FreeLists / networknewsletters / NHN: Net Happenings Newsletter #8 12/7/04

[Educational CyberPlayGround <admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

**************************************************************
-- Educational CyberPlayGround Community 
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/

-- Network Newsletters Mailing List ©1994
-- Subscribe - Unsubscribe - Email Preferences
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/NetworkNewsletters.html

-- Advertise on Network Newsletters Mailing List
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/Subguidelines.html

-- Mailing Lists
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/index.html
**************************************************************


****************************************************************
  NHN: Net Happenings Newsletter #8

NEW THIS WEEK for December 7th, 2004
<http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/NetHappenings.html>
*****************************************************************

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the Net Happenings Newsletter, launched by the Educational
CyberPlayGround, this newsletter features a new format with the emphasis on
both news and resources. Karen Ellis* Founder of the Educational
CyberPlayGround will continue to carry the sponsorship of Net Happenings
Newsletter which is published to all members of the NetHappenings Mailing
List.

Written by Classroom Teacher Alan Haskvitz
1997 National Teacher's Hall of Fame Inductee
1999 All USA Today First TeamTeacher
1994 National Middle Level Teacher of the Year (NCSS)
[e] newsletter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[w] http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/ringleaders/al.html


<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
IN THIS ISSUE
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>

Quote of the Day
In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day's work.  It is invisible and
remains so, maybe for twenty years.  ~Jacques Barzun

Factoid: There are about 90,000 traditional public schools, educating more
than 50 million students in the United States.
Many schools have websites. It's fun to see everybody's unique ideas on what
these things should be. The Hotlist the first one created in 1993 by Gleason
Sackmann is a master registry of K-12 schools. The registry is organized by
state and by grade level located here:
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Schools/default.asp

<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
IN THE NEWS
BUDGETING SITES
INTERESTING STIES
MUSIC
FUNDING SOURCES
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>


<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
IN THE NEWS
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>

Charter Schools Falling Short
The Bush administration had to release the evidence that Charter Schools
were not performing as well in the Department of Education survey and so
they downplayed the results. That is probably why you didn't hear about it
before now. Anyway, The most interesting news aren't the performance
figures, but the large number of underperforming students enrolled giving
evidence that the Charter Schools were not skimming the top performing
students.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/23/education/23charter.html?hp&ex=1101272400
&en=33df1b7792650b2e&ei=5059&partner=AOL>


Special Education Legislation Passed
On Friday, November 19, 2004, Congress passed sweeping legislation that
governs Special Education.  The legislation doubles the amount of money
spent on disabled children and makes notable changes in the way that Special
Education is handled in the school system. Here are some good places to see
what it means.
<http://www.educationnews.org/answer-for-special-education.htm>
<http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1122/p11s01-legn.html>

Some startling statistics about children born in 2001 and their families and
their abilities
Stunning data. For example, Percentage of children with no biological father
in their home who have never seen their father, by race/ethnicity: 2001
finds that the highest group without a father present is Asian.
<http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/children/Section7.asp>


 From Web-Enhanced Courses to a Web-Enhanced Curriculum
"When educators discover the advantages of using online technology in their
teaching, they are often inspired to incorporate technology more
systematically into their departmental programs. In this article, Robert E.
Wood explains how he and his colleagues took this step in the Department of
Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice at Rutgers University, Camden.
Rather than focusing solely on their own courses, faculty members began
working together to offer their students shared access to online tutorials,
course Web sites, streaming video sessions, and a range of other resources.
In the process, Wood observes, these efforts had the effect of creating much
greater cohesion within the curriculum itself. The expansion of online
resources helped the department promote standards for student skills,
including consistent policies regarding plagiarism, research methods, and
citation conventions. In turn, faculty members were also able to establish
greater uniformity in conceptual and technical vocabulary from course to
course, while additional online resources helped to foster greater
communication among students and faculty. Wood's account provides a positive
model of how the spirit of collaboration can help realize the potential of
technology in higher education."
<http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=6>


<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
US BUDGET LINKS
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>


