четверг, 17 декабря 2009 г.

Soon I will publish a new post here

Yes, there are will be some text about research paper or dissertation writing help available at professays.com. :P

пятница, 11 декабря 2009 г.

Want to Make Language Learning Easier? Rhymes to the Rescue!

by Kathy Steinemann

Learning a foreign language can be enjoyable - but exasperating. Anything you can do to accelerate learning or make language acquisition more enjoyable is a valuable weapon in your learning arsenal. Kathy Steinemann shares a helpful and unique approach to this challenge.

Take a look at the following two sections of text:

*Version 1

The sky is blue today. I'm sitting on the beach. A bully kicks sand in my face. Too bad for him! Here come my bodyguards!

*Version 2

One, two, a sky so blue. Three, four, a sandy shore. Five, six, a bully kicks. Seven, eight, he's sealed his fate. Nine, ten, here come my gunmen!

Now go back and re-read the verses.

Did you notice that you have already started to anticipate what comes next in the second version?

Conclusion: It is easier to memorize rhyming poetry than to memorize prose.

So what implication does this have for learning a foreign language?

If you memorize well-written *modern* foreign language poetry, you can accelerate your learning curve. (Notice the keyword 'modern'.)

Poetry written in the 18th Century may have deep cultural and educational significance. However, words penned to page over 300 years ago will utilize obsolete vocabulary, spelling, and grammar formations.

As an example: consider the popular King James Version of the Bible. If you started using 'thee' and 'thou' in your daily speech, people would understand you - but they would treat you like an alien in a time warp.

You can search the internet for poetry written by contemporary authors. Try searches like:

parallel translation poetry

parallel translation poems

parallel translation poems German English

parallel translation poems French English

parallel translation poetry Italian English

parallel translation poetry Spanish English

Substitute search terms as necessary with the name of the specific language you are studying. Review the webpages you find with a tutor, professor, or knowledgeable person to determine grammar and vocabulary suitability.

Attempt to have the poetry dictated and recorded by a native language speaker. Softly recite the poetry while you listen to the recordings. This will improve your verbalization skills. With luck, you may find online audio for some of the poetry.

Are you a budding poet? Try creating foreign language poems yourself.

No poetic talent? Attempt the following simple approach. If you are learning German, for example, you might produce a 'poem' like this:

the dog - der Hund

the mouth - der Mund

the air - die Luft

the scent - der Duft

to buzz - summen

to growl - brummen

little - klein

clean - rein

to brood - grübeln

to iron - bügeln

You don't have to worry about grammar - just definitions, pronunciations, gender, and spelling. Alcor (alcor.com.au) has several rhyming dictionaries that can assist you with this process.

If you have an audio dictionary on your computer, listen carefully to the pronunciation of each word. There are also excellent online dictionaries with audio.

Now produce your own poetry recording using audio capture software.

- First, dictate each English word or phrase and save as an individual file.

- Next, save foreign language audio clips from your dictionary or from the internet.

- Now load your audio capture software and play the files in the correct order. Try to create short productions of a minute or two in duration.

- Edit if necessary to eliminate excessive pauses or add definite articles.

- Finally, convert to MP3 or WMA. Now you can use your iPod or portable media player for something besides music.

The 21st Century is a wonderful time to be learning a foreign language!

Unsupportive Leaders and Failing Teachers

Five crucial conversations drive educational excellence while preventing teacher burnout. The first two of those conversations are unsupportive leaders and failing teachers.

About the Author
David Maxfield is coauthor of the New York Times bestseller, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything. He is also a sought-after speaker and consultant, and leading researcher at VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and organizational performance.

Five crucial conversations drive educational excellence while preventing teacher burnout. The first two of those conversations are:
UNSUPPORTIVE SCHOOL LEADERS

Most school principals and assistant principals are incredibly supportive. They work hard to remove obstacles, cut through red tape, and get teachers the resources they need. However, when one or more of those school leaders are not supportive, they create high levels of stress and prevent teachers from being as successful as they could be. Below is an example from our interviews:

“One of my assistant principals is very unsupportive. For example, when I send a student to his office due to behavior in class, he sends him back without telling me what action he’s taken. The student often escalates again and spends more time in the hallway by this assistant principal’s office. When I’ve discussed this with the assistant principal, he says, ‘You can assume I did my job.’”

Nearly two thirds of the teachers we surveyed reported having one or more school leaders who are unsupportive. That lack of support creates stress, makes teacher’s jobs more difficult, and threatens the morale of the entire staff.

But the problem isn’t just that teachers encounter unsupportive school leaders. The problem is made worse by how teachers handle that politically sensitive situation. According to the survey results:

* 50 percent of teachers say they discuss unsupportive leaders with friends and family.
* More than 66 percent share their concerns with fellow teachers.
* Only one in five share their full concerns with the unsupportive leader.

Those rare teachers who turn toward the fire and have the crucial conversation with their leader are twice as likely to get the support they need. And not surprisingly, they also end up significantly more satisfied with the work environment in their schools.
TEACHERS WHO ARE FAILING IN THEIR CLASSROOMS

Read More
Be sure to read all four parts of “Speak Up or Burn Out: Five Crucial Conversations that Drive Educational Excellence,” David Maxfield’s series on avoiding teacher burnout.
* Part 1: Running Toward the Fire
* Part 2: Unsupportive Leaders and Failing Teachers
* Part 3: Uncooperative Colleagues, Unsupportive Parents, and Students With Discipline Problems
* Part 4: A Few Tips to Get the Conversations Started

Teachers often are the first to know when one of their peers is failing in the classroom. They see or hear visible signs of conflict; they hear complaints from students and/or parents; and they often witness for themselves the poor teaching or classroom management behaviors. Below is an example from our interviews.

“For a year, I worked with a teacher who had retired from another state and had taken a position here to pad her retirement. She had no classroom management skills, rapport with the students, or direction with curriculum. It was a pretty bleak picture considering this was the career she had just retired from. I think she wanted the cake without having to do any of the cooking!”

More than three quarters of the teachers we surveyed reported having one or more peers who are failing in the classroom. Those teachers see the impacts of those failures, which include poor student learning, more work for other teachers, and increased stress for all.

But the vast majority of teachers run from this fire, not toward it. Only 13 percent have the crucial conversation and share their full concerns with the failing teacher.

We wondered whether some of the teachers who are not having that crucial conversation might be discussing the problem with a school leader instead. Maybe they’re counting on the school leader to correct the situation. We found that 35 percent of teachers refer the problem to a school leader and ask them to intervene. But only half of those school leaders follow up with the failing teacher.

