+ Light at Night May Link to Depression

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Researchers at Ohio State University have produced a study that may link depression to light at night, according to an article in Science Daily.

Researchers found that when mice were housed in a lighted room 24 hours a day, they exhibited more depressive symptoms than did similar mice who had normal light-dark cycles.

However, some mice were housed in constant light but had an escape option: a dark opaque tube they could go into.  They showed less evidence of depressive symptoms than the constant-light mice.

Says Laura Folken, lead author of the study and a graduate student in psychology at OSU, “The ability to escape light seemed to quell the depressive effects.  But constant light, with no chance of escape, increased depressive symptoms.”

Results suggest that more attention needs to be focused on how artificial lighting affects emotional health in humans. 

Co-author Randy Nelson, professor of neuroscience and psychology at Ohio State says

The increasing rate of depressive disorders in humans corresponds with the increasing use of light at night in modern society.  Many people are now exposed to unnatural light cycles, and that may have real consequences for our health.

The researchers presented the work October 21 in Chicago at the meeting of the Society for Neuroscience; it will appear in the December 28, 2009 issue of the journal Behavioral Brain Research.

“This is important for people who work night shifts, and for children and others who watch TV late into the night, disrupting their usual light-dark cycle,” says Fonken.

And there are many other practical implications, says Nelson.  Intensive care units are brightly lit all night long, which might add to the patients’ problems.

source: www.sciencedaily.com article on 10/21/09; journal reference is Laura K Fonken, M Sima Finy, James C Walton, Zachary M Weil, Joanna L Workman, Jessica Ross, Randy J Nelson, “Influence of light at night on murine anxiety- and depressive-like  responses.”  Behavioral Brain Research, 2009; 205 (2): 349 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2009.07.001

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Writing: Teach Strategies and Self Monitoring Directly

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A great article in IDA Perspectives (Summer 2009) by Linda H Mason.  Here are some highlights of “Effective Instruction for Written Expression.”

Mason bases the advice on the instructional approach called S. R. S. D.: Self-Regulated Strategy Development.

Researchers have established that explicit instruction is necessary for  teaching strategies to students with learning challenges. 

They need direct  instruction and modeling in ways of generating ideas, organizing those ideas, and regulating writing behavior (self-regulation).

The stages for strategy acquisition are

1. Develop/assess background knowledge relating to the writing content
2. Discuss the strategy to be used (see below)
3. Model it
4. Memorize it
5. Practice it with guidance
6. Perform it independently

Include these steps in every strategy session.

The one Universal Strategy is called P O W  –

• P (pick an idea) 
• O (organize notes)  
• W (write and say more).

Here are some specific strategies for three types of writing  (make charts): 

Story and Narrative Writing – think “W – W – W, What 2, How 2″

• W……..Who is the main character?
• W……..Where does the story take place?
• W……..When does the story take place?
• What…What does the main character do /want to do?
• What…What happens next?
• How….How does the story end?
• How….How do the characters feel?

Persuasive Writing — think “TREE”

• T……..Topic sentence: Tell what you believe!
• R……..Reasons (3+): Why do I believe it; will my readers, too?
• E……..Explain reasons:  Say more about each reason.
• E……..Ending: Wrap it up right!

Informative Writing — think “PLAN then WRITE”

• P………Pay attention to the writing prompt.
• L………List main ideas to develop the essay.
• A………Add supporting ideas (details, examples, etc).
• N………Number major points in the order you will use them.

then

• W………Work from your plan to develop thesis statement.
• R……….Remember your goals.
• I………..Include transition words for each paragraph.
• T……….Try to use different kinds of sentences.
• E……….Exciting, interesting, “$1,000″ words.

Teaching Self-Regulation

 Explicit instruction in self-regulation should be embedded in every session. 

The four self-regulatory procedures are

• goal setting
• self monitoring
• self instruction
• self reinforcement

Goal Setting

First, students should be taught how to set personal, individual and specific goals for learning, using and maintaining the use of the strategy.

Use a learning contract to support goal setting: for example, “Today I will write a story with 7 parts.”  Do this every day.

Self-Monitoring

Students self-monitor by counting the number of strategy parts they have written.  Use a chart or graphic organizer, and have the student count off what he has done.  When finished, have the students count to make sure all parts have been used.

Encourage the student to revise the papers to include any missing parts.  They might graph the number of strategy parts on a graphing sheet.

Students need to understand that self-monitoring is a process to use at every stage of their work.

