How can we stop pollution
Teaching the Pollution Solution: Instilling environmental compassion in childrenPollution has become a major problem, and these days, people are seeking solutions, tips and ideas to help keep our planet healthy. How can we stop pollution from contaminating our water, air and land? There are many simple steps we can take, both as individuals and as communities to help reduce our use of pollutants, and prevent environmental contamination.
One of the most important steps to preserving the environment for future generations is to make the time and commitment to teaching our children how we can stop pollution. For instance, incorporating lesson plans, research, field trips or projects that offer realistic answers for how we can stop pollution into primary school curriculum's, will ensure that our children develop the necessary respect and concern for the environment.
As adults, parents and role models for our children, it is also important to demonstrate our own compassion for the environment by adopting daily behaviors and choices that can make a difference. Here is a list of simple, effective tips to teach children how we can stop pollution.
Finding the Pollution Solution: Simple tips to teach children how we can stop pollution.
1) Practice what you preach. Teach children that many chemicals in products such as pesticides, cleaning products, lawn and garden products can be harmful to the environment. Demonstrate your commitment to the environment by purchasing and using only organic or chemical free products.
2) Donít litter! This tip is possibly the simplest solution to how we can stop pollution. Avoid throwing trash such as, empty cans, bottle or wrappers onto the ground. If you see an outdoor area where there is litter, set a good example by cleaning it up, and recycling any recyclable litter.
3) Recycle as much as you can Ė separate your trash into recyclables; paper, plastic, aluminum, cardboard, etc for recycling collection. Landfill space (where all our trash goes) is filling rapidly. To avoid the future need to allocate precious, open land and natural habitats for landfill capacity, teach your children that much of what we throw away can be easily recycled.
4) Never put any chemicals, soaps, or toxins down storm drains. These storm drains wash into streams and rivers where fish, birds, and other animals will suffer the consequences. Instead, dispose of any pollutants properly and safely. Motor oil can be particularly damaging to the environment. Always recycle your used motor oil and filters. For a list of guidelines, regulations, and collection centers local to you, visit your town website or contact the administration officials at your town or city hall.
5) Compost anything organic. Composting is a great way to create new, organic, rich, healthy soil for your yard and garden, while preserving landfill space. Dispose of vegetable peelings, fruit rinds, egg shells, leftovers, leave and yard waste clippings, in a compost container. Many cities and towns issue these compost containers free of charge.


Teacher lesson plans and classroom management from TeacherVision.com
High school, middle school and elementary lesson plans online. With ideas for great children's activities and classroom management advice TeacherVision is the greatest resource for any teacher!
TeacherVision is the Internet's most popular teacher site for trusted online tools and resources that save time and make learning fun. Resources include a variety of lesson plans, free email newsletters and literature tie-ins, quizzes, and printables to help teachers easily enhance learning and incorporate technology into their classrooms. Partnered with many educational associations, including Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), National Association for Music Education (MENC), American School Counselor Association (ASCA), and the National PTA, TeacherVision strives to be every teacher's trusted source.
TeacherVision, the Internet site used by 500,000 preK-12 teachers every month with popular features like educational graphic organizers, educational printables, lesson plans, and “Great Stuff for Teachers”, the bi-monthly newsletter that provides timely resources for classroom teachers. TeacherVision.com contains over 5,000 articles and reviews; 1000+ lesson plans on all school subjects; 1000+ printable worksheets, “Books On The Run”, the inexpensive, downloadable books for all specific grade levels; and customizable, easy-to-send e-greeting cards.
Every month the “new content” section of TeacherVision.com is updated to focus on a specific area of study. These subjects cover all areas of K-12 education providing teachers a well rounded teaching resource that covers many aspects of all school subjects.
Material on the site comes from such respected education-related businesses as the Penguin Group, Pearson Scott Foresman, Pearson Prentice Hall, the National Science Teachers Association, and the Council for Exceptional Children.
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An assistant principal, sometimes called a vice-principal or Deputy Principal, assists a principal in the general governance and leadership of a school. Experience as an assistant principal is often a prerequisite for advancement to a principalship. Assistant principals are often responsible for student discipline, classroom observations, teacher evaluation and supervision, facilitating parent meetings, maintaining schedules, and handling logistical matters. Additionally, assistant principals frequently serve as testing coordinators, training staff on procedures related to standardized assessment, as well as accounting for testing materials. In addition to these duties, assistant principals are instructional leaders.
With the advent of site-based management, assistant principals are playing a greater role in ensuring the academic success of students by helping to develop new curricula, evaluating teachers, and dealing with school-community relations—responsibilities previously assumed solely by the principal.
An assistant principal works directly under the principal and helps coordinate, direct and plan the academic or auxiliary activities of the school. The assistant principal manages the teachers, counselors, staff and students on a daily basis. Along with the principal, they review and approve or recommend modifications to new or existing programs and then submit their proposals to the school board. They prepare or oversee the maintenance of attendance records, personnel reports, planning and other activities. The assistant principal coordinates or directs the use of the high school facilities.
An assistant principal meets with staff and parents to discuss policies, educational activities and a students learning or behavioral problems. He or she provides counsel and guidance to students regarding academic, personal, behavioral or vocational issues, along with enforcing attendance and discipline rules. The assistant principal organizes and directs committees of volunteers, specialists and staff to provide either advisory or technical assistance for programs and develops partnerships with communities or organizations to help meet educational needs providing school-to-work programs.
An assistant principal must make decisions and solve problems by analyzing information and selecting the best solution, along with developing cooperative and constructive working relationships. They perform daily administrative tasks such as processing paperwork and preparing or maintaining information files, records and reports and also handle complaints, resolve conflicts or grievances and settles disputes. An assistant principal requires extensive knowledge, skills and experience to deal with the responsibilities of students and staff on a daily basis.
Common work activities of vice principals include:
- Working closely with the principal on a daily basis to ensure the smooth overall operation of the school.
- Supporting committees of staff and parent that function to improve the learning and social environment of the school for the students.
- Teaching classes, developing rapport with the students, handling discipline issues and filling in for the principal when required.
- Resolving conflicts between students, teachers, parents or combinations of conflicts between various individuals.
- Assisting in yearly teacher evaluations, assisting in providing guidance to staff and students, and encouraging a positive climate in the school.
- Directing assemblies and other special gatherings of students for events throughout the year.
- Developing emergency response plans for schools as required by state and federal education agencies. Filing reports and updating as required.
- Record keeping as required through the use of various logs, tracking records, computer programs, inter or intranet software or other programs.
Sample of Assistant Principal’s Resume for Job
Your City, State, Zip Code
Your Email Address
I am writing in response to your advertisement for an Assistant Principal in the Chronicle. With my previous experience as an effective Assistant Principal, I feel that I am qualified for the position. I have earned a Bachelors of Arts degree in Elementary Education, teacher certifications, and skills training through development conferences in education.
My current position as an Assistant Principal at __________________ School involves curriculum development, instructor assessment, and providing results for State regulations. The school has increased its student success rate by 3% since my hire in January 2003. I have planned, designed, and implemented various academic incentive programs for student enrichment. With these programs, students develop a sense of self-awareness by competing for academic incentives (books, audio books) for outstanding performance and attendance. Other programs have created a student-based academic schedule to ensure the best learning environment for elementary attendance.
I feel that my ability to enrich the student body is evidence of my qualifications for this position. Your organization suggests an ideal candidate practice creative leadership; my leadership has improved instructors’ motivational input in student learning. It has also raised the student’s consciousness of academic success. I have enclosed my resume and three reference letters for further evidence of my qualifications for the Assistant Principal position.
Please call 000-000-000 or 000-000-0000 if you may have questions regarding my willingness to perform as an effective Assistant Principal.
Your name (Printed)


‘How To’ Drawings
Completed in Elementary Art Education, these drawings example students use of multiple perspectives to tell a story in three parts. Students spend time analyzing different comic images and brain storming a list of ‘How to’ events to use as subject matter. After completing the drawings they narrate the story in text.
(by Venessa Ice, ART 3350 Elementary Art Education)
Drawing from Observation
In these drawings students studying Art Education concentrated on the use of contour to create a drawing from an observed still life. When they were completed the class discussed the use of value in works of art and added luminous color using crayons.
(by Brandy Knight, ART 3350 Elementary Art Education)
After learning about some of the elements of design students collected natural materials that related to shape, color, or line and created natural material collages in the campus quad. After completion the class discussed the tradition of permanence in art while watching their collages rejoin the fallen leaves.
Students studying to receive certification in Art Education created these mythological creatures after learning about the paper mache process. Each sculpture is based on the combination of at least two animals, a structural armature, and the use of painted patterns to create a patina.
(by Holly Groves, ART 3356 Problems in Teaching Art II)
Line and Color
This mural was created by Elementary Education students studying Art Education. They worked together to create variations of painted lines that show rhythm and movement across their paper. After, they practiced mixing tempera paint to produce a myriad of colors.
Click on first image below to begin slide show.


