CHRISTMAS SONG PICTURE GAME

Thank you to JAMES STANUSZEK of Ohio for creating the illustrations 
and to"ROBIN WOOD" of Missouri, for a copy of the Game!!

To play this game, you can print the picture sheet right off this site. Robins says to give people a sheet of blank paper and a pencil to write their answers on, then give them 5 minutes to figure out as many as possible. They can not talk to each other or copy. She usually gives prizes to the top two or three winner and a cassette of Christmas songs to the person with the worst score.

Blogging

For this entire semester we’ve been asked to blog at least twice a week mostly about information we found regarding education or for those who were there for kinesiology.  I enjoyed having class about technology with more than just education majors in the class because we were able incorporate the same tools, to other majors.  I also enjoyed reading blogs done by others in the class.  Their perspective on education or others aspects of life kept the reading interesting and lively.   Many others posted random thoughts of the day or about how their week was going.  I’m still trying to get over the fear of putting personal information online.

            I started out blogging about The Citizen Schools, a system in Boston where students learn through apprentice ships how to get jobs, and cars, etc.  However I soon learned that I needed to research more about different educational features.  That’s when I experiment with my Blog and found different additives to the page, like games, and the sunset of the day.  I have also found several other blogs about the field of special education that I find extremely useful. 

            I did however find one blog that we’ve talked about several times that I found to be quite disturbing.  Tardblog.com is a blog making fun of students with disabilities, but the Google search says it’s meant to help parents of disabled children.  I found it to be a very offensive and almost rude at the suggestive things that were displayed on the page. 

            I enjoyed blogging while in class, finding interesting articles and neat little lessons for classes.  I however had a hard time putting anything personal online.  I’ve had one too many run ins with creeps chatting me, etc.  Therefore, will I continue to blog after EDT 400?  Only time will tell.  I now have to power / knowledge to create a blog if it ever deem necessary.  I’m not quite sure if I’d ever be able to use it in a classroom with special education students, but I myself could make a blog about my classroom allowing parents access.  This would help the parents feel part of their students’ life at school.  

Beyond Technology

In the article Beyond Technology, we learn that technology is changing the way of life as we now know it. No longer will most people being doing manual labor. Instead our finger will be earning us the cash, just by sitting @ home on our computers. "For example, a few years ago there were 10,000 people working for IBM in the Chicago office, a fifty story black tower. There used to be a clear sense of schedules, reporting lines, and physical space. Today, there are only 3,500 people based from Chicago. And, 80% of them work out of their homes." This is unbelievable how we can earn cash just by sitting at home. Now those who want to stay at home and help raise their children can do so and still hold a place in the working world. Another example of this would be the family a took care of for three years. Their dad was a medical sales man and mom worked outside the home. While Dad did a bit of traveling, he was mostly working from home and therefore at times i felt awkward because he was there and really there as no need for me to be to.
School seems to be going in a completely different direction as well in that we are getting more tech savy and it looks to me that some day there will be no classrooms.
Students as Learning Associates: Reengineering the Job Description of Students
Students help prepare their own lessons and the only tough thing i see about this happening is the balance between teacher and parents help for the student. They'll have to have a very cooperative relationship.
Students as Knowledge Producers
Kids ideas will be posted nationally for everyone to see and therefore they have to be on their A game.
Connect Students to Community
They want kids as young as kindergarten to start faxing other students across the world / state / country.
Collegiality

• most frequently asked questions from parents
• goals for every course,
• examples of past student's work,
• recommended homework assignments for the entire year,
• hot button connections to other sites on the Web that support learning,
• action research projects
  

Teacher Evaluation
teachers share their wisdom with each other and help each other learn new techniques.
Equity
Every family should be able to afford a Computer weather it be lap top or desktop.
Permeability
Everyone should able to share their ideas and resources instead of none at all.

College Week Live Online

Today I've been talking with prospective students through the Internet! How cool is technology today? The schools also participating in this online college fair are:

Binghamton University	Calvin College
Bryn Mawr College	Century College
Columbia University	Cleveland Chiropractic College
DeSales University	College For Creative Studies
Dowling College	Concordia University
Drexel University	Ferris State University
Eastern University	Hope College
Global College of Long Island University	Idaho State University
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology	Illinois Institute of Technology
Hofstra University	Illinois State University
Ithaca College	Millikin University
Kean University	Mount Mercy College
Keuka College	Northland College
Mercyhurst College	Northwood University-Midland, Michigan Campus
New York Institute of Technology	Robert Morris College
Pittsburgh Technical Institute	Saint Louis University
Rutgers	Saint Mary's College
St. John's University	Black Hills State University
SUNY Cortland	Wartburg College
SUNY Institute of Technology	Wayne State University
Susquehanna University
Temple University	Texas
Unites States Military Academy	Northwood University-Cedar Hill (Dallas), Texas Campus
University of Scranton	Sam Houston State University
	Schreiner University
Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University	The University of Texas at Austin
Central Connecticut State University	Trinity University
Lesley College	University of Houston
University of New Haven
United States Coast Guard Academy	Southeast
University of Bridgeport	Alabama State University
Saint Joseph College	Anderson University
Fairfield University	Christian Brothers University
Becker College	Eastern Carolina University
Dartmouth College	Florida Atlantic University
Emerson College	Florida International University
Emmanuel College	Florida State University
Green Mountain College	Mars Hill College
Johnson & Wales University	Marshall University
Mass College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences	Middle Tennessee State University
Merrimack College	Millsaps College
Mount Ida College	Morehead State University
New England College	Montgomery College
Northeastern University	Northwood University-West Palm Beach, Florida Campus
Providence College	Old Dominion University
Regis College (MA)	Palm Beach Atlantic University
Southern New Hampshire University	Richard Bland College
Suffolk University	Savannah College of Art & Design
Thomas University	Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic
Unity College	Talladega College
University of New England	Union University
Wentworth Institute of Technology	University of Alabama
Wheelock College	University of Alabama at Birmingham
Worcester Polytechnic Institute	University of Alabama, Huntsville
Yale University	University of Kentucky
	University of Mary Washington
Alaska Pacific University	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Arizona State University	University of North Carolina at Pemboke
Bellevue Community College	University of Tennessee
California Institute of Technology	Virginia Military Institute
Chaminade University of Honolulu	Wake Forest University
Coleman College
Colorado State University	Argosy University Online
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University	Bay State College
Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising	ECPI College of Technology
Grand Canyon University	Ivy Bridge College of Tiffin University
Gnomon School of Visual Effects	South University Online
Hawaii Pacific	Southwestern College, Professional Studies
Laramie County Community College	Strayer University
Menlo College	The Art Institute of Pitt Online
Regis University (CO)	Westwood College
San Diego State University
Stanford University	Edith Cowan University- Australia
The Academy of Art University	Global College of Long Island University
UCLA	Perth Education City- Australia
United States Air Force Academy	National University of Ireland, Galway
University of Arizona	University College, Cork- Ireland
University of California, Riverside	Bangor University- UK
University of Phoenix	Cardiff University- UK
University of Northern Colorado	Richmond- The American Intl University in London
Warner Pacific College	University of Wales, Newport- UK
Westwood College	University of Glamorgan (Wales)- UK
	University of Wales, Lampeter- UK
Northern Alberta Institute of Technology	York St John University- UK
University of Northern British Columbia	Semester at Sea

We've been able to IM through this site just like you would correspond with someone at an open house, only this program is not face to face. Instead its key's to keys and Internet face to Internet face. I've had several students already IM me asking questions and its been my pleasure to inform them about school, just as if they had walked in the doors of the Buchanan and asked for info. If you guys want to check it out, here's the link: College Week Live

I actually talked with a student an believe i helped bring her to U-Maine at least for a visit! That's all we can ask for! :)

Shutterfly

In a snapshot, Shutterfly makes it fun and easy to be throughful and creative with your memories. I have been using shutterfly.com for years now. They delives award-winning prints from my digital camera right to my door.  They also make memory-keeping and gift giving easy with their personalized photo books, greeting cards, and dozens of phot gifts.  It's a great way to store pictures and create fun things with the pictures you take.  They also have great sales.  When it comes around Christmas time i always order many picture calanders as presants.  It's a presant that lasts all year long.  

The major benefits:

• Free online photo storage
  
• Free online photo sharing
  
• Free photo software
  
• Photo Borders
  
• Back-of-print messaging
  

No more Birthday's in School :(

Many schools just like Duxbury elementary are closing their doors to junk food because survey says that parents have nutrition as their first priority.

"That doesn't mean they want to have cupcakes removed from birthday celebrations and replaces with celery sticks and boxes of raisins-especially those little boxes with 32 raisins that always come out in one inseparable clump!" http://paulharrisonline.blogspot.com/2004/06/no-cupcakes-for-you.html The schools response in incorporating this rule into the school system is because they are scared of the obesity rate increasing.  I for one believe the children should have more time to do outdoor activities and exercise and then we would not have this problem about worrying about the nutrient and health of our students.  

