The Digital Age

Does your school utilize online testing? An Indiana mandate requires at least two grade levels at each school to take their ISTEP (Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress) test online. Check out the article here. Should online testing replace state test students are required to take? What are the benefits and drawbacks of online testing? Share your thoughts and opinions with us!

Teacher's Channel

Have you seen the new YouTube Teacher's Channel? We think it's a great resource to get students even more engaged in the classroom. There are lots of educational videos and the best part is that it's free! You can check out it here. Do you use YouTube videos in your classroom already? Do you think the Teacher's Channel with help even more? Let us know what you think!

Physical Education Cuts

School 35 in Rochester finds creative ways to add physical activity in the classroom due to gym teacher cuts. The state requires students from kindergarten to 6th grade must get 120 minutes of physical activity a week. City schools do have at the minimum a part time gym teacher, but classroom teachers must pick up the slack to reach the full 120 minute requirement. Michael Ram's student's in the forth grade act out meanings of words as way to get them moving. Check out the whole article here. What do you think about the gym teacher cuts and having the classroom teachers supplement the rest of the physical education? Tell us what your opinion is!

Halloween

We realize that it's a little over a month until Halloween, but stores are already prepared with candy and costumes, so we thought we should be prepared too. Teachers, do you have any fun Halloween lessons planned? We found a site filled with Halloween bookmarks, ABC's, word searches, word scrambles, mazes, recipes, and lots of other neat stuff. Check out the website here. We hope this is helpful. Let us know what your going to be doing in your classroom for Halloween!

New Jersey's Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights

New Jersey has an Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights in effect to protect students. It's to protect students from HIB: harassment, intimidation, and bullying. This anti-bullying  law is said to be one of the toughest in the US. To check out what the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights is all about, and to to see how one school is implementing it view the full article here. Let us know what you think about the law! Do you want this implemented in your school?

Education Reform: What Iowa wants to do

The topic of Education Reform has been in the news for months. We came across an interesting article that states Iowa's ideas for implementing a reform in their state. They want 11th graders to take the ACT, and they want high school exit exams. To see what other things Iowa wants to change you can see the full article here.  Does your state have a reform plan? What do you think should change? As always we are curious to see what you think. Get involved in the conversation and let us know!