+ Tips for Teachers: Parent Conferences

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From enotes.com, the “Teacher’s Corner” newsletter:  tips for teachers to use when meeting with parents.

Since the school year takes on a certain rhythm, most of you have established working relationships with your students by now.

Your students probably already know what you expect of them.  And you know what to watch for when a student is having a bad day.

Perhaps you have already met a few parents by now, either through a formal Open House, or during one of those informal — often effective — conferences held in the grocery store parking lot.

Most parent conferences are great opportunities to share information that’s helpful for all parties.  Here are some tips:

• Seating is important – so try to sit with no barrier (like a desk) between you and the parents.  Have adult-sized chairs, so no one has to squeeze into a tiny desk in the front row. The goal is not to have it feel like “us versus them.”  Convey the sense that we’re all adults with the same objective: we want this student to be successful. 
• Look professional — bring paper and pencil to the conference so you will have notes to refer to later.  It also buys time if you jot something down while you’re trying to think of the right thing to say. 
• Start with positives — parents need to know that you’re on their side and that everyone is on their child’s side.
• Concerns: focus on behavior — and be as specific as possible.  Instead of “Brianna isn’t doing her best,” try “Brianna completed only 2 of 5 homework assignments.”  Sandwich a negative between two positives.
• Have confidence, but admit shortcomings when appropriate — if you’re being criticised, remain confident in yourself and the curriculum; but be willing to admit when things could have been handled better.  Tell parents exactly what you’re doing to resolve an issue.
• Be as neutral as possible in the face of negativity –be as professional as possible.  Many factors may be at play: if a parent’s own school experience was unhappy, he or she may not be able to hear what you say.  Keep the focus on their child. 
• Close the conference with a summary — leave parents with a plan, and smiles, and handshakes.

No one can guarantee that parent conferences will go well.  In some cases, it may be helpful to have an administrator or lead teacher present.  I f things go badly, take some time after a day or two to relfect on what happened.  See if you can pinpoint what you will handle differently next time.

Parent-teacher conferences have never been more important than they are now, because we are all concerned not just about classroom behavior but also high-stakes standardized test scores.

A little preparation can help make the time you spend with parents fruitful for all of you.  And it can also improve your interaction with your students.

source: www.enotes.com “Teacher’s Corner” newsletter.  Visit the site  and receive the newsletter yourself — for links to valuable sites and great teaching tips.

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

 

+ Columbus OH — DYSLEXIA Awareness Rally at the Statehouse Oct 1

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Parents, dyslexic people and everyone concerned should show up October 1, 2009 at the Statehouse in Columbus OH to show raise awareness.  We want to show our concern about all the unidentified — and underserved – dyslexic students in our state.

• PLACE:           South Lawn of the Statehouse in Columbus
• TIME:              10:00 am to 2:00 pm
• BRING (1):     Signs!
• BRING (2):    Your stories!
• BRING (3):     Your friends!

Students from Marburn Academy (http://www.marburnacademy.org ) will be recording oral histories and stories. 

Network with numbers of people who are dealing with the same concerns you have. 

Connect with professionals who are on your side.

Meet with legislators to tell them your stories and concerns.

TELL  EVERYONE  WHO  MAY  BE  INTERESTED!  

Inform local papers and media about our event.

Learn more about dyslexia.  There will be information tables at the rally.  Also: go to www.cobida.org.

Contact your legislators by letter if you cannot be present.  ( advocacy@cobida.org.)

SOME FACTS

• dyslexia is the most common learning disability
• 85% of those diagnosed with LD have dyslexia
• dyslexia is the most misunderstood learning disability (so get hard information!)
• most of those struggling with dyslexia are unidentified and underserved
• great numbers of dyslexics are not identified before 3rd grade  
• most people don’t know there is a specific treatment
• 65% of our prisoners are dyslexic — think about that for a minute
• 35% of all entrepreneurs are dyslexic

Note: An excellent book on the subject is Sally Shaywitz’s “Understanding Dyslexia.”  It covers all aspects, and is available in paper at all bookstores.

