District Administration - September 2007 - (Page 16)

BRIEFINGS CurriculumUpdate Educator’s Mission BARBARA MORGAN, FOR mer Idaho teacher and now mission-specialist astronaut, will help educate students this year and beyond. Space shuttle Endeavour’s launch last month, with Morgan aboard, to the International Space Station (ISS) brings back memories of Teacher Christa McAuliﬀe and the Educator and mission specialist Barbara Morgan talks 1986 Challenger disaster in space exploration with students. which Morgan was McAuliﬀe’s backup. Morgan was later assigned to the shuttle’s STS-118 crew. Morgan’s mission, like that of other recent shuttle astronauts, helped prepare the ISS as a base for future Mars exploration. Her role required her to operate the shuttle’s robotic arm, but her educational payload involves getting teachers and students to participate in NASA’s Moon, Mars & Beyond (www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/mmb/index.html). The shuttle carried plant growing chambers for research and basil seeds. Teachers can register their classes online to engineer growth chambers and receive space seeds. “Exploration enables the ﬁnding of the next answers and the asking of the next questions,” Morgan says. www.nasa.gov NASA Photo By Ken Royal Project Uganda PROJECT UGANDA IS A MONTHLY conferencing series sponsored through the Global Nomads Group (GNG), connecting schools in the U.S., U.K., and Canada with students in northern Uganda’s conﬂict zone, where over 200,000 lives have been claimed since 2003. Students in grades 8-12 in 40 states are also fundraising to help build a science center at Padibe Secondary School, located 20 miles north of the Sudan border in Acholi, Uganda. The refugee situation in the Darfur region of the Sudan has been described as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today. Christopher Plutte, founder of GNG, says, “Videoconferencing allows visual Web-Based Tutors and Supplemental Resources SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND PARENTS NOW HAVE ALTERNATIVES TO local tutors. For instance, TutorVista oﬀers 24/7 online tutoring, homework help and test preparation for $99 a month using tutors located in India. Web-based programs go further by oﬀering students skills-based instruction by integrating computer animated “learning coaches” with live online tutors. Two years ago, the Penn Hills School District in Pittsburgh oﬀered evening Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) math remediation using a $50-per-student-per-year online program called SmartHelp by Apangea Learning, which uses certiﬁed math teachers. To gain enough credit for graduation, 264 students needed to complete 10 math modules; and of these students, 222 were able to graduate on time. Today, juniors with low PSSA scores are enrolled. At the School District of Philadelphia, Nancy Bratton, the executive director of middle grades education, uses SmartHelp as a supplement to math teaching with stuSupplemental online dents at nine SDP sites for her acceleration program. programs oﬀer students www.apangealearning.com individualized attention www.tutorvista.com at school and home. 16 September 2007 David Macquart (GNG co-founder) moderates a Project Uganda videoconference at the Padibe Secondary School. interaction with peers. Students have been able to overcome stereotypes of each other and develop a bond that invokes a desire to help and to continue building relationships.” The project relaunches in September for the new school year. Archived videoconferences and lesson plans can be found at www.gng.org/uganda/index.html. Polycom is providing video conferencing equipment, and has challenged corporations to match its $25,000 GNG grant. www.gng.org www.polycom.com District Administration http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration.mmb/index.html http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration.mmb/index.html http://www.nasa.gov http://www.gng.org/uganda/index.html http://www.apangealearning.com http://www.gng.org http://www.tutorvista.com http://www.polycom.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - September 2007

Cover
Contents
Editor’s Letter
Letters
News Update
Curriculum Update
Inside the Law
District Profile
Administrator Profile
District Buying Power 2007
X-Factor Student Achievement Awards 2007
We've Got Mail
Supporting New Teachers
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
New Products
Problem Solution
Computer Literature
Research Corner
Online Edge
Supervisor’s Opinion
Speaking Out
Calendar of Events
Understanding the Times

District Administration - September 2007