The teachers who step up to the crucial conversation and resolve the problem with their failing peers are significantly more satisfied with their school, more committed to staying at the school, more engaged as teachers, and less cynical about the education process.
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3 Steps Parents Can Take To Support Elementary Language Education In Their Communities

Many parents and teachers are concerned about cutbacks in funding for foreign language programs at the elementary school level. Is there anything a parent can do to support early childhood language education in their communities?

Yes! I recently attended a presentation given by Janis Jensen, the NJ Coordinator of World Languages and the President of the National Network for Early Language Learning. During her talk, she made these suggestions for parents and teachers who are being faced with potential cutbacks in their school's foreign language programs.

1. Be an advocate. Many of the teachers at the presentation agreed that active and vocal parents can play a very influential role (sometimes more than teachers) in convincing school boards to support funding for early language learning. Consider organizing concerned parents, and presenting a compelling case to the school board for maintaining adequate funding for early language learning. Sending articles to the local newspaper about the benefits of early language learning also can help generate support for funding language programs.

2. Stay informed. To make a case to administrators, you must clearly state the benefits of early foreign language education. Research has shown cognitive, academic, and social benefits to early language learning. Furthermore, the nation as a whole benefits from developing kids who have a global understanding and can communicate with people from other countries and cultures.

You can learn more by visiting the website of the National Network for Early Language Learning (http://www.NNELL.org).

If you are concerned that language programs in your school are being cut or are substandard, find out if your school is meeting state standards. You can find out more about your state's world languages standards by going to the Department of Education website for your state.

3. Consider alternatives. You may want your school to offer a great Spanish program, but keep in mind that the specific language offered is less important than the opportunity for the child to learn ANY foreign language.

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среда, 9 декабря 2009 г.

Characteristics of High School Learners

High school learners are qualitatively different than younger learners. You certainly can “teach an old dog new tricks” by understanding the cognitive and social characteristics of high school learners. Using the right instructional strategies to maximize the learning advantages and address the learning challenges of high school learners can make all the difference in their success.

High School Cognitive Development

Most high school students have achieved the formal operational stage, as described by Piaget. These students can think abstractly and need fewer concrete examples to understand complex thought patterns. Generally speaking, most students share the following characteristics:
1. Need to understand the purpose and relevance of instructional activities
2. Are both internally and externally motivated
3. Have self-imposed cognitive barriers due to years of academic failure and lack self-confidence
4. May have “shut down” in certain cognitive areas and will need to learn how to learn and overcome these barriers to learning
5. Want to establish immediate and long-term personal goals
6. Want to assume individual responsibility for learning and progress toward goals

High School Social Development

High school students are experimenting with adult-like relationships. Generally speaking, most students share the following characteristics:

1. Interested in co-educational activities

2. Desire adult leadership roles and autonomy in planning

3. Want adults to assume a chiefly support role in their education

4. Developing a community consciousness

5. Need opportunities for self-expression

High School Instructional Strategies

High school students are still concerned about the labeling that takes place, when one is identified as a remedial reader. Labels and stereotypes are both externally imposed (by other students and, sometimes their parents), but are primarily internally imposed (by the students themselves). Years of academic failure, due to lack of reading proficiency, have damaged students’ self-esteem. Many students have lost confidence in their ability to learn. Students have developed coping mechanisms, such as reading survival skills e.g., audio books or peer/parent readers, or behavioral problems, or the “Whatever… I don’t care attitudes” to avoid the tough work of learning how to read well. High school teachers need to be extremely mindful of student self-perceptions. A few talking points may be helpful:
"Unfortunately, some of your past reading instruction was poor; it’s not your fault that you have some skills to work on.” a.k.a. “blame someone else”
“You can learn in this class. If you come to class willing to try everyday, you will significantly improve your reading, I promise.”
“I know you have tried before, but this time is different.”
“You will be able to chart your own progress and see what you are learning in this class.”
“Some of my past students were like some of you. For example, ___________ and he passed the high school exit exam after finishing this class. For example, ___________ got caught up to grade level reading and is college right now.” Personal anecdotes provide role models and hope for high school remedial readers. Any former students who have been successful will provide “street credibility” to the teacher and the class.
“You aren’t in this class forever. As soon as you master your missing skills, you are out.”
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School Adopts Yoga For Wellness, Behavior Management

At first thought, teaching yoga to a high-risk school population might seem as incongruous as recruiting the chess team for Sumo wrestling.

Pre-K students practice
their yoga poses.
And while neither may sound like a good match, the principal of Jefferson Elementary School in Berwyn, Illinois, is crediting a school-wide yoga program for improving school climate, test scores, and student behavior.

“I’m not the ‘Wicked Witch of the West’ anymore,” joked Jefferson principal Violet Tantillo, who described her student body as high-poverty and high-achieving. Since the yoga program began three years ago, discipline referrals have dropped dramatically, giving Tantillo more time to work with students and teachers for reasons other than meting out punishment.
“TAKE A YOGA BREATH”

Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years, and combines different poses, breathing techniques, and sometimes meditation to improve flexibility and reduce stress. Before yoga took hold at Jefferson, Tantillo, who is the sole administrator at the pre-K-to-grade 5 school, had long lines of students outside her office door almost every day after lunch. Many students were referred because of squabbles of the “he pushed me, she looked at me” variety. (The school does not have formal recess; some teachers find time to go outside for about eight minutes of play.) Either Tantillo or the classroom teachers had to sort out the daily disputes. “I was tired of just being a punisher,” Tantillo said. “While the teachers were handling the problems, they were losing instructional time,” she told Education World.

“When they are older, when a car cuts them off while they are driving, maybe instead of screaming out the window they will remember to breathe.”

The program at Jefferson began as voluntary for teachers, with professional development for staff members who wanted to participate. Students started doing yoga for 8 to 10 minutes a day after lunch. After one year, according to Tantillo, the number of discipline referrals, which are notes she sends home to parents, dropped from 254 to 200 and test scores increased as well. “I said it was not optional any more,” she said. Now even the pre-K students practice yoga and it is part of the school’s wellness program.

Typically, students return from lunch or recess and teachers dim the lights and the class spends 8 to 10 minutes practicing yoga. Teachers are encouraged to teach students one yoga pose per week. Since the school-wide yoga program started, discipline referrals have continued to drop -- Tantillo wrote only 132 this past school year -- and the climate of the school is much calmer. She often joins classes for their afternoon yoga. “We don’t have chronic kids [those who are discipline problems] any more,” she said. “It has made a huge difference in the culture of the school.”

Students who see a classmate struggling for control sometimes say, “Take a yoga breath,” or “Do a tree,” referring to a yoga position. “We now have a very peaceful, calming environment,” noted Tantillo, “all from eight to ten minutes a day.”

