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. . . so we can measure your fingers? Yes, another study purports to define left brain/right brain tendencies. The long and the short of the study: those students whose ring fingers are longer than their index fingers score better on the math portion of the SAT. Likewise, those with longer index fingers score better on the verbal sections of the test.
According to research of my own hand, they are correct!
My mother-in-law was a huge fan of all things Norman Rockwell. She died early in the morning of May 7th. So in her memory, here is a set of lesson plans for all of you who share her admiration of the artist.
Education World's website regularly posts a "Lesson Plan of the Day."
An increasing number of states are offering teacher-leadership endorsements as part of the certification process. Persons who complete required, graduate coursework and serve as leaders within their school districts are able to opt for this enhancement to their current license to teach. There are a number of issues to consider when adopting such a program:
Read more about teacher-leadership endorsements in this article from Education Week.
Technology is creating new ways for students to cheat on quizzes and exams. No longer are crib notes and answers written on shirt sleeves necessary for deceptive children. Phone text messages and multi-media players are now banned in many public schools and institutions of higher learning. I agree these devices should not be allowed in classrooms during assessments, but they may prove useful for study purposes. You may remember my post about Grammar Girl. Her podcasts would have been approved for use by my students!
Another streamlined device I spotted today might be a cheater's dream. Check out this pen-sized document scanner. A clever student may discover a way to forward copies of a quiz or test to a good friend (or paying customer), should they be taking the same assessment at a later date. . .
Performance pay isn't the only topic of discussion among those who believe teachers need to reclaim their profession. I ran across an editorial in Teacher Magazine, and this caught my eye:
"But what if there were another way to make teaching more of a profession? Suppose teachers were in control of their own destiny, empowered to practice their craft like other professionals. Imagine that they could form partnerships, much as lawyers and doctors do, and make their services available under contract to “clients” (i.e., schools). They would hire an administrator to handle noninstructional matters, but teachers would make the educational decisions and would bring new teachers into the “firm,” evaluate them, decide on compensation, and—when necessary—discharge them."
In a scenario Ron Wolk defines as 'educational entrepreneurship,' teachers would seemingly be able to tailor their contracts to meet not only student and school district needs, but their own as well. Wouldn't they? Click here to read the article in its entirety.
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