Stenhouse Newslinks
July 18, 2006
C O N T E N T S
1) Author Conversations: Stephanie Harvey & Anne Goudvis
2) PD Corner: Engaging students through technology
3) Preparing new teachers: what do master teachers think?
4) Not your typical elementary teacher
5) Helping struggling students
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1) Author Conversations: Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis
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"Teachers say to me when they see this video, 'Wow, I've never had
my kids turn and talk to each other that much!'"
In our latest Author Conversations podcast, Stephanie Harvey and
Anne Goudvis discuss their recent video Read, Write, and Talk,
emphasizing how important it is for students to talk to each other
about their reading, and relating how some teachers show parts of
the video to their students to help model the process:
http://www.stenhouse.com/html/mp3harveygoudvis1.htm
For details about Read, Write, and Talk, including a sample video
clip and the downloadable Viewing Guide, follow this link:
http://www.stenhouse.com/0460.asp?r=n93
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2) PD Corner: Engaging students through technology
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*July Quote of the Month*
"Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected."
--William Plomer
Visual media and technology offer many innovative ways to motivate
and engage your students. "Visual Learning: Using Digital Images
to Enhance Instruction" from eSchool News explores the integration
of visual technology into the classroom and provides an extensive
list of resources and links:
http://www.stenhouse.com/rdvislearn.htm
In "Inquiring Minds Use Technology!" Jeff Wilhelm, author of the
Stenhouse book Hyperlearning, promotes combining technology with
inquiry-based instruction to motivate and engage adolescent
students:
http://www.stenhouse.com/rdinqminds.htm
(130KB PDF file; from NCTE Voices from the Middle, March 2004)
Sara Kajder's new book, Bringing the Outside In: Visual Ways to
Engage Reluctant Readers, keys in on the visual aspects of
literacy while bringing in students' outside talents and
connecting them to the classroom. Sara shares how she integrates
technology into the English classroom using strategies such as
digital storytelling, visual think-alouds, and visual literature
circles--engaging even the most reluctant students. Chapter 2,
"Personal Narrative and Digital Storytelling," shares the nuts and
bolts of getting started with digital storytelling:
http://www.stenhouse.com/0401.asp?r=n93
(Scroll down to the link to Chapter 2 in the Table of Contents.)
Sara has just launched a website to accompany the book that offers
readers the chance to continue the discussion and share
strategies, research, and ideas:
http://www.bringingtheoutsidein.com
Digital storytelling combines the elements of traditional
storytelling and the use of multimedia tools. A great starting
place to learn more is The Center for Digital Storytelling:
http://www.storycenter.org/index1.html
Looking for strategies on evaluating and navigating Internet
resources, or ideas for how to publish texts online? Visit this
collection of resources from NCTE:
http://www.ncte.org/collections/weblit
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3) Preparing new teachers: what do master teachers think?
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"In the absence of well-considered, adequately funded programs,
new teachers are thrust into a classroom, assigned a nominal
teacher 'mentor' who has a full teaching load of his or her own,
and perhaps invited to attend a support group for novice teachers,
where participants meet at the end of a school day and often sit
in a circle and wonder why they don't get the professional support
they need."
In the current issue of Edutopia, Barnett Berry and John Norton
explore teaching apprenticeships as an answer to how the U.S. can
develop teachers who are knowledgeable in both content and
teaching skills, sampling a group of master teachers for ideas and
advice. UCLA's Center X and Chicago's Academy for Urban School
Leadership are cited as two exemplary programs:
http://www.stenhouse.com/rdlearnmast.htm
Many schools and districts are struggling just to start or bolster
a traditional teacher mentoring program. For guidance on best
practices and support for mentors, check out the books Mentoring
Beginning Teachers and Mentoring Across Boundaries, and their
companion video series Mentoring. You can also download a free
Read, Share, Teach workshop guide with nine monthly inservice
training sessions for mentors:
Mentoring Beginning Teachers: Guiding, Reflecting, Coaching
http://www.stenhouse.com/0309.asp?r=n93
Mentoring Across Boundaries: Helping Beginning Teachers Succeed in
Challenging Situations
http://www.stenhouse.com/0377.asp?r=n93
Mentoring: Guiding, Coaching, and Sustaining Beginning Teachers
(2-part video series)
http://www.stenhouse.com/0365.asp?r=n93
Read, Share, Teach workshop guide for Mentoring (253KB PDF file)
http://www.stenhouse.com/assets/PDFs/rst_0309.pdf
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4) Not your typical elementary teacher
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Mary Cowhey, author of the new book Black Ants and Buddhists, was
recently featured on the NPR affiliate WFCR (Amherst, MA). In this
five-minute audio profile, she talks about her emphasis on
teaching critical thinking skills and the impact of testing
pressures on this approach:
http://www.stenhouse.com/rdcowheynpr.htm
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5) Helping struggling students
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Two Stenhouse authors contributed to a recent issue of ASCD's
Educational Leadership, and you can access the full text of their
articles using the special links below.
In "Engaging African American Males in Reading," Alfred Tatum
discusses "the missing piece"--texts that matter--and offers some
suggestions for introducing texts that speak to black adolescent
males:
http://www.stenhouse.com/rdtatumengaging.htm
"Getting struggling students to write is all about truly valuing
what they say." In "Helping Writers Find Power," Jeff Anderson
describes three practices that will help you get students writing
with exuberance:
http://www.stenhouse.com/rdandersonwrit.htm
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