For the first time on a parent survey after the 2008-2009 school year, about 20 parents listed yoga as a strength of the school, she added.

Click here to see a video of students practicing yoga at Jefferson Elementary School.

YOGA, TEACHING IN THE FAMILY

Yoga came to Jefferson via another educator -- Carla Tantillo, Violet Tantillo’s daughter. A former high school teacher, Carla Tantillo introduced yoga to inner-city students when she was the curriculum director for a contract high school in Chicago. Carla Tantillo was earning her certification as a yoga instructor and decided to teach yoga to the students and some of the teachers. While initially some students were skeptical, the program became popular. “Yoga is not competitive and it’s not judged,” she said in explaining some of its appeal.

After Carla Tantillo left the contract school and was eating lunch with her mother one day, Violet Tantillo showed her an article about a school using yoga and suggested her daughter consider teaching yoga in schools. Carla wrote the curriculum during a summer and was able to sign up eight schools by 2006-2007. “Initially, I was doing it for free,” she said. “Then some principals said they would pay for it with grants because it was helping teachers and students.”

Carla Tantillo went on to start Mindful Practices, and she and her staff work with teachers and students -- including those at her mother’s school -- to use yoga for behavior management and relaxation. The company has worked with more than 60 schools and many teachers have benefited from learning yoga. “Teachers realize how their own stresses affect their performance,” said Carla Tantillo. “Teachers are more sensitive and compassionate with their students because they are more sensitive and compassionate with themselves.”
TEACHING INTRINSIC REWARDS

“Teachers realize how their own stresses affect their performance. Teachers are more sensitive and compassionate with their students because they are more sensitive and compassionate with themselves.”

Carla Tantillo also discourages teachers in the schools in which she works from using candy or small toys to reward students for good behavior, saying using yoga to control behavior has more long-term applications. In some schools, teachers “reward” students by letting them pick the day’s yoga pose. “They can use yoga to reflect on their behavior,” she said.

Her mother agrees. “I don’t do prizes,” Violet Tantillo said. “I don’t have a point system for rewards. I don’t have time for it. I much prefer yoga to handing out rewards. This way the strategy is embedded in their being. If a teacher says to them, ‘calm down and take a breath,’ they know what to do. When they are older, when a car cuts them off while they are driving, maybe instead of screaming out the window they will remember to breathe.”

While parents of some students at schools that teach yoga have objected to it, saying it is a religious-based practice, Violet Tantillo said only one parent asked that her child not participate. That student quietly reads while other students do yoga. When that issue has come up in other schools, Carla Tantillo said, she finds it is best to learn exactly what parents’ concerns are. In one school, changing the name from yoga to a Hornet Minute, naming it after the school mascot, made parents more comfortable.
MORE YOGA, PLEASE!

Yoga has proven so popular at Jefferson that the school started an afterschool program -- hip-hop yoga -- that combines hip-hop dance moves with yoga positions set to music. Students from Jefferson saw some high-school students performing hip-hop yoga, and a fifth grade boy asked a high school student why he did it. He replied that it kept him off the streets and away from gangs.

Yoga proved so popular at Jefferson
that an afterschool program was added.
So when Jefferson students begged for their own program, Violet Tantillo agreed to start one for fourth and fifth graders -- but stipulated that to participate in hip-hop yoga, students had to sign up for the afterschool A+ Math and Accelerated Reader programs. So many students registered for hip-hop yoga that the school had to add sections of Accelerated Reader and A+ Math. The students are doing so well in the program that some have been invited to perform at events such as the Taste of Chicago. Some students’ family members traveled from Honduras to see the performance.

Students also are active as yoga ambassadors. Some kids are teaching yoga to their parents and third graders taught yoga poses to members of the board of education. Yoga instructors also teach parents yoga positions at school wellness nights.

Violet Tantillo said she would not hesitate to recommend a yoga program to other schools, because of the minimal investment and what she hopes will be stress management strategies children can use for the rest of their lives. “We don’t have to buy prizes or banners,” she said. “And as an adult, if someone cuts you off on the road and you want to get angry, no one is going to be there to give you a prize if you don’t.”
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Five Steps to Differentiating Spelling Instruction

Good teachers differentiate spelling instruction. They get outside of their spelling workbooks and challenge their students with un-mastered spelling patterns and words. But, how to differentiate spelling in a diverse classroom is the trick. Here is a classroom-tested plan that works with all grade levels.

1. Prepare

Select twenty grade-level spelling pattern words from either a spelling workbook, an encoding assessment that targets specific sound-spelling patterns, a spelling rules-based assessment, a list of commonly confused words, a list of non-phonetic outlaw words, or a list of high-frequency words. A visit to your educational bookstore or a quick web search should provide you with these resources for differentiating spelling.

2. Pre-test

Dictate the 15—20 words (depending upon grade level) in the traditional word-sentence-word format to all of your students. Have students self-correct from teacher dictation of letters in syllable chunks, marking dots below the correct letters, and marking an “X” through the numbers of any spelling errors. Even second graders can do this instructional activity!

3. Personalize

Students complete their own Personal Spelling List of 15—20 words (depending upon grade level) in this priority order:

Pretest Errors: Have the students copy up to ten of their pretest spelling errors onto their Personal Spelling List.

Posttest Errors: Have students add on up to five spelling errors from last week’s spelling posttest.

Writing Errors: Have students add on up to five teacher-corrected spelling errors found in student writing. Oops…this commits you to mark strategic spelling errors in your students’ writing—an essential component of improving student spelling.

Supplemental Spelling Lists for Differentiating Spelling:
Outlaw Words
High Frequency Spelling Words
Most Often Misspelled Words
Commonly Confused Words (Homonyms)

But, how do the students select the right words from the supplemental lists?

Parents can be integral partners in helping their children select appropriate words for the Personal Spelling List. After completing the weekly Personal Spelling List, the student must secure a parent signature on the list to verify that each of the selected words is an unknown spelling for the student. This is to prevent students from writing down words already part of the student’s conventional spelling word bank.

Early in the school year it is a good idea to send home a parent letter explaining the role of the parent in differentiating spelling instruction. Parents can pretest their son or daughter on the words from the appendices a little at a time to determine which words are un-mastered and need to be included as part of the weekly Personal Spelling List. For those parents who will not complete the pre-assessments, the teacher can have a parent, instructional aide, or another student complete the pretests.