Levels: Grades 1-4
Topics: chemistry, magnetism
Description: In this activity, students build a "magnet wand" and test its powers of attraction on several common metal objects, such as a nail, hair pin, and penny. A chart is provided to record their predictions and results. See the Science for Kids section of the American Chemical Society Web site for more hands-on lessons.
More Great Resources from Education World's Learning Machine
See more great science resources in our Science Machine Archive.
Then visit our other Learning Machine archives:
The Math Machine
The Reading Machine
Article by Cara Bafile
Copyright © 2009 Education World


The task of elementary education is to give children an understanding of humanity and the world they live in, to offer them knowledge so rich and warm as to engage their hearts and wills as well as their minds. Such an understanding is the basis of all real learning in later years. With the completion of the eighth grade the students should have a well-rounded general picture of human life and universe. This last year of elementary school should not only bring all previous experiences to a new peak, but enable the students to enter fully and potently into the life of their own time.
Abstract Mathematics are Taught with a Connection to Practical ApplicationsThe Grade 8 history curriculum strives to span the time from Elizabethan England through the 20th century by looking at the social, political and economic climates surrounding revolutions through individual biographies, art, literature and pertinent readings. Aspects of American history (The Revolutionary War, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, Civil and World Wars) become familiar territory. The history of revolutions and its world-wide impact is also explored. Geography takes up the same theme, showing the role played by every part of the earth in modern industrial civilization. A comprehensive picture is given of the relation of mineral resources and plant and animal life to the life of human beings in various regions of the world (world economic geography).
Physics lessons complement these historical and geographical surveys. The practical uses made of man's new knowledge of all the physical sciences are thoroughly explored. In addition to further studies in acoustics, thermodynamics, mechanics, climate, electricity and magnetism, the students are now introduced to hydraulics, aerodynamics, meteorology and ecology. Chemistry is also considered in relation to industry. Organic chemistry includes an overview of the nature of and experiments with sugars, starches, proteins, fats and oils.
Mathematics also emphasizes the practical applications of arithmetic, algebra and geometry. Demonstrations in plane and solid geometry lead to problems in the measurement of surfaces and volume. The study of graphs is introduced. Man is again the subject of nature study through anatomy and physiology of the human organism, observed from the standpoint of form and movement (skeleton, muscular systems, and the senses). The anatomy of the ear and the eye are also often brought at this time.
In Language Arts eighth graders learn to edit their writing, summarize written work, and solidify their grammar skills (passive and active verbs, direct and indirect objects, clauses and phrases, pronouns). The spoken work continues with more oral reports including biographies, modern history, and geography. Poetry continues to be a lively part of the main lesson. The class play is often Shakespeare or a modern play with rich use of language. Each individual now begins to understand a point of view and the dramatic themes used in acting.
Painting concerns itself for the first time with studies of highlights and shadows in portraits and landscapes.
Music takes up Elizabethan music, American music, symphonic form. In chorus and orchestra, the students learn more complex and challenging vocal and instrumental arrangements, demanding attention in the lesson and more instrument practice outside of class. Recorders continue to be played in main lesson, with the bass recorder added in 7th or 8th grade to the already proficient soprano and alto players, allowing for four-part harmony. (see "Additional Programs" for curriculum information on Handwork, Foreign Languages, and Eurythmy)


ENON — One day he’s in the classroom teaching science to middle school students. The next he’s strapped in a harness hurtling toward the heavens on NASA’s high-flying starship.
Wright State University alumnus Tom Jenkins, who teaches science at Indian Valley Middle School, was a crew member on several flights of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, in May. The flights were part of NASA’s flying-classroom-for-teachers program. Jenkins and Heidi Steinbrink, of Oakwood City Schools, were one of 12 two-person teams of educators selected as this year’s SOFIA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors.
“As we walked down the runway toward the plane, I was flooded with emotion,” Jenkins said. “I knew that what I was about to experience would be one of the highlights of my life. I was going to witness science at its highest level.”
The aircraft, a highly modified Boeing 747 outfitted with a telescope 10 feet in diameter, took off from the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif. In addition to the pilots and technical crew, the plane carried two teams of educators as well as scientists, engineers and astronomers from NASA and universities around the world—29 people in all.
Inside, Jenkins was sitting backwards at a research station, strapped snugly into his seat.
“The pilot punched it, and it was quite a rush to feel the immense power of the four-engine 747,” he said. “In the blink of an eye we were at altitude.”
During the 10-hour flights, the airborne observatory flew over the western half of North America at altitudes of up to 43,000 feet. It was equipped with a 17,000-pound infrared telescope that peers into the heart of the universe from an open garage-door-sized panel on the aircraft.
Conventional telescopes allow scientists to use visible light to see the night sky, but they can’t see everything because of cloud cover or distances. Infrared telescopes enable scientists to see through things and see greater distances. And by flying at heights of 43,000 feet, the telescope is above the water vapor in the atmosphere and can see even farther.
SOFIA is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center. The teams, selected for the Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program, represented educators from 10 states.
Jenkins used headsets to communicate with other crew members. Those on board included Brian Williams from NASA Goddard and Ryan Lau from Cornell University, the primary research investigators. Much-discussed topics included supernovae — or blinding stellar explosions — and events occurring around the galactic center, the rotational heart of the Milky Way.
“I was excited to be able to geek out with people that are at the pinnacle of their professions,” Jenkins said. “To be able to work with NASA-level astronomers and astrophysicists was incredible.”
Jenkins earned his bachelor degree in elementary education with a science concentration from Wright State in 1997 and a master’s in science teaching in 1999. The flight enabled him to gather resources and come up with examples to create new curriculum and aid in the teaching of his students.
“We are very excited to have one of our educators, Mr. Tom Jenkins, participating in this prestigious program,” said Greenon Local Schools Superintendent Dan Bennett. “This will be a valuable opportunity for Mr. Jenkins and for our students at Greenon as he incorporates his experiences with the SOFIA Ambassador program into his classes.”
During the flight, he also talked to the engineers who created and flew the aircraft and met the German engineer who built the telescope. The engineer explained how it was mounted, remained balanced during the flights and captured one-of-a kind images. Jenkins said the interactions gave him ideas for engineering design challenges for his classes.
“The SOFIA AAA Program has been a wonderful educational experience,” said Jenkins. “Interacting with other educators as well as the scientists and engineers directly involved with project has been an inspiration. Not only am I motivated to share new SOFIA related lessons with my classroom, I also have acquired a network of experts on which to lean. Kudos to all associated with the project.”
In addition to teaching at the middle school, Jenkins has worked at the Dayton Regional STEM Center and Air Camp, a hands-on, educational aviation and aeronautics program.
Story by Jim Hannah of Wright State University and Megan Anthony of the Greenon Local Schools.


Professor Eric Stade
Department of Mathematics
University of Colorado Boulder
Proposal for Research Project on Classroom Learning
Early this semester in my MATH 1310: Calculus, Stochastics, and Modeling course, I gave a quiz on the Chain Rule. (The Chain Rule is a mathematical technique that facilitates computation of rates of change of complex functions, by relating these rates to those of the function’s simpler constituents.) More than half of my class got off on the wrong foot by misinterpreting what the quiz was asking for: I requested that they calculate the rate of change of e(x3), but they thought I was asking for the rate of change of (ex)3. That is, they conflated the process of first cubing, and then exponentiating, with that of first exponentiating, and then cubing. They were thus doomed from the start. And I should have seen it coming: I have been thinking quite a bit lately about what I see as the fundamental issue behind this and many, many common mathematical errors and misperceptions.
The issue in question is that of (non-)commutativity, or in other words, of order of operations. (Two mathematical operations are said to commute if the order in which they are performed does not affect the final outcome.) In a nutshell, this issue amounts to the fact that, in mathematics (as elsewhere), “been there, done that” is often quite different from “done that, been there.” It matters whether the doing comes before, or after, the being.
It matters whether you add numerators first, and then divide your results, as opposed to dividing first and then adding. Students in, for example, my MATH 1110/1120: The Spirit and Uses of Mathematics (a.k.a. “Math for Elementary Education”) course sequence (and in many courses at various different levels) will often perform the two key operations in the reverse order; doing so amounts to the fundamental error many students make when adding fractions.
It matters whether you multiply functions together first, and then differentiate (that is, compute rates of change), as opposed to differentiating first and then multiplying. Students in, for example, MATH 1300: Calculus I will often perform the two key operations in the reverse order; doing so amounts to the fundamental misunderstanding so many student have of the “product rule.”
It matters whether you differentiate (in the above sense) a signal first, and then compute the Fourier transform (that is, analyze the frequency content) of the result, as opposed to computing the Fourier transform and then differentiating. Students in, for example, MATH 4330/5330: Fourier Analysis will often perform the two key operations in the reverse order; doing so amounts to the fundamental misunderstanding so many student have of so many processes entailed by frequency (that is, Fourier) analysis.
While it is not surprising that there are real and great misconceptions underlying mathematical difficulties at all levels, it has been a fascinating discovery to me that so many of these difficulties have a common root!
I plan to develop thought-provoking, conceptual modules on order of operation/(non-) commutativity at various different levels, and to work these into the curricula of the various courses. By assessing conceptual understanding specifically (rather than focussing solely on “material” covered), near the beginnings and ends of the courses, I hope to gain insight into the “big picture” of what makes math (in Barbie’s estimation, and that of many others) so “hard.”
By studying the order-of-operations issue across a broad spectrum of math courses, I hope also to be able to see whether common misunderstandings from pre-calculus and below CONTINUE through calculus and beyond. (Are students carrying the same misconception along and applying it in familiar ways to unfamiliar topics, or are they engaging in an essentially NEW battle with (non-)commutavity each time they newly encounter it?)
Through my collaborations and affiliations with the School of Education, and my work on various interdisciplinary STEM education projects, I have a wide variety of resources available to help me with the design, implementation, and assessment of my proposed studies.
The line of inquiry proposed above has not yet, as far as I can tell, been systematically developed in the literature. I am very excited by the prospect of having the opportunity to pursue it.


