Sunday, January 24, 2010

Homeless Teens in America: Did you know? (Teens for Jeans)

  1. Did you know that 1 out of 3 homeless people are under the age of 18? Click here to find out more.
  2. Did you know that the primary cause of homelessness is family conflict? Click here to find out more.
  3. Did you know that 28% of homeless youth have ADD? Click here to find out more.

Teens for Jeans: Now helping Haiti!







Teens for Jeans is now helping Haiti. Click here to read about what they are doing. Not only will we be helping our local homeless teens, but homeless people in Haiti. Bring in your jeans to help support Haiti!

Current Events: Haiti 360 degree video

Check out this 360 degree video from CNN. More 360 degree videos by immersive media can be found here.

Current Events: Haiti...a short history

What do you really know about Haiti? Click here to see a slideshow about it. Or here for a timeline vie.

Current Events: Haiti Earthquake Multimedia

This is an amazing multimedia resource from the New York Times to use to teach the Haiti earthquake.

Current Events: 5 ways to teach about Haiti right now

The New York Times has put together an outstanding resource for teachers here.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

It's Teens for Jeans Time!



We will be supporting the Aeropostale Teens for Jeans program again this year! We will be collecting jeans (teen size to adult) from January 19th until February 11th. The advisor with the most jeans donated will win a dress down day!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Marshmallow Test: A Lesson in Self Control




The marshmallow experiment is a famous test of this concept conducted by Walter Mischel at Stanford University and discussed by Daniel Goleman in his popular work. In the 1960s, a group of four-year olds were given a marshmallow and promised another, only if they could wait 20 minutes before eating the first one. Some children could wait and others could not. The researchers then followed the progress of each child into adolescence, and demonstrated that those with the ability to wait were better adjusted and more dependable (determined via surveys of their parents and teachers), and scored an average of 210 points higher on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

  1. What do you think of the results of the study?
  2. How do you think self control can help you in school? How does it make you a better student?
  3. Why would someone with self control be a more dependable person?
  4. What are some things that you have difficulty controlling in your life?
  5. Design your own marshmallow test...what items could you use to "tempt" other students in your advisor group?

Time Magazine: Multimedia Current Events

Click here to explore Time Magazine's photoessay section.

New York Times: Current Events Multimedia


Click here to go to the NYT's multimedia page.

NPR: Current Events Multimedia

NPR has great current even resources here. They also have an incredible multimedia page that has video and podcast articles about what is going on in the world today as well as in the arts. You can even listen to podcasts of the news on an hourly basis.

Friday, January 1, 2010

We are what we do



We are what we do is a small way to get your students thinking about doing things to help make the world a better place.

Here are 5 ways to use it in your advisory.

You will need to register yourself. I plan on using it to track my advisor's actions as a group. You can even have your advisor come up with a simple action and launch a campaign! Here are some sample actions that students are doing right now!

Reflection 2009: Self Portrait


The questions below can be done individually or as a group, but if they are done in a group, make students feel comfortable knowing that they don't have to answer every question. You can have fun with this and have students take their own self portraits with a camera and post them in your room.
  1. What did I learn last year?
  2. What was my greatest accomplishment over the past year?
  3. Which moment from last year was the most memorable and why?
  4. What’s the #1 thing I need to accomplish this year?
  5. What can I do right now to make this year less stressful?
  6. What have I struggled with in the past that might also affect the upcoming year?
  7. What was last year’s biggest time sink? – Steer clear of this in the future. Setup physical barriers against distractions if you have to.
  8. Am I carrying any excess baggage into the year that can be dropped? – Physical clutter, mental clutter… eliminate the unnecessary so the necessary may shine bright.
  9. What have I been avoiding that needs to get done?
  10. What opportunities are still on the table?
  11. Is there anyone I’ve been meaning to talk to?
  12. Is there anyone that deserves a big ‘Thank You’?
  13. How can I help someone else this coming year?
  14. What are my top 3 goals for the next 3 years?
  15. Have any of my recent actions moved me closer to my goals?
  16. What’s the next step for each goal?
  17. What am I looking forward to during the upcoming year?
  18. What are my fears?
  19. What am I most grateful for?
  20. If I knew I only had one year to live, who would I spend my time with?

2009 Pictures of the Year



Link tv Know the News: Current Events

Know the news is part of Link tv, where it give viewers a perspective on world news that might not be typically seen in the United States.

One is a Remixer activity where students can edit news clips of the same event from different countries or networks, add their own commentary, and post it online. Teachers need to register in order for their classes to participate.

It also has a News Challenge game that can be played without registering. Two different short news clips are shown, and then questions are asked about them.

Finally, in its Watch and Rate exercise, viewers rate different clips on journalistic qualities.

Newsy: The News with More Views



Newsy is a site that — in short videos — compares how major news events are covered by media throughout the world.