Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 9/13/13

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels: E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

Map A List - visualize your lists by creating a map using your Google spreadsheets (L:G; SA:SS)

Fakebook - “create a profile page for a fictional or historical character” (L:G; SA:A)

Chew or Die - “Chew Or Die is a food challenge app that encourages users to make small changes to their daily food choices. Regularly eat pepperoni pizza for lunch? How about trying veggies on top instead? Ok,you’ve got that down… now why not dare your Facebook friends to out-veggie your pizza?” (L:G; SA:S)

Zinn Education Project - “The Zinn Education Project promotes and supports the use of Howard Zinn’s best-selling book A People’s History of the United States and other materials for teaching a people’s history in middle and high school classrooms across the country. The website offers more than 100 free, downloadable lessons and articles organized by theme, time period, and reading level.” (L:M,H; SA:SS)

World Geography Games - An assortment of games (L:G; SA:SS)

Original Image: Tools by Pat Hensley

Others Matter to Me

In Where Mattering is on the Schedule! From Angela Maiers, Speaker, Educator, Writer , Angela Maiers shares about a school in Rhode Island where teachers and students can fill out a form so others can know their actions matter. She shared a form developed by Tim Chace from that Rhode Island School that he used and it was fabulous.

I thought about how great it would be to use this form for people at my university. In fact, I think it would be a great inspiration for people all over, and not just in my school. I will have to work on this or maybe I will contact this administrator and see if I can use it for my purpose.

Then she asked, “Do the people in your life know that they matter to you?”

I am going to work harder at this because I haven’t done a good job with this. Of course I tell my husband this every day because I mean it and he is right there in my life every day. I started thinking about family members who live very far from me and how I don’t let them know this often enough.

I also have friends that are dear to me but I’m not sure that I let them know this. We don’t get to see each other much because we all are busy with our own lives and I realize I need to stop from the craziness and make a conscious effort to do this. I rarely see them but they are in my thoughts often. This of course doesn’t convey to them how much they matter to me or how much their friendship means to me.

In fact, I believe this is going to be one of my goals for next year that I will work hard on. Of course I will start now but I want to make it a regular behavior that becomes a good habit. My monthly review of my goals is really helping me make certain actions into good habits.

I need to do a better job. I need to make sure that I do this before it is too late because it is always easy to put things off until tomorrow. I need to start thinking, “Why wait until tomorrow? Do it now.”

Have you let the people in your life know that they matter to you? If so, how? Please share.

Image: 'Hug'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/80747422@N00/272688925
Found on flickrcc.net

Where do Complaints Go?

Recently I had a situation with United Parcel Service (UPS) where I was sent an email from UPS My Choice saying that they would deliver a package between 12 and 4pm on a Thursday. Since I needed to sign for it, it was important that I was there to receive the package. I arrived home at 11:15 to find a note stating that they tried to deliver the package but no one was home. It also stated that they would return on Friday but no time given so I guess I could expect it any time in a 24 hour period!

When I called customer service from the number on the website, I was given an option to pick it up at the distribution center which is an hour away from my home. I was frustrated by the email that was sent and stated if I had known it was going to be delivered earlier, I would have planned to be there. I asked who I could file a complaint with and was told there was no such person. They told me that the email system (UPS My Choice) had nothing to do with the delivery system which I found extremely contradictory. Then I asked to speak to the person in charge of the deliveries and the person kept telling me that there was no one. I finally asked to speak to a supervisor who talked to me after I was on hold for 15 minutes. She told me the same type of story and I asked to speak to her supervisor. After another long hold, I talked to the third person who told me that there was no one in charge of the company for me to file a complaint with and that there were no regulatory agencies over them. She suggested I send an email to customer service on the website. This was the same customer service department that I was currently talking to on the phone. Finally after 40 minutes of trying to find who to file a complaint with, I hung up. I did file complaints with the Better Business Bureau and sent a letter to the Board of Directors.

It would have made sense for this person at UPS to ask for my contact information to give to a supervisor and have someone call me within the next few days. Instead they wanted to deny any kind of complaint process. I find it hard to believe a company that big would not have some way for customers to file a complaint. But maybe I’m wrong.

Now, I know you are wondering, what in the world does that have to do with education!

Many times parents and students are unhappy and want to go talk to the administrators when things don’t go the way they hope for. I try to keep the lines of communication open so they know the process for complaining and who to go to if they don’t achieve the results they need. I ask them to first come to me to see if we can resolve the problem and then tell that what steps are available if that doesn’t happen. This saves a lot of time and aggravation for the parents, for me, and for my administration. Many times it is a simple problem that I can address quickly.

For example, I had a parent of a student with Down syndrome who was very upset about something that happened in class. She could have easily called the main office and scheduled an appointment with an administrator which may have taken days. The administrator would follow up with me which may have taken more days. By the time the problem was resolved, it would have taken too much time or the type of problem it was. Instead the parent called me at home and let me know she was upset. We discussed the problem and when I told her my side of the story (which was different than the student’s story), we got the problem resolved. I understood why the mom was upset and didn’t deny that she had a right to be mad. I asked for help in avoiding this situation in the future and she appreciated that. This problem was dealt with and resolved immediately instead of being blown out of proportion.

What process do you have for handling complaints? Do you deal with them or do you send all of them to the administrator? Please share.

Image: 'Complaint Squircle'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72516959@N00/51737298
Found on flickrcc.net

What Would You Grab?

Last week my husband and I responded to a few house fires for the Red Cross. We help clients who have been burned out of their homes and try to give them some emergency relief. One of the important things we ask for is identification with proof of address. Sometimes clients have their driver’s license or can show some kind of mail with their name and address on it.

On the news you hear about flooding and mudslides in areas and how people have to evacuate. One family on the side of the mountain was going to lose their home because of all the rain. They were allowed to go in and get the valuables they could grab.

This made me think of things that I would grab if we had a house fire. I realized that I keep my purse with my wallet in my office and if we had a fire in the middle of the night, I might not be able to get to it. So, now my purse will be in the bedroom close at hand. I also thought that I would make a copy of my driver’s license and keep it in my car glove compartment. While thinking of these things, my husband and I thought we would make a list and keep it handy of things we must have if we have time to grab things. We would need my husband’s medication and his wallet. I would want to grab our cell phones, iPad, and laptops if I had time. I would want to grab so many things because I think everything I own is valuable to me. Otherwise, why would I have it?! Not only do I have things that are worth money but I have so many things that hold memories.

I also thought about the classroom and what I would need to grab if the school had a fire. At one school we had an evacuation bag hanging by the door. This bag had the class roster, emergency procedures (in case a substitute is there), a pen and pencil, some paper, bandaids, and rubber gloves. I would also grab a grade book and my purse but other than that, I think I would be okay. I put a lot of my files in dropbox online so I don’t have to worry about my computer or flash drive.

What would you grab in case of an emergency? Do you have a list or a bag? Please share.

Original photo by Pat Hensley

The DEN Fall VirtCon

I registered to attend The DEN Fall Virtcon put on by Discovery! Maybe I will see you there!

“The DEN Fall Virtual Conference is a free professional development event for educators to learn about the most effective ways to integrate digital media into their instructional practices. It is unique because of its blended environment. The sessions will be broadcast online, but you can attend either from your own home or at one of the many face-to- face (F2F) events around the world. By attending an event in your area, you get that buzz that can only be experienced by being face to face with others.”