tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81555547831285304962024-03-13T08:30:20.301-07:00Active InspirationErasing Apathy--Inspiring ActionBrittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-78409487006851545802015-03-04T13:35:00.000-08:002015-03-04T13:42:40.497-08:00Creating a Better Handprint<br />
If you frequent <a href="http://activehandprint.org/" target="_blank">Active Handprint</a>, chances are: you care about making the world a better place. Chances are: you are the type of person who is touched--maybe even haunted--by the suffering of others. Chances are: you are the type of person to want to take action.<br />
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<i>I mean, hey, you're reading a blog about advocacy. </i><br />
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But even when our intentions are pure, good and worthy, sometimes our execution is flawed. <a href="http://www.ted.com/speakers/khalida_brohi" target="_blank">Khalida Brohi</a>, in her beautiful <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/khalida_brohi_how_i_work_to_protect_women_from_honor_killings" target="_blank">TED talk</a>, discusses some of her failures and triumphs as she set out on her quest to protect women from honor killings.<br />
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Her genuine reflection, humility and growth are not only part of an incredible story but also par for the course of change.<br />
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<b>ActiveHandprint Take-Aways:</b></div>
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--Failures are not endings, they are times for <i>reflection</i>, <i>reinvention</i> and <i>retries</i></div>
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--Advocating to change laws or policies will not automatically change people's real-life experiences</div>
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--Strategies and planning sustain efforts </div>
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--The changes we advocate for often strike core values, be sensitive to this</div>
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--Building positive, respectful relationships is key </div>
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--Education is empowering </div>
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--Help people learn a craft, and you will help them be free</div>
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--Inspire those around you, and you can inspire a movement</div>
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--You are never too young, it is never too late, you are never too weak... you just have to start.</div>
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Have more inspirational posts? Have more take-aways from Brohi's talk? Share your thoughts with us below!</div>
Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-64272339131064146492014-08-31T11:42:00.000-07:002014-08-31T11:57:11.011-07:00Book Challenge: Ten-ish Books that Have Stayed with Me<div class="MsoNormal">
Bewildered, I stared at my three Ikea bookshelves. An old
friend had just challenged me to post 10 books that have touched me, stayed
with me. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For some people it may be hard to pick ten. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For me it was hard to pick <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ONLY </i>ten. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Over the past four years, I have worked as an English
teacher. The four years before that, I studied literature. Eight years of
reading, deconstructing, debating, writing.<i>Essentially, books
have been my business for a long time. </i>This year I have accepted a new
position teaching technology, so this blog post comes as my final nod to
teaching English—for now, one never really knows.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">In no particular
order, here are TEN-ish BOOKS (plus honorable mentions) that have stayed with
me, made me think or touched my soul:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<li><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The Little
Prince </i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">-- </span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Antoine de Saint-Exupery</b>If you have not read it, stop everything
that you are doing (including reading this blog post) and read it! The entire
book is less than 90 pages with several full page pictures; however, do not be
decieved! It is not a children’s book. <i>This
book must be read with your heart!</i></li>
<li><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Fahrenheit
451</i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> -- </span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Ray Bradbury</b></li>
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<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The Harry
Potter Series</i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> – </span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">J.K. Rowling</b>Life changer! Don’t know what took me so
long!</li>
<li><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The Fault
in our Stars</i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> -- </span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">John Green</b>Let’s be honest, I really just love
almost everything that John Green writes! If you want to cry, stick with this
one. If you want to laugh, try <i>Paper
Towns</i> instead. </li>
<li><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">A Raisin
in the Sun</i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> -- </span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Lorraine Hansberry</b></li>
<li><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Let the
Great World Spin</i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> -- </span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Colum McCann </b><br />I’ve also read McCann’s <i>This Side of Brightness </i>which was
equally as powerful.</li>
<li><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Black Boy</i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
-- </span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Richard Wright </b><br />“The Ethics of Living Jim Crow” was
one of the most powerful historical, autobiographical sketches that I ever
read. <i>Black Boy</i> is an expanded
version, adding even more detail and insight.</li>
<li><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Caucasia</i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
-- </span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Danzy Senna</b></li>
<li><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Our Town</i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
-- </span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Thornton Wilder<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Number the Stars</i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> -- </span><b style="font-weight: bold; text-indent: -0.25in;">Lois Lowry </b></span></li>
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<b>Honorable Mentions: </b><br />
<i>Life in Motion: My Story of Adversity and Grace</i> by <b>Misty Copeland </b><br />
Everything by <b>David Sedaris</b> (especially <i>Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls</i>) <br />
<i>Walk Out Walk On: A Learning Journey into Communities Daring to Live the Future Now </i>by <b>Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze</b><br />
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<b><u>WANT TO GIVE IT A TRY?</u></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Copy the following
post and tag your friends. Then list your ten (or as many as you need to)!</b></div>
"Book Challenge: In your status, list 10 books that have stayed with you in some way or hold meaning to you. Don't take too long and don't think too hard. They don't have to be the "right" books or great books of literature, just ones that have affected you in some way. Tag your friends, including me so I can see your list"</div>
Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-33018063195914071472014-08-20T15:34:00.000-07:002014-08-22T22:04:56.484-07:00#Charity -- Lessons Learned from the #ALSicebucketchallengeYou've seen it. You've probably done it.<br />
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This summer the #ALSicebucketchallenge has swept social media. The basic concept--if you have chosen to live in a world without the internet, if that is even possible--is that a friend of yours nominates you to either dump a bucket of ice water on your head within 24 hours or donate $100 to the ALS association.<br />
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When I first heard about this "act of charity", I was appalled. The underlying tenant that has fueled this epidemic is simple:<br />
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<b><i>I would rather dump freezing cold water on my head than donate to charity. </i></b><br />
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This whole thing had me pretty worked up--and by pretty worked up, I mean spouting long lists of why I don't think this thing has worth to my husband, who very patiently nodded his head.<br />
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<b>First Things First, There are Two Components to Charity: Awareness and Action</b><br />
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Those invested in service work will tell you that there are two main components to their approach. Awareness is key. People must <i>know</i> in order to feel empathy. Most of us live in a state of ignorance, not always because we have chosen to, but sometimes because we have not been exposed to information or become actively curious about it. NGOs and non-profit organizations spend large amounts of their time and funding to get information out, recognizing that this is essential for any change.<br />
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The second half of charity is action. Helping those in need, providing money for research or funding. This is equally essential, for what difference does it make if we all know there is a problem if no one does anything about it.<br />
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<b>Bringing us Back to the #ALSicebucketchallenge...</b><br />
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The #ALSicebucketchallenge definitely did not encourage awareness in and of itself. Many who completed the challenge are unable to identify what ALS stands for (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), what the more colloquial name for it is (Lou Gehrig's Disease), or--most importantly--what happens to someone with ALS (<a href="http://www.alsa.org/about-als/what-is-als.html" target="_blank">What is ALS?</a>).<br />
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The ice bucket challenge included an action, but the action has nothing to do with helping those with ALS.<br />
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<i>It's not like having ALS makes you feel like you just got shocked by ice water. </i><br />
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Furthermore, in order for the video to become viral, people had to do something that <u>PREVENTED</u> them from taking action. Dump the water so that you don't have to give money and the thing will spread.<br />
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<b>Thankfully, there have been two lights at the end of this bucket: Human Curiosity & Social Shame</b><br />
