06.15.06
Posted in News at 5:39 am by Paloma Cruz
One of the reasons blogs are so popular, so successful, is that they provoke conversation. This is something every teacher wants to encourage in his or her students.
PBS Teacher Source gives tips and techniques for teachers to use blogs to engage students.
So today I’d like to introduce you to Janice Robertson, who’s using blogging to engage her students in some novel discussions.
Robertson teaches seventh grade English in Ontario. Her blog, Novel Discussions, encourages students to respond to her reading assignment questions online.
The blog, which uses Blogger as its website platform, is written as a series of questions. Some questions prompt students to discuss the content of the books; in other cases, Robertson asks the students to reflect on how they would handle a given situation from the book, or interview others on how they might handle it. For example, in one blog entry she asks her students to interview two adults and see if there was anything in their lives they would do over again. The students respond by posting comments to the blog.
For an intro, you can also read their What Exactly is a Blog, Anyway?
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06.14.06
Posted in News at 1:05 am by Paloma Cruz
If you have student loans, you might want to look into consolidating them right now. Try to get in before the July 1st deadline.
Students Rush to Consolidate Loans Before July 1
– reported by Hispanic Business
For the more than 2 million American college students that make up the Class of 2006, this is time for lots of celebration - and maybe a little panic. For more than 60 percent of undergraduates and more than 80 percent of professional school grads, the end of school means the beginning of student loan payments. With interest rates on federal student loans set to increase by nearly 2 percent as of July 1, many students are being encouraged to lock in lower rates now.
Undergrads borrow a median amount of more than $16,000, while professional school graduates borrow a median of more than $50,000, according to the American Council on Education. Yet those numbers only scratch the surface of borrowers’ real financial obligations. Depending on the rate of interest and the term of the loan, borrowers could pay back double, even triple, the amount of the original loan.
[snip]
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06.13.06
Posted in News at 5:56 am by Paloma Cruz
SUMMER READING
Let kids swim in books
They’re gateways to getaways, and here’s the best part: Libraries are free and air-conditioned
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
As the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer roll out, many parents are hoping to find ways to make them a little less lazy.
About this time every year, parents and educators devise strategies for keeping reading levels high for good readers and improving skills for remedial readers. Reading is in many ways an ideal activity for summer, when kids have more uninterrupted free time and the heat keeps them inside.
[snip]
Tactics suggested:
A. BE COOL.
B. BUY BOOKS.
C. SUPERHEROES, ANYONE?
D. PACK A “BOOKNIC.”
E. MORE THAN BOOKS.
F. PUT ON A SHOW.
G. LET THEM PICK.
H. INTERIOR DESIGN.
I. GO FOR VARIETY.
J. FORM A MOVIE AND BOOK CLUB.
K. MAKE IT A CONTEST.
L. VACATION READING.
M. FORM A KIDS’ BOOK CLUB.
N. DIG DEEP.
Additional info:
SUMMER CHALLENGES
Local libraries are taking part in the 2006 Texas Reading Club. The theme this summer is “Reading: The Sport of Champions!”
- Houston Public Library: Depending on the number of books they complete, kids can score tickets to Comets or Astros games, admission to the Children’s Museum of Houston or the Museum of Natural Science and meals at James’ Coney Island or Pizza Hut. Sign up at one of the 36 branch libraries or www.houstonlibrary.org.
- Fort Bend County Library: The program, which includes events at various branches, continues through July 29. Read 20 books and get a trophy. Visit your local branch for details.
- Montgomery County Memorial Library System: Separate programs are offered for kids and teens. Check your local branch or visit www.countylibrary.org.
- Harris County Public Library: Visit a branch or go to www.hcpl.lib.tx.us for details.
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06.12.06
Posted in News at 5:47 am by Paloma Cruz
Most students going into hock for college
Average debt after graduation is more than $19,000
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
Nearly two of every three undergraduate students are going into debt to go to college, owing an average of more than $19,000, most often to the government.
Among a dozen states sampled, New York students averaged the largest loans, while those in Oregon and Minnesota were most likely to have borrowed.
About 65 percent of students who graduated in the 2003-2004 school year did so after getting student loans, according to the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.
For students who took out loans, the average debt was $19,202. Of that sum, $17,022 came through federal loan programs.
[snip]
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06.11.06
Posted in News at 8:18 pm by Paloma Cruz
Students’ scores mixed in science
– reported by KHOU CBS Channel 11
Texas’ fourth-graders got mostly positive marks on the latest national science test. Eighth-graders, however, scored near the bottom of their class.
The federal government on Wednesday released results for the National Assessment of Education Progress science exam, administered to a representative sample of 300,000 fourth-, eighth- and 12th-graders in 44 states last year. State-by-state results were available only in grades 4 and 8. In Texas, more than 8,000 students were tested in each of the two grades.
