Archived email messages may be found at http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/curriculum/lmcindex.htm

Total 16  messages

 

 

1.  Library Curriculum  It is strongly recommended that curriculum for libraries be embedded into the core subjects rather than being a stand-alone curriculum.  Look at the CA, SS, SC, and MA subjects and mark the areas you support.  After marking all the areas (there are many), select the top 3-5 for each grade you can reasonably tackle.  If you would like, note activities or projects with which you assist for those identified GLEs.  Don't forget literature in the curriculum.

 

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2. Confidentiality Policy A confidentiality policy is required by MSIP for all districts in the state. Confidentiality of library records is a state law. The confidentiality policy states (paraphrased) no library record information should be given to anyone other than the student.  BUT - since the Federal Educational Records Protection Act (FERPA), a student record includes checked out library resources.  A legal guardian and/or parent may ask what resources their child has checked out and the information must be provided to them. This information is not to be given to a teacher as they are not the legal guardian and/or parent.  If a legal guardian/parents asks for information about a student, other than their child, you may not provide that information. 

 

 

 

3.  Access EBSCOhost and NewsBank Magazine and Newspaper Databases from Home AND it’s Free!  EBSCOhost and NewsBank are provided to MOREnet members through funding to the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office and the Missouri State Library.  The state-wide licenses for these resources include remote access.  Remote access allows your faculty, staff and students to access these resources from their homes.

 

What are EBSCOhost and NewsBank?
EBSCOhost provides access to full-text information on a broad range of topics including general interest, business, health and multi-cultural. Age-appropriate publications, references and interfaces are available for both younger and older students. Information in EBSCOhost is from current and authoritative journals, magazines, pamphlets, newsletters and reference books on a wide variety of topics. NewsBank provides the full text of news features, special interest stories, editorials, daily columns, letters to the editor, sports reports, death notices, obituaries and more from Missouri publications Kansas City Star, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Springfield News-Leader. A broad spectrum of nationwide newspapers is also available. 

 

Additional information on the online resources is available at http://HYPERLINK "http://www.more.net/online/remote.html" www.more.net/online/remote.html .  Unfortunately, remote access to the Kansas City Star and Wichita Eagle are not allowed under this license.

 

How do I setup Remote Access?

The license requires that organizations verify (authenticate) that the person accessing from home is affiliated with the school. A document outlining the different methods to establish remote access to the online resources is available at http://www.more.net/online/remote.html . The district technology contact can contact MOREnet Technical Support at 1-800-509-6673 to discuss which method would work           best for your school.

 

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4.  e-Learning for Educators online professional development online registration open

Please share the news with educators in your district: Spring/Winter registration is open for e-Learning for Educators online professional development. e-Learning for Educators: Missouri provides high-quality online professional development to increase teacher knowledge and skills that improve student performance. Fall 2007 courses focus on mathematics, language arts, science and differentiated learning at all grade levels.

 

Experienced Missouri educators lead each 7-week course. Participants join an online learning community and schedule assignments around their own busy schedules. They learn at home with no need to travel or purchase and install special software.

 

Classes cost $125/course. Completed coursework can be applied toward professional development requirements for continuing certification. Graduate credit is available (for an additional fee of $100 dollars/credit hour) from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Missouri-St. Louis or Missouri State University. Find course catalog and register at www.elearningmo.org. Fall courses run Feb. 21 - Apr. 4, 2007.

 

Discounted course fees are available for groups of three or more teachers in a building who form a professional learning community around a course. Districts can schedule a course for up to 25 of their own teachers for only $1,700.

 

Teaching the Teachers: A Key to Student Success

e-Learning for Educators partnered with KETC/Channel 9 (St. Louis Public Broadcasting Station) to produce and air a 30 minute program titled: Teaching the Teachers: A Key to Student Success. Our goal in producing this program is to raise awareness of the importance and value of high-quality professional development and its role in student success. A copy of the program will be mailed out to superintendents via the DESE Superintendent mailing. In addition, the program can be viewed at the e-Learning for Educators: Missouri website: http://www.elearningmo.org/.

 

Opportunity to Participate in a New Research Study

All 4th grade English/language arts (ELA), 5th grade math, 7th grade ELA, and 8th grade math teachers are invited to participate in a research study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of online professional development. Participating teachers will be randomly assigned to either the experimental group or the control group. Benefits for participation include:

 

·         $300 stipend upon completion of all surveys and tests

·         Free professional development

·         Instant feedback on student performance

·         Graduate credit available for e-Learning courses at a reduced rate.