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Although the challenge did not include an awareness component, some people have taken it upon themselves to learn about ALS. Since the human brain is programmed to be naturally curious, many have visited <a href="http://www.alsa.org/" target="_blank">The ALS Association's Webpage</a>. A friend of mine who is in med school posted key information about ALS when she took the challenge. Others have mentioned family members who died after years of battling ALS. These stories have led to an increase in buzz about the disease, which seems to be leading to more awareness and action.<br />
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Finally, why social media made this happen: social shame. If you are nominated for the #ALSicebucketchallenge, everyone knows it. It is forever posted to your wall, your newsfeed and--most immortally--the cloud. If you did not complete the challenge, everyone knew it. And the pressure was on to donate.<br />
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And that worked. As of August 18th, <a href="http://time.com/3136458/viral-als-ice-bucket-challenge-funds-raised-15-million/" target="_blank">Time reported that over $15.6 million dollars has been donated to the organization</a>. According to the same article, the organization raised only $50,000 in the same amount of time last year (Worland, 2014).<br />
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It is clear; there <i>is</i> action happening.<br />
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<b>So, Why Do I Still Fear the #ALSicebucketchallenge? </b><br />
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Although there are two facets of charity, action and awareness, there is one more sublime component. One thing that governs service, separating it from mere motion, elevating it to the place where it changes us and our world.<br />
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<b><i>INTENTION</i></b>.<br />
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The basic framework of the #ALSicebucketchallenge creates something that is about <i>me</i> when it should be about <i>them. </i>Many will argue that giving $100 is giving $100 dollars no matter the circumstances. They will say that the researchers won't know if that money was given essentially as a lost bet or if it was given from a place of concern, compassion and selflessness.<br />
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But for the sustainability of any service, intention matters.<br />
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Because the #ALSicebucketchallenge will fizzle, the ice will melt, and our attention will wane. But ALS will continue to plague our friends, our crazy uncles, our spouses.<br />
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If we are completing our acts of charity to contend with a fad or because we have an audience, service will be dependent on those elements. And what happens when ALS research has a huge breakthrough, but no social media stunt to regenerate attention and funding?<br />
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So, for those of you who completed the challenge with the intention of actually helping stop ALS, then #youareamazing. And for those of you who didn't, it's never too late to change your approach.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>References:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Worland, J. (2014) The viral ice bucket challenge has raised $15.6 million for ALS. <i>Time.</i> Retrieved from http://time.com/3136458/viral-als-ice-bucket-challenge-funds-raised-15-million/</span><br />
<br />Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-55799997668336825932014-07-24T17:09:00.000-07:002014-07-24T21:03:02.734-07:00Visual Constructivism Visual <br />
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Open up a textbook; check out an educational webpage. Chances are within a few flips of the page or scrolls you will stumble upon a graphic. Our current teaching materials are littered with images, from frog dissection sketches to screenshots. </div>
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We as teachers have become so accustomed to including images in our educational resources. But why? What needs are our visuals meeting? What types of visuals are we including? </div>
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Thankfully, we have moved away from adding graphics because they are <i>cute. </i>We now recognize that appropriate use of well-designed visuals can lead to complex, nuanced learning. Now, as we continue to explore the use of visuals to construct knowledge, we should also consider the type of visual being used. In her article, <a href="http://209.151.89.205/usdla.org/public_html/cms/html/journal/JAN02_Issue/article03.html" target="_blank">"Visual Constructivism in Distance Learning"</a> Kathryn Alesandrini (2002) denotes 3 categories of visuals: representational, analogical and abstract. She proceeds to explain that the majority of the visuals currently be used for educational purposes are representation images--remember those frog dissection sketches and screenshots (Alesandrini, 2002). </div>
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As we continue to leverage technology and create constructivist classroom, challenge yourself to think of these three types of visuals. Feel free to use/share our Visual Constructivism Infographic or click on the image to see the original Piktochart! </div>
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<a href="https://magic.piktochart.com/output/2385815-visual-constructivism" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="visual constructivism, analogical visuals, representational visuals, abstract visuals, education, teaching, tech" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OTOasBVmfpM/U9HWpoCk8XI/AAAAAAAAAI4/-4v-lqr6WcU/s1600/Visual+Constructivism+(1).jpg" height="640" title="" width="298" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Alesandrini, K. (2002). Visual constructivism in distance learning. <i>USDLA Journal</i>. 16(1). Retrieved from http://209.151.89.205/usdla.org/public_html/cms/html/journal/JAN02_Issue/article03.html</span></div>
Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-38722121177007693232014-05-27T18:14:00.001-07:002014-05-27T18:24:51.823-07:00Co-Construct This (with your students)My husband is currently in school to be a physical therapist, and in our infinite nerdiness, we often share articles that discuss the brain, health and learning. Just last week he shared a <a href="http://www.deltaforcetrainingsystems.com/news/">blog post by Dr. Pat Davidson </a>about the importance of variety for humans. The article discussed the fact that our lives have become so bland, focusing solely on one thing. For example, “What do we do all day? Sit behind cars and stare straight ahead. Sit at desks typing and staring straight ahead. Sit at our tables and eat monochromatic meals with the same consistency. Sit and watch television” (Davidson, 2014). The article argued that as humans we need to move; we need to be exposed to a plethora of things. Davidson ends his post writing “We don’t live in the world of authentic nature anymore...nature would get us closer to neutrality, and it would feed us variability” (2014).<br />
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In many ways, this post articulates some of the core principles of constructivist learning. In “<a href="http://www.sedl.org/scimath/compass/v01n03/1.html">Constructing Knowledge in the Classroom</a>” (1994), the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory argues: “autonomy and initiative are accepted and encouraged.” Outlining some of the most important, underlying beliefs that govern constructivist classrooms, the SEDL argues that we must honor the individuality of each student, seeing this not as a challenge but as a right to be fostered. In doing this, we are embedding the variety necessary for success in our classrooms each day. We are also allowing students to enjoy the variability that they need to become successful.<br />
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As all children are taught to become independent, self-inspired learners, they are taught that mindlessly accepting the information others present as truth is dangerous (<a href="http://www.teach-nology.com/currenttrends/constructivism/classroom_applications/">Teachnology</a>, 2012). This once again highlights the development of an “individual intellectual identity” (Teachnology, 2012).<br />
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Conversely, in a traditional classroom, non-construction is key (<a href="http://www.sedl.org/pubs/sedletter/v09n03/practice.html">Hoover</a>, 1996), as students need to be willing to accept information without using their personal experiences, culture and language as lenses.<br />
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In this setting, “the constructivist teacher sets up the problems and monitors student exploration, guides the direction of student inquiry and promotes new patterns of thinking” (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 1995). This paradigms shifts the role of teacher from content expert to learning guide. The role of the teacher becomes two fold: to help pave the road students select--as “social interaction with more knowledgeable others is necessary if younger learners are to acquire, internalize and understand” (Pritchard & Woollard, 2010)--and to create spaces for reflection. The later role especially is often overlooked in assessment, but since learning occurs first between individuals then within an individual (<a href="http://gsi.berkeley.edu/teachingguide/theories/social.html#knowledge">University of California Berkeley</a>, 2014), it is equally important to the learning process.<br />
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Traditionally, assessments are created by teachers in a manner that values one form of learning. This hierarchy denies variety, autonomy and independence. It ultimately stifles long-term learning, reinforcing concepts that deny students agency.<br />
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Therefore, in order to respect the variety in learning, allow space and time for collaboration with more knowledgeable others, and encourage deep reflection, assessments must be co-constructed expectations with space for reflection.<br />
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First, a rubric or checklist with clear expectations can be made by a teacher-student pairing or by a teacher-group cohort. This rubric will be used to guide learning and indicate mastery. The rubric should be flexible, allowing for new skills to be added if they arise during the natural course of learning.<br />
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Additionally, the rubric should be used during conference time to establish a common vernacular to articulate success and development. Conference time will also allow peers and teachers to provide more insight, share thoughts, send resources or correct the course if necessary.<br />
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The rubric must also value reflective practice, encouraging students to slow down and process what they are doing. The reflective component of the assessment can be demonstrated in several ways--once again allowing for intellectual identity--such as journal entries, video posts, blogs, podcasts or even sketches. This can easily be shaped by each individual learner.<br />
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In order to keep all these pieces straight, I would recommend using a classroom website. That way, each student could have a page (or more) to demonstrate her learning process. Individual reflections can also be housed here in order to manage student work in a way that in and of itself allows for additional conferencing and construction.<br />
