NIE Blogging Zone

Summer reading

Summer vacation is just around the corner, and once again the Tampa Bay Times Newspaper in Education program has joined forces with the Tampa Bay Rays and Tampa Bay area libraries to help combat the summer slide. The 2013 Reading with the Rays publication will be headed to Tampa Bay area schools and libraries this week. Check out the publication here.

Summer is a great time to relax, get in some extra exercise and fun and keep your brain active. There is no better way to exercise your mind than by reading. Although Reading with the Rays is focused on students in grades 3-5, all students are eligible to participate by reading books, and, of course, the Tampa Bay Times. Check out our book lists on the Reading with the Rays website.

What are your favorite children's and young adult books? Share your favorite titles in the comment section, and we may add them to the list.

Literacy Week 2013

Happy Celebrate Literacy week! The Just Read, Florida! Office and the Florida Department of Education have scheduled the fifth annual statewide Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida!  from January 14-18, 2013. This year's theme is "Take the Lead and Read."

The goals of Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida! are to promote literacy throughout the state by raising awareness of the great things happening in school districts and the programs and projects offered by the FDOE and its partner agencies and organizations. Most of all, the objective is to promote the enjoyment of reading for children and adults of all ages.

Share what you are reading for school or for pleasure here on the NIE Blogging Zone.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! We are halfway through the 2012-2013 school year. What are your wishes and thoughts for 2013?

Common Core Standards

According to the Common Core Standards website: "The Common Core State Standards standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy."
 

Forty-six states have adopted these standards, which focus on a deeper learning in which students will become capable of taking what they have learned in one situation and applying it to new situations. One major focus of the Common Core curriculum is to build knowledge through content rich nonfiction and informational text.

What are your thoughts about the new standards? What are you doing during the 2012-2013 school year to implement some of these new standards into your curriculum? Teachers - please share your thoughts with us here on the NIE Blogging Zone.

School grades have been posted

School grades are out and we want to know what teachers have to say about them.

• How did your school rank this year? Were there any changes from last year?
• What do you think causes the change or lack of change in your school's grade?
• What are your thoughts about the school grading process?

You can read the Florida Department of Education accountability reports to see a complete list of school grades. You also can read a summary of each county on Tampabay.com:

• Pinellas
• Pasco
• Hillsborough
• Hernando

Teachers - share your thoughts with us here at the NIE Blogging Zone.

Testing out of control?

John Romano asks the question: "Is it possible we've let standardized testing get out of control?" What do you think? Read his article in today's Tampa Bay Times or on Tampabay.com. Share your thoughts with us here on the NIE Blogging Zone.

Teacher appreciation week

It is Teacher Appreciation Week. Teachers - tell us about your favorite teachers. Who inspired you to go into the profession of teaching? Was it your parents, teacher, principal or just a calling? What do you think makes a good teacher? Share your thoughts with us here on the NIE Blogging Zone.

Bully Pulpit

Just about everyone knows someone who has been bullied — because of some difference in ways big and small. Understandably, though, many victims are reluctant to speak about their experiences. The staff of tb-two found some students willing to share their stories. Check out Bully Pulpit and share your thoughts regarding using this stories (the website or the tb-two print copies) in your classroom with us here on the NIE Blogging Zone.

Law targeted after shooting death

Are your students talking about Travon Martin and the Stand your Ground Law? In addition to the news coverage in Tampabay.com, there has been a lot of national and international attention about this case. Check out the downloadable lessons in Cartoons for the Classroom: Law targeted after shooting death on our NIE website. Give us your feedback.

'Bully' film sparks national dialogue

'Bully' film sparks national dialogue with in-your-face reality of harmed students and families: A hard-hitting movie that just reached theaters shows daily school bullying in all its vivid meanness. Cruel behavior fills Bully, a documentary (nonfiction film) that shows the impact on five tormented students and their families in Georgia, Iowa, Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma during the 2009-10 school year. Check out our lessons in the Front Page Talking Points section of our website. Let us know your thoughts about the movie, lessons and topic here on the NIE Blogging Zone

Middle school violence

Unfortunately, school violence has been increasing recently, especially in St. Petersburg. The article "Police break up brawls at Azalea Middle School, arrest 11 students" is in today's Times. As a part of the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs, the Spotlight Project for our American Graduate initiative, WEDU/WUSF have been working with John Hopkins Middle School in Pinellas County. The students there created this great video piece on violence at their school. The video is featured on the PBS NewsHour. Check out "Fighting Chance? Students Investigate Middle School Violence" and share your thoughts. How are things going at your schools? What tips can you offer other teachers?

Technology in the classroom

The Education Week Blog, hosted by Edweek.org notes asks how often you use technology in the classroom.

"Giving students a personalized learning experience can be crucial to improving education, and the use of technology can make it easier and less time-consuming for teachers to accomplish this. Students learn best in different ways and technology can give them an opportunity to access information in the way that best suits them—through text, video, or hands-on learning, for example. Automated data collection can also help teachers gather information about how students learn and then they can adjust their teaching based on that data to address students’ strengths and weaknesses."
 

Do you use technology in your classroom? Are you having the students read the digital edition of the Tampa Bay Times in class, or are you assigning it for homework? If not, why? We want to know your thoughts. Share them here on the NBZ.

Share your lesson plans

Did you know the Tampa Bay Times provides more than 5-million print and digitial copies of the newspaper to Tampa Bay area classrooms? We want to know how you are incorporating the Tampa Bay Times into your lesson plans. Please share your ideas and lessons here on the NIE Blogging Zone.

Senate bill: Prayer in school

Times Columnist John Romano writes, "Maybe that's because prayer, by itself, is far from being the problem. It is those who would use it as an instrument, or even a weapon, for selfish purposes." Romano's column, "Prayer isn't the problem, but panderers sure are," is in today's Tampa Bay Times. You can read it here on Tampabay.com. What are your thoughts about the bill and allowing prayer in school? Do you think this will be a difficult situation to manage at the classroom, school or district level? Share your thoughts here.

To tax or not to tax

Teachers - today's Tampa Bay Times has a great debate topic for your classroom: "State weighs whether to tax Amazon's online sales or cut jobs deal".  Split your students into teams: pro and con. Have them come up with arguments and examples for this issue. Come back here and tell us how it worked out in your classroom.