I’ve previously highlighted CNN’s great series of “Explain It To Me” videos at The Best Online “Explainer” Tools For Current Events. They’re two-to-three minute video clips on current news topics, like this one on addiction:

Lauren Ready, the producer of the series, recently contacted me and said she would love to hear suggestions from teachers about what kind of future Explain It To Me videos would be useful in the classroom.

You can email your ideas to her at explain@CNN.com

 

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A Lesson in Teaching to the Test, From E.B. White is a must-read commentary over at The New York Times.

In it, Anne Stone shares a great excerpt from E.B. White’s “The Trumpet of the Swan” and relates it to today’s education policy issues.

It’s right on target!

 

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What Do Principals Look For In A Prospective Teacher? is the new “question of the week” for my Education Week Teacher column.

Feel free to share your responses there or at this post….

 

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Here’s today’s Zits comic strip:

Here’s today’s Zits comic strip:

 

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The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Teachers, Parents and the Economy, the 28th in an annual series commissioned by MetLife and conducted by Harris Interactive, was released today.

You can read the press release summarizing its findings here, and the entire report here.

Here’s one paragraph from the summary:

Teacher job satisfaction has fallen by 15 percentage points since 2009, the last time the MetLife survey queried teachers on this topic, from 59 percent to 44 percent responding they are very satisfied. This rapid decline in job satisfaction is coupled with a large increase in the number of teachers reporting that they are likely to leave teaching for another occupation (17 percent in 2009 vs. 29 percent today). Teachers are also more than four times as likely now than they were five years ago to say that they do not feel their job is secure (34 percent today vs. 8 percent in 2006, the last time this question was asked). In addition, 53 percent of parents and 65 percent of teachers today say that teachers’ salaries are not fair for the work they do.

I haven’t had time to read the full report tonight, but will write a more lengthy post about it when I do. You read my reflections on previous MetLife Surveys here.

Here’s another take on this year’s survey at The Washington Post: Teacher job satisfaction plummets — Survey.

 

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ZooWhiz is a good — and free — Australian site with tons of interactive games and exercises for pre-school, elementary, and middle school (and for English Language Learners who are even older).

Users have to register for the site, and teachers can create virtual classrooms for their students.

I’m adding it to:

The Best Sites That Students Can Use Independently And Let Teachers Check On Progress

The Best MATH Sites That Students Can Use Independently And Let Teachers Check On Progress

 

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March 7th is World Read Aloud Day this year, and here are a number of useful resources:

World Read Aloud Day Activities

World Read Aloud Day Blog

Tools and Tips for World Read-Aloud Day is from The New York Times Learning Network.

Great Read-Alouds From The New York Times is also from The New York Times Learning Network.

Of course, there’s Jim Trelease’s Home Page.

Make Every Day Read Aloud Day is by Donalyn Miller at Education Week.

Nonfiction Read Alouds: A Lost Opportunity? is by Robert Pondiscio.

Here are some tips on using Read Alouds as an instructional strategy from our school’s consultant, and my mentor, Kelly Young at Pebble Creek Labs.

As always, feedback is welcome.

If you found this post useful, you might want to look at previous “The Best…” lists and also consider subscribing to this blog for free.

 

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I periodically post “most popular” lists of websites (and books) that I think educators might find useful. Of course, there are a number of ways to gauge “popularity.” I just view these lists as opportunities to check-out some new sites, and find it interesting to see which ones might be particularly “popular.”

You might be interested in The Best Places To Find The Most Popular (& Useful) Resources For Educators –2011.

Today, I’d like to share the page where you can find a constantly updated list of the most popular articles from one of my favorite magazines, The Smithsonian.

I hope you find it useful.

 

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