Kathie Nunley's Educator's Newsletter
---May 2006 Edition--- (current subscribers: 17,090)
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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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Complimentary newsletter subscription available at:
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SECTION ONE: Teaching Tips -
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Teacher Tip # 1: My high school has video announcements each day. As
part of my A and B layer assignment (with Layered Curriculum) I allow my
students to do a public service announcement to teach the rest of the
student body what they learned about a specific topic in the unit.
Roger Mayo, Business & Marketing, Arbor View HS, Las Vegas, NV.

Teacher Tip #2: Have sharp pencils always available. This avoids the
disruption of sharpening. Roxanne McCormick, Idaho.

Teacher Tip #3: I use work folders hung on the wall with names on them for student's
unfinished work. This avoids them shoving stuff in their desk. Roxanne McCormick. Idaho.

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: Choice and control, choice and control. These are mantras
I've been singing for years when it comes to student-centered classroom
designs. New research supports this again in both classrooms and the
workplace. People who get some choice in the order in which they do things,
and the time they can spend on the tasks experience much less mental
fatigue AND they make a lot fewer errors in their work. Hockey, R. et. al
(2006). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied., Vol 12(1), 50 - 65.

HOT TOPIC #2: Gossip is all around us. It's an integral part of our social
culture and has become a hot topic of research as theories arise about the
importance of gossip in our evolution as a social creature. Gossip helps
form bonds, improves our self image and helps defines group norms.
Children, especially in middle grades, use gossip to improve their social
status and be popular. But that popularity comes at a great cost as you
move into high school. Popular girls in 5th grade as well liked by their peers
and they continue to use gossip to maintain their status. But starting around
10th grade, popular girls tend to be disliked by most of their classmates
who find the malicious gossip and other social aggressive behaviors
quite unpleasant. Dingfelder, S. (2006). Monitor on Psychology,
Vol 37(4), 62-63.

More Hot Topics at the websites!
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SECTION THREE:
Website updates
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***NEW at the Help4Teachers.com****:

NEW LAYERED CURRICULUM UNITS posted
~~ Cinco de Mayo (for MS) sent in by Jennifer Hasseld in Elmwood Park, IL
~~ Forces, Motion & Energy (MS) sent in by Trisha Seiler in Columbus, OH.

You can view these and all our LC sample units at:
http://help4teachers.com/samples.htm

***Layered Curriculum text, workbook and video training materials
can be found at: http://help4teachers.com/books.htm

*** New 10 Paks for the Layered Curriculum VIDEO TRAINING Kits now available.
http://help4teachers.com/video.htm

***NEW at the Brains.org SHOP: ***
Final Month for our Spring Specials on 3 new titles at the shop:
"All the Math You'll Ever Need" - Slavin's survival guide to Math.
"Blink" - Gladwell writes a fascinating book on cognition.
"On Intelligence" - A Jeff Hawkins book that is a great read!
http://brains.org/store/index.htm

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SECTION FOUR: Kathie's Email
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Kathie,
A colleague & I are very interested in starting Layered Curriculum at our high
school. We would like to attend a conference. Do you only have conferences if a
particular school system hires you or do you hold them at various times & have
interested folks attend? Jennifer Lisowski, Swansboro High School

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Jennifer,
Some of the time I'm doing workshops specifically for one school or district. I
encourage them to open those workshops up to visitors from outside their district
and most of them are quite open to that and we have visitors all the time.
I'm trying to work on having an easy way for outside participants to get in touch
with the coordinator. In the meantime, just email me and I can get you contact
information.
Some of the time, I'm doing conferences for specific organization such as ASCD,
or national conferences like the "Differentiation and the Brain-Friendly Classroom"
conference this June in Virginia Beach and in San Antonio this fall. For those, I
try to include a link to the registration page right from my calendar. You can take
a look at my calendar at: http://help4teachers.com/calendar.htm and let me
know if something is of interest to you.
Best, Kathie

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Dear Kathie, Layered Curriculum is going great! I am sharing LC with my
fellow teachers. Matter of fact, after speaking with the Science Department Chair
about L. C. he asked me to give a presentation. They are really excited about
trying it. Anyway, I do have a question. I have been requiring students to print
out their articles and attach them to their article summaries and opinion
paragraphs. I would like your opinion on whether I really need to require
students to print their articles. I have been concerned about students just
copying a citation from another student. Am I worrying about something that I
should not be so concerned about? Thank you for your time and opinion.
Keep up with the newsletter, it is great! Garry Knapp, Monroe High School

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Hi Garry,
Your question actually is one of those "A Layer" questions, itself!
(There's no right / wrong answer). I think you have to see what works best
for you. If you have legitimate concerns about students doing their own research,
here's a few ideas I've seen done:
1. ask for copies (as you are doing, but that doesn't always solve the problem)
2. spend 60 seconds with the students and ask them a question or two about their
research (which at least assures you they've personally read it)
3. Allow no more than 2 students in any class to use the same research. (you can
have students email their citations to a class website or post them on the chalkboard).

My personal favorite is #2. But you see what works for you.
-- Kathie

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SECTION FIVE: Workshops/calendar schedule/misc
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Happy May Day everyone. I'll start by wishing everyone well as we enter
the month of May. For most of us, May brings end-of-the-year assessment,
Advanced Placement testing, graduation, final exams, and other miscellaneous
"extra stress" events. You've probably read the new research recently that more
than half of American adults are significantly concerned about the amount of stress
in their lives. So who needs more?! Just remember to deal with stress in
smarter ways - exercise, relaxation routines, and fun hobbies. Be aware that it
is tempting to deal with it in not so healthy ways, such as comfort eating!
Stay strong.

I write today from western New York where I'm working with the teachers in the
BOCES region here in Salamanca. I'm also taking a couple of days to open up
our summer cabin. Those of you who have been with me for several years, know
that my summer is spent with my hammock, a lot of good books, and my favorite
sounds of nature in the Allegheny Mountains of western New York. So here I
am doing the annual cleaning out, airing out, and removal of little creatures who
borrowed the residence over the winter.

I'll be back in my New Hampshire office at the end of the week however, and
finalizing all my summer conferences and workshops. Hope to see you
at one of them.

As always, my best to you and yours,

Kathie
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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 @ 11:53 AM