Place Value

Here is a great website for place value

http://www.proteacher.org/c/644_Place_Value.html

place value scavenger huntBy Angie

I just did a Place Value Scavenger Hunt with my 6th graders to practice/review place value, and they really enjoyed it! I checked out several Guinness Books of World Records from the public and school library. Then, I made up clues like: Find a number that has a 7 in the millions place, Find a record that is between 500,000 and 1,000,000, Find a record that is greater than 1 million, etc. The kids worked in pairs to complete their Scavenger Hunt papers using numbers that were in the Guinness Books. This really helped my students relate place value to numbers in the 'real world.' Hope this helps you out!

place valueBy Jessica

Hi,
I just taught place value to 5th graders of all abilities last week. I drew a chart on the board. We talked about place value for a while and then filled the chart in together, from ones to hundred millions. The kids noticed that the "ones,tens,and hundreds" place always repeated. We began chanting "ones,tens,hundreds,ones,tens,hundreds...." over and over again. I got so tickled because some of the students were moving their bodies in their seat as if it were their favorite song.
After it was APPARENT that they had "accidentally" memorized those places, I told them that they were 1/2 way there. The only thing left to do was decide what "section" the ones,tens,hundreds were in (either thousands or millions). Through investigation and silly ways we created a very simple way of remembering each place. It was evident that they were enjoying themselves as well as proud of themselves. In a journal, I had each child reflect on the lesson...most of them said that they never understood place value or didn't "get it" the year before. It was great. Silly idea, but it actually worked!!

Scienc projects

Looking for cool science projects here you go:

http://www.terimore.com/science-fair-projects-germs.htm

Education World

On my hunt for awesome resources I hit a jack pot: Education World indeed a teachers best friend.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/archives/index.shtml

Journey to the Crystal Cave

Part of my weekend adventure at Garner State Park include a journey to the Crystal Cave.  As we walked a good 30mins. to begin point of the hike up a large hill our dog was already exhausted.  Slowly we started the climb after frequent stops we reached the top to view a hill in the distance called Old Balding. You can see in the photo the power of river and once a ocean current that curved into this large hill.

At the top of hill we were climbing we had to carry our dog over the painted rocks that depending on the light of day appear to change colors.  We continued the hike down to the Crystal Cave. Like a huge hole in the side of hill it formed quarts crystal on its roof.  The formation of the cave reminds me of huge geo.  I was not impressed but enjoyed the coolness.  After a spot of lunch we enjoyed the help of gravity on the way down.

SeaWorld's Turtle Rescue Efforts

I recently got a season pass to Sea World, which sadly have not use yet.  They did however send me an email with some intriguing information about sea turtles.  I found it hard to stop reading, hope you enjoy.

SeaWorld's Turtle Rescue Efforts SeaWorld's Rescue Team has rescued more than 1,500 endangered or threatened sea turtles over 30 years. SeaWorld is one of the few organizations with the expertise to treat multiple species of sea turtles at the same time, and has an extraordinary success rate: nearly 70 percent of its rescued turtles have been rehabilitated and returned to the wild.

SeaWorld's Largest Turtle Rescue Effort SeaWorld undertook its biggest rescue effort to date in Florida, saving hundreds of endangered sea turtles that were victims of an unseasonably long and intense winter blast. More than 300 turtles arrived at the park in just a few days with cold shock, a life-threatening condition that can kill the temperature-sensitive animals. Experts immediately warmed up the reptiles with heat lamps, blankets and water. Most of the animals survived and were successfully returned to Florida waters. Learn more Responding in the Face of Disaster SeaWorld has responded to numerous significant environmental disasters that threaten wildlife. During the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, SeaWorld set up a large triage area at the park to treat an influx of oil-impacted turtles. More than 125 endangered and threatened sea turtles received extensive care for oil-related health problems and have since been successfully returned to the ocean. Learn more

Innovative Methods: Saving a Jawless Sea Turtle Caring for injured turtles has inspired several significant innovations, such as teaching a turtle without a lower jaw how to eat. A severely-injured loggerhead sea turtle arrived at SeaWorld Orlando missing its lower jaw and suffering from starvation. Aquarists taught the emaciated animal a new way to eat. The process took months, and the turtle gradually progressed from hand-feedings to independent eating skills. Because she is unable to survive in the wild, the turtle now has a permanent home at SeaWorld Orlando. Learn More

Fiscally Irresponsible

July 10, 2011

Feature

John Folks speaking at an education rally on the Capitol steps in March.

