Education Short List

SQ3R is a five-step reading strategy. The name comes from the five steps of the strategy: Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review.

This reading strategy was originally intended to help young elementary-aged students with learning how to read. As an elementary ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher, I have used it for Beginner, Early Intermediate, and Intermediate learners. I’ve also begun to use it with my adult ESL students. This fall, I am going to train my tutoring staff on how to utilize this formula with students that are preparing to take exams.

The whole point is, that the SQ3R strategy can be implemented for many more learners, than those who are just in elementary school. Included here is the basic definition given to each of the five components. A suggestion for the amount of time that should be spent on each section is also included. From my experience, for ESL students, that time can be increased greatly. What I have seen is the most important part, is that a student does each of the five elements; the time spent on each isn’t as crucial to implement.

1. Survey (2 minute): Before beginning reading look through the whole chapter. See what the headings are—the major ones and the subheadings; hierarchical structures seem to be particularly easy for our brains to latch onto—check for introductory and summary paragraphs, references, etc. Resist reading at this point, but see if you can identify 3 to 6 major ideas in the chapter.

2. Question (usually less than 30 seconds): Ask yourself what this chapter is about: What is the question that this chapter is trying to answer? Or—along the curiosity lines—What question do I have that this chapter might help answer? Repeat this process with each subsection of the chapter, as well, turning each heading into a question. (As a variation of this technique, you can write the important question down; this is called SQW3R)

3. Read (at your own pace): Read one section at a time looking for the answer to the question proposed by the heading. This is active reading and requires concentration so find yourself a place and time where you can concentrate.

4. Recite/Write (about a minute): Say to yourself out loud or write down a key phrase that sums up the major point of the section and answers the question. It is important to use your own words, not just copy a phrase from the book. Research shows that we remember our own (active) connections better than ones given to us (passive), indeed that our own hierarchies are generally better than the best prefab hierarchies.

5. Review (less than 5 minutes): After repeating steps 2–4 for each section you have a list of key phrases that provides a sort of outline for the chapter. Test yourself by covering up the key phrases and seeing if you can recall them. Do this right after you finish reading the chapter. If you can’t recall one of your major points, that’s a section you need to reread.

The Review part is usually meant to be an ongoing process. Flash cards, notes or other material made during one of the above 5 steps, can be used to review for a few minutes every day for several days.

This technique was introduced in 1946 by Francis Pleasant Robinson in his book, Effective Study.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQ3R

The majority of small businesses are ones that sell a product. Furthermore, when a person begins to consider self-employment it tends to be because they have an idea for a new product, or a way to make an existing one better. In order to ensure that you can move forward with your new idea, securing a patent is essential.

Below is a recent article I read from Popular Science; which lists the detailed steps it takes in getting a patent.

Be the first.
Search the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s site (Uspto.gov) to make sure an “idea like yours” hasn’t been patented.

Avoid the obvious.
Your idea should be a distinctive concept that someone with an “ordinary skill level” couldn’t have created.

Hire a patent draftsman.
Even if your invention makes complete sense to you, “at least one drawing” is necessary to meet federal patent requirements.

Hire a lawyer.
Having an attorney betters the chances of receiving a patent. But be careful not to hire any “shady” firm that demands a cut of the proceeds.

Be patient.
The patent process can take anywhere from “two to five” years. If people infringe on your idea during that time, give them notice and “collect damages” afterward.

Source: Popular Science

http://www.theweek.com/article/index/94730/Tip_of_the_week_How_to_secure_a_patent

In the United States, the likelihood of finding a well paying job is less if you don’t have a college degree; and that decreases significantly if you don’t have a High School Diploma. Although statistics vary, the general consensus is that less than 70% of students graduate from high school. In larger metropolitan areas, and rural ones as well, that percentages become lower; with some urban cities acknowledging graduation rates. Furthermore, these ratings are ones that encompass the number of students who don’t finish high school, but do graduate with a G.E.D.

Overall, our children are in need of some assistance. This is where the concept of having a coach – although not a new one – comes into play (mind the pun). Below is an article from Parade Magazine on the positive impact and influence that coaches can have on America’s teenagers.

http://www.parade.com/news/2009/06/coaching-students-to-stay-in-school.html

REINVENTING AMERICA
Coaching Students To Stay In School
by Peg Tyre
published: 06/07/2009

The South Atlanta Educational Complex is a vast brick-and-glass building housing 1000 or so 9th- through 12th-graders. While its students look like those from any big-city school district, administrators estimate that about 85% come from families whose income is below the federal poverty line. In addition to getting an education, many of these teens are supporting a child or younger siblings or caring for an elderly relative or sick parent. Some are in foster care, and some are homeless. Others are children of recent immigrants who work long hours and don’t know how to help them thrive academically.