 

Teachers in both the experimental group and the control group will take a series of online surveys and administer a series of online tests to their students.  Teachers receive instant feedback about student performance from these tests, which can be used to inform future instruction.

 

Please visit the research study website for a detailed description of the research courses or to register for the study: http://www.bc.edu/efe

 

About e-Learning for Educators
e-Learning for Educators is funded by a U.S. Department of Education Ready to Teach grant focused on high quality teaching and professional development. The program involves public television stations and state departments of education in nine states creating and delivering Internet-based professional development courses for K-12 educators. Collaborators leading the effort in Missouri include KETC/Channel 9 (PBS in St. Louis), Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), Missouri State University and the University of Missouri (eMINTS National Center). For more information: www.elearningmo.org  elearning@missouri.edu573-884-4233.

 

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5.  Lesson Plans Library -- Literature http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/lit.html  Some lesson plans include suggestions for adaptations for older or younger audiences

 

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6.  Beginning Research  http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/DLA_intro_research/

 

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7.  The science of sports http://www.exploratorium.edu/sports/

 

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8.  MOREnet Launches Internet Safety Web Site On January 31, 2007, the Missouri Research and Education Network (MOREnet) will launch a new web site to help provide resources to Missourians about Internet Safety. Found at http://besafe.more.net, the site will include a comprehensive collection of resources available to parents, teachers and members of the community to help families stay safer online.

 

BeSafe resources include information about social networking websites, identity theft, cyber-bullying, online predators, and other online dangers. There are different resources for kids and adults, and some specifically for teens, who seem to be the most vulnerable.

 

The launch of the new website coincides with the scheduling of MOREnet’s upcoming Internet Safety Night event to be held April 10, 2007. A statewide event, Internet Safety Night will connect five sites together via videoconferencing for an interactive presentation from Sgt. Joe Laramie of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and panel discussions with various local experts on Internet Safety issues.

 

Internet Safety Night sites include Columbia, Mo; Sikeston, Mo; Carrollton, Mo.; Kirksville, Mo and Ballwin, Mo. Please contact Megan Gill at (573) 882-0054 gillm@more.net  for more information.

 

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9.  Pilot Project National Endowment for the Humanities

The We the People program: "Picturing America" has been created to promote the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture in K-12 schools through examples of the nation's most significant works of art and architecture and to facilitate interdisciplinary partnerships between school library media specialists, art teachers, classroom instructors, and other educators. "Picturing America" will provide 500 public and private schools with a collection of 20 double-sided, laminated posters depicting works of American art; related reading lists; and a 100-page resource booklet with information about the paintings, sculpture, architecture, and crafts reproduced. Applicants must describe how the images and curriculum materials will be used by educators and school library media specialists to deepen students' understanding of the nation's history and culture through an introduction to some of America's art treasures. The images must remain on display during the September 2007 through May 2008 grant term. Applications must also address the school's plans for future use of the images. Contact: http://publicprograms.ala.org/picturingamerica/

 

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10. USA TODAY All-USA Teacher Team Seeks Nominations USA TODAY seeks teachers, both individuals and instructional teams to honor as representatives of all outstanding teachers on the All-USA Teacher Team. Maximum Award: $2,500 - $500 for the teacher; the remainder to the school for use as designated by the teachers. Eligibility: certified full-time K-12 teachers for the 2006-07 school year. Deadline: April 30, 2007.  http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/allstars/front.htm?Loc=vanity

 

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11. Skateboard program melds fun, technology, mathematics, and art Students build their own skateboards in this program for middle school/high school students. The program includes a wood shop program where students do more cutting and shaping of the decks, and an art program to decorate and finish pre-cut decks. The program promises lots of math, science, engineering, and even biology along the way. http://www.sptimes.com/2007/01/14/Hillsborough/Skateboard_program_me.shtml    http://www.createaskate.org/

 

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12.  Online Safety Parents, teachers and young people still worry about how to navigate the Internet safely, but fortunately, there are tons of resources available online. Recently YouthLearn Director Tony Streit gave a presentation on safety issues and the Internet to a local Boston area parent's support group. We've added the PowerPoint to our website. http://www.youthlearn.org/techno/YL-InternetNav.ppt

 

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13. Plagiarism and Digital Cheating The proliferation of information and commerce on the Internet makes cheating effortless. Administrators and educators find and use their own technology tools-and codes of ethics, among other measures-in order to stop it.  http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0302/p12s01-legn.html

 

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14.  RoundTrips announces Inside the Artist's Studio 2007 Theatre Series  RoundTrips has announced their 2007 Theatre Arts Series videoconferences as part of its ongoing project, Inside the Artist's Studio. The 2007 Theatre Arts programs has scheduled visits with the St. Louis Black Repertory Company. The programs are available via videoconference, online web streaming, or broadcast television.