DIET is the most significant educational intervention in the country, while the NCERT came up in the 1960,s and the state councils of education research and training came up in 1970,s, the need for a third tier of training and resource support structure, right at the district level was genuinely felt in order to improve the quality of Basic education. As a result DIET’s were set up in almost all the districts of all the states in the country.
Govt. of India gave top priority to elementary education.Different education Commissions were constituted which submitted their reports and on the basis of their findings, Govt. made drastic change in the education policy. In the beginning education was a state subject but through an amendment in the constitution in 1976 the subject of education was put on the concurrent list. As a result Central Govt. as well as State Govt. now collectively frame a particular education policy viz; National education policy-1986 introduced a new pattern of education known as 10+2+3 system. Establishment of DIET’s is based on the recommendations of National Education Policy 1986.
District Institute of Education and Training, Palakkad was established in 1992 by converting Swaminadha Vidyalaya Training School. The sole purpose of DIET is to conduct different kinds of trainings programmes to improve the quality of Basic education and create a desirable environment within the district in regard to enroll more and more children of school going age and pave the way for retention of those who are admitted in the school and to ensure the high literacy percentage of male and female as whole.
DIET,PALAKKAD has an academic faculty of highly qualified teachers who simultaneously work as Block Academic Co-ordinators or Mentors too, specially to supervise the on going different schemes of Basic Education and guide the teachers to implement the scheme in an effective way through the seven departments as categorized below:
- Faculty of Pre-Service Teacher Education (PSTE).
- Faculty of Educational Technology (ET).
- Faculty of Work Experience (WE).
- Faculty of District Resource Unit for adult and non-formal education (DRU).
- Faculty of In service programmes, Field Intervention, and innovation Coordination (IFIC).
- Faculty of Curriculum, Material Development and Evaluation(CMDE).
- Faculty of Planning and Management (P&M).
All the above faculties are working with various academic interventions
regarding Training,Research activities,Material development and monitoring.


Children's art of the twentieth century
A National Gallery of Australia Travelling Exhibition in collaboration with the Queensland University of Technology and Macquarie University
Panka Aeroplane 1938 (detail)
Frances Derham Collection
National Gallery of Australia
Childhoods Past features children's drawings and paintings collected by Frances Derham (1894 -1987), artist and educational pioneer. Her unique and important collection of children's art from Australia and around the world, gathered over more than half a century was donated to the people of Australia in 1975 and is held at the National Gallery of Australia.
Frances Derham was widely known in Melbourne for her work in art education through a 40-year career as a teacher of preschool and primary school children and as an art lecturer in various teacher training courses. Throughout her career her influence on child-centred art education was significant both in Australia and internationally. Her book Art for the Child under Seven (first published in 1961 by the Australian Pre-School Association) continues to be used in tertiary courses.
This exhibition comprises 80 works on paper. The images depicted include personal and cultural identity, family and school life, social and political events by children from:
- indigenous Australian communities (Hermannsburg, N.T., Aurukun, Qld., Mt. Margaret Mission, W.A.)
- urban and regional Australia
- former Australian territories: New Britain, and Papua New Guinea
- Europe (these images depict the impact of war on children)
Support material includes wall text panels with historical photographs, and 6 of Frances Derham's own works of art from the Australian Print collection at the National Gallery of Australia.
As a practising artist herself Frances Derham produced several hundred drawings, paintings, prints and collages. Examples of her prints are held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria. Her favourite subjects were children, indigenous people and the Australian bush.
The National Gallery's Frances Derham Collection of Child Art has served as the subject of research for scholars, and parts of the collection have been exhibited. Childhoods Past: Children's art of the twentieth century travelling exhibition ensures that this important collection of children's art continues to be accessible to the wider community and promotes the importance, value and significance of art education across the lifespan.


APA embraced the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) pre-engineering curriculum when we started the school in 2007. The founders saw PLTW as an essential component to prepare students for careers in advanced manufacturing. PLTW is offered to all of the students at APA and gives them foundational skills in Engineering Design, applied math and problem solving. The three courses offered at this time are: Introduction to Engineering Design - focusing on the design process and the acquisition of sketching and AutoCAD Inventor skills to design products; Principles of Engineering - focusing on the core engineering disciplines of civil, electrical, mechanical and computer engineering, and; Computer Integrated Manufacturing that combines robotics, engineering design and Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining skills.
A video about a Puzzle Cube Challenge that taught the fundamentals of engineering.
For more information: http://www.pltw.org/


Decoding and Syllabication: Project Read Phonics
Presented by Jill Pompi, Ed.S.
September 29, October 19, 20, 2012
To download a registration form click here
The purpose of this course is to provide teachers with an understanding of the various methods of phonics instruction on the reading instruction continuum. This course will present an overview of research and theories which relate to the teaching of reading. Topics covered will include the concept of alternative instruction, the need for alternative instructional systems, principles of a systematic curriculum, and the value of multisensory techniques. The primary focus of this course will be on the use of direct, explicit, systematic and multisensory instruction to teach accurate decoding to students having difficulty learning to read and spell. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the relationship between the ability to decode with automaticity and the ability to comprehend text. As a direct result of this course, participants will have an understanding of instructional practices in language arts for ALL learners including those who, for a variety of reasons, were precluded from learning through traditional instruction.
Course objectives are to provide experiences that will help develop:
1. an understanding of alternate methods and techniques in language arts instruction for learners who do not achieve through traditional instruction
2. an understanding of the benefits of a systematic phonics approach and multisensory strategies as an approach to teaching decoding skills
3. a comprehensive orientation to the student who learns differently as well as to some of the primary causes for his/her learning style
4. an understanding of procedures to measure student achievement
5. the ability to use knowledge about instructional approaches for a variety of learners when planning lessons that address the MA standards
6. an understanding of current research in the field of reading
1.Language Circle: Phonics Guide and Lesson Plans Volumes 1- 3
2. Language Circle: Large Phonics SoundPack
3. Language Circle: Phonics DVDs Volumes 1-3
4. Active Participation Packets Volumes 1-3
Note: If you teach grades 4 and up, order the following:
5. Linguistics Guide
6. Large Phonics Sound Pack
7. DVD for Linguistics
8. Active Participation Handbooks - Phonics
9. Phonics Lesson Plan Volume 3 (optional)
What is Project Read®?
Project Read® is based on a research driven language arts curriculum that meets the National Reading Panel’s five components of effective reading instruction. Project Read® also offers a 6th component – writing. Designed in 1973, Dr. Mary Lee Enfield and Victoria Greene, Project Read® materials and teaching strategies honor diverse learning profiles and provide curricula with lessons built on direct concept teaching, multisensory processing, systematic instruction and high level thinking skills. Project Read® curricula and instruction create a captivating, respectful and dignified environment for you and your students. Project Read® aligns with the Common Core Standards.
The Florida Center for Reading Research reports: “How is Project Read® aligned with current research?”
Project Read® integrates the five critical components of reading instruction - phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension along with the dimensions of spelling, writing, oral language and listening comprehension within each lesson, an important component of the instruction that is beneficial is the cumulative nature of the scaffold practice embedded in the program. Each instructional routine consistently begins with a review of previously taught skills, and continues with teacher modeling of a new skill or strategy, guided practice and student practice and includes frequent progress monitoring checks to affirm mastery.
September 29, October 19, 20, 2012
Fridays 5:00 PM – 9:30 PM
Saturdays 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM
$825.00 Workshop includes 67.5 PDP’s. Payment is made to The Reading Institute.
3 Graduate Credit (Additional charge of $150.00). Payment for graduate credit is made to Bay Path College by check only.
Hampton Inn, Natick MA
Materials not included.
Register Early - limited enrollment.
August 29, 2012
here to download a printable registration form. Include registration form with your school's purchase order, check payment or credit card payment.
•Cancel 10 days before training - Refund minus a $25.00 cancellation fee.
•Cancel within 10 days of training - no refund.
may be made. Please notify The Reading Institute, Inc. with the name of
the alternate participant in advance.
Confirmations and directions will be mailed to each participant. You are not registered unless you receive a confirmation letter.
Reservations need to be made directly with the hotels. A lodging list will be sent with your confirmation. Specify you are with The Reading Institute when making reservations. Be sure to make lodging reservations early for best selection.


