I read a rather heartbreaking story about the loss of a home-town treat to the Obama administration’s nutritional guidelines. Apparently, Michelle Obama’s national school nutrition bill has messed with a serious tradition in Elyria, Ohio. As a continuation to my blog, Healthy School Lunches-An Oxymoron?, I share the following.
The Elyria school system has served a beloved pink cookie for over 40 years. The recipe includes the use of white flour, butter, sour cream, granulated and powdered sugars, and Crisco among other ingredients. The caloric content of this fabulous treat has pushed it into the “ancient snack” archives under the Obama administration’s school food policies which allow a maximum of 200 calories per snack.
Video blogger Mor Rossler discusses play based learning. Learning through play has become the goal of many early childhood centers. The idea is that a child learns about the world around them, societal norms, the basics of problem solving, math skills and language skills best through play. Does it work? Watch the video and learn more!
What experiences have you had with play based learning? We’d love to hear your thoughts.
A reader of my recent blog, Charter Schools-Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained?, commented that perhaps one of the disadvantages of charter schools is that teachers are not protected by a union. She felt that teachers who work in a charter school are choosing the freedom to be innovative in the classroom over better salary and stronger job security. Finding this subject compelling, I did some research on the topic. What I found was a large array of conflicting information and viewpoints.
Hertz Furniture is proud to present the What Makes An Effective Teacher? infographic series! Student influences such as attention span, cultural background and socioeconomic factors are just a few of the things that make an effective teacher.
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Published in 1992 and having sold over 50 million copies! (not including the sharing of the book between readers), Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray educated us in the reality that there truly are differences between how men and women think, understand, behave and react. When dealing with these distinctions appropriately people thrive. When women treat men as if they were women and men treat women as if they were men, havoc is created.
These “facts on the ground” do not seem to be considered within the educational system. The gap between the successes of girls to boys in the classroom is widening as time goes on. There are twice as many boys with learning difficulties as girls. Four times as many boys are autistic and the incidence of Asperger syndrome is almost entirely male. In special units, boys outnumber girls by six to one and there are five times as many boys as girls excluded from schools. Let’s explore some of the causes.
Guest Post by Ember Reichgott Junge
The National Charter Schools Conference opened this morning with a standing-room-only crowd for the first general session—due to a record-breaking 4,600+ attendees to the conference! True, the conference site in Las Vegas may be attractive to some, but remember, it is 111 degrees outside! In my view, people are here because they are committed to personal growth and growth of a strong charter sector. And we all love lots and lots of networking.
For more than 40 years the educational world has debated the value of offering pay-for-performance as a teacher incentive. This can come across as insulting to educators. The assumption is that if we offer additional pay, teachers will work harder. It implies that teachers know how to improve student achievement but are not doing so because they are not sufficiently motivated and value financial rewards more than student success.
On the other hand, it is known that high-performing educational systems pay their teachers more than lower-performing schools. However, is this actual proof that educators will teach better for higher pay or is it that higher quality teachers work in areas with larger budgets? Generally, teacher salaries are based on credentials and years of experience, both of which have been shown to be poor indicators of teacher effectiveness. In addition, offering merit pay might level the playing field for some teachers thinking about leaving teaching for other professions which are more publically respected.