Kathie Nunley's Educator's Newsletter
---November 2005 Edition--- (current subscribers: 15,956)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
News and updates to http://brains.org and Kathie Nunley's
Layered Curriculum (tm) Site for Educators: http://help4teachers.com

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Newsletter subscription available at: http://help4teachers.com/newsletter.htm
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SECTION ONE: Teaching Tips -
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Teacher Tip # 1. A giant, industrial rubber band or long piece of rubber
can be tied across the front legs of a student's chair near the floor.
Use this for your "fidgety" students. They can stretch and push their feet
against it while listening or working.
Mrs. Richardson, 3rd grade, Wilkins Elementary, New Hampshire.

Teacher Tip #2: Use sticky notes to communicate positive or not so positive
messages to students. Just jot & place on student's desk so instruction is
not interrupted! Mary Kelsey, St. John's, Newfoundland / Labrador

Teacher Tip #3: Use a vinyl table cloth to back bulletin boards. Use holiday
designs. Lorie Van Gore, no city.

Send your favorite teaching tip to me at Kathie@brains.org

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SECTION TWO: Hot Topics
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HOT TOPIC #1: Children's mental models of numbers, number lines
and number relationships greatly affect math achievement. In young
children (grades K / 1) most children struggle with linear conceptions
of the numbers 1 -100. If presented a line labeled only at 1 and 100,
and asked place random numbers in their estimated position, children
tend to put great space between lower number and clump the higher
numbers close together near 100. By grade 2, children can handle
estimating the positions of numbers between 1 - 100 fairly accurately, but
make similar mistakes on number lines of 1 - 1000. Children with better
visualization of the linear relationship of numbers tend to score better in
math. Some evidence exists that teaching young children number games
and giving more exposure to number lines and relationships can improve
math. Siegler, R. & Booth, J. (2005) Child Development, Vol 75(2), 428-444.

HOT TOPIC #2: As many of us suspected, physical exercise, does
indeed make the brain stronger. In his presentation at the recent
APA convention in Washington DC, Tim Schallert, a researcher in
Texas summarized all the recent research that shows regular physical
activity can reduce your chances of getting Parkinson's disease,
Alzheimer's disease and even stroke. Schallert's own research is
looking at how and why this happens. Using rats, the researchers find
that exercise prevents the brain's dopamine neurons from degenerating.
This normal aging degeneration of dopamine neurons is what is responsible
for so many of these aging diseases. Schallert, T. (2005). Journal of
Neuroscience, Vol 21(12), 4427-4435.

HOT TOPIC #3: Children with autism struggle not so much with facts and
information, but with the source of that information. Source memory,
as it is called, often involves the social aspects of context. Researchers in
Connecticut have compared the memory of children with autism to those
without and found that factual memory remains fairly equal. But the source
memory in children with autism functions at significantly lower levels.
O'Shea, A et al. (2005). Developmental Neuropsychology, Vol 27(3), 337-360.

More Hot Topics at the websites!

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SECTION THREE:
Website updates and Layered Curriculum training materials
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***NEW at the shop****:
Many new things this month:

*Differentiating the High School Classroom
*Faculty Meeting Presentation Kits
*Monte Selby Music CD's for educators

NEW BOOK: I know many of you are writing and asking when my new book
on differentiating strategies specific to high school will arrive. Originally
we thought we'd have it from Corwin Press this week but now it looks like it
will be the middle of next week. However, you can order it from the shop
today and we'll ship it as soon as it arrives. You can order it along with
any Layered Curriculum books you may need at:
http://help4teachers.com/books.htm

NEW LAYERED CURRICULUM PRESENTATION KIT:
If you need to present your experience with Layered Curriculum to your
department or faculty, there's now a kit to help you with that. You'll
receive 2 Layered Curriculum texts and 2 Student Brain books for your
library, an outline of how to give a brief presentation, some handouts specific
to high school, and even an electronic slide presentation you can use.
You can order the kit at: http://help4teachers.com/books.htm

