Rock Lake School

Guest blog: Help students rally in Tally

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:50:31 +0000

We’ve got another guest blogger today — Itai Raz, the student advisor to the Broward County School Board. Raz, 17, is a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. He’ll attend Florida State University in Tallahassee, where he plans to major in political science. In addition to his duties as the School Board’s student advisor, Raz also helping to organize the Florida Association of Student Councils annual convention, which will be at Douglas on April 17-19, 2010. He also is vice president of his student government.
If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please e-mail Kathy Bushouse at kbushouse@SunSentinel.com.
The situation that the students of Broward County are currently situated in is the definition of irony in my opinion. On March 25th, the second annual Rally in Tally will be held in the state capital of Tallahassee, and the Broward County Association of Student Councils is working to [...]

Source: South Florida Education Blog

Tradition: Performance of Fiddler coming up in Boca

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:45:09 +0000

I have enjoyed the musical Fiddler on the Roof ever since I was a little kid listening to my grandfather play If I Were a Rich Man on his violin.
So at the risk of sounding like a paid promoter, let me just say I’m pleased to let my readers know that students from Spanish River High in Boca Raton will be staging their own Fiddler production next week.

Performances will run at 7 p.m. March 18-20th, along with a 2:30 p.m. matinee on March 21, at The Countess de Hoernle Theatre, 5100 Jog Road.
For tickets, call 561-241-2020, or check out the website, spanishrivertheatre.org.
Prices are $15 general admission, $12 seniors or groups of ten or more, and $10 for students.

Source: South Florida Education Blog

Guest Blog: Next generation politicians

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:05:54 +0000

Today’s Guest Blog comes courtesy of Brendan Stone. He’s an almost 15-year-old freshmen at West Boca Raton High School.
Brendan mentors a group of Loggers Run Middle students who this year established Palm Beach County’s first Florida Youth in Government, or YIG, chapter. He’s working to start a chapter at his high school later in the year.
With grown-up lawmakers now debating legislation in Tallahassee, it’s a glimpse at the next generation of politicians.

Source: South Florida Education Blog

Are clicking students more engaged?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0000

College professors at some universities are using “clickers” to judge whether or not students understand the lesson at hand, according to the Associated Press.

If you’re wondering what a clicker is and how long they’ve been around, here is the AP’s description: “Clickers — not unlike gadgets used on television game shows — first appeared in college classrooms over a decade ago and have since spread to just about every college and university in the country thanks to cheaper and better technology.”
The reason that I’m bringing any of this up is that as I read the article, I couldn’t help but think these sound awfully close to the handheld devices students in Broward County public school classrooms use to answer questions.
Lots of the district’s schools come equipped with whiteboards, which are like 21st-century, interactive chalkboards. Teachers ask questions, which are usually displayed on the board, and students [...]

Source: South Florida Education Blog

Budget cuts could cost Broward elementary schools their specials

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:35:31 +0000

Broward’s public elementary schools soon could be sharing art, music and physical education teachers, according to a proposal that the School Board will discuss at a workshop Tuesday.
The board will discuss four possible scenarios: Four schools share an art or music teacher (or both), a P.E. teacher or a media teacher; classroom teachers fold art and music into their regular lesson plans; “specials” teachers double up on classes, with a teacher’s aide providing extra help; or have arts, music and P.E. teachers and media specialists consult with general education teachers on strategies and education methods that the teachers would then work into their curriculum.
The proposal also looks at other options to supplement students’ lessons, including virtual field trips, video conferences, and the Student Enrichment in the Arts partnership with the Broward Center for Performing Arts.
Other parts of the proposal look at guidance counselor and administrator staffing at elementary, [...]

Source: South Florida Education Blog

Union leaders hit the Hard Rock this weekend

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:58:21 +0000

Looks like the Broward Teachers Union negotiations with the Broward School District are about to get more interesting.
This weekend, the local teachers union will host Florida Education Association president Andy Ford and American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten to discuss “ways to bring the ongoing contract negotiations dispute with the School Board of Broward County to a close.”
The union leaders will be at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
Santeramo said in a press release that he and the union “genuinely want to find a way to cut waste in the district’s budget, eliminate the need for layoffs and settle the ongoing contact negotiations by developing a new dialog with School Board members.”
It’s safe to say that talks with the school district have been downright ugly the past two years. The teachers union wants an average 4-percent raise; the district says there isn’t [...]

Source: South Florida Education Blog

FCAT: Food matters

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:17:24 +0000

You should not take the FCAT on an empty stomach, educators warn.

So in preparation for Tuesday’s exams, the Palm Beach County School District started an “Eating for FCAT Success” campaign.
Posters and informational flyers have been distributed to the schools in order to encourage parents, teachers and others to provide healthy meals and snacks to the students before they sit for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
McDonald’s restaurants in Florida are also getting in the act. From 6 to 9 a.m. Tuesday only, parents can bring their child to any McDonald’s for a free Egg McMuffin, bag of Apple Dippers and a milk or small orange juice - no substitutions allowed.
The offer is for students in grades 3 to 11 and students under 15 years old must be accompanied by a parent. Children must be present to receive the meal.
Experts say good nutrition has been shown to improve concentration, memory, and [...]

Source: South Florida Education Blog

Got water?

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:15:48 +0000

UM’s School of Communication wants you to make a short-film on water and help save the world, or at least raise awareness to one of Mother Earth’s issues.
Below is the information from the university about the World Water Day short film contest.
Good Luck!
We take it for granted and use it in abundance.
But safe, clean drinking water isn’t a reality for millions of people around the world.
To draw attention to the global water crisis and World Water Day, the University of Miami School of Communication’s Knight Center for International Media and the San Francisco-based Independent Television Service are hosting the “One Cut” non-fiction short film contest.
A panel of judges from UM’s School of Communication will look for the film that best inspires viewers to make changes in their daily lives that address the global water challenge at a personal level. Films should cross cultural and language boundaries and [...]

Source: South Florida Education Blog

Election Day ca-ching for high school students

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:57:14 +0000

Ah, the joys that come with the senior year of high school—senior photos, homecoming, yearbook, prom, grad night (Ca-ching, ca-ching, ca-ching, ca-ching).
But students at Pembroke Pines Charter High School have found a way to offset some of the costs of senior year activities while earning the volunteer hours needed to graduate. They serve as poll workers for the Broward County Supervisor of Elections Office.
Since January 2008, about 200 kids in school’s Civic Involvement Project have turned over to the school the $140 to $165 paid to poll workers instead of pocketing the dough. Well, to be technical, the elections office gives the money to Pembroke Pines, which gives it to the school to pay for things like photographers, hotels and DJs. It is a city-run charter school, after all.
It’s not clear how much the kids have made to date, but they earned at least $22,000 in [...]

Source: South Florida Education Blog

FAU finalist: Better retention and graduation means more money

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:40:34 +0000

One way for FAU to deal with its budget problems is to improve its graduation and retention rates, one of the presidential finalists said.
Mary Jane Saunders, provost at Cleveland State University, said when students leave before graduation, it hurts them and the institution. FAU’s graduation has been below 40 percent in recent years, one of the lowest in the state.
“When students leave, they are not leaving in a good personal situation. They may have taken on debt and they have no degree,” she said. “You have lost ability to collect tuition and subsidies for those students…If you can make that graduation number 80 or 85 percent, you can increase your revenue considerably, and they will leave with an FAU degree.”
Those students are more likely to become active alumni who donate money as well, she said.
FAU student government President Tiffany Weimer, who sits on the Board of Trustees, asked Saunders what [...]

Source: South Florida Education Blog