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TEACHERS.NET GAZETTE
SEPTEMBER 2000
Volume 1 Number 7
COVER STORY
Ride along with the Hole in the Wall Gang this month and discover the special camp founded by Paul Newman nestled away in the quiet hills of Connecticut.
COLUMNS
Effective Teaching by Harry Wong
Promoting Learning by Marv Marshall
The Trouble With... by Alfie Kohn
4 Blocks by Cheryl Sigmon
Schoolhouse Views by Beth Bruno
ARTICLES
To Refer or Not to Refer
Tell A Number Trick
BCL Classroom Environments
Links Worth The Click
Morning Meetings
FLingers Block Party
Bridging the Digital Divide
Science Teacher Initiative
Poetry Contest for Canadian Youth
Developing a Positive Home-School Relationship
Classroom Rules Can Be Sweet
Teaching the Visually Impaired
BJ Treks Outback
Teacher To Ski Antarctica
REGULAR FEATURES
New at Teachers.Net
Letters to the Editor
Poll: Favorite Quotes
Archives: Self Publishing
New in the Lesson Bank
Upcoming Ed Conferences
Humor from the Classroom
Help Wanted - Teaching Jobs
Live Events Calendar
Gazette Back Issues
Gazette Home Delivery:
Over 600 Teacher Webpages on Teachers.Net Webring...
The Teachers.Net Webring (http://teachers.net/webring/ ) has passed the 600 mark! This Summer the 600th teacher joined what has become one of the largest and busiest webrings for teachers on the Internet. A webring links sites with common goals or features, enabling readers to jump from one to another with a simple click of the mouse.

Valerie Simeone, a teacher of third grade, graduate school student, mother and spouse, volunteers her time to administer the webring with enthusiasm in spite of her busy schedule. "Even though the job takes time from my weekends, I love doing it because I'm very impressed by the quality of work so many teachers put into their web sites. And every site is unique! You can travel from one to another and never see the same information twice."

In order to qualify for inclusion in this vibrant group, web sites must be non-commercial in nature, offering information helpful and interesting to other teachers. While some teachers use their sites to post links and information about helpful resources on and off the Internet, others use them to showcase their classroom and school activities. Simeone's web site is representative of those who combine purposes by presenting information of use to her students, their families, and other educators.

To the accompaniment of an electronic version of "Let There Be Peace on Earth," Mrs. Simeone's students can access the "Homework Page" for their spelling words, consult the calendar of school events, and check on the classroom pet, a Cuban tree frog. Students' families are offered a collection of links to resources as diverse as Bill Nye the Science Guy, Craft Idea Box, Seussville University, and The Yuckiest Site on the Internet.

Clicking over to the Teacher Resource page reveals a collection of clickable links to thematic units, professional resources, and even Teacher Humor.

Jump onto the Teachers.Net webring at http://teachers.net/webring/ and get lost in an impressive corner of the Internet, where teachers demonstrate a level of dedication that may surprise those outside the profession. As Valerie Simeone observes, "It's very inspiring to see how much of their own time teachers put into 'extras' like these impressive web sites for the benefit of their students and colleagues."

For more information about the Teachers.Net webring, write to valerie @ teachers.net.

 
What's New at Teachers.Net...
by Bob Reap
Goodies For 4 Blockers!
Courtesy of Mary/PA, Teachers.Net is pleased to announce a new collection of goodies specially for teachers using 4 Blocks. Four Blocks is the literacy program pioneered by Patricia Cunningham and sweeping the globe like wildfire. Find out what all the buzz is, visit the 4 Blocks Center, browse the 4 Blocks and Building Blocks Chatboards and subscribe to the 4 Blocks and Building Blocks Mailrings - you won't believe how quickly your life can change! Four Block teachers, be sure to bookmark the new 4 Blocks Goodies webpage, and contact Mary/PA if you'd like to contribnute to this rapidly growing resource!

  4 Blocks Resources
4 Blocks Goodies
Four Blocks Column by Cheryl Sigmon
Four Blocks Chatboard
Building Blocks (K) Chatboard
4 Blocks Literacy Lesson Plans
Building Blocks Lesson Plans
Four Blocks/Building Blocks Mailrings
Monthly Four Blocks Chat Sessions

Alfie Kohn Joins Gazette's Staff of Distinguished Columnists!
Teachers.Net is thrilled to announce that author Alfie Kohn has joined our staff as a regular guest columnist. Alfie has written a number of top-selling titles about education, including What to Look for in a Classroom, The Case Against Standardized Testing, and The Schools Our Children Deserve: Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and "Tougher Standards." Mr. Kohn is a widely-regarded and occasionally controversial advocate for excellence in teaching. Find out why people are talking about Alfie Kohn, tune in to the Gazette each month for his new regular column. And don't miss his live chat exclusively on Teachers.Net in October!

