IN THIS ISSUE:

FOR-PD News

• The 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education
• FOR-PD's Strategy of the Month
• May Chat
• Preliminary FCAT Results
• Summer Plans for 2004
• Teaching Certificate Renewal
• National Teacher Appreciation Week

Monthly FOR-PD Tips

• Fine FOR-PD Facilitation
• Dear Felicity
• Share With Us
• FOR-PD Gradebook Tips
• Teacher Created Materials
• Don't Forget Mother's Day

Awards, Contests, & Conferences

• The 6th Annual Literacy Symposium

Literacy Resources

• National Poetry Almanac
• Resource Room
• Sunshine State Young Reader's Award

Professional Resources

• Summer Reading Endorsement Professional Development Opportunities
• Discovery School Clipart
• Intensive Reading Programs

Facilitator Manual

• Facilitator Manual Link with an Important Update for W-9 Request

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka 347 US 483 (May 17, 1954) is a landmark case of the United States Supreme Court which explicitly outlawed segregated public education facilities for blacks and whites, ruling so on the grounds that the doctrine of "separate but equal" public education could never truly provide black Americans with facilities of the same standards available to white Americans.

The case overturned the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson, which established the doctrine of "separate but equal." This concept stated that separate public facilities of equal quality do not violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, which reads: Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. (http://www.nationalcenter.org/brown.html)

Linda Brown was an eight year old black child who had to cross Topeka, Kansas to attend grade school, while her white friends were able to attend classes at a public school just a few blocks away. The Topeka School system was segregated on the basis of race, and under the separate but equal doctrine, this arrangement was acceptable and legal. Linda's parents sued in federal district court on the basis that separate facilities for blacks were inherently unequal. The lower courts agreed with the school system that if the facilities were equal, the child was being treated equally with whites as prescribed by the Fourteenth Amendment. The Browns and other families in other school systems appealed to the Supreme Court that even facilities that were physically equal did not take into account "intangible" factors, and that segregation itself has a deleterious effect on the education of black children. Their case was encouraged by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and was argued before the Supreme Court by Thurgood Marshall, who would later become the first black justice on the Supreme Court. (http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/early-civilrights/brown.html)

The NEA (National Education Association) has provided several sites with information providing educators resources to use in the classroom. "Celebrating 50 Years of Brown v. Board of Education" provides links to such things as:

• Events and Activities
• School Integration Timeline
• NEA Diversity Timelline
• Classroom Materials

The University of Central Florida has provided a link of resources specifically for educators.
UCF has also provided links to such things as:

• Brown v.Board of Education - UCF catalog of books correlating with the topic
• Teaching Resources - A compiled list of bibliographies of multicultural resources
• Special Resources - A plethora of special collections, references, and audio-visual materials
• Civil Rights and Desegregation in Florida - A collection of resources specifically focusing on civil rights in Florida

  The Florida Department of Education, in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision has decided to provide a bus tour exhibit to children and adults giving them an opportunity to learn more about it. It also showcases the achievements that education in Florida has made since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Several events are planned for each day of the tour, so check out the dates it will be located near you if interested. If you know of any children interested in learning more about a few outstanding African Americans, you may want to print this coloring book. It is provided by the Florida Department of Education.

  Questia, the world's largest online library has an amazing collection of 48,000 books and 390,000 journal, magazine and newspaper articles for anyone to access. With this very important topic on history, please check out http://www.questia.com/Index.jsp?CRID=brown_v_board_of_education&OFFID=se2 ~ It is definitely worth your while.
  
  Scholastic has an amazing collection of "Civics and Government /Civil Rights" lesson plans for teachers to utilize with their students in the classroom, as well as some online activities to utilize in the classroom.

  FOR-PD salutes those civil rights leaders that make this country as beautiful as it is!

In our continuing effort to benefit teachers' 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 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!

This month we are highlighting the Anticipation Guide. The Anticipation Guide is a detailed activity that uses prediction in order to make a connection to comprehension. It was developed by J. E. Readence in 1986 and it is normally used with small group or individual reaction with students in grades 2-12. It is a variation of a study guide and is designed to enhance comprehension by encouraging students to make predictions about concepts to be covered in the text. It can be used in any subject area when students have some background and preconceived notions relating to the concepts to be presented. Statements are created which support and contrast author ideas with student belief systems. The purpose of the guide is to prepare students to read with specific purposes. There are also several specific grade level examples listed.

