RtI Intervention - TUNEin™ to READING

While having a reflective conversation with Nancy Cutler at Groton Elementary, I was privileged to observe her students using the program called, TUNEin™ to READING. When I entered the room, each student was sitting at a laptop wearing headphones and operating the keyboard. Nothing too exciting here, I know. But what I heard was awesome. Each one of the students was singing a different song outloud. Too cool!

TUNEin™ to READING is a reading intervention tool for grades 3-12. Nancy has participated in the training and highly recommends this research based intervention. Here is a brief explanation of the joy experienced when using this program, "Music is the catalyst behind this breakthrough success: students sing with all of their heart and soul, striving to achieve a high score, and in the process improve their reading. Unlike “skill and drill” exercises, TUNEin™ to
READING breathes life and joy into learning, leveraging lasting gains in vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. The software is scientifically based and research proven with literacy experts agreeing: it’s extraordinary!"

Check it out.
http://www.elpcorp.com/content.cfm?page_id=187

Response to Intervention (RtI)

One of the several topics I know just a little about is RtI. And because a little information can be a dangerous thing, this post is about locating resources if you wish to know more than a little.

What is Response-to-Intervention (RtI)? The website that I have found that provides excellent explanations is called The Iris Center http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/.

Following is an excerpt from an information brief called A Parent's Guide to Response to Invervention. "The RtI process is a multi-step approach to providing services and interventions to students who struggle with learning at increasing levels of intensity. The progress students make at each stage of intervention is closely monitored. Results of this monitoring are used to make decisions about the need for further research-based instruction and/or intervention in general education, in special education or both.

The RtI process has the potential to limit the amount of academic failure that any student experiences and to increase the accuracy of special education evaluations. Its use could also reduce the number of children who are mistakenly identified as having learning disabilities when their learning problems are actually due to cultural differences or lack of adequate instruction."

If you wish to learn about RtI or if you find you are in a position that you need to educate others about the program, this website takes you through real-life situational modules, case studies and information briefs for educators and parents.

IRIS STAR Legacy Modules are Web-based instructional materials that provide information about working with students with disabilities. Each interactive module is made up of five components:
Challenge – a realistic scenario relevant to education professionals
Initial Thoughts – questions that allow students to explore and consider what they currently know about the scenario presented in the Challenge
Perspectives and Resources – nuggets of information (e.g., text, movies, audio interviews, activities) that allow students to actively engage in learning the module's main content
Assessment – an evaluation tool that offers students the opportunity to apply what they know and to evaluate what topics they need to study further
Wrap Up – a summary of the information presented in the previous components

Check it out and then you also will know a little about RtI.

Media Resources

The "best of"... Teacher's Domain is an online library of more than 1,000 free media resources from the best in public television. These short digital videos, podcasts, and lessons are sorted by grade level, topic, and content area. Registration is required, but all the materials provided are free - there is plenty available for literacy educators, and the site is especially strong in science and math:
http://www.teachersdomain.org/

St. Patrick's Day

From the Kidsread website, an annotated list of children's and young adult books for St. Patrick's Day: http://www.kidsreads.com/features/020306-st-pats.asp

The blog A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy has a lovely round-up of Poetry Friday offerings from a couple years back that feature many St. Patrick's Day poems: http://yzocaet.blogspot.com/2007/03/poetry-friday_16.html

Expedition Mondays

Andrea Smith creates Expedition Mondays as a way to expand her students' exploration of nonfiction resources. The routine is a melding of routines from Poetry Fridays and First Facts Mondays, two popular activities in many K-12 classrooms: http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/835.cfm

Poetry Blogs

The Chicken Spaghetti blog has more on how Poetry Friday has spread across the "kidlitosphere." If you want some basic information and resources for this activity, you can find them at this link: http://tinyurl.com/cv669c

The blog A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy has a lovely round-up of Poetry Friday offerings from a couple years back that feature many St. Patrick's Day poems: http://yzocaet.blogspot.com/2007/03/poetry-friday_16.html