Upcoming Featured Speakers and Workshops
Wednesday September 6 - Brain Compatible Leanring Chat. Join Teachers.Net for a live workshop unraveling the exciting promise of brain-compatible learning theory. BCL approaches recognize that education can be dramatically improved by facilitating learning, through manipulation of the learning environment and understanding of the processes involved in learning. Kim Tracy (eimmik) will host this informative session live in the Teachers.Net Meeting Room. So adjust the lighting, put on some classical music and get comfortable for this exciting live workshop. Join us Wednesday evening September 6, at 9pm Eastern time in the Teachers.Net Meeting Room.

Other live events this month include weekly EC/Primary Chats every Tuesday at 9pm Eastern, Spanish Chats with Rosalie Sunday evenings, weekly NBPTS Chats (National Board of Professional Teaching Standards), chats for Reading Recovery teachers, substitute teachers, GATE teachers, early childhood/primary teachers, a chat for librarians/media specialists, a workshop on teaching the sight-impaired, and much more!

Coming in October: Distinguished guests/authors Bobbi Fisher - The Teacher Book:Finding Personal and Professional Balance AND Alfie Kohn - The Case Against Standardized Testing: Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools!
Click here for complete schedule of upcoming live meetings.

Explore The New Current Events Chatboard
Teachers.Net is proud to roll out a few different and exciting new resources this month, including our Current Events Chatboard. This new chatboard is the newest addition to the Teachers.Net Message Center, and functions a little bit differently than a standard chatboard. The Current Events Chatboard is designed to serve as a watercooler for discussing events unfolding across town or across the globe. Here's how it works - visitors to this chatboard are encouraged to post a significant news item from the week's events. Briefly state the event, or provide a detailed account, including your views on events leading up to it or why you feel it happened. Then, other visitors are free to respond and add their observations and comments about that event. Check back to the chatboard experiment regularly and before long the forum should serve as an information exchange for world events as well as provide interesting perspectives that are not promoted by mainstream media. Bookmark the Current Events Chatboards and contribute often!

Send Us Your Stories and Photographs!
Teachers.Net is actively soliciting stories, photos, and articles from teachers everywhere. Teachers, now's your chance to get your name in the Teachers.Net Gazette, and help support the only on-line publication by teachers, for teachers. Send original stories and articles, press releases, image and video files, and other items of interest to our community to Bob Reap at editor@teachers.net.

New Release - Teachers.Net Inspirations Chatboard & Mailring
Teachers.Net announces the new Inspirations Chtaboard and its companion Inspirations Mailring. The Inspirations Chatboard allows teachers to share their favorite inspirational stories, poems, and anecdotes about teaching or about anything impacting the teacher's life. Teachers can browse the chatboard to seek support when they are down, or share a great idea or story and lift up another teacher, or provide the perfect quote to brighten up a classroom or another meber of the Teachers.Net Community. The Inspirations Chatboard features a multi-purpose companion mailring, which allows teachers to subscribe and share their words of inspiration with other teachers around the world. The Inspirations Mailring also includes a unique feature which channels all posts from the Inspirations Chatboard directly to the Inspirations Mailring, for personal archiving or an uplift to the spirit every time you check your mail! Bookmark the Inspirations Chatboard and contribute often, and sign up for the Inspirations Mailring today!

Soliciting Letters to the Editor!
Teachers.Net wants to hear your thoughts about vouchers, homeschooling, gun safety, educational legislation, politics, and more. Every month Teachers.Net provides space for you, our teachers, to express your ideas and feelings about the current state of education in your community or around the world. Visit and bookmark our Letters to the Editor section, and contribute your thoughts each month. Help push the dialog and be a positive force for change!

New - Reading Recovery Mailring
Teachers.Net announces a new mailring exclusively for Reading Recovery and remedial reading teachers. Subscribe to the Reading Recovery mailring and join a global network of reading recovery specialists in classrooms around the world! Subscribing is a snap - just visit the Teachers.Net Mailrings Page, select the Reading Recovery Mailring, supply your email address, and full mailring instructions will arrive by email. And don't forget our companion Reading Recovery Chatboard

Coming Soon
Stay tuned to Teachers.Net for some exciting additions in the weeks ahead. New additions to the Gazette include plans for more interactive content, including hot-topic chatboards and polls, classroom software and products reviews, best of the Web guides, and much more. Subscribe to the Gazette Mailring and tune in each month for the latest word from Teachers.Net. If you'd like to write an article or regular column for the Gazette, email us at editor@teachers.net.

 

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