It's also sad that this is actually a discussion right now.  Whether or no cupcakes should be allowed in school or not.  They have so much more they should be worrying about!

Halloween Scavenger Hunt

I found this neat idea written by: Melissa Kelly @ About.com Directions: Find the answers to questions 1 - 20 on the following Web pages to complete the following Halloween Scavenger Hunt. If the page is a list of other Web pages, you will have to follow links to find an answers.

• Parenting of K-6 Children - Kids Halloween Stories
  
• Entertaining - A Harry Potter Halloween Party
• Family Internet - Halloween
• Halloween Games
• Travel with Kids - Haunted Happenings
• Southern American Cuisine - Halloween Recipes Index
• New England for Visitors- Spooktacular Salem

Now For the Questions....

1. What kind of worms are in wormy apples?

2. What do you get when you cross a Snowman with a Vampire?

3. Name the Halloween Haunted House in Bentleyville, PA.

4. From where does the name 'Halloween' come?

5. In what year did the Salem witchcraft trials occur?

6. What color should the Walkman box be sprayed in order to complete the Walkman costume?

7. In 'Halloween Checkers', what type of creature is on your pieces?

8. What label should you look for when purchasing costumes?

9. What do you make the Halloween Spiders legs out of?

10. Who wrote The House of Seven Gables?

11. What three ingredients are needed to make 'Goopy Slime?"

12. In the Easy Halloween Maze, what are you trying to help the skeleton find his way to?

13. Who wrote 'The Raven'?

14. What sign should hang over the entrance to a Harry Potter Halloween party?

15. Where can you see memorabilia from pirates like Blackbeard?

Internet Safety

I've been reading many articles on Internet safety for the Contentious Paper. I just recently found a site that spoke to the parents and what there jobs were in keeping their children safe on the Internet. http://kidshealth.org
It also stresses the Internet safety laws, The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, (COPPA). This prevent students from giving out their information without parents permission. COPPA requires websites to explain their privacy policies on the site and get parental consent before collecting or using a child's personal information.
Even with this law in place a child's best protection from Internet "bad guys" is their parents. The article lists suggestions on how parents should go about protecting the children.

• Become computer literate and learn how to block objectionable material.
• Keep the computer in a common area, not in individual bedrooms, where you can watch and monitor its use.
• Share an email account with your child so you can monitor messages.
• Bookmark kids' favorite sites for easy access.
• Spend time online together to teach your kids appropriate online behavior.
• Forbid your child from entering private chat rooms; block them with safety features provided by your Internet service provider or with special filtering software. Be aware that posting messages to chat rooms reveals a user's email address to others.
• Monitor your credit card and phone bills for unfamiliar account charges.
• Find out what, if any, online protection is offered by your child's school, after-school center, friends' homes, or anyplace where kids could use a computer without your supervision.
• Take your child seriously if he or she reports an uncomfortable online exchange.
• Forward copies of obscene or threatening messages you or your kids get to your Internet service provider.
• Call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at (800) 843-5678 if you're aware of the transmission, use, or viewing of child pornography online. Contact your local law enforcement agency or the FBI if your child has received child pornography via the Internet.

Set up some simple rules for your kids to follow while they're using the Internet, such as:

• Follow the rules you set, as well as those set by your Internet service provider.
• Never trade personal photographs in the mail or scanned photographs over the Internet.
• Never reveal personal information, such as address, phone number, or school name or location. Use only a screen name. Never agree to meet anyone from a chat room in person.
• Never respond to a threatening email or message.
• Always tell a parent about any communication or conversation that was scary.
• If your child has a new "friend," insist on being "introduced" online to that friend.

There are also warning signs to watch out for in case you child does fall victim to an Internet crime. When they spend long hours online, especially at night, phone calls from people you don't know, or unsolicited gifts arriving in the mail. If your child suddenly turns off the computer when you walk into the room, ask why and monitor computer time more closely. Withdrawal from family life and reluctance to discuss online activities are other signs to watch for.