No Child Left Behinds Reading First program provides grants to help schools and districts improve childrens reading achievement through scientifically proven methods of instruction. The following are excerpts from a recent article in The Galveston County Daily News highlighting how a local school district in Texas will use Reading First funds to improve students reading skills:
Low reading scores on state assessment tests have the La Marque Independent School District changing the way elementary students are being taught to read.
The school district has been awarded a TEA Reading First Grant to start an intensive reading program in kindergarten through third grade at Highlands, Inter-City and Westlawn elementary schools and the Early Childhood Learning Center. The program is designed to help improve students reading skills and ultimately raise their state test scores.
The grant will provide the schools with more than $780,000 the first year. The grant will be used to enhanced the (TEA) reading academy program that the schools are already using, said May Carol Lieblong, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for the school district. We will be hiring literacy coaches at every elementary campus that will be working specifically with the teachers to coach them on the instructional strategies that they need to use to teach reading.
Please note: The Extra Credit will not be published Dec 23rd-Jan 2nd. Publication will resume the week of Jan 3rd.
About Extra Credit
NCLB Extra Credit is a regular look at the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush's landmark education reform initiative passed with bipartisan support in Congress.
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from The Open University
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Teaching with a global perspective is becoming increasingly important as the world...
Teaching with a global perspective is becoming increasingly important as the world becomes a smaller place. This unit provides a resource for teachers in both primary and secondary schools to understand why the inclusion of the global dimension in the primary school curriculum is important.
After studying this unit you should:
- be able to explain what is meant by the term ‘the global dimension’;
- be familiar with the terminology used in relation to the global dimension;
- know why the inclusion of the global dimension in the primary school curriculum is important;
- know how the global dimension can enhance the primary school curriculum;
- be able to plan the global dimension into the secondary curriculum.
This unit provides access to Teach Global, where you will find a set of courses and resources aimed at supporting teachers who wish to extend their teaching of the global dimension through all aspects of school life.


Mbabane — Art programmes have widely been considered unaffordable luxuries by Swaziland's public schools, but one school has broken from the pack, using art to improve academic performance and economic prospects for students with disabilities.
Children with disabilities are often overlooked by government services, leading to disadvantages in the classroom that carry into adulthood. The government lacks a designated education budget for deaf and blind students, for example, and disabled children are generally integrated into underfunded mainstream schools, which have little capacity to cater to their special needs.
At Swaziland's High School for the Deaf, near the eastern provincial capital Siteki, the government provides money only for teachers' salaries, not for students' special needs. All other expenses are funded by school fees.
Even so, the school has found an innovative way to improve students' learning. It recently launched a pilot art project for 50 underperforming leaners, meant to equip them with the skills necessary to produce indigenous handicrafts, for which Swaziland's tourism industry provides a market.
The programme has yielded unexpected benefits. Thabsile Kunene, a teacher at the school, told IRIN that since the art classes began, "the students are focused more on their studies because the art lessons have made them like school. The students originally put in the arts programme were students who were failing in the classroom; they were put into vocational studies so they might earn livings with their hands.
Making art teaches a student much more: individual thinking, creativity and socialization by cooperating in a group
"The art project made us realize that the problem may be with the curriculum for children with disabilities and not the children themselves, because after the art classes, their new fondness for school, a place that had previously frustrated them, is showing up in their other work," she said.
Reaching alienated youth
"It is true that art, as we are teaching it, as a vocational subject, can offer students a real means to make a living, but making art teaches a student much more: individual thinking, creativity and socialization by cooperating in a group," Peter Armstrong, one of the founders of the Yebo ArtReach, which is coordinating the pilot programme through a grant from the US government, told IRIN.
"Access to art education and creative enterprises is severely lacking in Swaziland, while the number of disenfranchised youth is forever on the rise. Over half of the population is now under the age of 18. Some of the serious issues currently facing Swaziland include youth unemployment of 53 percent," Armstrong continued. About 70 percent of country's 1.2 million people live in poverty.
The problem is even worse for youth with disabilities, said Information Minister Winnie Magagula, at the recent opening of a Braille book section at Mbabane Public Library. "Lack of education and training for people with disabilities has led to a knock-on effect when it comes to accessing employment. The unemployment rate for the disabled is 83.5 percent, which is a terrible waste of human resources." The unemployment rate in Swaziland is estimated at about 40 percent.
The art programme has discernibly motivated its participants. The project's launch earlier this year coincided with strikes and school closures as teachers demanded a below-inflation wage increase. "Because of the strikes, all the students were sent home. But they all came back for the two days of art instruction. They were given hands-on instruction in painting, printing, mosaic and paper work. The response was amazing. You could see the students get more involved and excited by the day," said Dane Armstrong, a project coordinator and the son of Yebo ArtReach's founder.
Pholile Malaza, a faculty member involved in the initiative, saw it as a safety net for underperforming students, but has seen it improve behavior as well. "Most of the students were short-tempered before. They would get frustrated in class and start fighting. But now they are less frustrated. It is as if their spirits are at peace."
The school's principal, Zodwa Thwala, said that since the art classes started, discipline has improved. "What I notice is that the students really enjoy the arts. They showed a love for what they are doing."
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]


You are hereIt's Fun to be Green Online Workshop for Librarians Starts August 15, 2013
It's Fun to be Green Online Workshop for Librarians Starts August 15, 2013
It's Fun to be Green. Art Projects with the Environment in Mind.
Sign up is at http://www.artmuseums.com/funtobeGreenLibrarian.htm
Enroll Today Starts August 15, 2013
Course Title-It’s Fun to Be Green! Art Programming for Librarians (Age 5-12 Emphasis)
Course Description-This class is for librarians and staff who are looking for new art program and project ideas that incorporate an appreciation for the environment and the use of recycled objects for their Age 5-12 audience. Taught by Valerie Colston author of Teens Go Green! Tips, Techniques, Tools, and Themes for Young Adult Programming (Libraries Unlimited 2011,) the workshop teaches simple to follow and easy to implement going green basics. Topics include: A) How to use the most common throw away materials to create art B) Teaching children to appreciate nature through art activities C) Easy to follow art projects and programming that are economic and eco friendly D) Showing off and marketing your green programming. E) Developing a portfolio of ideas.
Instructor Valerie Colston, M.A. is an author and art professor with many years of experience developing and teaching art programs in libraries in San Diego, California. She has also successfully taught librarians from libraries across the U.S. and other countries in her online Art and Crafts for Youth Librarians workshops. Ms. Colston, the facilitator of the workshop was an art consultant to the Wyland Foundation Ocean Challenge program for elementary teachers. Her book 200 Projects to Strengthen Your Art Skills published by Barrons Educational Series has received outstanding reviews appearing in School Library Journal, National Art Education Association newsletter, and more. Her It's Easy to be a Green Teen appeared in the youth librarian publication Voices of Youth Advocates magazine. She recently received a recommended review from Teacher Librarians magazine for her Teens Go Green! Tips, Techniques, Tools, and Themes for Young Adult Programming published by Libraries Unlimited 2011 .
Librarians and staff who take this class will learn teaching techniques for working with the 5-12 age group, they will also learn simple techniques for creating art projects and programming using recycled materials. Participants will also gain a portfolio of creative programming ideas that deal with environmental themes which can be easily incorporated into their events immediately. Participants will stretch their creativity and skills while having an expert at hand to help them as they develop confidence in their own abilities.
The workshop is offered completely online and takes 12 hours to complete.
The enrollment fee is $59.00
The online class is 4 weeks in length, online, and 12 hours overall.
Approved for 12 LEU units for Indiana Librarians
Week 1-Basic Supplies, Tips for Working with Children, Themes
This unit outlines the supplies you will need to get started. Tips for working with this age group will be discussed. You will learn the basics for developing themes and ideas, and share resources for creating a variety of green art projects and programming. How to use recycled materials to create puppets, dinosaurs, and other items that can be used in story times, and to enhance reading, and displays will be introduced. Making gifts and items for celebrations and holidays are also included.
Week 2-Creating Projects and Programming with Environment in Mind
This unit presents hands on projects and programming that focus on the natural environment. Garden, Oceans, and other natural wonders will be the emphasis of the projects this week. Budget friendly materials will be introduced. Get inspired and begin to create your own ideas. Finding and using resources will be included.
Week 3-Money Matters and Green Themes
Budget will be the focus of this unit. Participants will learn how to create projects under $1.00. Tips for creating a portfolio will be included. How will you use these ideas in your own library? Find recycling materials in unexpected places.
Week 4-Make It and They will Come
This last week will be a busy week with many projects and programming ideas. Learn simple marketing techniques to reach out to the community and bring them back to your library.
For more information Contact:


Body and SoulIn all of Western art, there is no more highly charged subject than the nude figure. I make the point of saying western art because, with the exception of India, the nude plays little part in any other artistic culture. The roots of this fascination with the nude figure date back to ancient Greece and the idealisation of the classical regard for the merging of body and soul as represented by principally the male nude. Although there are a few highly regarded female nudes in Greek art, it was largely their Roman imitators who elevated Venus over Apollo in their sculptural favouritism. With the fall of the Roman Empire, the nude virtually disappeared in art. In Medieval art, a few highly stylised, semi-nude figures of Christ crucified exist, as well as a few religious works depicting Adam and Eve in a sinful context, and sometimes you see the nude figure in the occasional last judgement (provided the figures represent sin and shame). But in essence, the church chose to separate the Greek body and soul into two separate elements, one sinful and shameful, the other spiritual with the hope of redemption.
Most art scholars pinpoint the year 1506 as the time when a reawakening to the nude figure occurred in Renaissance art (though Botticelli's and some of Michelangelo's work predate this). That was the year, legend has it, that an Italian farmer, plowing his field, stumbled upon the buried fragments of the first century sculptural group known today as Laocoon (pronounced lay-OCK-o-wawn). Believed to be from the workshop of Athenodorus, Hegasandrus, and Polydorus of Rhodes, the work depicts a scene from Virgil's Aeneid of a blind "seer" famous for his immortal warning "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts" (as in the Trojan horse), and his two sons battling a sea serpent. Michelangelo is said to have supervised its disinterment. The newly discovered antiquity breathed new life not only into Renaissance sculpture, but also into the study of the nude body itself, especially as depicted under stress. The figures in Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling reflect this.
Raphael, especially, seems to have been influenced by this newfound emphasis on the nude figure, though in fact he painted few of them. Instead, he often posed figures in his paintings nude, then drew clothes upon them just before or during the painting process. This procedure carried over into the first art academies in Florence and elsewhere where the nude figure became the keystone of all art education. And even though the Catholic church gradually became more tolerant of the nude figure in art, there was no relenting in their persistent belief in the shameful nature of the naked body as an important root cause of sin. As a result, the nude figure was instead embraced by the growing secular taste in mythological subjects, and inasmuch as most artists and their patrons were of the male persuasion, the female nude virtually dominated painting especially from the sixteenth century on, at times, to the near exclusion of the male figure. Peter Paul Rubens' The Judgement of Paris of 1635 is a typical example.
During the eighteenth century, the overtly sexual, contemporary female nude, as seen in François Boucher's Reclining Girl (Portrait of Louise O'Murphy) from 1752, infiltrated the mainstream of art where it remained important in the work of Ingres, Delacroix, and others through most of the nineteenth century, reaching a blatant pinnacle in Manet's Olympia around 1863, until such time as Picasso and Matisse began using it merely as a pleasing shape or symbol, rather than a human figure with sexual overtones. Today, whether male of female, contemporary artists continue to de-sexualise the nude figure, often depicting it in such a brutally realistic manner - sometimes so grossly fat or thin, or stylised to such a degree, as to remove most if not all its erotic content - which has, in any case, largely moved on to the art of photography and its bastard cousin, pornography.
Contributed by Lane, Jim
16 January 2001


Posted on 27 March 2014.
Leadership can take many forms. It can be take charge or by example. It can be a position or an attitude. It can be a mission or by default. Leadership is essential to any endeavor. It is critical for success. Leadership is vital for improvement and growth, and it is there for the taking. If there is a vacuum, something will fill it.
As teachers, we often allow those vacuums to fill with people that really do not know what it is like in the classroom. Our focus is the students that we teach, and we let other people make the decisions that impact our success or failure in our classrooms. As teachers we need to begin to see our potential as educational leaders, and fill those vacuums ourselves.
As teachers we should strive to be instructional leaders. Working with other like-minded professionals is one of the best ways to grow our teaching skills. Many opportunities are available to network with other teachers and learn from the information brought from different experiences.
The Kentucky Reading Project is one of the best learning experiences I have ever had. The Kentucky Reading Project is part of the Collaborative Center for Literacy Development and reaches teachers across the state through KRP sites at each regional university. Participants can earn three hours of credit, a stipend, and receive many new books and resources. This project brings together teachers, kindergarten through 5th grade, as a community of learners. For two weeks practitioners with various years of experiences come together to deepen their understanding of best practices in literacy. I have been involved for several years as a co-director, and look forward to learning with a new cadre each year. The project helps develop leadership skills through the creation of an action plan that allows teachers to go back to school and use the strategies and ideas gleaned from the course. Teachers can be the ripple that creates a wave of literacy transformation.
Teacher organizations are other venues for leadership opportunities. Collectively teachers can have a strong voice. It is with a strong voice we can be heard. We cannot take ownership of our profession unless we are willing to speak up. When we work together, we can impact decisions. The Kentucky Education Association provides many ways for teachers to develop leadership skills. Planning is underway for the TALK Conference June 16 and 17. The sessions are conducted by teachers, and for teachers. The conference will include great information on the new science standards, technology and proven ideas for the classroom. Teachers from all across the commonwealth will be sharing strategies and methods that they have used and found beneficial in the classroom. This conference is sponsored by several different organizations including KEA, the Kentucky Department of Education, the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, and the Fund for Transforming Education. This collaboration enables teachers to network and discover many opportunities to become connected with other teacher leaders.
Momentum is growing for teacher leadership. It is interesting to think about how the teaching profession might change to meet the ever increasing demands that are placed on us. Talk of hybrid roles, career continuums and change is in the air. Now more than ever teachers need to become part of the discussion.
Holly Bloodworth, a teacher at Murray Elementary School (Murray Independent), was named the 2014 Kentucky Teacher of the Year on Oct. 16, 2013. She will be sharing her educational experiences in and outside of the classroom with Kentucky Teacher readers during her year-long reign.


Niswonger, ETSU doctors lead development of new children's book series to encourage literacy
Parents who spend time reading aloud to their kids know it’s a precious experience. It’s wonderful to see their little minds and personalities developing, and as a parent, it’s a memory you’ll cherish for the rest of your life.
That experience is also good for the child. Studies show that kids whose parents read aloud to them will develop better literary proficiency. Doing this is so valuable, in fact, that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends pediatricians provide children’s books to parents and counsel them on how to read aloud to their kids.
Pediatricians at East Tennessee State University and Niswonger Children’s Hospital are already doing just that, and have even led development of a new children's book series to encourage literacy development and healthy behaviors during early childhood.
“As a ‘Reach Out and Read’ practice, we have been providing free children’s books to families during well child visits for several years,” said Dr. Gayatri Jaishankar, Associate Pediatric Residency Program Director at ETSU. “In fact, by the time their children are 5, our patients have a library of at least 15 books we’ve given them. Research shows that a pediatrician’s advice on how to use books with their child is helpful to parents, and facilitates children’s early brain development.”
The first new book – authored by Quillen College of Medicine student Laurie Bennie and professional storyteller Cathy Jo McMaken and illustrated by Robin Fisher and Jill Fair, designers in the ETSU Department of Biomedical Communications – includes ideas for play and a reading guide developed by Dr. Karen Schetzina, a general pediatrician and associate professor ate ETSU. It’s titled “A Rainy Day Adventure.”
Last summer, the group collected ideas for the book’s story and themes by talking with early childhood educators and parents and by conducting storytelling activities with children during ETSU’s Little Bucs summer camp and the Johnson City Public Library’s Summer Reading Program Finale.
“The primary way that these young children talked about playing was through the use of electronic devices, like television, tablets, and computers,” Schetzina said. “We hope to help parents change that with this initiative.”
Schetzina and Jaishankar are project directors of ReadNPlay for a Bright Future, a coordinated initiative aimed at supporting healthy, active living among families with young children in clinical and community settings. The new book series is part of a collection of ReadNPlay tools to enhance communication about healthy behaviors between pediatricians and families during well child visits.
“With ReadNPlay we are using books to support literacy development and encourage healthy eating, active play, and staying safe as part of the development advice that we discuss with families during well child checks,” Schetzina said. “‘A Rainy Day Adventure’ follows three friends – Squirrel, Owl and Raccoon – as they overcome a rainy day, with no television available due to a power outage, and find creative ways to play together.”
Starting this fall, a new regional family literacy initiative will offer monthly parenting support groups, reading activities in local preschools, and community events. Key partners in the project include Niswonger Children’s Hospital, ETSU Department of Pediatrics, ETSU Clemmer College of Education, Johnson City Schools, and local adult education programs. The group is also planning to expand adult literacy and parent-child together classes in the region.
According to a new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics, two-thirds of U.S. children – and 80 percent of children in families living below the poverty line – do not develop reading proficiency by the third grade.
Niswonger Children’s Hospital CEO Steven Godbold explained why Niswonger is committed to improving literacy in the region.
“Research has shown a correlation between literacy levels and health outcomes,” he said. “By helping families in our community improve literacy, they will ultimately live healthier, more productive lives.”
The ReadNPlay “My Baby Book” will be available as a free interactive mobile application in 2015. Thousands of great books are available to borrow for free at your local public library. Copies of “A Rainy Day Adventure” are being provided to local libraries, preschools, and pediatric offices. For more information, visit readnplay.org or contact Dr. Schetzina at email@example.com. ReadNPlay is funded under an agreement with the State of Tennessee.


