IN THIS ISSUE:

FOR-PD News

• Governor Bush: Celebrates Reading!
• FOR-PD's Strategy of the Month
• March Chat
• FOR-PD Has its "Walking Papers"
• What Are the Plans?
• Staff Update

Monthly FOR-PD Tips

• Fine FOR-PD Facilitation
• Dear Felicity
• Share With Us

Awards, Contests, & Conferences

• SITE Conference
• Songs Inspired by Literature Contest

Literacy Resources

• New Online Elementary Reading/Spelling Game
• New Literacies Resolution
• Artists for Literacy Song Listings
• Book Adventure
• Shakespeare in Technology

Professional Resources

• Reading Rockets Events Calendar
• Monthly Reading Activities
• Bilingual Website for Spanish Speaking Parents
• Women's History Month

Facilitator Manual

• Facilitator Manual Link

Governor Bush announced a statewide book club this week aimed at getting Floridians excited and eager about reading. Read Together, Florida! will be a month-long effort, starting in April, encouraging Floridians to read the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Florida author Zora Neale Hurston. If you have never read this book or you're interested in a chapter by chapter analysis of this novel go to novelguide.com.

Throughout April, the Florida Department of State's Division of Library and Information Services is sponsoring book discussions in Florida's libraries. Local bookstores will sponsor book discussions and other activities in their stores around Florida. Additionally, book publisher Harper Collins is making reading guides available throughout the state. Floridians will also be able to register and discuss the book online through the MyFlorida website or the Volunteer Florida Foundation web site. The Foundation's website was launched Friday and details information on the Governor's family literacy initiatives.

Read Together, Florida! is supported by the Florida Department of State, Just Read, Florida!, local book stores, Comcast Cable, and Harper Collins. Visit this NBC site to hear an audio report from Naples, Florida the day that President & Lady Bush came to the Sunshine State:
http://www.nbc-2.com/News/stories/040227-bush_literacy.shtml

For more information on Read Together, Florida!, the Governor's Family Literacy Initiative of Florida or to volunteer as a literacy tutor, visit the Governor's web site at www.MyFlorida.com, or the Volunteer Florida Foundation web site at www.VolunteerFloridaFoundation.org. Please visit http://www.myflorida.com/myflorida/governorsoffice/mentoring/literacy/links.html for other related links that may be of interest to you.

 

 

In our continuing effort to benefit teacher's needs across the state, FOR-PD has established yet another tool for educators to use. This tool is FOR-PD's Reading Strategy of the Month. Each month we will feature an effective reading strategy, explaining the rationale behind the strategy, step-by-step directions on how to use the strategy with students, ideas for assessing the strategy, and, of course, a printable PDF version of the strategy itself that you can share with others and use yourself!

FOR-PD would also like to take this opportunity to share what some of you have said about this addition to the FFF*:

"I love the review of the reading strategies! Great addition to the news." Janis Jackson (Orange County)

This month we're highlighting the Column Notes strategy from lesson 3. The key to the development of personal systems of organization is knowledge about a variety of organizing strategies, flexibility, and self-monitoring. To gain this expertise, they should experience many different ways to organize and write about information. And, column notes is a great strategy to begin that search for organization.

For last month's strategy, we highlighted the 3-2-1 strategy from lesson 6. We certainly hope that you will share this information with your participants and teachers at your school.

1. Be prepared by reading and preparing questions in advance
2. Be in the right room and be on time
3. Download, read, and follow a chat protocol for applicable symbols that could lead to easier viewing
4. If you're a teacher or administrator and will be participating in the chat, talk with your library media specialist before the event about the study findings, where your media program excels and where it needs improvement. If you're a media specialist, talk with a teacher or two about specific you have done or might to together to improve student achievement. If logistics allow, we'd love to have teams of teachers and media specialists and administrators participate in the chat together.

Many of you have grown to love Teresa Dahl as our Facilitator Support Specialist; however, it is with great regret that we say goodbye to Teresa. Though, we assure you that we will continue to take care of business as usual.

Thank you for all you have done for FOR-PD, and we wish you the best in your new position.

You will be missed!

Each month we have been focusing on great FOR-PD examples of the tips from Lesson 4 of your FOR-PD Facilitator Training and Certification Course. At the same time, we really enjoy giving a big FOR-PD salute to some of the great facilitators who have masterfully demonstrated their ability to be a Fine FOR-PD Facilitator! This month we are highlighting the following:

9. Manage your time. Just because the course is available 7 days a week/24 hours a day doesn't mean that you have to be. Communicate clearly with participants about the times you will be online and available, how long they can expect to wait for feedback or a reply to an email, and when to expect a grade on an assignment. Log in once a day, but not all day. Post feedback when it will do the most good. Generally, grade all assignments at once after the due date.

Last month we focused on "keeping track of problems and/or ideas to make the course better". This month we're looking at managing your time. In most cases, your role as the facilitator will include developing a regular, manageable feedback timeline. Routine feedback between you and the participants promotes ease of communication with respect to any performance issues that arise. In a graded course, such as FOR-PD, this is an essential part of keeping participants from feeling isolated and frustrated. Let's see some of the methods our facilitators have used in their sections this month to Managing Your Time in the course.