San Antonio teachers, administrators watch the budget ax fall

Scott AndrewsPublished: June 15, 2011

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This has been a year colored by activism in the Texas public education community, as school district superintendents, teachers, and other advocates for the children of Texas rushed to Austin to demand that the Legislature continue funding school districts at current levels. It didn’t happen. On May 31, Governor Rick Perry called the Texas State Lege in for a 30-day special session to pass bills that will legalize $4 billion in education cuts.
The state’s Rainy Day Fund, with almost $6.5 billion available for emergency use, remains relatively untouched. The Republican-dominated legislature has refused to raise taxes, but instead of showing fiscal responsibility, has accepted a budgetary shortfall that will result in a 6-percent loss for school districts across the state — the worst education budget in 27 years. Dispersed over the vast territory of Texas, the cuts will hurt most in districts that receive little support from property taxes, a main funding source for the districts. Hardest hit will be rural areas and less-affluent urban neighborhoods.
The passion of spring has been replaced with despair, fear of job loss, and on the part of administrators, a slaphappy resignation to what could have been worse, a possible $9-billion loss. Though the details of the new funding allocations are still in the works, San Antonio school districts are scrambling to adjust. At the time of this dispatch, only Judson ISD and East Central have reported laying off teachers. The other 14 districts are attempting to deal with funding cuts through attrition, dropping services and positions, and through a frantic shuffling of jobs. In San Antonio ISD, kindergarten* will be cut to half-day sessions, raising the specter of hordes of five-year-old latchkey kids marauding the city. Teachers and other personnel are being encouraged to retire, with some districts handing out cash incentives to widen the departure door. During and shortly after the last week of school, the Current reached some members of local school districts, who gave us their take on the causes and meaning of the disaster.
Northside ISD Superintendent John Folks has no confusion as to the source of trouble. It’s not just the weak economy. In 2006 a new school-funding formula was implemented that lowered property taxes, replacing the decreased revenue stream with a business-margins tax. “[The Legislature] dropped property taxes, took money away from schools, and said they were going to replace it with this margins tax, and they have not held to their promise,” Folks told the Current. He also blames the misuse of stimulus money, federal funds intended to spur economic growth during the recession that were used to hide losses in state revenue. “They put the stimulus money in recurring expenditures in the 2009 session. That created more of a problem. Now that money’s gone away. It just exacerbated the problem.”
Though an April 27 report states that Northside ISD will lose 927 positions, the district plans to retain all their teachers. Asked if that were still feasible, Folks stated, “That’s our goal,” but warned of larger class sizes and fewer administrators. Most distressing, there will be fewer support staff to help struggling learners. “Our academic support in math and science will be cut, eliminated. We have had to move those support personnel into regular teaching positions. So those kids will not get the help that they have in the past.”
During the past legislative session Folks was a regular presence in Austin, strongly advocating to save funding and to address the inequities among schools. He doesn’t think Texas schools should take the bruising delivered by the Lege sitting down. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that school districts will discuss whether a lawsuit needs to be filed regarding this funding issue,” Folks said last week. “Texas has one of the most inequitable systems. Kids’ education shouldn’t be determined by the zip code in which they live. What’s fair about any district having more money per student than another district? Are the kids in one district more important than the kids in another district?”
The desire to erase inequalities in education funding has been voiced before in Texas. In 1993, the so-called Robin Hood Act was enacted to redistribute funds throughout the state. It placed a statewide cap on the amounts that could be received by school districts through local property taxes. To comply, affluent districts could enter in partnerships with poor districts to transfer their excess funds. A 2001 University of Houston report stated that the school finance program “has been largely successful in substantially equalizing 90 percent of Texas school districts’ spending per student.” That ended in 2006 when the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the act was, in effect, a state property tax, which is prohibited by the Texas State Constitution. Now, we’re back to rich and poor school districts. The districts with low property taxes will take the highest hits in the new state education budget.
Robin Hood was the result of a suit filed by Edgewood ISD in 1984 against the state aided by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Edgewood ISD v. Kirby, named after then-Texas Commissioner of Education William Kirby, cited discrimination against students in poor neighborhoods by the state’s distribution of education funds.
The Current spoke with Maureen Doebbler and Jonathan Bryant, two teachers at Edgewood ISD’s John F. Kennedy High School to see if the flame is still burning.
Doebbler came from the East Coast 15 years ago to teach in SA. The Westside was her first choice. “I picked Edgewood specifically in 1996 to teach in because I had read about how politically involved they were, how they fought for rights,” Doebbler said last week at a St. Mary’s strip restaurant. “But now in 2011 they are unwilling to do anything, to stand up and say, ‘You have to fund education.’ Education seems to be a non-issue in Texas. We just accept the cuts and try to deal with it.”
Bryant has only been at Kennedy for three years, and has been actively supporting his students in the classroom and at rallies in Austin. “The budget cuts are going to manifest themselves in what will come off in a very racist way, where the districts of color are going to get hit the hardest. Not to say that everyone is not being cut, but in reality the black kids and Latino kids will suffer the most,” Bryant said. “That is something, I think, that people are afraid to talk about.”
Rita Haeker, president of the Texas State Teachers Association, was born in SA. Though she was raised in Austin where she taught first grade for 16 years, all her grandparents were born and lived on SA’s west side. “It’s really shameful,” she said. “They are trying to ignore the problem, that it is just economics … it is a false choice to say, ‘We didn’t have the money to support public education in Texas.’ That’s not true. They did have the resources and the ability to do it. They chose not to do it for what I believe are political reasons more than anything.
“If they can come out of a session not raising taxes, not using our rainy day fund, it looks like they are being fiscally responsible. That’s the message that is out there, but the truth is we are being economically irresponsible to our kids, to the future of our state.”
If the special session ends without school funding restored — as is expected — there will be push back. The districts may very well sue the state. But the greatest outrage will come from parents when they discover how their child’s school day has been changed. TSTA has plans to reach out to parents, to help explain and direct the inevitable anger, and they have trained personnel ready to handle the mission. Teachers. They know how to educate.

