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TGIF!
Friday, March 28, 2008

You've made it through another week. It's time to rest your brain, have some fun, explore some new resources… kick back and start your weekend off on a light note!

THIS WEEK @ EDUCATION WORLD

Dozens of new postings this week, same as every week! Among the great resources you'll find this week…

Eric Baylin:
Time for a Tune Up
On the verge of losing your cool with students? Take time to sing this cool tune from Ed World's own Eric Baylin…

It's Rhyme Time!
Celebrate Poetry Month by planning a classroom poetry slam...

Recess Headaches?
If recess is a time of chaos in your school, read about these schools that are transforming it…

For more practical content, explore this week's updated Channel pages:
Lesson Planning      Administrator's Desk      School Issues
Professional Development              Technology Integration
Be sure to visit our partner Web site too: SchoolNotes.com

Does your school "get" the connection between fitness and learning? Choose the statement that best describes your school. We are offering more opportunities for kids to exercise and release energy. We are learning about the connection and exploring the possibilities. Our school day presents fewer opportunities to exercise than in past years.

IN THE NEWS

In San Diego County and many other districts, teachers and other volunteers are doing their part to fight obesity. They are organizing running clubs to get kids moving before the bell rings to signal the start of the schoolday. Organizers say that running before school seems to help many kids hit the ground running when it's time to focus on their schoolwork. The running clubs are a response to recent research that indicates that exercise increases the production of proteins that help the brain perform better. One scientist calls exercise "Miracle Grow for the Brain." (Read the article)

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

We all know that humor can go a long way toward making the classroom environment a friendly and motivating place to learn. But what have you done this past week to make your colleagues smile? If all of us took time just once a week to do something to make others laugh, think of the impact on staff spirit. So you're not a natural comedian? You can always cheat (so long as the students don't know). Aaron Bacall's books (The Lighter Side of Teaching, The Lighter Side of Professional Development…) are a great source of mailbox stuffers. Or check out Diane Hodges' booklist for more great laughs about life at school. Education World's free weekly Humor Newsletter is a source for emailable material. Or you might just print out this newsletter, cut out the Leave 'em Laughing joke at the bottom of the page, and staple it to the bulletin board or tape it to the mirror in the faculty bathroom. All of us -- even those of us who aren't qualified to join Jimmy Kimmel's late-night writing team -- can contribute to making our schools fun places to work and learn.

CAUGHT ON THE NET

Telling time can be a tricky concept to teach. Some kids get it in a snap. Others need more practice. If your kids fall into the "need more practice" category, it's time for you to share the Time Clock. Time clock offers simple time-telling practice. Take a few minutes to set this up in a computer learning center to give students "hands-on" practice as they move the clock's hands to show the appointed time. As their time-telling skills improve, you might arrange students into teams, project Time Clock on a screen, and have a little classroom time-telling competition… We hope you find "hour" site of the week to be a timely one!

EducationWorld has reviewed thousands of sites of interest to educators. Be sure to visit our Site Review Archive. You might also visit our Sites to See themed listings.

FROM THE LIBRARY SHELF

Long before Hillary Rodham Clinton was making headlines as a candidate for president, there was Margaret Chase Smith. Raised poor, too poor to go to college, Smith would eventually achieve a lot of firsts. She was the first woman elected to Congress from the state of Maine; the first woman ever to be elected to both the U.S. House and the Senate; and, in 1964, the first female candidate from a major political party to run for president. This brief biography, Margaret Chase Smith: A Woman for President, highlights key moments in the personal and political life of a remarkable woman. A timeline along the bottom of each page provides historical context, and a prologue offers more detail and a timeline of events in Chase's own life. This year, as students are learning all about the woman who has the best shot ever at occupying the Oval Office, you might take time to share the story of a woman from Maine who helped pave the way for this moment.

UPCOMING CONFERENCES

Maybe Monday will be a good day to approach your school or district leaders about attending one of these upcoming conferences put on by well-known national associations.

Transforming School Communities: Voices for Student Health
The annual conference of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) will be in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from June 28 - July 1, 2008.

Connect. Convene. Transform.
The annual conference of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) will be in San Antonio, Texas, from June 29 - July 2, 2008.

2008 Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly
The annual conference of the National Education Association (NEA) will be in Washington, D.C., from July 1 - 6, 2008.

If your national non-profit organization's conference should be listed here, send an email to conventions@educationworld.com. We will be happy to include it in our rotation so long as it is open to all educators and/or administrators (not only members).

LEAVE 'EM LAUGHING

You know political correctness has gone too far when…