, some supporters of early algebra question aspects of the study. The research, some note, does not question whether most students can succeed in 8th grade algebra, only that “schools need to recommit to preparing them.”
http://snipurl.com/ew_algebra
NASA DIGITAL LEARNING NETWORK
http://snipurl.com/nasa_digitallearn

Keep up with NASA’S latest education resources and activities at the Digital Learning Network website, which emphasizes STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) content aligned to national standards. DLN offers a variety of distance learning events for teachers and students designed to educate through demonstrations and real time interactions with experts. In an upcoming live online PD workshop (1 hr., Oct 29) teachers can learn more about NASA’s Lunar Nautics “field trip to the Moon” — a student focused simulation to design, test, analyze and create the budget for a lunar mission from initial concept to conclusion. The program includes 30 inquiry-based activities in which students create solar ovens, microgravity sleds, edible spacecraft, and more.

TIMELY BLOGS FOR MUSIC EDUCATORS
http://snipurl.com/nf_music_carnival

Here’s a great way for music teachers to find kindred spirits in the blogging world. Our friend Nancy Flanagan, who spent most of her 30-year career teaching music in the middle grades, keeps an excellent blog called Teacher in a Strange Land. Nancy recently hosted the Carnival of Music Education, a new monthly round-up of blog postings by musically minded educators. At Nancy’s Carnival post, you can link to a dozen other blogs and find out how to get your blog mentioned in the next Carnival. Don’t have a blog? Time to tune up!

ELECTION SITES FOR KIDS
http://snipurl.com/snwk_elections

Barbara Feldman, author of the popular feature Surfing the Net with Kids, selects four 5-star websites that can help students learn more about the election process and actually participate in a national mock election sponsored by the League of Women Voters. There’s even an interactive map students can use to track election results by state.

THE NEW YORK TIMES TEACHER VOICES PROJECT
http://snipurl.com/nyt_tchr_essays

Alaskan Doug Noon is one of several middle grades teachers selected by the Times to describe the experiences of real teachers to a national audience. In the NYT’s LESSON PLANS project, a group of classroom educators chronicle their experiences during the first weeks of school, “offering first hand accounts of today’s classroom challenges from diverse perspectives,” at a time when “the act of teaching has never been more complicated.” Noon’s posts thus far have emphasized the importance of community, wonder and direct experience of the world. Joseph Santani, a Deaf seventh grade teacher in Manhattan, writes about the challenges of teaching in English and American Sign Language. Highly recommended.

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GET STUDENTS UP, INVOLVED, AND PRODUCTIVE!

3-MINUTE MOTIVATORS is a collection of over 100 simple, fun activities that will help you use “a little magic” to take a quick break, engage students, and refocus them on the task at hand. Browse Chapter 1 online:
http://www.stenhouse.com/8215.asp?r=mw080904
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http://snipurl.com/NewTeacherResources

We continue to add new resources to our special page for teachers who are just beginning their classroom careers. Among recent additions: A link to Teacher Magazine’s Teaching Secrets (including “How to Smile Before Christmas”) and Ask the Mentor pages. Plus the U.S. Department of Education’s helpful guide “What to Expect Your First Year of Teaching,” ideas for content areas, and lots of tips from experts.
 
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