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Finally, the ultimate challenge with the assessment--as with all assessments--is creating a meaningful task. As teachers we need to be forever vigilant, seeking opportunities for deep learning not jumping through hoops. The co-construction of the rubric should allow for close monitoring of student progress; however, it will only be able to function in a classroom where students can work autonomously. This demands a large amount of conferencing time as well as a huge investment in the learning of students. However, its results should pay off.<br />
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<b>References</b><br />
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Davidson, P. (2014, April 21). What’s obvious and more important, how it’s connected. [Blog]. Retrieved from http://www.deltaforcetrainingsystems.com/news/<br />
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Hoover, W.A. (1996, August). The practice implications of constructivism. SEDL Letter. 9(3). Retrieved from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/sedletter/v09n03/practice.html<br />
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Pritchard, A., & Woollard, J. (2010). Psychology for the classroom: Constructivism and social learning. New York, NY: Routledge.<br />
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Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. (1994). Constructing knowledge in the classroom. Classroom Compass.1(3). Retrieved from http://www.sedl.org/scimath/compass/v01n03/1.html<br />
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Teachnology. (2012). Classroom applications of constructivism. Retrieved from http://www.teach-nology.com/currenttrends/constructivism/classroom_applications/<br />
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University of California Berkeley. (2014). Social constructivism. Learning: Theory and Research. Retrieved from http://gsi.berkeley.edu/teachingguide/theories/social.htmlBrittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-50915657736863951412014-03-27T14:52:00.000-07:002014-05-27T18:25:50.416-07:00Piktochart<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Info(rmation) + graphic = Infographic = A picture with info</span></div>
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Last post, I wrote about some of the elements of a strong infographic. Our students have taken to this so well that I am actually hosting my next PD session on the topic! </div>
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To prepare, I made the following infographic about making infographics using the amazing <a href="http://piktochart.com/" target="_blank">PIKTOCHART</a> website! </div>
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<b>No use having it just take up space in the cloud, I figured I'd share it here as well! Enjoy! </b></div>
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(If you have any trouble, or want to use this again, <a href="https://magic.piktochart.com/output/1409334-miami-advice-piktochart" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a> for the infographic url).</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FT5u1wXokuM/UzScuDpH3nI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/sx1OOs1bTBA/s1600/Piktochart+PD+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FT5u1wXokuM/UzScuDpH3nI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/sx1OOs1bTBA/s1600/Piktochart+PD+(1).jpg" /></a></div>
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Brought to you by <a href="http://activehandprint.org/" target="_blank">ActiveHandprint</a> Teacher Resources!</div>
Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-47814071557315544982014-03-01T11:14:00.002-08:002014-03-01T12:17:30.679-08:00Let's Talk about Informational TextsA few weeks ago, my favorite nutrition site, <a href="http://www.precisionnutrition.com/" target="_blank">Precision Nutrition</a>, sent me their latest post. I clicked on the link and found <a href="http://www.precisionnutrition.com/color-chart" target="_blank">this AMAZING infographic</a>. Not only did I love the information, but the teacher in me kicked in! This was a great example of some of the ways that we convey information using well-selected design elements.<br />
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So, as my students entered into the final days of their Somaliland presentation designs, I decided to have them analyze Precision Nutrition's visual <b>as readers and writers</b>.<br />
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Based upon our discussions, these are the <b>key elements </b>we identified. I then created the infographic below to help them remember these elements as they finalized their presentations.<br />
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Feel free to use with your students & check out <a href="http://piktochart.com/" target="_blank">Piktochart</a> as a great tool for creating infographics! And f<span style="text-align: center;">or more great ideas, check out </span><a href="http://activehandprint.org/" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">ActiveHandprint</a>!<br />
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<br />Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-92138226625946167802014-01-26T12:59:00.002-08:002014-01-26T13:04:48.000-08:00Writing Conferences<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Throughout the past year, individual conferencing has served as a pedagogical cornerstone in my classroom. This practice, often lauded as a modern educational trend, harkens back to the logistics of some of the earliest American school systems. "Where the one-room school might have a fluid sense of time and no clear demarcation of 'grades,' the graded school was as tightly structured as a train schedule" (Newkirk 15). Although our classrooms are currently organized based upon age, recent educational values have returned in many ways to those of the one-room school house. The push towards differentiation has recognized the discrepancy between a child's biological age and his or her level of skill. We now recognize that, like those early classrooms, ours are filled with learners possessing a myriad of abilities, challenges and preferences. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The writing classroom demands an appreciation of this lens more than any other subject. In order to address individual writing needs and allow for student-directed learning, individualization is essential. While teaching a group of peasants to read and write, famed novelist, Leo Tolstoy, stated, "All methods are one-sided, and that the best method would be the one which would answer best to all the possible difficulties incurred by a pupil" (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Newkirk</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 25). Thus, as educators, we need to search for an approach that appreciates individual need, acknowledging that approaches work better for some than for others. In our recognition of this fact, we are acknowledging that it is inherently wrong to apply one form of methodology to all learners. The writing conference model serves as a powerful model through which individualization can be accomplished. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fortunately, my teacher education program provided me with the philosophical underpinnings supporting the workshop model. During that time, I realized the power of providing students exactly what they need, not what you think they need. I also appreciated that workshopping avoided "teaching to the middle"--a painful method that leaves a handful of students bored, a handful of students baffled, and only a handful of students potentially gaining something. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Throughout my years at my former district, time for workshopping was limited. Additionally, <span style="line-height: 1.5;">student driven inquiry was not a valued component of the curriculum. I squeezed individualized conferences in between the district mandates and required five paragraph essays. Because of the restrictions limiting student writing options, all conferencing occurred during the process or after. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Once I learned that our district valued developing student voice through passion driven learning, I knew that I needed to learn more sophisticated techniques for my conferences. Throughout the summer, I spent time collecting data from colleagues in the district and throughout the country. Our instructional leader, Matt Daly, provided me with his comprehensive guide for conferencing. I also read research from the National Writing Project and Choice Literacy concerning the same information. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Throughout my research, I noticed common threads emerging. The types of discussions the authors were outlining seemed to break the type of conference down into several subcategories that I had not been aware of before. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">These types of conferences honor the idea that students have something beautiful and profound to say to the world. They allow teachers to help students find their own voices, articulating an idea of importance. Matt Daly advised, "The most important question to ask the students during conferences at this point is whether their topic or genre interests them" (1). Here he highlights that engagement is key, acknowledging that interest and passion should be allowed and encouraged to drive writing. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have found that many students have an inkling as to what they would like to write. Instead, more of my students wrestle with completing ideas or fleshing out concepts. These students are prompted to look deeper at their plot, character, ideas, etc. through open-ended questions. Daly continues, "This is the best time to give students a chance to explore their desires, wants, and interests" (1). <span style="line-height: 1.5;">This step is perhaps my favorite step. During this time, I get to watch students' imaginations take flight; I am always dumbfounded to listen to the plethora of original, abstract and profound ideas that my students create. It is this type of conferences that most allows for diversity, empowerment and engagement, highlighting the fact that student voice is encouraged, rewarded and essential. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since "planning is the act of creating a paper's skeleton" (Daly 1), this stage is used to help students finish brainstorming, outline ideas and address format. This year, I have found that organizing and outlining is the hardest step in the process for most of my students. During this time, conferences are often filled with examples of how other authors--including myself--use outlines and brainstorms. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These conversations help avoid the "trickling off" of ideas, common in many pieces without a developed plan. Most students begin writing because they have been inspired and are filled with energy; however, without thinking about what will happen in the long run, students often lose their energy and focus, drifting into an oblivion or blank page. This stage also allows me to debunk many myths. Struggling writers often believe that good writers sit down and write masterpieces. Although many strong writers can quickly create a mental outline, they do not create publishable works without forethought. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A byproduct of organizational conferencing is a fluid conversation about genre. After reading initial ideas, I can often recommend other pieces of writing or genre-specific terminology that will be helpful to the student. For example, recently, one of my students came to me and told me that he had begun writing a piece which played with ideas he had been ruminating upon after reading <i>The Hobbit. </i>Our conference at this time allowed me to direct Will to a list of archetypal characters. We were also able to discuss how he was using characteristics that he enjoyed from <i>The Hobbit. </i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I consider these conferences to be my specialty, seeing as I enjoy grammar and finishing touches on a deep--awkward English major--level. During this time, teachers are free to discuss any missing components of student pieces. Additionally, they are encouraged to discuss rules of grammar and sentence structure that students may not yet understand. The majority of my conferences still hover here; they provide opportunities for me to use my expertise in grammar and analyzing literature in order to help develop student writing. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This level of conferencing also opens itself naturally to a blended classroom. Throughout the year, I have tried to create a few essential online mini-lessons. This way, as I direct students to review the rules of sentence combination or completion, I can suggest they reference an online mini lesson about the topic. Moving forward, this is the level of conferencing on which I would like to build a blended learning environment. My vision is to record or publish all grammatical mini lessons in a format that can be posted online. I will then create a database where I can send students to access this information. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although none of the pieces I read discussed this type of conferencing, if I believe that the ultimate goal of education is to foster independent, life-long learners, it seems essential to help teach students how to discuss writing and brainstorm ideas on their own. Each piece of writing received a formal critique where students review and provide feedback to other students. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As evidenced by this post, I am never short for words. When I meet with students, I almost always become so enthralled with their brilliant ideas, powerful prose or lessons to be learned, that I lose track of time. Although this allows me valuable time working one-on-one with a student, it is not the most efficient use of conferencing. As I move forward, I am going to continually strive to meet for shorter bursts of time, which will allow me to increase the frequency with which I meet various students during a day and individual students during the writing of a piece. It would be more productive for me to meet briefly with a large variety of students, sending each off with only a few focused tasks, than to meet with a mere handful of students belaboring the editing process. This shift will also help me avoid inundating students with corrections opposed to highlighting a few urgent trends. Students will be more focused in their revisions and will not have to worry about becoming overwhelmed with the number of edits needed to improve the piece. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, I will continually try to remind myself to "teach the writer not the writing" (1) as Fletcher explains. In my continual effort to foster independent writers, I must remember that my students will not always have me--or any teacher for that matter. Therefore, they must be able to figure out what to do when confronted with a problem on their own. As I develop my technique, I would like to incorporate more problem solving techniques. For example, instead of telling students to revise their papers because they have several run-ons, I should discuss techniques authors use to double check their own sentences, thus avoiding run-ons or fragments. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What else are you doing in your classrooms to promote strong conferences? What are other techniques you are using? Let us know!!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.learner.org/workshops/writing35/pdf/s5_writing_conference.pdf" target="_blank">The Writing Conference: Breaking the Silence</a> by Ralph Fletcher</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, mono; line-height: 24px; text-align: start; text-indent: -25px;">Daly, M. <i>Supplemental paper: conference guidelines</i> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, mono; line-height: 24px; text-align: start; text-indent: -25px;">Fletcher, R. (2001). <i>The writing conference: breaking the silence.</i> Retrieved from </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, mono;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">http://www.learner.org/workshops/writing35/pdf/s5_writing_conference.pdf </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, mono; line-height: 24px; text-align: start; text-indent: -25px;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: #666666; color: white; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, mono; line-height: 24px; text-align: start; text-indent: -25px;">Newkirk, T. (2009). The teacher as schmidt. In <i>Holding On to Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones : Six Literacy Principles Worth Fighting For (13-43)</i>. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. </span></div>
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Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-50789118141352965502013-07-09T10:58:00.003-07:002013-07-10T07:18:18.548-07:00Assessing Project Based LearningOften teachers struggle with assessment when it comes to incorporating project based learning into their curriculum. Here are a few resources with my favorite assessments!<br />
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<a href="http://www.challengebasedlearning.org/public/toolkit_resource/c0/0a/0ab6_e53d.pdf?c=4d63" target="_blank">Apple's Distinguished Educator's Ideas</a><br />
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<li>Peer presentations </li>
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<li>Introduce this using a TED talk as an example</li>
<li>Assess knowledge, skill</li>
<li>Public forum encourages content mastery</li>
<li>Quick way to determine student progress and provide support</li>
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<li>Reflection booth</li>
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<li>Great <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cbl-reflection-booth-at-arizona/id428284169?i=112853328&mt=2" target="_blank">video</a> showing this</li>
<li>Assess progress and steps being used</li>
<li>Provides powerful baseline assessments</li>
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<a href="http://www.bie.org/services/webinars/project_assessment" target="_blank">Buck Institute for Education's Ideas</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.edutopia.org/assessment" target="_blank">Edutopia's Ideas</a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/VKnGlqHUoPk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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See how one <a href="http://teachinghumans.com/the-wikiseat-project-american-standards/" target="_blank">teacher</a> is incorporating Core Content Standards into his project that merges WikiSeats and American Literature!<br />
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<b><u>Closing Thoughts</u></b></div>
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Product v. Process</div>
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Assessments FOR learning v. Assessments OF learning</div>
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Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-20167495893227770082013-06-25T10:21:00.000-07:002013-06-25T10:22:08.288-07:00Pay Attention Critique<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the major criticisms I have of "Pay Attention" is that it creates a painful binary. As we know, binaries are incapable of being traversed (this OR that), and inherently contain a heirarchy. The video sets out to challenge teachers, but in many ways, especially to those who are digital immigrants or digital avoiders, it serves to further polarize them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When thinking about this as a video--opposed to an essay--we need to use our visual literacy in order to interpret additional clues. The use of black and white (an archetypal binary) font color serves to evoke a stark contrast between the background and the text in the foreground. Although not all teachers are progressive, creative and fostering critical thinking skills, to imply that our classrooms without technology are black, devoid of any light is extremely offensive. As with anything, technology will not automatically bring color, especially if it is being used inappropriately or as an online version of meaningless tasks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Furthermore, the use of the color red is extremely offensive, due to its inextricable link with violence. As a teacher who does use various forms of digital media in my classroom, I am offended by the color choice. I cannot imagine how much someone who doesn’t use (or have access to) these tools would feel. Red is the color of blood and horror; therefore, it evokes a mood of aggression. The last thing that we want to do to teachers would be to assail them into compliance. This would be completely antithetical to the empowerment which using technology can and should provide to both teachers and students. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, the simple use of technology still does not address the issues of meaning. If students say that they feel as if their content has nothing to do with their lives and will not relate to the real world, simply placing this same information onto a podcast does not alleviate these problems. Knowing that “teachers will lead the struggle to make sure technology use promotes, rather than conflicts with, the goals of a democratic society" (Roblyer & Doering, 2013), we must focus more on the ways technology can enhance powerful teaching practices instead of the fact that it is turned on. </span></div>