Origins traced back to 1960 and since then has had a “symbiotic relationship between the development of technology and pedagogy.” World-wide web launched in 1993 to the general public, opened up new possibilities in CALL including online versions of software to computer-mediated communication (and now to Web 2.0 interactive applications).
These include: drill programs and task-based activities
What other tasks can you think of that are important for Learning a new language?
Task #1: Vocabulary VOCAB Road This Exit Examples of vocabulary and Grammar exercises
Research indicates that students using computer programs
to learn vocabulary words, outperformed the ones who read
the vocabulary in print form
Research also indicates that the more multimedia (audio,video,
graphics,animation, and interactivity) the higher the outcomes
in vocabulary acquisition 1
Task #2: Comprehension Research also points out that offering Choices in the various types of glosses (multimedia interfaces)-- “better develop vocabularies, greater background knowledge and other reading comprehension strategies.” Comprehension Highway Exit Here (An example of a listening comprehension site)
Pronunciation is of course best taught using audio software. Ones with audio-recording features are even better (but most require download fee). Language learning websites which include audio examples of pronunciation are of course the BEST!


The benefits of drama
Drama helps with a child's development in many ways. Here are 10 benefits of a Pyjama Drama class...
1. Drama builds confidence
Even the shyest of children take just a few weeks to gently build up their self esteem until before long they are confident to take a full and active part in sessions - a few weeks is all it takes.
2. Drama helps concentration
In every session children are encouraged to listen to each other's ideas and thoughts, and to take turns. These activities allow children to recognise the value of concentration; a skill that is vital in the world outside their home.
3. Drama helps develop language & communication skills
Learning new songs, playing new games and participating in pretend play (when children must take on the language of the role they are playing) all contribute to a child's developing vocabulary. They are encouraged to express themselves both verbally and through facial expressions and body language which is key to making them better and more effective communicators.
4. Drama encourages children to co-operate
Every activity in Pyjama Drama, from playing drama games to improvisation to singing together, requires co-operation. Children quickly realise that in order to get the best out of sessions, co-operation is a much needed skill!
5. Drama supports numeracy skills
In Pyjama Drama children don't ever guess they are learning along the way - counting the number of beats in a song, counting the number of stars on a camping trip or working out how many eggs to put in a cake are just a few examples of how being involved in a drama can help to develop important numeracy skills.
6. Drama helps children to understand the world around them
We explore a range of different themes and introduce children to different real and imaginary situations each week, sparking their interest in the world in which they live and making them more inquisitive (and therefore more interesting!) little people.
7. Drama develops emotional intelligence
By encouraging children to 'act out' a range of emotions in the safe and supportive environment of a Pyjama Drama class, children are better able to understand their emotions and develop empathy with others.
8. Drama assists physical development
In each session we play simple percussion instruments, create simple movement sequences and play drama games - all designed to help children gain mastery over their own growing bodies.
9. Drama develops creativity
Creative people are able to view things in new ways and from different perspectives, to think on their feet and generate new ideas - this is a vital life skill. Our child led approach to improvisation and pretend play encourages the development of creativity as children lead the direction of the drama themselves, come up with solutions to problems in role, and respond imaginatively to a range of pretend situations.
10. Drama nurtures friendships
By its very nature drama has the ability to create strong friendships between children as they laugh, learn and grow together week after week after week!
Sarah Owen, the creator and founder of Pyjama Drama has many years' experience of teaching drama to children. If you are a teacher, nursery, school or LEA looking for advice, support or training on any aspect of drama for young children, please do get in touch.


New research from the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health at the Mailman School of Public Health shows that prenatal exposure to a ubiquitous household chemical called butylbenzyl phthalate (BBzP) can increase a child’s risk for developing eczema. The research not only shows a risk for eczema, but also points out that all but one of the women in their study showed some level of exposure to the chemical BBzB which is widely used in vinyl flooring, artificial leather and other materials. The researchers measured exposure to BBzB via urine tests during the third trimester of pregnancy. After the babies were born, the mothers in the study were asked if their child had been diagnosed with eczema. The final result: onset of eczema by age 2 was 52% more likely for children whose mothers had been exposed to high concentrations of BBzP. While it’s clear that BBzP can cause problems, what’s less clear is how this chemical actually raises the risk for eczema. The researchers estimated that allergies might be a possible mechanism, but after testing the children for common indoor allergens, they found no evidence of a link between BBzP exposure and allergy.
This is important research because neither eczema or BBzP and other phthalates are a picnic. Eczema is characterized by itchy rashes, small raised bumps which may leak fluid and crust over, thickened, cracked or scaly skin and super sensitive and raw skin due to constant itching. This condition may occur on the face, scalp or other areas of the body and is common in young children. Allan C. Just, PhD, first author on the Mailman School study notes, “While hereditary factors, allergens, and exposure to tobacco smoke are known to contribute to the condition, our study is the first to show that prenatal exposure to BBzB is a risk factor.” Past research shows that exposure to BBzP and other phthalates may delay motor skill development in young children, mess with their immune system and possibly increase risks for obesity and behavioral problems. On top of that, as frequent Inhabitots readers will know, phthalates are also known to disrupt the endocrine system. Although this new research is a bit confounding, meaning the researchers can’t nail down why BBzP causes eczema, why not just avoid as many chemicals as you can while pregnant? Already we know that most pregnant women carry far too many harmful chemicals in their bodies. You can cut your chemical exposure while pregnant by eating organic, avoiding plastics, using safe body care products and eating less meat and fresh, not canned foods.
Lead image by christgr via sxc.