 

Inside the Artist's Studio 2007 Theatre Series

Have you ever wanted to know what it's like to be a working theatre professional? To go inside the rehearsal space and ask actors, musicians, directors and technicians questions while they work? To find out about their creative process? To see how a production comes to life? Find the answers to these questions and more when Inside the Artist's Studio goes behind the scenes of the St. Louis Black Repertory Company's production of "Crossin' Over." Inside the Artist's Studio will link student and adult audiences to this compelling piece of theatre produced by the internationally acclaimed St. Louis Black Repertory Company via interactive videoconferences, web streamed programs, and broadcast television. Go behind the scenes to see how this production comes to life; meet the people involved in telling this story to the world; and increase understanding of the issues raised in the production.

 

Program 1: "The History of Crossin' Over", February 1, 2007, 10:00 a.m.

Conceived and directed by Ron Himes, the Founder and Producing Director of The Black Rep, "Crossin' Over" invites the audience to witness a spiritual journey that chronicles the history of Africans in America through song, and traces the connection between your contemporary house of worship back to the times of capture. Join Ron Himes history professor at Washington University to discuss the history of the African-American experience and the relationship between that experience and gospel music. Find out how Ron conceived the show, selected the music and created the show's structure.

 

Program 2: Inside the Rehearsal Process, February 8, 2007, 1:00 p.m.

How does the music impact the actor’s character development and the audience’s understanding and enjoyment of the story? How do they determine the best way to play and sing the song? Visit the stage of the Grandel Theatre, performance space for the St. Louis Black Repertory Company as they rehearse for their upcoming production of "Crossin' Over." Interact with actors, music director and choreographer as they rehearse and talk about bringing a character to life.

 

Program 3: Lights, Costumes, Scenery, February 15, 2007, 12:00 p.m. (Noon)

Join the director, music director, scenic designer, lighting designer and costume designer for the St. Louis Black Repertory's production of "Crossin' Over." from the stage of the Grandel Theatre. Find out how the show comes to life from the first phase of design to the final phase of implementation.

 

Ways to Participate Each program is offered live during the school day via videoconferences, Internet web streaming and broadcast programming. For information on viewing as a videoconference school, contact Rebecca Polityka of Cooperating School Districts of St. Louis at rpolityka@csd.org. To watch the program live via the web or to watch archived programs via the web, visit http://commonsvcg.oar.net/RoundTrips. (Please note the web address is case sensitive.) To view via broadcast television on Charter Cable in St. Louis County or St. Louis City, tune in to CSD-TV, channel 22 at program time. Those joining via web stream and broadcast TV can e-mail questions during the programs to roundtrips@clayton.k12.mo.us. After its live presentation, each program is archived on the project’s website for on-demand viewing available at any time. To obtain a DVD or VHS copy of the program, contact the project directors at roundtrips@clayton.k12.mo.us.

 

Instructional Materials To request additional preparatory materials, including a detailed agenda, for each program, e-mail roundtrips@clayton.k12.mo.us to request the materials.

 

About the Presenters For more details about Inside the Artist's Studio, visit the RoundTrips website, http://www.roundtrips.org. Supported by the Missouri Arts Council, Inside the Artist's Studio gives students across Missouri the opportunity to interact with professional artists as the artists work in their professional environment. RoundTrips will be announcing its 2007 Music Series and 2007 Visual Arts series soon. For more details about the St. Louis Black Repertory Company, go to http://www.theblackrep.org.

 

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15. Poetry: Simile and Figurative Language These sites contain poems about autumn, winter, and the seasonal holidays. Learn how simile and figurative language can be used in poetry. Includes worksheets and in class activities. Includes links to eThemes Resources on similes, personification, metaphors, alliteration, idioms, and hyperbole. http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001448.shtml

 

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16. Writing: Similes and Metaphors These sites explain how to use similes and metaphors to improve your writing. There are many examples plus interactive quizzes and classroom activity ideas. Includes links to eThemes Resources on personification and other forms of figurative language. http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00000561.shtml

 

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