District Wide Information

Banned Book Week - Sept. 25 - Oct. 2, 2010
http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/info.html

http://www.ala.org/bbooks

This week is Banned Book Week.  Check out the websites above to learn more about Banned Book Week and why we should teach our students about our freedom to read!

"During Banned Book Week (and every week), we honor two foundational beliefs--our rights to speak freely and make our own choices. We must safeguard these rights for children until they can exercise and demand these rights for themselves. "(Miller, 2009)


Miller, Donalyn. "Banned Book Week." The Book Whisperer. 2010 Editorial Projects in 
    Education: 22 Sept., 2009. 27 Sept. 2010 
    http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/book_whisperer/2009/09/banned_book_week.html



Minnesota Historical Society www.mnhs.org/school
Minnesota Historical Society is a great educational resource and provides opportunities for 

•  teacher workshops,
•  History Day (History Day is an exciting co-curricular program that encourages young people to explore a historical subject related to an annual theme. The 2011 theme is "Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences."),
• School Outreach Programs (where History Players come to you! Using props and artifacts, costumed History Players engage students in their memorable life stories.)
• and a wonderful State Capitol field trip like our students in grade 6 have taken advantage of for many years.

If you are looking for another way to enhance your curriculum, you may consider attending a teacher workshop or look to have a History Player come to your school to help bring history to life!

District Wide Information

LCD Projectors in your classroom
Have you gotten a notice that your projector is overheating?  It is important to have the filter in the LCD projectors cleaned now and then.  This will help keep the air flowing in the projector to keep the bulb cooled.  If there is not something in place to have the filter cleaned, please add a reminder on your calendar to clean it or have a custodian clean it monthly or every other month.

It is important to extend the life of the bulb in the LCD projectors so if you are not using your SMART board or the projector for a half hour, turn off the projector.  This also helps reduce overheating the projector.

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Zoom Sci  http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/#sound
Zoom Sci is a great site with many science activities in the following science areas: chemistry, engineering, the five senses, forces, life science, patterns, sound, structures, and water.  Check it out!

District Wide Information

ELM - http://www.elm4you.org/

Do you know what ELM is?  ELM stands for Electronic Library for Minnesota.  It is a tax paid resource available to all residents of Minnesota.  These resources include online access to magazine, journal, and newspaper articles, eBooks (electronic books), and information from other reference sources. ELM provides information on a vast array of topics, including consumer information, arts and humanities, current events, health, science, social science, politics, business, education, and more.

If you are interested in how this resource can help you and your students contact Diane via email to schedule a short 15-20 minute overview.

District Wide Information

How to access the library media resource pages through the new district website for each school
1. Go to the Marshall Public Schools website at http://www.marshall.k12.mn.us/
2.  From the Departments tab click on media center
3.  Click on the school media center that you are trying access then click on that school's resource page.  This will allow you to access websites, databases and the card catalog.

Teaching with Computers (a tip from 180 Technology Tips  at http://www.180techtips.com/108.htm)

1.  Have students turn off their monitors while the teacher gives directions.
2.  Try everything before you have the students in front of you.
3.  If your lab has management software learn to use it. (Some of the labs at the MS and HS have Vision software for management)
4.  Don't forget to check the Taskbar on student monitors as you wander around the computer lab. Students can easily wander off task when using a computer and many of them are experts at hiding what they're doing. They'll quickly minimize the windows they don't want you to see. Just remember to check the Taskbar at the bottom of their screen.

For more tips regarding teaching with computers, check out this link:
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech116.shtml