Kristi Saunig (Miami-Dade County) is offering a cute motivation to her participants to get back on track:

"The Professional Development Reading class has begun and I miss you! Valentine's Day is over, and it's now time to log on and find some sweet reading! It's not too late to get started."

Another great example of managing your time comes from Mary Bigwood (Brevard County), with course ending information for the participants:

"It is that time to wind everything up. The course officially ends on the 23rd of February. I hope to have all grades caught up by Friday night that way you can have the weekend to tie up any loose strings."

Hope Shirey (Palm Beach County) knows how to help manage the time of her participants while still keeping track of deadlines for herself:

"Thank you to all of you keeping current on your assignments! By Monday, February 16, you should have completed lessons 1-4. If you have fallen behind, do two lessons each week to quickly catch up. Remember if you are late with assignments, it is your responsibility to notify me so I can go back and check the discussion."

Our last example comes from Sheila Ryan (Orange County) showing that even she loses track of time, but recognizes the importance of informing her participants of the error (good thinking):

"I am sorry for not responding yet to your Lesson 2 assignments. I have been with my family tending to my mother who is on her deathbed. I am not sure when I will be able to give feedback. My parents have a dial-up service and it is very slow. Besides, my mind is not on the course at this time. I hope you all will understand. Hopefully, within the week I will be able to get caught up and back on track with the lesson discussions."

Dear Felicity,
I recently facilitated a section, and I received my evaluation. I noticed that I had received a few satisfactory ratings. How do you think I could improve my facilitating? I would appreciate your critique.

Anxiously awaiting,
Kahn Serned

Dear Kahn Serned,

The simple fact that you're interested on how to improve your facilitating is already a "feather in your cap." But, to answer your question, just keep in mind that there are a few components of facilitating an online course that need to be adhered to be successful. The tips from Lesson 4 of your FOR-PD Facilitator Training and Certification Course really break it down for those of you needing a "refresher."

1. Be Human
2. Be There
3. Encourage Communication
4. Ask Questions
5. Provide Feedback
6. Set the Tone
7. Keep Expectations High
8. Keep Track of Problems and/or Ideas to Make the Course Better
9. Manage Your Time
10. Maintain a Sense of Humor

Just as the facilitator statistical graphs representing the 3 questions that include facilitators on the evalutiaon have shown the past few months, it's VERY obvious to me that FOR-PD's facilitators are pro-active and concerned for the well-being of their participants' comprehension of learning literacy building in the classroom.

Keep up the great work,
Felicity

Send us your classroom reading success stories and FOR-PD reading strategies you have been implementing. Do you have any "funny" stories from your FOR-PD classes? Send your contributions to fff@orion.itrc.ucf.edu.

Pat Cheney (Duval County), sent us exciting news:

"Due to a decision by one of our local judges, reading will now be a major focus in Duval County. Today, a TV reporter, Deborah Gianoulis, was at one of my schools to interview a teacher, and I had an opportunity to speak to her about FOR-PD. She is running a special broadcast on March 22, 2004 at 8:00pm that deals with the current needs of our students and the need for valid teacher inservice.

She has been assured by our Superintendent and School Board members that they are willing to implement the training necessary for teachers. I told her I would email her today with the phone number and email address of those associated with FOR-PD. I shared with her the user friendly curriculum and some of the strategies, and she was in full agreement."

It's hard to top that publicity! Thank you so much Pat!

Susan Guss tells us of her private school experience:

"It is not always easy to see that we have made a difference and taught something useful to adolescents, especially those with diagnosed learning disabilities. Yesterday I taught one of my small resource groups (7th & 8th grade mix) how to use the Cornell Notes system, which was in a link in Lesson 3 (I believe). Often I get bored looks and not much response when I do a study skills lesson, but one of the 7th graders said, 'I think this is something I can use, even when I'm older!' Don't we teachers live for those kinds of moments?"

And, finally from several participants in Pinellas County:

"The FL Online Reading Professional Development course was highly informative and contained many valuable instructional strategies and links - a real wealth of information. IT should be noted, however, that unless one is comfortable with online learning they may feel overwhelmed with the amount of information and the assigned tasks. I thrive on research and keeping up with my profession, so I really loved it!!! The price was right, too! All in all, I highly recommend this course for all teachers across all content areas."

"AWESOME, AWESOME, and more AWESOME!!! I loved every bit of it. I would highly recommend it to anyone in the teaching profession... from support staff all the way to administrators. I look forward to using and adhering to the strategies I learned from this course. This is a wonderful class for anyone, but I recommend teachers who are not part of the 'Reading First' Grant to take this class. The class offered a great deal of information and support in the classroom. Thank you for offering it. I would take it again."

"Great Class!!! Very comprehensive course which gave me many new methods and materials to use right away in my classroom. I would love a part two to this class."

"Great opportunity! I would welcome follow up for this class... or other opportunities like it. Thank you!"

"This course was EXCELLENT! I hope that you continue to offer this to other teachers. It was fantastic."

See, teachers really can make a difference! Thanks for sharing that with us!