In last month's strategy, we highlighted the Concept Definition Map which correlated with information in Lesson 9. We certainly hope that you will share this information with your participants and teachers at your school.

A teacher from Manatee County writes to us regarding the Concept Definition Map from last month:

"I am a CRISS trainer in Manatee County Florida. I found your great explanation of the concept of definition map on the internet and would like to use it in my CRISS training. If I give you credit, may I have permission to use it?"

Please remember, the purpose of the PDF files in the FOR-PD's Reading Strategy of the Month is supposed to be used in the classroom! We encourage you to use our examples! Of course, we appreciate the credit, but please remember that we also referenced other resources.

Thank you so much to that teacher in Manatee County for letting us know how she felt!

Let us know what you think about the monthly strategy, are there any that you would like to see highlighted next? Email us at fff@orion.itrc.ucf.edu.

• Be prepared by reading and preparing questions in advance
• Be in the right room and be on time
• Download, read, and follow a chat protocol for applicable symbols that could lead to easier viewing

In an effort to accommodate the schedules and preferences of as many participants as possible this summer, we are offering BOTH our standard 14 week session of the FOR-PD course, AND two accelerated 7 week sessions of the FOR-PD course. And, the results were fabulous... over 650 teachers in the state registered through open enrollment!

PLEASE NOTE: Participants who opt to sign up for the accelerated sessions should be aware that the FOR-PD course offered during these accelerated sessions is the same FOR-PD course being offered during the standard 14 week session. The 7 week sessions are NOT abbreviated or less intensive sessions. During the accelerated 7 week sessions, participants will be expected to complete two lessons per week as opposed to the customary one lesson per week expected in our standard 14 week sessions.

Scheduling for the Summer 2004 sections is:

• FOR-PD Standard 14 week session: May 10- Aug 13, 2004
• FOR-PD Accelerated 7 week session: May 10- June 25, 2004
• FOR-PD Accelerated 7 week session: June 28- Aug 13, 2004
  

• General Information
• Appropriate Categories for Renewal
• College Credit Equivalency
• Retention of Subjects

If you need to contact the Department of Education for any further information please do so at http://www.fldoe.org/edcert/contact.asp.

Each month we have focused on great FOR-PD examples of the tips from Lesson 4 of your FOR-PD Facilitator Training and Certification Course. Regrettably we are finished with individualizing the FOR-PD Facilitator Tips. We have really enjoyed 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! If you're interested in continuing to read about the FOR-PD Facilitator Tips, please email us at fff@orion.itrc.ucf.edu. This month we are highlighting each FOR-PD Facilitator Training Tip with a specific example.

1. Be human. Respond to discussion postings with a personal note about something the participant has said. Use personal examples. If they make a mistake, acknowledge that you've made them, too.

From Deanna Dyess (Santa Rosa County) as a lovely compliment to her participants, keeping their spirits high: "I admire you for having the energy and will power to work after such a long day. But then that dedication is what makes you such exemplary teachers."

2. Be there. Logon at least once a day. Try to respond to messages within 24 hours. Let participants know if there are times you will not be available because you are out of town, in meetings, etc.

From Diana Paulson (Osceola County) as an informative update for her participants: "For your information, I will be out of town for the next several days on a business trip to Tallahassee. It is our annual Consultant Training and monthly staff meeting for Project CHILD. I will attempt to login at some point over the weekend, but may not get to "grade" everyone's lessons until I return, so don't panic if you don't "hear" from me. I'll be back online asap."

3. Encourage communication. Get participants to get personal and be professional in their discussion messages and assignments. Help them see how to apply the new knowledge to their classrooms and to respect the work of others.

Here is an example from Susan Horton (Lee County) as she encourages participants to share information from Lesson 8 with secondary content area teachers: "How about sharing the information you learned in this course with secondary content area teachers? Maybe they could use the strategies with their students. This would be reinforcement for struggling readers and very good for ALL students. The research shows that use of reading strategies in content areas dramatically increases comprehension of subject material."

4. Ask questions. Nothing encourages thinking and participation like good questions. Help participants clarify ideas and thinking by asking probing questions.

Lourdes Smith (UCF) poses a great thought provoking question to one of our participants in the counseling arena: "You posted a great discussion, and I liked that you incorporated the findings into your line of work. All of the principles you discussed are important for creating an environment conducive to learning. In your opinion, do you feel that promotion or teaching of literacy skills has a place in your role as a school counselor?"