Career Cruising

The South Dakota Department of Education Office of Career and Technical Education (CTE) is on to something wonderful. They are fully invested in an online program called Career Cruising. Career Cruising is embedded in the SD My Life program.
Career Cruising has been designed with one goal in mind: to help your students plan their future. With exceptional assessment tools, detailed occupation profiles and comprehensive post-secondary education information, students move seamlessly through the career exploration and planning process. At the same time, you have access to the real-time information and statistics you need to track your students' progress and achievement.
Features of Career Cruising include:
· Complete Guidance System
· World Class Assessments
· Intuitive Career Exploration
· Comprehensive Education Planning
· Engaging Career Portfolio Development
School guidance counselors across South Dakota have been provided training on Career Cruising. If you have students in grades 8-12, make sure they are finding out how to use this great online tool. For more information contact your local school guidance counselor.

The Trouble With Technology...

… is that we keep talking about technical features and not benefits. Sure, we’re on the cutting edge of modern technology; Millenials can’t remember a time without computers and cell phones. But it often seems that we are so fascinated by what it is (8 gig i-pod©, a ‘Smartboard©’, Twitter©, a Linksys© router, a Blackberry Curve© with e-mail and internet access, etc.) that we forget about what it does.

It’s especially true for tech educators. Programs at tech conventions are full of features. (Digital storytelling, Inspiration© software, Facebook©, Myspace©, Quia©, Teachertube©, etc.)

So what?

Until we begin to talk about the benefits of technology, we are less able to teach each other. A laptop example comes to mind. Schools around the state have adopted laptop programs. Did the “sale” relate to the big benefits to students, that almost no question could not be answered? Or that the traditional role of teacher as fount of knowledge might shift powerfully to student-centered collaboration? Answers 24/7?; MS Word docs that help a student edit their words for specific audiences and improve writing?; a GPS system that helps our students really learn South Dakota geography?

Should the technologies used in classrooms be stated in terms of benefits to learners?

Gran Torino is a Must See

I don't go to a lot of movies but this one really caught my interest and has me thinking about it still a week later. What is it about life today and the world we live in that makes everyday life in the old neighborhood so difficult? Why is integrity, responsibility and respect so foreign a concept? Gran Torino is a thought provoking film about how we go about our daily lives, without concern for those outside our circle, until someone or something breaches that comfort level. I challenge you to go to this movie and come out unchanged. If nothing else, it will make you think about the stereotypes and slang immigrants in this country face everyday, and what we as conscientious Americans can do to make this country a better place.

Is This Country Ready for a Web 2.0 President?

What a difference 8 years can make. When George W. Bush took office Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter were not even an option for communication with the nation. Obama is a new president in a new era. His campaign laid the groundwork and scratched the surface for what is to come in Web 2.0 communication. Thousands of people are turning to YouTube to find President-Elect Obama's taped weekly video addresses.

Read about this and more on CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/01/15/obama.internet.president/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

"In the old model, the president talks to the people on television [and] the people talk back in polls. In the new model, communication is online, and two-way."

2008 Best Free Lessons

Readers' Survey 2008: Best Site from Which You Can Download Free Lessons and Materials. ReadWriteThink made the list of favorite sites for free lessons on the web in Edutopia's 2008 Annual Survey. Other picks include Thinkfinity, Merlot, and BrainPOP. You can access their choices and a teacher discussion of the list at this link:
http://www.edutopia.org/best-site-download-free-lessons-2008

Technology Integration

Welcome to CITEd!
The Center for Implementing Technology in Education (CITEd), a technical assistance center funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, is a cooperative effort of the American Institutes for Research (AIR), the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), and the Education Development Center (EDC). CITEd supports leadership at state and local education agencies to integrate instructional technology for all students to achieve high educational standards. CITEd provides support through identification of evidence-based practices, innovative online technical assistance tools, professional development, and communities of practice. Learn more about CITEd on our webpage, About the Center , or through our information sheet . This site has lots of excellent resources for technolgoy integration. Check out the free on-line class for Differentiation.

