Education Short List

Most elementary school teachers are familiar with ‘Fry’s Sight Words.’ These are words that we practice with students to build up their reading skills. Sometimes, these words are also called ‘High Frequency Usage Words.’ Either way you look at it, knowing these 300 words (advanced lists go to 1,000) is the start of gaining a strong foundation for knowing and understanding the English Language.

Furthermore, these words are usually first introduced to kindergartners – as they learn not only the alphabet, but consonant blends, silent letters and sounds, and the difference between short and long vowel sounds. However, learning the sight words aren’t just beneficial to younger learners, but to those who can be learning English as a Second Language.

So really, no matter where you – or your student – is at in their level of learning the English language, taking the time to refresh, relearn, or remind them about the sight words is time well spent.

Below is a free link that list the Sight Words; available for you to download and utilize with your students.

http://candohelperpage.com/sightvocab_1.html#anchor_374

For additional tools or ways to implement Fry’s Sight Words into your lessons, just let me know.

Over the past three or four months, I’ve received several inquires about how to help a child, or an adult, improve their penmanship skills. Here are the Top Six Steps I recommend.

PRINTING PERFECTION

If you feel that your handwriting, or penmanship, is sloppy or incorrect – first work on making your printing better. For some people printing works better, just make sure to keep it clean. Keep ascending letters – l, h, b, d; and the descending letters – g, j, y, z; short and lift the pen from the paper between the writing of each letter.

LOOSEN YOUR GRIP

If you hold your pencil or pen in a tightened grip you are more likely to scrunch the letters together, making it more difficult for the reader to decipher. Plus, it makes you more nervous and more prone to mistakes.

DON’T GET LOOPY

Many people get “unnecessarily loopy and tangled” when using penmanship. Avoid excessive loops, embellishments, and flourishes – at least until you are comfortable with the beginning stages of cursive writing. Start with the basic format of cursive writing.

USE EXAMPLES

For younger students it is a wise idea to use example worksheets to show what the words should look like, when properly put together. And yet, these same worksheets can prove very useful and handy for adults. Don’t be ashamed or embarrassed to use a great tool.

TRACING

As is the case with learning, or relearning, a skill – we tend to look for examples to emulate; creating better handwriting is no different. Either online or in a workbook, find samples of cursive writing. Start by tracing over the words, not with a pencil or pen, but with a highlighter. This way you are able to clearly see where to focus your efforts. Another great tool is to use a wipe board of cursive writing – so you can practice again and again.

SLOW DOWN

Take your time. Nothing great was achieved in a day. The faster you write, the less control you have over the writing. If this is the first time learning cursive/penmanship/handwriting try with learning the letters first, moving on to small words, then larger ones, and then sentences.

In closing, remember to take your time. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was great penmanship. By practicing for 10-15 minutes at a time, once a day, you’ll see an improvement in just a short time.

Also see article on Ehow
http://www.ehow.com/how_4851202_have-better-handwriting.html

ADDENDUM
In September, the New York Times wrote an article on penmanship. Here is that article.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/09/04/opinion/20090908_opart.html

Part Four: Final Installment

9. Who should I be contacting with my questions, thoughts, or concerns?

You will probably think of other things you wanted to ask or clarify after the meeting is over. Make sure that before you leave you know who to call or email with those issues. Get their contact information before you leave and make sure that they know they will be hearing from you. That way, you won’t waste your time trying to find someone to answer your questions after the meeting is over.

10. Can we restate briefly what we have discussed and what we have agreed our next steps will be?

This question can seem a bit silly, but I can’t tell you how many times I left a meeting thinking that everyone at the table agreed that we would proceed with testing only to get an angry or confused phone call later from a parent who wanted to know why we were testing their student. Even though the parents may have signed a “permission to evaluate” form, these meetings can be long and confusing – anyone can forget or misunderstand something that happened. That’s why it is always a good idea to make sure everyone is on the same page before anyone leaves the table.

Closing Thoughts

Hopefully, these questions will provide you with the confidence you need to be an active, involved member in your son or daughter’s academic team. Remember, aside from your child, you are the most important member of the team because you are advocating for your child and because you know your son or daughter better than anyone else. Do not be afraid to ask for things to be explained more than once, to ask for alternative ideas to the ones being presented, to offer ideas and suggestions of your own, or to refuse what the school district wants to do. By working hand in hand with your child’s school, you will help ensure that your son or daughter experiences the success that they are capable of.

So a bit of a rant

Remember plays? Those fun things we pay lots of money, or no money at all, to see? When we were kids we would make up characters and voices with fun costumes? Or in elementary school – our teachers would make us do at least some form of Readers’ Theatre.

