Check out the 60th Carnival of Homeschooling!

The 60th Carnival of Homeschooling is up here: http://homeschoolhacks.com/2007/02/20/carnival-of-homeschooling-60-presidential-trivia. Make sure to check it out. There are loads of great posts this week.

Enjoy!

~JRY

Visit: The Educational Voyage Portal Search Engine

Technorati Tags:
An Educatonal Voyage! Education Teachers Technology Computers and Internet UFT Instruction New York City

The 106th Carnival of Education is up!

The 106th Carnival of Education is up and running for all to review: http://educationwonk.blogspot.com/2007/02/carnival-of-education-week-106.html A Valentine must read!

Enjoy!

~JRY

Visit: The Educational Voyage Portal Search Engine

Technorati Tags:
An Educatonal Voyage! Education Teachers Technology Computers and Internet Instruction

Guidance Counselors- Not Just For Struggling Students Anymore!

Bobby Pham of www.jobprofiles.org referred me to the following article (snippet below,) which I find rather interesting.

Back in my day, the only students who went to the Guidance Counselor were those who needed program changes, were "referred" by teachers or Deans, or who needed college admissions help. The rich kids had their own private shrinks, the ones with really big problems had their juvi parole officers.

Today, the modern health conscious high school student (yes, there are some,) has another reason to go to the guidance counselor- for guidance! Peer pressure, being worse (if possible) than in my day, leaves teens in quandries where parents and friends are not necessarily the student's preferred sources of information. Stress causes various physical and emotional problems, and so the wise student seeks to remove stress wherever possible.

Enter the Guidance Counselor. For more on this topic read on:

44 Reasons to Listen to Your High School Guidance Counselor

44 Reasons to Listen to Your High School Guidance Counselor

Published on Friday January 5th , 2007

"Whether you realize it or not, you local high school guidance counselor plays a very important role in your life. Not just as a counselor, but as a life guide. They instill stability within the high school student's path of life, and also provide a much-needed light for their path. High school guidance counselors are truly the eyes and ears for students for every preparatory educational institution."

www.jobprofiles.org is a good starting point for information on careers, and job seeking, maintaining and advancement.

When you are ready for more information, try these links:

School Counselor Resources
Counselor Companion
School counselor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
School Guidance Counselors
The American Counseling Association


Enjoy!

~JRY

Visit: The Educational Voyage Portal Search Engine

Technorati Tags:
An Educatonal Voyage! Education Teachers Technology Computers and Internet guidance, guidance counselor, peer pressure, high school

NUMB3RS-We All Use Math Every Day!

I clearly remember sitting in geometry class bemoaning my fate, having to spend 40 minutes a day learning Pythagorean theory. When would any one ever have to use this stuff? I had better things to so with my time, like, um, anything else! No doubt there are many such musings going on in high schools across the USA this very day. How do we reach these students and bring math to life? Yes, you guessed it, TELEVISION!

Humbug you say? Relax. The ole boob tube has another winner for us. The TV show NUMB3RS rises to the occasion, paired with Texas Instruments. Read on...


***** We All Use Math Every Day - Home

I've loved the CBS TV show NUMB3RS from it's first episode. I'm hooked to the point that I replay it during the week to glean as much from it as my weak math mind can get. I even mused on how cool it would be to have a web site that spun off it to help students understand how We All Use Math Every Day.

Well, Texas Instruments read my mind and stole my idea through cosmic telepathy. On the up side, they probably did a better job of it than I would have :)

"Texas Instruments is proud to be again partnering with CBS, in association with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), to bring you educational resources based on the hit series "NUMB3RS." You'll find great classroom activities based on the mathematics from each episode, as well as the inside scoop on the program and the people behind it.

You can begin by viewing any of this week's activities, or using the tabs to find more resources. And, make sure to come back for new information and activities each week."

Teachers can use a special link on the site to download the current week's episode to show in class, and then use activities provided on the site. This is great for classrooms and homeschooling alike.

Bill Nye, The Science Guy demonstrates how math and science work together when he guest stars on the television show NUMB3RS. Nye portrays a professor at Cal Sci who helps Charlie and Dr. Larry Fleinhart recreate a backdraft in order to help the FBI determine who has been starting a series of deadly fires in LA.

The theme music is an arrangement of an excerpt from the song "Once In A Lifetime" by the '80s band Talking Heads.

Check out Wikipedia's NUMB3RS Entries!

Oh, just in case you are looking to get really obsessed with the show, you'll be pleased to know that it has a HUGE following, with web sites and forums that dissect each show, parody them, an in addition to the CBS show pages, also offer replays. Hooked? Do a Google!

Here are a few of my picks for How We All Use Math Every Day!

* Apples4theteacher.com

This web site includes interactive learning games, quizzes, and worksheet generator tools by subject (creative arts, foreign languages, language arts, math, science, social studies), articles, literacy coloring pages and more.

* Math help from Math Goodies

They have provided free interactive lessons, worksheets and puzzles since 1998. Math Goodies was a pioneer of free math homework help.

* Math in Daily Life

This site explores how math can help us in our daily lives. In this exhibit, you'll look at the language of numbers through common situations, such as playing games or cooking. Put your decision-making skills to the test by deciding whether buying or leasing a new car is right for you, and predict how much money you can save for your retirement by using an interest calculator.

*Everyday Math Resources

The Center School District has adopted the Everyday Math Series for grades K-5. Interactive Resources (these are demos, but worth checking out!)

*LESD VTC:Using the Internet in Mathematics Instruction

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives for Interactive Math An ... Everyday Math Resources — This site has resources for grades K-5 organized by strand.

