Teacher education

I was checking the website for the new Georgia Virtual High School (see http://www.GAVirtualSchool.org/ ) A few weeks ago and in their virtual library that had a link to this article: Telling the story of Online Learning: What people do not understand, Dont support (see http://www.sreb.org/programs/EdTech/onlinestory/onlinestoryindex.asp ).on average 92 percent! I’m calling his parents to tell them soon, we finally found the key to the future of their children math. - Henry Chandler, a teacher, Virginia what does teaching online look like?

More directly, what does teaching in a virtual high school look like? What does the teacher do in a synchronous teaching environment in a virtual high school? What does the teacher do in an asynchronous teaching environment in a virtual high school? Looking forward to your thoughts

Tags: virtual school , cyber school , high school , education

Note: I started my comprehensive examinations this past Monday (04 July 2005) and will be engaged in that for most of the next six weeks. While I already have entries pre-written for this period of time to keep a regular flow of content coming, the frequency may decrease slightly (depending on how tired I am at the end of the day and how much I can actually think about something other than my comps questions. I will be posting information about my comprehensive exams at my other blogs, Breaking into the Academy , so you can visit there to see the nature of my questions and any public discussion I attempt as I try to talk out my ideas.

Ungdomsengagemang projektmedlemmar both on television and by celebrities. Our peers are another strong influence and we believe that peers who don’t use drugs are a positive influence.

-Boredom contributes to young people using drugs and positive activities need to be more accessible.

-Drugs and alcohol are widely available and easily accessible to young people.

Looking in more depth at what the young people said about drug education Mentor report:

The young people were adamant that the personality of the worker who delivers a drug intervention is key to its effectiveness.

There was a general lack of trust in the ability of some teachers to deliver drug education. It was felt that they were not really motivated to teach the subject and were biased in their messages; they only talked about the negative effects of drugs and did not give a balanced view.

One of their participants said:

“I don’t think [teachers] actually care about it, they’re just paid to do the job.”

Of course I’m sure this isn’t entirely fair, but it does suggest that the way teachers approach the subject makes a significant difference to the way it is perceived by those receiving it.

Filed under: Drug Education Forum Members , drug education , Mentor UK

I asked if Id give people a health warning in schools Conference:

The Thomas Coram Research Unit are putting on what looks to be an interesting conference:

This conference aims to provide participants with new ways of thinking about promotion of the health and well-being of children and young people. Themes and topics to be addressed include:

-alcohol use

-bullying

-sexual health

-physical activity, obesity and healthy lifestyles

-mental health and wellbeing

The conference will be on 14th May in London.  You can download the flier from here .

Filed under: Conferences , Institute of Education

Those of you who work directly with young people might want to take a look at this competition : to making sure that the review benefits from an open process and takes serious account of the views of all its stakeholders.  QCA has already begun this process.  Over the coming months they will be running a series of regional conferences and seminars to seek views and develop proposals.

Looking at the questions the ones that seem most relevant to us are the two around Personal Development:

-What are the personal, social and emotional capabilities that children need to develop through their schooling?

-What is the most appropriate framework for achieving greater integration of these capabilities throughout the curriculum?

Just to remind people this is different to the Primary Review that&s being underaken here .

Further reading:

- What’s happened to PSHE in Primary School? – evidence on the reduced amount of time spent on PSHE teaching in primary schools

- Brown’s ‘radical’ drugs review & The Prime Minister says he wants drug education in primary schools.

Filed under: PSHE , Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum

Today Sean toured the RESPOND shelter in Somerville, MA. RESPOND is a domestic violence agency that reaches out to women who are in desperate need of a helping hand. These women have been through some of the most difficult situations imaginable. This is something that Sean feels strongly about and will continue to support and stand up for in the future. He believes that these are the programs that cannot be cut from the budget, they provide a vital service that gives unparalleled support.

For more information on RESPOND, Inc. please visit www.respondinc.org .

Zoos Budget may be Restored.

Amidst a great amount of commotion, lawmakers and government officials have been pushing to repeal the budget cuts for Franklin Park and the Stone Zoos. Much debate will most likely continue because of cuts being made to other services across the commonwealth.

Thanks everyone for their calls, emails, and letters on this issue. As always, constituents should feel free to email, call, or respond to me on my blog. I can be reached at the office or on my cell phone 781-859-7781. My email address is Sean.Garballey@state.ma.us .

Summer’s Finally Here!.

It looks like we are FINALLY going to get some bright and sunny weather this weekend. Considering it’s been so long we thought we would give some tips for enjoying the weather safely. Here are a few tips to “stay cool” now that the weather has changed;

-Stay hydrated to avoid heat stroke

-Stay away from prolonged sun exposure

-Always wear sunscreen, even in the water where light is reflected and intensified The higher the SPF the more protection you get

-Arlingtonians should look into visiting the Reservoir beach (on Lowell Street and Westmoreland Ave)

Have a great weekend everyone!

sphyrnatude
August 10, 2007 at 10:18 am

I absolutley agree with the luddite ballpoint-pen grief. No reason for that!
However, I have to disagree with the “nice” evaluations – lableing them as borderline instead of failing. All it is going to take is one nasty student to point out that when they hadn’t done any work you ranked them as borderline – now (at the end of the semester) when you give them the “f”, you’re going to have to jsutify why their work was “borderline” at mideterm, but the same work is “failing” at end of semester….

To me, this is a CYA situation, and in all honesty, I don’t think you’re doing the kids any favours by giving them the impression that non-performance is borderline. In the real world (at leastiof they were working for me), thier evaluation would be: “time for you to go find another job – and by the way, non-performance does NOT qualify you for unemployment. Here’s you last paycheck, good luck, and don’t bother trying to use me for a reference.”
By giving them the false inplression that what they are doing is “borderline” instead of unacceptable, you are continuing the grade inflation myths that most high schools currently use – it doesn’t matter what you do, you’re almost ensured a D (or in some cases a C) as long as you show up at least once…..

