March 17, 2008

"I may have said the same thing before... but my explanation, I am sure, will always be different." - Oscar Wilde

A wee bit about shamrocks

In honor of St. Patrick's Day and my Science Matters colleague Dennis O'Brien - the most Irish fellow I know - I've put together a sampling of shamrock trivia.

The plants called "shamrocks" are typically of two species: Trifolium dubium, or lesser trefoil, and trifolium repens, or white clover (pictured above). In a 1998 survey found that Irish people most often identify lesser trefoil, a member of the pea family, as shamrocks. White clover, however, is often found in American yards.

It's unclear how rare four-leaf clovers are. A clover farmer interviewed in 2005 estimated that 1 in 10,000 shamrocks have four leaves, while lower estimates put the ratio closer to 1 in 100.

Edward Martin Sr., of Cooper Landing, Alaska, holds the record for collecting the most four-leaf clovers. Since he began gathering them as a child growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y, he's found 160,000.

He usurped the previous record holder George Kaminski, an inmate in a Pennsylvania prison who took the title in 1995 after finding 72,927 four-leaf clovers in prison yards.

St. Patrick, a Welshman who spread Christianity in Ireland in the 5th Century, used the three leaves of the shamrock as a symbol for the Holy Trinity, according to Ireland's official tourism Web site. St. Patrick died on March 17th, 460, and followers later wore shamrocks and held a feast to celebrate the day.

The record for the largest number of leaves on a shamrock is held by Shigeo Obara, of Hanamaki City, Iwate, Japan, according to the Guiness Book of World Records. He discovered an 18-leaf clover (Trifolium repens L.) on May 25, 2002. No information was available on whater a how lucky he's been since.

from the Balitmore Sun

From the Superintendent Bulletin - Retention of ELL Students

3/14/2008 1:30 PM

TO:                  All Principals

 

FROM:            Valeria Silva, Chief Academic Officer

                         Heidi Bernal, Director, English Language Learners Department

 

RE:                   Retention of ELL Students

 

 

Over the past several weeks there have been a number of questions from principals about the possibility of retaining ELL students, including newcomers.  We believe that retention is not usually the best option for second language learners for the following reasons:

 

• All ELL students should have the opportunity to work toward and be held to the same academic standards as their peers.
• ELL students are often capable of participating in grade-level activities if instruction is differentiated and made comprehensible, particularly in grades K-3.
• Native-like academic performance in a second language can take 7-10 years, and we cannot wait that long to promote students.
• ELL students should be engaged as much as possible in academic activities that are appropriate for their cognitive and age level.  Collaboration between ELL and general education teachers should occur to plan appropriate instruction.
• Retention carries with it a social stigma that could harm, rather than help, language acquisition and academic progress.
• Slow language acquisition and the resulting low academic performance are not necessarily indicators of a student being at-risk, incapable of grade-level activities, or in need of special education.  

Instead of retaining ELL students, the ELL Department recommends promoting them to the next grade with their peers and continuing or increasing language and content support based on student needs.  ELL TOSAs are available to work with sites to design structures for providing extra ELL support in most cases.

 

If you are considering retention of an ELL student, please make sure that parents are aware of the ELL Department’s recommendation against retention and have been told of possible alternative options for their child.  The ultimate decision to retain should always be made by a team of professionals who work with the child, including the principal and ELL teacher.  All retentions of ELL students need to be reviewed by the ELL Director and approved by your Executive Director.

 

If you have questions about appropriate service models for ELL students, please contact your ELL TOSA.

Congratulations!

Lisa Boehlke, teacher at Humboldt Sr. High, who is one of 28 semifinalists for the 2008 Minnesota Teacher of the Year

LCD Meeting

Attached you will find the flyer for our sixth Latino Consent Decree Parent Advisory Committee meeting (LCD PAC).  This meeting will be on March 26th, 2008 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at 360 Colborne in rooms A and B.  The Immigrant Law Center of MN will be presenting No Second Chance to our Latino parents. This presentation covers current immigration and social issues.

Presenter
Alissa L. Jones,
Education Coordinator/Development Associate
Immigrant Law Center of MN / Oficina Legal

English Flier
Spanish Flier

Updated Interpreters List

An updated list of interpreters was sent to your principals.  If you are looking for interpreters, please work with the appropriate staff in your building to schedule the interpreters.  

Secondary Summer School

If you are interested in teaching ELL secondary summer school (levels 1 and 2) this year, please apply online at http://www.alc.spps.org starting February 2nd.  Once you have applied, please be sure to email Brooke Stadler to confirm at brooke.stadler@spps.org.  Thank you!  Stay warm, think summer!

New:  The application deadline is April 1.

Phonetics:  The Sounds of Spoken Language Website

The University of Iowa has produced a Sounds of Spoken Language website where you can see English, Spanish and German phonetics video and audio in context.  There are also interactive diagrams of the articulatory anatomy.  Check it out!  

Please pass this along to your contacts who are working with teens.
 
This is a program for and about teens and the issues they face, especially when their parents face financial hardship. The program also has a summer journalism class and other activities to invite teens to write: http://www.threesixtyjournalism.org/
 

Nyob Zoo,
Dyane Garvey
 
 
Check out Hmong arts and cultural events at www.hmonghail.org.

Tumblebooks at the Hennepin County Library

 Those with a Hennepin County library card can access this website for free.   Tumblebooks has interactive stories in English, Spanish, French, and many other languages.  Students can listen to or read stories online.  There are also games and activities created for many of the stories.  Check it out!