Self Instruction

You should model self-instructions for problem definition.  For example, “I need to write a story with 7 parts.”  Focus on attention and planning (“First, I need to pick an idea“); strategy implementation (“I know what to do, I do the first strategy step“);  self evaluation (“Did I include all the strategy parts?“) coping (“I can do this, I know this strategy!”); and self reinforcement (“Wow, I can write a good story!”)

Self Reinforcement

After modeling, then  support the student in developing a listing of personal self-statement he can use before, during and after writing.  These personal self-statements are written out, so he can see them at any time.

Finally, teach your student to recognize his own successes in writing.  Often, the graphing sheet serves as an excellent self-reinforcement.  Here again, make a list and write out positive self-reinforcing statements: “I did it!”

sole source: Linda H Mason’s article “Effective Instruction for Written Expression” in the Summer 2009 ”Perspectives on Lanuage and Literacy” magazine of the International Dyslexia Association.  See the entire article for detailed instructions on how to implement this approach.  IDA’s Web site is www.interdys.org

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

 

+ Popular Harvard Course on Justice and Ethics: Online. Free.

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For years, students at Harvard have flocked to Michael Sandel’s courses on political philosophy.

Harvard University is making Michael Sandel’s well -loved lecture series on video to anyone who would like to sit in.

Justice is one of the most popular courses in Harvard’s history.  Now its your turn, they say, to take the same journey in moral reflection that has captivated more than 14,000 students as Harvard opens its classroom to the world.

Visit: http://www.justiceharvard.org/ for a preview.

In this twelve part series, Sandel challenges us with difficult moral dilemmas and asks our opinion about the right thing to do.  He then asks us to examine our answers in the light of new scenarios.

The results are often surprising, revealing that important moral questions are never black and white.

The course also addresses the hot topics of our day — affirmative action, same-sex marriage, patriotism and rights — and Sandel shows us that we can revisit familiar controversies with a fresh perspective.

You Can Participate

There is a lot more to Justice beyond the classroom.  Get engaged with features offered with every episode of Justice. 

You can voice your opinion in the polls, take the pop quiz to test your knowledge, dig deeper with in-depth readings, hone arguments with the Discussion Guides.

And continue the classroom discussion online with other viewers around the world.

Or you can start your own Discussion Circle, if your school, church, club, or organization wants to take the course as a group.

Session Topics

1. The Moral Side of Murder / The Case for Cannibalism 
2. Putting a Price Tag on Life / How to Measure Pleasure
3. Free to Choose / Who Owns Me?
4. This land is My Land / Consenting Adults
5. Hired Guns? / For Sale: Motherhood
6. Mind Your Motive / The Supreme Principle of Morality
7. A Lesson in Lying /A Deal is a Deal
8. What’s a Fair Start? / What Do We Deserve?
9. Arguing Affirmative Action / What’s the Purpose?
10. The Good Citizen / Freedom vs. Fit
11. The Claims of Community / Where Our Loyalty Lies
12. Debating Same-Sex Marriage / The Good Life

Michael Sandel

Michael Sandel is the Anne T and Robert M Bass Professor of Government at Harvard, where he has taught political philosophy since 1980.

His books include Democracy’s Discontent, Public Philosophy, Essays on Morality in Politics, The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering.

 His  most recent book is  Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?  (to be published this month; check your local bookstore).

His writings have been translated into eleven foreign languages and have appeared in The Atlantic, The New Republic, and the New York Times.

He has lectured widely in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia, and New Zealand on topics including democracy, liberalism, bioethics, globalization, and justice.

He delivered the Tanner Lectures on Human Values at Oxford University, was a visiting professor at the Sorbonne, and in 2009 delivered the BBC’s Reith Lectures.  From 2002-2003, Sandel served on the President’s Council on Bioethics. 

He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  He received his doctorate for Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

I was sent to this site by Jon Gordon’s e-newsletter “Future Tense,” a Public Broadcasting venture.  Get the podcast and newsletter and lots of  info about cool video, internet and online music options.  newsletter@americanpublicmedia.org.  

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Mathematics! Logic! Philosophy! Comic Book?

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Graphic novel “Logicomix,” is based on the early life of brilliant philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell and his impassioned search for truth.  

Authors Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou are academic mathematicians and writers who wanted to create an “honest-to-God yarn, simply a story.”  But in this case, the heroes are all logicians.

