Blog Candy

Suza's Baja Grill is located in the Edwards Corner Business Center right next to the Marble Slab. Leave a comment and you might be able to enjoy a free meal and some fish tacos at this Baja style restaurant.

Blog Candy

This month's delicacy is from Moe's Original BBQ. There are two locations in the area, one in Vail and one in Eagle. The perfect meal when you are spending the day on Vail Mountain. My favorite is the Smoked Turkey Sandwich with coleslaw and banana pudding as the sides. Who will be the lucky winner...

Location Change for NTI

New Teacher Induction will be meeting at Battle Mountain High School in the media center/library on November 4, 2009 from 4:30 - 6:30. The media center is located on the second floor of the building. Elementary teachers will be on the west side of the room and Secondary teachers will be on the east side of the room. See you then.

Feedback Please

Please take a moment to click on the link below and give us your thoughts on this professional development opportunity.

Survey Monkey

Blog Candy

Hmmmmmm...organic cheeseburgers. Larkburger is an Eagle County original restaurant offering delicious burgers that aren't too bad for you. Locations are in Edwards and Boulder. Leave a comment by Wednesday, October 7th @ 3:00pm and you will be entered into a drawing to win a gift certificate to this yummy dining experience.

Feedback Please

Your input is very important to the professional development department. We take everything seriously...even down to the type of chocolate you prefer :). Please take a moment to click on the link below and give us your thoughts.

Survey Monkey

Today's Funny

I think some teachers feel this way about technology...but we can persevere.

Blog Candy

Yummmmmmm! The Smiling Moose has locations in both Edwards and Eagle. They have a menu full of yummy sandwiches, soups and salads. If you leave a comment at the bottom of this post, you will be entered into a drawing to win a gift certificate to this restaurant.

Make Learning Personal and Engaging

This is a video from Edutopia that shows how students are using technology to learn in authentic ways.

Stuff You Can Use

Just thought I would post a few websites that many teachers find useful. Click on the links below.



Edutopia is the creation of Producer/Director George Lucas. Here is a little blurb from the website to explain what it is all about.
Edutopia is the tangible embodiment of our vision. Through the Edutopia.org Web site, Edutopia magazine, and Edutopia video, we spread the word about ideal, interactive learning environments and enable others to adapt these successes locally. Edutopia.org contains a deep archive of continually updated best practices, from classroom tips to recommendations for districtwide change. Allied with a dedicated audience that actively contributes success stories from the field, our mission relies on input and participation from schools and communities.



Discovery Education is a wonderful site for finding all kinds of resources including educational videos. Our district has a license and you can get a login and password at your school. Ask you buidling tech person or do a help.me to get you information.



Rubistar is a great resource for teachers. You can use the rubric generator to create rubrics on the spot or you can join the site and find thousands of rubrics created and shared by other teachers. This will really come in handy when you are trying to communicate expectations.




Teacher Tube is the educational side of You Tube and accessible on the district wireless. You can find all kinds of educational and/or entertaining videos to share with your students like the one below.

Physical Environment & The Brain

Some of you wanted to know about the effects of lighting on the brain and I found the article that Martha Kaufeldt has on her website. Hope it answers some questions.

Boom Boom Pow

According to Chris Harris, these are the creative digital natives sitting in your classroom everyday. They love to express themselves, remix and create. What are you doing to accommodate their learning styles?

Must See Video

Here is a little video on why teachers should learn to blog, so they can teach their students the very same skills. Remember....your students are digital natives and will gravitate towards this kind of activity. You can find videos like this on Teacher Tube.

Feedback is King!

Please go to the following site and fill out the survey so that our team can use your feedback to provide you with the best support and experience in Eagle County Schools. WE REALLY LISTEN.

Survey

Another Great Resource

Martha Kaufledt has spent much of her career working on Differentiated Instruction, especially with Gifted and Talented students. Her website Begin with the Brain talks about classroom environment and best practices for instruction. She has two books pictured below.

Customize Your Blog

There are a number of sites that can tutor you in customizing your blog with banners, as well as changing the html codes to really give your blog a unique appearance. Below are two sites that will walk you through some of those steps.

Blogger Buster

Cutest Blog on the Block

Blog Candy

Win a gift certificate to the Smiling Moose Deli in Eagle or Edwards just by leaving a comment. Winners will be announced on Thursday, August 20th.

Motivation & Engagement - The Sequel

We cannot wait for August 26th and 27th to get here. All of our teachers are invited to an amazing conference at the Park Hyatt in Beaver Creek to spend two days working with some wonderful presenters who will share some valuable content. Listed below are the presenters with a link to their own sites.

Spencer Kagan
Richard Cash
Eugene Garcia
Beth Skelton
Grace Dearborn
Chris Harris

Must Have Resource

The resource for the idea in the Visual Expectations post below came from Rick Smith the author of Conscious Classroom Management. You can find a copy in your school's professional library, or buy a copy at our Motivation & Engagement conference in Beaver Creek on August 26th and 27th.

Visual Expectations

In his book Conscious Classroom Management, Rick Smith says "Procedures are the train tracks and content is the train." Teachers with smooth running classrooms spend time at the beginning of the year intentionally teaching their students procedures and routines and then revisit those expectations throughout the school year. One very effective strategy for supporting students in remembering classroom expectations is to provide them with visuals that are easily referenced. Below is a 1-5 photo rubric on the expectations of a clean work space.


In this photo students see an example of an unacceptable work space that would score a 1 on the Expectation Rubric.


In this photo students see an example of an almost acceptable work space that would score a 3 on the Expectation Rubric.


In this photo students see an example of an acceptable work space that would score a 5 on the Expectation Rubric.

At the beginning of the year, the teacher should spend time explaining the expectations of the physical environment of the classroom and how respecting the cleanliness of the work space makes for a better learning experience. Once this expectation has been thoroughly explained to students, the teacher only needs to reference the posted photos to give students feedback on where they are in the expectation and then ask students to make adjustments to meet the 5 on the rubric. Use of this procedure will increase the amount of time spent on instruction in the classroom.

Please leave me a comment to check out your work space expectations.

~ Liz