Stenhouse Newslinks
April 14, 2006
C O N T E N T S
1) Black Ants and Buddhists
2) PD Corner: Homework
3) Author Conversations: Kathleen Fay
4) Coalition of Essential Schools
5) More workshops and institutes
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1) Black Ants and Buddhists
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At a time of global conflict and politically charged debate,
primary teacher Mary Cowhey shows us how to forge a nurturing and
caring environment where children learn to become socially
responsible and critical. In a classroom of widely diverse
cultures and experiences, she teaches children how to create
community and work for peace. Her new book, Black Ants and
Buddhists, shows what critical teaching and learning look like--
how to nurture sustained interest in questions, get students to
challenge the status quo and investigate conflict, and encourage
appreciation for other cultures and viewpoints.
Black Ants and Buddhists is now available in print, and you can
also review the entire text on-line:
http://www.stenhouse.com/0418.asp?r=n87
Black Ants and Buddhists: Thinking Critically and Teaching
Differently in the Primary Grades * Mary Cowhey
Foreword by Sonia Nieto * 256 pp/paper * $18.00 * Available now
http://www.stenhouse.com/0418.asp?r=n87
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2) PD Corner: Homework
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*April Quote of the Month*
"Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest
of your life."
--Lawrence Kasdan
Homework wears many hats: a teaching and learning tool, a skill
that students need to master, an element of grading, and a link to
parent involvement. It also raises its share of controversy. Here
are some on-line resources that may give you new ideas and
perspectives on homework.
High school teacher Kelly Gallagher describes a more purposeful
assignment that he believes is superior to the "dance" of
assigning reading and then giving a quiz the next day, in his new
video, Twenty Questions Homework--one of the brief, low cost
videos in the new Stenhouse Close-Ups series:
http://www.stenhouse.com/0438.asp?r=n87
(Scroll down this page to the 1-1/2 minute video clip link.)
"It's hard for many children to have the right conditions at home
for doing homework successfully. Yet teachers often must give
homework. What are some things you do about this?" The January
issue of the Responsive Classroom newsletter includes three
teachers' answers to this question:
http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/newsletter/18_1NL_2.asp
Should homework be graded? Rick Wormeli argues that homework
should be a minor part of a student's overall grade in Chapter 9
of his new book, Fair Isn't Always Equal:
http://www.stenhouse.com/0424.asp?r=n87
(Click on the link to Chapter 9 and scroll to page 116.)
Education World has an extensive collection of articles on
homework, touching on a wide variety of issues including school-
wide policies, quality vs. quantity, homework clubs, and parental
involvement:
http://www.educationworld.com/a_special/homework.shtml
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3) Author Conversations: Kathleen Fay
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Kathleen Fay, coauthor (with Suzanne Whaley) of Becoming One
Community, talks about how important it is to slow down when
working with students who have had few literacy experiences prior
to starting school, reassuring teachers that it's time well spent:
http://www.stenhouse.com/html/videoconversations.htm
"Welcome to Bailey's, a Place Where Teachers and Students Learn
Together," Chapter 1 of Becoming One Community, was contributed by
JoAnn Portalupi. You can read it here:
http://www.stenhouse.com/0368.asp?r=n87
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4) Coalition of Essential Schools
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The Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) Web site offers a large
collection of tools, strategies, and resources from years of work
in the areas of school design, classroom practice, leadership, and
community connections. Their quarterly journal, Horace, features
examples of effective practices from CES schools across the
country, book reviews, and Web links. Past issues are available
on-line in their entirety:
http://www.stenhouse.com/rdhorace.htm
CES ChangeLab is an on-line database of curricula, policies,
lessons, and rubrics on teaching and learning, school practices,
assessment, leadership, and community connections, contributed by
13 participating CES "Mentor" high schools:
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5) More workshops and institutes
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Check out these upcoming professional development opportunities
involving Stenhouse authors.
Reading Matters is holding one-day workshops with Kelly Gallagher,
author of Deeper Reading, next week in King of Prussia, PA
(Wednesday, 4/19) and Lancaster, PA (Thursday, 4/20). Debbie
Diller, author of Literacy Work Stations and Practice with
Purpose, will present "Success with Literacy Work Stations" on May
19 in King of Prussia (for grades K-3) and May 20 in Lancaster
(for grades 3-6). Get details and download the registration form
here:
http://www.stenhouse.com/RM2006spring.pdf
(Large 520KB file--may take some time to download.)
A.U.S.S.I.E. professional development is offering a series of 3-
day summer institutes in July and August on reading comprehension,
mathematics, early childhood education, and effecting school
change. Diane Snowball, author of Spelling K-8, is featured as the
keynote speaker at several of the comprehension institutes. The
locations are New York City; Mobile, AL; Williamsburg, VA; Garden
City, NY; Cromwell, CT; and Poughkeepsie, NY. For details:
http://www.aussiepd.com/summerinstitutes/index.html
Thoughtful Conversations and Stenhouse author Franki Sibberson are
hosting two one-day workshops this summer. "Learning Under the
Influence of Language and Literature (Grades K-8)" by Lester
Laminack takes place July 26, and "Writing to Think, Writing to
Learn (Grades K-8)" by Katherine Bomer is on July 27, both in
Powell, OH. You can download the registration form here:
http://www.stenhouse.com/TCON06.pdf
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