Education Station Newsletter
Vol. 1 #4 April 2002
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Welcome to the Education Station monthly newsletter! Here we take a look at
great teacher tips, useful teaching links to great sites and helpful ideas and
activities for celebrating holidays, seasons and special days in your classroom.
Our great specials section will help you save money and we have also included
articles that look at the latest practices in education. We hope our newsletter
will help inspire you to be the best teacher you can be! This newsletter is
produced by the Education Station web site, which is located:
http://www.educationstation.ca
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In This Issue
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1. Quote of the Month
Volunteers...
2. Teacher Tips
Teaching Quotation Marks
Math operations blackboard game
3. Great Links
Poems
Discipline
Flashcards
4. Current Specials
5. Celebrate!
Volunteers
Earth Day
6. What's New!
7. E-gift Certificate Winner
8. Article
Volunteering in the Classroom Benefits Parents and Children
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1. Quote - in honour of Volunteer Week April 21-27, 2002
Volunteers are not paid -- not because they are worthless, but because they
are priceless
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2. Teacher Tips
Teaching Quotation Marks
I took an ice cream tub and decorated the outside with the label "Punctuation
Pail". Then I dyed elbow macaroni with rubbing alcohol and food coloring
in a sealed plastic bag. (Just shake dry macaroni in this mixture and then place
all to dry on newspapers overnight) I made sentence strips with sentences which
should include quotation marks, but I left OUT the quotation marks. Ex: Mom
said, Please empty the trash. Next, I glued 2 pieces of dried, colored macaroni
onto a single wooden clothespin at the "hang it up" end. Make sure
your macaroni is facing the correct way to place the clothespin ON the sentence
strip so that you'll be placing the quotation marks in the correct direction
(( for the left end of the quote and )) for the right end.
I taught and modeled a lesson about speaking and writing the exact words someone
speaks inside the quotation marks. THEN I had the kids take the strips and clothespins
of quotation marks and actually place them on each strip in the correct places.
I made Commas in yellow, Quotation marks in red, and apostrophes in green. Then
I made lots of examples for using those marks such as strips with words in a
series (for commas), city/provinces/states phrases (for commas) speakers words
(for quotation marks), possessive words like mom's for apostrophes. After a
time period with our manipulatives, then the next day or so we did the same
type of lesson and used the textbook and the kids' own pencil and paper to write
what we'd learned to do with the clothespins.
Idea from Kerry in Texas
Math operations blackboard game
Review a multitude of math operations with a quick game of Team Challenge. Divide
the class into two teams. Have a student from each team come to the board. Player
A writes a review problem for Player B to solve, and vice versa. Set a time
limit during which the two players try to solve their problems. If a player
solves his problem correctly, his team scores two points. If he solves it incorrectly,
the team loses one point and his opponent can then try to correct the problem.
If he does, that player scores an extra point for his team. Great for reviewing
all operations for whole numbers, fractions, decimals, and integers!
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3. Great Links
Some poetry selections and classroom suggestions that relate to Earth Day
http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/lessonplans/plibapr.htm
Looking for a little help with discipline issues?
http://www.disciplinehelp.com/
Free Triangular Math Facts Flashcards
http://donnayoung.org/in/math/tricards.htm
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4. Current Specials
The following products are currently on sale at Education Station. Check back
often as the sale products change every week. http://www.educationstation.ca/index.php
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5. Celebrate!
Celebrate Your School Volunteers
The volunteers in our schools make a difference in the lives of our students
and the school climate everyday. They support student learning, help with prep
work, decorate school hallways, help with art projects, organize hot lunches…
and the list goes on. Say thank you to school volunteers with appreciation gifts
from Education Station.
http://www.educationstation.ca/volunteer.php
and here are some recognition ideas
http://www.volunteer.ca/volunteer/celebrate_recognition_hints.htm
Celebrate Earth Day - April 22
http://www.earthday.net/howto/teachers-corner.stm
http://www.edhelper.com/EarthDay.htm
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6. What's New
Check out some of our great new products recently added to the Education Station
site!
http://www.educationstation.ca/viewnew.php
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7. E-gift certificate Winner
CONGRATULATIONS to Joelle Belanger! She is the winner of our $100 E-gift Certificate
Promotion. A big thank you to the thousands of teachers who entered our draw.