Join our local group: COBIDA :  the Central Ohio Branch of the International Dylsexia Association.  Visit http://www.cobida.org .

For more information, contact Charlotte Andrist, President of COBIDA at charlotteandrist@gmail.com.

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

+ 8000 Children Had Great Summers With the Fresh Air Fund

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Many of us bloggers, Tweeters and Facebookers spread the news about the Fresh Air Fund this summer. 

Now they want  to thank us. 

Enjoy this video montage of images from the summer, as well as other “fun stuff.”

http://freshairfund-news.com

You can become a fan on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/freshairfund.  The Twitter handle is @freshairfund.

Sara Wilson can be reached at sara@freshair.org.  The Web site is http://www.freshair.org. There are many ways to participate.

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

+ Warren Buffett Will Teach Kids About Money Online In Fall

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An article by Brian Stelter in the NY Times says renowned investor Warren Buffett plans an animated Web series to teach financial responsibility.

The series, called “The Secret Millionaire’s Club,” will make its debut on AOL’s Web site in the fall of 2009.  He says the short episodes will “entertain kids and deliver a message.”

Andy Heyward, longtime creator of children’s entertainment, and Amy Moynihan, veteran of brand marketing, founded a new children’s media company called A Squared Entertainment.

They are working with AOL to introduce a number of celebrity-backed Web shows for children, including Mr Buffet, supermodel Gisele Bundchen and planner extraordinaire, Martha Stewart.

The  Secret Millionaire’s Club, intended for 6-to11-year-olds, features an animated Mr Buffett playing mentor to a group of children who go into business (a candy store).  So far Buffett has recorded the audio for the first episode. 

According to Mr Buffett, the objective of the series is to instill healthy financial habits in young people, which “appeals to me enormously.”  He says

Kids are forming habits, and habits are strong things.  [Recalling a quote attributed to Samuel Johnson:] “The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.” 

Certain financial habits are not necessarily intuitive.  If a young person is exposed to the logic of certain behavior, you’re going to get through to some of them.

Among other topics, the episodes will address the value of patient investments and the risks of credit cards.

“The most important message, really, is that the best investment you can make is in yourself,” he says.

Although he requested the animator make him look like George Clooney, he thinks that’ s probably not going to happen. 

sole source: Brian Stelter’s article in the NY Times on 7/27/09.  www.nytimes.com

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

+ Creating a Classroom Community

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From Scholastic, visit a page with links to articles and lesson plans to help you plan ways to create your classroom community in the fall.   

Find  articles on these topics:

• Help for “They Won’t Let Me Play With Them!”  by William Kridler — Let  students talk about what behaviors, attitudes and actions they think contribute to a climate of caring in the classroom, and play games that reinforce these values.
• Building Community in the Classroom by Ellen Booth Church   (Early Childhood Today, September 2008) — Church discusses the different elements that help to create a sense of community in the Early Childhood classroom at the beginning of the year.
• Big Friends Little Friends by Andrea Spillett — Younger and older students are paired to work on team projects and play games.
• Be a Good Friend — “Woof Woof!” The focus of this lesson is to encourage awareness of good manners through literature and creative expression.
• 8 Ways to Welcome Students  by Marissa Ochoa — Third grade teacher Ochoa explains how she makes students feel welcome and motivates them for the year ahead.
• Building Bridges of Friendship by Mackie Rhodes (Instructor Magazine, August 2002) — Presents a unit on friendship that involves music, crafts, teamwork activities, and identifying shared values and interests.

