| News for the Education Profession |  |
2008 ASCD Annual Conference Preview
Reinventing Schools: Courageous Leadership
for Positive Change |
What better place to bring together educators committed to reinventing schools to foster positive educational change than in New Orleans, where students and teachers have begun to return and rebuild.
ASCD is hosting its 2008 ASCD Annual Conference: "Reinventing Schools: Courageous Leadership for Positive Change," in New Orleans, March 15 to 17. The conference will feature more than 550 sessions and will cover everything from creating better schools and building stronger learning communities to examining the effectiveness of traditional learning approaches and getting results.
In anticipation of the conference, we are pleased to offer ASCD SmartBrief subscribers and conference attendees a glimpse into how the conference topics relate to the latest news in your profession.
If you don't receive ASCD SmartBrief on a daily basis and find our show preview useful, we urge you to sign up for our timely e-newsletter. ASCD SmartBrief delivers the stories making news in your profession directly to your inbox -- for FREE. |
| Classroom Management |  |  |
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- Compliments touch even the toughest students
Rather than treating students as if they are the enemy, teachers can get positive results from their pupils by taking an interest in them and being generous in handing out compliments, according to Cindi Rigsbee, the 2008 North Carolina Regional Teacher of the Year. "It was difficult with some, but I managed to find one nice thing to say to every single student, every single day," says Rigsbee, who notes that the technique yields positive classroom results. Teacher Magazine (free registration)
(1/30)     
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Creating Conditions That Promote Student Achievement: Wade Boykin will describe strategies that have proven effective elsewhere at supporting teaching and learning. The session will highlight strategies that are useful in technical and vocational schools and will explore how schools can develop effective partnerships with parents and community groups to further raise achievement. Find out more about this Creating Conditions That Promote Student Achievement session.
 | Stop by booth 261 at ASCD in New Orleans to meet Jane Harrison & Ken Breeding, authors of Connected & Respected: Lessons from the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program from Educators for Social Responsibility. The books provide dozens of grade level lessons and strategies for developing social and emotional learning skills. Click here for ordering info. |
| Multicultural Education | | |
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- Book: Teachers must acknowledge racial issues
Educators must shed ideals of color-blindness and instead freely discuss racial issues, says Mica Pollock in a new book of essays, "Everyday Antiracism: Getting Real About Race in School." "We talk about racial achievement gaps, but that's not the same thing," said Wendy Luttrell, a Harvard University associate professor of human development and education, who has an essay in the book. "The most important thing, I think, is for teachers to be talking with each other about how they work with students and confront any kind of inflammatory language among students." Education Week (premium article access compliments of EdWeek.org)
(1/29)
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| | Looking for a complete resource for creating a middle or high school advisory program?
The Advisory Guide: Designing and Implementing Effective Advisory Programs in Secondary Schools from ESR provides hundreds of hands-on activities and strategies for creating and sustaining successful advisories. Click Here for this and other advisory materials. | |
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| Technology Solutions | | |
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- Report: Open-source course software wins educators' praise
The open-source course-management software Moodle offers educators the ability to develop tailored lessons, according to a new Consortium for School Networking report. "We kind of view it as a ... multipurpose tool," says networking and security manager Jeff Crawford, whose East Grand Rapids, Mich., district introduced Moodle a few years ago. "It has done a lot of cool and creative things and provided [new] solutions for teachers and students." eSchool News (free registration)
(1/30)
- Software tests students' tech literacy
Some companies, including Learning.com, have developed assessments to test students' understanding of technology. Although NCLB calls for 8th graders to be technologically literate, few states require discrete tech-literacy testing. "My sense is that there's a great desire at the state and local level to look at these kinds of [technological-literacy] skills. But there's a challenge with curricular requirements and overtesting," said Mark Schneiderman, the director of education policy for the Software and Information Industry Association. Education Week (premium article access compliments of EdWeek.org)
(1/29)
| Teaching the Whole Child | | |
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- School success linked to social, emotional development
This article draws a link between students' academic and life success and their emotional and social well-being. The state of Illinois has identified five key elements -- self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, interpersonal skills and responsible decision-making skills -- that children need to be steeped in, to help ensure they have the mindset needed to become successful learners. Teachers can help children adopt these skills by modeling these behaviors in their day-to-day classroom interactions with students. Southern Illinoisan (Carbondale, Herrin, Murphysboro)
(1/29)
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Discover ways to educate the whole child: In this special feature, "Advancing the Education of the Whole Child," attendees will gain insight into the importance of schools and communities working together to educate the whole child. Read more about this session.
- Australian school uses meditation to boost learning
Daily transcendental meditation focuses students and reduces bullying at an Australian school named for the man who introduced the technique to the Beatles and other luminaries in the 1960s, says principal Frances Clarke. "It creates dynamic, alert and aware children," she said. "It's not that there's no conflict, but they work it out and talk it through and appreciate where the other person is coming from." The Age (Melbourne, Australia)
(1/28)
| Gearing up for New Orleans | | |
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2008 ASCD Conference resources
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Help ASCD support Louisiana students
ASCD's "The Next Chapter: Books Bash and Beyond," a service project and celebration to support revitalization in New Orleans schools, will kick off the 2008 ASCD Annual Conference & Exhibit Show, on Friday, March 14, in New Orleans, La. Conference attendees are invited to bring a new children's book to the Bash, which ASCD will donate to New Orleans public schools.
Anyone interested in supporting Louisiana students, whether attending the conference or not, can help fund critical education resources by visiting ASCD's DonorsChoose Challenge Page.
View ASCD's DonorsChoose Challenge Page
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- Monday, February 04, 2008
- Friday, February 01, 2008
- Thursday, January 31, 2008
- Wednesday, January 30, 2008
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