Teacher to Teacher

I’m preparing a job-alike day for PE/Health teachers. During the day, I plan on having them explore a few online resources. Below, I’ve listed the PE websites I have found. I do not necessarily endorse all the information found at these sites.

Nebraska Department of Education Health and Physical Education Page
http://www.nde.state.ne.us/PEHealth/

PE Videos at PE Central
This page has videos for teachers on a variety of physical education and health topics.
http://www.pecentral.org/mediacenter/videos.html

National Association for Sport and Physical Education
This site contains resources for teachers, administrators, parents, and students.
http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/

Physical Education Teacher Evaluation Tool
All teachers benefit from meaningful, ongoing assessment and evaluation. The NASPE-developed Physical Education Teacher Evaluation Tool identifies the knowledge, skills, and behaviors needed to provide sound instruction in the K-12 physical education classroom. Its purpose is to assist principals, school district curriculum specialists, and others who evaluate physical education teachers as well as to guide physical education teachers in reflection and self-assessment, and serve as an instructional tool in college/university physical education teacher education programs.
http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/publications/teachingTools/upload/Physical-Education-Teacher-Evaluation-Tool-2007.pdf

Classroom Energizers
Energizers are classroom based physical activities that integrate physical activity with academic concepts. These are short (about 10 minutes) activities that classroom teachers can use to provide activity to children which corresponds with the request from the North Carolina State Board of Education’s Healthy Active Children Policy for elementary teachers. There are energizers for Kindergarten through middle school.
http://www.ncpe4me.com/energizers.html

Through A Child’s Eyes Brochure
A great learning tool for parents and coaches that provides useful tips and advice for promoting sportsmanship and fun.
http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/publications/teachingTools/upload/TACE_brochure.pdf

The Difference Between Physical Education and Physical Activity
With heightened attention on childhood obesity prevention efforts, there seems to be some confusion between the terms “physical education” and “physical activity.” Often the words are used interchangeably but they differ in important ways. Understanding the difference between the two is critical to understanding why both contribute to the development of healthy, active children.
http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/publications/teachingTools/PAvsPE.cfm

Top Ten Reasons for Quality Physical Education
When they ask “why,” this is what you tell them.
http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/publications/teachingTools/upload/top10reasonsforQualityPE.pdf

Physical Education Update Blog
Monday Morning Musings on the World of Sports, Coaching & Physical Education
http://www.physicaleducationupdate.com/peblog/

More Students Taking Physical Education Online (news article)
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/08/25/online-physical-education/

PE Links4u
Large set of physical education links.
http://www.pelinks4u.org/

MrGym
You will find a wide variety of physical education games; cooperative games and activities, sports games, lead up activities, and much more. Also, ideas on physical education assessment, field day, cheap or free physical education equipment and more.
http://www.mrgym.com/

PE Central
Provides information about developmentally appropriate physical education programs for children. Contains over 1800 published lesson ideas.
http://www.pecentral.org/

I’m preparing a job-alike day for Art and Music teachers. During the day, I plan on having them explore a few online resources. Below, I’ve listed the Art websites I found. I do not necessarily endorse all the information found at these sites.

Managing Arts in the Classroom
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3336/
This How-To offers guidance for managing arts-related classroom projects.

National Art Education Association
http://www.naea-reston.org/
Sections on lesson planning, some online publications.

Increasing Arts Demand Through Better Arts Learning
http://www.naea-reston.org/research/increasing-arts-demand-better-arts-learning.pdf
A Wallace “Knowledge in Brief” summarizes new research on how some cities are working to reverse a decades-long decline in arts education in ways that could also lift demand for the arts overall.

Education at the Getty—Resources for the Classroom
http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/
Lesson plans and lesson guides for K–12 grades and adult ESL learners.

Education at the Getty—Resources for Students
http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/student_resources/
Online games, videos, and activities for students.

National Gallery of Art—Classroom for Teachers and Students
http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/
Access lessons and resources by curriculum, topic, or artist.

2-D Design Notes
http://daphne.palomar.edu/design/
This site contains the design notes for Jim Saw’s Art 104: Design and Composition class at Palomar College. The notes contain design theory as well as the assignments for the class.

Art Studio Chalkboard
http://studiochalkboard.evansville.edu/
These pages are a resource for artists and art students that focus on the technical fundamentals of perspective, shading, color and painting.

The Incredible Art Department
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/
The name of the site says it all.

Arts Edge
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/teach/
the National Arts and Education Network — supports the placement of the arts at the center of the curriculum and advocates creative use of technology to enhance the K-12 educational experience. ARTSEDGE empowers educators to teach in, through, and about the arts by providing the tools to develop interdisciplinary curricula that fully integrate the arts with other academic subjects. ARTSEDGE offers free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, as well as professional development resources, student materials, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment.

Ursus Wehrli tidies up art
http://www.ted.com/talks/ursus_wehrli_tidies_up_art.html
In this comic video from TED, Ursus Wehrli shares his vision for a cleaner, more organized, tidier form of art — by deconstructing the paintings of modern masters into their component pieces, sorted by color and size.

Education Blogs by Discipline
http://movingforward.wikispaces.com/Education+Blogs+by+Discipline
This is a place to list subject-specific P-12-oriented blogs.

Americans for the Arts Public Awareness Campaign
http://www.artsusa.org/public_awareness/default.asp
In partnership with the Ad Council and local and state arts agencies around the country, Americans for the Arts have created promotional ads to encourage parents to ask for more. This site we gives them the tools to do so.

