Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast by Jim Dillon

Jim Dillon has been an educator for over 35 years, including 20 years as a school administrator. While he was the principal of Lynnwood Elementary in New York, he developed the Peaceful School Bus Program, designed to prevent and reduce bullying, and subsequently published The Peaceful School Bus (Hazelden, 2008). The program is now being implemented in schools across the country. He is the author of No Place for Bullying: Leadership for schools that care for every student (Corwin, 2013). Jim is currently an educational consultant for Measurement Incorporated. He makes presentations and conducts workshops on a variety of educational topics, including instruction, classroom management, leadership, and supervision. Jim has presented at many local, state and national conferences. Ji…

Louisiana’s Voucher Program Grows

Louisiana’s taxpayer-funded educational voucher program takes students from Louisiana’s poorest performing schools and gives them vouchers to attend high-performing private and parochial schools. It is designed to impact low-income families who could otherwise not afford to send their children to a private school. Of those chosen for the program, 91 percent are minority students and all have a family income that is less than 250 percent of the federal poverty line.

The voucher program is set to grow from the 5,000 students who participated during the 2012-13 academic year to 8,000 students in 2013-14. Despite the controversy surrounding the program, more than

 

Looking Ahead – Eight Tips for Successful Closure to the School Year

This blog was originally published on Wonder of Children on May 26, 2011.

Lisa Wells has taught for 20 years in independent schools in MA, NY and MD. She currently writes a blog on child development, teaches yoga and tries to spend as much time with her two high schoolers as they will allow. Lisa’s committed to knowing each learner as an individual, creating a classroom community where the social curriculum is interwoven with the academic fabric and sharing her work with yoga and meditation with teachers and students. A…

 

Tobacco Taxes to Help Fund Pre-K?

In his 2014 budget, President Obama is proposing a tobacco tax to increase funding for universal pre-kindergarten (UPK), amongst other programs, reports The New York Times.

The president has openly pledged his support for providing free pre-K to families, especially low-income families, who face more challenges accessing quality education for their children. The

 

Before You See The Movies (“The Great Gatsby” and Other Film Adaptations)

Movies have been used as a motivational teaching tool for decades, helping to engage reluctant readers by connecting them to text through moving images and diverse content. Some of the most acclaimed movies in history are adaptations of books, and each year, a dozen or so new movies are release that are based on classic or modern best-selling books. These movies can be used to supplement lesson plans that involve the books that inspired them, especially in English classes, where students receive the majority of their instruction in classic literature.

In “

 

STEM Ideas and Activities for the Classroom (Part 2 of 2)

Tami Bowlden has worked in education for 17 years. Based in Idaho, she has been a classroom teacher (5th-8th grades), and an Educational Technology specialist, has worked in professional development and curriculum design, and currently works for Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). She holds an endorsement in Gifted and Talented education and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. She is passionate about helping teachers to meet students where they are and to plan creative, engaging, differentiated lessons and activities for students that challenge them and give them choices about their own learning. She blogs and shares ideas and materials at For the Teachers, a

 

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