Kaulbach's Modern World

This simple activity meets the needs of students who sit in classrooms without air conditioning. Create a fan with two simple pieces- wooden handle and stock card. I love that the fan's simple technology also allows a school to promote... anything! Clubs, sports, a course like Modern World Studies.  It is a great way to promote student artists or students running for election.  It would also be useful to math teachers, they could print formulas or routine equations, English teachers- poetry, librarians- favorite books... Students could decorate them on their own or vote for the best fan... I love it's simplicity.

I think that the custom of bringing a child to school is wonderful and I am fortunate to be able to have the time and means of transportation to do this. My daughter and I are living 1/2 mile from school. Weather permitting, we bike each day and avoid the chaos of the drive and drop off.  In Vermont, our family would park in Hyde Park village and walk  a short way to school.  The walk was brief, giving me a mental and physical moment of exercise.  I love holding my daughter's hand and leaving her on a positive note.  Our school in New Mexico does offer a public bus but many parents are able to drop off and pick up.  A small number of students bike and today I discovered a small number of people who can pick up their child by horse.  It isn't done each day but seems to be customary because many students ran to the horse yelling, "we missed you."   

When I attend conferences I notice that many of us as educators are eager to share what we are proud of. "I teach this..." or "I always have my students learn...." Seldom do we shoot our hand into the air and draw attention to the lessons that were failures or the methods we have used for years that do not reach all students.  I have been in my new position as a volunteer in the reading room at a public school in New Mexico one day and I am already inspired by this program for emerging readers to think of improvements in my own high school courses. In preparation for my position as a  testing coordinator I reviewed Jerry Johns' guided  Basic Reading Inventory , assessing student levels of literacy pre-primer through grade twelve.   Jerry Johns research into responsive instruction is presented as a means for literacy specialists and classroom teachers to utilize consistent routines that identify where a student is in their knowledge and to help them progress in...

My daughter enters one of three second grade classrooms and to me, it is obvious that the teacher is unprepared for her.  But great teachers are amazing in so many little ways. I was standing in the presence of an amazing teacher. Later, my husband affirmed that the school website acknowledged her as a recipient of a national award but at the time all I knew was that she looked at us and then directly at my daughter and assured her that she was always ready for one more student.  She made certain that my daughter had the same name tag, the same color desk and chair as everyone else.  She took three minutes to meet and converse with us but gave Kata undivided attention and tasks that immediately involved her in the makeup of the room.  Her name was added to charts that allowed students to leave the room for any emergency.  The room was organized with charts and tidy holders for books or utensils.  It was obvious that students learned routines for o...

The Santa Fe school system is quite extensive. I will volunteer in one public school and my daughter will attend the public school in the neighborhood where I reside. Already I am discovering how different school systems are in different regions of the U.S. For the first time I have discovered how difficult it can be to be an outsider.

In February of 1948, the JNEMA selected Finnish Architect, Eero Saarinen's design for a monument to America's westward expansion.  Saarinen studied the world's most famous monuments and from their design concluded that "an absolutely simple shape" should have "significance and dignity" throughout time (reference to history displayed upon a wall at the monument). His arch was chosen over more elaborate entries.  And yet, Saarinen wasn't satisfied. He would present many more designs before settling specifically on a catenary arch , which is as high as it is wide. The process of the arch design was more interesting than I ever realized.