Dear Education Leaders,

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This week's newsletter is sponsored by HP.

HP knows successful 1:1 computing takes more than just computers, it takes great planning. That’s why HP offers a range of services like ongoing training for educators and innovative financing to help keep technology current. It’s just a part of the bigger picture HP considers to make 1:1 computing work for both students and educators alike. Learn more

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This week's newsletter is sponsored by National Minority Careers in Education Expo.

On April 5, 2008, attend the National Minority Careers in Education Expo in New York City.  Considered the premier educator recruiting event in education, school districts nationwide attend looking to hire YOU.   They are recruiting for all educator positions: teachers, administrators, aides, specialists, etc.  Many of the recruiters in attendance represent various consortia of school districts, making the total number of schools represented well into the hundreds.  

If you only attend one job fair this spring, this is it!  Do not miss this opportunity to network and interview with hundreds of schools districts all in one day.

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Volume 12, Issue 12
March 18, 2008

Think Spring
Spring has sprung! The Vernal Equinox (March 20, 2008) is one of the four great seasonal changes each year. It's the perfect time to explore plants in the classroom. Education World presents classroom lessons that involve students in growing things and learning about scientific classification, plant cell structure, the importance of plants in our history, and many uses of plants. Included: Links to more than a dozen additional lesson plans for teaching about plants and gardens. http://www.educationworld.com/holidays/archives/spring.shtml

March Is Nutrition Month
Activities to help students understand the benefits of eating well, the power of the food guide pyramid, the history of food, more.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_special/march.shtml#nutrition

Women's History Month
Educate and inspire tomorrow's men and women with activities relating to important women of the past and present. Make March special with these lesson ideas.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_special/women_history.shtml

More Timely Lesson Themes
Music in Our Schools Month
Five "Eggs-traordinary" Lesson Plans: Just Add the Eggs!
Hoop It Up: Join in the "March Madness"
http://www.educationworld.com/a_special/march.shtml#music
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson337.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson228.shtml

Lesson Plan of the Day
See last week's lessons; search lessons by subject.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/dailylp.shtml

Friday Fun
Books on Tape
Create a favorite book on tape so others might enjoy it too.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/friday/friday013.shtml

Learning Game of the Week
Kids get to know each other with "Fabulous Friends" game.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/learninggame/learninggame024.shtml

Vicki Cobb’s Show-Biz Science
Discover how (and why) anti-dandruff shampoos inhibit yeast production.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/showbiz_science/showbiz_science061.shtml

News for Kids
Underground Vault Protects World’s Seeds
A huge vault on an Arctic island is the new home for billions of seeds.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/newsforyou.shtml

Box Cars and One-Eyed Jacks Math Games With Joanne and Jane
This week: "Make 20" teaches addition, subtraction to 20.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/boxcars/boxcars011.shtml

Writing Bug
Which season do you like best? least?
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/writing_bug/writingbug122.shtml

Bulletin Boards That Teach
Spring Into Reading
Use this fun, colorful bulletin board to track students’ reading between the start of spring and Children’s Book Week in May.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/bullboard/bullboard030.shtml

Early Childhood Teaching Themes
Seeds & Weeds A finger play teaches about seeds. Plus more spring fun.
Plants Another finger play, more activities for young ones.
Spring Weather Use these ideas to "spring" into more learning fun.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_earlychildhood/newsletters/

Teacher-Submitted Lesson Plans
Teacher-Submitted Lesson #1 A fun cooperative-group reading comprehension strategy.
Teacher-Submitted Lesson #2 Active game reinforces spelling or vocabulary words.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tsl/index.shtml

From the Math Machine
Guess a Number is a fun Web site for teaching number sense and problem solving. (Grades K-12)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/mathmachine/mathmachine028.shtml

Every-Day Edits
Primary Edits Animals A to Z: Shark
Ele-Middle Edits Tuskegee Airmen, Tunisia, Silly Putty…
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/animalsAtoZ.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/edit.shtml

Fact Monster Hunts
Primary Hunt March Hunt #4
Ele-Middle Hunt Hunt #26
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/factmonster.shtml

Vocab-ulous!
Words that begin with BL- or BR- blends.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/vocabulous/vocabulous026.shtml

5-Minute Fillers Volume 27
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/fillers.shtml

Work Sheet of the Week
"Sandra Day O’Connor" -- learn about the courts.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/worksheets/TCM/soc_sci_3_5.shtml

FROM OUR PRINTABLES LIBRARY

Every-Day Edits
Use Every-Day Edits to build language skills, test scores, and cultural literacy. (Grades 4-up)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/edit.shtml