Login Page
Information Page

Teaching Tolerance Anti-Bias Curriculum (ABC) - Culture in the Classroom

March 6, 2008
Culture in the Classroom
Educators today hear a lot about gaps in education - achievement gaps, funding gaps, school-readiness gaps. Still, there's another gap that often goes unexamined: the cultural gap between students and teachers. This edition of The ABCs (The Anti-Bias Classroom) provides professional development activities to help educators build bridges across cultures.

Activity 1: Overcoming Stereotypes
Activity 2: Culturally Relevant Curriculum
Activity 3: Honoring Home Languages
Mythtakes: An Activity for Educators
Designed for use by individual teachers and for pre-service and in-service programs, this new professional development activity helps educators examine common beliefs that can help and hinder our work with racially and ethnically diverse students.
Election Lesson Plans
These new lesson plans explore the roles of race, gender and faith in American politics, during this primary season and beyond.

Lesson 1: Editorializing Race, Gender and Faith
Lesson 2: Do Identities Rule?
Lesson 3: Guarding Against Outright Bigotry
Art Makes All Things Better
Dozens of studies document the ways arts experiences can transfer to other academic subjects, such as reading, math and science. But that doesn't mean schools can easily take advantage of the potential synergy. In fact, cuts in arts programs almost indicate the opposite. In Tucson, schools are bucking the trend and discovering the power of art to help refugee students connect throughout the learning process.
Also on Tolerance.org
News Briefs: How school lunch promotes segregation
Student Poem: Café Declassified
The Fighting Mynahs: A Tolerance Tale for the Early Grades
Forward This to Your Colleagues!
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We welcome your feedback.
You can reach us online

or by mail:
Teaching Tolerance
c/o Southern Poverty Law Center
400 Washington Ave.
Montgomery, AL 36104

Bridging Refugee Youth and Children's Services

Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services (BRYCS) is a national technical assistance project working to broaden the scope of information and collaboration among service providers - in order to strengthen services to refugee youth, children and their families.

BRYCS is pleased to present our newest publication, Raising Children in a New Country: An Illustrated Handbook. This booklet was created as a tool for refugee and immigrant serving agencies, as they help newcomer parents adjust to the different laws, norms and practices around raising children in the United States. Please see our Publications page if you prefer to download the handbook in smaller segments. To order print or CD copies of the Handbook, please email info@brycs.org or call 1-888-572-6500. If you are interested in translating this book into other languages, please refer to the Translation and Copyright Guidelines for Service Providers and accompanying sample cover page in PDF or MSWord format.

BRYCS is a project of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops/Migration and Refugee Services (USCCB/MRS).

This site host the Justice for Immigrants, a Campaign on Immigrantion Reform and a good primer on Immigration Basics and other issues on immigration.

Understanding East African History and Cultures

Friday and Saturday
April 11-12, 2008, 9 a.m to 4 p.m.
 
This workshop will explore East African community members' experiences in the urban educational setting with a focus on the country of Somalia.
 
Workshop participants will examine:
the history and cultures of Somalia and the region of East Africa; implications of the disintegration of a state; the relationship between the use of home language and English; the impact of life in refugee camps on student learning; and how information about East African cultures can be integrated into the curriculum.
 
LOCATION:
Minnesota Humanities Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, St. Paul, MN  55106.

FEE: OFFERED AT NO COST-- and with sub-pay stipend --  to K-8 teachers from high-poverty schools in the seven-county metro area,* through generous support from NorthStar Education Finance, Inc
 
Register now!

National TPR Conference

The national TPRS® Conference will be held at the University of Minnesota, July 21-25, 2008.   TPR Storytelling is a method for teaching languages that was invented by Blaine Ray, in 1990 and is based on the work of James Asher and Stephen Krashen.  Check out the website to get more information -  http://ntprs2008.eventbrite.com/

Teaching Ambassador Fellowships

Fellowship to help teachers learn policy and grow as leaders, contribute to national education dialogue
Contact: Samara Yudof, Stephanie Babyak
or Jane Glickman
(202) 401-1576

Secretary Spellings today announced the creation of Teaching Ambassador Fellowship (TAF) positions at the U.S. Department of Education, which will offer highly motivated, innovative public school teachers the opportunity to contribute their knowledge and experience to the national dialogue on public education.
"This is a terrific opportunity for educators to share their voices directly with policymakers, and I look forward to hearing from them," said Secretary Spellings.
The TAF includes two kinds of opportunities for teachers across the U.S. Up to 20 Classroom Fellows will be chosen who remain at their local schools under their regular teaching contracts, and will provide their experience and perspectives to the Department through various assignments and projects part-time. Up to five Washington Fellows will become full-time federal employees in Washington, D.C., working on education programs and participating in policy discussions. Teaching Ambassador Fellows will be named by early summer for the 2008-09 school year.
Teaching Ambassador Fellows will be selected based upon their record of leadership, impact on student achievement and potential for contribution to the field. Highly qualified K-12 public school teachers of all subjects who have spent at least three years in the classroom are eligible to apply. To ensure collaboration at the school and district levels, teacher applicants must have the full support of their school principals. Throughout the year fellows will collaborate on projects that contribute to the field of education and policy at the national level, and each fellow will be encouraged to work with his or her principal and with government liaisons throughout the year.
Applications are due by April 7, 2008. Visit http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherfellowship/ to learn more and apply for the TAF.
 
 
Michelle Carter, MA, JD
Interim Director of Research and Sponsored Programs
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Wigley Administration Building 325
507-389-2322 office
507-389-5459 fax