*Correction: SAISD will retain full-day kindergarten. However, part of their Pre-Kindergarten program serving 3-4 year olds will be cut to half day sessions. Federally funded Head Start programs will remain intact.

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• JustOne 3 weeks ago

  As a teacher originally from Chicago, my experience is similar to Doebbler's experience. I have attended the rallies and been shocked at the relatively low attendance rates and the calm of the crowd. I worked at a small inner-city private school that had a lot of teacher/parent pressure to find the resources to give students a top-notch education, and time after time (from the most unexpected places) those resources emerged because people were involved and unanimously had the best interest of the students in mind.
  
  I am about to start my third year of teaching math/science in Texas public schools. I am grateful to be at a school that is, despite severe budget cuts, trying to enhance student education in preparation for becoming successful 21st century citizens (as well as doing well on the new STARR test). Our school's vision and leadership are excellent. Our faculty are good. Our PTA/parents work hard. But there is only so far that good intentions will go. I fear we are reaching that limit.
  
  What I don't think Governor Perry and many of those regulating the state budget understand is that teachers are mobile professionals. As a result of a system they encouraged, teachers are ready to relocate year-to-year. They can teach in any school in almost any small town or large city in the United States. Additionally, other countries are encouraging US teachers to join their teams. Teachers with experience (3-5+) years are recruited by businesses, institutions of higher education, tutoring companies, and so forth. [Personally, I have 3 active out-of-state opportunities that compete with my decision to continue teaching in my TX school. These are the result of not-looking. If I decided to start 'looking', the options would expand quickly.] The best teachers (the ones TX families, if not the TX government, should want teaching in Texas) are the ones with the most opportunities to leave. Real estate costs are dropping across the country. To add to the volatility of the scenario, teachers can now afford homes in areas of the country that would have (in the past) been cost prohibitive. What incentive is there for teachers to teach in TX? (Please don't say summer vacation. No good teacher teaches for the sole benefit of summer vacation. Based on my own work schedule, I calculated that hour for hour, summer is not enough to break-even with the number of 'unpaid' evenings/weekends hours and skipped lunches/breaks that teachers like me contribute.) 
  
  I am a teacher. My number 1 priority is the education and empowerment of my students. But, I can also confess that (in the field) there is a growing number of people saying 'one more year, I'll give it just one more year'. Interestingly, it isn't the standard 'I want to leave education' that has fueled these proclamations but rather a frustration with a system that is legally requiring more and more from teachers while eliminating the support and resources necessary for those teachers to be effective.
  
  All good teachers want to be effective for the sakes of their students. If that means that they need to change careers or hometowns, this group of 'one more year' teachers seems ready to do that. They have been fighting so many little battles that they are tired. They may not be as visible as a Chicago Public School Union Strike, but below the surface an exodus is looming. I wish Texas politicians would have enough foresight to understand the implications of this. I wish Texas educators and parents could unite in one last powerful effort to help the state understand the urgency of the matter. Texas is known throughout the country for it's state pride. Bravado that is not supported with substance leaves potential for humiliation. Why would Texas put itself in that position? Support the next generation of Texans. These education cuts are analogous to cutting a family's budget by 30% and then complaining because the clothes are dirty/tattered and the food is low quality/scarce. Seriously, when do you use a rainy day fund to fix the results of short-sightedness - only on a rainy day? Then here in south Texas we're doomed.
• Pancho Valdez 3 weeks ago

  What the people of Texas should come to understand is that there is money that the state has refused to collect from the oil companies!
  The reactionary GOP and some conservative Democrats have always supported inequality in Texas schools. (In Bexar County, we have around 15-17 separate and very unequal systems)
  Texas must step into the 21st century! Ya basta con racismo! TAX the RICH! TAX the CORPORATIONS!
• Abvaldez 3 weeks ago

  Why don't the superintendents with their 6 figure salaries volunteer to cut their salaries?
• Ghawtho1 2 weeks ago in reply to Abvaldez

  That is such a typical, shortsighted comment.