4. Practice

Students practice their weekly spelling words on the Personal Spelling List by writing context clue sentences or short stories, using each of the spelling words. Spelling sorts by identifiable patterns provide wonderful practice. Suggest vowel sound, number of syllables, alphabetical order, parts of speech, words with prefixes, words with suffixes, words with base words as sorting criteria.

5. Post-test

Students take out a piece of binder paper and find a partner to exchange dictation of the Personal Spelling List words. Have one student complete the entire dictation of the list prior to having the other student dictate. But, you may be thinking…what if they cheat? For the few who cheat…It would be a shame to stop differentiating spelling instruction for the many to cater to a few. Truly, they are only cheating themselves. After completing the spelling posttest, students turn in their post-tests for the teacher to grade.
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вторник, 8 декабря 2009 г.

Times Tables - The Worst Way to Teach Multiplication

Learning the "multiplication tables" is one of the first traumas that children usually face when learning arithmetic.

Ask ten elementary-school kids to tell you what, say, eight times seven is. Watch as they look up and to their left (or right) and go into, "let's-see" mode. Often you'll hear them say, "Um, ah..." before give you the answer. Generally, there's a lot of hesitation. Only then, do they actually give you the answer. Sometimes it's even correct.

I know, I was one of them. Maybe you were, too. Most children are victimized by the thoughtless, authoritarian, wrong way to teach the "multiplication facts" (what n unimaginative and uninspiring term!)

Why are "the tables" the wrong way to learn? Maybe I can illustrate it best by analogy. Imagine that you wanted your children to learn the names of all their cousins, aunts and uncles. But you never actually let them meet or play with them. You just showed them pictures of them, and told them to memorize their names.

Each day you'd have them recite the names, over and over again. You'd say, "OK, this is a picture of your great-aunt Beatrice. Her husband was your great-uncle Earnie. They had three children, your uncles Harpo, Zeppo, and Gummo. Harpo married your aunt Leonie...yadda, yadda, yadda.

Boring!

But what if you had them all over for the weekend, and you found out Earnie did magic tricks, Beatrice had been a rodeo queen, Zeppo always wore mismatching socks, Harpo played the, well, you know, Gummo picked his nose and wiped it on his tie, and Leonie could sing like an angel?

Well, then you'd have some relationship with them, wouldn't you? The next time you saw Earnie, you'd ask him to show you a trick. You'd ask his daughter Leonie if she could teach you to sing, and you'd stay away from Gummo's tie.

It turns out that you can build relationships with multiplications, as well. And they have relationships with each other. You already know some of them. Like the relationship of nine to ten. Nine is one less than ten, so when you multiply something by nine, just stick a zero at the end of it, and subtract the original number.

Take the example 8*9. Just stick a zero behind the 8 to get 80. Next, subtract 8 from 80, and you've got 72, which is the correct answer to 8 multiplied by 9.

That is the intuitive way for many people to multiply by 9. So why do they make you stare at the nine-times-table in school? It's boring and fosters no sense of the relationship of nine to the other numbers. It turns multiplication into isolated "multiplication facts" (there's that stupid term again).

If you had children multiply by nine with the subtraction method often enough, they'd know the answers in their bones after awhile. It would take less time than it would to memorize the nine-times-tables by rote, and it would have them actively involved with using the numbers. Imagine that!

This may be hard to digest at first, because learning the "multiplication facts" by rote has been ingrained into the school system for decades. Maybe that is why our children are getting worse and worse at this easy, important skill.

If you're a teacher, you're probably fed up with the bad mojo from the policy-makers. You need to get your own mojo working.

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VIP Families Honored for Involvement

"At the first year's Family Involvement Festival, a mother arrived with her children almost two hours late," recalled Anne Thompson. "She was tearful and agitated, as her car had broken down and she'd had to take several busses to reach the event. She was determined to get there, though, for this was the first time in her life that anyone had honored her and she wanted her children to be proud of their parent."

The memory of that parent still inspires Thompson, the director of the office of parental involvement for Miami-Dade County (Florida) Public Schools. Attendees of the annual festival receive awards for their effort and spend a day with their families at a local attraction. Parents may nominate themselves through a simple questionnaire. From the nominations, those who support their children's education are identified as "Very Involved Parents" (VIPs). Then all district schools honor one family in a special way as a "Family of the Year." The program sprang from the need to better define parental involvement in Miami's diverse urban community.

"Because too often only those parents who are able to volunteer regularly or otherwise take an active role in the school are considered involved, many families feel unable to fill this expectation," Thompson told Education World. "By defining involvement in its most profound activities -- supporting learning at home, assuring school attendance, communicating with teachers, and participating in at least some school activities -- we hoped to provide a standard which is understandable and attainable."

The goal was not to ignore those who give their time generously to the schools but to allow the larger community of parents to feel connected and validated. Thompson has seen the impact of the award program on many families.

"The most moving stories have been those from struggling families, many of them recent immigrants, that have been recognized for providing this support and encouragement to their children's success in school," shared Thompson.

The Family Involvement Festival is a district-wide event that brings together Very Involved Parents and their children. At the time, Thompson reports, a luncheon or award ceremony seemed inadequate to embrace the many types of families honored through the program. While individual schools often also recognize their VIPs, it was important to establish a unique event that provides a sense of community.

The initial event took place at a local zoo called Jungle Island. It was a treat for the families, but it proved to be too limited in size to accommodate the potential numbers of attendees. About 3,000 students and parents came to the event. With the assistance of a sponsor, the event was moved to Miami-Dade County Fair in its second year, and the district is likely to continue to use this venue as the festival grows.

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Multiplication by Two - How to Practice Multiplying with Playing Cards

If you want to teach a child to multiply by two, one of the easiest ways is to explain that multiplication by two can be accomplished by simply doubling the number. (Keep in mind that the definition is not repeated addition. They are just two similar ways to arrive at the same answer with whole numbers. It doesn't work with fractions, so it is not the definition.)

Instead of showing the child endless multiplication tables and multiplication charts, get out a deck of cards and do the following:

* Remove the Tens, Jacks, Queens and Kings. You won’t need them.

* Take a Two of any other suit (say Spades) and place it face up on the table.

* Take the Ace through Nine of any suit (say diamonds). Shuffle them face down.

* Start turning the cards over one by one, and as you do, say what the product of that number, multiplied by two, is.

* It is important to remember not to say to yourself, “Two times (whatever number you are working on) is...” Try to just say the answer.

If you have trouble with a problem, like say, two times 9, remember, you are just doubling the number. If you have problems with that, you may want to “skip count” to the number.

To “skip count” you just count by twos, and put out a finger for each number you say. So you’d say “two” and put out one finger. Then you’d say “four” and put out another one. By the time you have nine fingers out, you should be up to “eighteen.” That is two times nine.

