NetHappenings Newsletter

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NHN: 1/25/05 NETHAPPENINGS NEWSLETTER #12

NEW THIS WEEK for
< https://edu-cyberpg.com/Community/NHnewsletter.html >
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Dear Readers,

Welcome to the Net Happenings Newsletter, launched by the Educational
CyberPlayGround, this newsletter features a new format with the emphasis on
both news and resources. Karen Ellis* Founder of the Educational
CyberPlayGround invites others to help sponsor the Net Happenings
Newsletter which is published to all members of the NetHappenings Mailing List.


Written by Classroom Teacher Alan Haskvitz

1997 National Teacher's Hall of Fame
All USA Today First Team Teacher
1994 National Middle Level Teacher of the Year (NCSS)
[w] https://edu-cyberpg.com/Ringleaders/al.html


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IN THIS ISSUE
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IN THE NEWS

Bush to collect info on every college student
National Endowment for the Humanities Grants
Computers may hinder learning
Meditation may produce brain changes
Abstinence funding only approved
Large numbers of teachers must prove they are NCLB qualified
Burnout Research
Uniforms Not Making a Difference
Copyright Killing Culture
K12 Ed Admins and industry Connect for Profit


INTERESTING SITES
Companies listed by political contributions
Random password generator
Storybooks
Fundraising ideas and links
Study in Asia
Fulbright's to Japan
Would you be good in business?
Spyware, Adware, Security, & Privacy threats Forum
What Teachers Make?
Blog Rankings


QUOTES

FACTOIDS

SITES YOU NEVER KNEW EXISTED
Report Card Remarks
The Frog Doctor
The Darwin Awards
Sexual Misconduct by K12 Professionals
The Future of Humanity Report
Free Paper CD Case
Bill Gates Strikes a Pose


CONFERENCES

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IN THE NEWS
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Bush administration to start collecting information on every college student
"In an effort to improve the quality of its higher-education data, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) is planning to test the feasibility of collecting enrollment information--including names, addresses, and Social Security numbers--for each individual college and university student in the nation. " eschoolnews.com ArticleID=5420 < http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/trpurs.asp >

Each year NEH offers teachers opportunities to study humanities topics in a variety of Summer Seminars and Institutes. The dates and duration of each project are listed under each title. The application deadline is March 1, 2005. It is interesting to note, that except for a handful all of these are on the East Coast. From personal experience I can tell you that if you state on the application that you have a strong background in the area of interest you are probably not going to be accepted. I would be interested in your viewpoints about how to get accepted.
http://www.neh.gov/projects/si-school.html

Buddhist meditation may produce lasting changes in the brain.
Researchers found that monks who spent many years in Buddhist meditation training show significantly greater brain activity in areas associated with learning and happiness than those who have never practiced meditation.
http://content.health.msn.com/content/article/96/103943.htm?GT1=5819

"President Bush's re-election ensures that more federal money will flow to abstinence education that precludes discussion of birth control, even as the administration awaits evidence that the approach gets teenagers to refrain from sex."
< http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/25/secondterm.abstinence.ap/index.html >

NCLB in Action
"More than 80 percent of Utah's elementary school teachers will now have to prove they are qualified to do the job they already are doing, according to new federal standards.
U.S. Department of Education officials say the state's 8,500 veteran grade-school teachers no longer can be considered "highly qualified" because state criteria fall short."
< http://www.sltrib.com/ci_2480243 >

Teacher Burnout Research
The average length of a teaching career in the United States is now down to eleven years (Stephens 2001). One quarter of all beginning teachers leave teaching within four years (Benner 2000). The length of an urban teaching career is even less since fifty percent of beginners leave in five years or less (Rowan et al. 2002). But teachers who leave have less of a negative impact on schools and students than those who burn out but remain in teaching. It has long been established that burnouts who remain use significantly less task oriented behavior (i.e. less hands-on, active learning), and provide fewer positive reinforcements to their students (Koon,1971). They also have negative effects on student performance (Young 1976). The research supports the contention that stress affects teachers effectiveness with students(Blas 1982). When teachers feel good about their work student achievement rises(Black 2001).
< http://www.educationnews.org/teacher-burnout-in-black-and-white.htm >

Schools cite benefits of dresscode and student uniforms , but researchers see little evidence of effectiveness.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/01/12/18uniform.h24.html

How copyright could be killing culture
< http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050117/DOCS17/TPEntertainment/Film >
The high cost of getting permission to use archival footage and photos threatens to put makers of documentaries out of business

