Remember to use the Current Issue Discussion Format.

This week's Hot Topic is Dress Codes / Uniforms: should they be required?

How does a dress code or uniform policy relate to the school's ability to educate students in a safe, orderly environment?

Could uniforms/dress code have a positive impact on school climate, student behavior, and academic success?

Do you know any schools that require either of these? If dress code, what are the requirements? Is there enforcement? How is this handled?

Jamie will be the summarizer.

Post your responses in "Week 6: Hot Topics".

Activity 2 - How to Talk so Kids Can Learn

This week we will be using the ideas in Chapter 4, "Solving Problems Together." This chapter describes 6 steps to solving problems with children (rather than for children). Again, this process takes much more time than just telling children what they should do, how they should do it, and when they should do it, but I think you'll find that in the long run it saves us from having to constantly "nag" and remind them, and it increases their level of independence.

This week try out the 6 step process described in Chapter 4 at least once. Share what you tried and how the child responded. Post your example in "Week 6: HTTSKCL-Solving Problems Together". Please read and respond to at least 2 other students' postings . Note rubric: no reponses = 60% highest grade, 1 response = 80% highest grade!)

Activity 3- Teaching as a Profession

Effective Schools: In your practicum sites you are learning about the knowledge, skills, and attitudes demonstrated by effective teachers. This week we will be looking at the research on effective schools. Gentlemen and Gentlewomen, it's time to start your (search) engines and head to

This is the web site of the Association for More Effective Schools. Please go to this site and click on "What Is Effective Schools Research?" Read this page; then click on the link at the bottom entitled, "Correlates of Effective Schools". Listed there are 7 school practices that have a strong correlation to student success.

Analyze your current school for each of the attributes identified in the effective schools website. Then answer the following two questions:

1. What characteristics of an effective school does your school already demonstrate?

2. Based on your reading, what suggestions could you offer to make your school more effective?

Please post your answers in the "Week6: Effective Schools" conference of WebBoard. Please read and respond to at least 2 other students' postings.

In your journals this week I would like you to focus on what many would call the $64 question in education: motivation. Motivation is that invisible force that causes us to attempt tasks, work hard at them, and persist... even in the face of failure. It's been noted that all students are motivated; it's just that some of them are not motivated to do the tasks valued in school settings. Why would that be...? That's worth some thought.

In your classrooms, please consider the strategies you see your teacher using to encourage students to learn. Note that some of these may be extrinsic, that is, they may be things that students receive when they perform a task. Examples could be praise, marbles in a party jar, or a good grade. Most of us need at least a few extrinsic motivators in our lives.

The most powerful and longest-lasting form of motivation, though, is intrinsic, the drive that comes from within. Good teachers look for ways to enhance intrinsic motivation in students, knowing it will empower them long after the last marble party has ended.

Please look for examples of motivation strategies used by your teacher. Summarize these in your journal entry for this week, and comment on your perception of their effectiveness in getting students to do the right thing. Please post these in the "Week 6: Journal" conference of WebBoard.

Week 5

Course Home | Coursework | Conference | Resources | Help