This is important: Whenever you come to a problem that you don’t immediately know the answer to (like if you have to think about it, or skip count to it), you may think you now know the answer because you have figured it out. Don’t fall into that trap! That’s what hurts many learners most. You must know the answer to simple multiplications in your bones.

So when you get to something like two times nine and have to skip count, stop, look at the cards, see the problem, and say out loud:

“2 times 9 in 18”

“9 times 2 is 18”

“18 is 2 times 9”

“18 is 9 times 2”

“2 times 9 is 18.”

Say that out loud each time you hesitate with the answer. It will definitely help you for the next time. You won’t have to do this often until you will instantly recognize that two times nine is eighteen, any time you see it.

After you have gone through all nine cards, it’s time to do some serious practicing.

* Leaving the Two of Spades face up on the table, take the rest of the cards, except for the Tens, Jacks, Queens and Kings, and shuffle them face down.

* Start turning over cards as before, saying their products. Don’t forget to do , stop, look at the cards, see the problem, and say the combinations of the answers out loud, as above.

* Keep this up until you can go through all of the cards (there will be 35 of them) in less than one minute. This will not take much practice, and you’ll feel great about yourself when you can do it in under a minute.

Learning this way has huge advantages. Once you are great at multiplying by two, try it with three. This method also has the advantage that you don’t have to print out worksheets, and you can carry a deck of cards anywhere. You also will improve your powers of concentration when you learn like this. I have been diagnosed with ADD, and this method worked wonders for me.

Please keep in mind that we are only talking about whole numbers here. "Simply doubling" is not the definition of multiplication by two. There are subtleties involved that are beyond the scope of this article. But in order to learn simple multiplication by two, this method is much preferable to the “multiplication tables.”

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понедельник, 7 декабря 2009 г.

Applying High Expectations To Everyone

Principal Dr. Gerald Gary knew his students could do better -- he just had to convince them and their families. He improved student achievement and changed the school’s culture by setting high expectations for everyone in the building. Included: How high expectations are implemented.

Principal Dr. Gerald Gary knew his students at Jackson School could do better. He just had to convince them and their parents.

Concerned that his students’ parents often had lower expectations for their children than parents in other communities, Gary introduced parents at his school to research about the affect of parent involvement on student achievement. Soon parents began to take more of an interest in what students were learning at school and at home.

After two years of effort, about 80 percent of parents are supportive of measures to raise expectations and implement consequences for infractions, Gary told Education World. Students weren’t the only ones rising to higher expectations; Gary began insisting that all staff members in the building take on more responsibility as part of a culture of high expectations for everyone.

START WITH DATA

Jackson, a K-5 school in Camden, South Carolina, has a high number of students receiving free and reduced-price lunches, an indicator of low-income families. “I found that parents and the community did not have the same expectations for their children as those in other, more affluent schools,” Gary told Education World. “The teachers always had high expectations -- we just needed to elevate them, and then get parents to buy in.”

Gary began holding meetings for parents during which he presented data showing that when parents get involved with their children’s education, achievement increases. He talked about the importance of reading to children at home and checking their homework regularly, noting that these efforts have a positive affect on student performance.

“I showed them data from schools with the same background as ours and how we could get similar results. They [Jackson parents] couldn’t say their children were not doing well because of poverty or because they came from single-parent homes. If you read to them, that levels the playing field.”

“I found that parents and the community did not have the same expectations for their children as those in other, more affluent schools.”

After about a year, the school staff started seeing gradual achievement growth, and now the staff is expanding efforts to get parents involved by offering manipulatives for them to use at home to help children with math concepts. The school holds parent workshops six or seven times a year on topics such as how to help children with reading, math, science; it offers separate groups for parents of K-2 students and those in grades 3-5.

“We’ve reduced class sizes in kindergarten through second grade, so we can reach the goal of reading at grade level by second grade,” Gary told Education World. “I believe if they are not reading at grade level by second grade, it increases their chances of dropping out.”

Gary also set goals for students above the minimum standard. He decided students needed to surpass the target point on the state’s Measure of Academic Progress (MAP), which is used in the fall to determine students’ expected academic growth. “I said we need to exceed target growth if the kids are going to succeed -- so now we look at the target as the mid-point.”

BRING ON THE INCENTIVES

More incentives also were introduced to encourage student achievement and better behavior. Jackson now uses the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) discipline approach, which stresses rewards for positive outcomes. Students who score in the highest range on the state tests, for example, have the chance to earn a Wii. Smaller prizes are available for other high-scoring students.

“It has improved all aspects of behavior,” Gary said of PBIS. “We probably have between 50 and 60 percent fewer referrals than we did two years ago. We look at rewarding the good as opposed to focusing on the negative.”

HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR ALL

Besides pushing students harder, Gary made it clear to his staff members that they also had to step up their game. In the past, there were some students who put their heads down on their desks and refused to do any work. “I said students won’t be allowed to sleep in class or say they can’t do it,” Gary said. “They have to put forth the effort or the parents are contacted.”

“I said we need to exceed target growth if the kids are going to succeed -- so now we look at the target as the mid-point.”

Other staff members are required to take on more responsibility as well. “We hold bus drivers accountable,” said Gary. “If someone writes a kid up every day, we want to see what he or she has done to change situation.”

And if a custodian complains that a particular classroom is extremely messy every day, that custodian has to talk to the classroom teacher about what he or she needs to do to facilitate cleaning. “Teachers have to know they have to do basic cleanup so custodians can do their job,” he said. “It’s helping everyone understand their roles and holding everyone accountable.”

Initially, there was some difficulty getting people to buy in to the idea. “Part of the fear was that not everyone was going to be accountable, so you can’t let anyone get away with not doing what they are supposed to do,” Gary noted. “You have to hold everyone accountable.”

His advice for other administrators looking to engage the community in school reform -- break out the data. “Take people to a successful school with a similar population and see if you can adapt it [the school’s operation] for your building.”

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Multiplication - Do you I have to show the work?

Teachers have uttered the mantra of "you must show the work!" since any of us can remember. But is there any good reason for it?

The only reason that would make sense is to find out if the child understood the problem.

But if a child can consistently get the right answers to multiplication, or other math equations, what good reason would there be for him or her having to show work? Does the teacher think the child doesn't know how to do the problem? That would be crazy, because the child clearly just did the problem!

In English class, when they ask a pupil to read a paragraph, and s/he does it well, do they say, "Okay, now write an essay on how you knew how to read that?"

How nuts would it be to ask a kid in gym class how they ran that mile, or else the running wouldn't count?