Mke your evaluations honest – the kids that have any chance of actually responding to the evaluation may be pissed, but they’ll ge ttheir ducks ina row. The kids that aren’t going to respond are a lost cause anyway, so who really cares what they think.
The one or two that feel that they are entitled to the passing grade just for being there will use your generosity as a method to force you to justify your change in standards…..

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HomeFireBlue
August 16, 2006 at 9:31 am

LOVE the stickers!

If you ever think of something you’d like to have on a bumpersticker (or magnet) just let me know and I’ll whip you one up in my store.

For free, of course, cuz I luv U.

Be patient about the job … it’s coming.

-Blue

Reply

2 Comments.
Suzanne
August 10, 2006 at 9:16 am

I can understand believing that the Universe is sending you a message, but here’s my take on this. If you want to TEACH, then you should be TEACHING. Sign up as a substitute teacher to several schools, and get some great experience along the way. You said that in a couple of cases, teaching jobs went to people who have been subs in the district. If that’s one way to get a job, then go for it.

I’m sure you would enjoy working at the mechanic’s place. They sound like good people, and it would be an easy thing for you to get into. Perhaps too easy? Too tempting?

Girl, if you are serious about teaching, get out there and TEACH! And maybe this is just the Universe’s way of testing your commitment….

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2 Comments.
Mrs.Chili
August 5, 2006 at 8:42 pm

Really, BoDog? Why not? I think movies are a GREAT way to teach. There are a lot of really fantastic films out there that span a staggering bredth of subject, concept and emotion. Besides, who needs an excuse to show something as amazing as Glory?–>

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I thought that I had posted something on this topic on my old personal blog a few years ago, but I wasn’t able to find it anywhere (or on any of my former blogs).

Anyway, today is Remembrance Day in Canada. For those of you who aren’t Canadian, you can get the sense of it here . As I posted in my short note about this last year (see An Act of Remembrance ), today is the reason why we wear poppies on your left lapel in Canada.

It is the reason why we gather to recite the poem…

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

- John McCrae

Simply put, it is the reason we remember. So take time today to think about those who have fought to preserve the freedom that we enjoy today. And at 11:00am today, make sure to observe two minutes of silence.

A Pittance of Time – Terry KellyFinally, let me at include the link for this week’s broadcast of CBC Radio’s Vinyl Cafe: VC: November 8th, 2008 “Remembrance Day” If you don’t have anyone to remember today, like Stuart, just remember George Lawrence Price.

Day twenty-six in the 30 Days to Being a Better Blogger series was yesterday and asked us to look at Day 26: Tag, you’re it . Essentially, Steve discussed what tags were, the importance of tags and using effective tags.

This was an easy one for me. On the external front, I have always tagged each entry with “virtual school”, “cyber school”, “high school” and “education” – as those were the places I wanted to show up in the Technorati searches. Beyond that I tag based upon the specific topic of the entry – usually including geographic tags, descriptive tags, organizational tags, tags for major events (e.g., conferences), etc.. I also use the same terms I use in my tags in the categories field in WordPress as well.

So, even if Technorati is showing me no love whatsoever (see Day Fifteen and Day Seventeen ), I’m still tagging…

UPDATE: Educator Announcements – November 26, 2008.

Thanks! I should let you know that the updated version is out in 2009 and has many more schools. It’s a very different world in (almost) 2009 than it was in 2006 when I wrote the first edition.

Comment by Tom Nixon — November 27, 2008 @ 5:14 pm | Reply

Voting For The Canadian Blog Awards.

Well, a few weeks back I mentioned the Canadian Blog Awards (see Canadian Blog Awards ). Jokingly I reminder folks that I was Canadian (I say jokingly because there wasn’t an education category and because much of my blogging content is not Canada – and lately is simply re-posts of things that people send me or things I find).

Anyway, it appears the joke is now on me as someone nominated me (and thanks to whomever that was).

The voting is available at:

Canadian Blog Awards – Vote 2008

You can find me under the Best Professional/Career Blog in the Lifestyle category. Polls for Round 1 close around the middle of Saturday, 29 November 2008 to give the folks at the Canadian Blog Awards time to count the votes and set-up the final round of voting.

So, since I’m there take a look at the other folks and if you feel I’m worth the click, by all means vote for Virtual High School Meanderings. And thanks in advance for your consideration.

eatsbugs
June 29, 2007 at 11:14 am

Thanks for commenting on my feast! Hope your summer vacation is going/went well. You’ll have to give us a recap here, or link to your personal blog for that recap. Either way, I want to hear about it!

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8 Comments.
sphyrnatude
June 20, 2007 at 7:28 am

I have to disagree with this one. Yes, Beth was definitely out of line – both ethically and proffesionally. As for Lisa, her is unfortunate, and I do sympathise with her position. However, as you stated, if she had come to you BEFORE the grades were finalized, you could have addressed these issues then. By waiting until after, Lisa has created her own problem.
Think about it: how many other students do you have that would benefit from an after-the-fact opportunity to make up unfinished (or at least unrecorded) work, or a chance to do abit more on the final exam? By extending this provoledge to Lisa you are unfairly penalizing the students that don’t have the same chance.
Another unfortunate reality is that in the real world, Lisa will have to deal with life crisis. If she is having problems at her job, and she wawits until her exit interview to explain the reasons, she’s not going to keep her job. If she is proactive, and makes sure her boss understands her situation, her boss (if a good one) will make whatever allowances possible to allow for her situation.

Unfortunately, one of the unspoken lessons that college is supposed to teach is that the individual has to deal with the results of their actions (or inaction).

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