Twilight and vocabulary
I got this book in my mailbox the other day. It seems to be a new way to approach vocabulary lessons. It uses the popular Twilight book to help young people learn vocabulary.
When I first saw the book, I was perplexed. What did Twilight have to do with vocabulary? Then I peeked inside and saw that Author Brian Leaf uses passages from Twilight to quiz students and show them what the words in Twilight mean. There are more than the words vampire and blood in that book for sure; words students need to know.
The Twilight series has encouraged many young people to read more and it seems Leaf has found a way to help them learn even more while doing it.
- Staff Writer Dawn Marks
OSU-OKC student wins free tuition
Micah Mirick was awarded the Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City enrollment sweepstakes scholarship for the fall semester.
The sweepstakes was open to current and new students. The winner was randomly selected, and the sweepstakes will cover tuition for 12 credit hours.
Mirick plans on majoring in criminology to become a police officer.
Other scholarship opportunities are available at www.osuokc.edu/financialaid. For more information, call 945-8646.
SNU building demolished
BETHANY — Southern Nazarene University’s Jernigan Hall was demolished last week.
It was built in the 1930s and used a women’s dormitory and the SNU School for Children. The building was on N Asbury near NW 39 Expressway.
The land will be used for additional green space for Bud Robinson Mall, SNU President Loren Gresham said.
Sandy Garrett’s Column
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes, little boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
– “Little Boxes,” by Malvina Reynolds, © 1962
Many will remember the song “Little Boxes,” a social commentary on the cookie-cutter pursuit of the American dream that became popular in the 1960s. “Little Boxes” is now the theme song to a popular cable television series. It came to mind recently when preparing for my annual “State of Education Address” this summer.
Most are familiar with the typical school “box”—with four walls, a chalkboard and a teacher at the front. Each was the same, regardless of grade or school. Nothing else in the world is the same now as it was then.
To harness the power of our present and the opportunities of our future, we must look beyond that box. So, when school leaders gathered for our annual Leadership Conference July 15, I told them about the “perfect storm” that is brewing. This is the global, national, state and local forces impacting Oklahoma schools and their ability to successfully educate every child.
These forces are:
· The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
· The concern that not all in the workforce today have the skills needed
to be successful.
· The ongoing demographic changes resulting in more Oklahoma children
living in poverty, and more students who are homeless.
This converging of forces into a perfect storm makes it imperative that schools focus on the future and be willing to change quickly. It’s time to transform schools to better prepare every student to compete in the global economy now and to adapt to the job market of their future.
The president has offered a crisis plan to help chart a course through the storm. His recent initiatives include:
1. Promoting innovation and excellence in schools. In Oklahoma this can
mean increasing the quality and quantity of learning time; adding to the number of places for learning from which parents can choose (traditional public or private, charter schools, online, etc.), and engaging students with the tools of technology they will use in the workplace.
2. Encouraging higher academic standards and better assessments by
continuing to raise the bar on tests and advocating for common standards among states.
3. Recruiting and rewarding teachers in ways that help retain the current
teaching force and assist new teachers in being effective with students at that particular school.
4. Developing partnerships with CareerTechs and colleges, and continuing
our work aligning postsecondary standards with Pre-K through 12th grade.
5. Ongoing efforts to improve the quality of early learning programs –
even in Oklahoma where our Pre-Kindergarten programs are considered the national model.
Urgency is needed locally to rethink Oklahoma’s outdated school calendar, embrace new technologies, and tailor teaching to each child’s educational needs with a goal of 100 percent of students graduating from high school.
Schools can break free of the “little box” mentality of the past, and
focus our schools on the future. Because every child deserves a bright
future, I urged school leaders to do whatever it takes to “leave no future behind.”
Read to a child – the benefits last a lifetime!
Making music
Despite playing the clarinet during my years in school, I never knew what went into keeping an instrument in playing condition, but I recently got a little lesson from some Oklahoma City band directors.
The band directors are working this summer to repair and catalog all of the more than 2,000 band instruments in the district’s middle and high schools. Chris Lehew, assistant band director at Northwest Classen, was kind enough to let me tinker with a clarinet when I visited one of their repair sessions. He showed me how to cut and glue down the cork on the joints of the clarinet and then sand it so that the instrument’s pieces fit snugly together. I tried my hand at a little sanding and felt a little sentimental for my clarinet-playing days.
