NetHappenings Newsletter

****************************************************************
NHN: Net Happenings Newsletter #8

NEW THIS WEEK for December 7th, 2004
< https://edu-cyberpg.com/Community/NetHappenings.html >
*****************************************************************

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 will continue to carry the sponsorship of 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 Inductee
1999 All USA Today First TeamTeacher
1994 National Middle Level Teacher of the Year (NCSS)
[e] newsletter@edu-cyberpg.com
[w] https://edu-cyberpg.com/Ringleaders/al.html


<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
IN THIS ISSUE
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>

Quote of the Day
In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day's work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years. ~Jacques Barzun

Factoid: There are about 90,000 traditional public schools, educating more than 50 million students in the United States.

Many schools have websites. It's fun to see everybody's unique ideas on what these things should be. The Hotlist the first one created in 1993 by Gleason Sackmann is a master registry of K-12 schools. The registry is organized by state and by grade level located here:
School Directory

<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
IN THE NEWS
BUDGETING SITES
INTERESTING STIES
MUSIC
FUNDING SOURCES
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>


<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
IN THE NEWS
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>

Charter Schools Falling Short
The Bush administration had to release the evidence that Charter Schools were not performing as well in the Department of Education survey and so they downplayed the results. That is probably why you didn't hear about it
before now. Anyway, The most interesting news aren't the performance figures, but the large number of underperforming students enrolled giving evidence that the Charter Schools were not skimming the topperforming
students.
< http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/23/education/23charter.html?hp&ex=1101272400
&en=33df1b7792650b2e&ei=5059&partner=AOL >


Special Education Legislation Passed
On Friday, November 19, 2004, Congress passed sweeping legislation that governs Special Education. The legislation doubles the amount of money spent on disabled children and makes notable changes in the way that Special Education is handled in the school system. Here are some good places to see what it means.
< http://www.educationnews.org/answer-for-special-education.htm >
<http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1122/p11s01-legn.html>

Some startling statistics about children born in 2001 and their families and their abilities Stunning data. For example, Percentage of children with no biological father in their home who have never seen their father, by race/ethnicity: 2001 finds that the highest group without a father present is Asian.
< http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/children/Section7.asp >


From Web-Enhanced Courses to a Web-Enhanced Curriculum "When educators discover the advantages of using online technology in their teaching, they are often inspired to incorporate technology more systematically into their departmental programs. In this article, Robert E.
Wood explains how he and his colleagues took this step in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice at Rutgers University, Camden. Rather than focusing solely on their own courses, faculty members began working together to offer their students shared access to online tutorials, course Web sites, streaming video sessions, and a range of other resources.
In the process, Wood observes, these efforts had the effect of creating much greater cohesion within the curriculum itself. The expansion of online resources helped the department promote standards for student skills, including consistent policies regarding plagiarism, research methods, and citation conventions. In turn, faculty members were also able to establish greater uniformity in conceptual and technical vocabulary from course to course, while additional online resources helped to foster greater communication among students and faculty. Woods account provides a positive model of how the spirit of collaboration can help realize the potential of
technology in higher education."
< http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=6 >


<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
US BUDGET LINKS
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>


With the passing of the recent budget in mind here are some good links.
Here is a graph of who is getting the money. Education is second. Can you guess which is number one?
< http://www.cdi.org/budget/2004/discretionary.cfm >

Current Debt clock
Great for the students, this site shows the current, literally, up to date debt and how it is going up over a billion dollars a day. In case they are wondering, every American is now about $25,000 in debt.
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

US Defense Budget compared to the world
This is an excellent way to get kids interested in the budget and defense as it shows the 2003 budget allocations by country. Good critical thinking theme plus geography and math integration.
<http://www.embargos.de/irak/post1109/english/us_defense_budget.htm>

<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
INTERESTING LINKS
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>

Working with parents
Everything from motivating to creating more valuable parent conferences is offered.
< http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/work_w_parents.html >

GoodPassword.com
for all the Nethappenings newsletter readers who want to practice good net worthy hygiene that would make us proud :-)


Virtual Schools for the Gifted
The future may be now as these institutions offer classes for the gifted.
http://ericec.org/fact/virtualsch.html


If you are really stuck with an idea for a theme the answer certainly must be here.Bizarre, unusual, weird, and true holidays, weeks, and month celebrations. In case you are wondering, January is National High Tech month, National Hot Tea Month, and National Reaching Your Potential Month.
http://www.brownielocks.com/january.htm

Tired of Spam? Here is Where to Complain
This site also has information on frauds, scams, and complaints. Ex-spouses and poor administrators are not listed.
http://www.elsop.com/wrc/complain.htm

You can't start them too young
This site has the procedures to have kindergarten children set up their own little offices at school.
http://www.geocities.com/jankwv/minioffice

Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, contains information on information on over six million soldiers and sailors from 44 states and territories who were involved in the Civil War.
< http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/ >

Think you know your PC Keyboard?
You may want to check these shortcuts out.
< http://msn.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,116190,00.asp >


National Board of Professional Teaching Standards continues to search for validation See page 28
This study continues to pour doubt on the NBPTS requirements. Two new studies just out, one from the same Washington source and one from Arizona State, have been brought to task for not comparing teachers with the same experience, education, or even student demographics in their findings.
Another interesting factor is that funding frequently comes from the NBPTS.
If you have access to any definitive study that shows that the NBPTS improves student learning please let us know.
http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/410958_NBPTSOutcomes.pd

<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
MUSIC
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>

Everybody Knows Music Makes You Smarter
MUSIC MAKES YOU SMARTER

Christmas music lovers
http://web.icq.com/shockwave/0,,4845,00.swf

BOOGIE WOOGIE MUSIC LOVERS

DOO WOP MEMORIES

Rock & Roll music lovers


HISTORY LOVERS LEARN THROUGH MUSIC LOVERS

GLASS ARMONICA
Here is an interactive example of the glass armonica invented by Ben Franklin. He figured out how to put the glasses on a spindle, closer to one another, making them easier to play. Previously, the glasses were in box facing up and the player really had to move around to get to them. Mozart composed for the glass armonica.

Parody Music Lovers
< http://www.amiright.com/ >

MUSIC IDEAS FOR CLASSROOM USE


<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
FUNDING SOURCES
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>

Federal Funding Sources
http://www.house.gov/ffr/resources_all.shtml


Looking for State School Board Associations?

Thanks for reading,

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

TO SUBSCRIBE TO NETHAPPENINGS
< https://edu-cyberpg.com/Community/ >

<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
The paragraph below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing
the entire report, in any format:

Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim
copies of the entire Nethappenings Newsletter NHN
provided this paragraph, including the
copyright notice, are preserved on all copies.

NHN Subscription instructions are available at:
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Community/NHnewsletter.html

Below are the copyright statements to be included when reproducing
annotations from NetHappenings Newsletter.

The single phrase below is the copyright notice to be used when
reproducing any portion of this report, in any format.

> From NetHappenings Newsletter copyright
> Educational CyberPlayGround.
https://edu-cyberpg.com/Community/NHnewsletter.html

Educational CyberPlayGround https://edu-cyberpg.com
Hot Site Awards New York Times, USA Today , MSNBC, Earthlink
USA Today Best Bets For Educators Award, Macworld Top Fifty
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>