This Week's Newsletter
Volume 2, Issue 9
March 2, 2004

The current edition of Education World's Administrators Desk Newsletter appears below. This free weekly newsletter highlights the latest updates to the Administrators Desk section of the Education World Web site. The newsletter also includes a "top ten" list of timely articles for teachers. (Make yourself look good by sharing a couple resources in your weekly staff newsletter!) And each issue includes a little humor and other surprises. Take a look through the sample newsletter below. Then click the button above or the link below to sign up to receive this newsletter in your emailbox every Tuesday of the year!

Sign up to receive this newsletter at
http://www.educationworld.com/maillist.shtml#admin

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The Administrators Desk newsletter is sponsored by Explorica Educational Student Travel.

Show your students the world!

Free travel for teachers, effortless planning, and great tours -- Explorica educational travel lets you easily and affordably show your students the world. Head to http://www.educationworld.com/go/base?id=BMN to discover how you can give your students this unique opportunity to learn.

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Making Retention A Last Resort
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin344.shtml
Too often, educators find themselves choosing between social promotion and retention, when neither benefits children. Some districts have found that intensive intervention in the early grades can eliminate the choice between two unappealing options. Included: Ways to keep struggling students from falling too far behind.

How I Handled... Producing a Great School Newsletter Without a Budget
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/how_i_handled/how_i_handled026.shtml
Parents and member of our community frequently ask, Why don't you publish a school newsletter? We wanted to find a way to do that without spending money we could ill afford or adding to our teachers' workload. The solution has turned out better than we ever expected!

Grant of the Week
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/grants/
The Moss Foundation awards grants to support programs that integrate the arts.

Join the Conversation: The Midwinter Blahs
http://forums.educationworld.com/index.php?
t=msg&th=52&start=0&rid=0&S=7a89b452f7d08ffbd89d6150d1494636
What might you do this month to lift the morale of your staff? Any thoughts? Have you seen or tried any morale boosters that worked to cure the Midwinter Blahs?

Conventions: What's Coming Up?
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/conventions/

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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
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Wire Side Chat: Cold Mush -- Serving Stories from the Iditarod Trail
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat094.shtml
Jeffrey M. Peterson of Minnesota, the 2004 Iditarod "Teacher on the Trail," is eager to share his observations and lessons with students around the world.

Restorative Practices Build Community, Responsibility
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat093.shtml
The restorative practices approach stresses correcting the harm rather than punishing the deed, and including all affected parties in the process. Included: Descriptions of how to use the restorative practices approach in schools.

Strategies That Work: Inclusion
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/strategy/strategy026.shtml
The resources on this page examine how well schools are doing at including special students -- and how affected students are doing.

Three Differences Between Teaching and Administration
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/voice/voice114.shtml
Educator Arnold Pulda reflects on his move from the classroom to administration.

Admirable Teaching Traits
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr387.shtml
Discover the traits administrators look for in their teachers. Included: Fifteen key characteristics of effective teachers.

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FROM THE "PRINCIPAL FILES" ARCHIVE
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Classroom Management: Principals Help Teachers Develop Essential Skills
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin299.shtml
What is a principal to do with a teacher who has great potential but needs help with classroom management? Education World's "Principal Files" principals have "The Plan."

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PRINCIPAL PROFILE
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Each week, Education World shines the spotlight on a school leader. Last week we introduced you to …

William S. Myers
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/pprofile/pprofile035.shtml
Principal, Washington Elementary School, a K-5 school in Sterling, Illinois (400 students)

Is your profile on our Principal Profile page? If not, it's as easy as submitting answers to the questions on our Principal Profile Submit Form at http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/principalprofilesubmitform.shtml.

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FROM OUR ARCHIVES
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Celebrating Students: Schools Recognize Achievement in Many Ways
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin343_a.shtml
When we asked our Principal Files team members to share the ways in which their schools celebrate students' accomplishments, we had no idea how many and varied the responses would be.

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FOR YOUR TEACHERS
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THIS WEEK'S LESSON PLANNING ARTICLE
Iditarod Brrrreathes (Brrrr!) Life Into Tired Curriculum
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson300.shtml
If you're looking to engage students who have a little cabin (or classroom) fever -- March offers a "teachable moment" no teacher should miss! Among the lessons your will find in this Ed World resource…
* Follow the Leaders -- Track the progress of a musher and dog team in this lesson that includes all curriculum areas.
* Sunrise, Sunset: Quickly Go the Days -- An Iditarod mapping activity illustrates why Anchorage, Alaska, has less daylight than cities in the continental United States.
* Everybody Is a Winner in the Iditarod (A Primary-Source Activity) -- Students answer questions about past Iditarod winners. Work sheet included.
* Mush! Tracking Travelers on the Trail -- Students get to know Alaska and the Iditarod route as they track mushers' progress on a map they create.
* Where's the Boss?: A Scripted Play About the Iditarod -- This "Readers Theater" script tells the story of one Iditarod musher and his loyal sled dog team.

