Interesting education articles we saw this week

One of the most difficult parts to putting together our weekly internal newsletter is narrowing down what to include.  We see so many interesting items.  But we want to keep the newsletter to a manageable length.  So sometimes we have to be really selective.  These are the articles that made the cut this week.  And check out our fun site at the bottom of the post.

The Obama administration is proposing an increase of $1.3 billion in education spending.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that ed-tech funding will be cut by 63% (Obama proposes $1.3B increase in ed funding – eSchool News Online).

Classrooms benefit directly from donors is an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune.  It looks at DonorsChoose.org, an online philanthropy site that allows people to choose where their donated money will go.  “’The trend over time is that donors want to be able to direct their giving. They don't want to give it to an intermediary and then have the intermediary decide where it goes,’ said James Ferris, director of the Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy at the University of Southern California.”  Over 130,000 donors have used the site.

The Denver Post reported on Rap boosting kids’ academics.  Rap to Roots is a program that uses rap to help kids learn everything from Shakespeare to math.  It’s been successfully used in Chicago and Cleveland and the article described its debut in the Denver school system.  Does it work?  According to Michael Schenkelberg, the developer of the program, “Organizers tracked students' progress over four years and discovered those in the program "’did significantly better in standardized testing, attention spans in the classroom, and some improved their writing skills.’”

What’s big in science education?  Forensics, according to A Hit in school, maggots and all (New York Times).  Teachers are finding that kids are excited by the classes being offered and are learning science, sometimes without even realizing it, including biology, chemistry and physics.  “Forensic science also emphasizes what scientists complain is too often lacking in standard science education: hands-on lab work.”

Last week we finished with computer equipment playing Bohemian Rhapsody.  This week we end with an organist’s rendition of the Overture to Star Wars.  It’s kind of boring to actually watch.  But close your eyes and it sounds just like the movies.  Thanks to Nick in Trade marketing for sending this to us.  Enjoy. 

Stimulus funding news and teacher appreciation

All kinds of issues and questions are fielded here at the Scholastic Library.  A lot of questions have been asked about the federal economic stimulus plan and its impact on education, and subsequently on Scholastic.  So it's a topic we follow closely.  Here are a few of the items we shared with the staff this week.

The stimulus funds have begun flowing to the states.  With that, the states are faced with some issues.  States vexed by stimulus challenges from Stateline.org looks at how states are preparing to comply with the data gathering requirements among other challenges.  The story includes several charts as well as links to related articles.

Alabama legislature wraps up education budget from the Charleston Daily Mail is an example of several articles we saw this week on how the states are finishing their education budgets, taking into account the stimulus funding.  “Senate budget committee Chairman Hank Sanders, D-Selma, said federal stimulus funds made the difference in having drastic cuts and layoffs because of the recession or saving jobs and programs.”  Another example is Schools budget drops for the first time from the Idaho Statesman.  For Idaho, stimulus funds helped but cutbacks were still necessary.  “The total allocation is $48.7 million, 3.2 percent less than the public schools received last year. It is the first time since the state began keeping detailed records that the public schools will receive less money than they did the year before.”  And in Arkansas, School districts eyeing ways to spend federal stimulus funds (Northwest Arkansas Times).  Technology, after-school programs and professional development are just a few of the ideas being considered.  Legislature spares Florida public schools from the worst, from the Miami Herald, reports on how the stimulus funding helped the state maintain education budgets.  “Credit for the reprieve goes to more than $2 billion in stimulus money, which lawmakers infused into the pre-K-12 budget (though, technically the application is pending).”

And while many states are using the funding to prevent layoffs and cutbacks, a large chunk of the funding is earmarked for technology improvements.  Stimulus aims to help close digital divide from eSchool News Online reports that some $7 billion dollars will be devoted to help schools and communities “expand broadband services to underserved areas, improve broadband access for public safety agencies, stimulate the economy, and create jobs.”

School Library Journal has scheduled a webcast for May 19 at 3:30 to discuss stimulus funding for libraries.  Stimulate this Library! Accessing American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funding will provide school librarians with suggestions on how to bring funding to their libraries.  And Capstone Publishers, a library market publisher, held a similar webcast according to Capstone teaches how to get stimulus funding (Publishers Weekly).  “Librarians were encouraged to ‘gather the facts’ and were directed to studies documenting a connection between library investment and improved test scores.”

