Monday Must Read: How to Steal a Dog

I read this book awhile back with Zachary. It is another cute, although sad book. It is about a girl that wants to steal a dog to get a reward so she can have money. Her family is homeless and she tries to be creative to find ways to get a little bit of money. I have an emotional connection with this book because it was the first book I've read with Zachary that he actually had empathy for other people. He had no idea that there were homeless people or that sometimes kids do have to live in cars or hotels.

Inservice Reaction

A few days ago, I attended a professional development with a speaker/researcher from the University of Oregon. Dr. Zhao has written a book about the "gap" that we are always fussing about as the United States between other countries and ourselves. I would definitely recommend reading some of the articles on his website: http://zhaolearning.com/ as well as looking at the presentation handouts.

While some have been skeptical about his viewpoints, I found his presentation very uplifting and encouraging. As Americans, we are doing so many things "right" and a lot of the pressure for performance comes from a public that doesn't always understand the goings-on of schools. While Zhao has a firm stance on his position about standardized tests and how inappropriate he believes they are, I certainly think that he is not alone in his belief. However, we must form some sort of measures for achievement and assessments. We must use data to drive our instruction and improve our performance. While standardized testing may not be the only answer, it is what we currently have.

Dr. Zhao's presentation left me thinking about my beliefs and positions as a mother and as a teacher. While we certainly want high test scores, we also must ask ourselves, what those mean. On one of his slides, there was a quote by an old philosopher that said something like, "What is knowledge worth?" If a child gets an 80% on their standardized math test, what does that tell us in particular to their future knowledge? What is that knowledge worth? Our children today are born to a day where careers they will have might not even be created yet! Raising and teaching children is challenging and we must put the children first. Thankfully, we don't use test scores to determine future careers like other countries have been known to.

I don't want to suggest that I agree with EVERYTHING that Dr. Zhao presented. As an educator and a thinker, I like to ponder and analyze the content and see what relates to me and what makes the most sense in the position I'm in. I do think that he makes some important thinking points however. As teachers, we must continue to think, learn, and become better for our students.

Website Wednesday- Free Reading

As a teacher passionate about reading, I have to pass this website along for you. This is a great resource to also share with parents that are trying to help their child with reading.

http://www.freereading.net/

Website Wednesday- Education World

I realize I have taken a little bit of an absense from this blog. I've been home on a few sick days. :( One website that I'd love to share is Education World. It has a plethora of wonderful of tools and resources for teachers. I can't say enough great things about it. Maybe you can add some comments of how you'd used it or what you like about it????? 

http://www.educationworld.com/

Website Wednesday- Best on the Web

This is a website that I currently just found while I was researching some websites on differentiated instruction. By the way, last Wednesday, I introduced Livebinders.com to you and if you'd like to link to my differentiated instruction binder, by all means, please do! I scoured the web searching for helpful links to help classroom teachers.

http://connections.smsd.org/nieman/best.htm

How I use Technology in Language Arts

I guess I flubbed the glog assignment. However, I have a very understanding teacher that gave me a second opportunity to fix it.

Monday Memo- Read "We Can't All be Rattlesnakes"

Zachary and I just finished reading this book:

It is adorably cute. Our family has a healthy respect for snakes. My mom was bit by a rattlesnake when she was younger so we have learned the mighty power of them and to be respectful of them in their environment. This book is written from a snake's point of view. I've never read a book from that point of view before, so it was comical and cute. Its a fun and quick read.

Website Wednesday- Livebinder

One of my classes this semester introduced me to LiveBinder.com. It is such a neat website. Besides creating my own livebinder, I have explored many others related to education and reading. I am a avid Delicious fan, but livebinder just might grow on me! :)

http://livebinders.com/
Have a great Wednesday! We're on our 3rd snow day. This is VERY rare!

Glogging and Using Technology in Teaching