In Publisher’s Weekly, Calvin Reid says

It’s difficult not to be dazzled by Apostolos Doniadis and Christos Papadimitriou’s Logicomix.  It’s a biography of the mathematician/philosopher Bertrand Russell, a fiercely engaging examination of his elusive attempt to isolate the logical foundations of mathematics, and a rousing historical yarn.

And all of Logicomix’s storytelling and intellectual pyrotechnics are delineated in extraordinarily crisp, cleverly designed and beautifully colored artwork by the team of Alecos Papadatos and Annie Di Donna. 

What a Comic book!  Easily one of the most impressive combinations of popular art and serious history that I’ve encountered in prose or comics.

A dramatic story of madness and reason, love and war, this is a story about the conflict between an ideal rationality and the unchanging, flawed fabric of reality.   In his agonized search for absolute truth, Russell crosses paths with legendary thinkers like Gottlob Frege, David Hilbert, and Kurt Godel.  He finds a passionate student in the great Ludwig Wittgenstein.

But truth eludes him.  According to historian Howard  Zinn

This is an extraordinary graphic novel, wildly ambitious in daring to put into words and drawing the life and thought of one of the great philosophers of the last century…  The book is a rare intellectual and artistic achievement, which will, I am sure, lead its readers to explore realms of knowledge they thought were forbidden to them.

“Logicomix” is at the same time a historical novel and an accessible introduction to some of the biggest ideas of mathematics and modern philosophy. 

Barry Mazur is Gerhard Gade University Professor at Harvard.  He has written that

This magnificent book is about ideas, passions, madness, and the fierce struggle between well-defined principle and the larger good.  It follows the great mathematicians — Russell, Whitehead, Frege, Cantor, Hilbert — as they agonized to make the foundations of mathematics exact, consistent, and complete.  And we see the band of artists and researchers — and the all-seeking dog Manga — creating, and participating in, this glorious narrative.

Writer Apostolos Doxiadis studied mathematics at Columbia.  His international bestseller “Uncle Petros and Goldbach’s Conjecture” was the first novel to make fascinating fiction out of mathematics.  He has awards from his work in film and theater, and is also a pioneer in the study of the interaction of mathematics and narrative.

Co-writer Christos Papadimitriou is the C. Lester Hogan Professor of Computer Science at UCLA Berkeley.  He has won numerous international awards for pathbreaking work in computational complexity and algorithmic game theory.  He is also the author of the novel “Turing: A Novel About Computation.” 

The graphic artists are a husband and wife team, Alecos Papadatos and Annie Di Donna.  Papadatos worked for over twenty years in film animation in France and Greece.  In 1997 he became a cartoonist for the major Athens daily To Vima. 

Annie Di Donna studied graphic arts and painting in France and has worked as an animator on many productions, among them Babar and Tintin cartoons.  The couple have been running an animation studio since 1991.

Michael Harris, professor of mathematics at the Universite Paris 7 and member of the Institut Universitaire de France,

The lives of ideas (and those who think them) can be as dramatic and unpredictable as any superhero fantasy.  Logicomix is witty, engaging, stylish, visually stunning, and full of surprising sound effects, a masterpiece in a genre for which there is as yet no name.

“Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth,” by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos H. Papadimitriou, is published by Bloomsbury USA.  ISBN-10 1-59691-452-1; ISBN-13 9978-1-59691-452-0.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com  

+ High School Course CDs / DVDs on Sale at Teaching Company

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Once a year, The Teaching Company   at www.TEACH12.com puts all of their High School courses on sale. 

For the next five days only, until August 27th at midnight, every High School course on CD or DVD is on sale at up to 70% off. 

It may be possible to get free shipping with no minimum purchase (not sure about that.)

• High School Level  Basic Math –Professor Murray H Siegel, Central Arizona College
• High School Level Algebra II — Professor Murray
• Argumentation: the Study of Effective Reasoning — Professor David Zarefsky, Northwestern University
• High School Level Chemistry 2nd Edition — Professor Frank Cardulla, retired, Niles North HS Chicago IL
• High School Level Algebra I — Professor Monica Neagoy, National Science Foundation
• Change and Motion: Calculus Made Clear 2nd Edition –  Professor Michael Starbird, University of Texas at Austin
• High School Level World History: The Fertile Crescent to the American Revolution — Professor Linwood Thompson, Bellflower High School
• The Joy of Mathematics –  Professor Arthur T Benjamin, Harvey Mudd College
• High School Level Geometry — Professor James Noggle, Pendleton Heights HS
• Understanding the Human Body: An Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology — Professor Anthony A Goodman, Montana State University
• High School Level Early American History: Native Americans through the Forty-Niners — Professor Linwood Thompson, Bellflower HS
• History of the United States 2nd Edition — Various Professors
• American Civil War — Professor Gary W Gallagher, University of VA
• A History of European Art — Professor William Koss, Independent Art Historian, The Smithsonian Associates, Smithsonian Institution
• Einstein’s Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists 2nd Edition — Professor Richard Wolfson, Middlebury College