Georgina Long, FOR-PD Director, will be traveling to Atlanta, GA in early March for the SITE Conference. (Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education)

The Competition Has Begun! Now, I know I have written about the Artists for Literacy song writing contest before; however, I think it's such a motivational tool that I had to highlight it again.

Artists for Literacy is looking for hot, new songs to be featured in a cutting-edge learning tool that they are creating for schools to use across the country.

First and foremost, they are looking for songs inspired by the TEN specific books in that list (chosen by students and teachers from around the country). If your class is currently reading Shakespeare's Othello, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, or Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird (to name a few) your students could be very enthusiastic to hear of this wonderful competition. Artists For Literacy uses the language of music to inspire people to read and write. Songs inspired by literature (SIBLs) are the link between books and those who have difficulty reading them. First, read the rules with your students to assure that all requirements can/will be met. Then, the students can register for the competition. The competition runs through April 5, 2004. Check it out!

"If we are serious about creating a state of readers and information literate citizens, school library media programs need an infusion of cash. To bring local spending and books per student in Florida’s school library media centers up to the minimum of the national average should be an immediate and primary goal of each school library media specialist, each parent, the state professional association, the Florida Department of Education, school districts and the Florida Legislature. Research indicates there would be an immediate return on the investment in terms of student achievement. To go beyond the national average would demonstrate an understanding of what it takes not only to raise test scores, but also to create readers who enjoy books and who know how to use information resources to solve problems and increase understanding of our complex world, skills that will endure throughout life."

Dr. Donna Baumbach

New Online Elementary Reading/Spelling Game! Researchers at Brandeis University have developed SpellBee, a FREE web-based game designed to motivate student attention to reading, listening, and spelling. They invite elementary teachers and their students to play the game.

The game runs on any PC or Mac with a Java-enabled browser and soundcard. Headphones are recommended. It is very simple to play. Students select words for their partner to spell. The partner receives an audio and visual cue to spell. Students get points for correctly typing their word and for appropriately challenging their partner. To get more details and try it out, you and a colleague can go to http://www.spellbee.org. If you like it, let your students sign up and play!

"New Literacies" Resolution (NCTE) The National Council of Teacher of English has recently passed a resolution validating, in pedagogical terms, the use of non-print media in the teaching of English and language arts. This resolution gives the gist of what is currently on the forefront of the "new literacy" idea. It's impossible nowadays to get away from the fact that students are constantly searching through the TV, radio, or the computer for information on a various array of topics for research papers or conversational topics. This PDF file gives the NCTE's resolution as of November, 2003.

Along those same lines, the Artists for Literacy site gives a wonderful collection of over 200 songs inspired by literature that you or your students may know. Some of you may find it interesting to listen to an interpretation of the Beastie Boy's "Shadrach", Bruce Springsteen's "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (inspired by The Grapes of Wrath), Kenny Login's "Return to Pooh Corner" (inspired by The House on Pooh Corner), Pink Floyd's entire album "Animals" (inspired by Animal Farm), or Steely Dan's "Home at Last" (inspired by The Odyssey). Take a look at this collection, I think you'll be very surprised!

Book Adventure is a FREE reading motivation program for children in grades K-8. Children create their own book lists from over 6,000 recommended titles, take multiple choice quizzes on the books they've read offline, and earn points and prizes for their literary successes.

Have you ever wondered how to incorporate technology when teaching Shakespeare? Or how do you teach Shakespeare to first graders? Look no further! PBS has created a website specifically for these reasons. It offers games, lesson plans, and even quick tips on the best practices for incorporating technology into the teaching of Shakespeare! Check this one out!

The Reading Rockets Events Calendar is an online up to date listing of local and national literacy conferences, events, and workshops. Florida is well represented and might serve you/your district well to know what's going on in "your neck of the woods."

Monthly reading activities - A Year of Reading with NEA allows educators or parents to click on any month to find resources and activities appropriate for home and school.

FOR-PD's lesson 11 deals with an ever growing concern of literacy instruction for non-English speaking students. Reading Rockets is pleased to announce a new, bilingual Web site for Spanish-speaking parents! Called Colorín Colorado, it provides information, activities, and advice on helping children learn to read and succeed. (If you're a native Spanish speaker, you know why the site is called Colorín Colorado. If you're an English speaker, click on the homepage to find out what it means!)

March is Women's History Month. In 1980, the National Women's History Project (NWHP) was founded in Santa Rosa, California. Within a few years, thousands of schools and communities were celebrating National Women's History Week. In 1987, at the request of women's organizations, museums, libraries, youth leaders, and educators throughout the country, the National Women's History Project successfully petitioned Congress to expand the national celebrations to the entire month of March. This year's theme is "Women -- Inspiring Hope and Possibility." Here are some resources for U.S. history and children's literature. Or, you could take your students on a Women Accomplishment Internet scavenger hunt.

Don't forget! The facilitator manual with many added goodies and those much needed "life savers" is available for your convenience online at /facilitators/manual.html

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Last updated March 15, 2004
Contact us at forpd@mail.ucf.edu

A project of the Instructional Technology Resource Center at the University of Central Florida.
Funded by the Florida Department of Education and Just Read Florida!