Medical Billing and Coding Job Options and Requirements
Learn about the education and preparation needed to become a medical biller or coder. Get a quick view of the requirements as well as details about training, job duties and certification to find out if this is the career for you.
Those who work in medical billing and coding are typically called medical records and health information technicians. These technicians are skilled in the complex system of medical invoicing for reimbursement and insurance. A common pathway for an entry-level position is completion of a 2-year degree or 1-year certificate program in medical billing and coding. Many technicians go on to become certified in a specialty area of the field.
|Required Education||Certificate or associate's degree|
|Certification||Voluntary, but may be preferred by employers|
|Projected Job Growth (2012-2022)*||22%|
|Average Salary (2013)*||$37,710|
Source: *U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Medical records and health information technician is a job title commonly used to describe several positions in this field. This can include technicians who specialize in coding as well as those who focus on billing. These technicians work in healthcare-related environments, including hospitals, physicians' offices or insurance companies.
Technicians might choose to specialize in physician-based or hospital-based billing and coding. Additionally, some medical records and health information technicians become specialized in a specific field of medicine, such as gastroenterology or pediatrics. These billing and coding specialists have knowledge about the specific procedures of these medical specialties as it relates to billing and coding.
Medical Billing and Coding Job Requirements
Entry-level positions typically require completion of a certificate or an associate's degree program in medical billing and coding. These programs introduce students to commonly used classification systems, such as ICD-9, CPT, DSM-IV and HCPCS. Students engage in coursework that covers medical terminology and pathophysiology. They are trained in medical insurance and the various public and private providers, such as Medicare or Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Additionally, medical coders must have an understanding of laws and ethics related to health insurance, medical billing and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employers typically prefer employees with certifications in the field, though this certification is not mandatory (www.bls.gov). The most common certification examination is the Certified Coding Assistant (CCA), which is administered through the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). This exam is typically taken after graduating from a training program. After acquiring a few years of work experience, technicians are eligible to sit for the Certified Coding Specialist (CCS) examination, which includes either a physician-based or hospital-based option.
Medical Billing and Coding Career Outlook
The BLS stated that the number of employed medical records and health information technicians was projected to grow 22 percent between 2012 and 2022, which was faster than average. These workers made a mean yearly wage of $37,710 in May 2013, according to the BLS.
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Handbook of music and emotion : theory, research, applications
- Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2010.
- Physical description
- xiv, 975 p. : ill. ; 26 cm.
- Series in affective science.
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- PART I: OVERTURE-- 1. Introduction: Aims, organization, and terminology-- PART II: MULTIDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES-- 2. Emotions expressed and aroused by music: Philosophical perspectives-- 3. Emotion in culture and history: Perspectives from musicology-- 4. At the interface between the inner and outer world: Psychological perspectives-- 5. Towards a neurobiology of musical emotions-- 6. Exploring the habitus of listening: Anthropological perspectives-- 7. Emotion as social emergence: Perspectives from music sociology-- PART III: MEASUREMENT-- 8. Self-report measures and models-- 9. Continuous self-report methods-- 10. Indirect perceptual, cognitive, and behavioural measures-- 11. Psychophysiological measures-- 12. Functional neuroimaging-- PART IV: MUSIC MAKING-- 13. Emotion and composition in classical music: Historiometric perspectives-- 14. The role of structure in the musical expression of emotions-- 15. Emotion and motivation in the lives of performers-- 16. The role of negative emotions in performance anxiety-- 17. Expression and communication of emotion in music performance-- PART V: MUSIC LISTENING-- 18. Music in everyday life: The role of emotions-- 19. Experimental aesthetics and liking for music-- 20. Strong experiences with music-- 21. Musical expectancy and thrills-- 22. How does music evoke emotions? Exploring the underlying mechanisms-- PART VI: DEVELOPMENT, PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL FACTORS-- 23. Perspectives on music and affect in the early years-- 24. Preference, personality, and emotion-- 25. The influence of affect on music choice-- 26. Politics, mediation, social context, and public use-- 27. Cross-cultural similarities and differences-- PART VII: APPLICATIONS-- 28. Music education: the role of affect-- 29. Music therapy-- 30. Music, health, and well-being-- 31. Music as a source of emotion in film-- 32. Music and marketing-- PART VIII: ENCORE-- 33. The past, present, and future of music and emotion research.
- (source: Nielsen Book Data)
- Publisher's Summary
- Music's ability to express and arouse emotions is a mystery that has fascinated both experts and laymen at least since ancient Greece. The predecessor to this book 'Music and Emotion' (OUP, 2001) was critically and commercially successful and stimulated much further work in this area. In the years since publication of that book, empirical research in this area has blossomed, and the successor to 'Music and Emotion' reflects the considerable activity in this area. The Handbook of Music and Emotion offers an 'up-to-date' account of this vibrant domain. It provides comprehensive coverage of the many approaches that may be said to define the field of music and emotion, in all its breadth and depth. The first section offers multi-disciplinary perspectives on musical emotions from philosophy, musicology, psychology, neurobiology, anthropology, and sociology. The second section features methodologically-oriented chapters on the measurement of emotions via different channels (e.g., self report, psychophysiology, neuroimaging). Sections three and four address how emotion enters into different aspects of musical behavior, both the making of music and its consumption. Section five covers developmental, personality, and social factors. Section six describes the most important applications involving the relationship between music and emotion. In a final commentary, the editors comment on the history of the field, summarize the current state of affairs, as well as propose future directions for the field. The only book of its kind, The Handbook of Music and Emotion will fascinate music psychologists, musicologists, music educators, philosophers, and others with an interest in music and emotion (e.g., in marketing, health, engineering, film, and the game industry). It will be a valuable resource for established researchers in the field, a developmental aid for early-career researchers and postgraduate research students, and a compendium to assist students at various levels. In addition, as with its predecessor, it will also attract interest from practising musicians and lay readers fascinated by music and emotion.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)
- Publication date
- [edited by] Patrik N. Juslin and John A. Sloboda.
- Title Variation
- Music and emotion
- Series in affective science


The Days of the week can be very
Below I have added many ways to teach your Preschoolers the days of the week
through fun activities. Before you know it your Preschooler will be reciting
the days of the week.
How to Teach Preschoolers the days of the week
How to Teach a child the days of the week
This article will show you a couple of songs
to teach your child to learn the days of the week. Song is a great way to
teach your Preschooler many things. And, the days of the week is no exception.
They will surely know the days of the week within one week if you practice it
Days of the Week Worksheets for Preschool
Enjoy these free printable activity
worksheets to learn and write the days of the week. Theses worksheets can
also extend into learning about nutrition (food pyramid), numbers, and the metamorphosis
of a caterpillar to butterfly.
Lift and Paste Days of
Calendar Time – Learning the Days of the Week
This page has tons
of fun educational activities to help teach your preschooler their days
of the week. You can do it with song, poem, coloring pages and many, many more
activities. You have tons of options to help teach your Preschoolers the days
of the week.
Days of the Week by Caillou
I don’t know about your Preschoolers, but my kids when they were Preschoolers
loved Caillou. And, he is still around and he has something to teach our Preschoolers.
help teach your Preschoolers the days of the week.
Teach the Days of the Week through Song and Video
Let this fun
and catchy video help teach your Preschooler the days of the week. The song
is not only catchy, but the fun animation is a joy to watch as well. Your kids
will love learning the days of the week with this video.
Days of the Week Pictures
If you are trying to teach your Preschooler the days of the week then you have
to remember to teach them visually too. Repetition is great, but don’t forget
their sense of sight as well. Here are Days
of the Week Pictures to help you teach your Preschoolers the days of the
Top Image by Rubyran
- "How to…."
- ADD / ADHD
- Alphabet / Letters
- Arts & Crafts
- Attending Preschool
- behavior issues
- birthday parties
- Child Communication
- Child Growth and Development
- Child Safety
- Children's Health
- Daily Schedule
- Everything Preschool Reviews
- Family Life
- HomeSchool Preschool
- kids fitness
- Kindergarten Readiness
- Music Education
- Potty Training
- Preschool Activities
- Preschool Curriculum
- Preschool Social Skills
- self confidence
- Separation Anxiety
- Social Studies
- Traveling with Kids


March is Music In Our Schools Month; all across the country there are countless musical events and advocacy programs marking this special month, and special subject in the lives of children everywhere. Our area is no exception, with several events planned during the month.
Specifically, Friday and Saturday March 22 and 23, area schools will take part in the 2013 WSMA District Solo and Ensemble/Jazz Festival at Kingsford High School.
Over 300 events will participate from Norway, Iron Mountain, Kingsford, Niagara, Pembine, Gwinn, Westwood, North Dickinson, and West Iron County.
Please watch your newspaper for information on other events upcoming. At Norway, we celebrate Music In Our Schools Month by our grades 5-6 students holding an advocacy contest with posters in our Fine Arts Center halls, and in addition to helping our students prepare for the District Festival, we are also working in partnership with the drama department to rehearse our upcoming musical production. Our elementary students are working on meaningful and uplifting songs to present to nursing homes and senior centers this spring.
Music in the life of a young person is of vital importance to a well-rounded education.
Music helps to develop a thoughtful, creative individual capable of problem-solving skills, collaboration, listening skills, and possessing cultural awareness.
All of these attributes are the cornerstones of the 21st Century Skills in education. In fact, the latest research shows students who continuously take music courses score higher on the verbal portion of the SAT test.
Good school administrators and educators know that music is not just a time that classroom teachers call their "prep period," but it is also the time where spirits are nurtured and lifted, feelings explored, and math, science, social studies and language arts are reinforced.
However, music stands on its own in education. In this day and age, we could certainly use more focus on nurturing the feelings and creative expression of our young people into a positive direction.
Please take a little time this month to explore the many musical offerings in our area, talk to your child about the importance of music in education, and if you have seen music make a difference in your child's life, please let your school administrator know about it.
Music education is truly orchestrating success in our student's lives. If you want to know more about your school's music department, or even how you can help, please contact the music teacher through your school; I know my colleagues and friends in the area school music departments would be happy to speak with you.
So many wonderful things are going on in the music classrooms across the area-stop and visit sometime.
Dawn S. Kranz, BME, MM
Norway-Vulcan Area Schools


Music Education is often overlooked in many homeschools.
Well meaning parents spend hours planning for just the right math, reading, history, and science curriculums.
Music (and art for that matter), always seem to fall in last place when it comes to educational “requirements” for our children.
As a musician, this greatly disheartens me, but as a homeschooling mom I can COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND.
Our society tells us certain skills are important for our children to know in order to be “successful”. By the time you have completed math drills, reading instruction, a history lesson, daily chores, and the myriad other things there are to accomplish, there is little room left for music, is there?
I would like to encourage you to MAKE TIME. I have seen firsthand the benefit of a musically rich homeschool, and I believe every child should be afforded the opportunity to appreciate the beauty and wonder that is inherent in quality music.
Why should you make time? Following are just three (of many) reasons to include music in your homeschool:
Music is good for the soul. Every human being needs beauty in their life. Whether listening to a Bach Brandenburg Concerto or to Ella Fitzgerald singing a fun song, music can bring out emotions in us that would normally lie dormant. Consider the words of Beethoven:
“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.”
Music helps us understand history. To study the music of a certain time period gives us a window into the emotions and thoughts of that era. Music is directly related to architecture, art, and social trends. Studying music as a part of our history curriculum makes learning deep and meaningful. Including living books about famous musicians is an invaluable addition to any time period you are studying.
Making music builds concentration, perseverance, and discipline. When a child takes private lessons or participates in a musical ensemble they are required to concentrate and LEARN. (Perhaps you are wondering about piano lessons?) They must show a level of commitment to achieve a goal. A child who prepares for a piano recital goes through the important act of setting a goal, choosing music, practicing, and then performing. What awesome preparation this is for adulthood!
I look forward to sharing simple ways to incorporate music into your homeschool each month here at Heart of The Matter. Music can be something that you, the parent, can facilitate and nurture without being an expert. I’d like to help you do that.
If you’d like to see me address something in particular, please leave a comment to let me know.
Mary is the mother of two – one elementary aged child and one middle grades child. She is a musician, having taught for 10 years in the public schools before deciding to stay at home with her children. She wants to help you incorporate music into your homeschool! She blogs at Homegrown Learners, where she offers unit studies, music lessons, and more.


