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This week's newsletter is sponsored by Creativity Workshop.

Creativity Workshop.
Learn, Travel and Earn 3 Professional Development Credits.
Summer Workshops in New York, Barcelona, Crete, and Florence.
Credits are from the University of Iowa and University of Arizona.
Workshop dedicated to helping educators discover and nurture creativity in all fields.
Explore your creative potential, meet like- minded people, and see some of the most beautiful places in the world.
Attendees are from many professions and nationalities.
Many teachers taking the workshop get credits and receive educational grants or financial aid from their schools.
Contact: Creativity Workshop
Email: questions@creativityworkshop.com
Tel: (831) 915-5209

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Volume 3, Issue 22
November 16, 2009

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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
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Wire Side Chat
Okay, Grammar Still Isn't Fun, But Everyone Can Master It
According to English teacher Marian Anders, learning to write correctly is like learning to drive a car: You don’t need to understand how a car works to be a good driver. And you can learn to write well without knowing the intricacies of traditional grammar.

A Parent Engagement Model That Works
Administrators and teachers often voice frustration at a lack of parent “involvement." I’d like to suggest that schools might have more success if they view the world through the lens of parent “engagement" instead of parent "involvement."

November Bookmark and Book Plate
Encourage a love of books with these November templates.
Happy Thanksgiving!
You're sure to find lots of uses for this Happy Thanksgiving sign.

Education World Introduces RSS! Want to be alerted whenever Education World updates one of your favorite Channels or adds content related to a subject of interest? Subscribe today to our RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds to get new content delivered directly to your desktop! Learn about the latest new content posted to our Lesson Planning, Professional Development, Administrator's Desk, or Technology Integration Channels. Be notified when we add new content related to the teaching of Reading, Math, Writing, or Science. Be the first to see new Classroom Management resources. Sign up for a special RSS feed especially created for New Teachers. See new content related to Parent Involvement. Let us inform you when we add new resources to our Tools & Templates area. Sign up today for one or more of Education World's RSS alerts Learn more about RSS

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THE COLUMNIST PODIUM
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Dr. Fred Jones: Tools for Teaching
The Body Language of Commitment
Kids are born with the ability to read body language. Learn how you can exploit that skill by employing the body language of meaning business.
Follow Through and Pseudo-Compliance
In the body language poker game, teachers fold when they turn a way from a situation before students have folded. Students fold when they abandon pseudo-compliance and get back to work.

Emma McDonald: The New Teacher Advisor
Working With Difficult People
A myriad of situations that will cause you difficulty can arise within the workplace. Here are a few thoughts on ways to help you get through those times with your dignity intact.

Managing Student Talking
It used to be that when students were learning in the classroom, silence reigned. With the onset of collaborative learning groups and hands-on learning activities, the lines of when students can and cannot talk have become blurred.

Dr. Ken Shore: Classroom Problem Solver
Dealing With Bullying Incidents
Discover some steps you can take to deal with bullying incidents to keep them from spinning out of control.

Dealing With Bullying Victims
Your success in counseling bullying victims depends largely on your ability to establish trust in the face of embarrassment and reluctance to talk about it.

Eric Baylin's Songs to Brighten a Teacher's Day
They Tell Me It's Only November
Pretty soon we'll break for Thanksgiving. By my count that's a third of the way. But it's hard to believe it's only November, when the first months have seemed like a year.

The Curriculum Mapping Song
Yes, curriculum mapping can be a little tedious, but it makes good sense...doesn’t it? So, if curriculum mapping sometimes gets you down, just sing your mapping woes away.

Ms. Powell's Tips for Organizing Your Classroom
Clean Desk Diagram
Every minute you spend teaching organization and cleanliness to kids is worth it!
Creative Curtains
Create hidden storage by hanging a decorative curtain.

Ruth Sidney Charney: The Responsive Classroom
Logical Consequences Teach Important Lessons
Logical consequences reinforce the limits of the classroom, the accountability of each individual, and the belief that we can take better care of ourselves, one another, and our environment.

Joe Martin: The Teacher Motivator
What Are You Paying Attention To?
I tell my friends when they question my sanity (which is quite often) concerning teaching and my ability to maintain a positive attitude: "I have a simple choice: I either can focus on whining about teaching or on winning as a teacher."

Each week, Education World spotlights books of interest to educators. This week, read a brief summary of two more of our "top 50 books for educators."

No Contest: The Case Against Competition
One of the most prolific education writers, Alfie Kohn is also one of the most entertaining and thought-provoking. This book makes perhaps the most profound argument Kohn has ever fielded -- that "healthy competition" is an oxymoron, that competition is not an essential or desirable aspect of human nature, but rather a part of our animal nature that we must transcend. Of course our educational system has a love-hate relationship with competition: we don't want kids to feel like losers, but our society demands that schools identify a small number of winners. A truly essential read!
Click to learn more or to purchase this book.

The Absorbent Mind
Maria Montessori's classic underscores her belief that learning is a natural characteristic of the human being, and that the process of education is best conducted as a nuturing of that natural impulse, rather than something that has to be imposed on one's otherwise savage little charges. Along with this is her belief, much more radical in its time than now, that people's personalities are not fixed at birth, but that a child's early years are in fact crucially formative.
Click to learn more or to purchase this book.

Click the icon to the right to see more books and many other products that are available in the Education World MarketPlace.

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OUR WEEKLY PRO DEV FEATURES
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Reader's Theater
A Turkey Takes a Stand
As the holiday season approaches, Trevor Turkey makes a shocking proposal. He calls for a new law that would take turkey off the Thanksgiving menu -- and put an end to a beloved (by almost all!) national tradition.
Cooks Challenge
It’s a battle of culinary creativity when a nursery rhyme character competes in an unusual contest against a famous chef on a popular cooking show. The surprising results stun everyone.