This is teacher appreciation week.  And you can nominate your favorite teacher to attend the 2010 National Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy.  The Scholastic Library does not provide endorsements.  But we heard about this and thought some of our readers might want to check it out.

And just for fun.  Back in the olden days, computers made a lot of noise.  And some clever computer geek has put together this rendition of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody using old computer equipment.  Too young to have heard of Queen?  You’ll never know what you missed.  Enjoy. 

Interesting education articles this week

As we review many web sites, newspapers and magazines, we often select web sites or articles for the newsletter that we think may be relevant to Scholastic's businesses.  These are the ones we chose for this week.

In the U.K., the Telegraph reports Revealed: new teaching methods that are producing

dramatic results.  New techniques such as “spaced learning” are showing signs of real

success.  The school day consists of “short sharp lessons … interspersed with an entirely

different activity and repeated at regular intervals.” 

The Newark Star-Ledger had an interesting story online, In recession, more parents ‘slowly’

spend quality time with their kids.  “Slow parenting,” a movement that began about five

years ago aims to slow “the pace of family life and scal[e] back on material items.”  A lot

more parents are adopting this concept even though many of them have never heard of it.

Christopher Dawson writes an interesting blog for ZDNet.   He

recently posted Summer reading…the data don’t lie.  Dawson, a teacher in Massachusetts, looked

at the numbers and saw that many students suffered from the “summer slide.” “Summer

break…can be disastrous without reading exposure, especially for the younger kids.” He

offers a couple of suggestions for alleviating the problem.

For some students, raising self-esteem can mean increases in achievement, according to Task

to aid self-esteem lifts grades for some (New York Times).  “Some seventh graders who were

struggling in class did significantly better after performing a series of brief

confidence-building writing exercises, and the improvements continued through eighth grade,”

according to a study from Columbia and Yale Universities.

At the same time, and possibly connected in some way, “More challenging middle-school math

classes and increased access to advanced courses in predominantly black urban high schools

may be the key to closing the racial academic achievement gap,” according to a study from

the University of Illinois (Middle-school math classes are key to closing racial academic

achievement gap – Science Daily).  “Being in a classroom where the expectations are higher,

the course work is more rigorous, and the climate is more academic has huge effects on

student effort.”

And just for fun -- there are several very cool short videos with slow motion images on Vimeo.  The link we’ve provided is to our favorite.   After the dart hitting the dartboard and the pom pom hitting the ground, there’s a spectacular video of a cube of jello.  It’s like a jellyfish.  And you can see every move because the picture is so clear.  Enjoy!  

Tracking the stimulus plan

As the stimulus funds are distributed to the states, we've found it interesting here at the Scholastic Library to watch the local press coverage of the issues school districts are facing.  These are some of the more interesting items we noticed this week.

U.S. News’ On Education blog explores Will stimulus money lead to actual education reform? 

It discusses Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s demand for verifiable reform as opposed to

many states reluctance to provide what could be embarrassing numbers.

And the Boston Globe reports As money for teachers flows, some states have other ideas. 

Loopholes in the law might allow governors to use the money for other projects.  Duncan

insists “he can come down hard on states that don't comply because he is releasing the money

in installments, and because he will award billions of dollars in competitive grants later

this year.”

In Education stimulus funds about to flow; school officials told to spend wisely, the

Arkansas News reports on the $570 million the state’s 245 school districts will receive over

the next six months.  The state’s Education Commissioner provided guidance to the districts

for applying for funding.

The Daily Journal in Mississippi discussed the stimulus funding as well in Superintendents

watch for stimulus money.  Because the Mississippi legislature has failed to pass a budget,

teacher layoffs were on hold.  The stimulus money will allow many schools to maintain their

teaching staffs.

Schools’ ‘money is falling off the truck’, an article in the Washington Post, looks at how

some state and local governments are slashing school budgets, to be replaced by the stimulus

funds.  Several articles over the last few weeks have discussed this possibility as well. 

“Education Secretary Arne Duncan has warned states against playing ‘shell games’ with money

aimed at schools. The stimulus law and regulations have strings to protect against big drops

in education funding but allow the most cash-strapped states to seek some flexibility.”