Lehew and other band members replaced pads, fixed bent keys and replaced screws on instruments that day. They said they hope that their efforts will make for sweeter music after school starts.
- Staff Writer Dawn Marks
OCCC will host business seminar
Oklahoma City Community College will host a business development seminar from 10:45 a.m. to noon Tuesday and Aug. 4, 11 and 18.
Bob Edwards of Retail Management Concepts will be the featured speaker.
tendees will learn how to find their company’s niche, lower marketing cost while increasing effectiveness using social media networking and learn the value of product integrity.
The cost to attend is $39. For more information, go to www.occc.edu/corporatelearning or call 682-7562.
Langston-OKC professor publishes book
A Langston University-Oklahoma City professor had his work published in a book titled Disabilities– Responses: Practice, Legal and Political Frameworks.
Edward Manyibe is the assistant professor for the university’s rehabilitation counseling and disability studies department.
He wrote about the disabled resident in Kenya and the challenges they face.
OC establishes international business degree program
Oklahoma Christian University officials established an international business degree for undergraduate students.
“Business professionals must have a global perspective to fully understand and succeed in the world marketplace,” professor of management Don Drew said in a news release. “This new degree is one way students can be better prepared.”
Associated professor of business Jeff Simmons said the university has seen a steady increase in international students and U.S. high school students who are interested in studying international business.
Students who are seeking this degree will take 46 hours of core business classes and six hours of foreign language classes.
They must also take international management, international consulting and development, global marketing, international finance and international economics.
For more information, go to www.oc.edu.
Sandy Garrett’s Column
Learning is no longer confined to four walls and a chalkboard. In today’s classrooms, laptops, PDAs and other technologies have broken down the walls for teachers and students; literally bringing the world to their classrooms.
Technology is making a positive difference in schools and revolutionizing the way educators teach and children learn. Just this week the U.S.
Department of Education released a study indicating online education
Today, 98 percent of Oklahoma school districts use computers for curriculum, assessment and administration. In the last eight years, the number of computer in schools has more than doubled.
This is impressive considering the funding for hardware, software, and connectivity has come primarily through local bond issues and federal funds, grants or Education Rate (E-rate) discounts.
According to the State Department of Education’s annual “School Technology Survey” released at the regular June State Board of Education meeting, in Oklahoma:
— along with traditional face-to-face teaching — is an effective strategy for 21st century education. •
school year;
Schools spent more than $105 million on technology during the 2007-2008•
One-third use interactive whiteboards and PDAs;•
50 percent of schools subscribe to digital streaming;•
In addition, several districts are pursuing goals with 1:1 learning, which provides students with their own laptop computers to use each day.
A growing number of schools are also issuing iPods to students to enhance learning.
One innovative district that is integrating multiple digital technologies into classrooms is Howe Public Schools in LeFlore County. Under the direction of Superintendent Scott Parks, broadcast journalism students have created distance learning virtual field trips that enable other students to experience historical locations without leaving their classroom. Students broadcast a weekly news podcast and teachers are able to post homework and lessons online through computer programs.
Oklahoma’s core curriculum for Grades Pre-K through 12, the Priority Academic Student Skills (PASS), has standards that define basic skills of technology, including learning the operation of a computer, problem solving and telecommunications skills, and ethical and legal issues related to students using technology.
Our ever-growing global society makes the world available to every desktop. As such, the integration of digital tools into classrooms is a must for students to have the knowledge and skills needed to be competitive and successful as adults.
62 percent employ student blogs and 32 percent use instant messaging.
Educare Opens
I had the chance to visit the Oklahoma City Educare site on its first day Monday. It looks like such a fun place for children. Organizers say the center will provide high quality child care where lower-income children can learn and receive services they need. Throughout the building, I found touches especially for children like spinning wood blocks on the walls for when they stand in line and on the playground recycled tanks made into drums. Children practice family-style eating in their rooms with their teachers. When it’s lunch time, children learn to serve themselves, eat and talk with each other and then clean up and brush their teeth. Many organizations and people throughout Oklahoma City worked to raise the $9.3 million to build and equip the building at 500 SE Grand. Now they’re raising money for an endowment and organizations also have committed to give annually to the $3 million operating budget. Here are some pictures from the first day.
