"I don't get it"

The Guardian looks at Jon Stewart looking at Charleston, for those who don't like video clips.

Whoas!

The famous Hugo novel and even more famous stage (now movie) musical is usually pronounced by Americans /leɪ ˌmɪzəˈrɑːb/; the French say ​/le mizeʁabl(ə)/. But Alex, who prides himself on his French, actually just said /le mizeʁabləz/. Yes. He pronounced that final S on Misérables!

Donors Choose: Helping Kids Read

This is a genuinely great charity; you give money directly to a teacher who uses it to fund a project - sometimes as basic as buying books.

I've got a Giving Page here. Please consider donating via it, but if you don't like those projects, please look around the site, find a project you do like, and suggest it for my page. Or just give to it. And remember - you don't have to fully fund a project.

Here's something a teacher whose project was funded said today:

The gift of having books where the students can hear different levels of reading is the best gift possible. This has given my students independence in their listening skills.

When we received the boxes, my students acted as if it was Christmas. They were so excited. They chose books and ask daily if they can read books on tape.

One student in particular comes in early, just to listen to books! What a blessing, she is reading below 1st grade level, but she is trying so hard to catch up to everyone else.

These books have made a big difference in my students attitude towards reading.

Thank you so much for helping my students now and students of the future.

Donors Choose: For the Children

Yep. it's October, and that means Donors Choose has its annual challenge up.

This is a genuinely great charity; you give money directly to a teacher who uses it to fund a project - sometimes as basic as buying books.

I've got a Giving Page here. Please consider donating via it, but if you don't like those projects, please look around the site, find a project you do like, and suggest it for my page. Or just give to it. And remember - you don't have to fully fund a project.

I'm not a big blogger, but I hope my readers will help fund at least a couple of these projects!

Donors Choose Social Media Challenge

Yep. it's October (well, nearly), and that means Donors Choose has its annual challenge up.

This is a genuinely great charity; you give money directly to a teacher who uses it to fund a project - sometimes as basic as buying books.

I've got a Giving Page here. Please consider donating via it, but if you don't like those projects, please look around the site, find a project you do like, and suggest it for my page. Or just give to it. And remember - you don't have to fully fund a project.

You'll hear back from the teacher - you'll get photos (I won't post any here, but it's great seeing the kids reading!) - but here's a letter:

I can't thank you enough for funding this grant! This year I relocated to a different school and moved into a classroom that had nothing in it except desks. I spent my last weeks of summer frantically scraping together everything I would need to start the year. Thanks to this grant, I had materials for reading instruction ready at the start of the year.

These books have had a tremendous impact on the quality of reading instruction I'm able to provide for my students. Instead of "one size fits all" instruction that really misses the needs of most students, I'm able to work with leveled reading groups. Though it's the beginning of the year and I'm still laying the groundwork for my yearlong instruction plan, I can see that having new, interesting books that are at students' instructional level is really improving their confidence. Students who are self-proclaimed non-readers are already making huge gains in fluency and comprehension. One girl in particular spent the first few days of school pretending to read difficult chapter books, and guessing at words based on their first letter. This week she started reading Henry and Mudge, and she's now so proud of herself that she'll read the book to any person who will sit still long enough.

My students love these books. When reading appropriately-leveled books, students are able to feel successful and to measure their own progress as they move up to more challenging texts. Even more importantly, these books serve as a guide for helping students choose books for independent reading. Most of the books I requested for this grant were the first book of a series. Once students have read one book in a series, they're much more motivated to continue with others. The familiar characters and storyline help make other books in the series more accessible.

Though most of my students are growing up in poverty, they have big dreams for their futures. They know that achieving their goals and being successful requires them to have a quality education, and reading is the cornerstone of that education. By helping my students become successful readers, you're helping keep their future options open. Thank you so much for your generosity and for supporting these students who have such great need.

Please consider giving something! Thanks!

Donors Choose

Hey! How'd it get to be September already?

I've been remiss in pointing you at this wonderful organization, which allows you to help teachers fund projects to make learning better for their students. You can sort by state, need, type of class (math, ESL, art...), and urgency.

When you get that package from the class you helped, you'll feel really good. And since this life is what we have, why not help make it better for kids?

Give generously. Give now.

Donors Choose Bloggers Challenge: THANK YOU

My blog is part of this year's Donors Choose Bloggers Challenge, which ends today. So far three projects have been funded - by several very generous donors, one of whom anonymously dedicated their donation to my mother, which I truly appreciate. I might be able to guess who you are, but I won't try. I cried a little, though... Here's the first feedback from that

WOW! Thank you so much for helping me to get this project up and running! I am so excited to get the materials and start working with my students to help them reach their goals and be comfortable within their new learning environment. Thank you for being part of this and making something so amazing happen for my students!