5. Provide feedback. Through email or discussions, be sure you respond to participants in a variety of ways. Feedback should be timely, thorough, constructive, supportive, substantive, specific, objective, individual and consistent. Last month we focused on "Asking Questions. Nothing encourages thinking and participation like good questions. Help participants clarify ideas and thinking by asking probing questions."

Cherise Hollar (Lee County) poses a great quote for her participants to ponder: "One of your ideas that struck a chord with me is your statement about too often the activities that we provide as 'practice' are opportunities to embed incorrect responses due to the lack of correction feedback. I definitely agree. I heard it stated another way: Practice doesn't make perfect, it makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect permanent."

6. Set the tone. In any meeting or presentation or face-to-face class, the first lesson--and sometimes the first few minutes-- can set the tone. You know right away if this is for you, or not. This is true online as well. Give them your best stuff first! Remember--firm, fair, flexible and fun! If you are new to facilitating with us, a good example of a welcome message is located in our Facilitator Manual. Even if you're not "new" to facilitating with us, it is a benefit to revert back to the "oldies but goodies."

Kristi Saunig (Dade County) to encourage her participants that are falling behind to catch up - I think you'll agree with me that she sounds very inviting & motivational: "It's not too late to get started on a virtual journey! Come on and join the fun. If you haven't started the FOR-PD reading professional development class, it's not too late! If you are having problems that prevent you from participating, please let me know. I will try to assist you in troubleshooting technical issues. If your problems are of a more personal nature, help me understand how I can assist you. I am a very flexible facilitator!"

7. Keep expectations high. And convey them through your comments and discussions.

From Larry Bedenbaugh (UCF) keeping his participants on target for upcoming due dates:
"Next week is the last week of classes. Your last discussion posting must be completed NLT Monday April 19th. Incompletes will not be awarded and after the course is finished you will only have access to the FOR-PD database. Your Literacy Log is due to me by Thursday, April 22nd. I have to have completed grade sheets turned in by April 25th. Overall I have been impressed by the quality of the work and would hate for anyone to get this close, but not complete the course successfully."

8. Keep track of problems and/or ideas to make the course better. Make yourself a sticky note or word processing document and make notes about things to improve, problems encountered, and/or good ideas for the next time the course is offered. Solicit input from participants and share with them what you have learned.

Joanna Durst (Seminole County) is offering fellow facilitators an idea on how to organize discussion posting subjects: "New to facilitating I've realized that organization is KEY! I've posted several "FYI" postings in the Main section for my participants that way they know it's a "general" posting from me. Seems to be really helping. By giving them all a general title like-FYI RUBRICS, or FYI-LESSON 1 Quiz, I've eliminated the problem of teachers not knowing where to get specific info. With so many postings, sometimes the eyes get tired and confused. There is so much to scan over."

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.

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."

10. Maintain a sense of humor. Humor can ease stress, reveal your personality, and help form a cohesive group. Be sure you take yourself lightly, but education and the course seriously. Avoid sarcasm and be aware that sometimes what you think is funny, others may think is insulting or a put-down. Be careful and think before you hit "send"!

Mary Bigwood (Brevard County) is offering a touch of humor to her participants:

"I will be away for a few days on a trip to Yokosuka with the girls' high school soccer team. It is a 12 hour trip on a bus, so believe me I would rather be here in front of my computer grading your discussions!"

Dear Felicity,

I am very surprised at the number of people who did not even log in to the course. I sent each of them an email inviting them to participate and many said that for various reasons they could not. Now I am down to about 9 participants. What do you suggest I do to help them?

I always answer their questions and have posted regular updates via course email. I would welcome your suggestions!

Appreciate your help,

Keepem Goin

Dear Keepem,

This is a fantastic question seeing as we will be opening up many new sections in the coming weeks through Summer enrollment.

Dealing with "no shows” is a significant part of FOR-PD's concern. After the first few days of class, it will be important to make contact with anyone who has not successfully logged in to the course. They may be very frustrated and in need of assistance, or they might not have received the message about how to login. Remember that you can refer people with technical difficulties to the tech support help desk. You can locate the technical support information page anytime; in fact, it could be very beneficial to supply this link to your participants early on in the course.