There are also other related articles for parents to read:
Healthy Habits for TV, Video Games, and the Internet
Computer-Related Repetitive Stress Injuries

And articles for Teens and Kids:
Safe Cyberspace Surfing
Internet Safety Safe Surfing Tips for Teens

Student Learning Needs Survey

I read a blog by Sue Watson at About.com.  She writes a blog on Special Education.  She says that the way to figure out the best way for students to learn is by asking them which way they prefer.  The more we understand about out students, the better we can help further their academic career.  Here are some sample questions to ask all students:

• Yes ___ No ___ During work time, I like to listen to music.
• Yes ___ No ___ During work time I like it to be quiet.
• Yes ___ No ___ I like working in small groups.
• Yes ___ No ___ I like to work alone.
• Yes ___ No ___ I like working in pairs and triads.
• Yes ___ No ___ I like sitting in groups.
• Yes ___ No ___ I like sitting near the door.
• Yes ___ No ___ I like sitting near the window.
• Yes ___ No ___ I like working on the computer.
• Yes ___ No ___ I work better in the mornings.
• Yes ___ No ___ I work better in the afternoons.
• Yes ___ No ___ I like things being explained to me.
• Yes ___ No ___ I prefer to read about how to do something.
• Yes ___ No ___ I like having the same desk spot.
• Yes ___ No ___ I prefer to change seating from time to time.
• Yes ___ No ___ I enjoy speaking to the whole class.
• Yes ___ No ___ I prefer not to speak to the whole class.

If you want to check out her blog for yourself, she's the one writing about special education on about.com

Young Minds, Fast Times: The Twenty-First-Century Digital Learner

by Marc Prensky

Now a days we are living in a technological age, where there is no reading of books, students first learn to use the computer.  This is hard for many teachers who have been teaching for many years.  The basics are no longer the basics or interest of what the students want to learn.  

The article states: "We treat out students the way we treated women before suffrage."  Meaning students have no rights in school, by which I mean their ideas are not heard.  I agree that students should be allowed to voice their opinions and ideas.  I understand the feeling of being in a classroom where i am bored out of my mind and the teacher just drones on and on.  

What I like about this article is the fact that the students are allowed to share their knowledge and experience of computers / internet to teachers and parents.  Some questions that Marc asked the kids were, "What experiences in school really engaged you?  How do you use technology in school as opposed to out of school?  What are you pet peeves?"  This technique of asking the students how they feel about the subject, helps the parents and teachers reach the students perspective.  

I have done the same exercise in the past, with potential students for the University of Maine.  We have a student panel in which the students tell their stories and the parents are allowed to ask us questions.  Sometimes this is a very helpful way of getting a stressful situation down to ground level.  

"There is so much difference between how students think and how teachers think" said a female student in FL.  I thought that was a great statement from the student because it does put u in the perspective of how some students feel in class. When becoming a teacher, i need to keep this thought in mind.  Though i don't believe it happens as much in the younger grades as it does in the older.  

If we really think about it, computers are the second teacher at home.  They're like the new age tutor, or take home teacher.  The new age computer / internet system can also help out sick students.  No matter if the student is sick or not, their papers could still be passed in.  

Podcasting

I found this podcast about teachers , trading stories on how to get their students up to speed on the new technology.  Teachers Teaching Teachers "A virtual staff meeting with youth voices Teacher - TTT123- 09.24.08 What were they thinking?" by: Paul Allison, Susan Ettenheim, Thomas (Teb) Locke

They are discussing about wikki's and Blogs and how these teachers from around the country are trying the same lesson of digital photography.  They're working how to make the lessons as similar as possible for the kids to understand.  Sarah an art teacher from Maine joined the discussion.  She has her students posting blogs about their art work and how they feel about art in the world.  Blogs for her students are primarily E-portfolios and they're able to critique each others works of art.  Once they get their classes connected then they can have student from the NY school and ME school help each other out.  

The Youth Voices program teachers high school students how to create a radio feature story about an issue that affects their lives and their larger community in which they live.  The workshops are held 3 times a week during the fall, spring, and summer semesters at the studios and offices of WAMU 88.5 , and allow students to interact with professional radio journalists and producers.  The reports are considered for airing on WAMU 88.5 and offered nationally through PRX, an Internet content-sharing platform through which many Youth Voices have aired on station from New York to Oregon.  

Building A Tree Leaf By Leaf

Objectives:

• Exploring overlapping
  
• Mixing colors
  
• Large Group Cooperation
  

What You Need:

• Download single leaf outlines form
  
• Felt tipped markers
  
• Brown Craft Paper
  
• Scissors
  
• Masking tape
  
• Any other media; paint, cloth, etc.
  

What You Do:

This is a great project that can be accomplished by people with limited vision or motor skills

Outline leaves with pen and then fill in with lots of color.

staying in the lines is not necessary 

Trunk is brown Kraft paper (paper bags will work) and hang with tape

Cut leaves out

Have the children decide where each one goes

It might be fun / educational for children to write their names on the leaves.  