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<b>Revisions:</b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If I were to create a video, or find a new one, I would want a scaffolded version of technology integration. Instead of frightening teachers into an unknown--and often foreboding landscape--I would look for information that builds upon what many teachers are already doing. Instead of throwing a word like “blog” at a teacher who is uncomfortable with technology, providing a more relevant visual would be more effective. For example: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">journal </span><span style="font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">blog</span><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-size: 24px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">reflection/voice/empowerment</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A visual like this one would serve to show that both a journal and blog move students towards similar goals: reflection, voice and empowerment. The use of a larger visual for blog is purposefully selected to show that blogging may take the initial idea, journaling, to the next level. In order to show its additional capabilities another line with words like </span><span style="font-size: 24px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">collaboration/editing/publishing</span><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> could appear below the initial desired outcomes. This would allow teachers to feel as if they already have stock in this form of technology. Also, the nature of a life-long learner pushes many teachers towards that next step when they realize that their goals can be maximized with just one shift. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, when dealing with visual literacy, one must be extremely prudent in decisions regarding font, color and other forms of visual information. This information needs to be exciting, bold and powerful. A color like turquoise or teal naturally evokes serenity (blue is the color of the sky and sea which often are found to be calming) yet can be vibrant and motivating. Additionally, our classrooms without tech are not completely black. They do have pops of colors, even if these colors may be dull or slightly outdated. Using colors that are pastel or colors that were popular in past decades (pea soup green, rust orange) may be an interesting visual contrast that also provides a plethora of visual information. These colors serve to remind us that some things we loved at the time become dull and in need of an update. They can also remind us that we are not completely throwing out color or changing everything. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These conversations need to be used to inspire. Teachers are continually bombarded with pressures and rising stakes. If improperly framed and supported these ideas place “a special burden on already overworked teachers to continue learning new resources and changing their teaching methods” (Roblyer & Doering, 2013). Our colleagues need to feel safe as learners in order to make the move. By creating a scaffold instead of a binary, we can begin to engage hesitant teachers and bridge the gaps in many of our schools. </span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-27a81a01-01fd-4d00-dc52-9df2a4a2496e">Resources:<br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Roblyer, M.D., & Doering, A.H. (2013).</span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Integrating Educational Technology Into Teaching. </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.</span></span></div>
Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-87951512462248753772013-05-11T18:28:00.001-07:002013-05-11T18:55:03.139-07:00Project Based LearningRecently, a few of my colleagues have asked for some insight about PBLs. Although I am no expert in this area, I have been able to compile a few helpful resources to help.<br />
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<b>Here are my Top 10 PBL Insights</b></div>
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<b>10. Community Based</b><br />
I always wanted to travel the world and make a difference. I wanted to set up schools in developing nations, go save the rain forests, even care for children affected by HIV/AID internationally. Although I still believe that these are powerful pursuits--which I hope to someday get to--my grandmother always reminded me: You don't need to look past your own backyard to make a difference. Although global change is extremely exciting, don't get ahead of yourself. There are so many issues and projects that our own communities and families can benefit from! Reach out to<b> local agencies</b> or even the <b>families</b> in your school, and see what they need. Chances are: your message will be more powerful, you will build meaningful relationships between your school and the community, and you will change the lives of families at your own school if not your own students!<br />
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<b>9. "Curators of Content" </b><br />
At the NJECC conference that I just attended, the Keynote Speaker, Dirk DeLo, said that he considers his teachers "curators of content". They are expected to collect as many pieces of their content from various sources in order to develop a curriculum for their students.<br />
In a PBL there is the same expectation. It is your responsibility as the teacher to incorporate as much content as you can in each project. The real challenge is to do this in an organic way. For example, instead of having students write an essay at the end of the PBL about their findings, have them continually post information to a class website. Students will still be articulating their findings; they will still be demonstrating the ability to develop complex ideas, but it will be embedded in the project, allowing for better understanding and most likely a stronger project. At the end, students may even want to change initial findings--allowing them to reflect on their own learning and growth in a way that a final paper may overlook.<br />
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<b>8. Get Down with the Mess</b><br />
I am a very organized person. I separate my closet based on color; I have spaces for each and every type of bill I receive; I have a brilliant system of desktop folders. However, if you ever saw my living room when I am in the middle of a craft project, you would think that I am a complete disaster. As I have gone through a few PBLs, I have realized that this type of learning functions in a similar way. The setup must be organized, but the execution will be sloppy.<br />
What should you think about before?<br />
-How much time will this take?<br />
-How will students know what their objectives are?<br />
-How will I save work to allow for continual progress?<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Types of areas to create:</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Types of ares to expect:</span></b></div>
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<b>7. The Discover Process</b><br />
PBLs come with several challenges. Out of all these challenges there are two main issues: you are not an expert in every field, and you may not have a resource to help with every challenge that arises. In order to lessen anxiety around these two complications, our school uses the <a href="http://mhs.msd.libguides.com/content.php?pid=369010&sid=3028563" target="_blank">iDiscover model</a>. This model encourages students to think about places where they can locate information. It also allows for experts outside the classroom to become an intergal part of any project. I think about it as eliminating the middle man; so often I have tried to become an expert in a field that I have no prior knowledge about in order to convey my attempted understandings to my students. It seems much more efficient and accurate to have someone who has devoted years to the study of a specific idea discuss it with my students.<br />
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<b>6. Choices and Challenges</b><br />
Recently, I overheard a clip from a professional development class for physical therapists where the expert stated that it is the therapists role to know the choices that could be used to treat a specific problem and be able to provide a set of challenges to a given patient. As a teacher using PBLs in your classroom, you are doing the same thing. Your responsibility is to provide <b>choices</b> for different ways to address specific issues. You are also there to provide <b>challenges</b><i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i>for students as they advance through their projects.<br />
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<b>5. Give Them the Words</b><br />
It is impossible to have a conversation without the foundational jargon of a given field. As teachers, how could we talk about learning without specific, agreed-upon words that enable us to discuss our classrooms, students and theories. In a PBL, this is imperative. We cannot expect students to discuss projects in areas they may never have been introduced to without the fundamental words for that field.<br />
If you have an expert come into class to discuss a specific topic, have him or her list and define a few key terms that are common and intergal to the project at hand. Then, create a space--in the physical classroom or an online extension--where students can continually access these words, their definitions and any attached resources.<br />
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<b>4. Who Gives the Grade?</b><br />
Although the phrase "because I said so" seemed to work in my household growing up, it doesn't fly in the classroom. Provided a meaningful project, where the grade is given based on the real-time effectiveness of the project is a much more powerful motivation to students than any teacher-imposed edict. So, let the community help judge the success of the project. This can be done through <b>evaluations, goals </b>or even <b>expert evaluations.</b><br />
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<b>3. Character Ed through PBL</b><br />
One challenge of PBLs is assessment. Check out the<a href="http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~duckwort/images/KIPP%20NYC%20Character%20Report%20Card%20and%20Supporting%20Materials.pdf" target="_blank"> KIPP Character Report Card</a> as a possible authentic, continual assessment. When <i>how hard someone works</i> is directly connected with <i>how much another person's life is improved,</i> the stakes become high and valuable.<br />
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<b>2. High Tech High School</b><br />
Any time that I am struggling putting together a PBL, I watch this video for inspiration! CHECK IT OUT.<br />
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<b>1. What Moves YOU?</b><br />
As educators we know that students perform most when they are self-directing. The same goes for you. Pick a project that you love! Collect info! Make it happen!<br />
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What are other PBL insights that you can share? Feel free to comment below!<br />
<br />Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-83850228611627952182013-02-10T11:34:00.000-08:002014-05-27T18:28:17.542-07:00BrainBased Learning & ConnectivismWhy does playing video games for hours improve your ability to play well? Why does practicing kicking your soccer ball over and over improve your ability to perform? Why do you read 20 pages each night for LA homework? Each of these skills requires specific nerve pathways to complete. So, why does practicing improve them, and how does this relate to our project? <br /><br /><br /><br />In his article, "'Connectivism' and Connective Knowledge", Stephen Downes explains: "At its heart, connectivism is the thesis that knowledge is distributed across a network of connections, and therefore that learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse those networks. Knowledge, therefore, is not acquired, as though it were a thing. It is not transmitted, as though it were some type of communication." He continues to explain that "What we learn, what we know -- these are literally the connections we form between neurons as a result of experience." 1<br /><br /><br />In order to really understand this, we need to know a little science. <br /><br /><br />Here's a picture from the Mayo Clinic of a nerve: <div style="color: #666666; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px;">
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<br /><br />How the Nerve Works:<br /><br /><br /><br />The neuron is the e-mail of your body. It sends and receives messages. <br /><br /><br />The nucleus sends an electric signal through the axon. <br /><br /><br />The axon often branches into several places, commonly referred to as the axon transmitters. <br /><br /><br />The axon transmitters transfer this electrical signal to a particular cell. <br /><br /><br />Depending on the pathway of the nerve, the signal is interpreted in order to complete the cell's specific function. <br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.daviddarling.info%2Fencyclopedia%2FM%2Fmyelin.html&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFrqEze1sjnd5rvTvfCysUEu4JQM2tM9tw"><img border="0" src="https://sites.google.com/a/frelinghuysenmiddleschool.org/redesignpbl/_/rsrc/1360436414156/home/connectivism/myelin_sheath.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Why We Need to Make Use of Pathways: </b></div>
