Along Came a Spider: News on the Web
A "Re-Evolution" in Science Teaching
With debates between scientists and supporters of "intelligent design"—the new term for creationism—making headlines, Swarthmore's Evolution Outreach Project provides some welcome resources for science teachers, students, and anyone concerned about science education. The site combines humor and some lighthearted links (including gifts for science teachers—show your support for them!) with more serious resources including links to articles on the evolution debate and information for new teachers and veterans alike.
www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrin1/evolk12/evoops.htm
Fun Works!
This website—for kids by kids—helps middle school students start to prepare for the job market. The site provides information and tools to help young people learn to relate their interests and activities to future employment prospects, helping them start to find ways to turn their passions into profit as adults.
www.thefunworks.org
Constitution Day—FYI
Psst! If you're teaching at a school in America receiving government funds, your school will be teaching about the Constitution on September 17. That's Constitution and Citizenship Day, and according to a little-known provision passed into law by Congress last year, it's now a legal requirement for any school receiving federal funds to teach about the Constitution on that day (or immediately before or after if it falls on a weekend). Schools will be able to design a program of their choice.
www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2005/05/24/schools_to_teach_constitution_on_sept_17
Getting Bugged!
Two excellent websites, Living Jewels and MicroAngela's Electron Microscope, provide students and teachers with a "font of knowledge" about the insect world. Both have excellent photos, and Living Jewels also offers posters and other offline resources:
www.living-jewels.com
www.pbrc.hawaii.edu/bemf/microangela
Read an article about the sites here:
www.csmonitor.com/2005/0524/p25s01-stin.html
In Black and White
Fingernails on a blackboard may soon become a thing of the past, thanks to one of the latest educational technology solutions: white-boards (and not the dry-erase kind either!). These giant touch-sensitive computer screens enable students and teachers to interact on new levels. The screens can be used for everything from watching movies to displaying answers to homework, and allow teachers to save the results of work done on the boards for future reference (no more marking off "Do No Erase" sections and fights with the janitorial staff!).
www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,67710,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_3
Perspectives on History
The winners may write the history books, but this website gives voice to a range of perspectives on an historical event. Raid on Deerfield: The Many Stories of 1704 provides students with a range of perspectives on the 300-year-old controversy generated by this incident:
www.1704.deerfield.history.museum
Read an article about the site here:
www.csmonitor.com/2005/0615/p25s03-stin.html
High School, Low Interest
It's no surprise to parents and teachers of gifted high schoolers: research confirms that more teenagers find high school boring. According to a study done through Indiana University, less than a quarter of students did more than seven hours of homework a week, and the majority did less than three even while maintaining good grades. College-track students put in the most time and effort, but even they had it easy, with less than 20% taking math in their last year of high school:
www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-05-08-high-school-usat_x.htm
Does Your School Make the Grade?
Newsweek recently released a list of the top thousand high schools in the country, based on their scores on a "Challenge Index" which measured participation in International Baccalaureate (IB) and advanced placement (AP) courses:
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7723397/site/newsweek
It's not all good news for these schools, however: critics charge that as AP and IB courses become more and more popular, the challenge of these programs will become diluted. Supporters say, however, that these options offer the best chance of exposing more students to challenging coursework:
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7773524/site/newsweek
Online at Johns Hopkins
Recently, this prestigious university introduced a new online master's program that yielded unexpected benefits for all students. Many local students began to enroll in the courses, as well as those participating in distance-learning programs. Additionally, instructors' classroom techniques improved as the process of designing online courses challenged them to add life to their material. The online courses became so popular that students in conventional classroom courses began to request supplemental webpages from their instructors:
www.jhu.edu/~gazette/2005/09may05/09brody.html
Seeing is (Not) Learning
While videos are often a popular classroom tool because of their appeal to less enthusiastic readers, critics worry that viewing students may not acquire the same depth of knowledge as those who read the same material. Further, because of its take-it-as-it-comes format, video does not allow readers time for critical thinking and reflection about material. Many educators recommend that teacher supplement classroom videos with printed material:
www.csmonitor.com/2005/0426/p14s01-legn.html
A Middle-Class Military
In the Us, and despite some perceptions of military service as a working-class or low-SES profession, military recruiters claim that their current "pitches" resonate best with middle-class youth. Some possible reasons include the fact that young people growing up in high-risk neighborhoods may not choose to expose themselves to further violence, while others may have health problems or past records that disqualify them:
www.freep.com/news/education/military26e_20050426.htm
And on the subject of recruitment: the provisions of NCLB place some goals higher than children's privacy—this revision to FERPA requires schools receiving NCLB aid are required to provide student information to military recruiters:
www.publiceducation.org/portals/nclb/military/military_home.asp
It's Always the Quiet Ones
Most of us have probably heard it, or even said it, about a child we know: S/he needs to come out of his/her shell. On the contrary, however, there's nothing wrong with being quiet—and some schools are starting to recognize the importance of providing supportive environments for their introverts. As many of us in gifted education know, "the quiet ones" are often introspective thinkers who have a lot to offer if given the chance to do so on their own terms:
www.csmonitor.com/2005/0426/p11s01-legn.html
Preschool Not a Panacea
Despite the nationwide increase in children attending preschool, many kindergarten teachers say that their students are less well-prepared than ever. The trend doesn't exclude preschoolers, either: many children who have attended preschool fail at basic tasks like dressing themselves. some teachers suggest the change may be due to participation in organized activities rather than having one on one time with parents or the opportunity to learn independently, as by spending time alone with a coloring book:
www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-0504230248apr24,1,4080500.story?coll=chi-education-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
A Head Start—Or Not?
A recent issue of the ASCD's ResearchBrief explores the value of one of NCLB's provisions, early-intervention tutoring. Read the results of the report here:
www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/menuitem.6a9dfddd720040bf989ad324d3108a0c
The Zinc Link?
A recent study at the Federal Human Nutrition Research Center found that seventh graders who took 20mg of zinc a day with a glass of orange juice fared better on tests of recall than those who took 10mg or a placebo with their juice. Even better, the higher doses also showed no negative side effects on other school behaviors:
www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2005/04/25/study_zinc_improves_memory_of_7th_graders
Brains: His and Hers?
A recent article published in Scientific American addresses a highly controversial topic: sex differences in brain architecture, which may no be wholly caused by environmental differences. Researchers say that if used correctly, the research can be used to better address the medical needs of men and women, such as in addiction treatment, rather than to discriminate between them:
www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=000363E3-1806-1264-980683414B7F0000
Censorship Belongs in the Home...?
Recently, President Bush signed into effect a new law, the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act, making it legal for parents to edit out DVD content that they find objectionable for their children (and here we thought that was what the fast-forward button was for!). However, the bill does not protect companies wishing to produce bootleg edited versions of movies:
www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,67367,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_8
It's Not Just Location Any More
With the growth of websites providing information on student and school performance on SATs and other measures of achievement, house-hunting parents can now search the web to find the highest-performing school districts for their children. Needless to say, realtors and home-sellers are getting in on the act, and homes in areas with high SAT scores are seeing an upsurge in price (All right, so it still is about location....):
www.csmonitor.com/2005/0428/p11s01-lihc.html
