What. an. idiot.
Rick Santorum on early childhood education
Yeah! We need to stop the gubmint from indoctrinating our kids!
I mean, they say they’re just teaching pre-schoolers their colors, but they teach kids the color RED! And letters! But did you know that letters are used to spell “communism”?
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My friend Alison posted this on my facebook. My word, what a smile it brought to my wee face.
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Outdoor scenes focusing on the archetecture from Disney’s 1961 animated film, “101 Dalmatians”.
This is wonderful! I really love the faces beside each one! I found this on a great website!
Three California high school students have been on hunger strike since Wednesday in an effort to reverse a 7-0 vote by their school board to lay-off more than 50 full-time San Leandro High school personnel, including teachers, councilors, administrators, custodians and security.
According to local media reports, the three young women “stopped eating solid food Wednesday morning, after informing the San Leandro Unified School District board of trustees that they would take the action to demonstrate what proposed cuts would do their school.” It continues:The board has approved cuts of $1.4 million for the next year, and is preparing a contingency budget to cut an additional $2.5 million if voters in November do not approve tax initiatives proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown. The contingency budget also would lay off personnel and eliminate the district’s sports and music programs, among other cuts.
Ely, who said she is drinking water, Gatorade and Ensure, said she will continue her hunger strike until “the district admits there’s enough money to save our classes and teachers.” She said she wants the district to use reserve funds to stave off cuts.
The three students are members of San Leandro High’s Social Justice Academy, a small learning community that encourages activism, self expression and critical resistance, according to Erica Viray-Santos, a teacher and coordinator of the program, which has been involved in a project called “Reclaim our Education” to address school budgets.
Very sad news from deep in bear country: Jan Berenstain, the cocreator of the Berenstain Bears, has died.
The Awesome List
A friend of mine told me about this behaviour management trick for primary/junior supply teachers. It has worked like a charm thus far!
When you enter the room, write “awesome” on the board. Explain that anytime you catch someone doing something awesome, their name will go on the board. Do not define what awesome is, leaving the options open and keeping the students guessing.
Every time you add a student to the list explain why they are awesome. E.g. Emma is awesome because she is raising her hand before she speaks or I think David is pretty awesome because he’s helping his neighbour solve a difficult math question.
At the end of the day you may choose to give a prize to the students listed. Also be sure to report to the classroom teacher who was awesome.
The kids love it. After all, who doesn’t want to be awesome?!
Homeworkopoly
I was supply teaching in a grade 5/6 class last week and they play Homeworkopoly every Friday afternoon. The game was run by a selected gameshow host and went on as the class completed any outstanding work. The kids loved it and I learned that this is a fun way to encourage them to complete their homework each week.
This class plays the game every Friday afternoon so it is cumulative for the week. However, you can also choose to let students role every time they hand in their homework, it’s up to you. Students who do not hand in all of their homework do not get to role.
I was able to find instructions and great printables online:
Setup
- Make game pieces for each student.
- Print off the game board and hang it in the classroom.
- Find one game die.
- Print the “Chance” and “Community Lunchbox” cards and cut them out.
- Store all game pieces in containers by the board.
Getting Started
- When a student brings in homework have them go over to the board, roll the die and move. This can be done every morning or at the end of the week.
- The students will continue to do this throughout the year. It never has to end.
- Deal with special spaces as the students land on them.
- Assign a rotating “Game Show Host” to run the game each week.
Special Spaces
- MYSTERY PRIZE – When a student lands on this space, they can pick a prize from a pencil box or maybe the teacher could have little grab bags with the mystery prize in them.
- BRAIN BINDERS -Printable, foldable paper puzzles that range from very easy to very challenging.
- GAME SPOT – The game spot is used for playing games from your own classroom.
- FREE HOMEWORK – The student gets a free homework pass for the night when landing on this space. (Usually not a problem with happening too often, if so, check it out. Watch closely when moving around the board.)
- TAKE A SEAT ON THE BUS – When a student lands here, they go to the yellow square diagonally across the board and sit there. When on this square, the teacher can have this student read to the class aloud, do problems on the chalkboard, or pass out milk, for example. These are just a few examples of what the student could do, feel free to use your own ideas.
- GO – When passing go, the student may receive a little prize, such as picking a piece of sugarless gum or little trinket out of the pencil box of goodies, whatever the teacher thinks is an appropriate prize.
Enjoy!