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The more often an axon is used, the more the myelin sheath wraps around it. <br /><br /><br />The more myelin there is, the more ensheathed the axon is. <br /><br /><br />The more ensheathed the axon, the more efficiently the message is sent.<br /><br /><br />Therefore, cell performance is improved. <br /><br /><br /><br />Not all neurons have myelin around them. They send messages 100 times SLOWER than those with myelin!! <br /><br />So, now we must ask, how does this relate to our projects, connectivism and video games?<br /><br />The more we practice our skills, the more our nerves use their axons, the more efficiently we work. This is why when you are playing video games all night long, you are actually improving your ability to play. Your pathways are becoming more myelinated and are, therefore, becoming more efficient. <br /><br /><br />This is also why when you learn, the more you can connect to pathways you already have strengthened, the more efficiently you can learn new information. So, if you relate you use the mythology you learned in social studies to enhance your language arts piece, you are taking advantage of pathways that you have already made strong! <br /><br />The theory of Connectivism draws upon these scientific concepts. It reminds us that in order to learn, we must take advantage of the pathways that we have in our minds. As such, the more information can relate to something we know, the stronger our pathway becomes and the deeper the learning is. <br /><br />HOW CAN YOU USE THIS IN YOUR CLASSROOM?<br /><br />Create a website in order to encourage connectivist learning. By creating separate pages with different information, you and your students will be encouraged to explore the learnings of peers and take advantage of whatever helps your endeavor. For example, you may see 5 articles on a specific page, but only one seems to relate to your individual project. Read that one, use whatever parts of it that you can, and try to make as many connections as you can to it. <br /><br /><br /><br />Works Cited<br /><br /><br />Downes, Stephen. "'Connectivism' and Connective Knowledge." The Huffington Post. 5 January 2011. 26 January 2013<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-downes/connectivism-and-connecti_b_804653.html?ref=tw>.<br /><br />"Myelin." The Encyclopedia of Science. 8 February 2013 <http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/M/myelin.html>.<br /><br />"Nerve Cell (Neruron)." Mayo Clinic. 8 February 2013 <http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/medical/IM02555>.</div>
Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-25135812281649368322012-12-12T12:08:00.001-08:002013-02-10T11:29:10.423-08:00Sandy Relief BlurbThe clock ticks towards 2:18. In just 2 minutes the bell will ring, and students will be done for the day. On most days this is the time where the surreptitious bag packers begin sliding the fronts of their notebooks on top of their pages. This is normally the time when the seat jumpers begin stretching their legs, ready to fly out the door.<br />
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But today's different. </div>
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A group of 16 eighth grade students are huddled around one laptop. <i>I think it needs a comma</i>. <i>Wait! That doesn't make sense yet</i>. They call out. Their teacher stands at the front of the room, trying to type as quickly as they are speaking. </div>
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This was the scene in my 7th period class last Thursday, as one student's piece was about to be posted on the local blog. For the past month my students have been absorbed in their Sandy Relief project, Donate 108. They have been working with several local agencies--Habitat for Humanity, The Community Soup Kitchen, The Interfaith Food Pantry and the Salvation Army--to collect goods for local residents affected by Superstorm Sandy. </div>
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While I tried to type as quickly as my fingers would allow, I couldn't help but marvel at the dedication of my students! </div>
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If this sounds like a project you would like to create at your school, STAY TUNED! We are currently creating a short book to help students and teachers do these types of things! </div>
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With just a little help and your heart in the right place, your classroom could be just as filled--if not more--with goods for any of your local residents in need!</div>
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Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-74370789650793011152012-09-18T18:16:00.001-07:002013-02-10T11:29:28.068-08:00Water We Thinking?!This past summer, my little sister spent 3 weeks on a mission trip in <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?q=africa+tanzania&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa=N&rls=en&biw=1073&bih=508&tbm=isch&tbnid=Gz0NqPjPlAx7VM:&imgrefurl=http://www.schoolrack.com/romiley/about-tanzania/&docid=eVaGg0ydcJDC2M&imgurl=http://static.schoolrack.com/files/101706/299693/map_africa_tanzania.gif&w=350&h=334&ei=oBJZUICkO8nx0gHr44CgCg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=99&vpy=146&dur=111&hovh=219&hovw=230&tx=156&ty=125&sig=110740680031891656537&page=1&tbnh=141&tbnw=148&start=0&ndsp=11&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:75" target="_blank">Tanzania</a>. Among other beautiful--albeit heartbreaking--stories that she told upon returning, she blurted out: <i>"We don't even realize how lucky we are to have clean water."</i><br />
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My sister's water comment left me stunned. I brush my teeth in the morning, and there is clean water. I make my coffee, and there is clean water. I take a shower, and there is clean--and hot--water.<br />
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I have never worried that this water would stop flowing out of my faucet. Never fretted over if there would be enough water when I needed to do my laundry. And I've never had to walk farther than my kitchen sink to have water for cooking [meaning mixing water with a box of mac and cheese].<br />
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So I started exploring this concept of clean water, and I was dumbfounded. Isn't access to clean water the most basic human right??<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_FZsf6AanM4/UFkTzORgmdI/AAAAAAAAAEI/x37Eswv5WFA/s1600/01_water.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_FZsf6AanM4/UFkTzORgmdI/AAAAAAAAAEI/x37Eswv5WFA/s640/01_water.jpg" width="368" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">(water.org)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/children/" target="_blank">Every 20 seconds</a>,</span> a child dies from a water related illness. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span></div>
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Girls are often forced to collect water instead of going to school. In fact, women spend<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> <a href="http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/women/" target="_blank">200 million</a> </span>hours a day collecting water.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"> 2</span></div>
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Poor sanitation often causes water supplies to become <a href="http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/disease/" target="_blank">contaminated</a> with diseases. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span></div>
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This contaminated water is responsible for <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">80 percent</span> of diseases in the developing world. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></div>
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Nearly <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">1 in 9</span> people lack access to an improved water source.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"> 2</span></div>
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The leading cause of human sickness and death is water-related illness. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></div>
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<b>Get Involved:</b></div>
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Appreciate what you have and don't waste your resources. </div>
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Try using a reusable water bottle for a week. </div>
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Become an <a href="http://power.water.org/?utm_source=water_org&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=text_right&utm_content=header_link" target="_blank">advocate</a>. Use your voice to spread awareness!</div>
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Conserve your water usage (a 5 minute American shower uses more water than a day's worth of water usage for an average person in a developing country slum)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #353535; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></div>
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Get an <a href="http://my.water.org/?utm_source=water_org&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=text_right&utm_content=header_link" target="_blank">inside</a> look. Follow a community as they attempt to access safe water. </div>
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Make a <a href="https://water.org/ecards/?utm_source=water_org&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=adblock_right&utm_content=GOW-ad" target="_blank">donation</a>.</div>
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Hold a fundraiser at your school or in your community. </div>
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<b>Great Resources:</b></div>
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<a href="http://unicef.org/" target="_blank">UNICEF</a></div>
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<a href="http://water.org/">water.org</a></div>
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<a href="http://blueplanetnetwork.org/" target="_blank">Blue Planet Network</a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">What else can you do to help? Feel free to blog suggestions below! </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">"Every $1 spent on water and sanitation generates a return of $9 in saved time, increased productivity and reduced health costs in Africa.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;"><br style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="ref-right" style="float: right; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">-- United Nations Development Program" </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">1. <i>The Facts About the Global Drinking Water Crisis.</i> Blue Planet Network. Web. 18 September 2012. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">2. <i>Water Facts: Water</i>. Water.org. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0. Web. 18 September 2012. </span></div>
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Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-3388548188423743512012-06-11T19:57:00.003-07:002013-02-10T11:29:51.889-08:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">An Active Handprint Book Review</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><i>A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier</i></b></span></div>
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by Ishmael Beah </div>
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It's haunting. It's disturbing. It's necessary. </div>