Iditarod Math: Ten Math Work Sheets Teach About the Iditarod
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson302.shtml
Ten work sheets provide math practice for students.

Writing Bug: I'm Really Good at…
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/writing_bug/writingbug069.shtml
Students reflect on the three things at which they are best. Work sheet included.

Internet Scavenger Hunt: March Madness
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/hunt/hunt026.shtml
What do your students know about basketball's beginnings? Work sheet included.

Women's History Month
http://www.educationworld.com/a_special/women_history.shtml
An archive full of great teaching lessons and resources.

Why Not a Woman? -- An Education World Original WebQuest
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/webquest_orig/webquest_orig006.shtml
Students come up with a new federal holiday that honors a woman.

Women of Accomplishment: An Internet Scavenger Hunt
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson102.shtml
Learn about the accomplishments of 23 remarkable American women.

Celebrate March
http://www.educationworld.com/a_special/march.shtml
Lessons for Nutrition Month, Music in Our Schools Month, National Craft Month.

Dr. Ken Shore's Classroom Problem Solver: Angry Outbursts, Part 2
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/shore/shore027.shtml
Dr. Shore offers six more tips for dealing with angry outbursts.

Interactivity: The Jokes On… WebQuest
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/interactivity/index.shtml
Participants design, create, and analyze a political cartoon.

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THE WEEKLY SURVEY
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Cast your vote on this week's question of interest to all educators.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION
If you could relive your life, would you be an educator again?
Cast your vote at:
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/archives/survey.shtml

LAST WEEK'S SURVEY RESULTS
How often do you record student homework?
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/survey/survey004.shtml

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IN THE NEWS
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Recent stories of particular relevance to education leaders:

Mobile Learning Lab to Roll
http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/02/24christinabuslet.html
The Christina, Delaware, School District plans to roll out a "World of Wonder" bus, a mobile learning lab that will park at shopping centers on weekends. Kindergarten through sixth graders will be able to practice reading, language, and mathematics skills while parents run errands.
Source: Delaware News Journal

Mariachi Bands Engage Students
http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/auto/epaper/editions/
monday/metro_state_04933b5e815a11421042.html
Bedichek Middle School in Austin, Texas, is one of several in the state with a student mariachi band. Offering the traditional Mexican music is a nod to the growing Hispanic population in the schools, and also spurs student interest in music.
Source: The Statesman

NEA Wants Paige Fired
http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/02/24/nea.bush.paige.ap/index.html
The National Education Association has asked President Bush to fire Secretary of Education Rod Paige for calling the NEA a "terrorist organization." Paige apologized for his word choice, but said the NEA uses "obstructionist scare tactics" to oppose the No Child Left Behind Act.
Source: CNN.com

Dept. of Ed Rallies Support for NCLB
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2001862877_nochild22.html
Bush administration officials, including Secretary of Education Rod Paige, are traveling around the U.S. to clarify the federal No Child Left Behind Act to local school officials. Many educators say the law is under-funded.
Source: The Seattle Times

Students Prep for New SAT
http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/02/23/college.essay.ap/index.html
The debut of the new SAT may be more than a year away, but already U.S. students are practicing for the timed-essay section of the test. The latest version of the SAT launches in spring 2005.
Source: CNN.com

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LEAVE 'EM LAUGHING!
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This week's laughs are from our friends at www.learninglaffs.com: Visit them for cartoons and more!

TOP 23 WAYS TO SPOT STUDENTS WHO OVERDO THEIR COMPUTER USE

23. At the beginning of the course they all ask to see your FAQs.

22. The first paper you get is signed "mark@english4thperiod."

21. When you really want to get their attention, you have to yell, "Control-Alt-Delete!"

20. When the classroom is quiet for over five minutes, they all go into sleep mode.

19. They refer to your elaborate bulletin board displays as "screensavers."

18. When they are working on a difficult assignment at their desks you can hear them yelling out "Redo!" and "Undo redo!"

17. They can't read what you write on the chalkboard because there's no blinking cursor.

16. To get them to follow along on a reading you have to keep reminding them to "scroll."

15. When the work gets a little too complicated, they lock up and have to be restarted.

14. When you pass out worksheets they call you a "spammer."

13. They are hesitant to wander the halls without a browser interface.

12. When you give a test you can hear them mumbling things like, "connecting to host..." and "searching..."

11. When they turn assignments in to you they announce, "You've Got Mail!"

10. When you ask them to work cooperatively with others, they all make modem sounds.

9. After each unit test they ask if it's okay to clear their caches.

8. When they get stuck on an assignment, they ask if they can search the contents of your help file.

7. They won't participate in classroom discussions unless you tell them it's a "chat room."

6. When you refer to a page in the textbook, they ask for the URL.

5. When you want them to remember something for the test, you have to say "Save as..."

4. When they finish a page in their workbooks, they all want to print.

3. When they forget to do their homework they claim it is because of a disk error or because the information was saved in a bad sector.

2. For tardies and absences they give you the address to their excuses FTP site.

1. They won't leave the classroom at the end of the period unless you say "Shut Down Now."

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