* Math-Net Links: Collection math.edu

Goodies is a From elementary and everyday math to algebra and beyond, Math.com offers ...free educational site featuring free interactive math lessons.

* MathRoom Freebies

Learning math from MathRoom Lessons will be easier and more fun than you ever imagined it could be. Every lesson comes with clear user instructions called "The MathRoom Method". Follow the instructions carefully and you can't help but succeed! It may sound like madness at first, but if you try it -- you'll see it works!

Please leave your comments links to web sites you think bring math to life!

~JRY

Visit: The Educational Voyage Portal Search Engine

Technorati Tags:
An Educatonal Voyage! Education Teachers Technology Computers and Internet NUMB3RS, math, mathematics, education tv instruction, learning interactive web site

The 104th Carnival of Education is Up!

The 104th Carnival of Education

The Median Sib did beautiful work on this carnival! They've been Blogrolled!

Enjoy the great articles everyone. I'm looking forward to next weeks offerings :)

~JRY

Visit: The Educational Voyage Portal Search Engine

Technorati Tags:
An Educatonal Voyage! Education Teachers Technology Computers and Internet Instruction Carnival of Education

Battle Over School Bus Service in New York - New York Times

Way to Go Bloomberg!

Children first? According to Bloomberg?

Does = ?

Put the tiniest, most helpless children on public transportation- and in the freezing cold. I guess this is why Mayor Bloomberg felt he was the best person in NYC to be in "complete charge" of the NYC Dept of Education. He has done such a great job, that it the DOE) needs to be completely revamped again, or should I say reinvented (as in the wheel) again. The money this city has dished out to reinventing, and reinventing, and reinventing, instead of taking what works and building on it is disgraceful. The company that was selected by Mayor B, with tax payer money, did some bamboozle of a job on our children. I hope they get letters in their files!

Yes, you guessed it, the children are, as usual, not first.

Oy...

Battle Over School Bus Service in New York - New York Times

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and ELISSA GOOTMAN

Published: February 1, 2007

"It seemed like an easy way to save millions of dollars: consolidate yellow school bus routes so New York City was no longer paying for buses for hundreds, if not thousands, of children who never actually rode them.

But when the plan — engineered by private consultants hired to rethink the city Education Department’s finances — went into effect this week, halfway through the school year and in the bitter cold, it left parents raging at Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

“I think they’re in their own little bubble-world,” said Jennifer M. Larrea, a substitute teacher from Flushing, Queens, whose son, Kevin, 11, is being denied yellow bus service because he lives too far from a school bus stop. “It’s not just that you can catch the 1, the 9, the 2, the 3,” she said, referring to Manhattan subway lines. “In Queens that’s not an option.”

Let's compound the insult by not even sending notification home in the parent's native language, and you have cold, indifferent treatment of students and their parents. Kind hearted Mayor Mike. Please fix this travesty.

~JRY

Visit: The Educational Voyage Portal Search Engine

Technorati Tags:
An Educatonal Voyage! Education Teachers UFT Instruction New York City

Bloomberg vs UFT- Again...The Saga Continues!

The Bloomberg battle colors are flying against the UFT again.

Did anyone see this coming? Those on Mars may not be up to speed on this one, but the rest of NYC knows the upcoming drill. See my post: Proposed Contract- Death Knoll for UFT- Ms. Weingarten RESIGN now! Monday, October 03, 2005

Given Weingarten's proven track record of contract negotiating skills this blogger has barely a glimmer of hope for fair play.

What will the future hold?

• Will Randii improve on her past performance?
• Will the teachers wake up and smell the rot?
• Will the teachers teach all of July or all of August?
• Will the teachers be signed up for 24 hour school?
• Will they be changing diapers in addition to potty duty?
• Will they be cooking and serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight snack in addition to lunchroom duty?
• Will our teachers be required to learn how to drive school busses?
• When it is all over, will Randii land a kiss on Bloomberg again?
  

Well, let's just sit back a watch this one fly...

~JRY

Visit: The Educational Voyage Portal Search Engine

Technorati Tags:
An Educatonal Voyage! Education Teachers UFT Instruction New York City

FREE -- Federal Resources for Educational Excellence

FREE -- Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
http://www.free.ed.gov/

This site is chock full of terrific interactive resources for students. Their description is:

"FREE makes it easier to find teaching and learning resources from the federal government.

More than 1,500 federally supported teaching and learning resources are included from dozens of federal agencies. New sites are added regularly.

You are invited to link to FREE. (Use a FREE logo, if you'd like).

Get new resources delivered to you several times a week: sign up for the FREE RSS.

Federal agencies, if you're looking to involve teachers in developing teaching resources, see our lessons learned.

FREE was originally conceived in 1997 by a federal working group and launched a year later. It was redesigned and relaunched for the first time in November 2006.

The 2006 redesign was made possible by many, including Jerry Alexandratos, Rob Barthle, Sally Budd, Rob Duckwall, Andrew Miller, Simone Miranda Olson, Cory Lebson, Jennifer Reeves, Chhavi Sharma, Keith Stubbs, Joe Wang, David Zwack, and teachers who reviewed the site.

FREE is maintained by Peter Kickbush and Kirk Winters, Office of Communications and Outreach, with support from the Development Services Team in the Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Education.

Please send any comments or questions to us at FREE@ed.gov.

FREE is among the most popular K-12 websites maintained by the U.S. Department of Education because of the many great resources being offered by participating federal agencies."

~JRY

Visit: The Educational Voyage Portal Search Engine
Technorati Tags:
An Educatonal Voyage! Education Teachers Technology Computers and Internet Instruction