Turnaround Tales
Atlanta School Surpasses Expectations
Staff members at Atlanta, Georgia's Capitol View Elementary School push themselves and their students to excel, because they know so many people expect them to fail. The school in a low-income area posts some of the best test scores in the state.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/nclbwork/nclbwork064.shtml

Instant Meeting
Groups draw an image that describes a complex situation.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/meetingidea/meetingideas028.shtml

Take Five for…
Reflecting on what makes your school a great school.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/takefive/takefive023.shtml

Exceptional Event
Plan a Spaghetti Supper.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/exceptional_events/exceptional_events023.shtml

Principal Ideas
"School Hug," trivia time, clean slate, spirit assemblies, more...
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/ideas/ideas002.shtml

How I Handled…
A child who was lost or missing.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/how_i_handled/how_i_handled047.shtml

Morning Math
Boost math skills schoolwide with "Morning Math" questions for Week #20.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/archives/morning_math.shtml

Grant of the Week
This week: The MTNA Foundation Fund’s Teacher Enrichment Grants provide assistance to music teachers.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/grants/additional_grants.shtml

Conventions & Conferences
What's coming up?
See our updated listing of 30+ conferences.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/archives/conventions.shtml

Join the Conversation
On our "School Administrators" message board.
http://forums.educationworld.com/

Newsletters 'R Us
Copy and paste this free content into your teacher or school newsletters.
The ABCs of Student Success U is for Unique
Caught on the Web JigZone (Grades K-up)
Newsletter Clipart Library Valentine's Day
Parent Newsletter Template Valentine’s Day
Math @ Home Simply Symmetrical
quotED "Your best teacher is your last mistake." http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/archives/newsletters.shtml

The ABC’s of Being a Principal
If you want the real lowdown on what it's like to be a principal, you've come to the right source. More than a dozen members of Education World's Principal Files team contributed their thoughts to this new book, an ABC book of the principal’s job. Click to read this free book online.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin337_a.shtml

Celebrate Black History
February is the annual observance of Black History Month -- a time to recognize the achievements, contributions, and culture of African Americans. This week, Education World debuts its updated Black History Month archive of innovative activities to help you build your classroom celebration -- and to help you incorporate the African American experience into your curriculum all year long. Included: Challenge students to create ABC books, murals, and more about famous African Americans.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_special/black_history.shtml

Valentine’s Day
If you haven't prepared, don't be brokenhearted… these cross-curriculum lessons will put you in the spirit of the day.
http://www.educationworld.com/holidays/archives/february.shtml#valentine

Lesson Plan of the Day
Click the link above to see dozens of recent Lesson Plans of the Day, including the five lessons below that were posted last week.
Basketball Verse - Write poems about basketball. (Grades 3-12)
President for a Day - Students pretend, tell about their day. (K-8)
Dramatizing Folktales - Act out Native tales, legends. (3-8)
Parachute Drop - Create chutes to carry paperclip passengers. (K-4)
Review Game - Use this game with any subject, any grade. (K-12)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/dailylp.shtml

Friday Fun
Candy hearts are the game pieces in this takeoff on the board game Battleship.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/friday/friday020.shtml

Learning Game of the Week
A life-size tic-tac-toe review game.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/learninggame/learninggame032.shtml

News for Kids
U.S. Set to Celebrate Lincoln Bicentennial
The bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth (February 12, 1809) is cause for a national celebration.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/newsforyou.shtml

Reader's Theater
A Mysterious Message
As a school celebrates its 100th birthday, workers find a large box with a mysterious message inside. Can students decipher its secret meaning?
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/
reading/ReadersTheater/ReadersTheater006.shtml

Tech Lesson of the Week
Football Facts Scavenger Hunt
What do you know about the game of football?
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/hunt/hunt020.shtml

From the Reading Machine
Spell Check
Students identify misspelled words and then spell them correctly. (1-12)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/readingmachine/readingmachine014.shtml

Bulletin Boards That Teach
Dino-Mite Work
This monster dino that displays students’ best work is sure to be a big hit.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/bullboard/bullboard036.shtml

Every-Day Edits
Primary Edits Animals A to Z: Octopus
Ele-Middle Edits Edison, Hank Aaron, Chinese New Year…
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/animalsAtoZ.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/edit.shtml

Dr. Fred Jones: Tools for Teaching
Positive Discipline Management: Tips for Successful Implementation
Training is the easy part of effective professional development. The hard part is follow-through. Follow-through requires organizational change to support personal change.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/jones/jones040.shtml

Wire Side Chats Simulations Engage Students in Active Learning Teacher Max Fischer, the author of a book of simulation activities for the social studies classroom, shares his tips for using simulations in the classroom. Girls and Sports -- A Winning Combination Husband-and-wife team Gil Reavill and Jean Zimmerman, authors of Raising Our Athletic Daughters, explain why girls and sports are a winning combination. The Making of a Dynamic Department Head Rodney LaBrecque, author of Effective Department and Team Leaders: A Practical Guide, discusses the traits of an effective department head and how they can improve staff morale.

