Charles Sosnik | 08/23/2010

I have a real passion for education. One of my favorite things to do is to share ideas with others who are equally passionate about educating our children. So I was particularly pleased to get a call from our Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Normally, when a cabinet-level individual calls, you would expect a lot of formality – a secretary to the Secretary placing the call and getting you on the line so He can speak to you. No such pomp here. The call came in around 4:30 and I was greeted by “Hi, this is Arne Duncan.” It was like we had been talking for years. That’s Arne. Genuine. Passionate. And genuinely passionate about education. The ... Read More...

Relevant Tags: From the Editor,education, teachers, secretary, passionate, school, from editor, arne duncan

Franklin Schargel | 08/23/2010

What follows has been excerpted from 162 Keys to School Success: Be The Best, Hire The Best, Train, Inspire and Retain The Best which was published by Eye on Education in July, 2010. Ask people what is the most valuable resource America has and they will come up with a variety of answers including coal, oil, or other natural resources. For me the answer is “its people.” America has a talented, educated workforce. Education has supplied this workforce with knowledge and skills that most nations fail to provide. Yet educators are not valued in this society as much as they are in many other nations. And we are losing them a rate where schools o... Read More...

Relevant Tags: ,school, teachers, education, helping schools, treating teachers, teachers professionals, all children, children can, can learn

Dr. Ruth Herman Wells, M.S. | 08/23/2010

As I spoke last week at a huge Iowa K-12 education conference, I noticed commotion in the hall’s front row. After my keynote was finished, a person from that row came up to apologize for the disruption. She explained that the woman next to her had been checking her phone messages while I spoke. The woman had discovered she was being laid off by e-mail, and was simply unable to control her shock and anger. The educator standing in front of me then said that she herself had been laid off last week after several decades as a teacher. Read More...

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Larry Biddle | 08/23/2010

From our humble beginning at Conway High School in South Carolina until now, Jostens Renaissance has continued to focus on the power of teaching and learning across our nation. When Conway High School launched the CHS #1 Program on January 20, 1984, we knew that our quest to create lots of niches for lots of kids would begin to close the recognition gap on our campus. It was simple. There was an achievement gap because there was a recognition gap! What we needed was an inside-out business approach that centered on our entire school community as the most important business in town. We knew that we must elevate and appreciate the teaching profe... Read More...

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CHARLES SOSNIK | 08/23/2010

As Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan is placing schools at the heart of the community SEEN Magazine: You grew up in an education family. Your father was a college professor and your mother ran a tutoring program for inner city children. Aside from going one-on-one with Michael Jordan, had you ever considered a different career path? Secretary Duncan: I’ve been lucky. I’ve always had two passions. One was education and one was basketball. I took a year off from college between my junior and senior year, which was pretty nontraditional, and worked full time on my mother’s program. Most of my friends were thinking about becoming investment ba... Read More...

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STEVEN TURCKES | 08/23/2010

“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” -— Wayne Gretzky While going through some old boxes stored in our basement recently I came across one that included numerous yellowed high school report cards. Having graduated from high school over 30 years ago (yes, before the IBM PC), it was fun to reminisce. I took a very traditional line-up of classes in a very traditional sequence: Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry; Biology, Chemistry, Physics; World history, U.S. History; American Literature, World Literature; Spanish 1, Spanish 2, etc., earning “credits” toward graduation. I sat in desks aligned in neat rows and moved f... Read More...

Relevant Tags: school, learning, students, community, should, school campus, high school, perfect school, learning environment, school district, learning spaces, important consideration

CHELSEA VAN DER GAAG | 08/23/2010

How do American history teachers bring facts to life? Do they pass around primary source documents and discuss them in context with historical events? Do they dress in period clothing and recite a monologue from a play that demonstrates the trials and tribulations of people of times past? Such classroom practices are not necessarily commonplace, and many times these memorable and cherished teachers do not receive the recognition that they so greatly deserve. The Preserve America History Teacher of the Year Award aims to do just that, on both the state and national level. A $1,000 prize is issued to winning teachers in every state. Each state... Read More...

Relevant Tags: teacher recognition,history, school, american, students, teacher, historical, american history, high school, preserve america, teacher year, united states, america history, states history, year award

TONI KRASNIC | 08/23/2010

Although visual mapping is already used by over 250 million people worldwide, including many of the largest companies in the world, it is still relatively little used in schools and unknown to teachers and students. However, once teachers and students get introduced to visual mapping, they find it a fun, engaging, and motivating approach to learning. Read More...

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