Kathie Nunley's Educator's Newsletter
Monday, November 08, 2004
Kathie Nunley's Educator's Newsletter---November 2004 Edition---
(current subscribers: 13,545)++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
New and updates to http://brains.org and Kathie Nunley's
Layered Curriculum (tm) Site for Educators: http://help4teachers.com
Newsletter subscription available at: http://help4teachers.com/newsletter.htm
UNSUBSCRIBE information/link at the bottom of this newsletter
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SECTION ONE: Teaching Tips -
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Teaching Tip #1: When students work with groups give each group two
cups to stack. One red, one green. Green means 'go'. Red means 'stop'.
If students need your assistance, they put the red cup on top-meaning
STOP BY MY DESK. When the green cup is on top, it means- you can go by
us, we don't need your help. Of course it does not preclude you from stopping
at any desk! This avoids the students calling out to you.
---Linda Kellner , Assistant Principal, Baldwin High School.
Teaching Tip #2: To pair students, use a deck of Old maid cards! There are many
creative ones now on the market. I was able to purchase a deck for 59ยข!
If you have an odd # of students use the Old Maid and have the child choose
the pair he/she wants to work with!! By the way- this even works in High School!
---Linda Kellner , Assistant Principal, Baldwin High School.
Teaching Tip #3: On Monday we start each period with a discussion of the
hottest band and song of the week. While the nominees generally come from
the students, I too try to glean ideas by briefly watching one of the cable
music networks (so I'm somewhat knowledgeable). We throw it out for a short
debate. It gets my class focused and attentive and it's a great way to start looking
at the critical thinking process. no name, History teacher/NY - via email.
Send your favorite teaching tip to: kathie@brains.org
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SECTION TWO: Hot Topics
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As promised, here are some recent studies from the mathematics area.
HOT TOPIC #1. Researchers from California and Montana teamed up to look at
the relationship between working memory (WM) and struggles with math problem
solving in the early elementary grades. Their research pointed out that while
Short Term Memory (STM) and WM are often considered the same, they are in
fact different. STM deals more with sequential phonological items whereas WM
deals with the integration of related items from Long Term Memory. So while
children with serious math difficulties often have both STM and WM deficits,
they are not the same culprit. Serious math difficulties in children of normal
intelligence is a combination of phonologicalprocessing, processing speed,
inability to ignore the unimportant information while maintaining the important
ideas in the background, and general problems with integrating information from
long-term memory - all of these are relative to overall executive function.
Swanson, H. & Beebe-Frankenberger, M. (2004). Journal of Educational
Psychology, Vol 96(3), 471-491.
HOT TOPIC #2: Many students enjoy learning math from multimedia computer
games. Research shows that those games which use multiple representations
are better than those using only one, but research has now been released
showing that the discovery learning opportunities alone with these programs
is not enough. Children need verbal assistance or guidance when using
multimedia programs for learning to really get the best long term understanding.
And for many students, multimedia programs are very ineffective for learning math
processes. Students with very limited understanding of computer use and students
with poor working memory both would benefit more from alternative instructional
methods. So, this current research shows that verbal guidance given along with
discovery based computer programs gives the best results for learning complex
arithmetic procedures in many, but not all children. Moreno,R. & Duran, R. (2004).
Journal of Educational Psychology,Vol 96(3), 492-503.
Read more Hot Topics at the websites! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SECTION THREE: What's new at the Websites
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**** Books: The 2nd edition of Layered Curriculum as well as its workbook
companion and "A Student's Brain" are all available at a discounted price at the websites. http://help4teachers.com/books.htm
**** Video Training: I know many of you have had a hard time scheduling
Layered Curriculum workshops at your school, so we now offer video training
packages which allow you to train your teachers at your convenience and on
your own schedule. I've already had several small school call looking for training
packages for very small staffs. We are able to do that.