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Juxtaposed against the backdrop of childhood innocence, <i>A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier</i> is a harrowing tale of a twelve year old boy as he fights daily to survive in a tumultuous Sierra Leone. This haunting coming-of-age novel highlights the instinct to survive and the psychological tortures that come with it. </div>
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Ishmael's heart-wrenching tale questions the very root of human nature yet explains the light within each of us. A light that even when extinguished by the heaviest downpour glows red, waiting to be reignited by a single spark of hope. </div>
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<i>A Long Way Gone</i> drags readers though the decline into violence: explaining how boys as young as seven were molded into soldiers, justifying hauntingly gruesome scenes, and portraying murder, near-death experiences, heartbreak and rehabilitation. </div>
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The writing is raw. The descriptions are as honest and objective as possible. The memories are painful. Yet the language retains a lyrically whimsical, tribal quality that floats readers through even the most sickening moments. </div>
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If you have ever felt that you have done something that is unforgivable, this is the book for you. </div>
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If you have ever thought that you are beyond help, this is the book for you.</div>
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If you believe in the redemptive nature of humanity, if you believe that innocence needs to be protected, if you believe that there is always hope, <i>this is the book for you. </i></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LJgm46I4sZ8/T9aurNDN9JI/AAAAAAAAAD8/0rzh0QwmPwQ/s320/lwg_book_ltbkgrd.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="(alongwaygone.com)" width="290" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(alongwaygone.com)</td></tr>
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Click <a href="http://alongwaygone.com/">HERE</a> for more information or to purchase. </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Review by Brittany Slusarczyk</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">©ActiveHandprint 2012</span></div>
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Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-91115151648626066652012-05-13T18:36:00.000-07:002013-02-10T11:30:57.479-08:00Homelessness in America<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kw7HFQLJ8iI/T7BbNJ2R4zI/AAAAAAAAADw/rpMY83JvIWQ/s1600/12236157081072900286josuemb_house-silhouette.svg.med.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kw7HFQLJ8iI/T7BbNJ2R4zI/AAAAAAAAADw/rpMY83JvIWQ/s1600/12236157081072900286josuemb_house-silhouette.svg.med.png" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Home</span>--for many of us the word conjures up a slideshow of images. Sometimes we may think of our caring parents, loving siblings and warm dinners. Sometimes we may think of arguing with our parents, annoying siblings or dinners that were disgusting. Whatever the memories, good or bad, the fact is that we have memories of home.<br />
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Unfortunately, tonight in America, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">over 600,000 people</span> will not have a home to sleep in.<br />
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According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness,<br />
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"By the numbers:<br />
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-There are <b>643,067 people</b> experiencing homelessness on any given night in the United States.<br />
-Of that number, <b>238,110 are people in families,</b> and<br />
-<b>404,957 are individuals</b>.<br />
-<b>17 percent</b> of the homeless population is considered '<b>chronically homeless,'</b> and<br />
-<b>12 percent </b>of the homeless population - 67,000 - are <b>veterans</b>." <a href="http://www.endhomelessness.org/section/about_homelessness/snapshot_of_homelessness">Read More</a><br />
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<b>Get Involved:</b></div>
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Volunteer in a local shelter </div>
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Organize a donation of supplies to a local shelter (canned food, paper goods, toiletries, books)</div>
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Volunteer at a local soup kitchen to serve the homeless</div>
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Advocate for the homeless by calling 202-46204822 or e-mailing info@nationalhomeless.org</div>
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Make posters to place around your school/community to help peers who may be homeless</div>
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Donate your used clothes and shoes to a local shelter</div>
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Get more <a href="http://www.nationalhomeless.org/want_to_help/index.html">ideas</a></div>
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<b>Read More:</b></div>
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Read a collection of stories about homeless teens overcoming their obstacles in</div>
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<div class="buying" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.86em; padding-bottom: 0.25em; padding-left: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-top: 0.25em;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i> The Struggle to Be Strong: True Stories by Teens About Overcoming Tough Times </i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i></i> Edited by </span></span><span class="contributorNameTrigger"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Al Desetta M.A. (</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Editor), </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sybil Wolin Ph.D.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> (Editor)</span></span></div>
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Read about a homeless teen in NYC in</div>
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<i>Street Life: My Story </i>(E-book) by Wayne Kernochan</div>
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Read about the daily lives of homeless women in the D.C. area in</div>
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<i>Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women</i> by Elliot Liebow</div>
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For children, read about a child living out of his car in</div>
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<b> </b><i>A Shelter in Our Car</i> by Monica Gunning</div>
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<b>If you need help:</b></div>
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If you are under age 20, call <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma, Arial;">1-800-323-GROW</span></div>
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Click <a href="http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/">here</a> to find a homeless shelter by you. </div>
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Know that <b>you are not alone </b>and that there are many people willing and able to help!</div>
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Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-40659982427006391442012-02-01T20:20:00.000-08:002013-02-10T11:31:14.115-08:00Child Abuse<strong>Childhood, [chahyld-h<i>oo</i>d]</strong><br />
n. a time to play, laugh, sing, dance, ask questions, explore, enjoy<br />
n. a stage of life classified by <i>innocence</i> and <i>purity</i><br />
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Unfortunately for an estimated <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">6 million children</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span> in America, childhood is not filled with blocks, dolls and smiles. Instead, these children are stripped of their innocence, beaten into learning the cruelest edges of humanity.<br />
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<b>What constitutes child abuse? </b><br />
Child abuse is legally defied as an act, or failure to act, that results in the death, serious emotional or physical harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation of a child or which places the child in an immediate risk of serious danger. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Every 10 seconds</span> a report of child abuse is made. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span><br />
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Shockingly, nearly <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">5 children die from child abuse </span>each day in America.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">About 80% </span>of those children who die from abuse<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> are under the age of 4</span>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span><br />
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Roughly <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">50%-60% </span>of the child fatalities that occur as a result of maltreatment are not recorded on death certificates. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2_xgPvGfZVg/TyoOUm1zXDI/AAAAAAAAADY/7vGqVZUSQhI/s1600/IMAG1184.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2_xgPvGfZVg/TyoOUm1zXDI/AAAAAAAAADY/7vGqVZUSQhI/s400/IMAG1184.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artist: J. Sanchez</td></tr>
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<strong>Get Involved</strong><br />
<strong>-Local high school students suggest:</strong><br />
-TALK ABOUT IT--the more people who hear about it, the more people who can help fight it<br />
-Post/Tweet projects about stopping child abuse<br />
-Post/Tweet shocking statistics about child abuse<br />
-Find a charity that supports ending child abuse<br />
-Create a club or organization that supports ending child abuse<br />
-Report any suspicious activity to <a href="http://www.nj.gov/dcf/divisions/dyfs/">DYFS</a>, a teacher, a police officer, a counselor, an administrator or a school nurse<br />
-Create posters to hang around school with stats, info and pics<br />
-Wear a <a href="http://oswegocac.org/blue-ribbons-raise-awareness-of-child-abuse/">blue ribbon</a><br />
-Create a petition and have students pledge that if they SEE something to TELL someone<br />
-Create a bulletin board in your classroom <br />
-Volunteer at a shelter or home for abused children<br />
-Hold a fundraiser to raise money or gather supplies to send to a local shelter<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YBdqIvCVMrU/TyoOiKjNdSI/AAAAAAAAADg/TJV6a80q2D4/s1600/IMAG1182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="119" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YBdqIvCVMrU/TyoOiKjNdSI/AAAAAAAAADg/TJV6a80q2D4/s200/IMAG1182.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Scene from <i>They Cage the Animals at Night</i><br />
Artist: A. Glowka</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Read more:</b><br />
-Check out <i>They Cage the Animals at Night</i> or <i>A Child Called It</i> to get a first hand perspective on the topic<br />
-Read personal <a href="http://www.childhelp.org/stories">stories</a> from those who have faced abuse<br />
-Look up more <a href="http://www.childhelp.org/pages/statistics">statistics</a> about the topic<br />
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<strong>If you are being abused:</strong><br />