Until recently, South Atlanta was one of the estimated 1,000 high schools in the U.S. where, at most, 50% of freshmen received diplomas three years later. Collectively, America’s more than 20,000 high schools graduate just 71% of their students. This means 1.2 million young people a year — about 7000 every school day — are dropping out without the necessary skills to get and keep a good job.

Low graduation rates affect America’s ability to compete in the global workplace. “To get this economy back on track, we need to lower our high school dropout rates,” says U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “These students need an education, and our economy needs these students.” A 2008 report from the nonprofit organization Education Trust found that the United States is the only industrialized country where teens are less likely than their parents to earn a high school diploma.

All of us suffer when our high schools fail. Economists estimate that the students who drop out each year result in $320 billion in lost wages, taxes, and productivity. In recent testimony before Congress, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates singled out improving graduation rates as a priority. “Every student in America should graduate ready for college, a career, and life,” he said. “Every child. No exceptions.”

Dropouts are also a drain on tax dollars. Adults who’ve never worn a cap and gown are more likely to draw on government resources like welfare and Medicaid. UC Santa Barbara researchers studied high school dropouts in California and found that each year’s group of dropouts cost the state $46.4 billion over their lifetimes. Part of that astronomical figure comes from correctional costs. “Kids who don’t graduate are more likely to get into trouble and end up in jail,” says former U.S. Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell, who founded America’s Promise Alliance, a nonprofit group that aims to improve graduation rates. “It’s a loss of human talent that will hurt America and that we can’t afford.” Currently, around 40% of state prison inmates are high school dropouts.

School districts have been experimenting with different ways to combat the dropout problem. One of the most promising approaches is being tried in Georgia, a state that posted a woeful 58% graduation rate a few years ago. In this program, at-risk teenagers are matched with graduation coaches. Like sports coaches, graduation coaches nag, guide, coax, and cheer their students toward earning enough credits to get to the finish line—in their case, graduation day.

“Coaches address one of the largest needs of kids who are falling between the cracks,” says Jay Smink, executive director of the National Dropout Prevention Center at Clemson University in South Carolina. “They let them build a strong relationship with a caring adult. Coaching is one of the best programs we have to help kids stay in high school.”

In Atlanta, there is a graduation coach at every middle and high school. Thanks to the coach program, which started in 2006, and to other anti-dropout efforts, South Atlanta’s graduation rate has leapt from 35.4% to 77.4%.

Dollimeshia Richmond, 17, calls graduation coach Lauren Macdonald “my secret weapon,” explaining, “She helps me figure out what I need to do to stay in school, graduate, and live out my dream of going to college.”

Dollimeshia’s mother, Yvonne, has struggled with substance abuse and been in and out of rehab programs. During middle school, her daughter spent several years bouncing between foster care and living with her mom. The chaos in Dollimeshia’s life was reflected in the transcripts of her freshman and sophomore years of high school—her grades were poor and her attendance spotty. But Dollimeshia was determined to change. “I didn’t want to live the way I’d been living,” she says. “I wanted to graduate from high school, go to college, and do better so I could help my mother and my family,” she says.

Enter coach Lauren Macdonald, 28, a wisecracking former elementary-school teacher. Each day at 7 a.m., some of the 100 or so students on her caseload start ringing her cellphone. She demands that they go to school every day. If they miss the bus, they call her, and she picks them up on her way in.

Once Macdonald’s students are in their classrooms, she meets with some of them one-on-one to review transcripts, set goals, and devise study strategies. After lunch, she talks to their teachers and roams the halls, giving pep talks, school supplies, cookies, and the occasional scolding. “She supports me. She helps me. She motivates me,” Dollimeshia says, flashing a cloud-splitting smile.

On the day I spent with her, Macdonald walked by the detention room and saw that one of her students was inside. Her body stiff with outrage, she stood in the doorway with a heart-stopping glare. A young man in the third row shielded his eyes and slumped down. “You don’t see me,” he feebly joked.

“I do see you,” Macdonald roared. “And we will talk!”