email me with your needs. For information on the video training packages: http://help4teachers.com/video.htm
**** The BRAINS.ORG Shop: We now have an on-line shop which carries a selection
of our recommended reading books as well as hard to find teaching and learning
aides. We are trying to provide some of the items teachers and parents have been
asking for such as phonic phones, colored notebook paper and various book titles. http://brains.org/shop.htm
**** Newsletter: Because so many asked, I now post this newsletter on-line for
those of you whose email filters outsmart all of us:http://www.nunley.blogspot.com/
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SECTION FOUR: Kathie's Email
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Dear Kathie,I teach 8th grade World Geography. I am trying Layered Curriculum
this year and so far, my students seem to like this format.The question I have
regarding it is the "Layered unit sheet" given to the students. My unitsheet lists the
C Layer first, then beneath it, the B layer, and then the A Layer. I like this format,
however, my supervisor doesn't. She feels that the A Layer should be first, the B layer
next, and then the C layer. According to her, she wants to see the A layer first so
more students will work for the A and not the C. Is her reasoning correct? I would
appreciate your expert advice. Thank you! S. T., Nevada
==========================
Hi S. T., Thanks for the note. Of course you can certainly set the unit sheets
up however you like, but personally I like to list things in a time sequential
order. Because I have all students start in the C layer it goes at the top of the
page. I do however expect ALL my students to get through all the layers so we
spend a significant amount of time and effort going over the A layer and for the
first couple of units I suggest you "walk" them all through it together so they see
how all the layers work and most importantly, that every students can in fact, do
all 3 layers. I suppose you could try it both ways and see which works best for your
population. Let me know what you find out. --Kathie
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Dear Dr.Nunley: I'm Yuzhen Xu, A professor of education in Capital Normal
University in Beijing China. I have been working on school-based curriculum
improvement for many years.So I'm excited to know your work Layered
Curriculum. One of the biggest problem we Chinese teacher faced now is how
to differentiate instruction in a mixed-ability class. You know, in China, the
class is too big for most teachers to differentiate instruction. So teachers can
only teach to the average. Both the top and lower students are neglected in the
class. Last year since the Chinese National Curriculum was put into practice,
student-centered teaching is emphasized and reemphasized. Many Chinese
curriculum scholars gathered painfully dealing with this Gordian knot how
can a teacher differenciate his/her teaching in a densely populated and multi-ability
class. If for the time being, we can't afford to downsize the class,what can we do? Now
I'm so glad to read your paper on "Layered curriculum".It is very helpful for us to
think our own problems. It's a pity I didn't get the full text on the internet. Would
you please be so kind enough to email me some other related articles? I should
thank you for your kindness in reading this email. Looking forward to hearing
from you soon! Sincerely yours, Dr. Yuzhen Xu, Institute of Education
Science, Capital Normal University.
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Dr Yuzhen Xu, I very much appreciate hearing from a colleague in China.
It is so interesting to learn that China's education issues are similar to our own.
I will post your note in our newsletter as I know other educators may share
my interest and fascination that educators from many corners of the world
share the same frustrations and are working to make improvements in the
system. I am also sending you some articles on Layered Curriculum and
teaching in mixed ability classrooms which I hope will be of interest to you
and your colleagues there in China. I hope to hear from you again soon.
Best, Dr. Kathie Nunley
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SECTION FIVE: Workshops/calendar/schedule/misc
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You know what I'm going to lead this section with, don't you. . . (no not a
comment about the Boston Red Sox). VOTE. - Tomorrow - if you haven't already.
VOTE.
Ok, now on to the Red Sox. Did I pick a great place to move to or what??? Last
year it was the New England Patriots, and this year it's the Red Sox. I think I've
brought New England some new luck! If the Boston Celtics make a turn around,
we know things are changing. In other news, we've got new workshops on the
calendar for St. Albans Missouriand Fredonia, New York in January. Also in the
workings - Columbus Ohio, North Carolina, Las Vegas. The spring calendar is full
now until May. There are a few openings in May and a couple in June. Let me know
if you need me to hold something for you. This week I'm heading to Connecticut for
a couple of days with the teachers there, then I'm off to Lansing Michigan for the
MAPSA annual conference and then on to the South Dakota ASCD conference in
Sioux Falls.
Keep in touch.
As usual, my best to you and yours. Kathie
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Dr. Kathie F. Nunley
http://help4teachers.comhttp://brains.org
Layered Curriculum (tm) - because every student deserves a special education (tm)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Workshop information is available at the website
http://help4teachers.com/workshops.htm
or
call: 603-249-9521
email: kathie@brains.org
Brains.org and Help4Teachers is located at:
54 Ponemah Road
Amherst, NH 03031
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