In Their Words

There's been a six word essay writing contests where students write what they think it means to be a great teacher.

You can see the submissions and vote for a winner here.  Today is the last day to vote!

John Stewart and Education.

Nothing could make me happier than John Stewart talking about teachers and education.  His mother is a teacher, he knows a variety of teachers, and whenever Stewart talks about education he makes sure to address what teachers say, instead of only focusing on political officials or lobbying groups.

Yesterday he had Arne Duncan, the current Secretary of Education, and again, he made sure to stand up for teachers and what they say. You can see the video of the interview here on Hulu.

Book List - Black History Month

I did this Book List last year as well.  It's Black History Month in the US (and some other countries) so in honor of that here is a new list of books with black authors and/or prominent black characters.  Like always, books I have personally read are marked with an *.  Also this list will be updated over the course of the month.

Pre-K and Kindergarten
* The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (1963 Caldecott Medal winner. The beautifully illustrated story of a  boy playing in a snow draped city.  This book is one of the first popular children's books to focus on a black child.)

Grades 1 - 2
Max Found Two Sticks by Brian Pinkey ( Max doesn't like talking much, so he uses his drunk sticks (twigs) to make music that expresses his feelings.)

Grades 3 - 5
J.T. by Jane Wagner (J.T's a kid on a bad track, until he befriends an injured cat and learns how to express the love he has a hard time showing other humans.)

Young Adult
* The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Various characters in this book and series are people of color.  However, often the race isn't explicitness mentioned but implied through comments about hair type, eyes, and skin shade.  Some people see Katniss as mixed race. Read my review.)

* The Demon's Surrender by Sarah Rees Brennan (The last book in the Demon's Lexicon series is told from the perspective of Sin, a bi-racial demon dancer

Mildred B Taylor (Especially famous for her Logan family books, about a black sharcropping family in the deep south right from the 1930s to the Civil Rights movement.  Some of her books are young adult, such as The Road to Memphis and Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry others, like Mississippi Bridgeand The Friendship are appropriate for Grades 3 and up.)
Walter Dean Myers ( Preeminent writer for children and young adults.  Writes fiction, nonfiction and poetry.  Famous books include Monster,Scorpions, Hoops, 145th Street: Short Stories, The Blues of Flat Town and Countless others.)

Awesome Resources

I'll be adding these to my links page, but I wanted to make sure to highlight these new internet sites I've found.

ReadWriteThink
This link goes to the after school/parent resource page.  The site explains why different types of learning and learning all year long are so important.

"As adults, we know how important reading and writing are in all parts of our lives. We also know that a passion for reading and writing can help children and teens find ways to understand not only different cultures and worlds but also themselves.  And writing can help them find ways to work through and communicate their hopes, fears, and dreams." (I especially like how they make use of the oxford comma!)
"Research tells us that children and teens who don't read and write outside of, especially during long breaks such as summer vacation, face a big loss in their literacy growth compared to those who continue learning all year long.   This means the summer months and other breaks from school offer wonderful opportunities for families, caregivers, and out-of-school educators to help improve reading and writing."
 - From the Read Write Think printable flyer

ReadWhiteThink breaks their after school and parent resources down by resource types (games, tools and tips, activities and projects), grade, learning objective, and theme (arts, community, careers).  They seem to have about 20-30 activities per grade section (2nd and 3rd grade are together for example) and about 10 tips for parents/teachers on how the help children (some of these are applicable for all grades and others are more specific).  They also have a Podcast Chatting About Books  with series for grades K - 6, and a Podcast for older students, Text Messages which seems to be about research and now to use non-fiction texts.

The Multicultural Toybox
This site is dedicated to helping parents and educators find multicultural resources so that children see themselves, and other cultures/experiences, represented in their toys and books.  The Multicultural Toybox provides recommendations, but also discusses/provides information about why multicultural toys,characters, and stories are represented to all children.  Recently they discussed Sesame Street and Fox News attack of their "liberal" message of acceptance.

You can go straight to their Toy, Game, Craft, & Book Guide, but I really recommend going through and reading the blog entries that also discuss the importance of these types of toys and books.  The Multicultural Toybox is written and managed by Dr. Leslie Madsen-Brooks.  

Teacher Union Comic

And I'm getting a bit political again.  But really politics and education are so connected I'm finding it hard not to.