Find links to lesson plans on these topics:

• Portrait of a Friend  by Tracy Roudez — Students get to know themselves and their classmates by filling in the blanks to create a mini-biography.
• Aloha, Welcome Back by Renea Shuey — Takes a tropical approach to the start of the school year as students learn about our 50th state, get to know each other, and establish classroom expectations.
• New to School Student Booklets by Marci Ruiz — In this fun getting- to-know-you classroom activity, students make their own books out of supplied paper shapes and strips of pre-typed text.
• Move and Make Friends (Early Childhood Today) – An activity plan for teachers of preschool age children.
• Time to Rhyme (Early Childhood Today) — An activity plan for teachers of four- and five-year-olds to do with their students.
• Do You Want to Be My Friend? Lesson Plan by Jeremy Brunaccioni — Children love Eric Carle’s colorful illustrations and animal characters in “Do You Want to Be My Friend?”  Brunaccioni does an author study with his class; his students love making painted paper in the style of Eric Carle and taking their own book home. 
• Building Relationships in a High School Classroom by Mariana Sesay-St Paul –The diagnostics in this unit will help teachers get to know their students both academically and personally.
• Come Explore Your Neighborhood  by Steven Hicks — Use this lesson to teach your students the value of friendship around them with walks and mapping and modeling projects.

So visit the site at  http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collection.jsp?id=296

source: I was sent to this site by The Big Fresh, the free weekly e-newsletter for K-12 literacy leaders.  Sign up for it at    http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/400.cfm

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

+ ADHD: A Doctor Explains Medications

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Dr Larry B. Silver, in an article published in the May/June 2009 LDA Newsbriefs, explains, lists and describes various medications that may be prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurological disorder resulting from a deficiency of a specific neurotransmitter in specific areas of the brain.  This transmitter is norepinephrine or one of its building blocks, dopamine or dopa.  Any medication that increases the level of this neurotransmitter in the areas of the brain involved with ADHD will significantly reduce the behaviors associated with ADHD.

The article reviews the medications currently available.

“Stimulants”

A group of medications called “stimulants” are most successful in treating ADHD, writes Silver.  He explains they are called “stimulants” not because they stimulate or arouse the person, but because they stimulate nerve cells to produce more of the deficient neurotransmitter.

(There are a few non-stimulant medications that might be used if stimulants are not successful.)

Specific Stimulant Medications

So many medications are advertised that parents can easily become confused, says Silver. 

Three main medications within this group of stimulants are

• methylphenidate (Ritalin)
• dextroamphetamine (Dexadrine)
• a mixture of several amphetamine salts (Adderall)

Each comes in several strengths and several release mechanisms.

The confusion for parents is that each new product is given what is called a trade name, which suggests it is a new medication.  And the fact that each parmaceutical company says in its ads that their product is the best treatment.

Each medication may be available as a four-hour tablet, an eight-hour tablet, and an eight-hour capsule. One comes in a twelve-hour capsule.   Each of these may be given a different name by the company making it. And there are generic forms of each medication, each of which may have its own name.

Methylphenidate is also available as a transdermal patch called Datrana.  Adderall is also available in a form that modifies how it’s absorbed and activated: Vyvance.

Polarization Characteristics

Yet another confusion is related to what is referred to as the “polarization characteristics” of each medication.

When crystals of a medication are looked at through polarized light, two different images are seen.  The right image is called the dextro form, and the left image is called the levo form of the medication.

For example, explains Dr.  Silver, when the amphetamine medications were studied, it was found that the dextro  form was potent, and that the levo form had little effectiveness.  Thus, dextro-amphetamine became the medication of choice.

Later, a pharmaceutical company decided to mix dextro and levo forms of amphetamine with other salts, creating Adderall.  (It is unclear, he says, if Adderall is indeed more effective than dextro-amphetamine.)

Another example:  methylphenidate (Ritalin) was analyzed with polarized light and the dextro form was found to be potent and the levo form was found much less potent.  So, a pharmaceutical company patented dextro-methylphenidate as a new product called Focalin.

In the complete article, Dr. Silver goes on to describe many other factors and details about dosage information.

Using the Stimulant Medications Effectively

Dr. Silver notes that there is no one medication that should be used first.  Every physician may have his or her own preference.