Backpack-tivities
These @ home learning activities are great family fun -- and learning. (Grades K-4)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/archives/homework.shtml

Math Cross Puzzles
Just like crosswords, but with math. (Grades 4-9)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/numbercross.shtml

Vocab-ulous!
Help students build a fab vocab. (Grades 5-12)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/vocabulous.shtml

Geography A to Z
Learn about world geography one letter at a time. (Grades 4-8)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/geography_az.shtml

New! TGIF #6 Have you seen Education World's new TGIF feature? Each Friday, TGIF rewards you for making it through another week. Take a deep breath, enjoy some cool ideas and resources, and get your weekend off to a great start! In Volume 6 Use a banana to teach cause and effect… Can you pass the cultural literacy test? Fun tools for teaching about BIG numbers… Watch for all new content this Friday in TGIF!

Have You Signed Up for Our Free Professional Development Newsletter?
Sign up now for the Professional Development Newsletter, a biweekly newsletter that will keep you connected to our latest professional development content for educators and school leaders.
http://www.educationworld.com/maillist.shtml#profdev

Emma McDonald: The New Teacher Advisor
Do You Doubt Yourself?
“Every teacher worries about lessons, behavior, paperwork, parents…everything that affects students. The question is, do you let worry become self-doubt or do you channel it to more positive purposes? Don’t be a ‘doubting Thomas.’ Be a reflective teacher."
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/mcdonald/mcdonald024.shtml

Dr. Ken Shore: Classroom Problem Solver
Dealing With Aggressive Students
“Aggressive students can engender a climate of fear in the classroom, creating anxiety among other students and distracting them from their schoolwork. What you can do…"
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/shore/shore039.shtml

Dr. Fred Jones: Tools for Teaching
Calm Is Strength; Upset Is Weakness
“Classroom management requires calm. A calm response to provocation can be learned. Because upset happens quickly, however, you have to learn to relax immediately and automatically when confronted. That takes practice.“
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/jones/jones009.shtml

Brenda Dyck
Driven By Data: Teaching in an Age of Accountability
“Since I am an educator in the 'Age of Accountability,' I resign myself to gathering and analyzing everything from classroom behavior to achievement test results and homework completion."
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr414.shtml

Angela Powell: Getting It Together
Store Small Items on an Overhead Cart
"An overhead cart can be a great way to store things you use frequently when teaching your lessons."
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/organization/organization022.shtml

Reader's Theater
Snack Attack
Fruit and vegetables vie for the attention of two kids looking for snacks.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/reading/ReadersTheater/ReadersTheater026.shtml

Reading Review
How to Write a Five-Paragraph Essay
A new SAT, as well as the mandates of NCLB, make it more imperative than ever that teachers at all grade levels provide students with increased opportunities to practice and develop their writing skills. Provide that practice for your students with these step-by-step instructions for planning, outlining, and writing a five-paragraph essay.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev109.shtml

How Many Squares?
How many squares can students create using the dots in this puzzle?
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/math/go_figure/go_figure007.shtml

Math Worth Repeating
Sports Math Scores Points
Looking for math activities to connect with March Madness? Grab students' interest with a site that teams math with sports -- and everyone comes out a winner! Included: Math teaching resources for all sports, all grades.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr106.shtml

Math Mnemonics
Solving Word Problems
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/mnemonics/mnemonics031.shtml

Teacher Feature
Two Cents Worth
Jeff Hart’s "two cents worth" technique enhances student discussions.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/teacher_feature/teacher_feature060.shtml

Saving Kids From Stress
"I'm totally stressed out." Listen carefully when teachers repeat that mantra. The stress could affect their performance, students, and personal lives. But stress doesn't have to take a toll -- not with these stress-fighting strategies in your arsenal.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin460.shtml

Strategy of the Week
Family Reading Night
Planning a special night to showcase student reading and to get entire families involved is a sure way to boost reading excitement and achievement.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/strategy/strategy034.shtml

From Our Archives
How to Accentuate Respect and Eliminate Disrespect in Students
The secret of learning character-building behaviors is that such behaviors are "caught" by watching others do them well. The secret of teaching character-building behaviors is to tune up the behavior you want to be caught and accentuate it.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev137.shtml

NCLB: Up Close and Personal
How has NCLB affected how and what you teach? Has it improved student progress? Closed the achievement gap? Created better students who are better prepared to face the future -- and succeed in it? The Education World Teacher Team tells all.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev130.shtml

Including Wyatt
Third-grade teacher Nancy Kovacic explains how Responsive Classroom strategies helped one of her students, a boy with cerebral palsy, become a participating -- and respected -- member of the classroom community.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/responsiveclassroom/responsiveclassroom009.shtml

