NetHappenings Newsletter

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NHN: 2//08/05 NETHAPPENINGS NEWSLETTER #17

NEW THIS WEEK for NHN
<http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/NHnewsletter.html>
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Dear Readers,

Net Happenings Newsletter, launched by the Educational
CyberPlayGround, features both news and resources.
Karen Ellis* Founder of the Educational CyberPlayGround invites
others to help sponsor NHN sent to members of the NetHappenings Mailing
List.

Written by Classroom Teacher Alan Haskvitz
1997 National Teacher's Hall of Fame
All USA Today First Team Teacher
Reader's Digest Hero in Education
Cherry International Award for Outstanding Teachers
1994 National Middle Level Teacher of the Year (NCSS)
[w] http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Ringleaders/al.html

Please note that I shall be speaking on how to use the Internet to find the
best resources, turn them into quality lessons, and do it all free and easy
at the California League of Middle Schools conference in San Diego on
Friday, March 18 at 2:30.

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IN THIS ISSUE
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IN THE NEWS
All North Dakota Elementary Teachers Declared Highly Qualified
Parents Behaving Badly
Site Based Management Alive and Well in Canada
San Diego School Board easing up a kindergarten standards.
Public Turning Against School Funding
Ohio Expands School Vouchers
Special Education Students need to pass tests to graduate
Professor Tenure only after Ten Years?
Free DVD of "Super Size Me" planned for schools


INTERESTING SITES
AMAZING - Have the Kid's record their songs using the phone
Ideas for Motivating Difficult Students
Earth Day Lessons
Immigration lesson sites
Where to find free software


SITES YOU PROBABLY NEVER KNEW EXISTED
Build a bat house
What is the best compact SUV?
Food Safety from Farm to Fork
My latest book review: Too bad the teacher didn't write it.


QUOTES
What is the role of a teacher?

FACTOIDS
Which country sends the most university students to USA?
How many new students entered public school this year?


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IN THE NEWS
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The U.S. Department of Education had decided that 3,800 North Dakota
elementary teachers were qualified to teach under NCLB. New teachers
licensed in the state, however, will face tougher testing requirements, said
Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D. Tuesday's announcement, Pomeroy said, was "a
complete reversal for the Department of Education and a complete victory for
North Dakota."
<http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/10802406.htm>

Parents Behaving Badly
They want tough standards, but not for their child. A report from Time that
is most interesting, if not scientific.
<http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050221/story.html>

Is this a dream or what: Site based management alive and working in Canada.
With 80 percent of the decisions being made at the site level and apparently
working, this Canadian district is being overrun by Americans looking for
some ideas. By the way, the key to site based management is having
administrators actually give power to the teachers. It could happen and it
has been successfully here.
<http://www.edweek.org/agentk-12/articles/2005/01/26/20edmonton.h24.html>

San Diego School Board may be easing up on kindergarten standards. They are questioning what the purpose of kindergarten is; a place to learn or play or
both or......
<http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/education/20050209-9999-7m9kinderrr.html>

The Public May be Turning Against School Funding, but not other areas
With an increasing number of retirees and many older workers who don't want
to pay to educate the children of others the funding for public education
may be in doubt among residents who own property and those in wealth
communities do not want to assist property and income poor communities fund
education. However they want all taxpayers to contribute to the spending of
billions on roads that benefit transportation by car and sewer and water
systems that subsidize affluent suburban communities utilizing huge tracts
of land. At the same time, these communities and President Bush, do not want
to help fund public transportation and rail service that is much less costly
for all taxpayers that benefits all, but most notably lower income people.
<http://www.educationnews.org/240-greed-self-interest-and-mora.htm>

Ohio plans to expand school vouchers
Gov. Bob Taft is calling for expanding school vouchers beyond Cleveland by
offering them to 2,600 students who attend public schools with persistently
failing test scores.
Taft proposed $9 million for vouchers called the Limited Ohio Choice
Scholarship, the plan calls for the state to make vouchers available in the
second year of the budget to students in schools that fail to meet state
proficiency standards in math and reading three years in a row.
<http://www.cleveland.com/education/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1108031613222040.xml>

Special-education students may not be required to pass the AIMS test to get
their diploma but that doesn't mean they get a free pass. Special-education
students still have to take the test. Under the federal No Child Left Behind
law, schools must administer a test that measures academic progress or lose
federal funding, according to Arizona State Superintendent of Public
Instruction Tom Horne.
<http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0211specialedaims11.html>

Claire Van Ummerson, director of the ACE's Office of Women in Higher
Education, said that women frequently must "compromise their personal
values" to fit into the academic culture. The most controversial change that
is being sought may be what Mary Sue Coleman, president of the University of
Michigan, said officials there were already studying and that is a change
in the time before a tenure review to 10 years from the traditional 6.
http://www.insidehighered.com/insider/10_years_until_tenure


Morgan Spurlock, director and star of "Super Size Me: A film of epic
proportions," is releasing an edited version of the film for classrooms. The
school version is targeted for grades six through 12. It contains sample
lesson plans and bonus interviews with nutritionists and doctors. Spurlock
also said that he is working with foundations to underwrite the cost, so
that cash-strapped school districts can get it for free.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2005/02/10/fast_food_documentary_heading_to_schools_1108084369/

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INTERESTING SITES
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AMAZING - Have the Kid's record their songs using the phone
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/NCFR/collect.html
Have the grownups understand how it works
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/NCFR/

Ideas for Motivating Difficult Students
<http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Teachers/newteacher.html>

Earth Day lessons And list of events
http://www.earthday.net/

Immigration lesson plans, literature, and symbolism
http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/immigrate.html

Where to find free software applications and tutorials
<http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Technology/apps.html>

How to keep kids safe on the internet
<http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Technology/INTERNET_SAFTY_TIPS_FOR_CH.html>

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SITES YOU PROBABLY NEVER KNEW EXISTED
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How to build a bat house
<http://www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat/bathouse.cfm>

My reviews of the best compact SUVs
<http://www.auto123.com/en/info/news/carfamily.spy>

Food Safety from Farm to Fork
This is actually an exceptional site with great lessons on agriculture and
food and an enormous number of free resources.
<http://www.cfaitc.org/>

My latest book review
http://www.lib.msu.edu/corby/reviews/posted/intrator2.htm

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QUOTES
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The pupil who is never required to do what he cannot do, never does what he can do.
- John Stuart Mill, 1806 - 1873

It is not enough to offer a smorgasbord of courses. We must insure that
students are not just eating at one end of the table.
- Angelo Bartlett Giamatti, 1938 - 1989
http://www.afcec.org/quotes.html

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FACTOIDS
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India has surpassed China as the foreign country with the most students
earning their higher education in the United States, according to a recent
report. There were 66,836 students from India enrolled in U.S. colleges and
universities during the 2001-2002 school year, according to Open Doors, an annual report by the Institute of International Education.
http://www.indianewengland.com/news/2002/12/01/Community/Report.India.Sends.Most.Students.To.U-334974.shtml

Last fall, nearly 400,000 additional children entered the nation's
classrooms, representing the 19th consecutive rise in school enrollment.
Yet, annual school revenues and spending are stagnant, as is the average
salary necessary to attract an estimated 16,000 qualified teachers needed
for this wave of students.
<http://www.nea.org/newsreleases/2004/nr040526.html>

Thanks for reading,

Al
<http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Ringleaders/al.html>

TO SUBSCRIBE TO NETHAPPENIGS
<http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/>

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