“Some of these kids need a lot of guidance, some need encouragement,” Macdonald says, “and some need a kick in the pants. The trick, I think, is never to give up on them.”

Launched throughout Georgia three years ago, the graduation-coach program costs $49 million a year. It is now also in middle schools, because experts believe that underachievement at that stage often kicks off a cycle of disengagement, truancy, and academic failure that leads to kids dropping out.

For Corey Johnson, 17, staying in school has required discipline and focus—two things that his mother, Cresia, complains are often in short supply. “He always knew what to do to succeed,” she says, exasperated. “But knowing is not doing.”

In his freshman and sophomore years, Corey did the bare minimum of schoolwork and often skipped classes, preferring to socialize in the halls. Then graduation coach Kemba Watson put the brakes on his fun.

“We had to get him focused on the things that matter,” Watson says. To do that, she monitored his attendance and school performance. When she saw his grades start to slip, she promptly called him to her office. “She stayed on me,” Corey explains.

Finishing his senior year, Corey says that his coach has helped him lift his GPA to the low 80s. “I think he has it in him to lift it more,” Watson declares, nodding at Corey. He smiles shyly at his hands. “I want to make my mother and Miss Watson proud,” he says.

Meanwhile, junior Dolli­meshia Richmond is already looking beyond graduation day. With an 83.0 GPA and a binder full of loan and scholarship applications, she is figuring out which college to attend.

“For me, a high school diploma is the way out, and a college education is the way up,” Dollimeshia says. And with her coach’s help, she’ll get there.

Peg Tyre is the author of the best-selling book “The Trouble With Boys.”

Here are six easy steps you can take to becoming more ‘green’, or earth friendly. These steps are so simple, that there really isn’t any excuse for not doing them. Besides, it’s cool to be green. And if that doesn’t motivate you – how about knowing you are helping to save the planet for future generations? Exactly. I thought so…

1. Energy Star light bulbs

— If you haven’t already done the easiest, and probably most talked about, way to becoming energy efficient, then it’s definitely time to do so. Plus there are so many varieties, size, brightness, colors even; that there really isn’t an excuse not to. And the best part – it saves you money.

2. Recycle

– Here is the granddaddy of environmental ideas; take the things that you would normally consider trash – and instead of throwing them in your garbage can, put them in the recycling bins. Not too enough? Save your bottles – plastics, glasses, and cans – take those to a nearby recycling center and get money back for each one. In some states, that can mean $.15 for each item. In a time when we need more money, each nickel counts.

3. No ATM receipts

– Each time you go to an ATM, you probably get a receipt. But why? We live in a place where there is this amazing bit of technology called, ‘the internet’; and on there, we have access to all of our banking accounts 24 hours a day. So next time you deposit or withdraw money from the ATM, skip the receipt. And go home and check your finances there.

4. Shop for Quality not Quantity

–Getting ready to do some summer shopping? Maybe some fun clothes to wear after maternity leave? Whatever the reason is, look for products that are of a higher quality. Yes, it may cost you more NOW; but as time goes on, it will actually save you (and the environment) money and time. By purchasing a higher quality bathing suit (let’s just say), you will not need another one next year, or for a few years. This saves you having to spend more time and gas and effort looking for a new one. Plus it means less for you to throw away, which adds to your trash output. And less production of future such said suits.

–This philosophy can be applied to any purchases. From cars to lawnmowers to couches to computers. Buy quality, NOT quantity.

5. Water Heater Blanket

– Another easy step at home. Just like the light bulbs, getting a water heater blanket is something you can do and just forget about it. Next time you are at a hardware store, pick up a blanket for your water heater. The cost is approximately $20. However, don’t let that startle you – because the following month you will see a difference in your water and heating bill. I did it and saw a big drop (over $10) the following month. The set up is minimal as well; less than thirty minutes and it’s done. I haven’t thought about it since – that is until I see the savings I get each month from the water and gas company.

6. Reusable Drink Containers

– Can’t live without your morning coffee? Drink tons of water every day? AWESOME. Now, if you drink out of a reusable container – that’s even awesomer. By having a permanent, reusable coffee mug and/or water bottle you are saving the planet from having tons of waste – less for the landfills and our skies (from the production of all those non-reusable drinking bottles). Plus, even better is that many places will now give you a little cash credit towards your coffee beverage if you bring in your own mug.

