Quantcast
Michelle Snow

“I’m amazed and honored that she chose me,” said John Alemany, Michelle Snow’s 12th grade Spanish teacher.“She's a star basketball player. I would have thought for sure she’d pick one of her coaches.” “Sports came easy to me,” explains Michelle. “Spanish was a challenge, and Mr. Alemany didn’t give up on me. “He has this amazing positive energy. And he genuinely cares. You can’t imagine what a difference that makes.” Behind every famous person is
a fabulous teacher

Education News: September 30, 2005

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending September 30, 2005.

‘No Child’ rules to be eased for a year
(Source: washingtonpost.com, 9/30/05)
As a result of the Katrina and Rita disasters Educational Secretary Margaret Spellings announced that she will be accommodating schools affected by the storm by relaxing mandated year-end assessments. Spellings stated that specified schools would not be held responsible for yearly assessments so that they may focus on reestablishing their devastated schools and communities. However, schools that have opened their doors to displaced students will not be allotted that luxury.

New focus put on students who don’t speak English
(Source: HeraldTribune.com, 9/30/05)
With the transformation of demographics in the United States, classrooms nationwide are changing as well. Florida and California are examples of this increasing trend with some counties having over 90 countries and 65 different languages represented. Teachers have to acquire new skills, both verbal and nonverbal to reach all of their students. Music, gestures, and signs are implemented to help teachers find new ways to appreciate foreign cultures in their classrooms.

Computer games help train kids to pay attention
(Source: eschoolnews.com, 9/29/05)
With the rise of attention disorders in primary-school students, researchers are making a concerted effort to address this trend using computer games. The games are intended to increase the ability to tune out distractions and focus on important information. These disorders, which develop between the ages of three and seven, inhibit students from acquiring basic skills at an early age. The interactive games designed to address these problems have had positive results in the development of the brains in 6-year-olds and may be used more widely in the future.

Schools directed to expand history curriculums
(Source: CNN.com, 9/28/05)
Legislators are attempting to change the face of history in schools. A directive has been established to include different races and ethnic groups in the classroom history curriculum. Struggles and triumphs of different groups would be addressed and could also necessitate the rewriting classroom textbooks nationwide.

Spellings: 372,000 students displaced by Katrina
(Source: CNN.com, 9/26/05)
Life after Katrina is leaving more than debris along the gulf coast. Over 372,000 students are without a school in Louisiana and Mississippi. The storm closed the doors of 489 schools leaving Education Secretary Margaret Spellings with questions and concerns for the displaced students and their prospective educational futures.

Design for learning
(Source: CNN.com, 9/26/05)
The days of changing classes every 45-minute are soon to be a thing of the past. Student-tailored curricula are evolving to meet the needs of the individual. Architects are redesigning innovative schools to accommodate these changes and the new classrooms are being referred to as “studios”. This classroom metamorphosis is intended to prepare the students to function more efficiently in today’s information age.