Reading Features
Eighteen Books for Teaching About Character Across the Grades
Discover eighteen books you can use for character education lessons -- and a link to a list of more than 200 additional titles for teaching about character.
A Thanksgiving Language Lesson
Students work in groups to create restaurants, menus, and advertisements to attract Thanksgiving Day customers.

Best Books for Teaching About…
Colonial America
Smoking
Landforms
Reading

Strategies of the Week
Character Education
When the educational system works well, the best indicator is the character of its students. Read about the importance of character education and about some of the programs schools are using.
Stress Relief
Do you ever find yourself dealing with unmotivated, disrespectful, or unruly students? With large classes, heavy workloads, or unreasonable accountability standards? With job-related stress?

From the Writing Center

You Be the Editor
Student-editors work in teams to correct errors in this fast-paced activity.
Synonyms in the News
Use synonyms to rewrite news headlines and articles.

Cinderella and The Rough-Face Girl
Compare Cinderella to the native tale The Rough-Face Girl.
Working on the Slant
Compare how several newspapers cover a story.

A Turkey's Last Plea
Imagine you are a turkey. Convince someone not to cook you.
A Most Embarrassing Moment
The most embarrassing moment I remember was the time...

Giving Thanks
Three things I am most thankful for are...
What I'm Really Good At
I'm really good at these three things…

Writing Features
Write on Target
Three educators share some writing-based activities -- and three creative ways to encourage writing skills -- that they and their students love.
Family Writers' Workshop
Donna Sacco's students --and their parents -- blossom during family writing class.
Discovering the Writers Within
Convince students that writing is worthwhile and that their oral vocabulary and reading experiences give them tools to express themselves. Their skills will grow.
Family History Project
Donna Kielty's family history project teaches students who "Americans" are.

From the Math Corner

Featured Math Articles
Use It or Lose It: Puzzles to Exercise the Brain
Do your students' brains seem a little lazy lately? Energize them with brainteasers.
Start Your Engines
A love of racing and a class of fourth graders create a winning learning combination.

Missing Numbers
Solve each puzzle to find the missing number.
Puzzling Columns
Rearrange the shapes to create a new pattern.

Boxcars Math Game

To Sum It Up
Adding three-digit numbers.
Fair Game Subtraction
Subtraction; odd and even numbers.

Math Mnemonics
DRAW
Add, subtract, multiply, or divide?
Long Division
Does McDonalds Sell Cheeseburgers Raw?

Featured Articles
NaNoWriMo
Lisa Corey's students take part in National Novel Writing Month.
Are You Teaching the Real Story of the First Thanksgiving?
Are you teaching the true Thanksgiving story?
What We're Grateful For
Nicole Nelson's kindergartners use technology to express appreciation at Thanksgiving.

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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!

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Education Humor With Regina Barreca
Communicating With Kids and Colleagues
I was asked to give a lecture…with a focus on one of the following topics: 'communicating with young children' or 'communicating with colleagues.' Since I see those activities to be exactly the same thing, I figured I could address both."

The Principal Poet
Education World’s resident poet, Mr. Ivan, presents a poem that is sure to bring grins to school leaders everywhere. This week’s poem is The Mouse in School.
"Vermin! Vermin!" Our
Teacher's voice was shrill!
And that much exuberance
Gave us kids a thrill…

Alma Row's Gadgets of the Week
Thinkature allows users to collaborate in real time as they chat inside a visual workspace.
Wordle creates a graphic out of any group of words -- a poem, a quote, an Rss feed....

Starr Points
’Tis the Season…to Accentuate the Positive
In the spirit of the season, spread goodwill by saying something positive to your significant “others” -- the parents or teachers of the children in your life.

Featured Site Reviews
Avalon Arts Studio: Ideas for Teachers
Ideas for all types of art, including recipes, 3-D art, printmaking, and more.

Math DL
This digital library offers a wealth of resources for teaching and learning math.

WildFinder
A map-based collection of information on 26,000 species from the World Wildlife Fund.

Animal Bytes
Animal facts, photos, Webcams, more.

Get Body Smart
An eBook about human anatomy and physiology.

Amazon Interactive
Explore the Amazon Rainforest -- without getting muddy.

Be sure to explore our Site Review Archives for more great sites. You also can keep up with our latest reviews by signing up for our Site Review Newsletter. This free weekly newsletter brings you up to date by presenting links to all new reviews posted in our Site Review archive. Click here to sign up now!

Videos of the Week
The Importance of Education
Videographer Lori Harfenist conducts on-the-street interviews about the importance of education.
A Healthy School Lunch
A middle school in Berkeley, California, serves up nutritious grub kids love.

School Doodle
The English Channel

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MORE FEATURES OF INTEREST!
Reader’s Theater More than two dozen scripts, perfect for the classroom.
Best Books for Teaching About… Booklists for 30 popular teaching themes.
Sign Up for Our Newsletters Ten free newsletters full of practical ideas.
Special Education Center Tools for the special education community.
Techtorials Tutorials take the terror out of tech.

Template Library Explore dozens of templates to meet your every need.
Wire Side Chats Ed World chats with experts from the "education world."
Printables Library 100s of printables!
Meet Our Columnists From across the "education world."
Early Childhood Themes From Sue LaBella.
Stress Kit Tools for catching your breath.
Classroom Management 101 Real tips from real teachers.
News for Kids World news with kids in mind.

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