Teacher Update: Teaching Secrets: First Days in the Elementary Classroom

[Howard Hartman]

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Republishing of Teacher Update e-newsletter and access to articles courtesy of edweek.org

	August 12, 2010
Top Story TOP Sponsored by: Teacher Leaders Network + Teaching Secrets: First Days in the Elementary Classroom In order to get a handle your elementary school classroom in the first few days, educator Elena Aguilar suggests establishing routines and building community. Advertisement Stop those math misconceptions! Zeroing in on Numbers and Operations is a series of 4 flipcharts that fits with any math curriculum and aligns with Common Core State & NCTM Standards. Just $15 each. Click here for details! New Blog TOP Teaching Now Teacher's newest blog, Teaching Now, is devoted to the latest news, ideas, and resources for teacher leaders. Comments welcome. Check out some of the week's highlights below: Obama to House: Pass the Edujobs Bill! What Color Are the Gifted? Not What You'd Expect From a Valedictorian Is the Key to Testing Not to Think? Oklahoma Paper Lauds D.C. Layoffs More Stories TOP Get these and other stories at: www.teachermagazine.org. (Note: Links to AP stories expire in 30 days.) + Obama Signs Bill Aimed at Saving Teachers' Jobs The $10 billion measure is aimed at keeping more than 160,000 teachers on the job, but it would cut funds for adolescent literacy and teacher training. (Education Week) + Promise of Jobs Bill Brings Some Hope to Teachers Thousands of teachers around the country could get their jobs back now that the Senate has approved an emergency stimulus package designed to keep educators and other public employees out of the unemployment line. (AP) + Despite Pushback, Obama Stands Firm on Ed. Agenda In a high-profile speech, the president called Race to the Top "the single most important thing we've done" on education. (Education Week) + Teachers Head Back to School to Learn in Summer Thousands of teachers across Washington have been using their summer break to gain new skills and knowledge they can take back to their students in the fall. (AP) + More Than Two-Thirds of States Adopt Core Standards Massachusetts and California are among those agreeing to teach to the same math and English/language arts benchmarks. (Education Week) + Arizona, Tucson At Odds Over Ethnic Studies The state chief says ethnic studies classes violate a new law and threatens to cut aid to the district. (Education Week) + Calif. School Chases Chronic Dropouts The Learning Works! Charter School pushes Pasadena's most hardened dropouts back to school by using former dropouts to hunt them down under a philosophy of no excuses, no judgment, and endless second chances. (AP) + Lawsuit Filed Against Filipino Teachers' Recruiter The American Federation of Teachers filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of 350 Filipino teachers working in Louisiana against a L.A.-based company accused of running a human trafficking scheme. (AP) + Better Training on Early Years Urged for Principals Early-childhood education and school leadership experts call for principals to get good professional development on young children. (Education Week) Discussion TOP Back to School Hopes and Fears It's the beginning of August, and you know what that means: Back-to-school fever is starting to spread once again. Here at Teacher, we've tried to keep you fresh this summer, with stories about refreshing your lesson plan, building relationships with students' parents, and helping students get proactive about bullying. But we're sure there's more that you've got on your mind as you think about heading back to the classroom. What parts of teaching have you missed the most? What are you most excited to start doing again? And, on the flip side of that, what parts of teaching haven't you missed? Is there any part of back-to-school fever that you're dreading? What do you plan to do differently this year? Join the discussion. Teacher Blogs TOP Living in Dialogue I've Worked at Schools on Both Sides Now: Rich and Poor A guest poster wonders how she could be labeled high-performing at one school and low-performing at another, given that she worked just as hard in both situations. Teacher in a Strange Land It's My Party Nancy Flanagan believes that improving and investing in public education should never be a partisan issue. It's a vital economic issue—but pigeonholing ed policy into partisan camps is moronic. Unwrapping the Gifted Multipotentiality With help from her students, Tamara Fisher explores the possibilities of multipotentiality. A Place at the Table A Very Unlevel Playing Field Upon hearing that economists have calculated the real-world value of an exemplary kindergarten teacher, Susan Graham wonders why good teachers aren't being compensated more fairly. Road Diaries: 2009 Teacher of the Year Jumping Through Hoops Anthony Mullen believes what states must endure for a chance at Race to the Top funding is doing more to widen the gap between the haves and have-nots than any previous piece of education legislation. The Book Whisperer 48 Hour Read-a-Thon Join Donalyn Miller in the Unputdownable's 48 hour Read-a-Thon. Education Week's Spotlight Series TOP Spotlight on Tips for New Teachers The first year of a new teacher's career is always challenging. The editors at Education Week know this and have selected a collection of articles by experienced members of the Teacher Leaders Network with essential advice for new practitioners. Now available as a downloadable PDF, this Spotlight on Tips for New Teachers provides insight and practical suggestions for getting started on the right foot. Get it now. View the complete collection of Education Week’s Spotlights here. Follow Us: TOP Teacher on Twitter Follow all of the latest Teacher news on Twitter. Teacher on Facebook Become a fan of Teacher on Facebook to stay up-to-date with teacher-related news!	Advertisement View All Top School Jobs + Superintendent of Schools, Walled Lake Consolidated School District, Walled Lake, MI + Internal Compliance Officer, Tucson Unified School District, Tucson, AZ + Director of Grade-Level Reading, Foundations, Inc., Moorestown, NJ + $125,000 Salary for Master Middle School Special Education Teachers, The Equity Project (TEP) Charter School, New York, NY Advertisement Readers Poll TOP Will Edujobs Save the Day? Do you think the edujobs bill will stem the tide of teacher layoffs? Add your vote to our online poll. See the results of previous polls. Advertisement Teacher PD Sourcebook TOP Response to Intervention The Spring 2010 issue of the Teacher PD Sourcebook is now online. This issue covers the increasingly prominent response to intervention framework, including exclusive interviews, data and background, and implementation tips. See the complete table of contents. And don't miss our directory of professional development products and services. Browse resources in Response to Intervention, Differentiated Instruction, Classroom Management, Professional Learning Communities, Project-Based Learning, Special Education, and more. Advertisement K-12 Industry Solutions White Papers Planning Guide for Online Learning Blackboard K-12 Campus Management Systems: Special Report SAS What Lies Beneath: Waste APQC Education Importance of Social Networking for Educators Elluminate Help Struggling Readers with a 3-Step Process Recorded Books Improving Literacy in 10 Minutes a Day Take 10 Reading Education Week Events TOP Improving Education for Native American Students Chat Aug. 11, 3:00 p.m. Eastern Sign up for e-mail reminder. The Greening of School Facilities: What It Means for Learning Chat Aug. 24, 2:00 p.m. Eastern Sign up for e-mail reminder. Unleashing Technology to Personalize Learning Live Event Oct. 5, 8:30 a.m. Eastern Washington, DC Register now. Unleashing Technology to Personalize Learning Live Event Oct. 8, 8:30 a.m. Eastern Greater Boston, MA Register now.
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