If you have made repeated efforts to contact someone and they are not responding, you have fulfilled your responsibilities as the facilitator. If someone contacts you and wants to join the class late, remember that this can make facilitation and participation a challenge and you may want to suggest that they join another section at a later date.

In the same issue helping those who fall behind is also very important so as to not "lose" them. Adult learners juggle a lot of responsibilities and may be busy with other things. They could also be having technical problems, or maybe they do not really understand what is expected of them. As you learned in the facilitator course, it is nice to offer a helping hand. A sample message to people in this situation is included in the Appendix of the Facilitator Manual.

*Let us know! Is there anything that you do for assisting those that fall behind or trying to communicate with the "no shows" that you feel may have an impact for others? Let me know at fff@orion.itrc.ucf.edu.

Respectfully yours,
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.

Alex Harris (Dade County) writes:

"I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in the FOR-PD course. The extensive resources provided are a trove of valuable information and practices that I will use and review in my teaching profession.

Among the noteworthy aspects of this course were the video clips of Dr. Kylene Beers and her explanations of different comprehension strategies. I use the methods in her book, When Kids Can't Read and viewing her video clips provided valuable reinforcement. My department adopted the Elements of Literature (Holt, Kindhearted and Winston) which incorporates Dr. Beers's comprehension strategies."

Barbara Poole (Volusia County) shares her feelings:

"Facilitating this course has been a wonderful professional growth experience for me!"

Fran Durrenberger (Seminole County) shares how the 6 Thinking Hats strategy is getting put to good use:

"Just wanted to let you know that one of my current students was so impressed with the 6 hats strategy that she emailed the website to her husband. He is planning to use this strategy in planning projects in his place of business. Thinking skills are thinking skills, but it is so hard sometimes for children AND adults to apply something learned in one place to other "places." I am glad to see it is happening in one family, at least."

AS AN ADDED BONUS**

Each section of FOR-PD is monitored closely to assure that all is well with the participants and to make sure that the facilitators are addressing needs within the course. This month, through one of the monitoring processes, I stumbled across a FANTASTIC example of what a gradebook could look like for better navigation purposes for the facilitator. With some new facilitators on board, I feel that it would be appropriate to make note of this information.

Janet Robinson (Duval County) wrote some tips for those that are perhaps seeking new ideas:

1. The most important tip I can give is to keep your gradebook "clean." When a participant drops the course, go to the gradebook, click on their name, and choose delete. Don't be afraid to do this if you know they are not planning on staying in the course. This helps immensely because you aren't looking through names of people who are not even in the course.

2. When your other participants get close to the halfway point, email everyone who has not started, and if you don't get a response, delete them from your grade book. Again, don't be afraid to do this; if they haven't started by that time, it is highly unlikely they are going to.

3. Update your gradebook as you grade. This is the easiest way to keep up with it. I usually keep a paper copy of the excel file for each lesson and write on that as I grade. After I get finished grading that lesson, I open the gradebook, choose "edit" under that discussion number, and I enter all the grades at the same time.

When I am grading people who are catching up, I open the gradebook when I finish grading their lesson, click on their name, and scroll over to the appropriate lesson and enter the grade. It takes very little time, and it keeps me up to date with my grading. Having an updated, clean gradebook to work from is a great way to see where your participants are in the course.

Thank you so much Janet for sharing those very valuable tips for the gradebook. If any of you have an interesting way of working with a tool or concept for the course, please share those ideas with us at fff@orion.itrc.ucf.edu.

Many times we teachers happen upon information in our "mailbox" at school that is always a neat addition to the pile that tends to accumulate on our desk or on top of our file cabinet. One item that Dr. Zygouris-Coe brought back to my memory is those nifty little monthly calendars that are full of interesting facts of the month. You can download the May calendar from Teacher Created Materials, Inc. with such facts as Cinco de Mayo on May 5th, Amelia Earhart's Atlantic Crossing Anniversary on May 20, 1932, and Ralph Waldo Emerson's Birthday May 25, 1803.

You can also check out the Teacher Created Materials, Inc. homepage to view other online free products such as lesson plans, activities, and professional development ideas. They also provide a monthly teaching tip. This month they focus on tips for Math.

Contrary to popular belief, Mother's Day was not instigated by the greeting card industry or the florists' union. The first celebrations honoring mothers, held in ancient Greece during the spring, paid tribute to Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. In 1907, an American named Anna Jarvis pushed to establish a national Mother's Day. She persuaded her church to celebrate it on the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

So, to all of you mothers out there, we here at FOR-PD wish you a Happy Mother's Day on May 9th!

