New Members
Florida ASCD would like to recognize and welcome all of
the new members who have recently joined or renewed
their membership with our
organization.
Emery Bishop
Brenda Blackburn
Henri Sue Bynum
Mary Lou Capan
Glen Dallman
Sandra Davis
Judy Denio
Sylvia Diaz
Jennifer Geimer
Joan Gosnell
Karlheinz Haas
Simone Hebert
Allison Hoskins |
Karen Jackson
John Kelly
Sue Kress
Lynne Lieberman
Laura Lougee
Lee Ann Mann
Lawrence McDowell
Nancy Mooy
Robert Nelson
Cesta Newman
John Norris
Madeline O'Dea
Richard Perhla |
Oliver Phipps
Donna Pounds-Harrison
Jennifer Reeves
Sharon Richert
Rene Rovirosa
Jane Stoecker
Anna Tsambis
Cyndi Van Meter
Gina Vigil
Toni Wiersma
Iranetta Wright
Jason Wysong |
Members in the News
Have
you
had
a recent event to share with others in Florida ASCD
(like a job change, promotion, retirement, award or
recognition received, unique travel experience, etc.)?
We would like to include your information in the next
Electronic Dimensions. Send it to us: fascd@fascd.org
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Florida ASCD Events
Annual Conference
Our 49th Annual Conference will be held
December
5-6, 2008 at NOVA Southeastern University in Orlando.
The call for presenters is ready and posted on our
website. Consider being a speaker at our conference. We
have already booked nationally acclaimed speaker: Dr. Steven
Layne. Mark the dates on your calendar and plan to attend!
Visit the conference
site for more information!
Professional Development Institute-Orlando
Florida ASCD will be
sponsoring a PDI in Orlando on Exercising the Brain. The
PDI will take place on August 8, 2008.
You will receive an
implementation manual for SMILE Lab, as well as the
opportunity to work together with other participants to
create a sample lab. You will be amazed at how easy it
is to do with equipment already in your school! You will
also be able to view some very powerful videos of
students with various disabilities that have been able
to make remarkable gains -- both physically and mentally
-- from participating in the SMILE Lab. You will learn a
scientifically-based, research driven method to
implement 30 minutes of daily physical education, which
will not only help kids lose weight, but will help
student FCAT scores go up as well! When you leave, you
will have the knowledge to implement a specific system
to handle the 30 minute PE mandate for elementary
schools. For more information, please go to
http://fascd.org/08_PDI_Orlando_RB.htm.
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Grants & Awards
Grants for Math
and Science
The Toshiba America Foundation makes grants for projects
in math and science designed by classroom teachers to
improve instruction for students in grades K-12. The maximum
award is $10,000. The deadline for grants is August 1, 2008.
For more information please visit
http://www.toshiba.com/tafpub/jsp/home/default.jsp.
Musical Instruments for Existing K-12 Music Programs
Mr. Holland's Opus Melody Program provides musical
instruments and instrument repairs to existing K-12
school music programs that have no other source of
financing additional musical instruments and materials.
Music programs that take place during the
regular school day are eligible for these grants. Schools must have an established
instrumental music program (i.e., concert band, marching
band, jazz band and/or orchestra) that is at least three
years old. The maximum award is $8,000. The deadline for
grants is August 1,
2008. For more information please visit
http://www.mhopus.org/apply.htm.
ASCD's Outstanding Young Educator Award Program
Do you know any educators who exemplify excellence and
equity in teaching and learning? If so, nominate them
for the ASCD Outstanding Young Educator Award Program,
which recognizes creative and committed teachers and
administrators under the age of 40 who are making a
difference in the lives of children. These educators are
developing and using best practices to ensure that all
children are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and
challenges. Nominations are due by August 1. Go to
http://webserver3.ascd.org/web/oyea08/landing.cfm
for more information.
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News Briefs
6 States to Tailor NCLB
Plans in Pilot Program
In a departure from the Bush administration's approach
to the No Child Left Behind Act, six states -- Florida,
Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, and Ohio -- will
be allowed in a pilot program to write their own
prescriptions for failing schools, the Associated Press
reports. The selected states have devised plans to
tailor solutions more closely to individual schools'
problems and focus resources on schools that are in the
worst shape. The plans include requiring schools to
offer tutoring earlier than is currently called for, to
rely more on testing throughout the year to identify
academic weak spots, and to put more emphasis on
preparing school principals. In all, 17 states sought to
participate in the program. Those not selected were
Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, North
Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,
Tennessee, and Virginia. Read more at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2008/07/01/AR2008070100016.html.
Poor Math Prep Found Among
Elementary-School Teachers
Elementary-school teachers are poorly prepared by
schools of education to teach math, a study by the
National Council on Teacher Quality concludes. The study
by the nonpartisan research and advocacy group comes a
few months after a federal panel reported that many
American students are having difficulty with fractions.
It's a problem, notes the Associated Press, that arises
in elementary school -- where math's reliance on
cumulative knowledge makes learning during the early
years critical -- and that can prevent kids from
mastering more complicated material, such as algebra,
later on. The council's study found significant
differences in the number and kind of teacher-ed courses
required by each of 77 education programs it considered.
A report of the study blames education schools for not
being selective enough among applicants. Most of the
schools require applicants to take an admissions test,
usually around their sophomore year of college, but the
report says such tests -- which typically including
reading, writing, and math -- are far too easy. "Almost
anyone can get in," says the report. "Compared to the
admissions standards found in other countries, American
education schools set exceedingly low expectations for
the mathematics knowledge that aspiring teachers must
demonstrate." Read more at
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-06-26-teachers-math_N.htm.
Failure is Not an Option for
Florida Middle Schoolers
A new Florida law requiring that all middle school
students pass every one of their English, math, science
and social-studies classes to be eligible for
ninth-grade has driven higher enrollment in remedial
classes. "Ninth grade's the toughest year for the
students in Florida," said Mary Jane Tappen, the state's
deputy chancellor for curriculum, instruction and
student services. "The whole purpose is to try to help
with that." For more information please visit
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/596955.html.
The Twenty-First Century
Digital Learner: How Tech-Obsessed iKids Would Improve
Our School
One of the strangest things in this age of young
people's empowerment is how little input our students
have into their own education and its future. Kids who
out of school control large sums of money and have huge
choices on how they spend it have almost no choices at
all about how they are educated -- they are, for the
most part, just herded into classrooms and told what to
do and when to do it. Unlike in the corporate world,
where businesses spend tens of millions researching what
their consumers really want, when it comes to how we
structure and organize our kids' education, we generally
don't make the slightest attempt to listen to, or even
care, what students think about how they are taught.
Read Marc Prensky's write- up at
http://www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner-technology-2008.
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ASCD Connections
Annual Conference
Make plans now to attend
ASCD's annual conference in Orlando, March
14-16, 2009. The conference theme is "Learning
Beyond Boundaries."
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Contact Us
Florida ASCD
Electronic Dimensions is published as the newsletter of
Florida ASCD, publishing announcements, coming events, awards,
short articles and items of interest for and about Florida ASCD
members. Items for publication should be sent to Florida ASCD
headquarters at the address below. Views expressed are
not necessarily the official position of Florida ASCD. Any
product announcements appearing in Florida ASCD Electronic
Dimensions are paid advertisements. They do not reflect
an endorsement by Florida ASCD.
Please send comments, articles, announcements, and
suggestions for future topics to the Editor:
Kim Pearson, Executive
Director, Florida ASCD
11225
Kapok Grand Circle
Madeira
Beach, FL 33708
727-871-1112
fascd@fascd.org
www.fascd.org
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