------------------------------------------------------------ An Online Educational Community A newsletter that educates parents, teachers, and students. August 2002 Issue #37 Austin Simms, Editor, mailto:editor@innovamultimedia.com ------------------------------------------------------------ Welcome to the thirty-seventh issue of "An Online Educational Community". To read past issues of our newsletter, visit http://www.innovamultimedia.com/archive.htm or to learn more about us, check out our website at http://www.innovamultimedia.com If you think a friend might be interested in reading this newsletter, pass it along in whole or in part. You are receiving this newsletter because you requested a subscription. To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, fill out the form at http://www.innovamultimedia.com/newsletr.htm Each month we will focus on a different educational theme and base our feature article and learning tips around that particular theme. ------------------------------------------------------------ IN THIS ISSUE ------------------------------------------------------------ => Feature => Contest - Win a Whale => This Month's Free Lesson Plans => More Great Education Web Sites => Whale Links for Whale Lovers => Whale Trivia => Feedback ------------------------------------------------------------ Feature ------------------------------------------------------------ Building a Rapport With Support Staff During the month of August, take time to reflect on the roles of people who, directly and indirectly, assist you in your teaching. The people who probably most often come to mind are teacher aides (TA's) and student assistants. However, be sure to include parent volunteers, the school nurse, the janitor, the cafeteria workers, the school bus driver as well as anyone else who interacts with you and your students. If you are fortunate enough to have a teacher aide, it is crucial that you make it a very pleasant experience for the individual. Here are several suggestions: - Treat the person with the same respect and dignity as you would any other colleague. - Do not ask the TA to do anything that you would not do yourself. - Value and encourage the TA's opinions and suggestions. - Brief your TA on your daily plans prior to the students' arrival at school. - Share responsibilities with the TA (e.g., classroom preparation and teaching, lunch and playground supervision, escorting students to Physical Education and Music) - Refer to the students as "our" class and not "my" class. - Include the TA in parent-teacher conferences. - Provide opportunities for the TA to spend a morning or afternoon session every two weeks assisting a colleague; thereby, enhancing the experiences of your TA. Another valuable member of the teaching team is the student assistant. These people are tremendous assets to any classroom as they assist the teacher with special needs children. The student assistant attends to the child from the time he arrives on the school premises in the morning until his departure at the end of the school day. The duties of the student assistant involve helping the child with his: seatwork under the guidance of the teacher; movement around the school; washroom duties; lunchroom assistance; school bus boarding procedures; etc. For these people, it is important that the teacher: - recognize and appreciate their contribution towards the education of the special needs child, - ensure that the student assistants are aware of lesson objectives and expectations required for the successful completion of the child's assigned seatwork, - advise the student assistants not to publicly discuss issues concerning the special needs child or any other student - outside of the school setting, - realize that the student assistant's primary responsibility is the special needs child and not the whole class, - encourage the student assistant to offer suggestions share opinions with you as she works with the special needs student, and - make the student assistant feel like a valuable part of the teaching team which she is. Parent volunteers can be an integral part of your teaching as well. See the December, 2001, newsletter for suggestions on how to utilize school volunteers: http://www.innovamultimedia.com/dec2001.ht Teachers must also be appreciative of the contributions of others such as: the school nurse, the janitor, cafeteria workers, and the school bus driver The teacher refers students to the school nurse for such procedures as: eye and hearing tests, illness, hair and scalp checks, mysterious rashes, etc. The school nurse can be a valuable resource person when teaching a specific unit in Health Science (e.g., Keeping Healthy). The janitor has the task of maintaining a clean environment for the students and teachers. Teachers should show their appreciation by: - ensuring that students maintain a tidy desk area, - having students remove all unnecessary items from the classroom floor before dismissal at the end of the day, and - praising the janitor when the job is done well. Cafeteria workers have the responsibility of providing nutritious snacks and meals for your students. You can assist them by teaching your students to: - be mannerly when ordering and receiving food items, - remain seated while consuming food in the lunchroom, - keep the lunchroom tidy, and - place all wrappings and leftovers in the proper recycling and waste disposal receptacles. The bus driver has the responsibility of transporting your students daily, between the home and school. You can assist the driver by annually reviewing proper behavior on the