What if, in history or social-studies class, students were required not only tell you who won the Battle at Gettysburg, but prove it, with archeological facts. It might be a nice exercise once, but for every question?

"Hey, Picasso, put down that brush and write a 300 word essay about why you put two eyes on the same side of that woman's head. If you can't, I'm afraid we'll just have to rip it up and do it again right, won't we?"

No wonder Einstein said, "Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school."

All too often, the wonderful experience that should be school is turned into a learner's nightmare because of ill-thought-out pedagogical dogma.

Schools seldom take into account that different students have different learning styles. Misguided efforts like the "No Child Left Behind" act (what a cynically sinister misnomer!) would have you believe that there's one thing to learn, one way to learn it, and one way to test it. (Maybe more than the name is sinister!)

People who do not understand people who are "different" have a hard time reaching them. The loss is on both sides.

Learning the Multiplication Tables - Skip counting by two and three

If your child or student is learning to multiply, a good way to have them start out is learn skip counting.

Skip counting is simply counting by a whole number other than one. It's counting by twos, threes, fours, etc. For example, skip counting by twos is the same thing as reciting the two-times tables.

So what are the benefits of using playing cards to learn skip counting compared to staring at multiplication worksheets?

* Well, for one thing, it's not boring!

* For another, if you are actually counting objects, you have the tactile experience of feeling what you are counting.

* And there's the fact that you are saying the numbers (for a reason - after all you are actually counting something.)

* So with skip counting, you get the trifecta of seeing, feeling and hearing. You experience the numbers in three ways.

* And it can be fun. If you teach your child to count, say, playing cards by twos, not only will s/he count the cards faster, but s/he will lock in the two-times tables in his/her head

without having to stare at boring worksheets, watch or do any of those typical dumbing-down activities like watch cartoons teach them math, sing inane songs, or listen to baby-rhymes.

* One of the advantages of using normal playing cards (not flash-cards or cards from some contrived kiddie-math games) is that playing cards can remain life-long friends. They are objects that exist in the adult world, so your child will not have that feeling in the back of his/her mind that they are being pandered to.

Children can sense when their minds are being respected. When you teach them with methods that respect and foster their thinking abilities, instead of talking down to them, you are doing them one of the biggest favors you can do. You are also doing one for yourself, too.

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пятница, 4 декабря 2009 г.

Rule 161: Inspection of Schools

ation for Teachers > Inspection and Probation > Rule 161: Inspection of Schools

Rule 161: Inspection of Schools

Rule 161 of the Rules for National Schools as amended by Circular 11/’76 refers to Inspection of schools.

Six months’ notice

Sub-section 6 of this Rule refers to the issuing by an inspector of notice to a teacher that a General Inspection of her/his work will be held after an interval of six months. This notice is sent to a teacher who is rated 'satisfactory' but who no longer merits that rating in the opinion of the inspector. A six months’ notice is a written notice sent by registered post by an inspector to the teacher.

Rule 161(6) provides that:

Where the work of a teacher has deteriorated to such an extent that the estimate 'satisfactory' is no longer merited, and where, on at least two previous occasions during the preceding twelve months, an inspector has pointed out the defects observed in the teacher’s work and suggested remedies for them, an inspector (other than an unattached inspector) who is not satisfied that a genuine and reasonably successful effort has been made to remedy the defects, should give the teacher a formal written notice that it is the intention to hold a General Inspection of the teacher’s work after an interval of six months. An inspector shall not lower the estimate of the work of a teacher, other than a teacher on probation, except at a General Inspection following such notice.
The written notice referred to at subsection (a) of this section should be sent to the teacher by registered post, following oral notification on the day of the inspector’s visit.
In the interval between the issue of the notice and the holding of the General Inspection, the inspector should visit the school at least once, in order to afford the teacher such assistance as may be possible.
A clear interval of six months, exclusive of periods of illness or vacation, must elapse before a General Inspection is held following the issue of such notice. Furthermore, such General Inspection should not be held for at least six weeks after the reopening following the summer vacation or other prolonged closing.
The General Inspection held following the issue of a formal written notice need not necessarily be held by the inspector who issued the notice.

Kids Learn Better With a Song in Their Hearts

Do you recall the multiplication tables, grammatical terms, or historical documents through song? Many educators recognize that teaching with song makes learning not only more fun, but more effective and long-lasting. When you want to inspire your students, take time to tickle the ivories, pluck the strings, or turn on the boom box and “tune-in" to song. Included: Learn why songs benefit learning and how to choose the right material for the school or classroom.

"Pop culture has known for some time that music is an effective way to influence how children think of themselves," says David Craft. "It's about time educators began using music to positively influence how children see themselves in this world."

Craft started playing guitar in his junior year of college because the piano wasn't transportable and he wanted something to add to his "bag of tricks" for teaching. In his 18 years as a classroom teacher, he used the guitar to introduce songs that focused on the curriculum and to entertain during group camping trips. Today, as principal of Greenvale Park Elementary School in Northfield, Minnesota, Craft sings daily during whole-school morning meetings, and the focus of the songs he shares is on building-wide expectations and a "common identity."

"This is my first year at Greenvale Park, which has many experienced teachers on staff," he explained. "I wasn't sure how they would respond to the building-wide morning meeting with the group singing, but after our first one, some of them expressed how impressed they were with the addition of music."

Ask Greenvale Park students who they are, and the response will be, "We are hard workers!" The building message is Work, Respect, Belong. As students enter for morning assembly, they hear recordings that are representative of that message. Song selections include "Working in the Coal Mine" by Lee Dorsey, "Respect" by Aretha Franklin, and "Somewhere Out There," performed by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram.

Why Make
Time for Song?

Early childhood educator and teacher trainer Sharon MacDonald believes there are many reasons why song deserves attention in classrooms.

Music helps children hear rhyme. They hear the similar sounds the words make and the cadence of the rhyming word patterns and word segments.

Music has a rhythm. Children listen to the series of beats in the lines of song and the patterns created by the beats in the words. (Beats are syllables.)

Music helps develop vocabulary. Children increase their knowledge of word meanings and word use by using new vocabulary in a variety of song contexts.

Craft plays classics like "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain," along with selections for his many Spanish-speaking students, like "La Bamba" and "La Cucaracha." He introduces genres of music by allowing students to pick the style and tempo for familiar songs that he plays. A favorite among the students is "Big Booger," an anti-bullying song by Tim Noah.

"Music is a powerful medium to help kids see themselves as who they are and who they can be," Craft told Education World. "Singing with the students allows me to let my hair down and be seen in a different role -- not the iron fist, but the encourager, the supporter."