Once medication is started, there are three steps in the process of finalizing the medication treament plan.

1. Which dosage is right for any individual?  Unlike many medications, these dosages are not based on age or body weight.  It seems to be related to how quickly it is absorbed into the blood stream, and how quickly it passes through the blood-brain barrier into the brain.  Usually, the individual is started at the lowest dose.  After five to seven days, the dose might be increased until the maximum benefits are noted.
2. How long does the medication last?  Depending on the form used, each dose should last the time noted for the product.  However, the length of effectiveness might vary with individuals; it might last a shorter or longer time.  Based on such observations, the periods of the day to be covered is determined.  (For example, an individual might take an eight-hour capsule before going to school and a four-hour tablet about 4:00 pm to cover the afternoon and evening.)
3. Are there side effects that need addressing?   These stimulant medications might cause a reduction in appetite or difficulty falling asleep at night.  Each negative effect can be addressed.  The individual should not be expected to live with either of these problems.  If someone has (or has a predisposition to) difficulties with anxiety, depression, anger control, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or tic disorder, the 6 stimulant medications might exacerbate them.  Make sure to address the problems.

Ideally the right medication and dosage is worked out and any side effects are addressed.  The goal is for an individual to function well in all settings. 

If there are problems achieving this ideal level, consult with someone who specializes in ADHD: a Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Behavioral Pediatrician.

REMEMBER

Medication alone is not the treatment of choice, says Dr. Silver.  Along with medication, behavioral counseling may help the individual.  Family education and counseling may help parents understand and support their child.  Adults might benefit from help provided by an ADHD Organizational Coach.

For the complete article, you can find it in LDA Newsbriefs, May/June 2009, “Medications for ADHD,” by Larry B Silver MD.  The LDA site is www.ldaamerica.org; email info@ldaamerica.org .

Silver recommends these sites as resources: www.chadd.org; and www.Additudemag.com

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

+ Mirror Neurons Fire Better at Close Range

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There is a newly discovered type of brain cell that may help us prep for social situations.

They are a special type of “mirror neurons,” which are thought to help us interpret the actions and intentions of other people.  Such neurons fire when you perform an action (picking up a book) but also when you watch someone else do the same thing.  This helps us understand what’s going on inside the other person.

Now researchers have discovered some mirror neurons that don’t just care about what another individual is doing, they also care about how far away he is when he’s doing it. 

And more importantly, whether it offers the potential for interaction.

A study published in the Journal Science, co-authored by Antonino Casile of the University of Tubingen, suggests that mirror neurons have an expanded role in social interactions.

According to Casile

This was very surprising for us.  The current view about mirror neurons is that they might underlie action understanding.  But the distance at which an action is performed plays no role in understanding what the others are doing.

These new findings suggest that certain neurons facilitate quick comprehension — but they may also help us instantly decide whether to respond and interact.

If a friend drops a glass, we’re ready to swoop in and try to catch it before it crashes and causes a problem.  More intimately, when a loved one wants to kiss us, we instantly lean in.

The researchers located mirror neurons (in the brains of two monkeys) which fired when the monkeys grabbed a small metal object and when they watched the experimenter do the same.

Unexpectedly, many of these neurons actually had a preference for where the experimenter was grabbing the object — about a fourth of the cells fired more rapidly when the action took place within arm’s reach of the monkey (its “peripersonal” space).

Over a range of distances, the closer the motion was to the monkey, the faster its peripersonal mirror neurons fired; the extrapersonal mirror neurons had the opposite response.

Distance shouldn’t make a difference for understanding or imitating a task, or for any of the commonly attributed functions of mirror neurons.  But distance plays a fundamental role in our decisions about how to respond to certain behaviors.

Marco Iacoboni, who researches human mirror neurons at UCLA, says “Our brain divides space into at least two major sectors — one in which we can do things, in which we can act, and one in which we can’t.  Our cognition, even fairly complex stuff like empathy, seems grounded in our body.”

