Essay Contest

For those who don't frequent Starbucks, or those who don't pay attention when they do, there's an essay contest for kids 8-12. "In 100 words or less, your child can write a poem, essay or short story about what he or she would do to make our world a better place to live."

Enter your child's submission here.

What is education, really?

I got to reading the "The Way I See It" comment on the side of my Starbucks cup yesterday (it was decaf, thank you), and realized that I could do better than whoever came up with the quippy phrase that graced the side of my latte. So here goes...the way I see it:

Education should be neither the filling of a bucket, nor the lighting of a fire. Rather, true education is that which teaches to distinguish what should go in the bucket, from what should go in the fire.

Do I deserve a Starbuck's cup or what?

Aren't I proliferative today...

Just a quick thought for those of you who find that you'd love to have access to your favorites/bookmarks at multiple computers. Enter SiteBar. I've been using it for several months now, and am in love! You can get yours at:

SiteBar

Yet another blog

I wanted to let everyone know that I'm working on another blog right now as well. A few schools in Michigan have decided to work together on creating a place where our students can post writing, read what others have written, and receive feedback. You can find this project at:

Write-Think-Respond

Grant opportunity

I just received an email from my friends at Edutopia that, among other things, mentioned a grant offered by Target that offers up to $1000 to fund field trips. Find out more information (and apply to get your own field trip paid for) at www.target.com/teachers.

And after you apply for your grant, I'd suggest signing up for email updates from Edutopia--they come once a month or so and are filled with info on educational policy (might not interest everyone) and often opportunities for free money (i.e. grants, etc--might interest everyone).

Something to get us started

No student work yet--give us a few weeks. Until then, some links to site's I've used & recommend.

Art

EducationWorld has some great activity ideas in their archive.
Crayola also has some excellent ideas--most of them (surprise, surprise!) use Crayola products!

Handwriting

This website has some nice Bible-based coloring sheets for the letters.

Health & Physical Education

EducationWorld (as always) has some great phys ed activities.
Mr. Gym is another great website with some very cool games, especially some indoor rainy-day activities.
This website talks about hara hachi bu--the Okinawan concept of eating until you're only 80% full. A great resource when talking to your kids (or their parents) about childhood obesity.
KidsRisk (produced by Harvard) is a good website for general childhood safety tips.
KidsHealth is another great resource for general health ideas--particularly good for providing information to parents.
PackyPlayFair is obviously focused for the younger kids, but a good resource for teaching team building & fairness.
RecessBeforeLunch--a new concept (and a disturbing paradigm shift for many educators) that deserves your serious consideration. More to come on this throughout the year, as I'm giving it a try in my own classroom.
TVTurnoff is a great resource for getting kids to shut off the tube (and do homework!).

That's all for now. Stay tuned next time for more good links to great sites with excellent resources. For now, back to the workshop I'm supposed to be paying attention to...

Greetings & salutations!

Hi, and welcome to my blog.

Here, you'll find some links to some great education resources, some excellent student work, and some just plain funny stuff that happens in the life of an educator.

So sit back, enjoy the ride, and share your thoughts along the way!