The Pittsburgh school district will receive about $43 million in stimulus money over the

next two years and it is looking at creating a reading intervention program for middle

school students to help prepare them for high school, according to City schools to use

stimulus funds for literacy programs from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

For more information on the stimulus plan, check out Scholastic's The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act page.

And just for fun, they’re dancing in a train station in London in this fun commercial for

T-Mobile.  And not to be outdone, enjoy the dancing at the Antwerp train station as well.  

Education News

Every week we review hundreds of articles that come in through online newsletters.  We select those that we think are either most relevant to our business or would have some interest for Scholastic staff.  It's often a difficult decision as there are so many relevant and interesting articles in newspapers, magazines and on the blogs.

Ed Week recently ran a story as part of its special issue, Technology Counts 2009, Research shows evolving picture of e-education.  “Research shows that virtual schooling can be as good as, or better than, classes taught in person in brick-and-mortar schools,” according to the article.  But virtual schooling also has specific issues to deal with, one of which is that “the courses tend to draw students at the extremes of the academic spectrum—advanced, highly motivated students looking for academic acceleration, and students who are struggling in regular classrooms.”

A new study out of the University of Pennsylvania has found that Visual learners convert words to pictures in the brain and vice versa (Science Daily).  The authors of the study believe these results may help in tailoring reading instruction for students.

A survey of teachers in Britain found that three quarters of teachers believed children should be at least five before starting school.  (Call to start school at age six – BBC)  The teachers had several other thoughts as well, including a lack of playtime and too much emphasis on testing.

Publishers Weekly profiled Gary Shapiro, a teacher in Salinas, CA, who uses comic books to teach reading (Superman, super teacher: using comics to teach reading).  As a kid, Shapiro had trouble learning to read and found comics helped him.  He applies his experience to his students. 

Interesting education reports released this week

We can't include every report we see in our weekly newsletter at the Scholastic Library.  So we select 2 or 3, or sometimes 4, that we think are the most interesting or relevant to what we do here at Scholastic.  These are the ones we picked this week.

The Education Trust has published Education Watch: National Report.  It provides a general

overview of achievement, attainment and other factors normalized for the U.S.  There are also

individual state reports.  “This national report and every individual ‘Education Watch State

Report’ show how well schools are serving different groups of young people.”

The National Institute for Early Education Research has released The State of Preschool 2008.

 It finds that the recession has either stalled pre-kindergarten funding or reversed it in

some states.  Despite an increase in state spending over the past few years, federal spending

for public programs like Head Start had decreased.  But now many states are cutting funding

as well.  The good news is the money in the stimulus plan that’s designated for pre-k

programs.  For a review of the study’s findings, see Recession stalls state-financed

pre-kindergarten, but federal money may help from the New York Times.

Learning Teams: Creating What’s Next is a report from the National Commission on Teaching and

America’s Future.  The report warns that “more than half the nation's teachers are Baby

Boomers ages 50 and older and eligible for retirement over the next decade.”  It encourages

retention efforts and mentoring of new teachers.  For more on the report, including a map

with statistics on where the retirement issue could be a real problem, see USA Today’s

article A ’tsunami’ of Boomer teacher retirements is on the horizon.  

And the State Educational Technology Directors Association has released its sixth annual

Enhancing Education through Technology report called Focus on Technology Integration in

America's Schools.  It “identifies programs that effectively integrate technology to create

robust subject-matter content, innovative curricula, ongoing professional development, and

diagnostic assessments to facilitate individualized instruction.”  Report profiles states'

ed-tech successes from eSchool News Online reviews the findings.

And just for fun, the video on this is a bit grainy.  But you’ll still enjoy this dancing dog. 

Recent stories on education and the stimulus plan

There were several interesting stories on the economic stimulus and the education funds it will provide to the states this week.  These are the ones we identified at the Scholastic Library for inclusion in our weekly newsletter.

An article in the Montgomery Advertiser looks at some issues with the stimulus funding.  School leaders disappointed by stimulus numbers reports that local school administrators had hoped the stimulus money would help save teacher jobs.  “Some aren't even certain that they will be able to rehire as many teachers as planned based on preliminary numbers showing their school districts' share of the $596.36 million in stimulus funds.”  And in some states, governors are looking for ways to use the funds targeted for education for other purposes.  States eye education stimulus to fill budget gaps, an article in Education Week, reported that “a growing number of states are filling in their budget gaps with stimulus money or, in another strategy, cutting the state share of education funding—thereby freeing up state dollars for other expenses—and filling in education budgets with stimulus aid.”  Education Secretary Arne Duncan promised to keep an eye on the situation.