The tree will eventually grow with all the names over the years.

One afternoon after a very hard day of lessons, Miss Waskiel, could sense the tension in the classroom.  To break the ice and Destress everyone she had everyone sit in a circle on the floor.  Everyone was given a piece of sheet paper and a marker.  The instruction was to write their own name on the top of the paper and then pass it to the person on their right.  Each student wrote something nice about the each other and eventually would get back to the beginning student.  Even Miss Waskiel took a turn.  Everyone left that class feeling confident in themselves and as if they were on top of the world

Years passed and the students got older.  Most of them always came back to visit their favorite teacher.  They eventually graduated and Miss Waskiel was nominated teacher of the year.  Some went off to college, some went into the work field and other went into the military.

One afternoon, Miss Waskiel got a very distressing phone call.  One of her students from the class had passed away over seas (he was in the army).  She prepared her self to go to the funeral thinking of him as he was when she had him as a little guy.  Wishing he was still there as she remembered him.  

The Funeral was as sad as any funeral is especially when you were a part of someones life.  She attended the reception afterwards and was greeted warmly by the mother of the boy.  She said, "Miss Waskiel, you have no idea how much you touched my sons life.  You were his favorite teacher.  The army has sent home his private items and tucked away was this folded note.  I thought it was some letter he'd written, but never had time to mail, but in fact it was that paper with all the nice things his friends wrote about him back in your class.  He's kept it all these years!"

Tears instantly came to her eyes and instantly the classmates around her reached into their pocket books / wallets and pulled out their paper as well!  

*********************************************************************************

Now that wasn't exactly how the story went, but it is how i remembered it.  My 5th grade teacher read us that story and then had us do the same activity.  I still to this day have my piece of paper tucked away nice and safe.  I hope to do this activity some day with my own classroom.

What's your learning style?

We were talking in class today about the different ways students learn.  I was very interested in the different ways students learn and wanted to figure out which way i learn best.  I found this website http://www.usd.edu/trip/tut/ts/style.html

There are 3 common learning styles, visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.  The survey is only 16 questions long.

After taking the quiz I came out with A3, B8 & C5. Because I got an 8 in the B category it means I'm an auditory learner.  I don't necessarily agree with the survey.  I believe I'm somewhere in between an auditory learner and a Kinesthetic learner.

Auditory learners:

• sit where they can hear but needn't pay attention to what is happening in front
• may not coordinate colors or clothes, but can explain why they are wearing what they are wearing and why
• hum or talk to themselves or others when bored
• acquire knowledge by reading aloud
• remember by verbalizing lessons to themselves (if they don't they have difficulty reading maps or diagrams or handling conceptual assignments like mathematics).

Kinesthetic learners:

• need to be active and take frequent breaks
• speak with their hands and with gestures
• remember what was done, but have difficulty recalling what was said or seen
• find reasons to tinker or move when bored
• rely on what they can directly experience or perform
• activities such as cooking, construction, engineering and art help them perceive and learn
• enjoy field trips and tasks that involve manipulating materials
• sit near the door or someplace else where they can easily get up and move around
• are uncomfortable in classrooms where they lack opportunities for hands-on experience
• communicate by touching and appreciate physically expressed encouragement, such as a pat on the back

Trustworty blog? i think not

While searching for blogs about teachers / parents who help teach children with disabilities I came across this extreemly rude blog. www.tard-blog.com
I've been reading it trying to figure out what it's about, but basically i think its a blog where teachers can relieve stress about silly happenings in the classroom. I find this site extreemly offensive and the horror stories that are on there i can't believe to be true. I then looked at some of the links on the side and i'm thinking all these blogs are to make fun of whatever they're about. A site like this scares me about how trusting can we be on the internet?
How can we let our children / students have free range, when we ourselves aren't sure of all the options yet?

Inspirational Poem

Don't Quit

~Author Unknown~

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems al up hill,

When the funds are low and the debt are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is Queer with its twists and turns,

 As everyone of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about

When he might have won had he stuck it out;

Don't give up, though the pace seems slow-

You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than

It seems to a faint and faltering man,

Often the struggler has given up

When he might have captures the victors cup.

And he learned too late, when the nigh slipped down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out-

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt-

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems afar;

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-

It's when things seems worst that you mustn't quit.

ASB Chicago!

