************************************************************** Educational CyberPlayGround Community http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/ K12 Newsletters Mailing List - Subscribe - Unsubscribe - Set Preferences http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/K12Newsletters.html Advertise on K12 Mailing List http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/Subguidelines.html All Mailing Lists http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/ ************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NHN: NETHAPPENINGS NEWSLETTER #23 NEW THIS WEEK for NHN <http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/NHnewsletter.html> ***************************************************************** Dear Readers, Net Happenings Newsletter, launched by the Educational CyberPlayGround, features both news and resources. Karen Ellis* Founder of the Educational CyberPlayGround, Guavaberry Books and the National Children's Folksong Repository invites others to help sponsor NHN sent to members of the NetHappenings Mailing List. Written by Classroom Teacher Alan Haskvitz 1997 National Teacher's Hall of Fame All USA Today First Team Teacher Reader's Digest Hero in Education Cherry International Award for Outstanding Teachers 1994 National Middle Level Teacher of the Year (NCSS) [e] newsletter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [w] http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/ringleaders/al.html Edited by Karen Ellis Founder of ECP http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/AboutUs/aboutus.html <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> IN THIS ISSUE <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> IN THE NEWS - Schools paying for crime tips - California Drop-Out Rate Subject of Research - New Food Pyramid released - Council of the Great City Schools Reports Gains in Education - Power Trips - 14 M Sponosr pays for Congress Perks INTERESTING SITES - Very Large Collection of Classroom Discipline Links - Blogs in Education: The How and Why - Did you know this is the Year of the Languages? - Wondir Weaves Search Create Free and Open Answer Communities SITES YOU PROBABLY NEVER KNEW EXISTED - Astronomy for kids - Make Your Own Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie - Find Meeting Space Anywhere - Absurd Math - The Infinite Library - Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day - Grants.gov,federal grant-making agencies & apply FACTOIDS - Which States pay the least? - Which States lost the most in salary buying power? - Children's knowledge gap of folk songs threatens heritage. - Email the killer app? It sure was ... it killed me. WE ARE NOT ALONE - India reporting problems - Student absenteeism and disaffection with school pose widespread challenges for teachers and policy makers worldwide. <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> IN THE NEWS <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> Schools paying for crime tips Using revenue from its candy and soda sales, Model High School plans to pay up to $100 for information about thefts and drug or gun possession on campus. http://tinyurl.com/5y2bc California Drop-Out Rate Subject of Research Button button, whose got the correct data as this research tries to find out why so many minorities don't finish high school. http://tinyurl.com/87n9h New Food Pyramid released More colorful, this site can easily be used by students and even has a place for them to calculate their own needs. http://www.mypyramid.gov Council of the Great City Schools Reports Gains in Education In 65 major urban districts in 38 states, the percentage of fourth- and eighth-graders scoring at or above proficiency in math and reading is up substantially. In fourth-grade math, for example, 55.3 percent were proficient in 2004, up from 44.1 percent in 2002. Overall, more than 95 percent of urban systems increased their math scores in more than half the grades tested, while almost 70 percent increased their math scores faster than their surrounding states. And there is evidence that achievement gaps between white/wealthy students and poor/minority students are narrowing in these districts. http://tinyurl.com/c7x85 Power Trips Reforms in recent years have made many of the lush perks once enjoyed by Congress disappear. But not all, certainly not travel. That's the conclusion of an investigation by Marketplace, American RadioWorks, who cataloged every privately sponsored trip taken by members of the House or Senate since 2000. The result: Over $14 million spent by corporations, universities, and other outside interests, sending representatives around the world, for sometimes questionable reasons. http://tinyurl.com/9g7jd <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> INTERESTING SITES <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> Classroom Management and Discipline Tips and Links <http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Teachers/newteacherdisci.html> Blogs in Education A vast and valuable resource for teachers to help them understand and create their own blogs. Good collection of links. <http://awd.cl.uh.edu/blog> Did you know this is the Year of the Languages? A whole lot of links to foreign language resources sponsored by, yep, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. <http://www.yearoflanguages.org/i4a/pages/Index.cfm?pageid=3591> Wondir Weaves Search and Instant Messaging to Create Free and Open Answer Communities PR http://tinyurl.com/dejxz and Blog <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> SITES YOU PROBABLY NEVER KNEW EXISTED <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> Astronomy for kids <http://www.dustbunny.com/afk> Make Your Own Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie. Fun