The results: Black, Hispanic and white fourth-graders in Texas outscored their peers on the test, which was graded on a 300-point scale. And, overall, fourth-graders scored an average of 150 on the test, a point above the national average. That ranked 26th among 44 states.
But when broken down by ethnic, racial and economic groups, Texas’ fourth-graders came out ahead across the board and scored in the top tier of states. Black students from Texas registered an average score of 133 – five points above the national average for blacks – and Hispanic students had an average 141 – nine points above the national average for Hispanics.
[snip]
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Posted in News at 5:37 am by Paloma Cruz
Schools have no time for tutors
– reported by the Chicago Tribune
In Chicago’s public schools, 230,000 students qualified to receive free tutoring this year under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Only 66,500 actually got help. Those numbers look pretty bad, but compared with other cities around the country, they’re outstanding.
“Chicago should be the poster child for other school districts for how to do it right,” said Steve Pines, executive director of the Education Industry Association, a lobbying group for private tutoring companies. “They have waiting lists. They’ve done a great job making parents aware of the opportunity.”
“Great job” appears to be a relative term. Four years after the education reform law took effect, thousands of students eligible for help aren’t getting it. About 2 million students nationwide qualified this past school year to get tutoring, but only 10 percent to 20 percent got it, said officials with the U.S. Department of Education.
[snip]
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06.10.06
Posted in General at 10:32 pm by Paloma Cruz
131 Houston area schools are being investigated for possible TAKS cheating.
TAKS scores raise red flags
Outside review of 2005 results finds patterns of possible cheating at 131 area schools
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
An independent review of last year’s statewide testing results flagged 131 Houston and area suburban schools for unusual patterns that could indicate cheating.
Statewide, 609 schools — 8.6 percent of the state’s campuses — were identified for possible cheating by a Utah company hired to review data from the 2005 administration of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.
Districts have been notified about the anomalies, which include very similar responses, multiple erasures and large score gains.
They are asked to conduct investigations and have been told that a security task force of the Texas Education Agency also is reviewing historical data to identify inconsistencies that might warrant additional investigation.
[snip]
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Posted in News at 5:23 am by Paloma Cruz
Schools to raise expectations for graduation
Pasadena ISD to bring 3 new Rs into classrooms
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
[snip]
Although Pasadena’s dropout rate has declined from 8.6 percent to less than 2 percent during the past 20 years, the district is concerned about its retention rate.
[snip]
“Our goal with Expectation Graduation is to get those kids back on the four-year target.”
The program’s concept has been in the planning stages for the past year, and will be introduced into ninth-grade classrooms across the district when classes start again in August.
Lewis said the program incorporates three basic teaching concepts into the existing curriculum.
[snip]
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06.09.06
Posted in News at 9:46 pm by Paloma Cruz
Students go the extra mile for college acceptance
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
[snip]
To get an edge in the increasingly competitive admissions race, teenagers across Texas and the country are flocking to math and science camps, visiting faraway places as missionaries and taking courses on Ivy League campuses this summer.
Attending some programs can cost thousands of dollars, and many parents view them as worthwhile investments. But some admissions experts said elite colleges and universities do not give much weight to expensive programs and activities, and a job mowing lawns can look just as good on an application.
“We look for initiative,” said Mark Scheid, an assistant to the president and the acting admissions director at Rice University. “So if you work for your father, that doesn’t get the interest of our (application) readers as much as someone from New York who rode a bus to Cheyenne to learn about being a cowboy.”
The top factors in the admissions process continue to be grades in college preparatory classes, standardized admission tests, grade point average, class rank and application essay, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, or NACAC.
Private colleges, meanwhile, assign a higher value to the “tip” factors, such as recommendations and work and extracurricular activities, the association found.
[snip]
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Posted in News at 6:20 am by Paloma Cruz
HISD Toughens Punishment On Bullies
New Code Of Student Conduct Approved
– reported by Click2Houston.com
[snip]
The Houston Independent School District unanimously approved a new code of student conduct that would give principals more authority over a student’s punishment.
The district’s previous policy only allowed a student who bullied or verbally abused another student to have a report sent home to parents and the possibility of detention. The new plan gives principals the authority to suspend or send a student to an alternative school.
Also, any assault by a student, whether or not bodily injury is involved, now requires removal to a disciplinary alternative school.
The new code of conduct also toughens punishments for academic cheating. Students’ parents will be notified of the incident and be required to attend a special conference with the principal. Students could also be assigned to in-school detention or suspension, not be allowed to ride a school bus and not be allowed to participate in extracurricular activities.
[snip]
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