Nag a Ram

Nag a ram.  Do you need to nag a ram? Probably not. Probably, if you arrived by search, you arrived since Google has put a little "search Easter Egg" or joke so that if you search for anagram, Google suggests that you might have wanted nag a ram.  An anagram of course is a word or phrase that can be made from the original by rearranging the letters.

Some popular anagrams.

Dog, rearranged, spells god. Many animists and dog-lovers would see great meaning in this.

Other pairs:

pea, ape

arm, ram

looped, poodle

coal, salt

fries, fires

team, meat

soil, oils

FL- Highschool students must be online to graduate

This is cool and a new rule for education. I'm trying to research this new law and not finding much.

I found Florida’s Guide to Public High School Graduation For Students Entering Ninth Grade in 2010–2011. It doesn't mention it but it is one year out of date. It does highlight how many choices and types of high school programs and diplomas there are. Three year or four year, normal diploma or IB.  And I don't think it even talked about the different special needs ones.

I also found this interesting report on Florida Virtual Education but I can't find the part about normal high school students being required to take a course to graduate. There is lots on FLVS move to be a school district (is this again?) and the sanctioning of virtual FL charter schools.  I'll read it more closely later today.

BTW, what an impressive but mysterious site this is: Liberating Learning. No about us, no contact info, no way to even see what cover and what they don't? Virtual? Charter? Homeschool? Magnets? Private?  Who are these people?

VocabSpellingCity Aug Newsletter - My Favorite Site

Welcome Back! August 2011 Summer has been busy around here. Just in time for Back-to-School, you'll find dozens of enhancements throughout VocabularySpellingCity. Here are just a few: Multiple Meaning Words for K-12 Upgraded servers to handle millions of new users A brand new Crossword Puzzle The ability to set student assignments (details coming next week) We are particularly proud of our interactive crossword puzzle game. It is available to all users with any of ourTeacher Resources Lists. If you are a Premium Member, you can use the Crossword Puzzle with your own lists. Try it now! John, Mayor of VocabularySpellingCity info@spellingcity.com

VocabularySpellingCity.com

I think this site (which I am affiliated with) should be on every parents and teachers lists of sites to use with their kids!  Here's why:

Put any word list up on VocabularySpellingCity.com (for free!) and you get immediate access to use the words in engaging games such as Word Search, Word Unscramble, Hangman, and Handwriting Printables.

If you ante up for a $25 annual premium membership, you'll also get access to vocabulary tests, crossword puzzles, and Speedy Speller!

 Go to the teacher resources section and you'll find lists ready to use for an amazing set of idtems:

Analogies - New!
Capitonyms
Compound Words - New!
Contractions
Dolch - Sight Words
Geography Lists
Homophones, Homonyms, etc.
Literature Based Word Lists
Math Vocabulary - Most Popular!
Monthly Holiday Lists
Multiple Meaning Words - New!
Phonics & Sight Word Curriculum
Possessive Nouns
Sample Lists By Grade
Science Vocabulary - New!
Sequential Spelling Program
Sound Alike Words
Syllables - New!
Word Abbreviations

Retro Educational Technology

I'm involved in another blog which is one of may favorities, its about my collection of old educational technology.

I've been collecting for awhile. It started whne I brought the typewrite that I used in highschool into the office. I wondered at the time if it would useful for envelopes or something. As it turns out, its a huge conversation piece. Most of my colleagues had never used a real manual typewriter.  Just to complete blow their minds, I bought some carbon paper which turns out to be another discovery for al of them. 

Since then, the collection has grown, check it out. Tell your friends!
A few of the items featured so far:

• Slide rules
• typewriters
• film strip projectors
• record players

BTW, I'm looking for a mimeograph mahcine (circa 1960s or 760s) to compete the collection.  Can you help me get a lead on one?

Tiger Mothering

Amy Chua's book, a rebuttal of the politically correct gentle rearing of children in most American homes, serves as a wake-up call to parents who have smugly assumed that their kids need support, not challenges. They need encouragement, not a fear of failure. As some review said, Chinese parenting assumes children have strength that can be tested and grown, not fragility that needs nurturing. Quite simply, she demonstrates the power of a swift kick to the backside as a standard approach to child-raising.  

OK, I made that last sentence up. In fact, while I've read several articles and listened to NPR's discussion of the book, I haven't yet read it. I do intend, as soon as I finish this post, to get download it on my Ipad.

In the meantime, I've been thinking about the parenting styles that I see around me.

1. Parent as partner. I know some kids whose mom is their partner in learning. At the end of the school day, each subject is reviewed along with upcoming assignments, projects, and assessments.  The parent helps organize the homework plan and often with studying.  The homework and approach to school is a daily partnership with the parent playing the role of organizing and supervising.

2. Parent as resource. This is where I tend to hangout.  When the kids ask for help, I try to provide it. I often ask them about their homework but it's more episodic than systematic.

3. Parents uninvolved.  Many parents just don't have the time or really focus on the kids grades and school work.  When kids ask for help, their response is that they already got through school, it's now the kids turn.

4.Parents who focus on grades.  There's a lot of this and it overlaps the others. Grades are considered by many parents to be the purpose of schools, its about getting credentials, particularly once you hit high school. Many parents consider (sometimes rightfully) to be the lessons taught in school to be irrelevant to "real life" and they equate getting good grades to "pleasing your boss" and something that kids need to learn to be successful. 

I'm just starting to think about this area.  Any help for me? What sort of parenting do you see in this regards?