So, why, oh why, do we have High Schoolers read Shakespeare in English class? Why do they sit in their desks and read plays aloud with no enthusiasm or excitement? It makes me crazy- seriously flames out of the side of my head crazy – when a student comes to me and tells me that they are ‘reading’ NOT acting out a play! It’s a play people. It’s called ‘PLAY’ for a reason. It’s not called, sit in your seats and read. It’s NOT a book. There are characters, locations, costumes, props, SO SO SO many wonderfully glorious things can be done with a play.

Currently, I have two students who are ‘reading’ plays in their high schools. One is reading, Inherit the Wind; the other Hamlet. It just about breaks my heart when they tell me that they aren’t acting it out or doing anything creative and fun with it. Which, by the way, is another frustration I feel we impose on our teachers and students – but that is for another time.

I just wish that there were more educators out there who made plays what they were supposed to be – verbs. Plays are verbs folks – actions; works of words that were meant for performing.

I know that there are good educators out there, ones who get students up and out of their seats. Yet, they are getting harder to find.

Ugh. Maybe I need to go back into the classroom. Now I’m mildly depressed (it’s the actor in me).

Aside from being a licensed teacher and tutor – I’m an entrepreneur.

When the time came for me to be able to be my employer I did a large amount of reading and research beforehand. Some resources were extremely helpful – others not so much. Yet what I noticed that most lacked, where questions on how to deal with the day to day, as well as, the larger view of how my life was going to change. Below are, in my humble opinion, the ‘Top Six Questions’ you should be asking yourself before going it solo.

1. Can you go months without a paycheck? Health Care benefits? A 401K?

This is the most obvious – for obvious reasons. But not really. Most books and guides will want you to ask yourself – ‘How long can you go without a paycheck?’ What they forget to add, is how long can you go without health insurance? Or how are you going to make your 401K payments? So how long can you go? How much money have you saved up? Do you need medical insurance right away? Is your retirement investments going to be alright without you adding to it for a while? Furthermore, think about how you are going to pay yourself, and what is your salary going to be? For me, I get paid as a tutor – not the owner of the company; and with my other company I haven’t been able to get paid at all. It’s all investment work right now.

2. Can you handle having your pets, kids, plants, etc… as your daily partner to talk to?

Many people think – I get more done when I work at home; which, in several cases is true — but only for a day. I read a blog once, where a self-employed woman said that she used to think how great it would be to work from home, how she was going to save SO MUCH money by making her lattes at home. But, after a few months she would gladly hand over $4 for a beverage just to be able to have someone to talk to. I would laugh – however, it’s true. The quiet can be deafening. I have daily chats with my border collie, asking her if this portrait is better than this other one (she always just licks my face). I love to IM with people; not because I have nothing to do, but because I am so desperate for a ‘grown-up’ conversation, even if it is typed. The whole point is – really ask yourself if you can handle it. If not, maybe taking four hour coffee breaks at your local coffee shop is what you will need to do.

3. Are you an expert at what you want to do?

I’m lucky, in that I AM an expert in education. I’ve had a variety of roles in multiple different settings. When I talk about education, I feel fortunate in knowing I am an expert. Which is the real reason, that when I did start working on my own, that it was going to be education based. That, and the fact that if I went with my true passion of idolizing David Bowie I would drive my family and friends insane.

Here, the point is, ‘Do what you know.’ Don’t do what sounds like fun. If you are thinking that this is the time in your life that you want to pursue your passion for gardening or knitting – and have never done either – you are in for a lot of heartache. It’s not that I’m saying you can’t garden or knit; what I am saying is that while you are learning how to own your own business and learning how to be self-employed, you’re also going to be learning how to do your skill. Give yourself an ace in the hole when going into business for yourself — do what you know.

4. Can you stop yourself from watching TV all day?

This one is related closely to the second question. Again, we think, “Well I’ve worked from home before and I got work done, why would it be any different.” First, be honest, we ALL know that working from home means waking up later, running errands, doing work, AND watching some TV (or whatever home vice you have). But, when it’s only you at the ‘office’ all day long – it’s going to be more difficult to pull yourself away from the television. However, I’m not saying that you can’t do that. What I am pointing out, is, find a balance. Give yourself a break, watch TV, or go for that walk during the middle of the day — but find the inner strength to pull away and get back to work.

5. Are you alright with setbacks? Small ones? Major ones?

Building off of the knowledge that you will not be making the same amount of money as you did in your prior job; comes along the knowledge that you will have setbacks in creating your own company. How many can you handle? How big of ones? Will your company crumble if no one buys your cookies for two months? What if it’s two years? If you start out with a business partner, or a few, what will happen if one has to bail (happened to me twice)? Can you still function? Or do you need to fold?

Filling out a business plan model will help to address most of these thoughts. Yet, what I am focusing on, is the emotional toll it can take. How much emotionally, can you handle in setbacks? That is a completely different thought than the financial one.