With the passing of the recent budget in mind here are some good links.
Here is a graph of who is getting the money. Education is second. Can you
guess which is number one?
<http://www.cdi.org/budget/2004/discretionary.cfm>


Current Debt clock
Great for the students, this site shows the current, literally, up to date
debt and how it is going up over a billion dollars a day. In case they are
wondering, every American is now about $25,000 in debt.
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/


US Defense Budget compared to the world
This is an excellent way to get kids interested in the budget and defense as
it shows the 2003 budget allocations by country. Good critical thinking
theme plus geography and math integration.
<http://www.embargos.de/irak/post1109/english/us_defense_budget.htm>

<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
INTERESTING LINKS
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>


Working with parents
Everything from motivating to creating more valuable parent conferences is
offered.
<http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/work_w_parents.html>

GoodPassword.com
for all the Nethappenings newsletter readers who want to practice good net
worthy hygiene that would make us proud :-)


Virtual Schools for the Gifted
The future may be now as these institutions offer classes for the gifted.
http://ericec.org/fact/virtualsch.html


If you are really stuck with an idea for a theme the answer certainly must
be here.
Bizarre, unusual, weird, and true holidays, weeks, and month celebrations
In case you are wondering, January is National High Tech month, National Hot
Tea Month, and National Reaching Your Potential Month.
http://www.brownielocks.com/january.htm


Tired of Spam? Here is Where to Complain
This site also has information on frauds, scams, and complaints. Ex-spouses
and poor administrators are not listed.
http://www.elsop.com/wrc/complain.htm


You can't start them too young
This site has the procedures to have kindergarten children set up their own
little offices at school.
http://www.geocities.com/jankwv/minioffice

Civil War Soldiers and  Sailors System,
contains information on information on over six million soldiers and sailors
from 44 states and territories who were involved in the Civil War.
<http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/>


Think you know your PC Keyboard?
You may want to check these shortcuts out.
<http://msn.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,116190,00.asp>


National Board of Professional Teaching Standards continues to search for
validation
See page 28
This study continues to pour doubt on the NBPTS requirements. Two new
studies just out, one from the same Washington source and one from Arizona
State, have been brought to task for not comparing teachers with the same
experience, education, or even student demographics in their findings.
Another interesting factor is that funding frequently comes from the NBPTS.
If you have access to any definitive study that shows that the NBPTS
improves student learning please let us know.
<http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/410958_NBPTSOutcomes.pdf>

<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
MUSIC
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>

Everybody Knows Music Makes You Smarter
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Music/musicsmart.html

Christmas music lovers
<http://web.icq.com/shockwave/0,,4845,00.swf>

Old time music lovers
<http://www.thestatenislandboys.com/U_thrill_me/>

Rock & Roll music lovers
<http://www.rowloff.com/ConcertAudio/Rockin_Rickie/Rockin_Rickie_Web.mov>

History Music Lovers
<http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/musician/virtualarmonica.html>
Here is an interactive example of the glass armonica invented by Ben
Franklin. He figured out how to put the glasses on a spindle, closer to one
another, making them easier to play.  Previously, the glasses were in box
facing up and the player really had to move around to get to them. Mozart
composed for the glass armonica.

Parody Music Lovers
<http://www.amiright.com/>

Music ideas for Classroom Use
<http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Music/IDEAS_FOR_CLASSROOM_USE.html>


<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
FUNDING SOURCES
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>

Federal Funding Sources
http://www.house.gov/ffr/resources_all.shtml

Looking for State School Board Associations?
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Teachers/stateschoolboards.html


Thanks for reading,
Al



TO SUBSCRIBE TO NETHAPPENIGS
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/index.html 


<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
EDUCATIONAL CYBERPLAYGROUND 
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com

Net Happenings, K12 Newsletters, Network Newsletters
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/index.html

FREE EDUCATION VENDOR DIRECTORY LISTING
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Directory/default.asp

HOT LIST OF SCHOOLS ONLINE
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Schools/default.asp

Educational CyberPlayGround Services
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/PS/Home_Products.html
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>