Ethics Issues Snare School
Some superintendents have landed in murky ethical waters this school year for their ties to for-profit companies, highlighting the temptations administrators face as industry and education increasingly intersect.
< http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/01/12/18consult.h24.html >


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INTERESTING SITES
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Buy from those companies that support your political views: A listing
< http://www.buyblue.org/alphalist.php >

Random Password Generator
http://www.goodpassword.com

Lil' Fingers is a storybook site for toddler age children with some free toddler stories, activities and holiday sections.
http://www.lilfingers.com/

Resources on Fundraising
I have put together the best ideas and sites I could find on this subject.
< http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/fundraisers.html >

Toyota International Teaching Program
Study in Asia
< http://www.iie.org/Template.cfm?&Template=/programs/toyota/default.htm >

Fulbright's to Japan
Applications now online. Why not? For primary and secondary teachers.
< http://www.iie.org/Template.cfm?&Template=/programs/fmf/default.htm >

Would you be good in business? Take the test
< http://www.canada.com/search/story.html?id=bb1b8695-9a90-4728-a9b1-0c054287ad46 >

Forum for dealing with Spyware, Adware, Security, & Privacy threats
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/

What Teachers Make
or You can always go to law school if things don't work out
By Taylor Mali
http://www.taylormali.com/index.cfm?webid=13

Blog Rankings, Which ones get the most views daily.
< http://www.truthlaidbear.com/TrafficRanking.php >

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QUOTES
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Quotes
A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron. ~Horace Mann

Who dares to teach must never cease to learn. ~John Cotton Dana

Linux is free only if your time is worthless. ~ Unknown

To err is human. To really foul things up requires a computer. Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (pg. 670) has this from the 1978 Farmer's Almanac.

I code therefore I exist - somewhere between heaven and html. ~ Ad Hales

There are two major products that come from Berkeley: LSD and UNIX. We don't believe this to be a coincidence. ~ Jeremy S. Anderson

"People who make music together cannot be enemies, at least while the music lasts" - Paul Hindemith

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FACTOIDS
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About 1 in 10 of the nations 50,000 Title I schools were identified for schoolchoice in each of the first 2 years since enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) of 2001.

About 31,000 students, transferred to a school of choice in 2003-2004.

Forty-one percent of eighth-grade math teachers majored in math in college. In English, one-fifth of all teachers did not have at least a minor in English literature, communications or journalism.

In history and physical science, more than half of the teachers have never studied the subject in any concentrated way.
< http://www.ed.gov/nclb/methods/teachers/teachers.html >

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SITES YOU NEVER KNEW EXISTED
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Report Card Remarks
< http://www.teachersnetwork.org/ntol/howto/align/reportsam >

The Frog Doctor
In case you are keeping them in the classroom or are considering a pet.
http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/doctor/sick.html

The Darwin Awards
"The Darwin Awards salute the improvement of the human genome by honoring those who accidentally kill themselves in really stupid ways. Of necessity, this honor is bestowed posthumously."
< http://www.darwinawards.com >

Educator Sexual Misconduct
Written in response to a requirement in the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the 156-page report -- Educator Sexual Misconduct: A Synthesis of Existing Literature -- by a university-based expert on schoolhouse sexual misconduct concludes that the issue "is woefully understudied" and that solid national data on its prevalence are sorely needed.
< http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/misconductreview/report.pdf >
Nearly 10 percent of American students are targets of unwanted sexual attention by public school employees.
< http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/misconductreview/report.pdf >

National Intelligence Council has prepared a 123-page report entitled, "Mapping the Global Future". It pulls together a great deal of information and opinion on a very broad topic: the future of humanity. < http://www.futurebrief.com/project2020.pdf >

Creat a Free Paper CD Case
This site will allow you to create a paper case for your CD's. Use this website to create a PDF file which can be printed and folded to create a paper CD case. Be sure to read the About section for directions on how to fold it properly or you WILL go nuts. http://tkurc.mky.us/index.php

Bill Gates Strikes a Pose for Teen Beat Photospread, 1983 This is hysterical. Notice the mac in the corner, and the blue screen of death.
< http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=272750&st=0&#entry585309992 >

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CONFERENCES
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For February
< http://www.theconferencecalendar.com/ >

Thanks for reading,

Al
< https://edu-cyberpg.com/Ringleaders/al.html >

TO SUBSCRIBE TO NETHAPPENINGS
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