Protocols for Learning from Work, Text, Dilemmas, and Classroom Visits
http://www.nsrfharmony.org/protocol/protocols.html
A collection of protocols to help groups examine texts and work. Some of these can be adapted for use with students.

I’m preparing a job-alike day for Art and Music teachers. During the day, I plan on having them explore a few online resources. Below, I’ve listed the Music websites I found. I do not necessarily endorse all the information found at these sites.

Chorus Teacher Resources
http://www.fva.net/ctr/
Contains information on music advocacy, informational articles, classroom aids, classroom management, clinic/workshop handouts, concert program templates, curriculum, field trip permission slips, sample chorus handbooks, lesson plan templates, and much more.

Owning the Stage
http://www.owningthestage.com/
In this comprehensive blogsite, barbershop quartet champion Tom Metzger explores performance from many different angles.

Foundations of Effective Practicing
http://www.jtimothycaldwell.net/blogs/?page_id=25
Tips from J. Timothy Caldwell, author of Expressive Singing: Dalcroze Eurhythmics for Voice. Explore the links on the right side of the webpage for other information.

The Director’s Face
http://www.choralcoaching.com/wst_page7.html
A short article on facial expressions of directors as they direct. Explore the links on the left side of the webpage for other information.

Music Classroom Management
http://www.mtmusiced.org/MgtExtended.pdf
Contains an pros and cons of various classroom management philosophies, the top 10 classroom management sins, recipes for successful choir and instrumental rehearsals, choir and instrumental rehearsals evaluation tools, music student self-evaluation form, rehearsal “tricks,” etc.

The Twin Foundations of “Pindrop Quiet” Band and Orchestra Rehearsals
http://www.midwestclinic.org/clinicianmaterials/2004/david_newell.pdf
David Newell’s plan for managing band and orchestra rehearsals.

The Happy Classroom
http://www.keynotesmagazine.com/article/?uid=169
Suggestions to help encourage students to stay in music programs year after year.

Arts Edge
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/teach/
the National Arts and Education Network — supports the placement of the arts at the center of the curriculum and advocates creative use of technology to enhance the K-12 educational experience. ARTSEDGE empowers educators to teach in, through, and about the arts by providing the tools to develop interdisciplinary curricula that fully integrate the arts with other academic subjects. ARTSEDGE offers free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, as well as professional development resources, student materials, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment.

MENC—Band Archive
http://www.menc.org/a/band/
Articles related to working with school bands.

MENC—Chorus Archive
http://www.menc.org/a/chorus/
Articles related to working with school choirs.

Lead Like the Great Conductors
http://www.ted.com/talks/itay_talgam_lead_like_the_great_conductors.html
An orchestra conductor faces the ultimate leadership challenge: creating perfect harmony without saying a word. In this charming talk, Itay Talgam demonstrates the unique styles of six great 20th-century conductors, illustrating crucial lessons for all leaders.

Education Blogs by Discipline
http://movingforward.wikispaces.com/Education+Blogs+by+Discipline
This is a place to list subject-specific P-12-oriented blogs.

Americans for the Arts Public Awareness Campaign
http://www.artsusa.org/public_awareness/default.asp
In partnership with the Ad Council and local and state arts agencies around the country, Americans for the Arts have created promotional ads to encourage parents to ask for more. This site we gives them the tools to do so.

Music Education Madness Site
http://www.musiceducationmadness.com/downloads.shtml
Check out this section for some great free downloads, including teaching aids and musical gizmos!

Music Tech Teacher
http://musictechteacher.com/
Student work, pictures and music compositions are on this site. The site is also used to provide music technology links, quizzes, resources and information to all music teachers interested in using technology to enhance music instruction.

Ricci Adams’ Musictheory.net
http://www.musictheory.net/
Collection of lessons, trainers and utilities.

Protocols for Learning from Work, Text, Dilemmas, and Classroom Visits
http://www.nsrfharmony.org/protocol/protocols.html
A collection of protocols to help groups examine texts and work. Some of these can be adapted for use with students.

The following links are placed here for a workshop on differentiation I’m doing this week. I’m not necessarily endorsing the information on any of these sites. I’m merely providing them for teachers in the workshop to explore and then report out on.

• Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST)–Differentiated Instruction
• Differentiating for Advanced Learners Personalized Learning
• 11 Practical Ways to Guide Teachers Toward Differentiation
• Instructional Strategies–Differentiated Learning
• Gifted and Talented
• Differentiated Instruction and Anchor Activities
• Anchor Activities
• Partners in Learning–Differentiated Instruction
• Cubing and Think Dots
• RAFT Writing
• Best Practices–Learning Contracts
• How to Create and Use a Learning Contract
• Tiered Instruction
• More Differentiated Instruction Links

Early in my teaching career I had the problem of several students wanting help at the same time.  Students would  sit at their desks with raised hands or stand in line at my desk.  Students wasted a lot of time waiting for help.  To address this problem, I used a “Take A Number” strategy.  I made a set of laminated cards individually numbered from 1-20.  The cards rested in a little box on my desk in numerical order with the number 1 card on top. Rather than standing in line or raising a hand, students took a number and then went back to their seats.  Once they returned to their seats they were expected to work on any other tasks they understood until their numbers were called for help.  It worked great for me!  Do any of you have other strategies for this type of problem?