Teachers learn to cope with stress through intensive program

A teacher-training program called Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education helps teachers cope with stress. Teachers who participate in the workshop learn to recognize when they are becoming stressed and deal with it through meditation and other means. "I've learned to take a step back, calm myself down, and then respond to students with more empathy," one teacher said. "I can resolve issues more quickly, and my students show genuine concern for each other, because I am giving them that space." Edutopia magazine

Software provides digital, Braille books to students with disabilities

A new computer program is helping provide quicker access to digital and Braille textbooks for university students with disabilities. The Alternative Media Access Center provides the adapted textbooks to colleges in Georgia and hopes to provide the service to half of U.S. colleges by next year. "If I didn't have this service, I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that I would have failed my classes this semester," one student said. WCTV-TV (Tallahassee, Fla.)

Teachers see possibilities in classroom technology

At conference: Clay Middle School teacher Liana Giles writes on a whiteboard -- an interactive electronic display that combines functions of a blackboard, computer and overhead projector, allowing computer monitor displays to be viewed and worked on in class. - Matt Detrich / The Star

Educators and students caught a glimpse of the classroom of the future at a conference in Indiana. Teachers said tools such as interactive whiteboards, laptop computers and the Internet will help improve achievement by providing a wider variety of teaching tools that will allow them to find a way to meet the individual needs of all students. "I would use something different every day," one teacher said of having the latest technology in the classroom. "Every kid would be interested in something." The Indianapolis Star (11/6)

Report: Interactive whiteboards improve student learning: A report released at the recent State Education Technology Directors Association Education Forum showed that the use of interactive whiteboards does have a positive effect on learning, if done correctly. "The teachers [who] didn't see improvement with [whiteboards] were usually those who didn't make sure the content, and not the add-ons, came first. Content, and knowing what you're trying to teach, is key," said Robert Marzano, CEO of Marzano Research Laboratory, which conducted the research. eSchool News (11/4)

Staff volunteers at cash-strapped center for people who cannot hear

Mario Huerta, who teaches English at the Center for Communicative Development in Koreatown, has been working for half pay. He's feeling the financial strain, he said, but "I'm willing to give up a check to keep this school open." (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times / November 3, 2009)

A Los Angeles school that teaches American Sign Language and English-literacy skills to people who cannot hear is relying on members of its staff to volunteer to keep instruction going as state funding has been delayed and private donations have fallen victim to the economic recession. "I'm willing to give up a check to keep this school open," said one of the school's English instructors. The center, which receives state funding for about half its $550,000 budget, says its financial troubles should ease as soon as the state resumes payments to disability service providers. Los Angeles Times

Play showcases story of raising child with autism

"Autistic License" by Stacey Dinner-Levin will be the season opener for Harbor Light Stage's 2009-10 Bold Face Play Readings series.

A docudrama about raising a child who has autism is set to take the stage at a New Hampshire theater this weekend. "Autistic License," was written by Minnesota playwright Stacey Dinner-Levin who has a child with autism. "Theater humanizes issues. It puts a beating heart inside of facts," said the theater's creative director. The closing performance Sunday will be followed by a symposium that will include special educators. Foster's Daily Democrat (Dover, N.H.)

Studies to look at video games that could help people with disabilities

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced $1.85 million in funding for nine research projects involving the design of video-game technology to help people change behavior, manage chronic illness and improve communication. Among the projects that won funding: A study that will look at the effect of facial-perception video games on brain activity and facial-perception skills in children who have autism; and research that will examine if video-game use decreases the chances of people with Parkinson's disease suffering falls. Computerworld

AMBASSADOR—Zak Kukoff, a freshman at Westlake High School, developed a program that educates non-autistic children about the special challenges of the disorder and encourages them to integrate with their autistic peers. Autism Speaks, a national organization, has adopted Kukoff’s ambassador program. IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers

A California high-school freshman has created a program that offers guidelines to help students mentor and better understand their peers who have autism. Zak Kukoff says Autism Ambassadors uses role-playing exercises to teach skills to students with autism that they can use in everyday school situations, and it teaches students without autism what living with the disorder is like. The program is "easily adaptable to any grade" and has been implemented at 12 schools, Kukoff said. Autism Speaks, the nation's largest autism advocacy group, has named the program its national peer-leadership initiative. The Acorn (Agoura Hills, Calif.)

Union questions need for bilingual certification for teachers

Teachers in a California district are being encouraged to earn a bilingual certification to avoid being laid off. The credential -- a state requirement -- would certify they are able to teach students whose first language is not English. However, union officials say that Glendale teachers are already considered highly qualified under No Child Left Behind without the bilingual certification. Glendale News-Press (Calif.)

Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius, who wears carbon-fibre blades, lost his bid to compete against able-bodied athletes at the Beijing Olympics. Photograph: Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found that prosthetics worn by sprinters who have disabilities do not give the athletes an unfair advantage over runners without them, as had been claimed by authorities before the most recent Olympics. Last year, South African Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius had been unsuccessful in convincing Olympic officials to let him compete using carbon-fiber prosthetic blades. The Guardian (London)

DCPS Teaching and Learning Framework

Here's the DCPS Teaching and Learning Framework, which supports the IMPACT which is the new system for assessing the performance of DCPS teachers and other school-based staff. I finished the first evaluation cycle with impressive ratings. Thanks to the National Board process. It made me reflect on, rethink, retool and redo my instructional practices. It made me innovative, creative, and try new things for my diverse students to learn the standards. It made me focus on data gathering and analysis, connecting and having good relationships with my students, colleagues, parents, and the community so we can all work towards a common goal --- maximizing my students' potential and increasing student achievement. Nope, I'm not yet National Board certified and I'm still working on it, but the process made me a teacher leader, a teacher collaborator, and a teacher learner...it made me a 21st Century educator! Even if I don't get National Board certified, I'm still glad I went through the process. It made me become a better teacher that my students deserve, and the intrinsic reward which made me grow professionally is worth all the sleepless nights, sacrifice and effort.

What do I think about the IMPACT? Yes, it is far better than our PPEP (old teacher evaluation system) but, for me, not the best one. I understand that this is still a work in progress. I have shared my concerns during WTU-DCPS Focus Group Discussions on this issue as a special education teacher. Studies have shown that students in co-teaching classrooms are better achievers than their peers. Also, the IDEA 2004 mandates inclusive education for our diverse learners. The new DCPS teacher evaluation tool does not support co-teaching nor the inclusion model. I hope that DCPS will come up with a rubric on team teaching model. I also want to know how they expect us to co-plan, co-teach, and co-grade with the regular education teachers, we just need some guidance on that.

Here's the pdf copy of the manual that was given during the training: IMPACT Guidebooks. And here's about our Master Educators. Tell me what you think: solangala@yahoo.com.

Teachers using 8-step process to boost student scores

Some Virginia educators are finding success by constantly assessing students' understanding as part of an eight-step process designed to improve student achievement. The "8-Step Instructional Cycle" -- developed by two authors who have written about closing the achievement gap -- instructs teachers to teach a lesson, then assess students for understanding. If 80% of students pass the quiz, teachers move on to another lesson, but if most fail, the lesson is retaught. The Roanoke Times (Va.)

Educators developing strategies for teaching students with autism

Some educators who are faced with increasing numbers of students with autism in special-education and general-education classrooms say using assistive technology that reinforces visual -- rather than verbal -- skills and ties visual cues to the written word may be helpful. Other strategies districts should consider include better training for non-special-education teachers, access to evidence-based resources, support teams and partnerships between schools and parents. eSchool News

Special-needs students in Nashville, Tenn., take mainstream classes

Seven-year-old Isaac Nelson, left, leaves for school with his brother, Kobe Nelson, 8, and mother, Amy Biggs-Nelson. Isaac, who has autism, spends most of his school day in a regular second-grade class. (MANDY LUNN / THE TENNESSEAN)

Schools in Nashville, Tenn., are transitioning their 8,200 students with special needs into mainstream classes. The students are largely educated with their peers and are offered some special instructional time away from the class. The district has hired additional teachers and trained educators on how to "mesh general-education and special-education initiatives together to benefit all students," an official said. The Tennessean (Nashville)

In-class teachers are best resource for leadership, training

I found a good article from Teacher Magazine where the author, Anthony Cody, answered the question "Why is it that school districts continue to hire outside consultants to conduct professional development when local classroom teachers often have greater levels of expertise? "

Classroom teachers -- not outside consultants -- are often a school's best professional-development resource, according to a California professional-development coach. Anthony Cody writes in this column that outside consultants can be helpful, but schools often have teachers on staff with considerable experience in the topic of the training. Teacher Magazine (free registration)

Schools program increases awareness of disabilities

Students put on blindfolds to simulate vision impairment during the recent Welcome To My World workshop, led by Connie Johnson, at Oak Creek Elementary School. The program is part of the curriculum for all LOSD third and fourth grade students.

A successful program in one Oregon school district provides an event where students don blindfolds or use wheelchairs to help them develop empathy for what their fellow students with disabilities experience day to day. The Welcome to My World Disability Awareness Program, in place for 15 years, is required for district students in third or fourth grade. The Lake Oswego Review (Ore.)

Mentors, student-teachers team up in co-teaching classrooms

Millikin student teacher Michelle Brown gets help yelling out letters for a spelling activity with first-grade students Ya'Zair Jenkins, left, and Jasmine James during class at Franklin School in Decatur. Herald & Review/Stephen Haas

Classroom teachers and teacher candidates are partnering on a training model called "co-teaching," which allows the pair to share teaching duties. The teachers work as a team, and when one teacher is leading a lesson, the other is free to help students. Studies also have shown that students in co-teaching classrooms have higher test scores than their peers. Herald & Review (Decatur, Ill.)