6. Will it upset you to know that you are being copied?

When you start out you have to realize – you’re not Pepsi, or Starbucks or Xerox. You don’t have a huge budget. If you’re lucky you’ll be able to find cheap or free ways of marketing yourself, or your company. Hopefully you will do a great job of creating unique ways to get your potential customers to notice you. And with that, will come competitors who want to maximize their financial gains by building off of what you’ve done. As the old adage says – don’t reinvent the wheel.

So what I’m asking you is this: Are you going to be okay when you are copied? Will your company and its financial future be secure even when you find out that Coke, or Peets, or Kinkos built off of what you made? It can cause a great deal of frustration, anger, and headaches if you can’t. It’s definitely worth the time to ask yourself – how much can you handle.

Working on your own can be liberating and exciting – as long as you take the time to create the big picture of your goal, while focusing on the finer details. By using this list of ‘Top Questions’, combined with materials that are in your area of expertise – you should be able to make that self-employment a stable and successful reality.

Part 3

6. What will happen if the testing data indicates that my child qualifies for services?

This question is important because you want to have an idea of what is going to happen the next time you meet with your son or daughter’s academic team. If your child’s testing indicates that he/she qualifies for services, what will the school want to do at that next meeting? They should be able to provide you with a rough idea about what they will want to do in this case. You and your spouse need to be ready to discuss whether or not you want your child to receive additional services or supports. Remember, even if the testing comes back indicating that your child could qualify for Special Education services, you are not required to have him/her identified as Special Education. While it might be the best option for providing your son or daughter with the type of support they require, it is important to always remember that you, as parent, have the final say in that decision.

7. What happens if the testing indicates that my child does not qualify for services?

Just like the previous question, it is also important to be prepared for what might happen if the testing data comes back indicating that your child is struggling, but not because of a disability that requires special services. If you have decided that you want your child to receive Special Education services, it can be difficult to find out that they do not qualify for them. If this happens, you will want to be prepared to discuss what the school (and what you) can do to help your child succeed without needing to be identified as Special Education.

8. What supports do you think will be most beneficial for my child and why?

Regardless of whether or not your child is identified as someone who qualifies legally for Special Education services, your son or daughter’s academic team should eventually be moving towards a discussion of what needs to be happening at school and at home in order to help your child achieve academic success. If your child is identified, an IEP (an Individualized Education Plan – a legal document that spells out exactly what services your child will receive and what academic, behavioral, or social goals they might be working towards), will address those supports. If your child is not going to be identified, the team still needs to discuss how they are going to address the concerns that led to this first meeting in the first place. When suggestions are made (i.e. that his/her teachers will check their agenda books at the end of the day to make sure that all homework is written down) make sure that you understand why that support is being suggested. Additionally, if you do not think that it will be successful, don’t be afraid to state that you do not want to try that support – you know your child better than anyone.

End of Part 3

As I wrote about in an earlier note, I have a friend who is entering into a graduate school program for teachers. And, it causes me to ponder and reflect. One thing that she asks about are some of the sites and resources online that she can/should use. Although I have a list of the usual sites, I put more thought into some of the more creative and unlikely resources.

This list is by no means the only sites you can use, but they are ones I use for creating lessons. My criteria for making this list is that it isn’t education based, yet it has lessons and/or curriculum tools that can easily be integrated into a classroom. Plus, it has materials that are able to be connected to the National Framework for Educational Standards. Actually, I would really like to hear about other ones that you’ve discovered and that are useful for you. In fact, I am sure by the time I am done posting this, I will have found more that I wish I would have added.

http://www.ourcourts.org/default.php

This site is one created by Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor. Although it may seem like Mrs. O’Connor would be an unlikely teacher, she isn’t. The site deals with Civics and understanding it through modern contexts. It also provides teachers with lessons (which we all love) and ways to take what a complex subject – such as Civics and our American government system – and make it relatable.

http://www.billnye.com

Bill Nye loves Science – and yes, this site is education based; but really it is based on making Science and all that is related to Science interesting. For an educator, there are a variety of ways to integrated this format – videos, experiments, lessons, projects. I really like that part. Plus, for lower grades there might be as much time to develop an entire curriculum for Science – this allows for ways to stick to the standards while still giving your students the chance to do something more with it.

http://www.pbs.org

PBS has long been a resource for families looking for creative education based television programs for their children. It’s also a great place to find information for educators. In fact, when you click on the homepage you can see various headings that are for children, students, and educators. One of my favorite parts is that PBS can be used at all grade levels and for all subject areas. Need high school art? No problem, Middle School history of Oregon? Got it. Kindergartners who are learning about American Symbols – right here. Plus with pictures and bios of people of different backgrounds it allows for an expansion on what is being taught in the classroom.

http://scholar.google.com/

Google Scholar is one that is mainly for the Grad Students; but it can also be useful as a reference source for high-schoolers. This is a site that was introduced to me during my time in graduate school. The beautiful aspect to this site is that it lists literary information and is researched by other scholars – as to enhance the validity to the resources that you will find there.

