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Stenhouse Newslinks May 16, 2006 C O N T E N T S 1) Launching literacy work stations 2) Teacher working conditions 3) PD Corner: From craft to profession 4) Living in a world filled with fear 5) Patricia Polacco controversy Note: If you'd rather not receive Newslinks in the future, just forward this message to unsubscribe@stenhouse.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Launching literacy work stations ---------------------------------------------------------------- How do you set up 10-12 literacy work stations in a small classroom? What problems arise and how can they be avoided or solved? How can mini-lessons be used to help manage stations, introduce new materials, and constantly build connections to current events, student interests, and the literacy curriculum? Demonstrating key principles and practices from the best-selling book Literacy Work Stations, Launching Literacy Stations is a new three-part video series by Debbie Diller. Primary teachers Patty Terry and Vicky Georgas work with Debbie as they launch new stations together, develop lessons and strategies for managing stations, and help students sustain interest and high-quality, independent work. A 24-page Viewing Guide complements the video series, providing discussion questions, classroom extensions, suggestions for short PD workshops, and 11 reproducible handouts including "The Most Common Mistakes Teachers Make in Launching a New Station and How to Address Them." Follow this link to download the entire Viewing Guide and watch three sample video clips: http://www.stenhouse.com/0443.asp?r=n89 Launching Literacy Stations: Mini-Lessons for Managing and Sustaining Independent Work, K-3 * Debbie Diller 3 30-minute programs + Viewing Guide * $295.00 DVD format (includes 12 minutes of extras): http://www.stenhouse.com/0443.asp?r=n89 VHS format: http://www.stenhouse.com/0420.asp?r=n89 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 2) Teacher working conditions ---------------------------------------------------------------- In 2002, 2004, and again this year, North Carolina surveyed teachers as part of the state's Teacher Working Conditions Initiative. The questions address five areas: professional development, leadership, facilities and resources, teacher empowerment, and time. Results are used to shape state and local policies, recruit and retain teachers, and evaluate school leaders. Data from the 2004 survey were used by the Center for Teaching Quality to develop the Teacher Working Conditions Toolkit, a website that provides recommendations and resources for each of the five areas of the survey, with links to hundreds of web resources for teachers, leaders, policy makers, and community members: http://www.teacherworkingconditions.org ---------------------------------------------------------------- 3) PD Corner: From craft to profession ---------------------------------------------------------------- *May Quote of the Month* If you are committed to your own lifelong learning, to an ongoing study of the art and science of your craft, then consider being a teacher. --Rick DuFour Two recent articles reflect on teaching as a profession and explore the challenges that teachers and schools face to assess practices and professional development. "Examining the Teaching Life" (Education Leadership) suggests that school staff members develop a set of learning principles and use them as a basis for peer review, self-assessment, and evaluation of professional development: http://www.stenhouse.com/rdteachinglife.htm "The Buddy System" (Teacher Magazine) asks how educators can go beyond professional learning communities to create ongoing models of collaborative problem-solving: http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2005/01/01/04view.h16.html (Free registration required; if you are not already a registered user, click on the red "Register now" button.) Is teaching a true profession, or merely a skilled occupation? How does it compare to established professions such as medicine, law, engineering, and social work? In "The Development of Teaching as a Profession," Vince Connelly and Michael S. Rosenberg attempt to define what distinguishes professions from other occupations, tracing the evolution of established professions and comparing them to education. They conclude that teaching is "not quite a profession" and present several factors that may determine whether it will become one: http://www.coe.ufl.edu/copsse/docs/RS-9E/1/RS-9E.pdf (9-page executive summary) http://www.coe.ufl.edu/copsse/docs/RS-9/1/RS-9.pdf (34-page full paper) ---------------------------------------------------------------- 4) Living in a world filled with fear ---------------------------------------------------------------- "Increasingly we are living in a world filled with fear. It's a world in which the majority of children are stored away in warehouses called schools and daycare centers, and in which great pains have been taken to remove the risks from everyday life." Chris Mercogliano, codirector of the Albany Free School, describes one person's suspicions about meeting him at a downtown bus stop with six kindergarteners during a bagel run, and goes on to explore how fear in our society affects the ways we raise and teach children: http://great-ideas.org/Mercogliano191.pdf This essay is from the Spring 2006 issue of ENCOUNTER: Education for Meaning and Social Justice. Published quarterly, selected articles of the current issue are posted here: http://great-ideas.org/enc.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------- 5) Patricia Polacco controversy ---------------------------------------------------------------- The dispute between children's book author Patricia Polacco and SRA/McGraw-Hill involving the cancellation of her appearances at the IRA convention surfaced in the general interest press over the weekend. Here's an account from Saturday's New York Times: Critic of No Child Left Behind Was Disinvited From Meeting http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/13/us/13author.html (Free registration may be required.) An open letter by Polacco fueled the story, circulating widely via e-mail, listservs, and blogs. The letter is posted on her website, along with her response to McGraw-Hill's position: http://www.patriciapolacco.com/" ---------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please send comments and questions to Chuck Lerch, Newslinks Editor, at

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