Wikipedia Should Be Used By Students

Scott McLeod wrote an interesting blog article for TechLEARNING entitled, "Teaching administrators about wikipedia." He addresses the concern we have all heard from educators, librarians, and media specialists about Wikipedia. The concern voiced is most often regarding accuracy. McLeod compares the accuracy of print materials that are universally given the thumbs up to the updated, highly used wikipedia that is often banned. Every educator, librarian and media specialist that currently bans wikipedia should take a look at this article and re-evaluate if this is such a bad thing after all.

The blog article can be read by following the link below:
http://www.techlearning.com/blog/2008/11/teaching_administrators_about.php

Literacy & Learning in the 21st Century

Watch David Warlick's keynote address, "Literacy and Learning in the 21st Century," recorded at a technology literacy institute in Westport, Connecticut in August 2008.

Warlick inspires, cajoles, and covers new ground as he describes the potential of new technologies for teachers and students: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/626040 The video is approximately 1.5 hours long.

(The video may take a minute to start after the page loads and you may have to upload a new version of Adobe).

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/626040

National Writing Project: Letters to the President

What a timely idea for real-world teen writing. The National Writing Project has partnered with Google in creating the "Writing Our Future: Letters to the Next President" project. You can visit their interactive map to see if anyone has participated from your area, as well as read the letters, see what issues are mentioned most by students, and hear more about the activity:

http://www.letters2president.org/

Ralph Fletcher Podcast: Literacy and Boys

Ralph Fletcher, author of Writer's Workshop, arugues that boys need more choice if we want to engage them as writers. He begins by acknowledging the world boys inhabit. In this podcast, he shares surprising answers he received from boys he interviewed and offers suggestions on how to make Writer's Workshop more equitable for them. It is well worth a listen:

http://www.stenhouse.com/html/mp3ralphfletcher1.htm

Holiday: Myth or Truth?

ReadWriteThink from the International Reading Association has a terrific assortment of Thanksgiving activities and web resources in their "Myth or Truth" collection. Scroll down the page for many weblinks to other literature-rich Thanksgiving sites:

http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=5SEUa&m=1gHXaEU2qn9XNP&b=d6KfL.ywiZ1GXAIW7GrIYg

wordle.net - Great for every subject

Thanks to Chris, the math coach, from Todd County, I would like to share a website that builds word clouds based on the input from you, your students, a blog site, or delicious tags. Chris used the site to enter all the words students used to define the word angle as he was determining prior knowledge. Then after an activity to build understanding of angles, he asked them again to write their definition of an angle. The two word clouds were totally different. He was able to quickly assess the student understanding of angle and to also find their misconceptions using wordle. You could also use this site to find focus in your work, to find the main focus of a blog or a delicious site. I tried it with the TIE Teacher Blog we are now in and found that children and students are the main focus. I was very happy with that result. Our focus in the teacher blog should always be on our students. Try it out at: http://wordle.net
Marcia

Compount Interest Simulator for Personal Finance Class

Here is a great new tool in the Illuminations site from NCTM that provides a good learning experience related to economics. The Compound Interest Simulator applet will allow you to investigate savings account earnings, credit card debt, and a stock market simulation. How well this can relate to the real world and the economic situation we are in now. Group your students into these 3 areas, have them experience the tool, then have discussions about what would be the best alternative for them as they see what is happening today in our economy.
http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=172

Marcia

CogDogRoo for Storytelling on the Web

Have you been thinking about having students create their stories on the web, but aren't quite sure where to start? Well, here is an excellent site to help you use the web tools that work best for you. http://cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/StoryTools has 50 Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story!!
The advice given at the site: "the mission is not to review or try every single one (that would be madness, I know), but pick one that sounds interesting and see if you can produce something."

Thanks to Alan Levine for his hard work in bringing all the best tools for web-based storytelling to one location.

Marcia Torgrude