Leah Davies: The Teacher Counselor
Movement Activities for Elementary Classrooms
Movement activities planned intermittently throughout the day can help children maintain focus on their schoolwork and reenergize themselves.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/davies/davies007.shtml

Emma McDonald: The New Teacher Advisor
Strategies for Motivating Students
Are you doing the same exact thing day after day? Take time to analyze what's happening in your classroom, and try a few of these suggestions to pep up your class.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/
columnists/mcdonald/mcdonald009.shtml

Goal Setting 101: The Process in Action
The best way to help students see the goal-setting process in action is to set a class goal and work together to achieve it.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev151b.shtml

Teaming Up To Achieve
Test Prep Goes Into High Gear
After Parkville Community School teachers identified students most likely to reach the proficient level on the state tests with some focused remediation, extra help before and after school ramps up and students are told to "take ownership" of their learning.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/teamingup/teamingup008.shtml

Game Show Presenter
Famelia Villanueva turns content reviews into challenging games with Game Show Presenter.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/teacher_feature/teacher_feature075.shtml

Education Humor With Regina Barreca
Remembering an Unlikely Sanctuary
"…I honestly believe that elementary-school bathrooms are worth our attention. They loom large in one's imagination, not only when you're a kid and using them, but also when you're an adult and recalling them."
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/columnists/barreca/barreca024.shtml

Each week, we ask readers to cast their votes in The Weekly Survey. Cast your vote in this week's question of interest to all educators.

This Week's Survey Question
Should all U.S. high schools calculate graduation rates the same way?  

Last Week's Survey Results
A California math teacher was in the news recently for selling ads on tests to raise money for classroom expenses. Would you consider doing something like that to make extra cash?

Each week, our Ed Scoops editor highlights education news headlines from around the world.

Education Studies and Reports
School Segregation on the Rise
Many U.S. schools are increasingly racially segregated, according to a study from the University of California's Civil Rights Project.

Special Education
Children Hurt by Restraints
Schoolchildren across the U.S. have been injured or killed when they were restrained or secluded, a disability rights group says. A House committee announced a hearing on the issue.

School Safety & Security
Cutting Buses Puts Kids at Risk
Shrinking budgets have forced some districts to cut bus service, forcing some students to walk to school in the dark or on the shoulders of roadways.

See more education news headlines in our EDscoops Archive.

Each week, Education World spotlights books of interest to educators. This week, read a brief summary of two more of our "top 50 books for educators."

Nonfiction Matters: Reading, Writing, and Research
This is an important book for several reasons: one, nonfiction reading, writing, and research is a relatively new emphasis in elementary school, and in turn, nonfiction seems to be an important key in retaining boys' interest in reading. The appendixes in this book include various forms, reading logs, and so on, and a set of extremely valuable bibliographies of well-crafted nonfiction books in various categories. Written by Stephanie Harvey. Happy reading!
Click to learn more or to purchase this book.

Understanding By Design
Grant Wiggins is one of the most important education thinkers, with a unique and logical point of view on a fundamental aspect of school -- assessment. In this expanded second edition, Wiggins and co-author Jay McTighe convincingly turn the traditional assessment model on its head. Instead of creating curriculum and then figuring out assessment, they argue that we first determine what kids should learn, second how we're going to assess that learning, and only then design curriculum to enable students to pass. Not many education books crack the top 1,000 in Amazon sales, but this one does. Enjoy!
Click to learn more or to purchase this book.

Click the icon to the right to see more books and many other products that are available in the Education World MarketPlace.

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The Best of the WRITING BUG

If you enjoy Education World's weekly WRITING BUG feature, you'll love this book! Education World and the National Education Association (NEA) have joined forces to create a handy, pocket-size booklet with 44 of the most popular Writing Bug story starters. Use these Writing Bug activities to engage your students in effective writing. Each writing prompt will spark students' imaginations, tickle their funny bones, and motivate their pencils.

Included: In this booklet you'll find these Writing Bug titles and many more:

Happy Presidents Day!

Some second graders were writing about the two presidents we celebrate in February. One student confused the two and added to his error by writing, "Abraham Lincoln was the first man known to be president. He was president when the silver whore was goin."

Little Johnny Is At It Again…

World History Teacher: How did the Vikings send secret messages?
Johnny: By Norse code!

School Doodle
Test Your Zero-Tolerance Aptitude
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/school_doodles/school_doodles37.shtml

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