The 6th Annual Celebrate Literacy Symposium was a success. Five-hundred and fifty preK-12 teachers and other educators (and even some middle school and high school students) from neighboring districts, and as far as Miami, Jacksonville, and DeSoto County came to the UCF College of Education on April 17, 2004.

Dr. Nancy Teger started the symposium with a multi-media presentation on characteristics of current learners, the diversity of "text" and "print" in the 21st century, the role of the school library specialist in literacy, and skills learners need for the 21st century. Dr. Teger also talked about the importance of the school library in students' learning as posed in Dr. Donna Baumbach's report "Making the Grade," and quality literature in students' reading success. Dr. Teger also announced for the first time in public the 2004 Sunshine State Young Readers Award Program: "Touching Spirit Bear," by Ben Michaelsen and "Me, Tarzan," by Betsy Byars.

Sharon Draper gave an inspirational talk on teachers, teaching, how to engage students with text, and how to teach from the heart. Ms. Draper reminded all of us about teaching being a state of mind and not just a profession. She challenged all of us to embrace young teachers, to shelter them and support them, and to offer them opportunities to grow. Ms. Draper also talked about the importance of selecting relevant and motivating text (especially) for teens and shared some of her work.

Other presentations included engaging students with text, encouraging student comprehension, print-rich environment, graphic organizers and active reading, SUNLINK resources, fluency, read alouds, vocabulary, and creative ways to go motivate students to "get their hands on reading." (See http://www.itrc.ucf.edu/litsym/matrix.html for details.) In order for students to "get their hands on reading," we, their teachers, have to get involved in their lives and put our hands, hearts, knowledge, and time into supporting them as they learn.

Special thanks to those of you who attended the symposium. We look forward to seeing all of you again next year.

"To read a writer is for me not merely to get an idea of what he says, but to go off with him, and travel in his company." Andre Gride

On April 1, 2004 the Academy of American poets launched The National Poetry Almanac online at the award-winning website, www.poets.org. Each month they will have a different theme, providing 12 months of poetry highlights, activities, ideas, and history for individual exploration and classroom use. Free resources can be accessed at www.onlinepoetryclassroom.org.

One of the wonderful links that is located in the FOR-PD Resource databank is too much of a treasure to let pass by. Created by the Resource Room in Illinois, it's a site that offers examples and activities; however, it also offers academic rationale and specific citations for research. It offers information specifically on Reading & Spelling, Comprehension, Math, Home schooling, Gifted/LD, and Older learners.

The votes are in and the winners of the Sunshine State Young Reader's Award Program have been chosen. But, also on the website is the new form for the 2004-2005 nominations. The DEADLINE for nominations is May 15. http://www.firn.edu/doe/instmat/ssyrap.htm

A recent DOE memo was released regarding Summer Reading Endorsement Professional Development Opportunities. The Just Read, Florida! Office at the Department of Education funded the Reading Endorsement Professional Development Program at Florida State University's (FSU) College of Education in order to provide additional no-cost professional development opportunities in reading for grades 6-12 secondary educators. Additional information may be viewed at: http://info.fldoe.org/dscgi/ds.py/Get/File-1966/summereadinge.pdf

How many times have you been asked to develop a handout and you did not have the right graphic to coordinate with it? Or how many times have you been searching for just the right piece of art to attach to that wonderful note home to Johnny's parents? Well, search no longer! Discoveryschool.com has a wonderful clipart tool on their site at http://school.discovery.com/clipart/category/tchr1.html ~ check this one out!

Have you ever wondered just what good Intensive Reading programs are doing for our students? There is an article coming out next month with specific information about how it activates brain activity for dyslexic students. It mentions how good and bad readers approach reading differently (which is something we already knew). Check out the preliminary information and pass it on to anyone you feel may be interested.

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

VERY IMPORTANT ADDITION! Due to new UCF requirements, we must have a W-9 Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification on file in order to process your facilitator payments. You will only need to fill out this form and fax it to us one time. You should have received a copy of the form in an attachment of an email sent on April 1. You may fax it to our office at 407-207-4965. If you need a copy of the W-9 Request form, please email us at forpdfac@mail.ucf.edu. We will not be able to process your facilitator payments unless we have this form on file.

Return to the FOR-PD Home Page
Last updated May 6, 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!