The Associated Press reported that Stimulus dollars to be released to schools this week.  And a great deal of that funding is going to early childhood education, according to Stimulus providing big funding boost for early childhood (Education Week).  “While other education officials are weighing the risks of starting new programs with federal money that may dry up in two years, early-childhood programs are ramping up for expansion after years of being underfunded.”

The Washington Post posted both the video and the transcript of its interview with Arne Duncan, Duncan does the math on education budget.  “We're going to work very, very closely with those states, and we will give out over the next couple weeks billions of dollars. But we're going to keep billions of dollars here to really watch and monitor how states do in terms of implementing these reforms,” Duncan said.

And just for fun, we thought we'd include this cute video from JibJab, Talking Easter Eggs.

A review of news stories covering the impact of the economic crisis on education

We thought these stories provided a good overview of what's going on around the country related to the economic stimulus and education.  The last site provides a way to check what's happening in your own state.

In Tide turns against schools as foreclosures rise, USA Today looks at the severe impact the loss of property tax revenue is having on school districts.  “More than half of school districts nationwide, including those serving once-fast-growing communities such as Fort Pierce, rely on local property taxes for more than 25% of their budgets.”  There’s a good map which shows the problem clearly.

An AP story on Google News reported on 4-day school week gains momentum amid recession.  “While there's still debate about how much districts will save, proponents say the shortened week can improve attendance and teacher retention. As for academics, studies have shown the four-day schedule does not hinder student achievement, and may even help improve test scores.” 

WFTV in Florida reported Virtual school may help fill in budget gaps.  “Florida Virtual School has seen a sharp increase in the number of students signing up to take courses online.  Students take the courses through the Florida Virtual School website and some districts are actually encouraging their students to take classes through the schools because many schools cancelled summer school for 2009.”

The Education Department has indicated that ‘Loophole’ allows for sweeping flexibility in stimulus funds.  “At least three organizations have asked ED to weigh in on a previously little-noticed loophole in the language of the law, which states that school districts can use stabilization dollars for "any activity authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)," among other statutes.”

Pre-K Now has created a table of Provisions Pertaining to Early Childhood Education in the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act.  It indicates the funding stream (Head Start, Community Services Block Grant, etc.) as well as the amount and the timeline for the release of the funding.

Want to know what each state is doing with the stimulus funds they’ll be receiving?  Check out Tracking States’ Spending Trackers, a site that provides links to each of the states’ stimulus sites.  Some states have no specific sites to track stimulus money.  But the list provides information on how to find out more for each state.

Weekly Web Finds -- March 12, 2009

Education & the Economy

As the states get ready for the infusion of funds for the stimulus, the federal government is sending a message, U.S. to nation’s schools: spend fast, keep receipts   (New York Times).   “’Spend funds quickly to save and create jobs,’ a five-page guidance document sent to the education officials said. It also urged educators to use the money in the stimulus package, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, in ways that ‘improve school achievement through school improvement and reform.’ It also warned them to keep records of expenditures.”

And Ed Week included more detail on the guidelines in Ed. Dept. outlines conditions for stimulus use.  “States won’t get all of their stabilization money at once. Instead, 67 percent—or about $32 billion—will go out within two weeks of a state’s submission of its application.”

The Education Department posted a press release with specific information on the guidelines.  “ARRA funds must be used to improve student achievement. To receive the first round of state stabilization funds, states must commit to meet ARRA requirements, including making progress on four key education reforms, sharing required baseline data, and meeting record-keeping and transparency requirements. To receive the second round of funding, they must provide evidence and plans for progress on these assurances.” 

USA Today looks at how the stimulus can impact schools environmentally.  Schools could turn green from stimulus money reports on Arkansas and other states and their plans to use the stimulus money for green renovations.  “’It just makes sense that, if you're going to renovate a building, you might as well renovate it in a way that will save you money in the long run,’ said Dale Ellis, a spokesman for the Arkansas Board of Higher Education.”