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Multiplication

I love this site:   http://multiplication.com/interactive_games.htm   it a so much fun .  It has  so many games.   You can choose difficulty and focus on a multiplation fact.  Have a blast.

Geology of Garner State Park

Walking round the Frio River bed I couldn't help notice the low, very low water levels.  Because of the low waters I had a great opportunity to see the rock formations that where once built as described below and then through the process of erosion have been altered in to these unique shapes.  When the river is flowing stronger the current rushes across these rock  and takes little bits with it down river then deposits it Nueces River.  Take a look at some of these remarkable photos.

Geology: Deep canyons, crystal-clear streams, high mesas, and carved limestone cliffs are the brush strokes in the geologic painting of this intriguing terrain. Many backcountry paved roads wind through canyons along streams here, offering the traveler a different pace from the freeway rush.

The rock formations in this area are early Cretaceous in age, deposited over millions of years in warm, shallow seas that once covered Texas. The Glen Rose formation, a collection of limestone, shale, marl, and siltstone beds, was deposited along the shifting margins of the sea where dinosaurs roamed in great numbers, leaving their footprints in the sands. The Cretaceous Sea then spread over Texas, depositing the Edwards Formation (limestone), over the Glen Rose beds. This sequence of strata, Glen Rose below, Edwards above, is found throughout this area.  Information from http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/garner/#hist

Double Fudge

Judy Blume hits another home run with this laugh out loud  adventure starring Fudge AKA Farley Drexel Hatcher.  Like the other books in this series it is narrated/told through the eyes of Fudge's big brother, Peter.  Peter's outlook and reactions to Fudge are extremely funny.  If you are a fan of the Fudge books this one shows Peter as a maturing young person not that interested in all the shenanigans the family gets into but always dependable.  Every time you put this book down you can not help but to infer about all the craziness that may occur next.  I can not wait to hear the predictions the class will com up with.

Holes

This summer I read many books but this one stands out.  Why you might ask, I will try to tell you the best I can without giving away the ending.  Life struggles seem very unfair  but specially for our main character Stanley Yelnats.  So bad in fact he believes he is under a curse.  A curse that began with is great-great-grandfather, a pig and an Egyptian woman.  What kind of mess did this grandfather get into and why did it land Stanley in a boys' detention center building character by spending every day digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep?

Because of Winn-Dixie

Last year this my students favorite book and mine as well.  This story touches the heart of everyone who has ever loved a dog.  The main character Opal has just moved, finds herself lonely and in a need of a good friend.  Lucky for her she Winn-Dixie found her, but all she needs to do now is convience her "no-animals" dad to let her keep him. 

No Talking??

No Talking by Andrew Clements is a remarkable story of how one 5th grade boy changes the main form of communication of his whole grade level.  What started out as a harmless experiment turns into an all out war.  I can't wait to share this story with the class.

Garner State Park

Just got back from a sun filled weekend at Garner State Park.  Just a short drive outside of San Antonio off 90 and 83.  The drive is charming with dots of small town life.  I will write more about my adventures for now enjoy the video and a little info.  Summer is almost over but if you are looking for a inexpensive get away and a relaxing time Garner's the place for you.

History: Garner State Park is 1419.8 acres (10 water acres of the Frio River) of recreational facilities in northern Uvalde County. Garner State Park is found in the northern part of Uvalde County. Located thirty miles north of Uvalde and seven miles north of Concan, Garner State Park has ten acres of riverfront. The park, was acquired in 1934-36 and was named for John Nance Garner (Cactus Jack) of Uvalde, who served as Vice-president of the United States from 1933-41 info. found on http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/garner/#hist

Glazing

With the help of a good friend big jobs can be accomplished before you know it. Finally the painting process is complete. Now I just need to put away all these books.

Phase Two

Neon Green anyone.

Big Cat Diary

Big Cat Diary is a great program on the Discovery Channel.  As the series progresses we see how the many African animals effect the lives of lions, cheetahs, and my favorite leopards.  The program begin in late 1990's and has continued on.  Even though most of the time the big cats are either sleeping or hunting they have so much personality.  The camera crew are really into the cats lives and get excited quit easily which I find amusing. One Cheetah frequently releaves herself on top of an open jeep right on top of the main zoologist's head. The man, Johnathan starts laughing as if it was the funniest thing every time. Johnathan has got smarter and flips the jeep's top or tries to catch the poop with cups. If you-all have netflixs look it up it is worth the time.  Africa is amazing and you definately feel  like you are on Big Cat safari with them.

And The Process Begins

End of day one! Creating a great learning environment beings with a mess.