Webinar (web seminar) for 21st Century Literacy

Here's another professional development opportunity from NCTE -- it's interactive and the presentation can be seen on the smartboard in Room 413 this Tuesday:

"Reading the Media: Helping Students (and Teachers) Become Media Literate by Teaching 21st Century Skills"

Tuesday, February 5, 2008 
4:00 p.m.- 5:00 p.m. EST

Presenter: Frank Baker

In today’s media-rich society, most of our students are media-savvy—they can multitask, text, IM, and Facebook with ease and confidence. What many of these students—and a great many teachers—lack are the sophisticated media literacy skills necessary to be successful in the 21st century.

Media literate—not just Media savvy. Join us as Frank Baker, former school administrator and contributor to NCTE’s Lesson Plans for Creating Media-Rich Classrooms, works through what it means to be media literate, and how teachers can help students (and themselves) build 21st century skills.

In this seminar you’ll learn:
1. A more complete definition of media literacy
2. The five core concepts to teach media literacy
3. Critical thinking questions for the classroom
4. Classroom applications for instruction including how to evaluate: political campaigns, marketing messages, scriptwriting, and more.
5. Resource recommendations

Frank W. Baker was a school administrator in Orlando, Florida for 11 years and a public television education specialist for 6 years. He specializes in professional development workshops on 21st century literacy skills, specifically media literacy. His workshops are hands-on and highly interactive. His goal is to help teachers make the connection between media literacy and state teaching standards. His nationally recognized web page, The Media Literacy Clearinghouse, and his workshops, have both received rave reviews.

CPR/ AED Training - Sat. Feb. 9th @ 9:00am

A CPR/ AED training will be held on Saturday, Feb 9th at 9:00am in the Cafeteria for the following staff members; Ms. Vasquez, Ms. Carr, Mr. Reyes, Ms. Yemmer, Mr. Asford, Ms. Kenyon, Mr. Stout, Mr. Stanley and Ms. Smith.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Some of you weren't even born when Ronald Reagan was president, but here's an interesting commentary on the birth of this national holiday and the man who inspired it. I hope the link works, as blogging is new to me and I'm uncertain of its limitations.

OPINION | January 21, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor: Radical Love Gets a Holiday
By SARAH VOWELL
There’s a pleasing symmetry in Ronald Reagan forking over a day to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Good advice for all of us!

After Sunday's track meet, as testing goes forward, and after revisiting "Lean on Me," with our students, I wanted to share this -- taken from Michael Josephson's "Character Counts."

Six Ways to Be a Model Coach

1. Everything you say or do makes an impression on kids. What they don't see, they often sense.

2. The measure of character is how you act when you think no one's looking. You'd be surprised at what kids know, hear about, and discover by accident. Behavior speaks louder and more persuasively than anything you can say. You never know who's looking.

3. Only a fraction of young people will play sports beyond high school, but most will become parents, employees, and citizens. By building their character, you'll give them and the rest of society a permanent gift.

4. Setting rules is important because young people are especially vigilant for unfairness and hypocrisy. Too many adults (and pro athletes) are selfish and undisciplined because rules weren't enforced or didn't apply to them when they were young.

5. When the game's on the line, so is integrity.

6. If you're not sure how to handle a situation, ask yourself:
• What would I tell my child to do?
• What would I do if my child was looking over my shoulder?
• Do I want my character judged on this decision?
• How would I feel if my decision was reported on the 6 o'clock news?
• If everybody did it, would it be a good thing?
• What would my role model do?

NSLJ Track at the Armory Sunday!

NSLJ's track team will be competing in the Youth Jamboree at the New Balance Armory on Sunday, January 13th (216 Fort Washington Ave. btwn. 168th & 169th St. in Washington Hts.). Youth ages 11-15 races are from 12 noon to at 4p.m. (A, C, or 1 to 168th Street)

Ms. Carr, Ms. Smith and Mr. Jackson will depart from NSLJ at 11a.m. on Sunday morning to head downtown on the 1 train. This event is free for kids and $2 for adults. We had a blast at the last Armory Jamboree so feel free to come out and support our team in a world class venue! This track is amazing and so are the kids who run here.

Feel free to contact me with any questions -- hope to see you Sunday!

NSLJ in 2008

Our NSLJ BLOG PAGE is now up and running. (REALLY!) I apologize for the break in communication. Our blog page and our school website are now linked as part of

NSLJ'S SCHOOL/HOME DIGITECH PROGRAM

THE NSLJ NEWSLETTER - WEEK OF JANUARY 7th

ELA SCORING:

Notices have been placed in your mailboxes regarding scoring of the ELA.
If you are interested in scoring, you must let Sharon Cahr know immediately.

ELA TESTING:
Ms. Luke will be distributing a testing memo shortly. Please read it carefully. We must build self-confidence now and assure students that they are ready to do well on the test.

Extended Day:
Cycle I of our Extended Day Program will end on Saturday, January 12th. Cycle II will begin on Tuesday, January 29th with a focus on preparing students for the Math test. New permission slips will be sent home for our Cycle II programs.

African ~ African-American & Caribbean Heritage Celebration:
Our African, African-American & Caribbean Heritage Celebration will take place in the library during January and February. If you have any items that represent these cultures or the history of these cultures, and you are willing to loan them to our library, please see Mr. Smoot.

Second Marking Period:
The second marking period ends January 31st. Please inform students that they only have two weeks to pull their grades up. Also, these report card grades will determine whether or not they receive "Promotion in Doubt" letters home.

THANK YOU...

• Ms. Yemmer and Mr. Chavez for our wonderful holiday performance.
• Mr. Smoot for writing and winning a "Tween to Teen" grant for our library.
• ELA TEACHERS for preparing our students to be successful on the ELA.
• Mr. Mora and Ms. Pearce (AUSSIE) for preparing materials, materials and more materials for the ELA.
• Mr. Marc Jackson for escorting students on a college trip to the Univ. of Albany and St. Rose College.
  
• Ms. Neufeld and Mr. Bob Jackson (AUSSIE) for facilitating our school data collection and analysis.
• NSLJ'S INQUIRY TEAM - Mr. Gallagher, Ms. Kuinlan, Mr. Weitzman, Ms. Luke, and Ms. Neufeld collecting, organizing and monitoring data for our special education students.
• Ms. Usher and Mr. Gallagher for piloting our NSLJ HOME/SCHOOL DIGITECH PROGRAM.
• NSLJ COUNSELORS - Mr. Hendrickson, Mr. King, Ms. Brisport and Ms. Usher for facilitating our Social/Emotional History survey and data collection.
• 
  

"A person without knowledge of themselves and their heritage is like a tree without roots."
Dick Gregory