The Washington Times looks at whether the stimulus is too little, too late for some districts.  School budget cuts threaten gains reports that many schools will still face severe cuts despite the stimulus aid and that this will impact any positive achievement gains made.

Science Stuff

The National Science Foundation has created Classroom Resources, a resource for teachers, parents and students in the sciences, mathematics and engineering areas.  Much of the material comes from the National Science Digital Library and is created by universities, museums and professional organizations.  It allows browsing by subject area and includes links to useful sites.  Each subject area contains an overview from the National Science Foundation which can be found at the bottom of each subject area’s page. 

The Dynamic Earth is a cool interactive site from the Museum of Natural History.  It’s split into four areas: gems and minerals, plate tectonics and volcanoes, the solar system, and rocks and mining. 

As part of its Digital Gallery, the New York Public Library has posted Pictures of Science: 700 Years of Scientific and Medical Illustration.  “Hundreds of images from the thirteenth through the early twentieth century, in the fields of astronomy, chemistry, geology, mathematics, medicine, and physics, as represented by manuscript illuminations, engravings, lithographs, and photographs.”  Remember, you may need to check for copyright before using any of these images.

This Week’s Reports

Poverty and Potential: Out-of-School Factors and School Success is a brief from the Education Public Interest Center.  It contends that school success and reducing the achievement gap may not be possible if certain outside forces are not addressed.  These include:  (1) low birth-weight and non-genetic prenatal influences on children; (2) inadequate medical, dental, and vision care, often a result of inadequate or no medical insurance; (3) food insecurity; (4) environmental pollutants; (5) family relations and family stress; and (6) neighborhood characteristics.”

The Department of Education has issued Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2006-07 (Fiscal Year 2007).  It contains “basic revenue and expenditure data, by state, for public elementary and secondary education for school year 2006-07. It contains state-level data on revenues by source and expenditures by function, including expenditures per pupil.”

Newsworthy

Montana is working on legislation to offer online learning to all the state’s students, according to House backs K-12 distance learning (Billings Gazette).  Supporters claim “with many children in the state living in areas where districts can afford to offer only limited class choices, distance learning could be the only way to ensure all Montana kids have access to a quality education.”  Opponents however criticized creating a new program during tough economic times.

Proof of Anaheim math teacher’s skill is in students’ test scores is a story in the Los Angeles Times.  Sam Calavitta teaches an Advanced Placement calculus class at Fairmount Preparatory Academy.  His unusual teaching methods have paid off big time.  “All 81 of his students aced the college-level test, earning an average score of 4.79 out of 5. Sixty-nine of the students earned a perfect 5.”

A less hopeful story appeared on MSNBC.com.  ‘Tidal wave’ of homeless students hits schools describes the difficulties schools around the country are facing due to the rising number of homeless children in their classrooms.  “Research shows that the turmoil of homelessness often hinders children’s ability to socialize and learn. Many are plagued by hunger, exhaustion, abuse and insecurity. They have a hard time performing at grade level and are about 50 percent less likely to graduate from high school than their peers.”

Food, Glorious Food

The Food Timeline follows the development of edibles from the very beginnings of mankind.  Each item listed on the timeline is linked to a greater explanation of the foodstuff and its importance over time.  Of course, by the time you get to deep fried Coke-a-Cola and Kool Aid Pickles, you may start to wonder.  But the list is quite complete and includes such favorites as Eskimo Pies (1920), Mallomars (1913), and A1 Steak Sauce (1824).  There are also many links to recipes for some of the items profiled. 

Middle School Literacy

Kids who are struggling with reading need all the help we can give them.  Teacher’s Domain has created a web site to do just that.  Inspiring Middle School Literacy is designed to engage kids in grades 5-8.  The activities are self-paced and focus on science and history.  “Each activity addresses a range of specific literacy strategies. All 15 activities promote monitoring comprehension, synthesizing, asking questions, developing vocabulary, connecting prior knowledge to new learning, and developing a topic in writing.” 

St. Patrick’s Day Fun

Next Tuesday, March 17, is St. Patrick’s Day.  So to begin warming up for this important event, check out this Irish dancer, with a twist.  And we had to get animals in here somewhere; so enjoy these photos of pets wearing the Green.   YouTube alert, twice!  Enjoy.  