Backpacktivity
Secret Message
Students and their families learn how heat turns lemon juice and oxygen into a compound called an oxide.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/homework/pdfs/backpacktivity_031.pdf

Classroom Management Tips
Bulletin Board Bonus
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/management_tips/management_tips048.shtml

Tips Library
Classroom Management: More Ways to Say "Well Done!"
Behavior Management: Homework, Hall Passes, Responsibility
Motivating Kids: Check Work as They Do It
Book Report Makeover: Report Recipe
Homework Tips: Doing Lunch
Best Idea Ever: Wearable Concepts
Testing Tips: No Time Left
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/management_tips/management_tips031.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/behaviortips/behaviortips031.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/motivation/motivation031.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/bookreport/bookreport031.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/homeworktips/homeworktips031.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/bestidea/bestidea031.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/testing/testing031.shtml

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Did you know that Education World has ten free newsletters for educators? You're sure to find one or two just right for you! It's easy to sign up (and just as easy to *** if you don't find valuable ideas each week). Click here for a list of newsletters.
http://www.educationworld.com/maillist.shtml#profdev

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Miguel Guhlin: The IT Crowd
The Power of Network Learning
"What if you could broadcast learning at will to a world of learners? What if you could interact with people, not only face-to-face in your workshops but also halfway around the world? What if your on-site workshop participants could participate in a conversation with those virtual participants? Pretty exciting, no?"
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/columnists/guhlin/guhlin003.shtml

Bernie Poole's Essential Microsoft Office 2007
Mail Merge and Related Operations
Lesson 7 of Bernie Poole's Essential Microsoft Office 2007 explains how to apply what you've learned about databases to the task of creating form letters and mailing labels.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/columnists/poole/office_tutorials/Lesson7_2007.pdf

Nancy Willard's Cyber Savvy
Sex and the Internet: Challenging the Myths
"With respect to the concerns presented by online sexual predators, some significant misperceptions must be addressed so we can get to the point of providing accurate guidance to address the real concerns."
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/columnists/willard/willard006.shtml

Lorrie Jackson's Techtorial
Higher Order Thinking Through Technology
"Educators ideally want to move students beyond mere memorization of information and simple understanding of concepts covered. The educator's goal is to help students use what they learn to create something new or to arrange information in a new way. So, what's a teacher to do to keep brains engaged during digital lessons?"
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/techtorial/techtorial011.shtml

What can you do with SchoolNotes? Check out Mrs. English's site to find out!
http://www.schoolnotes.com

Sites to See
Online Treasures
When you spend as much time online as I do, you frequently stumble across online treasures -- Web-based resources that don't always get the attention they deserve. These sites represent a dozen of the most valuable -- or most interesting -- online treasures I've unearthed in the past few months.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech145.shtml

Template of the Week
March Madness Worksheet
Liven up learning with this March Madness Worksheet.
http://www.educationworld.com/tools_templates/march_nbl.doc

Tech Classroom Spotlight
Teaching With Games
Marcia Baldanza's elementary students game their way to greater understanding.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/teacher_feature/teacher_feature020.shtml

Tech Lesson of the Week
Formatting Fun
Students practice formatting basics, including selecting font color and size and aligning and spacing text, while participating in classroom writing activities.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/techlp/techlp003.shtml

Tech Talk
Technology and Science
Discover how technology enhances the science program in the Greece Central School District, Rochester, New York.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech233.shtml

Tech Team
Technology an Educator Can Love
We asked members of the Education World Tech Team to tell us about the best hardware and software introduced to their schools or districts this year - and to explain how the new technology has improved teacher productivity or student learning.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech226.shtml

EdTech Tips of the Week
Managing a Tech-ing Classroom
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech_tips/tech_tips028.shtml
Click here to contribute to our tips library.

What Is RSS and How Is It Useful?
Jimmy Ruska explains…"the most useful thing nobody uses."
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/archives/videooftheweek.shtml

Do you have a comment about this video -- or a favorite online video you'd like to recommend to other educators? Click here to let us know about it.

Interactivity
Encyclopedia of Life
A portal to information about all species of life on Earth.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/archives/interactivity.shtml

Web Wizard
Pride of the Blue Comets
Jonathan Britt and student recruits publicize Asheboro High's finest work.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/webwizard070.shtml

Click here to share your classroom Web site with Education World readers.

