Kathie Nunley's Educator's Newsletter

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Kathie Nunley's Educator's Newsletter
---December 06 Edition--- (current subscribers: 18,390)
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News and updates to http://brains.org and Kathie Nunley's
Layered Curriculum(R) Site for Educators: http://help4teachers.com
~~The NO-MEMBERSHIP-REQUIRED website ~~

You can subscribe to this newsletter at:
http://help4teachers.com/newsletter.htm
Unsubscribe & EMAIL CHANGE information link at the bottom of this newsletter
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SECTION ONE: Teaching Tips -
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Teacher Tip # 1: Need a quiet isolated study area in your room?
Hang a see-thru shower curtain from a PVC pipe suspended from the
ceiling. Students who need isolation can work behind the curtain but
are still in the teacher's view.

Teacher Tip #2: Create several "stand-by"/ "stand alone" lesson plans to
keep at the ready for students who are out of suspension or illness.
EA Isaacs, Elm St. Academy.

Teacher Tip #3: Encourage your students to keep post-it notes with key new
terms and ideas on the dash of their car or around their computer monitor.
Judy Hopkins, NY.

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: The current issue of the Journal of Educational Psychology
has an interesting study on the relationship between motivation and emotion
in students. Based heavily on previous research showing that students show
positive emotions in classes where they perceive they have some control
over activities and achievement, the researcher found that students who set
"achievement goals" for themselves, experience pride in their work, but students
who set "mastery goals" show more enjoyment of learning and hope as well as
pride in their work. Pekrun, R.; Elliot, A.; & Maier, M. (2006). Journal of
Educ. Psychology, Vol 98(3), 583-597.

HOT TOPIC #2: The development of writing skills in the early grades is
a very complex process. Researchers in Delaware looked at the factors
influencing the development of descriptive writing in urban schoolchildren,
grades 1 - 3. They found several factors of influence: the student's
basic literacy skills, the breadth of reading materials in the classroom (a
greater number of genres equated with steeper writing improvement),
whether or not the classroom had a designated "writing center" in the
room, whether writing materials were easily available in the room, and the
individual teacher's instructional model. Coker, D. (2006). Journal of
Educational Psychology, Vol 98(3), 471-488.

More Hot Topics at the websites!

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SECTION THREE: Website updates
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***NEW at the Help4Teachers.com****:

We do have a few new LAYERED CURRICULUM (R) UNITS that arrived
this month, but I will save the list until our next issue to allow them all to
be posted. (and the truth is that I'm on the road this week and don't have
access to them all - and I don't want to forget anyone!) But you can view
all the units, in a new simpler format, thanks to David, our webmaster, at:
http://help4teachers.com/samples.htm

*** NEW Article with some Simple Rules of Thumb to Help Avoid Making
the Top 5 Most Common Mistakes in Starting Layered Curriculum(R).
http://help4teachers.com/mistakes.htm

******************the Brains.org SHOP: *******************************
New additions are available at the Brains.org shop including
Two new books on Reading Strategies, "Ways to Think About
Mathematics" and "Laugh Lines for Educators" as well as our
bestseller "Differentiating the High School Classroom." There is still
time to order for the holidays. http://brains.org/store/index.htm

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SECTION FOUR: Kathie's Email
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Kathie,
I recently attempted to implement Layered Curriculum with my
freshman history classes, where I have basic-level students thru honors-
level students (all in the same class). We made it through one unit, but
then after the second unit, I examined grades. I was experiencing about 50%
failure rates, across three classes of freshman. There were issues with
lots of students never signing up for oral defenses, students not attempting
"B" or "A" levels at all, students just doing nothing for 3 weeks (despite daily
questions from me for help). For my current unit, I took a break from Layered
Curriculum and returned to more traditional (i.e. boring) class structure. My high
level students were quite upset that we switched back, while my lower level
students were happy to make the switch. I've got no clue which way to go! Help!
Thanks in advance, Donnie H. , Oregon.

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Hi Donnie, Thanks for your note. Don't panic! My guess is that you are
dealing with 3 of the top 5 problems many teachers have in starting
Layered Curriculum. First, it sounds like you are asking the students
to "stop by" when they are ready to be graded (as opposed to you circulating
through the room throughout the class period). Make sure you visit with everyone
everyday as you make your "rounds." Secondly, you may not have "walked"
everyone through all 3 layers for a unit or two. And my third guess is that your
units may be a bit too long for now. I've got a very short article at the website
that specifically deals with these issues and I think it may help you solve
some of your frustrations. http://help4teachers.com/mistakes.htm
Let me know how the next one goes! -- Kathie

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SECTION FIVE: Workshops/calendar schedule/misc
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Happy Holidays everyone. It's certainly starting to look like the holiday
season - especially from my view today in Edmonton, Alberta. I'm here
speaking at the Edmonton Public Schools, High School teacher's conference.
What a beautiful city - especially with the snow. I believe this is the first
time I've rented a car where I not only got a snow brush in the back seat,
but a large orange extension cord as well! (so you can plug the engine in
at night).

I've had a busy couple of weeks on the road and want to thank the teachers
and parents at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse for the warm
welcome last week and thanks to the educators in the Chicago area for
their hospitality at the Raising Student Achievement conference.

New workshops are in the planning for San Antonio, TX, Lawrence, KS,
San Angelo, TX, and Miles City, MT. Check the calendar page to see when I
will be in your area. http://help4teachers.com/calendar.htm

My spring / summer 2007 calendar is just about full now, but I am opening my
fall 2007 calendar if you need to schedule a conference or training session.
The Layered Curriculum Video Training program has become very popular this
year as well, so your school may want to investigate that as a more
convenient option http://help4teachers.com/video.htm

Let me close this December issue by wishing you all a safe, healthy and peaceful
holiday season. Wherever you may be and whatever holiday you may be celebrating,
please take a moment to pray for peace on earth.

As always, my best to you and yours,

Kathie
=================================================
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

Layered Curriculum(R) is a registered trademark owned and developed
by Dr. Kathie F Nunley. Usage information available at:
http://help4teachers.com/usage.htm
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- posted by Kathie @ 4:57 PM