Craft invites musical performers to visit his students. When one told stories of bullying from his childhood and sang "Don't Laugh at Me," written by Steve Seskin and Allen Shamblin, even the toughest child in the crowd was moved. He plans to use this song to promote mutual understanding and "belonging" at Greenvale Park.

"Sharing songs is one way we promote healthy self-respect and perseverance," added Craft. "A mindset is nurtured and reinforced through the songs -- set a goal, persevere, succeed."

For example, Craft played "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry, which conveys the tale of a kid who mastered the guitar, and pointed out to the students that the "guitar" in the lyric might represent something else for them -- maybe math or spelling or… Later, individual students left notes for him stating things like, "I wasn't doing well in spelling. I worked hard, and now I'm doing better."

Says Craft, "The message conveyed is more important than the music itself."

Effective Educational Services For Students With Special Learning Needs

15 million school age children in the US have learning problems that public and private schools can’t solve. There are 72,000 special education students in LAUSD, alone. Every day these students sit unhappily in class, losing hope of ever realizing their dreams. Students are living in pain and shame. They are not learning to be successful students.

Their parents are frustrated in their attempts to find suitable education for their child. They’ve tried working through the public schools. They have hired tutors. Parents are calling for real solutions.

In order to thrive, these students need special educational methods that address their unique profile of strengths and needs. But even more importantly, these children require a new mindset of success.

Educational therapy offers help and hope to children and adults with learning challenges such as ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and learning disabilities. Educational therapy is an appropriate and highly successful approach to helping students of all ages achieve their maximum potential.

Educational therapists use state of the art educational programs and methods that have been proven to teach students with learning problems the skills they require to be successful. Educational therapy shows students how to overcome their learning problems and lead successful lives.

All throughout the school years, foundations for future success are laid down. Not only are students learning essential skills such as reading, they are also learning to value education. But most importantly, they are learning to believe that they are successful students!

When students experience repeated frustration and failure, they develop self-doubt along with dislike or distrust of educational experiences. These negative views influence how much students can learn, at every level from elementary school through college!

Special needs students experience three major problems with learning:

Teachers and tutors use the same methods for every child. Children are unique and each learns in his or her own way. Teachers and tutors usually do not understand how to modify their approach to address different learning styles.

Teachers and tutors only teach subject matter. Students who experience repeated academic failure lack the underlying foundational skills to be successful students. They often don’t know the best study methods, how to manage their time, or what the real secrets are to academic success.

Teachers and tutors do not address the root cause of continued academic failure—learned helplessness. When students experience failure after failure, they develop a mindset that they are “stupid” and “can’t learn.” They give up on ever being a good student! But, when students believe they can succeed, they begin to try. When they believe they can learn, they begin to study. When they believe they can have impressive futures, they make powerful choices. Students have the right to believe in their innate intelligence and skill!

Educational therapists generally begin their professional careers in special education, child development or counseling. The Association of Educational Therapists is the national professional organization that sets the training standards for educational therapists. There are three levels of membership in the Association of Educational Therapists: Associate Professional (introductory level), Professional (experienced), Board Certified (seasoned).

According to the Association of Educational Therapists: “Regardless of previous background, all Professional members of the Association of Educational Therapists (AET) have met rigorous professional requirements in the academic areas of elementary and/or secondary education, child development, educational assessment, learning theory, learning disabilities, and principles of educational therapy. All members have a B.A. degree and are required to hold a Masters Degree or equivalent in post-BA course work. They have completed at least 1500 supervised direct service hours, and are required to complete 40 clock hours of Continuing Education every two years.

To become a Board Certified Educational Therapist (BCET)®, a member must meet the following additional requirements: Masters Degree (required); one year membership in AET at the Professional level; 1000 hours of professional practice; formal written Case Study evaluated and passed by the AET Certification Board; a written examination that demonstrates professional expertise in educational therapy.”

To locate an educational therapist near you or obtain more information about educational therapy, visit the Association of Educational Therapists website.

About the Author

Dr. Kari Miller is a Board Certified Educational Therapist and Director of the Center for Empowered Learning, Educational Therapy in Los Angeles. She began her career almost twenty-five years ago as a special education resource teacher. She has worked with students in a vast array of capacities, including special education teacher and educational therapist. Dr. Miller has a PhD in Educational Psychology and Mathematical Statistics, a master’s degree in Learning Disabilities, Gifted Education and Educational Diagnosis, and a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and Behavior Disorders.

To contact Dr. Miller
Email: klmiller555@sbcglobal.net
Website: www.empoweredlearning.info
Phone: 310-280-9813

четверг, 3 декабря 2009 г.

Inspection of Schools: Summary

The following are the functions of inspectors as set out in the Rules for National Schools and in Department of Education and Science circulars:

to act as agents of the Minister for Education and Science;
to supply the Minister for Education with such information and advice on matters pertaining to individual schools and on educational matters in general as s/he may require for the effective administration of the system;
to co-operate with management authorities and teachers in the work of schools;
to stimulate interest in curriculum content and methodology;
to help young teachers and others who, in the inspector's opinion, are in need of assistance and advice;
to advise teachers, particularly principal teachers, on the implementation of a suitable school programme;
to assess the work of each school as a whole;
to call the attention of teachers and management to any breaches of rule;
to carry out a general inspection annually of the work of:

a) teachers rated 'unsatisfactory'
b) teachers on probation
to carry out a general inspection at the request of a teacher;
to carry out a general inspection (following six months' notice of intention to do so) in the case of teachers who, in the opinion of the inspector, no longer merit the rating ‘satisfactory’;
to perform an inspection of schools for the purposes of a School Report;
to select highly successful schools which teachers from other schools may visit for the purpose of observing methods of organisation and teaching;
to communicate personally, or in writing, with the board of management with reference to the general condition of the school or to matters requiring the attention of management, making such suggestions as they may deem necessary; and
to carry out such other functions, as agents of the Minister, which the Minister may from time to time require.

Inspectors are not authorised to decide on any question affecting a national school or the general business of the Minister and may not give direct orders in a school (other than in a Model School). (Rule 161(2) Rules for National Schools).

The following are the responsibilities of members of the inspectorate:

to carry out their functions (as outlined above) through incidental and/or pre-arranged visits to schools;
to inspect schools;
to assess the work of teachers; and
to acquaint themselves with the work of the schools in their districts and with local circumstances which influence the work of both teachers and pupils.

Executive Gives Arts a Boost Where He Got His Start

Long before Richard Fields became chairman of Coastal Development, LLC, which develops resort properties and entertainment venues, he was a student at C.S. 102 in the East Bronx, New York. It was there that a teacher introduced him to music, in the form of the clarinet, and broadened his perspective beyond the borough where he lived and went to school. To help other kids thrive, Fields founded the Fields Family Foundation in 2005, which supports several organizations whose aim is to protect the rights of children and ensure their safety.