So only one project isn't funded - and really, that's fabulous. My little blog's readers came up with almost a thousand dollars. Just in case one of you feels a bit generous after the election, here's the link to that last project.

Thank you so much to those who donated.

Donors Choose challenge ... deadline approaching

My blog is part of this year's Donors Choose Bloggers Challenge. So far two project has been funded - by two generous donors. I told them I didn't have a big readership, but I was hoping for more donors than one... I know it's a dicey economic period, and maybe all your spare cash is on its way to a politician, but ... think of the children, won't you?

It's easy: go to My Giving Page and pick a project, and then donate money. You can donate a little or a lot - whatever you feel comfortable giving. After you give, you'll get something like this almost right away:

My project has been funded!!!! I am so excited about the limitless opportunities that these new vocabulary materials will bring to my classroom. I have a large ELL (English language learners) population and these materials will help me focus on vocabulary which will in turn help my kids be strong readers. A million thank yous for your kindness and generosity. My kindergartners are going to LOVE the new materials! Continued blessings and many thanks

Again, you don't by any means have to fully fund anything. $10 is a great first step. Please think about it - and give what you can.

Donors Choose

My blog is part of this year's Donors Choose Bloggers Challenge. So far one project has been funded - by one generous donor. I told them I didn't have a big readership, but I was hoping for more donors than one... I know it's a dicey economic period, and maybe all your spare cash is on its way to a politician, but ... think of the children, won't you?

It's easy: go to My Giving Page and pick a project, and then donate money. You can donate a little or a lot - whatever you feel comfortable giving. After you give, you'll get something like this almost right away:

I am so excited that you have chosen to provide these materials for the students! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! I appreciate your kindness and generosity. You have enabled me to get high interest books in the hands of struggling students. If these students can read they can learn!!! Thank you again!

Again, you don't by any means have to fully fund anything. $10 is a great first step.

Donors Get Thanks

My blog is part of this year's Donors Choose Bloggers Challenge.

It's easy: go to My Giving Page and pick a project, and then donate money. You can donate a little or a lot - whatever you feel comfortable giving. After you give, you'll get something like this almost right away:

I am so excited that you have chosen to provide these materials for the students! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! I appreciate your kindness and generosity. You have enabled me to get high interest books in the hands of struggling students. If these students can read they can learn!!! Thank you again!

or this:

I am truly amazed at your complete generosity! Considering that my proposal runs out in 3 days, I was not expecting this project to be funded. Thank you so much for reminding me that people can really be generous and kind-hearted. My students will be beyond excited about this big news! I know that they will put these materials to good use, and they will be very thankful that they now have the materials necessary to make learning come alive! Thank you again for your generosity and support! It is truly appreciated!

Again, you don't by any means have to fully fund anything. $10 is a great first step.

Carnival of Maryland: the Squirrely Edition

Welcome to the Land of Pleasant Living, and the forty-third edition of the Carnival of Maryland. As always, this carnival isn't about a topic, or a way of life, or a philosophy; it's a collection of posts written by a diverse group of bloggers whose commonality is where we live.

Before we get to the good stuff, a quick plug: October is Bloggers Challenge Month at Donors Choose, a charity that lets the donors choose where their money goes; if you've a mind to, check out my giving page and show a teacher and students some love. Now, on to the Carnival. Oh, the squirrels? Well, as I said, it's October. Nowadays, more than ever, the squirrels are out and about, hunting for the nuts and acorns falling from the trees, hoping to store up enough to make it through the winter. Let them guide you to interesting reading.

Submitters select a topic for their posts. So here are this fortnight's submissions as categorized by the authors:

In Local events Mike Netherland presents MARC-Town Center in Odenton posted at The MARC...Train. "Read it and weep," he says.

In Economics Marcel J. van Rossum presents Hear Ye, Hear Ye: Tax Payment Reduction Notice posted at The Political Octagon.

In National Politics Michael Swartz presents Is profit the next entitlement? posted at monoblogue.

Marcel J. van Rossum presents Bailout by Congress Serves to Expand Government Period posted at The Political Octagon. "Government Largesse" is his description.

And I present Who lives on Main Street ... anymore? here at the Greenbelt.

There are several submissions for Nature this time: Soccer Dad presents 7 mile sunset posted at Soccer Dad.

Julie Dunlap presents Swampbikers Journal posted at Pines Above Snow.