By Going Green – start small, make it an idea, then a habit, and eventually it will just become part of your routine. Also make it a family event, get everyone involved and spread the appreciation of your planet. Do activities with friends, make outings of it. Know your limits, don’t try doing everything at once. Start with 2-4 ideas, and then add to it. Realize that each step helps in making the environment better. Spread the word to friends, colleagues, family, neighbors. Lead by example. Make it fun, a game or a competition.

Here is another article about, what I am calling, ‘recession schools’. The term recession schools is to show the affects of what this current economic recession is doing to our public education system. As I include this new article from the New York Times; I am also discovering new information about how schools in Portland, Oregon are wanting educators to have five furlong days next year. Furthermore, the whole state is considering having all state employees take up to 24 days next year. Plus, this is a concept being contemplated for California state as well. Lots to think about – for those who want to consider a job in the public education school system and those families that have children going to public school.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/education/24teachers.html?_r=2&hp

The complete article follows.

May 24, 2009
The New Math: Teachers Share Recession’s Pain
By WINNIE HU

Bankers, lawyers and journalists have taken pay cuts and gone without raises to stay employed in a tough economy. Now similar givebacks are spreading to education, an industry once deemed to be recession-proof.

All 95 teachers and five administrators in the Tuckahoe school district in Westchester County agreed to give $1,000 each to next year’s school budget to keep the area’s tax increase below 3 percent. In the Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow district, 80 percent of the 500 school employees — including teachers, clerks, custodians and bus drivers — have pledged more than $150,000 from their own pockets to help close a $300,000 budget gap.

And on Long Island, the 733 teachers in the William Floyd district in Mastic Beach decided to collectively give up $1 million in salary increases next year to help restore 19 teaching positions that were to be eliminated.

New York State’s powerful teachers’ unions have rarely agreed to reopen contract negotiations in bad economic times, let alone make concessions. But as many school districts presented flat budgets to voters in recent weeks, teachers in at least a dozen suburban areas have opened the door to compromise to save jobs, preserve programs and smaller class sizes, and show support for the towns and villages where many of them have taught generations of families.

Richard C. Iannuzzi, president of the New York State United Teachers, said the last time teachers made so many concessions was during the 1970s.

“In a normal school year, in a normal economic situation, we would see very little of what’s going on now,” he said.

In New York City, where the Bloomberg administration said last week that schools would face a 5 percent cut, the United Federation of Teachers said there had been no discussion of reopening its contract, which runs through October. And in New Jersey and much of Connecticut, where districts face similarly tight times, calls for teacher givebacks have largely been ignored, or rejected.

The teachers’ union in Ridgewood, N.J., voted this spring against a district proposal to renegotiate salaries. “We’re sympathetic to the economic situation, but we just don’t believe that teachers and school employees are overpaid,” said Steve Baker, a spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association. “Our members are the same middle-class people feeling the pinch of this recession as well, so we don’t feel it’s appropriate to target them for givebacks.”

Even in some of the places where unions have voted to help out management, some members have balked. In the William Floyd district, 60 teachers — about 8 percent of the total — voted against giving up what amounted to $1,190 apiece, while 580 teachers voted to do so (those who voted no still have to forgo the money). In Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow, donations have been kept confidential.

“We didn’t want people to feel that it’s some kind of contest,” said Howard Smith, the Tarrytown superintendent.

Richard Perugini, a physical education teacher who is president of the Tarrytown teachers’ union, said he had pledged to give money even though his wife, Carmen, a teacher’s aide, is to be laid off from a nearby school district in June. “We’ll be living paycheck to paycheck,” he said.

Tarrytown’s budget for next year is $62.5 million, a 3.8 percent increase. That is about half the amount that budgets grew in recent years, leading the district to cut four teaching spots, four teaching assistants and 10 bus drivers and monitors. White Plains’s increase, by contrast, is 0.74 percent, to $185.7 million, the smallest in decades.

Yonkers, Westchester’s largest school system, has a planned budget increase of 0.81 percent (to $487.1 million), after increases of at least 5 percent in each of the past two years. District officials say they must buy fewer supplies, negotiate lower rates for food and busing, suspend supplemental teacher training and pare special education costs by more than $3 million to cover rising expenses for salaries and benefits.

“There’s a real sense that we’ve reached a limit, and in many communities, that translates into, ‘We can’t even raise it one dollar,’ ” Dr. Smith said.