NEW MUSIC:
Just in time for the holidays, we're now offering Monte Selby CD's - my personal
favorite in educational music. These are perfect gifts for teachers, administrators,
and professional development staff. In fact, we've got lots of suggested books that
make great gifts as well.
For newsletter subscribers - Just ask and we'll even gift wrap them for you!
http://www.brains.org/store/

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SECTION FOUR: Kathie's Email
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Hi Kathie,
The last Friday of each month has be designated as "Brain Day" in my 7th
grade Lang. Arts classes. During these 2 hour blocks, we will complete
specific activities that work the brain, like puzzles, mazes, using non-dominant
hands, etc. We will devote some time to actually learn about the brain and
how it functions. We will talk about the importance of taking care of the brain
and ways to help the brain. Then, we will have time for the students to perform
or present. Show off the results of creatively using their brains. Some students
will perform with their band or orchestra instruments, some students will be
presenting their art work, some students will be reciting original poems or
stories, some will have created PowerPoint presentations about a favorite topic.
The students were so excited when I presented this to them. Friday, Oct. 28,
will be our first Brain Day. Can't Wait!
Sincerely,
Carol Gibbons, Citrus Middle School, Orange Cove, CA

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Carol,
What a great idea!! I can't wait to hear how it turned out. Children love to
learn about their own brains and discover new ways to make them healthier
(and learn new strategies to compensate for weaknesses). Most importantly
it's great that you're letting everyone show off what makes theirs so special!
Kathie

=====================================================
Dear Kathie,
Your magnetic eraser story [in the last issue] caught my eye.
Last year I taught a challenging Math 9 class, including 8 students
with IEPs. The range of talent and success in the class was quite
broad when I "inherited" the class midyear.

So that no one had the excuse of missing materials as a reason not to
be engaged, I lent pencils, rulers and calculators and gave away "ugly
yellow paper" as needed. I asked for collateral for anything that I lent - books
for other classes, backpacks, sweatshirts, and preferably not shoes. I started
with 24 pencils and ended the year with 24 pencils, and like so many things
in school life, my routine removed issues that could have blown up.

One girl borrowed a pencil every class; some would say that she learned
to depend on my supply, but so much of teaching is finding strategies
that help remove the obstacles. From February to June, she raised her
mark by 25%, for lots of good reasons, but my willingness to help the
forgetful seemed to encourage her.
Jane, Victoria, BC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jane, Thank you for such a terrific note. I agree with your philosophy.
Teaching organizational skills is very important, but some children,
whether we like it or not, are just not going to be organized. They will have to
learn to compensate and if that means "keeping" a pencil in your
classroom, so be it. Best of luck to you, Kathie

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SECTION FIVE: Workshops/calendar schedule/misc
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Welcome to November. I hope all of you had a fun time with the
trick-or-treaters last night. In our small New Hampshire town, the whole
town meets down in the original 1700's village around the green where
we all (young and old) trick-or-treat through our historic village. It is
certainly a New England treat and last night was especially nice as
the weather was almost warm, and the breeze kept the carpet of
leaves swirling about us to make it a much more ghoulish evening.
I love this time of year.

I want to thank the educators in Michigan for the great charter school
conference I attended last week. It was great. Thank you also for
the warm welcome at the reading conference in Billings the week before.
I enjoyed meeting so many of you.

I'm leaving later this week for Bermuda to work with the educators at the
Bermuda High School for Girls in Hamilton, and then I'll be heading back to
Cromwell, Connecticut to present Layered Curriculum to their school district.

New workshops are in the making for Las Vegas, NV, St. Johns, NFLD,
Winnipeg, Manitoba, San Antonio, TX and Brookings, South Dakota.

Enjoy your autumn. I hope it is filled with color.

As always, 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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Dr Kathie F Nunley
http://help4teachers.com
http://brains.org
Layered Curriculum(tm) . . ..because every child deserves a special education.
- posted by Kathie @ 4:38 PM