The Ridger presents Oriole Nest posted here. "During the summer the oriole's song is easy to hear, but the birds themselves stick to the cover of the trees. In the fall, the trees provide less of that, and oriole nests, unmistakeable, can be seen."

And Swamp Thing presents Skunked at Loch Raven posted at River Mud Blog.

In Arts and Music Clark Bjorke presents Leo Kottke: Louise posted at clarkspicks.com. Clark says, "Paul Siebel, who wrote this song, had "an interesting life" as the Chinese curse goes, and wound up living on the Eastern Shore. Both Bonnie Raitt and Leo Kottke had large hits with their reordings of Siebel's song "Louise." Since a Siebel performance is not available online, here is Leo's."

In Sports Ed presents Hockey Made Simple: Pass it to this guy posted at Howard County Maryland Blog.

And Maryland Orioles Fan presents Playoff Reflections at Baltimore Orioles Blog.

And finally, there's the always popular Other:

Attila presents Four Years at Pillage Idiot posted at Pillage Idiot.

OM presents Best of Baltimore posted at Insane Baltimore.

Kathleen presents A Maryland Farmers Market Online posted at What's New in Maryland.

That's it for this edition. The next one will be at Creating a Jubilee County. Submit your posts via this form. See you then!

Donors Choose Bloggers Challenge

This is one of my favorite charities - it's fun and you make a big difference right away - and see it. I found it last year via the Bloggers Challenge - and this year I'm joining. You can help.

It's easy: go to My Giving Page and pick a project, and then donate money. You can donate a little or a lot - whatever you feel comfortable giving. I'm no big dog in the blogger world, so I only picked four projects, $1400 dollars. If each of my readers gives a little, that'll be way more than enough.

After you give, you'll get a letter from the teacher. And later you'll get letters from the kids, usually with pictures. It's quick and easy and it makes you feel good (after you get over how many teachers need really not much cash to do their jobs well).

There's a widget on the sidebar. It'll stay there throughout the challenge. Let's make this happen.

One year to learn a language

This is just crazy.

I was browsing Donors Choose (link now working!) - something I do when I get some spare cash - and found a teacher looking for dictionaries her ELL students could use in their taught-in-English classes.

Here's what she says in her thank-you email:

In the state of Texas, the ELLs now have one year to learn English. After the given year, the students are expected to perform on level with native English speakers, no matter the grade level.

One year? And then they're expected to perform "on level with native English speakers"? So a sixteen-year-old has one year to reach high-school proficiency in a foreign language? I wonder how many of the school board members who drafted that requirement have ever tried to learn a foreign language? And then perform in it? With that performance being learning other subjects.

That's just crazy. Even if the only thing those kids do in their year is learn English, the odds that a teenager - or even a tween - will get up to level in just a year is ludicrous.

Thanks...

If you give to Donors Choose, you not only get to feel good about helping teachers and students, you'll actually get letters. Like this:

Oh my goodness! I am so excited to receive your donation for our Moon Models project! The students are going to be so excited to begin creating their own moon models. We are going to begin this project in a few months and the students are already talking about it! Your donation means so much to me and my students. Thanks for making this possible.

Or this:

As my students finished their unit of study on realistic fiction, I noticed how quickly they went though paper, colored pencils, markers, and white-out in their efforts to make their work perfect. I drove home from work today trying to calculate in my head exactly how much it was going to cost me for the year to keep them supplied with these essentials. So to find out that I was funded put the biggest smile on my face. It is so important to me to make sure that my students move through the writing process with ease. Their first stories far surpassed my expectation and I want to do everything in my power to make sure that continues We are moving into a literacy unit that will have the students creating brochures. Your generous funding of this grant will ensure that the students have the resources they need for this unit and future units to excel in school. Thank you so much for considering my grant and your continued support of education.

You might even get pictures of the kids using whatever you funded for them:


Do it. It's the right thing, and it'll put a big smile on your face.

Science Blogs Donors Choose

Donors Choose is an organization that takes requests from teachers and lets you - the donor - choose who gets your money, and how much of it.

ScienceBlogs is the biggest collection of science bloggers on the Internet.

This year, they've again teamed up to present the ScienceBlogs Donors Choose Challenge. If you have even $10 to spare, consider giving it to a science teacher.

You can read what the teachers want the money for, and donate as much as you want. If you like, you can cruise the bloggers and see if you want to support the challenge of an engineer, a biologist, a neurologist, or whatever takes your fancy. You can give to one challenge or many, fully fund a smallish one or help a huge one.

Make a contribution to education and increase the net happiness of the world.

ps - In case that's not enough, some of the bloggers are offering prizes...