bus stop as well as on the bus. You should also invite a police officer or school bus safety resource person to discuss proper bus behavior and procedures with your students. As you can see, it takes many people to assist you in your teaching. By developing and maintaining a team approach, respectful of the contribution of the whole school community, standards of excellence will be achieved in the overall education of the children. ------------------------------------------------------------ Contest - Win a Whale ------------------------------------------------------------ INNOVA Multimedia Ltd. is giving away TEN of our "A Whale of a Tale" educational software lessons and the latest version of LessonBuilder, a custom course-creation utility, as a FREE DOWNLOAD on our website! Visit http://www.innovamultimedia.com/lbuilder.htm to download your free copy. When you download LessonBuilder you are automatically entered in our contest to win a free CD-ROM from our "A Whale of a Tale" series. Good Luck! ------------------------------------------------------------ This Month's Free Lesson Plans ------------------------------------------------------------ Teachers, check out free "A Whale of a Tale" lesson plans on our website at http://www.innovamultimedia.com/lp_index.htm Leap into Language 2 - "Using Words to Enhance Meaning" at http://www.innovamultimedia.com/lang2e.htm encourages children to select and use words to enhance meaning. Leap into Language 2 - "Root Words + LY" at http://www.innovamultimedia.com/lang2f.htm encourages children to recognize and use root words with the inflectional ending LY and identify the root word of a word with the ending LY. ------------------------------------------------------------ More Great Education Web Sites ------------------------------------------------------------ Check out these INNOVA recommended resource sites: Every Teacher Needs a Few Good Quotes http://www.umkc.edu/imc/quotes.htm This site contains a variety of general or inspirational quotes, arranged by author. Select a few and post them in strategic locations in your classroom. Each month display a different set of these inspirational messages. Use an extra large font to type the quotes, paste them on bristol board, laminate them, and use them year after year. Discovery School for Teachers http://school.discovery.com/teachers/ This site features teacher-prepared lesson plans and activities for the award-winning educational programming on the Discovery Channel. You'll find discussion guides and classroom activities. Monthly Activity Calendar: August 2002 http://www.enchantedlearning.com/activitycalendars/2002/aug.shtml This site contains a calendar of suggested activities for each day of the month of August. Simply click on the activity to go to crafts, printouts, Label Me! quizzes, and other activities. Calendars are also available for each month of the year. ------------------------------------------------------------ Whale Links for Whale Lovers ------------------------------------------------------------ Check out these INNOVA recommended whale sites! Welcome to OrcaLab http://www.orcalab.org/index.htm The work of OrcaLab is centered around the philosophy that it is possible to study wild animals without interfering with their lives or habitat. A network of hydrophones, positioned around the orcas' "core habitat", helps us to monitor their movements all year round. The Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre http://www.vanaqua.org/ Homepage of the Vancouver Aquarium. Click on the web cam link to see live pictures of Aurora, a 14-year old beluga whale, and her newborn male calf, born July 20th, 2002. ------------------------------------------------------------ Whale Trivia ------------------------------------------------------------ - Gray Whales have the longest migration of any mammal, about six thousand miles. - The Dwarf and Pygmy Sperm Whales look like their larger cousin, the Sperm Whale. - A large mother whale produces more than 130 gallons (492 liters) of milk for her baby each day. - The Blue Whale, which is the fastest growing animal on earth, gains an average of almost 8.5 pounds (3.9 kilograms) an hour from the time it is born until it is seven months old. - Killer Whales are sometimes called “the wolves of the sea” because they often hunt in packs. ------------------------------------------------------------ Feedback ------------------------------------------------------------ If you have comments or suggestions concerning our online newsletter or website, please direct them to mailto:editor@innovamultimedia.com Your comments and suggestions will be published in the feedback section of future issues. Past Online issues can be found at http://www.innovamultimedia.com/archive.htm ------------------------------------------------------------ English Resources Newsletter for teachers and parents. Free opt-in monthly newsletter with free units and puzzles. To subscribe visit http://www.ies.tradeplaza.co.nz or email ies@tradeplaza.co.nz and write subscribe in the subject box. ------------------------------------------------------------ NEW! Buy INNOVA's products online with delivery via Internet or CD-Rom. For more info visit: http://www.innovamultimedia.com/software.htm ------------------------------------------------------------ "An Online Educational Community" may only be redistributed in whole or in part in its unedited form. Written permission from the editor must be obtained to reprint or cite the information contained within this newsletter.

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