by Lori Menger, Reading Teacher
Charting a New Course for the Upcoming Year
With the desire being to build on the successes, repair any damage from the storms, and set a course to assure arrival at the destination, the design team considered the successes and failures and set a new course for the 2008 school year.
First addressed [...]

By Lori Menger, Reading teacher
Weathering the Storms
Like any long voyage, this plan certainly encountered some storms along the way. In order to effectively evaluate at the end of the school year it was necessary to look closely at the challenges to effectively chart the course for the next year.
In Florida late summer and early fall [...]

By Lori Menger, Reading teacher
Smooth Sailing
As part of the plan the design team evaluated progress at the end of the school year, using their own observations, feedback from teacher and parent surveys, and information gathered informally during teacher evaluation conferences and staff meetings. Following are what were deemed to be the successes experienced during the [...]

By Lori Menger, Reading Teacher
Charting the Plan

Considering all the above factors a plan for the coming year was developed. The design team included two teachers, the principal, and the vice principal. It was decided the weekly computer and drama classes would be discontinued, and the time would be commandeered for academic instruction. Technology and drama [...]

Lori Menger, an amazing Reading teacher, has taken the time to document the Technology and Drama integration changes that have taken place at our school over the last school year.  With her permission, I am posting her paper here, since I feel others could benefit from her honesty, perspective and insight.
Setting Sail on a New [...]

Nothing makes me sadder than a student who is turned off by learning. Nothing makes me madder than a capable person who is “wasting” their mind on drugs. And nothing irritates me more than a teacher who makes no effort in continuing to learn.
I understand that everyone has strengths and weaknesses in different areas. One [...]

Talking Heads- Continuing the conversation about global initiatives in other schools
Global Education Summit (GES) participants and other school leaders are invited to compare notes on global education in their schools. Schools with innovative programs or solutions will have the opportunity to share what works, how, and why.
Presenters:�

Dick Hall, NAIS Board Global Task Force
Barbara Chase, Phillips [...]

This past Wednesday I attended NAIS- Global Education Summit in New York. Here are my notes that I took
International Perspective needs to be strengthened. Extending global perspectives in the wider educational scheme
Kwame Anthony Appish
Go beyond the minimizing of people. Defining a person by only one thing: women, Jews, Muslims, etc.
Fear of differences and how it [...]

This workshop was presented by Vicki Weeks from the Lake Side School in Seattle. She is the Director of Global Studies.
As the world grows smaller, how can we encourage students to value the diversity and complexity of a global society? Lakeside School has embraced this challenge and built a model for a global service [...]

I need to brag about my own sixteen year old daughter today. She surprised me … well… it was a school assignment… but she shared it with me. Her English teacher asked for a poem, comparing life to…
Life is an iPod, press shuffle
and see what you get.
Is it mellow, happy, upbeat
sing along.
Every beat has its [...]