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8. Article
Volunteering in the Classroom Benefits Parents and Children
By Belinda Brinton, Parents' Source, July 20, 1999
I've always considered myself a "hands-on" kind of parent. So when the opportunity arose to volunteer in my twin daughters' kindergarten classrooms, I embraced it wholeheartedly. I didn't want to just hear about their teachers and classmates. I wanted to experience them firsthand! I wanted to be a part of the learning experience. So, I jumped in with both feet, alternating one day a week in each of my daughters' classrooms. Two years later, my volunteer work has become quite a significant part of my life.
Much research has been conducted to determine the effects that parent volunteerism
have on student performance. According to the National Center for Educational
Statistics, "School-aged children are more likely to get mostly A's, to
enjoy school, and to participate in extracurricular activities, and are less
likely to have ever repeated a grade and to have ever been suspended or expelled
if their fathers or mothers have high levels of involvement in their schools.
The National Education Association concludes that when parents assist teachers
with their everyday duties, they allow the teacher to have more time to plan
activities, try new teaching strategies, and work directly with children. "As
a parent volunteer, you allow them to be more effective teachers, and the school
obtains your skills and services that might be unavailable elsewhere due to
financial limitations."
There's no doubt about it. Students thrive when educators and parent volunteers form a partnership. But how does volunteering in the classroom help parents grow? According to the NEA, a parent volunteer becomes more familiar with their school's programs. "With this new understanding of educational needs and goals, you can give the schools the backing they need, and encourage others to do the same. You will learn more about everyday happenings in the classroom from the increased communication and interaction between you and the teacher. You will have the satisfaction of helping children during a very important stage in their development. You will be able to provide the teacher with valuable information about your child and your community, creating a link between school and community so vital in our society."
What are some of the ways parents can help out in the classroom? As a parent
volunteer, my duties are numerous and varied, depending on the needs and styles
of the teacher. I have assisted with supervising art projects, signing out homework
books, running off copies, and working one on one with students who might need
a little extra help with a certain subject. As for qualifications for parent
volunteers, the NEA recommends that parents enjoy working with children, have
an interest in education and the community, feel a commitment to the goals of
parent involvement, have the desire to help, and are dependable and in good
health. Based on my observations, I would also recommend that a parent volunteer
be flexible, and expect the unexpected. A seemingly minor incident, such as
a scraped knee or hurt feelings can have far-reaching implications.
How do parents who work full-time outside of the home get involved in their
children's education? The Parents Soup website offers the following suggestions:
· Become a member of your school's Parent-Teacher Organization
· Assist with out-of-classroom projects, such as building scenery for
school plays, or publishing school newsletters
· Visit your child's classroom and discuss your career, or invite the
class to tour your workplace
In summing up the benefits that volunteerism has on the community, Jonathan
Green, principal of Brecknock Elementary School in the Eastern Lancaster County
school district says, "When students see adult volunteers in their schools,
they see firsthand how members of their community value education, and support
their local school. When a community is very involved in their school volunteering,
more people have a better sense of the total education picture, and see how
dedicated so many people are to educating the community's youth. More involvement
results in better understanding, more trust-building, and a commitment to even
more support. School begins to feel like family!"
With benefits like those, it's easy to see why I look forward to resuming my
volunteer work this fall. The rewards are immeasurable. I feel very fortunate
to be able to see the impact my daughters' teachers have on their students,
and to have met all of these exceptional young people. I've quizzed them on
their spelling, laughed at their jokes, held their hands, listened to stories
about their families, celebrated their achievements, and moderated their squabbles.
And I speak from experience, when I say there are few things in life that feel
better than being hugged simultaneously by twenty pairs of little arms!
When the kindergarten registration forms arrived in the mail, I had to ask for
directions to the school. Now, I could walk the halls blindfolded. My volunteer
work makes me feel ingrained in the school and all of its goings-on. The students
are learning facts and developing skills that they will carry with them all
through their lives, and I am a part of that process! What a difference two
years makes. What a difference volunteering makes!
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** If you find the Education Station newsletter to be a useful tool for your
classroom experiences, please forward it to a friend or two. Thanks! **
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