|
|
|
|
|
|
November 2003 Newsletter |
|
Dates to Remember Nov 10 – Nov. meeting 3:30pm SC214 Nov 13 – State Rep. Jim Wilson in Library Room 118 @4:00pm Nov 13-15 – NSTA Convention Kansas City, MO Nov 19-26 – Food Basket Frenzy Nov 22 – OGET Nov 26-30 – Thanksgiving Break Dec 4*6 - NSTA Convention Reno, NV Dec 8-12 – Finals Week!! If any thing has been left out, tell us and we will add them _________________________________________________ Association For Childhood Education International –
Tahlequah Student Branch Invites
you to hear our state Representative Jim Wilson speak to us on issues in
education facing the legislature, teachers and future teachers. No Child Left
Behind will be discussed. Please
Join us on November 13, 2003 at 4 pm in the NSU library room 118. All
Education Majors are invited and the certificate of attendance can be used
for competency 13. |
Shannon White - Publicity/Newsletter Hello again to everyone. I have been very busy as everyone is with the approaching end of the semester. Therefore the newsletter is over a week late. I didn’t think anyone would be overly offended but I apologize just the same. For those of you who missed the October meeting we had Melissa Parnell come talk to us about Fall Forum. She told us about the meetings she had been to and what she learned form attending. I really appreciated how she explained to us how attending these kind of meetings will help you in the classroom. If you would like more information about what it is and who to contact go to the SCIMAST office in the science building, I believe on the first floor. We also had some delicious Little Debbies provided by Jennifer Russell. Thanks Jennifer, yum. The meeting today should also be informative and fun. We will have Mrs. Hodgenson, a first year elementary teacher, Stacy Sauceda, a full intern at THS and Don Howard, a second year Physical science teacher, to talk to use about what they are experiencing in the field. There will be opportunities to ask questions and to share your own experiences. I think many of us have concerns or funny stories about our experiences that may benefit others or just make us fall over in laughter. We will not be having a December meeting because of Finals week. We will however be passing out stress relief bags to students around campus. This is a good way to let the student body know about our new organization. More details will be coming soon. I have a few useful and amusing stories in this issue. I hope you enjoy them. We will see everyone today at 3:30 pm in SC214.☼ |
|
"No Cow Left Behind" by Kenneth Remsen, principal of
Underbill School in Jericho (VT).
As a principal facing the task
of figuring out all the complexities of the No Child
Left Behind legislation and its impact on education, I have decided that
there is a strong belief that testing
students is the answer to bringing about improvements in student performance. Since testing seems to be a
cornerstone to improving performance, I don't understand why this principle
isn't applied to other businesses that are not performing up to expectations.
I was thinking about the problem of falling milk prices and wondering why
testing cows wouldn't be effective in bringing up prices since testing
students is going to bring up test scores. The
federal government should mandate testing all cows every year starting at age
2. Now,! know that it will take time out of the farmers' necessary work to do
this testing every year and that it may be necessary to spend inordinate
amounts of money on the testing equipment, but that should not detract us
from what must be done. I'm
sure there are plenty of statistics to show what good milk producing
performance looks like and the characteristics of cows who achieve this level
of performance. It should, therefore, be easy to figure out the
characteristics necessary to meet this standard. We will
begin our testing by finding out which cows now meet the standard, which
almost meet the standard, which meet the standard with honors, and which show
little evidence of achievement. Points
will be assigned in each category and it will be necessary to achieve a
certain average score. If this score is not achieved, the Department of
Agriculture will send in experts to give advice for improvement. If improvements do not occur over a couple of years, the
state will take over your farm or
even force you to sell. Now,
I'm sure farms have a mix of cows in the barn but it is important to remember that every cow can meet the standard. There should be no
exceptions and no excuses. I don't
want to hear about the cows that just
came to the barn from the farm down the road that didn't provide the proper
nutrition or a proper living
environment. All
cows need to meet the standard. Another
key factor will be the placement of a highly qualified farmer in each
barn. I know many of you have been farming for many years but it wilt be
necessary for all farmers to become certified. This will mean some more
paperwork and testing on your knowledge of cows, but in the end this will
lead to the benefit of all. It will
also be necessary to allow barn choice for the cows. If cows are not meeting
the standard in certain farms, they will be allowed to go to the barn of
their choice. Transportation might become an issue but it is critical that
cows be allowed to leave their low-performing barns. This will force
low-performing farms to meet the standard or else they will simply
go out of business. Some
small farms will probably go out of business as a result of this new
legislation. Simply put, the cost per cow is too high. As taxpayers, we
cannot be expected to foot the bill to subsidize farms with dairy compacts.