Lastly – check with your local libraries, cities, and states

Each library, city site, and state website will have plenty of valuable resources and lessons available. It’s very refreshing, and surprising, to learn about the plethora of information that you are able to get from your local government departments. Several will have lessons already prepared to give out, and on occasion you can find people willing to bring the field trip to your classroom! It’s definitely worth checking out.

Unfortunately with the recession in full swing, more and more schools and their students are struggling to keep up. Recently I’ve been reading about some of the more creative ways that schools are pulling together their resources to ensure that their students, teachers, and schools have a place to go.

However, the newspaper article that I read yesterday, struck a more emotional note with me. This time, it wasn’t the schools that were in need – it was their students.

In Oregon, the schools – specifically the schools’ cafeterias are noticing how when the students are away from school, albeit a vacation or school break, they return to school hungrier and famished for more amounts of food.

Below is a link connecting to the entire article that is available from The Oregonian Newspaper.

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/04/on_the_front_lines_of_student.html

On the front lines of student hunger by David Sarasohn, The Oregonian

Personally, I don’t believe that the affects of our country’s current economic situation are going to improve soon. Rather, I foresee more drastic efforts being taken on by our schools, their administrators, and instructors, to ensure that their students continue to receive a quality education. Yet, without closing on a sad note – I was encouraged by comments and feedback I received from fellow educators on this newspaper story. Perhaps, instead of pulling our educational community apart – we will discover ways to band closer together. That’s what I am working for.

Part 2

3. What have you been doing about these issues so far?
If you didn’t ask this during your discussion of Question 2, ask it now. Make sure you take notes of the things that have already been tried, how long they were tried for, and whether or not they are at all successful. This is important because you want to make sure that if a strategy is not working for your student, it doesn’t end up being tried again, or continued if it is unsuccessful.

4. What does the school want to do now?
If you have been called to a meeting to discuss testing your child for Special Education, the school district is required by law to provide you with paperwork that explains exactly what your rights are and what the entire process of testing, identification, and placement will look like. They are not legally allowed to do any official testing without your permission, so if you do not want to give it right then, DON’T! Tell them that you need a few days to read through the material, talk about it with your spouse and with your child, and just time to think. It is important to remember that you do not have to make any major decisions at this first meeting. At the same time, if the school has explained their concerns you and you understand them and agree that more testing might be a good thing, don’t be afraid to proceed with the testing – even if the testing comes back and indicates that your child qualifies to receive services, the school district can not do anything without your permission.

5. How long will the testing take? This is a very simple question. Most states have a 30-60 day time-limit on how long a school can take to test a student from the moment a parent signs the permission to evaluate form to when they have to meet with parents to review the testing data. Make sure you find out if the time-limit is for “school days” or “calendar days.” Have an idea of when you should be hearing back from the school with information.

“Hurry Up” “Slow Down” “Do your best work”

How often have we, as teachers – maybe as parents, said those phrases to our kids? I’m here to report – Lots. But until the other day I just didn’t realize how confusing it could be.

I was working with a student on his homework and I said those phrases, in that exact order to him. Not one right after the other, but within the span of five minutes. After the last one, “Just do your best work,” he sighed and looked at me in frustration. I asked him what was wrong; his reply – “Now I am just confused.” It made me laugh out loud.

How often we as educators use those phrases and don’t realize the impact it has on our kids. I immediately apologized to him and tried to give the best explanation that I could.

It’s really our goal to have our students use each minute of time to their fullest value – which is why we say hurry up. Then with the slow down, we want them to not rush through their work, just doing it to get it done and over with. Which is why we normally end all of that with a self-correcting – do your best work. This one, I feel is the most important I told him. I’m not looking for or expecting perfection I just want to see him living up to his fullest potential and doing the best that HE can do.

Of course to him, it’s something different.

He paused, looked at me, and shook his head. He then replied, “Teachers are confusing.”

I laughed. “You’re right, I guess we are.” And then I asked him, what he thought.

He paused, and said, “Well, I feel like I need to do this stuff, but sometimes I don’t get it right away. But then it makes you upset if I don’t do it fast enough, and then I get more confused…it’s just confusing.”

Not wanting to miss a chance to make a teachable moment, he and I continued to talk about it. I knew, from listening to him, that I wasn’t going to be able to fix it all right now; that like most good things, it was going to take some time to percolate.

But in the end, I think the student learned a bit. And by student, I mean me.