Richard Fields

The foundation supports Good Shepherd Services, a non-profit organization that provides social, residential, and foster care services to struggling children and their families in several New York City boroughs. Recently, through that organization, the Fields Family Foundation pledged $1.8 million to pilot an arts education program at C.S. 102, to give children the chance to grow through involvement in the arts.

The importance of art education also is regaining prominence on the national scene. In August 2009, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan issued a letter to school and community leaders stressing the importance of art education and announcing an upcoming survey that will be used to develop the first comprehensive profile of art education in the United States.

Fields talked about his long-time commitment to arts education with Education World.

Education World: How did you become interested in the arts and arts education?

Richard Fields: As a child, when I attended C.S. 102 elementary school, I was given my first instrument, a clarinet, which exposed me to a world beyond the neighborhood. That experience was a turning point. I now have been given the opportunity to give back to a place that changed my life, allowing me to influence the lives of other deserving children. I want to ensure that a high quality arts education is rooted in C.S. 102, though all students throughout the city deserve access to the arts.

EW: Why did you think it was important to have such an extensive program at C.S. 102?

“Out of all of my years in school, from elementary to college, I only remember three teachers. One of those was the music teacher at C.S. 102 who taught me to play the clarinet. It’s remarkable that 50 years later, I still remember Mrs. Cuna.”

Fields: The arts are a powerful tool and encourage the development of well-rounded children. All kids should have access to quality arts education opportunities. All young people deserve diverse cultural experiences and the opportunity to express themselves through the arts. My donation to this school ensures that teachers and children have that access. Over the course of three years, the Fields Family Foundation has pledged $1.8 million for an Arts Academy program at C.S.102 elementary school.

The program’s goal is to infuse arts education and music instruction into the regular curricula while offering additional arts programming to students participating in after-school and Saturday programs. The program is run with the direction of Good Shepherd Services, which operates more than 70 programs in high-need communities throughout New York City, and allows students to develop their artistic talents through music, dance, theater, and visual arts programs.

EW: How has the arts program affected students’ academic performance and social growth?

Fields: The program at C.S. 102 not only impacts students and their learning, but it is designed to be interactive with the families. Making families a part of the program ensures its success. Parents work on exercises with children; they also have a measurement system so when their children come home from school, they know what they should be practicing after school.

We also have an interactive program for parents. Last semester, it was ballroom dancing. I remember watching one parent perform, and I actually thought she was the teacher. She was amazing and so graceful. Later on, I walked up to speak to her and was shocked to learn that she was a student in her own right, and had never danced before she took part in our program.

I had the opportunity to visit C.S. 102 earlier this year and see the students in action at the Arts Academy during their Works in Progress show. Seeing first-hand the hard work and commitment to learning new methods makes every dollar that goes into this program worth it.

We’ve learned that you must bring families and community into the school. When you do that, you have a successful program. I met another mother at this show whose son is in the program and he plays multiple instruments extremely well. He has the uncanny ability to pick up any instrument and master it. This mother went out and bought him every single instrument that he plays at school -- a huge financial undertaking on her part -- but she said the program has changed her son’s life.

EW: Was there a teacher or teachers at C.S. 102 who particularly inspired or motivated you?

Fields: Out of all of my years in school, from elementary to college, I only remember three teachers. One of those was the music teacher at C.S. 102 who taught me to play the clarinet. It’s remarkable that 50 years later I still remember Mrs. Cuna. She had a profound impact on my life. She gave me the instrument and encouragement, and it changed my world. [Editor’s Note: A number of years ago, Fields tried to locate Mrs. Cuna, but had no success.]

EW: What do you most want students to take away from the program?

Fields: The program gives students and their families a look at new opportunities, and a way to understand that the world is bigger than Taylor and Archer Streets. They see the world differently, learn new ways of thinking, and interact with one another in more positive ways.

Research shows that arts education helps all students develop more appreciation and understanding of the world around them. It is proven to develop well-rounded students with critical thinking skills. The arts have a measurable impact on at-risk youth in deterring delinquent behavior, while also increasing overall academic performance.

The school actually found some of the old instruments in the basement that had been sitting there for years. Our program enabled school personnel to refurbish those instruments, and now the children at the school are actually playing on the same instruments that alumni of the school played on years ago.

More than 500 children are now in this program, and our goal is to help expose them to the arts so they can create a better future for themselves. You never know what types of talents young children are blessed with. Without exposure to the arts, many students who have natural gifts for music, arts, or theater might never know it, and never explore those opportunities. Yet, fewer than one half of elementary schools in the New York City area offer dance, music, theater, and the visual arts programs; we’re trying to do our part to change that.

EW: What needs to be done at the national level to encourage the expansion of arts’ instruction in schools?

Fields: In order for arts education to expand and be successful in schools, you must have a city administration who supports the program. And you need a school administrator on site who understands the value of arts education. We are so lucky that the team at Good Shepherd Services helped facilitate this program.

“The arts are a powerful tool and encourage the development of well-rounded children. All kids should have access to quality arts education opportunities.”

There is full cooperation among all the parties involved. Yet, sadly, too many school districts are cutting out the arts and risking our children’s future. Giving to arts-related organizations decreased more than six percent in 2008. That has to change.

Cities across the country can follow New York City’s lead. In 2007, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and school Chancellor Joel Klein announced ArtsCount, a set of strategies geared to enhance arts education in New York City public schools. ArtsCount builds upon the Blueprints for Teaching and Learning in the Arts, which provide common benchmarks and curriculum goals for dance, music, theater, and visual arts. School districts across the country should adopt similar goals for their schools.

Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein have ramped up the city’s efforts to infuse arts into New York City public schools, but the pressure is on all of us -- our schools, arts education advocates, business leaders -- to seize opportunities for partnerships that can build the type of successful communities that we all want to live in, and support our kids -- the future of this city.

I encourage business leaders and those who support the arts to find an arts organization in their community to support. It’s a shame there are not more individuals utilizing their financial resources to increase the arts in their communities. Whether you give $100 or $1 million, we can make this happen. More than 100,000 nonprofit arts organizations’ programs across the country are working to improve the arts in our communities; however, nonprofit and governmental arts groups have faced funding gaps and budget shortfalls during the nation’s economic downturn. They shouldn’t have to suffer, and I am committed to ensuring that young children today are afforded the same opportunities I had as a child.

This e-interview with Richard Fields is part of the Education World Wire Side Chat series. Click here to see other articles in the series.