The researchers who conducted the study also demonstrated that it isn’t mere distance that affects these neurons, but more specifically whether there is actual potential to act.

They did the same tests with a clear barrier between the monkey and the experimenter’s grabbing, eliminating the possibility of interaction.  Even though the monkey never tried to grab the object during any of the experiments, the barrier stopped some peripersonal mirror neurons from firing, even when the grabbing was very close to the monkey.  The extrapersonal mirror neurons, of course, stepped in and started firing. 

Casile thinks that these mirror neurons are analyzing actions both to understand what others are doing, and to decide what one could do in order to interact with them.  In addition, these analyses are happening simultaneously.  He says

We might be deciding whether and how to interact with an action not after understanding it but rather in parallel.

Says Iacoboni,

Mirror neurons may be very important for social relations.  These new findings truly speak to this idea.  The neurons may be encoding actions in a way that’s essential for cooperating with others, and very important for social interactions.

Citation: “Mirror Neurons Differentially Encode the Peripersonal and Extrapersonal Space of Monkeys,” by Vittorio Caggiano, Leonardo Fogassi, Giacomo Rizzolatti, Peter Thier, Antonio Casile.  Science, Vol. 324. No.5925. 

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

+ High School Texts Too Simple for SAT Preparation

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Marilyn Jager Adams, of the Department of Cognitive and Linguistic Science at Brown University, describes studies that have shown that the difficulty of the text in popular reading textbooks have been reduced. 

In addition, the simplification of language in these books was temporarily aligned with declines in SAT scores.

A study by Hayes, Wolfer and Wolfe (1996) observed that the average length of the sentences in books published between 1963 and 1991 was shorter than that of books published between 1946 and 1962.

The mean length of sentences in the seventh- and eighth-grade textbooks had decreased from 20 words to 14 words.  Hayes observed that it was “the equivalent of dropping one or two clauses from every sentence.”

In addition, the sophistication of the books’ wording also declined. 

Hayes et al.’s analysis indicated that the wording of eighth-grade school books from 1963 forward was as simple as that in books used by fifth graders before 1963, while the wording of twelfth-grade literature texts published after 1963 had been simplified from what was found in seventh-grade books before 1963.

This disparity between what students were reading in school and the passages required by the SAT might well explain students’ poor performance on their college entrance exams.

More significantly, however, teachers were failing to provide instruction or experience with “grown-up” text levels. 

Jager Adams feels this is a risky course of action when we should be preparing students for the demands of college reading and life in the outside world.

In 2006 ACT, Inc. raised the concern again.  They reviewed the poor performance of students on its college entrance exam and saw that more than half the students fell below the 21-point cut-off for college readiness in reading ability.

ACT analyzed student performance and determined that the major stumbling block for the students was complex text.

The ACT reading assessment is designed around three levels of textual complexity.  For the students whose performance fell below the 21-point benchmark, average performance on the complex texts was at chance levels.

Students who scored beyond the 21-point benchmark were found to steadily increase their performance, but they reached levels comparable to performance on texts classified as moderate and simple only among students who scored at least 35 of the 36 points possible.

Hayes et al. found that it was especially school books for students in grades 4 and up that were simplified in the years after 1962. 

They also found that, although the wording of schoolbooks for children generally inreased with grade level across grades 1 through 8, the same wasn’t true of high school books.

Instead, across grades 9 through 12 (and including AP course texts), the difficulty levels of the literature books were shown to differ little from one another or from the grade 7 and grade 8 offerings.

The high school science texts were significantly more difficult than their English books.  But even among science texts, only those designed for AP coursework presented difficulty levels comparable to the benchmark reference: a newspaper article.

Hayes and his colleagues have continued to research on language.  They found that the sophistication of the language in every single scientific magazine and journal published between 1930 and 1990 increased dramatically.