Have you ever taken an online course? Would you recommend one to others?
Join the Conversation
http://forums.educationworld.com

Developing, Retaining Strong Teachers in the Schools That Need Them Most
Kimberly Higdon experienced great success as an elementary school teacher -- until the year administrators transferred her to a high-needs school in her district. Her difficulties and ultimate success with that transition, and the fact that she saw many new teachers in high-needs schools fail due to lack of support, led her to explore the issue of teacher retention in high-needs schools…
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin517.shtml

Reposted from Last Week [Link Updated]
Yearbooks Capture Elementary, Middle School Memories
The yearbook is a classic souvenir of high school days, but today even elementary and middle schools are getting into the act with their own memory books.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin516.shtml

Pete Hall's Always Strive To Be a Better You!
Stop It!
The principalship is one step shy of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, so a little diversion is nice. But when all the diversions in our day get in the way of what is most important, we need to say Stop it! That’s it. Just those two little words. It’s contrary to the Nike philosophy and might even make Phil Knight jealous of its brevity, but sometimes succinct wins.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/columnists/hall/hall024.shtml

Evelyn Cortez-Ford's Coaching Teachers To Be Leaders
What Do Teacher Leaders Do?
Describing teacher leadership is a little bit like trying to pin down a wave. So it is no wonder that teachers can have a difficult time talking about leadership. To help teachers talk about their leadership, principals can help them create personal leadership statements.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/columnists/cortez-ford/cortez-ford003.shtml

The Principal Poet
Mr. Ivan, Education World's Principal Poet, presents “The Bad Report Card.”
So now I’m sweatin’ daylight,
’Cuz with the rising of the sun
I know my life is changing
And my freedom’s almost done…
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/columnists/ivan/ivan011.shtml

Meet the other members of Education World's Columnist Team.

Take Five for…
Offering advice to help first-year teachers succeed.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/takefive/takefive007.shtml

How I Handled…
Capping state-test week with a fun and educational reward.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/how_i_handled/how_i_handled035.shtml

Pawlas on PR
Tips for making the leap to e-newsletters.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/pawlasPR/pawlasPR036.shtml

Instant Meeting #21
A thought-provoking and inspiring way to end any meeting.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/meetingidea/meetingideas021.shtml

Exceptional Event
Spring fund raiser.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/exceptional_events/exceptional_events031.shtml

Partners for Student Success
Chess Club Teaches Thinking Skills, Sportsmanship
"Chess is not just another board game with interesting pieces. ... Strategy is involved, spatial relationships, planning ahead, ethics, and reason. It is a brain developer."
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/partners/partners009.shtml

Principal Ideas
School Hug," trivia time, clean slate, spirit assemblies, more...
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/ideas/ideas002.shtml

Grant of the Week
Four new grants added last week.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/grants/additional_grants.shtml

Morning Math
Questions for Week #27.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/archives/morning_math.shtml

From the Principal Files
Schools Recruit, Recognize Contributions of Volunteers
Is your school crawling with volunteers? Or are you looking for ways to increase opportunities for students by involving more volunteers? If one of those situations describes your school, you're sure to gain some valuable insight from Education World's "Principal Files" principals. Included: The benefits of volunteers, plus tips for recruiting them and recognizing their efforts.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin420_a.shtml

Conventions & Conferences
What's coming up?

Join the Conversation
On our "School Administrators" message board.
http://forums.educationworld.com/

Parent Pointers Coping With High-Stakes Tests
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/archives/newsletters.shtml

From Our Leadership Archive
Three-Minute Walk-Throughs Walk-throughs are working in one NC district.
Breakfast & Books Tips for organizing a breakfast book club at your school.
After School Everybody benefits as schools, after-school programs share data.
Critical Friends Groups What are they, and what do they hope to accomplish?
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin480.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin434.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin440.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin136.shtml

 

Wire Side Chat
Documentary: U.S. Students No Match for Peers in India, China
China and India may be associated with lower-cost products and labor, but these countries are mass-producing highly-educated, motivated students -- who surpass their U.S. peers at every academic level. The documentary Two Million Minutes warns of a pending economic crisis if U.S. students can’t compete globally.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat224.shtml

Fit To Be Taught, Vol. 27

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For a modest $24.95 PER YEAR, upgrade to Personal Edition, "Super SchoolNotes," with thousands of resources linked to your state's standards.

Click here for more information.

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Printables Library You're sure to find great resources here.
Meet Our Columnists Experts from many areas of the "education world."
Teaching Themes for Early Childhood Sue LaBella offers holiday ideas, more.
Classroom Organization Tips Ideas (and photos) that you can easily adapt.
Stress Relief Kit Take a deep breath. Then take a look here.
Classroom Management 101 Real teachers share what they are doing to manage real classrooms.
News for Kids News of our world written with kids in mind. Teacher's Guide included.

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