As 2014 deadline approaches, teachers question fairness of NCLB

Some Illinois teachers say that requiring all students to meet federal standards on state tests by 2014 under No Child Left Behind is unfair. They say expecting students with special needs to score at the same level as academically gifted students is unrealistic and the pressure of testing has an effect on students and staff. "It's like telling a gym teacher to get all of his kids to run a mile between four and six minutes. It's not going to happen," one teacher says. The Courier News (Elgin, Ill.)

Wisconsin should look west for teacher-pay reform model

Wisconsin can use Denver's ProComp plan as a model as the state considers making changes to long-held policies on the way teachers are compensated, writes education columnist Alan J. Borsuk in this opinion article. While tying teacher pay to student achievement is still barred by Wisconsin state law, he writes that the Denver pay plan has led to more teacher collaboration, an increase in test scores and a greater willingness by teachers to go to high-needs schools. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

D.C. Council blasts Rhee for teacher layoffs

Washington, D.C., Council members said schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee ignored their instructions to trim summer-school funding to balance her budget. Instead, they said, she used the resulting money crunch as an opportunity to lay off hundreds of educators. Council members suggested Rhee violated the law by not cutting summer-school funding, to which Rhee said she was protecting students instead of staff. About 100 teaching jobs could have been saved by reducing the summer-school funding. The Washington Post

My friend, who's a Special Ed Coordinator in another school, told me that the Office of Special Ed is holding a seminar for them (not with the teachers) on how to be in win-win situations. Is this really thinking win-win? I believe that win-win is not taking advantage when it is understood that you are being trusted to act with honor, it seeks mutual benefit and is based on mutual respect. It is about bargaining fairly, and being open-minded and reasonable to all parties. It is about a sincere desire to find agreements that would be good for the kids and fair to teachers.

DC School Layoffs

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- D.C School Layoffs - Teacher's Union



President of the Washington Teachers Union George Parker joined…
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D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has warned parents and …
- D.C. Public Schools to Cut Teachers
D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee says budget cuts …

Should Helen Keller be played by an actress with disabilities?

This New York Times blog post looks at the controversy generated over a decision to award the lead role in an upcoming Broadway production about Helen Keller to Abigail Breslin, a well-known actress who does not share Keller's vision and hearing disabilities. The producer of the show said he wanted a star for the show to drive up ticket sales and may consider an understudy with disabilities. The New York Times/Arts Beat blog

NBCT with teaching in her blood is named top teacher in Delaware

Teacher of the year Mary Pinkston speaks Tuesday after Gov. Jack Markell presented.

National Board Certified Teacher and 17-year teaching veteran Mary Pinkston has been named Delaware's 2010 Teacher of the Year. "When you describe good teachers, they all have these adjectives: organized, prepared, dedicated and fair," Pinkston's principal said. "She has them all. She constantly relates the subject matter to the real world. You don't feel like you are in a math class." The News Journal (Wilmington, Del.)

D.C.'s Rhee acknowledges need for better communication with teachers

D.C. schools chief Michelle A. Rhee says she spoke to principals about communication, not teacher trust.

Washington, D.C., Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee is hoping to "regain the trust" of the district's teachers -- according to some who say Rhee acknowledged that she may have lost that trust when she laid off 266 educators this month. Rhee says she did not make that statement, which allegedly came during a monthly school leadership meeting. "What I said was that we needed to do a better job of making sure we were communicating effectively with our educators," she said. "There are a lot of distractions, and we have to remain focused on the task at hand." The Washington Post

Education Web site does not meet accessibility standards

Because it lacks special adaptive features like text-to-speech screen access or Braille technology for people with vision impairments, the Web site of the Department of Education -- USALearns.org -- does not meet federal accessibility standards for people with visual impairments, say advocates with the National Federation of the Blind. The organization recently filed a complaint with the department, which created the Web site to help people learn English grammar and vocabulary. Federal Computer Week

NBPTS launches series of reports highlighting effect of National Board Certified Teachers

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is launching a series of reports highlighting the effect of National Board Certified Teachers. The first report in the series is "Chicago, Illinois: Leveraging National Board Certification in a District-wide Human Capital Initiative." Read more

Duncan: Hawaii's furlough Fridays are a step in the wrong direction

Cutting learning time "is a step in the wrong direction" for Hawaii's schools, writes Education Secretary Arne Duncan in this column. Duncan argues that Hawaii's access to more than $500 million in federal education stimulus money should have allowed the state to find a better solution to tight budgets than its adoption of 17 teacher furlough days this year, which he writes is turning an economic crisis into an education crisis for the state's students. The Honolulu Advertiser