About This Course
Course Name/Code: Knowing Choral Classroom Methods, SEMU 409
Catalog Description: An online course in which Choral Music Education majors learn principles and strategies for developing a well-balanced quality PreK-12 school choral program. These include developing various classroom issues such as rehearsal techniques, literature selection, scheduling, festivals, funding, facilities and other topics.
Instructors and Texts
Instructor Who Teaches This Course: Dr. Jean Ellen Linkins
Required Text(s): Please use the online campus bookstore to locate required textbooks for the course. Make sure that you search using the correct course code and look for the course with the “OL” suffix in the drop-down list. (See Textbook Ordering Help.)


December 17, 2004
Literacy on the Rise: Full Day Kindergarten Works
(Santa Fe, NM)--The New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) has the results from the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) assessment that was administered three times, fall, winter and spring, during the '03-'04 school year to a majority of New Mexico's Kindergarten students. The DIBELS measures provide educators with powerful data that identifies students that have met established benchmarks for reading success and students that are at "some risk" or seriously "at risk" for reading difficulties.
Secretary Veronica C. García said, “The data clearly indicates that full day kindergarten is working. We are preparing our students for a lifelong commitment to reading. The results tell us that even the most disadvantaged children can overcome the barriers to reading with consistent support from their teachers in an all day kindergarten program. ”
§ Some risk/emerging: These students have not yet reached the benchmark goal on DIBELS measures and are likely to need additional instructional support.
§ Low risk/Established: These students are making adequate progress and are benefiting from the current instructional program. They have met or exceeded the established benchmark on DIBELS measure.
Beginning school year 2003-2004, the DIBELS replaced
the State Transitional Reading Test as the Full-Day Kindergarten Program
assessment instrument. The DIBELS are reliable and valid indicators
of early literacy development and predictive of later reading proficiency.
The DIBELS assessment helps educators identify early students who
are not progressing as expected.
§ 38% of students entered full-day kindergarten in the fall of 2003 meeting the required Letter Naming Fluency benchmark for reading success. By the end of kindergarten, the percent increased to 55%, indicating that 55% of full-day kindergarten students in New Mexico are likely to become successful readers.
§ Phoneme Segmentation Fluency is a measure of phonemic awareness and the data indicated that 48 % of full-day kindergarten students met the winter benchmark. By spring, the percent had increased to 59%.
§ Nonsense Word Fluency is a measure of phonics skills. 51% of full day kindergarten students met the winter benchmark for NWF, by spring, 58% of students in New Mexico were on track for reading success as indicated by this measure.
Secretary Veronica C. García said, “New Mexico’s goal is for 100% of the students to reach the established benchmarks to become proficient readers by the end of third grade. These baseline data will provide the starting point to demonstrate student growth in full-day kindergarten programs from year to year using a measure that gives powerful data predictive of reading success for each student.”


by Anne-Evan Williams, LGL Director of Educational Development
For years there has been a heated debate in the reading community: phonics instruction or whole language instruction? The surge of back-to-basics instruction has repeatedly conflicted with the views of educators who look at reading within a larger frame of reference. While teachers all seemed to agree that comprehension was the ultimate goal, they openly disagreed on the instructional path to get there. Many reading educators now agree on a "balanced" program of literacy, one that builds foundation skills while simultaneously engaging students with meaningful texts and opening discussions about meaning-making.
Now we're seeing the same debate emerge in the math community. Especially in light of NCLB assessments, schools now are finding themselves in equally heated debates about basic math instruction vs. a discovery approach to building problem-solving skills. Much like the debate within the reading community, the end result of real-world application seems to be agreed upon, but the process by which to get students there is hotly debated.
The issue of back-to-basics math was raised in a recent article on cbn.com. Says NYU's Dr. Sylvain Cappell, "If you can put aside the technical steps and just do the calculations automatically, then you can go on to advanced material."
Yet while some students do struggle with basic computation, still others struggle with engagement and problem-solving strategies. Says Dr. Joseph Rosenstein of Rutgers University, "They need to become engaged. And if they don't become engaged, they don't learn, they don't retain it." This is often the argument of those in support of a more exploratory process of math instruction.
So what's the solution? Is one method of math instruction better than another? Will one more quickly raise test scores and prepare our students for life after high school? Math educators are beginning to find, much like reading instructors, that there is no right answer. Just as students learn reading differently, students learn math differently as well. Perhaps the new wave of math instruction will follow trends in reading instruction, melding together a balanced approach of basic computation and exploratory, problem-solving approaches.
Tags: math instruction, math intervention, balanced instruction, back to basics instruction


With higher education undergoing profound change – reflecting among other things how to meet global challenges from environmental degradation and food security to new technologies and emerging diseases – La Trobe University Chancellor, Adrienne E Clarke AC, has called for urgent action to boost Australia’s scientific understanding and awareness.
Professor Clarke’s comments came while delivering the University’s Science, Technology and Engineering Dean’s Public Lecture titled ‘Science and its role in solving global problems’ at the University’s Bendigo campus.
The former CSIRO Chairman says this needs to apply to the education of professionals like lawyers, regulators and bankers as well as farmers and manufacturers. ‘It is particularly important for politicians and their advisors who make the decisions, on behalf of society, regarding the use of technology,’ Professor Clarke said.
‘We also need the social scientists, the psychologists, the people who study the behaviour of humans and human societies and how governments work to understand the scientific advances.’
Two of the most important drivers of global change, she said, were population growth and the rate of discovery in science and technology. The ‘explosion of knowledge’ has been extraordinary.
We have moved in one lifetime from ‘a world in which there were no antibiotics, television or international air travel’ to a scientific and technological age which will see an estimated doubling of knowledge every 15-20 years – and another two billion people on earth within the next 35 years.
‘This has many consequences and presents many really tough challenges,’ Professor Clarke said.
Discovery and application
‘The solution to many of these large-scale problems will be through science and technology, both discovery and application, and it will take years of persistent work.
‘We will see continuations of the basic disciplines such as mathematics, physics, biology, geology but we now have whole new disciplines emerging at their interfaces – for example molecular genetics, bioinformatics, environmental management, and neurobiology.
‘We cannot predict what will emerge from the emerging new knowledge. We should do our best to understand how to use it wisely.
Professor Clarke said that in recognising the critical importance of science to future societies, La Trobe University has developed a focus on ‘teaching the teachers’ of science.
‘This goal of teaching exciting innovative science and maths teachers is now urgent. Australia’s numeracy skills at school level (15 year olds) have declined in the international rankings to the 11th place. China, Finland and South Korea are well ahead of us.’
Leadership in biochemistry
Apart from La Trobe’s focus on science and technology education, she said the University was also a scientific leader in Australia in biochemistry.
‘La Trobe Biochemistry was the only school in Australia to be given a top five ranking (“Outstanding performance, well above world standard”) in the recent ERA (excellence in research assessment) by the Commonwealth government.’
A world-class $94 million La Trobe Institute of Molecular Science building will be opened later this year.
Professor Clarke also provided personal insights into how important new plant biotechnology has been developed in Australia to enhance global food supplies.
Working with colleague Professor Marilyn Anderson, La Trobe University and the University of Melbourne, this endeavour led to the formation of a company called Hexima Ltd – and the development of molecules to control fungal diseases of crop plants.
These diseases globally cause annual losses of more than 10 per cent of key food crops.
‘From humble beginnings and chance discoveries, the company now employs 40 people, has ten graduate students and is located both at La Trobe and Melbourne universities and in a city office,’ Professor Clarke concluded.
Professor Clarke’s five tips for up and coming innovative researchers:
1: Ask a good question. It should be answerable with the tools of the time, have a big impact if answered and it should not be in a very crowded ‘me too’ field.
2: Understand other fields. This can be an invaluable adjunct to being an expert in your own field.
3: Have imagination when looking at data. See what it could mean and form a testable hypothesis.
4: Be flexible. When developing new technology the original product goal is often modified as technology, markets and opportunities change.
5: Take risks. ‘Best in class’ science and good friends are characteristics of successful innovative companies.