In most districts, personnel costs are the largest expenses, so renegotiating terms with teachers is one of the only ways to avoid cuts in the classroom.

In Cambridge, N.Y., about 50 miles north of Albany, the 980-student district had proposed to lay off a teacher, two teaching assistants and five aides. Instead, the teachers agreed, in a vote of 68 to 22, to reopen their contract and accept smaller stipends for advising clubs, coaching teams and chaperoning events. Savings to the district: $67,868.

“I laid out the problem,” said Daniel Severson, the superintendent. “Everybody knows everybody because it’s small; we all live in the same town.”

William Floyd teachers averted the layoffs of nine teachers, and helped the 9,600-student district restore 10 other teaching positions, by agreeing to give up part of their raises.

“We did not want to see any of our teachers lose their jobs, or good programs suspended, and that’s what was going to happen,” said Karen D’Esposito, a high school social studies teacher who is president of the union.

In Tuckahoe, teachers already contribute $10 annually to a $1,000 scholarship awarded to a graduating student. But last fall, Michael V. Yazurlo, the superintendent of the 1,000-student district, approached the union about trying to keep next year’s property tax increase at 2.88 percent, the lowest in more than a decade.

The teachers’ union had initially proposed that its members voluntarily contribute between $200 and $600, based on salary, to support the school budget. But that amount was rejected — as too little — by many teachers. The final amount was $1,000 per teacher.

Marianne Amato, a 12th-grade English teacher and president of the teachers’ union, said, “Everybody really understood that this is a different time and we have to do something to help as a community of teachers.”

Recently, I’ve realized that there are more articles coming out about the positive notes to what I call, ‘fidgety energy.’ From letting students sit on bouncy balls, doodling, playing with erasers, to twirling pencils; all of these forms of ‘fidgety energy’ are becoming increasingly popular to write about. Below, is another such example – that of how daydreaming is good for you.

It makes me wonder about the implications of this. One, as schools and states have an increasingly difficult time in determining their financial budgets for the new school year, 2009-2010, one thing is certain – class sizes are going to increase. Will our schools realize the value of allowing their students to daydream, doodle, or integrate their ‘fidgety energy’? Or will they have to “crack down” on students who aren’t completely engaged in each moment of their lessons? It’s a serious issue to ponder, daydream about even; because the effects of something like this are yet to be determined.

http://www.theweek.com/article/index/96868/Health_038_Science

Daydreaming is good for you

Daydreaming is often viewed as a sign of laziness or a lack of seriousness, but a new study says that’s a bad rap. Using a magnetic resonance imaging machine to study brain activity, University of British Columbia neuroscientists found that when a person begins daydreaming, there’s a lot of activity in regions of gray matter dedicated to high-level thought and complex problem-solving. “People assume that when the mind wanders away it just gets turned off,” researcher Kalina Christoff tells LiveScience.com. “But we show the opposite, that when it wanders, it turns on.” The average person spends as much as a third of his or her waking hours in reverie. During that time, we may not be paying attention to the meeting or class we’re in, she says. “But your mind may be taking that time to address more important questions in your life, such as advancing your career or personal relationships.”

This week and next high school students are preparing for their end of the year finals. One of the tools that I have students, of all ages, use to prepare themselves is a spreadsheet formatted study guide.

When I first introduced this study tool for students it was meant to be used in Language Art classes. Yet, as time has gone one, I’ve been able to implement it into nearly every subject area. Plus it can be used as early as middle school and into college and beyond.

The spreadsheet needs to be formatted to fit the specific needs of the class, or subject being studied. By starting in the 2nd column, add in topics or key terms; in the case of Language Arts, it could be theme, character development, figurative language, etc. In the first column, skipping the first space, list checkpoints. For example, it could be chapters of a book, sub-headings from a textbook. The point of this is to assist you in having a way to group the information and keep it organized.

It is important to include any key elements that your instructor wishes for you to focus on. The reason for this is that you want to make sure to keep yourself on track with what the class’ goals are and use those as markers for your learning. Also, keep the spreadsheet either open on your computer, or printed out, and use it as you are reading through the book, notes, or textbook. By taking that time and effort while you are first studying, you are allowing your brain to retain more information. Furthermore, you are creating categories and headings that make sense to you – the learner, and making it down in such a way that you are more likely to remember it.

If you would like more details or examples on how to set this up, let me know.