Learning and Teaching

• The benefits of teaching students about effort
  Effort empowers learning, writes Kevin D. Washburn, executive director of Clerestory Learning. In this blog post, he suggests teachers emphasize effort in the classroom by avoiding the oversimplification of historic and scientific achievements by including stories about struggle and success. He also suggests showing the relationship between effort and results, and separating "strategy from individual worth." SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Education (11/21)     

• How fanfiction can develop better student writers
  Teachers can use fanfiction -- fiction pieces written by the fans of a work from books, movies or video games -- to build their students' writing skills, college professor and author Christopher Shamburg writes in this guest blog post. Shamburg offers examples why teachers should allow students to write about their interests outside of the material they cover in class. "It validates where they are developmentally, but it demands that they take different perspectives on familiar situations and stories," Shamburg writes. School Library Journal/Connect the Pop blog (11/23)     

• Chicago teachers go off script to design lessons plans
  The new contract agreed to by Chicago's public-school teachers includes more flexibility for them to design classroom lessons -- reversing a previous rule that in some cases required them to adhere to a template. Teachers now are writing their own lesson plans, and sharing them with their principals and sometimes the whole school. "The way my mind works, having a particular format, having to have a regulated format, would feel like it's too mundane, too micromanaged," said social studies teacher Erik Young. Chicago Sun-Times (11/24)     

	A Research-Proven Method Designed for the Common Core Lexia Reading Core5™ is a technology-based system of reading instruction designed to meet the Common Core State Standards. It provides independent student learning, predicts students' year-end performance and provides teachers data-driven action plans and materials to help differentiate instruction. View a recorded webinar to learn more.

School Leadership

• Improvements are sought for student-teaching model
  Efforts to improve teacher education have put mentoring -- or student-teaching -- in the spotlight, with some calling for greater scrutiny of mentor teachers. Some models provide for greater vetting of such teachers, and other options include focusing on a co-teaching model, which began in special education and St. Cloud State University, in Minnesota, where it was pioneered. Education Week (premium article access compliments of EdWeek.org) (11/26)     

• Mentoring helps develop effective teachers: Great teachers are not born, they are made, says Shira Loewenstein, associate director of New Teacher Support at Yeshiva University. In this blog post, she offers suggestions for teachers hoping to mentor new educators. She recommends becoming part of a formal mentoring program and opening up the classroom to novice teachers. Edutopia.org/Shira Loewenstein's blog (11/21)     

Technology in the Classroom

• Teachers transform smartphones into learning tools
  Teachers should integrate smartphones into daily classroom instruction, suggests teacher Jennifer Carey. In this blog post, Carey writes about how her students used smartphones to complete in-class polls, as e-readers for books and handouts, to complete research and to conduct Google searches. "If teachers actually direct how students will use their cellphones in class as learning tools, we can minimize their role as a distractive presence," she writes. Powerful Learning Practice (11/21)     

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by ASCD SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• Are common core math standards too demanding? (The Atlantic online)

• How educators can prevent student cheating (The Huffington Post)

• Can homework help students on standardized tests? (The Huffington Post)

• How to help students learn to write through practice (Education Week Teacher)

• Free apps give teachers tools to record student behavior (School Library Journal)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

	New Today from Harvard Education Press! In Helping Educators Grow, Eleanor Drago-Severson presents a new approach to leadership development. "Drago-Severson deftly interweaves theory and practice to help individuals become more effective and engaging leaders" —Ed Dieterle, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Look Inside the Book.

Policy Watch

• Time-consuming teacher observations are scrutinized in L.A.
  A new teacher-evaluation system adopted in Los Angeles public schools is based, in part, on student achievement and also includes a teacher-observation requirement that some administrators say is too time-consuming. The process includes tests for the observers, and conferences with teachers both before and after the observations take place. Los Angeles Times (tiered subscription model) (11/25)     

• Other News

• School-choice debate in Tenn. expands to public schools
  The Tennessean (Nashville) (tiered subscription model) (11/26)     

Faculty Lounge

• Fewer students admit to lying to teachers, cheating in 2012
  This year, for the first time in a decade, fewer high-school students admitted to cheating, according to a survey by the Josephson Institute of Ethics. Of students who participated in the poll, 51% said they cheated on an exam in the past year, down from 59% in 2010, and 55% said they lied to a teacher, a drop from 61% in 2010. Officials say the shift is due to a greater focus on character at home and at school. USA Today (11/25)     

	The Buzz(CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENTS) Math Tools in Action is an exciting new DVD series that shows teachers in grades 1-5 how to use anchor charts, journals, and manipulatives to deepen and improve math instruction. Each DVD chronicles a complete lesson in a real classroom, with expert commentary and teaching tips before and during the lesson. Click here to view clips and download the viewing guides! Interested in learning more about advertising with SmartBrief? Click here for detailed industry information and media kits.

ASCD News

• What's the purpose of public education?
  While it's essential for students to master basics of reading, writing, mathematics and technology, writes ASCD EDge community member Carol Hunter, it's also important for the education community to focus on social and emotional aspects of student growth and development. In her post, Hunter shares Canadian educators' and parents' answers to the question, "What is the purpose of public education?" and discusses why it's time to define the place for these core ideas in the curriculum. Read on.     

• Webinar -- Learning from the experts: A discussion of effective teaching practices
  If new education initiatives have your head spinning, mark your calendar for Robert Marzano and James Stronge's 90-minute webinar, which kicks off at 3 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Dec. 4. During their presentation, Marzano and Stronge will answer your questions about effective teaching and discuss how to focus on what counts in a time of many reforms. Register.     

Position Title Company Name Location Teach Overseas! International Schools Services Multiple Locations, International K-12 School Teacher The International Educator Multiple Locations, International Principal / CAO Howard Gardner Multiple Intelligence Charter School Scranton, PA Senior Technical Assistance Consultant American Institutes for Research Multiple Locations, United States NEA Academy Field Marketing Specialist NEA's Member Benefits Corporation Gaithersburg, MD Head of School Bixby School Boulder, CO

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SmartQuote

The passion for setting people right is in itself an afflictive disease." --Marianne Moore, American poet and writer