Even though no one really knows what the ideal cost is to keep cows content,
the Legislature will set a cost per cow. Expenditures
too far above this cost will be penalized. Since everyone knows that there
are economies of scale, small farms will probably be forced to close and
those cows will merge into larger farms. Some farmers may be upset that I proclaim to know what is best for these cows, but I certainly consider myself capable of making these recommendations. I grew up next to a farm and I drink milk. I hope you will consider this advice in the spirit it is given and I hope you will agree that the "no cow left behind" legislation may not be best for a small state like Vermont. |
|
Call Congress! Conference Leaders Working to Determine
Final Funding for FY 2004 Education Programs A conference committee is now working out the differences between the House and Senate- approved levels of funding for the FY 2004 Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations bill, which includes funding for the Math and Science Partnership programs at the U. S. Department of Education. Now is the time to call your Representative(s) and Senator(s) and ask for their support of this dedicated program for science and math educators. Read more in this issue of the NSTA Legislative Update: http://science.nsta.org/nstaexpress/nstaexpress_2003_10_06_extra.htm |
|
From NSTA MARK
YOUR CALENDARS! The Science Education Summit has been scheduled for March 16,
2004, as part of the Excellence in Science, Technology, and Math Education
(ESTME) Week, a nationwide celebration of math and science education taking
place March 15–20, 2004. The
Science Education Summit is a high-profile day of speakers and activities
that will kick off the science portion of the Department of Education's
Mathematics and Science Initiative. The Initiative focuses on achieving three
interdependent goals: engaging the public in recognizing the need for better
mathematics and science education for every child in our nation's schools;
initiating a campaign to recruit, prepare, train, and retain teachers with
strong backgrounds in mathematics and science; and developing a research base
to improve our knowledge of what boosts student learning in mathematics and
science. The activities during ESTME Week serves as an
opportunity for the nation's schools to focus on math and science education.
The week will include activities for students, parents, and teachers
presented by participating organizations. Scientists, engineers, and
mathematicians will be encouraged to visit K–12 classrooms, and many federal
agencies, private corporations, and members of the scientific community are
planning activities nationwide. Watch for more information on the Science
Education Summit and ESTME Week in future issues of NSTA Express. |
|
|
NSF Awards FY2003 Math Science Partnerships From NSTA The
National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $216.3 million in funding
for the second year of the Math and Science Partnerships (MSP). According to NSF, the awards will directly impact at least
2.85 million students nationwide and in Puerto Rico. This year's MSP funding
comes in four forms: comprehensive awards, targeted awards, research,
evaluation and technical assistance awards, and a Prototype Institute
Partnership award. The single Prototype Institute Partnership award
emphasizes middle and high school mathematics. For a complete list of the MSP
awards made, go to https://www.ehr.nsf.gov/msp/.
|
||
|
Share Your Wisdom, Your
Experiences, Your Successes—Write for NSTA Journals From NSTA NSTA's ability to present timely resources in our member journals to support your science teaching efforts is due in large part to the invaluable and insightful editorial contributions from educators in the field. With your important response and editorial participation, we continue a dialogue that enables us to publish journals that will lead and influence the discussion of important issues such as assessment, interdisciplinary instruction, core content, professional development, and more. For a list of 2004 issue themes and submission deadlines, visit http://science.nsta.org/nstaexpress/write_for_nsta_journals.htm |
|
Websites of
interest: |
|
2003-2004 Year
Officers |