This is just a sample; go to the site for a more complete list.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Web Sites for Teaching About National Archives & Records

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From EduHound’s “Classroom Tools and Tips,” here are sites to learn about our National Archives & Records Administration:

• 75 Years of National Archives & Records Administration  (NARA) History – Find out about defining moments in the agenciy’s history through the decades with photo galleries, personal stories, and notices of events throughout the nation.  http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2009/summer/history.html
• NARA: Teaching With Documents – Contains reproductible copies of primary documents from the holdings of the National Archives of the US; teaching activities correlated to the National History Standards and National Standards for Civics and Government; and cross-curricular connections.  http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons
• NARA: Educators and Students – Explore vast resources and find a treasure trove of reproducible primary sources, lesson plans correlated to national standards, and cross-curricular connections from the National Archives.  http://www.archives.gov/nae/education/
• NARA: Online Exhibits – Explore NARA’s extensive collection of online detailed exhibits.  http://www.archives.gov/exhibits-list.html
• National Archives Experience: Digital Vaults –  Browse through the hundreds of photographs, documents, and film clips and discover the connection between some of the National Archives’ most treasured records.  http://www.digitalvaults.org
• Our Documents: 100 Milestone Documents from the National Archives – This site is filled with photos and info on all 100 featured documents.  http://www.ourdocuments.gov

   Topical: STEM Resources (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Directed at Girls

The EduHound Newsletter also highlights the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP).  Their Web site  (http://ngcproject.org/index.cfm) is designed to reach and bring together STEM organizations which serve girls.  These organizations, across the US and Puerto Rico, are committed to informing and encouraging girls to pursue careers in STEM. 

It provides a database that lists organizations and programs so they can  network and share program descriptions; it lists resources available within each program, program needs, and contact information.

source: EduHound Weekly’s “Classroom Tools and Tips,” which provides valuable ed tech resources to incorporate into K-12 curriculum.  Educational topics, preformatted templates, technology tutorials, and practical tips are featured.  To suggest topics or share your templates email Judi Rajala: JRajala@eduhound.com 

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com   

+ More Teacher Tips from Dr Kathie Nunley

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From Kathie Nunley’s Educator Newsletter, my latest batch of  tips sent in to her by  teachers.

• Call on students  using  popsicle sticks with students’ names.  Roz Tampono
• Dry erase markers work great on desks.  Lyndsay Stephens  uses them to label desks when they are being rearranged.
• To clean a permanent-marker marked tag, write over it with  dry erase marker; let dry and wipe. Clara Rodriguez
• Help students understand different perspectives: teach a concept, then move desks and reteach. no name
• At Brooks Academy, James Hamric says they’ve implemented a “house” system (think Harry Potter).  Kids want and ask for points for good performance.
• Use play-dough for students to describe vocabulary words. Emily Petkus
• Place a sticky-note throughout your planner as an occasional reminder to incorporate various learning styles, so you can include an activity in the lesson that reaches one style or another.  no name
• Use cash register receipt paper for a time line. Amanda Stark
• Keep a large bin up front and toss in pens and pencils found in the room or hallways.  It takes ten seconds for students to borrow one from the bin versus ten minutes rummaging or going to the locker.  M. Aubin
• Paper clip reward: each hour there are no rule infractions, a paper clip is added to the “chain.”  When the chain reaches the blackboard ledge, we have a celebration or reward.  Victoria Park
• In a layered classroom, as a “C Layer” assignment option offer a “secretary” position.  The student can type, proofread, copyedit etc. another student’s assignment.  This helps students with learning challenges and benefits the “secretary.”  Kathie   limits each student to no more than 2 secretary jobs per unit.
• Start each day by visualizing the classroom culture that you want to achieve.  Valerie Holland 
• When you all return from lunch, give students 2 minutes to talk to each other before going into routine.  Gets out the “goofy” energy; give you time to take roll, set out work etc.  Kayla Pierce 
• Do (physical) exercises while learning and practicing new spelling words.  Ha Dinh
• Give students laminated name tags for their desks.  When they need 1-1 attention, they put it on the teacher’s desk.
• Hang laminated name tags (see above) on a hook at the board when a child “checks out” to the bathroom.  No asking needed.  no name
• When preparing for an exam, have all students make up their own 10-question test on the material for homework.  Then spend a day having them quiz each other using their self-made tests (which they then turn in).  The “official test” is prepared using a variety of the students’ own questions.  Tom Garrison
• In her elementary music classes, Isabelle Metwalli encourages students to volunteer to read during sight-reading from the board.  She tosses a stuffed bear to students who volunteer.  Lots of kids now volunteer because they love catching the teddy bears.

These tips are not only great element of  the free newsletters from Kathie Nunley.  Each newsletter has two tips and also includes two “Hot Topics,” her answers to questions, website updates, books and publications available, Kathie’s workshop schedules, Layered Classroom curriculum additions, and much more.  Sign up at http://help4teachers.com/newsletter.htm

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Poem: The Student Theme

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From The Writers Almanac for Monday, August 3, 2009, a poem by Ronald Wallace.

The Student Theme

The adjectives all ganged up on the nouns,/ insistent, loud, demanding, inexact,/ their Latinate constructions flashing.  The pronouns/ lost their referents.  They were dangling, lacked/ the stamina to follow the prepositions’ lead/ in, on, into, to, toward, for, or from./  They were beset by passive voices and dead/ metaphors, conjunctions shouting But! or And! 

The active verbs were all routinely modified/ by adverbs, that endlessly and colorlessly ran/ into trouble with the participles sitting/ on the margins knitting their brows like gerunds/ (dangling was their problem, too).  The author/ was nowhere to be seen; was off somewhere.

The poem is  from Ronald Wallace’s collection “The Uses of Adversity,” University of Pittsburgh Press, 1998.  Buy it from Amazon.com – http://tinyurl.com/koozwn

source: email newsletter from The Writers Almanac by Garrison Keillor.  Visit http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/  Sign up for the newsletter!

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Actors from SAG Read Storybooks Online

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Your child will enjoy having some of his favorite storybooks read to him at STORYLINE Online.  Visit http://www.storylineonline.net/

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation says it is proud to bring you this online streaming video program featuring SAG members who read well-known childrens’ books aloud.  

As the story is being read, some of the colorful pages take life with clever animations.

Readers include Jason Alexander, Melissa Gilbert, Bradley Whitford, Esai Morales and many more.  (If you are able to make a donation, more books and stories will be added, they tell us gently. )

Each book includes accompnying activities and lesson ideas.  You can subscribe to a newsletter.

source: I was directed here by Choice Literacy, a site for members ($99 a year) and non-members (there is much great free stuff).  Visit www.choiceliteracy.com

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021  or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Impact on Jupiter: What Happened Last Sunday?

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According to Dennis Overbye’s article in the NY Times, astronomers are scrambling to get big telescopes turned to Jupiter. 

They want to observe the remains of what looks like the biggest smashup in the solar system since fragments of the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into the planet in July 1994.

It was probably a small comet.   But astronomers admit they might never know.

“It’s like throwing a stone on the pond,” explains Leigh Fletcher  of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  “You see the splash, but lose the stone.  It’s the splash we can study.”

Just after midnight Australian time on Sunday July 19th, Jupiter came into view in the eyepiece of Anthony Wesley, an amateur astronomer in Murrumbateman.  Wesley had thought about quitting for the night to watch sports on TV, according to his Web site.  But he went back for another look and found this spot.

He emailed other astronomers, who had scheduled observing time at NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility on top of Hawaii’sMauna Kea.

Jupiter’s “scar” showed up as a bright spot in infrared light.

According to Franck Marchis, an astronomer at the SETI Institute and UC Berkeley, who has blogged about the event, the images suggest that whatever hit Jupiter might have been pulled apart by tidal forces from the planet’s huge gravity before it hit.

In an email message to Overbye, he said humans should be thankful for Jupiter.

The solar system would have been a very dangerous place if we did not have Jupiter.  We should thank our giant planet for suffering for us.  Its strong gravitational field is acting like a shield protecting us from comets coming from the outer part of the solar system.”

sole source: Dennis Overbye’s article in the NY Times on 7/22/09.  www.nytimes.com.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com