Weekly Web Finds -- March 5, 2009

Education & the Economy

According to the Idaho Statesman, Stimulus may not keep Idaho school budget intact.  The

state’s schools superintendent has indicated that he plans to use some of the stimulus money

to replenish the schools’ “rainy day fund”.  This would mean that some cuts still would need

to be made.  But they might not be quite as severe as initially thought.  In Arkansas,

education officials are looking at the recently jobless as potential teachers.  State seeks

teachers among newly jobless (Arkansas Democrat Gazette) reports that “staff members are

working to tap into the pool of displaced workers who have degrees and experience in

engineering, computer programming, graphic design and other fields to fill teaching jobs -

particularly teaching jobs in the high-demand subjects of mathematics, life sciences,

physical sciences, foreign languages, speech, art and music.”

The Education Department has created a page on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. 

It provides a fact sheet, state allocation info and more specifics on where the money from

the stimulus package will go. 

History Stuff

1989 was a pivotal year.  It was the year the Berlin Wall came down, signaling the end of the

Communist era.  The Center for History and New Media has posted Making the History of 1989. 

Dozens of primary sources, including documents, images and videos are available.  There are

interviews with scholars, suggested lesson plans and case studies.

And while we’re talking about the Center for History and New Media, we also want to point out

another site they have called World History Matters.  It’s a portal to all kinds of sources

on world history designed for the high school student.  Again, you’ll find a wealth of

information including primary source materials.

This Week’s Reports

The Census has issued the most recent School Enrollment tables.  Data is current to October

2007.  There are eight tables in all, breaking enrollment down in a variety of ways.  Tables

are available in Excel and CSV formats.  The Census has also released the tables for the 2006

A Child’s Day: Selected Indicators of Child Well-Being.  Tables include fun time, reading

time, mealtime, television rules, and other indicators of a child’s life.  Again, tables are

available in Excel and CSV formats.

Achievement Effects of Four Early Elementary School Math Curricula: Findings from First

Graders in 39 Schools is a new report from the Department of Education’s Institute of

Education Sciences.  “The four curricula are Investigations in Number, Data, and Space; Math

Expressions; Saxon Math; and Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics. First-grade math

achievement was significantly higher in schools randomly assigned to Math Expressions or

Saxon Math than in those schools assigned to Investigations in Number, Data, and Space or to

Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics.”   Education Week reported on the findings in

Study finds edge for certain early-math programs.  Subscription may be required to access the fulltext.

Newsworthy

Study says most 1st grade classes not high quality, a story in Ed Week, reports on the

findings of the education school at the University of Virginia.  Schools were judged on

multiple criteria including instruction and social and emotional climate.  “Only 23 percent

of classrooms could be judged to be of “high quality” in both their instructional practices

and social and emotional climate,” researchers found.  The study, written up in the

Elementary School Journal, is available online for $10.00.

The Graphic Novel Reporter conducted a roundtable on the subject of Graphic Novels in Today’s

Libraries.  When asked about how graphic novels are perceived, one librarian responded, “Kids

who had previously only used the library as a drop-in babysitting/computer service are now

relaxing on the couches reading. Girls are devouring manga that is age-appropriate and

mothers are discovering that comics actually improve reading skills.”

The results of another study were discussed in Hand gestures help math skills, study

concludes (School Library Journal).  This study, from the University of Chicago, found that

“we may be able to lay the foundation for new knowledge just by telling learners how to move

their hands.”

There has been a lot of discussion of 21st-century skills in the press and even here in the

Weekly Web Finds.  Now “a group of researchers, historians, and policymakers from across the

political spectrum are raising a red flag about the agenda as embodied by the Tucson,

Ariz.-based Partnership for 21st Century Skills, or P21, the leading advocacy group for

21st-century skills,” according to Backers of 21st-century skills take flak from Education

Week.  It’s an interesting read.  USA Today also covered this story in What to learn: core knowledge or

21st century skills?

Tech Stuff

The West Virginia Gazette reported on the use of handheld devices in math classes (Count on

it: handheld device ‘inspires’ math students at Hoover).  Teachers are using “the Nspire,

which looks like a thick calculator, [but] is more like a computer. It easily bests

calculators, or graphing calculators for that matter.”

Friendly Baby

No animals this week.  Just a cute baby singing about friendship.  YouTube alert!  Enjoy!