for the Whole Family Deflect Mind Control Rays <http://zapatopi.net/afdb.html> Find Meeting Space Anywhere This site lists most every place that holds meetings. Just type in the city and state and the list comes up. <http://www.eventective.com/search/searchs.aspx> Absurd Math Taking word problems to a new level, Absurb Math is an episodic story game integrates pre-algebra level math into the game play. Only first four games are free. <http://www.learningwave.com/abmath> The Infinite Library http://tinyurl.com/csehp Fee and open access is exactly what public libraries, as storehouses of printed books and periodicals, have traditionally provided. But the very fact that digital files are so much easier to share than physical books (which scares publishers just as MP3 file sharing scares record companies) could lead to limits on redistribution that prevent libraries from giving patrons as much access to their digital collections as they would like. "Google has brought us to a tipping point that could define how access to the world's literature may proceed," Kahle says. Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day Yom Hashoah - Thursday, May 5, 2005 http://www.jr.co.il/hotsites/j-holoc.htm The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is transitioning to Grants.gov, a website that allows organizations & individuals to find grants from all federal grant-making agencies & apply for them electronically. To learn more about this transition, the new policy & procedural requirements, & what these changes mean for you, please see: http://www.ed.gov/policy/fund/guid/gposbul/esubmitpolicysummary.html <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> WE ARE NOT ALONE <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> ""We are bumbling along with this outmodeled system of elementary education, which is a real shame." http://eserver.org/courses/fall95/76-100g/papers/mekala "Think 22nd Century Linguistic Rights" What language should a nation officially call its own? http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Literacy/OfficialDialect.asp Student absenteeism and disaffection with school pose widespread challenges for teachers and policy makers worldwide. According to a new OECD report drawing on data from 42 mostly developed nations, the United States is doing well. http://tinyurl.com/8uhva <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> FACTOIDS <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> Which States pay the least? Lowest average teacher salary for 2002-03: South Dakota ($32,416), North Dakota ($33,869) and Mississippi ($34,555) Which States lost the most in salary buying power? The largest declines were Alaska (-16.6%), Connecticut (-10.3%), Kansas (-9.9%), New York (-7.7%), Wisconsin (-6.7%) and Vermont (-6.7%) Children's knowledge gap of folk songs threatens heritage http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/NCFR/opportunity.html Children in the United States aren't singing the songs of their heritage, an omission that puts the nation in jeopardy of losing a longstanding and rich part of its identity. States are ranked - Kids do not know their folksongs anymore and they aren't being taught anymore. Email the killer app? It sure was ... it killed me. http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/E-MAIL/Email.html Everybody wants to be a transmitter, nobody wants to listen - we're sick to death of it all. There is too much out there and we're burned out. Productivity at work was damaged and the effect on staff who could not resist trying to juggle new messages with existing work was the equivalent, over a day, to the loss of a night's sleep. Thanks for reading, Al <http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/ringleaders/al.html> TO SUBSCRIBE TO NETHAPPENIGS <http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/index.html> <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> The paragraph below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing the entire report, in any format: Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the entire Nethappenings Newsletter NHN provided this paragraph, including the copyright notice, are preserved on all copies. NHN Subscription instructions are available at: http://www.edu-cyberpg.com//Community/NHnewsletter.html Below are the copyright statements to be included when reproducing annotations from NetHappenings Newsletter. The single phrase below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing any portion of this report, in any format. > From NetHappenings Newsletter copyright > Educational CyberPlayGround. http://www.edu-cyberpg.com//Community/NHnewsletter.html Educational CyberPlayGround http://www.edu-cyberpg.com Hot Site Awards New York Times, USA Today , MSNBC, Earthlink USA Today Best Bets For Educators Award, Macworld Top Fifty <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> EDUCATIONAL CYBERPLAYGROUND http://www.edu-cyberpg.com Net Happenings, K12 Newsletters, Network Newsletters http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/index.html Copyright statements to be included when reproducing annotations from K12 Newsletter The single phrase below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing any portion of this report, in any format. > From K12 Newsletter copyright > Educational CyberPlayGround. http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/K12Newsletters.html Net Happenings, K12 Newsletters, Network Newsletters http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/ FREE EDUCATION VENDOR DIRECTORY LISTING http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Directory/ HOT LIST REGISTRY OF K12 SCHOOLS ONLINE http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Schools/ <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>