-Know that you are not alone and that there are people who can help!<br />
-Tell a friend, teacher, administrator, police officer, counselor, nurse<br />
-Call 1(800)4-A-CHILD the National Child Abuse Hotline<br />
<strong><em>Remember:</em></strong> You are important, and you deserve to be safe!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n9NmfrMVb6A/TyoO94gf9UI/AAAAAAAAADo/ypTrRXXuhJQ/s1600/IMAG1183.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n9NmfrMVb6A/TyoO94gf9UI/AAAAAAAAADo/ypTrRXXuhJQ/s320/IMAG1183.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Posters by: M. Ross & G. Saidian</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">1. http://www.childhelp.org/pages/statistics#abuse-conseq</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">2. definition modified from </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(42 U.S.C.A. § 5106g).</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><br />
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Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-56863949558081746812011-12-30T14:49:00.000-08:002013-02-10T11:31:29.577-08:00Childhood Poverty in America<b><i>"Oh my God! I'm starving!" </i></b><br />
<b><i>"If I don't eat, I'm gonna die."</i></b><br />
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How often do we spew out these words? How often do we whine and complain because our lunch plans have been delayed an hour or so? We many times proclaim that we are "starving," "ravenous," "dying of hunger."<br />
<br />
But what does it really mean to be <b>starving</b>? To go to sleep hungry? To not know if the next meal will come, and if it does, what it will even be?<br />
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Ask the<b><span style="font-size: large;"> 19.8% </span></b>of school-age American children who are living below the<span style="color: magenta;"> poverty line</span>. <br />
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If you break that statistic down, it means that<span style="font-size: large;"><b> 1 in 5</b></span> American school children are considered poor. (This does not even factor in the "working poor" and those struggling to make ends meet). <br />
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<b>Get Involved:</b><br />
-Volunteer at a local soup kitchen or food bank<br />
-Hold a food drive and collect non-perishable items<br />
-Talk to local restaurants about collecting unused food and donating it <br />
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<b>Read More:</b><br />
-Learn about <a href="http://www.childhungerendshere.com/Html/About.html">Child Hunger</a> in your community<br />
-Check out <a href="http://www.conagrafoodsfoundation.org/help-conagra-foods-foundation/index.jsp">New Ideas</a> to help make a difference<br />
-Read <u><b>My Mother's Car</b></u> to hear one child's story of poverty<br />
-Read <u><b>Hope for Children in Poverty: Profiles and Possibilities </b></u><br />
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<b><span style="color: magenta;"><u>Phrases of Action:</u></span></b><br />
What is the <span style="color: magenta;">poverty line</span>?<br />
Currently in the US, it is an income of $22,314 per year for a family of four.Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-5379344436699903382011-12-01T20:18:00.000-08:002013-02-10T11:31:41.120-08:00Bullying<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recent studies show that </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">13%</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> of teens admit to bullying.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An additional </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6% </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">of teens admit to bullying and being bullied.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In all, there are about </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">19%</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> of teens bullying. </span><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">19%</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.*</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, about </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 out of 5</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> students will bully another student. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well we could stop there. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or we can turn to the rest. To the </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">81%</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4 out of 5</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> students who know bullying is happening.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 4 out of 5</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> students who are not bullied.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4 out of 5</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> students who are watching.</span><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 4 out of 5 who could be leaving an Active Handprint.</span></span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> </b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The number of students who can stop bullying far outweighs the number of bullies. So why are students not standing up for each other? </span><br />
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</span> <br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many are afraid the bully will turn on them. Many are afraid of being associated with the person being bullied. Many are afraid of what their friends will think if they stand up for another person (it takes a lot to stand up to a bully; it takes even more to stand up to your own friends). And then there are many teens who want to help but don't know how...</span><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First ask yourself: </span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How would I feel if that were me? Would I be okay with everyone walking by? Would I want someone to stand up for me? Would I want help? </span></i></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Get involved:</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The number of non-bullied students outnumbers the bullies. SO DO SOMETHING!</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Local students suggested:</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Tell a teacher, guidance counselor, parent, principal if you see bullying</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Inform students about reporting bullying incidents</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Have an assembly to talk about standing up for others</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Learn what it is like to be bullied </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Challenge your friends to stand up to bullying too</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Don't use derogatory terms towards your enemies OR your friends </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Don't joke about bullying</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Follow @StopBullying on twitter</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Write your own story about bullying</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Make a poster like the one below to bring awareness to the topic</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jRgLaMaWUdQ/Ttfc56zCcMI/AAAAAAAAAG8/_OpN_wkDMSY/s1600/blogpic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="400px" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jRgLaMaWUdQ/Ttfc56zCcMI/AAAAAAAAAG8/_OpN_wkDMSY/s400/blogpic.jpg" width="362px" /></span></a></div>
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</span> <br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> </b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read More:</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Learn more about </span><a href="http://www.stopbullying.gov/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">bullying</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Read </span><a href="http://www.stageoflife.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">stories</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> of those who have been there and those who want to stop it</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Read </span><a href="http://dearbully.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear Bully</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-- a collection of short stories where authors tell about their experiences with bullying </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></strong></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"First They Came for the Jews"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></strong></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><strong><tt><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Pastor Niemoller</span></span></tt></strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><strong><tt><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></tt></strong></span></div>
</strong></span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">First they came for the Jews </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.</span></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.</span></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.</span></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.</span></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.rkdn.org/u-r-next.asp</span></span></span></div>
</span></span></span></span></h3>
Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155554783128530496.post-12443353265442989582011-11-22T19:31:00.000-08:002013-02-10T11:31:54.866-08:00Women's EducationSophomore year. For most American high school students the year means nothing. No special attention like freshmen. No prom like the juniors and seniors. No graduation. No ring ceremony. Nothing.<br />
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So why is sophomore year so significant for women?<br />
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Greg Mortensen, author of <i>Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, </i>reveals the facts:<br />
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<b>"According to Yale economist Paul T. Schultz, an extra year of secondary school may raise [a] girl's lifetime wages by an additional 15 to 25 percent" (12). </b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>*</b></span><br />
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Who knew sophomore year was actually so important?<br />
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<b>Get involved: </b><br />
-Visit <a href="http://www.stonesintoschools.com/">Mortenson's site</a> to learn more about the schools he is establishing and their benefits<br />
-Visit the <a href="http://www.ikat.org/">Central Asia Institute's site</a> to learn more about their cause and contributions<br />
-Visit <a href="http://www.penniesforpeace.org/">Pennies for Peace</a> a site established for school children to learn how a penny can make a difference<br />
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<br />
<b>Read about it:</b><br />
-Pick up a copy of <b><i>Stones into Schools</i></b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">* Mortenson, Greg. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Stones into Schools: </span></i><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan.</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"> New York: Penguin Group, 2009. Print. </span>Brittany Slusarczyk http://www.blogger.com/profile/05447030939961216390noreply@blogger.com0