Kathie Nunley's Educator's Newsletter
---Mid- September 2005 Edition--- (current subscribers: 15,561)
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News and updates to http://brains.org and Kathie Nunley's
Layered Curriculum (tm) Site for Educators: http://help4teachers.com

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SECTION ONE: Teaching Tips -
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1. Our teaching tip section this issue is devoted to hurricane
relief efforts. In the last issue I mentioned that two of our
Layered Curriculum trainers, Marilyn Washington and Stephanie
Cox are administrators in areas hit by hurricane Katrina. I'm
happy to report that I did hear from Marilyn shortly after our last
issue. And while she feels grateful to have survived the storm
personally, her school district is struggling. So many of the
surrounding schools are so damaged or physically missing that
they will not be able to have school at all this year. Therefore
thousands of new people are flooding to the remaining schools to
enroll their children. Needless to say, the remaining schools are
overwhelmed. They are desperately trying to accommodate as many
students as possible but they need school supplies and materials.
Their families need money for clothing and other school materials
for their children. If you would like to help the schools in
Ascension Parish, Louisiana, please send funds, school supplies,
sweaters, jackets (or WalMart gift cards, as Marilyn suggested)
to them, in care of their principal,
Jay Benoit
Lake Elementary
14185 Highway 431
St. Amant, LA 70774.
(I checked with the post office and mail is being delivered. )

They will share whatever they receive with other schools in their parish and
region.

I know so many of you have given much already, but if you can find a bit of
time for our colleagues and school children in the region, you have my
thanks as well as theirs. - Kathie

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SECTION TWO: Hot Topics
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As promised, a couple of highlights from the APA convention last month in DC.

HOT TOPIC #1: DePaul University shared a study on school belonging and
middle schools at the recent APA convention in Washington, DC. Their
study looked at various school environments and programs that were designed
to reduce at-risk behavior and increase a sense of belonging. Their premise
is that the increased chaos and stress that frequently accompanies middle
school is in itself, a developmentally damaging environment for this age group.
While many stand alone projects such as DARE have not led to the results
anticipated, many schools are making big progress with drug prevention,
depression, and academic failure simply by creating more healthy school
environments. These environments are created primarily by actively making
middle schools more accepting, increase a student's sense of belonging
by ensuring a sense of acceptance, inclusion and respect from teachers and
peers as well as strong encouragement for participation.
McMahon, S. et al (2005). School Belonging - Social, Psychological and
Academic Implications. A symposium presented August 20th at the
annual American Psychological Association convention, Washington, DC.

HOT TOPIC #2: Living in a world with no choice is awful. It's worse than
awful - it's absolute misery. A little choice is nice. A little more choice is
nicer still. A moderate amount of choice may even be better. But at some
point in this process, the tables turn. At some point, we enter into
a situation where there is too much choice. So much choice in fact, that
we become paralyzed and unable to make any decision whatsoever.
Too much choice can in fact be overwhelming. While many see a link
between this abundance of choice in our modern society and an increase
in mental illnesses such as depression, we can also relate this to
the classroom. While choice is one of the key components to successful
classroom instruction, be careful not to pass your students' threshold and
enter into the realm of paralysis. And of course different students have
different thresholds for choice tolerance.
Schwartz, B. (2005). Paradox of Choice: Why more is less. Invited address,
August 29th at the annual American Psychological Association convention,
Washington, DC

More Hot Topics at the websites!

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SECTION THREE:
Website updates, Recommended Reading and Layered Curriculum training materials
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**** New Layered Curriculum Units
No new units this week. So let me put out the call:
PLEASE SEND SAMPLE UNITS. We are looking for Layered Curriculum
units you have designed and implemented in your classroom. We need
more samples at all levels, k-12 and adult ed. Email your units to
kathie@brains.org

**** BRAINS.org Shop
Our bookstore is always open. Stocked with suggested and recommended
reading, including your favorite authors such as: Mel Levine, Robert Slywester,
David Sousa and Gayle Gregory. Yes, we still stock colored overlays.
http://brains.org/store/

**** Layered Curriculum training videos, texts and workbooks are available at a
discount when ordered direct from us. You can order them from
the Brains.org shop or at http://help4teachers.com/books.htm
Information on ordering the video training is at: http://help4teachers.com/video.htm

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SECTION FOUR: Kathie's Email
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Hi Kathie,
Many of the lessons plans on your site reference supplementary worksheets.
Is it possible to get these, sort of a "project in a box". I am particularly
interested in the metric system lesson plan. - Ryan

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Hi Ryan,
All the units on the website are designed by teachers from around the globe.
They are there primarily for all of us to share ideas. Even the best of the
best is not ready for someone else's classroom. They are designed by a
different teacher, with different standards and different populations. For that
reason you'll want to "tweak" them to fit your particular classroom. You'll need
to make them fit your adopted textbook and add any of your own ancillary materials
such as videos, worksheets and computer programs. Feel free though to glean
all the ideas you want from them. By the way, if you remodel a unit, please
share it back with us. We can't get enough ideas!
- good luck with it. Kathie

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Dear Kathie,

I'm trying Layered Curriculum this year with my 8th grade science. I'm really excited
about how it is going. I designed some lessons over the summer and for the most
part things are working out. I can see where I still have some problem areas but
the students really enjoy it and all of them are working (something I've never had
before). However, I still have some students who finish early or tell me they want
to finish something at home or for some reason they really don't have anything
to do during a particular classtime. What do you do with students who finish
early? Peggy L., Rhode Island

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Hi Peggy, Thank so much for writing and sharing your success, and frustration.
First, it does take a little time to get a Layered Curriculum classroom running
seamlessly. But don't worry, you'll have it worked out after a couple of units.
Regarding students who finish early, I have a couple of ideas. First, I think it
is important to have a firm classroom policy that students must be working
on something. "Doing nothing" should never be an option. You might allow
them to work on something for another class, or have them help you in
the room either by assisting in a lab, orally reviewing classmates, or
designing a lesson idea for an upcoming unit. The other big option is to
have "running assignments" in a grading term. These may be labs or
research, or book reports. They are broad and not specific to a particular
unit. You expect students to work on them a little each week so that the
project is complete by the end of your grading period. These running
assignments give students something to do if they finish early. As you
design more units you will find it easier to ensure that most of your
students will have to work right up until the end. I hope that helps.
Kathie

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SECTION FIVE: Workshops/calendar schedule/misc
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Welcome to autumn. Mid-September brings the first hints of fall color to
New England. While we've had Indian summer this week, our nights are
still cool and the days are definitely getting shorter and the first colors
are peaking through on some of the trees.

I'm looking forward to my week in Manitoba at the end of this month. I'll
be working with 3 school districts outside of Winnipeg and then will
stop off in Remer Minnesota on my way home. It should be a beautiful
and exciting trip.

New workshops are in the making for Las Vegas, western New York, Virginia, and
Lacrosse, Wisconsin. I'm trying to keep my calendar page updated, but email
me if you have a question about a date availability or contact information.

My workshop availability for 2006 is fairly limited, but remember you have
two alternatives now for Layered Curriculum training. The video training
kit is working out so very well for many schools and regional centers who
need training on a more convenient and timely schedule. There are also
teacher trainers located around North American who are ready to help out.
Let me know if you need help on any of this.

Once again, my thoughts and prayers go out to my colleagues along the
Gulf Coast. Feel free to contact me with school needs you may have or
if you have surplus materials you would like to offer. I will do my best to
put you in touch.

My best to you and yours,
Kathie
=================================================

> Dr. Kathie F. Nunley
> http://help4teachers.com
> http://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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- posted by Kathie @ 8:47 PM