Writes Jager Adams

If it is a national goal to inspire more students to become engineers and scientists, then shouldn’t the difficulty of our schoolbooks have increased alongside?  If a goal is to ensure that our students will be able to stay sufficiently informed about scientific progress to conduct business, reflect on policy, and manage their family’s health and education, then at a minimum shouldn’t the difficulty of our school books keep pace with the difficulty of scientific publications aimed at the general public?

But most telling, she feels, was Hayes’s comparison of spoken and written language.  For these analyses, they sampled language from TV shows, mothers’ speech to children ranging in age from infancy to adolescence, conversations among college-educated adults (including from the Oval Office), and adults providing expert witness testimony for legal cases.

Regardless of the source or situation and without exception, the lexical richness of the oral language samples was staggeringly impoverished compared to written texts.

In fact of all the oral language samples evaluated, the only one that exceeded even preschool books in lexical range was the language of expert witness testimony.

And so, writes Jager Adams

The difference between the wording of oral and written language must lie at the crux of the literacy challenge, as it points up a profound dilemma.  On the one hand, the extent of this disparity implies that the great majority of words needed for understanding written language is likely to be encountered — and thus can only be learned — through experience with written text.  On the other hand, research has taught us that written text is accessible — and thus permits learning — only if the reader or listener already knows the vast majority of words from which it is constructed.  Indeed, research indicates that reading with comprehension depends on understanding at least 95% of the words in a text.

source: Marilyn Jager Adams “The Challenge of Advanced Texts: The Interdependence of Reading and Learning” in Elfrieda H Hiebert (Ed.), “Reading more, reading better: Are American students reading enough of the right stuff? ” (Guilford, 2009)  

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

+ Moodle and Other “Course Management Systems”

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According to Andrew Trotter, in Digital Directions, course management systems (CMS) are increasingly being used by teachers to distribute assignments, homework, and assessments to students and parents.

EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit group that promotes the use of information technology in education, offers a definitions of a  CMS:

At its simplest, a course-management system is a tool that allows an instructor to post information on the Web without that instructor having to know or understand HTML or other computer languages.

A more complete definition of a CMS is that it provides an instructor with a set of tools and a framework that allows the relatively easy creation of online course content and the subsequent teaching and mangement of that course, including various interactions with students taking the course.

The Teacher Education Center at Illinois State University offers this list of features in any good CMS:

• Announcements
• Calendar
• Gradebook
• Asynchronous discussion boards
• E-mailing (internal) and/or external accounts
• Online journal
• Whiteboard
• Dropbox
• Document sharing, including digital pictures, audio and streaming video
• Team areas that include tools for collaboration, managed by the instructor
• Quiz. test, and survey options
• User-activity reports

Moodle is perhaps the most popular rival to Blackboard.  It is free, while Blackboard charges for the service.

Moodle has a modular design that allows a teacher to start by using just a few of the tools, and then graduating to more.

Moodle was developed over the past decade by a global community of both commercial and noncommercial users led by Moodle, a donor-funded company based in Australia.

Under the terms of its open-source license, any user or contractor can use the software on an unlimited number of computers and modify the program to add unique or specially tailored functions.

There are outside hosts and programming companies which specialize in Moodle and can provide schools with technical skills they may lack.  The global community of users is also available for help. 

Trotter spoke to Amy W Junker, senior analyst at Robert W Baird & Co, an investment-research firm in Milwaukee.  She expects the K-12 market for course-management systems to expand.

High schools, in particular, may see them as a great way to help students prepare for higher education, which uses online and hybrid courses on a regular basis.

Players in the Industy

• Agilix Labs Inc –  www.agilix.com
• Blackboard — www.blackboard.com
• Elluminate Inc. — www.elluminate.com
• Moodlerooms — www.moodlerooms.com
• Sakai Project — www.sakaiproject.org

sole source: Andrew Trotter’s article in Digital Directions Magazine, an Education Week publication; Spring/Summer 2008.  www.digitaldirections.org