Last Spring Break I lead an Alternative Spring Break trip to Chicago IL.  Now you my think, "Spring Break, you're supposed to be going somewhere warm, not were there is more snow"!  I took a group of 12 U-Maine students to work with the boys and girls of the James R. Jordan Boys and Girls Club.  

It was such an inspirational time as well as challenging.  First off we were a bunch of white people, most of us from Maine, going to an area of strictly black and Hispanic cultures.  It took a day for the students to trust us, because unfortunately they've been taught not to.  After that first day when the 3 boys on our trip, schooled some of the club boys at basketball, we had some respect.  

We tutored, played games, played sports, taught, danced, laughed, smiled, and had just an amazing time!  

The Last day we were there, Friday, March 7 2008 there was a shooting at the local high school only 2 miles down the road.  The Club was on full alert and we were kept very safe.  The shooting was over a hat that had a clock in it.  The shooter was actually at one time a member of the club.  The student who was shot was killed and another student was beaten to death wit a golf club. 

It sound horrendous, and i bet you're wondering why i say this was an amazing trip.  You never know once you have violence in your face, how bad some folks have it.  We were able to make these students happy for a week.  That was our job and we did it well!  

How to get involved?

You will:

• Develop and lead a hands-on learning project in your field of expertise
• Lead a small team of middle school students once a week for 10 weeks
• Help students create a real product, performance, or presentation- what we call a WOW!
• Receive close support from a Citizen School' trained educator

For Example:

Marybeth is a consultant at a Stock Brokerage in Boston, MA. She got involved with Citizen Schools as a volunteer with help from her friend David.

Her job was to help the 14-16 year old students learn how to save money for a car and where the best deals to by a car was.
She helped the students work with spreadsheets on how they'll save the money they earn or are given. They class went on field trips to car dealerships and banks for talks about loans.

After her time spent with the students they all had an upper hand in budgeting and saving their money!

A Week in the life of a Citizen School Kid

A Week @ Citizen Schools:

Monday

3:00pm Opening Circle

3:15pm Academic Support:  Reinforce school-day learning with academic support, team- building activities, and a culture of achievement.  These professionals contact the students teachers on a regular basis and stay on top of the lessons in class.  

4:30pm Apprenticeship I: Citizen schools recruits volunteers from business, civic institutions, & communities.  These professionals teach a 90-minute session twice a week for 11 weeks, with hands on learning projects.  they teach leadership, teamwork, oral communication and about technology.

6:00pm Dismissal

Tuesday:

3:00pm Opening Circle

3:25pm Academic Support

4:30pm School Navigation: Teaches 6Th grade students study skills in order to become better students.  

5:30pm Team-Building

6:00pm Dismissal

Wednesday:

3:00pm Opening Circle

3:15pm Academic Support

4:30pm Apprenticeship II

6:00pm Dismissal

Thursday:

3:00pm Opening Circle

3:15pm Academic Support

4:30pm Exploration: Exposes apprentices to the cultures, flavors and traditions of their city.   youth are challenged to test new ways of thinking about their world through experiences both in and out of the classroom.  off-campus explorations may take students to a local university, a distinctive neighborhood, a museum or a nature center. On-campus explorations teach students everything from new dances to hunger awareness, bringing the community into the classroom.  

5:45pm Closing Circle

6:00pm Dismissal

What is Citizen Schools?

Citizen Schools! It's Time!  It's time for Maine to get on the bandwagon and create one of these schools for themselves.  Citizen Schools was founded in 1995 to bring new solutions to the challenge of young adult education: more time, more relevance, and more caring adults.  This program deals with students from grades 6Th, 7Th and 8Th.  Their Programs complement classroom learning by engaging students in hands-on learning projects by adult volunteers after school and supported by a staff of professional educators.  

Children spend just 20% of their waking hours in school.  but a child's capacity to learn doesn't en with the final bell.  After-school programs can do so much more than what we so often expect of them--just keeping kids off the street-- and make real impact on their education.  

When People learn by doing, and teach others, too, research shows that kids (and adults) learn faster and more deeply. That's why Citizen Schools apprentices (students who stay after school) don't just study newspapers-- they publish their own.  They don't just use the Web-- they design websites for their schools.  The result is feelings of confidence, self-discipline, and mastery.  

Every Community is blessed with thousands of born teachers.  Professional and laborers, athletes and artists, young and old-- all of us can teach from the unique textbooks of our lives.  citizen Schools trains and supports these Citizen Teachers to play powerful roles in the lives of kids, and builds strong links between parents and school, neighborhoods and downtown institutions, and kids and adults.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeqoWmUPChl