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=============================================================
THE EDUCATION COMPANION NEWSLETTER
Issue No. 11
=============================================================
The companion newsletter to Mrs. Young's Super Charged Educational Voyage
Janet Young, Newsletter Developer, Editor and Co-Author
Subscribe:  http://educationcompanion.listbot.com/
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This publication may be freely redistributed if copied in its ENTIRETY
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==== IN THIS "EDUCATION COMPANION" NEWSLETTER ==========
 
+ Welcome Message / Announcements
~ Janet R. Young
 
+ CONTENT AREAS
Current trends, opinions, tips, etc.
 
~ Bonnie Bracey's Information Superhighway ~
Digital Theater
 
~ Life is One Big Classroom with Joan Berger ~
It's a Bug's Life!

~ Technically Speaking with Kathleen A. Catapano ~
A Little Project is a Good Place to Start

~ Including the Physically Handicapped with Sheila Estes ~
Expanding Horizons With Talking Books
 
~ Steve McCarty's East-West Perspectives from Japan  ~
Japan's IT Educational Reforms and Asian Digital Divide Plans
 
~ Tammy Bailis' Senior School Musings ~
The Y'S The Limit
 
The Human Connection with Robin Kagan
Hello Again...
 
FluidAccess with Steve Feld
Reflection on the Mona Lisa Web Site
 
~ The Frugal Teacher with Quentin D'Souza~
Tips For The Frugal Teacher
 
~ Internet Educational Hot Spots~
Cool sites to check out!
 
+ Call for Ideas
 
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Bring your business to the world today!
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==== WELCOME MESSAGE / ANNOUNCEMENTS ==============
 
Welcome back to a brand new school year.  I hope everyone had a relaxing and
refreshing summer.  The new year is full of wonderful opportunities to make learning
fun!  This issue of The Education Companion is filled with lots of exciting ideas and activities to
keep both you and your students in starry-eyed educational bliss!
  

>>>If any link is not underlined and completely in blue, try highlighting the
entire link, copy (control C) and paste (control V) into your browser so the
link will work properly. <<<
 
In It's a Bug's Life!, Joan Berger creeps and crawls the classroom into the insect world.  
Bonnie Bracey in Digital Theater, introduces us to youth theater through the work of Kevin Hauge.
Prof. Steve McCarty clarifies Japan's educational technology plans in his article aptly called
Japan's IT Educational Reforms and Asian Digital Divide Plans  .  Develop an understanding of
the benefits of talking books as observed through the eyes of Sheila Estes in Expanding Horizons
With Talking Books.  Kathleen A. Catapano helps us jump into technology with ease in
A Little Project is a Good Place to Start.  For all for our mathematics minded folks,
Tammy Bailis' article on The Y'S The Limit brings focus to "limiting" topic calculus.
Quentin DeSouza shares some ideas on projects on a shoestring, in Tips for the Frugal Teacher, sure to
back some old activites and inspire new ones.  Steve Feld sheds more light on the Mona Lisa project in
Reflection on the Mona Lisa Web Site.  Robin Kagan guides us in the right direction to empower our
students to foster responsible living.
 
In the next issue look for more great ideas to keep you on top of education today!
 
Share ideas and learn about new trends on our discussion board.  You can join our
Discussion Board and view postings by sending a BLANK email message to:
the-education-companion-subscribe@egroups.com
 
~Janet R. Young, Developer, Editor and Co-Author
 
>>>Feel free to forward this issue to friends and colleagues, if copied in its ENTIRETY.<<<
 
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==== THE CONTENT AREAS ============================ 
~ Bonnie Bracey's Information Superhighway ~
DIGITAL THEATER
 
 I would like to introduce you to Kevin Hauge who is a leader and visionary
in the field of youth Theater. Since 1996 he has led the USA's largest youth
theater company to take on increasingly challenging and professional quality
productions which incorporate multimedia effects and use internet technology
to give even more young people an opportunity to participate.

For those of us who have migrated to the use of technology, there is often a
concern about the humanities and the visual arts. Well, here is a whole new
use of the computer. I attended this workshop at the School Tech Expo. This
is a great use of the internet to bring together student, theater, writers
and others in a real project designed for a stage performance.

This is the website www.sjcmt.com/TADA

The introduction goes like this.  So you wanna a be part of a virtual theater
company? Hate to break it to you, TADA is as real as it gets. We don't use
the web to simulate theater. We use it to create theater. Cuz real theater is
live, baby, and this site's as live as they get. Check it
out.   http://www.sjcmt.com/TADA/index.html

This website is an online theater that allows young people everywhere
including those who are isolated by geographical distance, illness, or
disability , to share in the excitement of creating a theatrical production
from concept to stage.

The TADA program uses internet technology including live chats, electronic,
bulletin boards, email and an interactive website- to bring individual kids
and classrooms together with each other and with theater professions who can
help turn their ideas into a production. At any given time, TADA has several
website projects underway.

There are three productions on site , but the one that I think that is most
appropriate to the website, and to the World Summit is the original musical
about the future.

http://www.sjcmt.com/2101

The project began in October 1999 and will continue through June 2001.
Individual students and classes may join the project at any time and
participate for any portion of the project.

The project is most suitable for classes studying theater, music, English,
technology, science , or sociology.

Opportunities for student participation includes twice weekly monitored LIVE
CHAT chats, monitored Brain Dump Electronic bulletin board, interactive DATA
BANK website survey, and opportunities to contribute ideas, critiques via,
email at every stage of the productions development.
 
Website Calendar
* brainstorming about live in the future- November 1999 March 2000
* theme plot and character development, March-June 2000
* scene development July August 2000
* dialogue and song writing, September- December 2000
* script revisions and set/costume design January- March 2001
* cast coaching,collateral( program, PR, teacher guides) April-May 2001
* Post show analysis, schools receive videos of full show) June 2001

Online participation is free to schools and to individual students.
* They are currently seeking funding for scholarships that would enable
students to visit San Jose for the World Premiere Performance.

Further information  tegan@sjcmt.com or phone 408-288-5437 X 18

~Bonnie Bracey
bbracey@aol.com
www.childrens-media.org
Independent Consultant http://www.bracey-pearl.org/
US Educationalist & Presidential Advisor on Education & Technology.
The President's National Information Infrastructure Advisory Board,
URL: http://www.iitf.doc.gov/members/members.html
read: Minutes of the Committee on Applications and Technology .
URL: http://www-12.nist.gov/cat/cat-min/941027.html
Member of Vice President Gore's Globe Institute
A member of the Challenger Center Faculty:
A Christa McAuliffe Educator for the National Foundation of Education.
URL: http://www.technos.net/journal/volume1/sb3grewa.htm
Author of The Challenge of Introducing Technology.~Bonnie Bracey
bbracey@aol.com
www.childrens-media.org
Independent Consultant http://www.bracey-pearl.org/
US Educationalist & Presidential Advisor on Education & Technology.
The President's National Information Infrastructure Advisory Board,
URL: http://www.iitf.doc.gov/members/members.html
read: Minutes of the Committee on Applications and Technology .
URL: http://www-12.nist.gov/cat/cat-min/941027.html
Member of Vice President Gore's Globe Institute
A member of the Challenger Center Faculty:
A Christa McAuliffe Educator for the National Foundation of Education.
URL: http://www.technos.net/journal/volume1/sb3grewa.htm
Author of The Challenge of Introducing Technology.
 
=======================================
 
~ Including the Physically Handicapped with Sheila Estes ~
Expanding Horizons With Talking Books
 
The Library of Congress offers a service capable of opening the world of
literature to those who qualify. The National Library Service for the Blind
and Physically Handicapped is offered through state regional libraries. Nate
has received his first materials and is very excited about the service. We had
not pursued this area of assistance until now because he had been able to
read from regular books even though at times he needed assistance in turning
pages. The Muscular Dystrophy has weakened his hand muscles enough this
past year that an alternative to the printed page was needed. Thats when
we were introduced to the Cassette Audio Books.
 
The service is designed to aide the visually impaired as well as those individuals
with limited mobility due to spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy or other problems
which make ordinary written material difficult if not impossible to handle.
 
A form was acquired from our local public library. Nate filled out the four-page
questionnaire describing his limitations and his needs for the special service.
It also asked for his reading preferences, whether or not he wanted books
automatically sent to him periodically from those areas of interest or to only
send his specific requests. It also asked whether or not he would accept materials
with violent or sexual descriptions and whether strong language was objectionable.
 
The form had to be signed by one of his doctors or a person in authority who could
testify to his needs. The head librarian signed for Nate. Since our public library also
serves as the school library, she was familiar with Nate's abilities and needs from
working with him throughout his school years. 
 
Within 10 days of sending the application, Nate received a heavy-duty tape player
capable of playing tapes with four sides. As these are audiotapes and not musical,
they can be recorded in a much more narrow band allowing four strips of recording
to be used on one tape. It takes a special machine to be able to play all four. By
utilizing this technology, twice as many tapes can be sent for the same amount of
postage.
 
The tape player has an excellent quality of sound. It comes with a rechargeable
battery and can be equipped with headphones or pillow speaker. A huge catalog
featuring just some of the thousands of titles available for borrowing came with the
player. Nate may keep the player as long as he has need of the service. When he
no longer wishes to continue it or moves out of the state, he must return the player.
The cost? Amazingly, this is completely cost free for us. When the tapes arrive, we
merely turn the address card over and return the tape in its special envelope. We don't
even have to pay the postage.
 
When novels are assigned for reading, an audio form of the book would be of great
assistance to those with limited physical abilities.
 
Further information can be obtained at http://www.loc.gov/nls
 
Sheila Estes,
Greentown, Indiana USA
Mother of son with Duchennes muscular dystrophy
Author of Mr. Leviticus, the library kitten.
writer2day@excite.com

=======================================
 
~ Life is One Big Classroom with Joan Berger ~
It's a Bug's Life!

Remember that old rhyme, "The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, they turn
your guts into sauerkraut"? What an image that conjures up! Well, worms and
insects are in season again and a study of our very helpful friends begins
with the art of collecting them. I think we'll leave that part to the kids!

The best places to look for insects in warm weather are on flowers, where
food attracts beetles, flies, butterflies, moths, wasps, and bees, and where
ambush bugs lie in wait to prey upon their flower visitors. You can find
insects in meadows and grassy areas. Sweep the grass with a net and get leaf
beetles, flea beetles, leaf hoppers, plant bugs, crane flies, moths,
caterpillars, aphids, etc.  Another excellent place is under stones.
Overturn them and find ground beetles, rove beetles, crickets, spiders,
sowbugs, etc. In ponds, rake the bottom trash ashore and pick up the things
that kick out of it and show themselves like water beetles, back swimmers,
water boatmen, water bugs, dragonflies, larvae, crawfishes, etc. Around
lights at night, you can find moths, lacewing flies, beetles, bugs,
craneflies, and if near water, also caddisflies, stoneflies, mayflies,
midges, etc. 

I need to give credit for the information that follows to a set of workshop
notes I received in 1963...Ok, so I'm no spring chicken...from Ward's Natural
Science Establishment, Inc., NY. (I have no idea if they are still in
business)  The net is our basic tool. Aerial nets may be used for flying insects,
(usually after they alight), and sweeping nets for insects that cling to
vegetation. 

The tin can trap method is our next line of attack. Cut the top off a small
can such as a frozen orange juice can, cleanly, so that no jagged edges
remain. Bury one or more cans in the ground, open end flush with the
surface, along the edge of shrubbery, in woods, or a vacant lot. Bait the
can with peanut butter, jelly, or molasses smeared on the sides, inside.
Food-seeking insects will fall in and most cannot escape. If the bottom of
the can is dry, the insects will remain clean. By burying the cans in
different places, a comparison can be made of the different kinds and
abundance of insects in various types of habitat.

Sugaring is especially good for moths, beetles, and earwigs. A mixture of
mashed fruit, sugar, and cooking molasses is prepared. At dusk this is
painted on the lower part of tree trunks. After dark, with a flashlight, one
can collect the insects which come to eat. The insects alight on the trunk.
Place a jar over an insect, move it against the insect to dislodge it, and
cover the jar quickly. Wash the mixture from the trees when you are through
as during the day, it attracts bees, wasps, and yellow jackets.

 ***The following may be a sensitive subject and needs to be approached with
care and discretion. You may not want to consider killing a living creature.
Killing insects can be done with carbon tetrachloride, lighter fluid, or
fingernail polish remover. The insects should not be wetted in the liquid,
as this causes discoloration and a poor specimen. Use plaster of Paris in
the bottom of a bottle to absorb the killing agent; or use an ink bottle
with a well in which cotton saturated with the agent can be placed; or a
bottle with a saturated wad of cotton suspended in it.

The study of insects should include discovering the answers to these
questions:

What is an insect?
How can we tell insects from other animals?
What parts do their bodies have?
What special organs, senses, and habits do some insects have?
How many kinds of insects are there?
Where do they live?
How do insects develop from eggs to adulthood?
What different stages do they go through and how long do they
  remain in each stage?
Which insects live in communities and how are they organized?
How does the food of insects make them important to other
  animals and to plants?
What do they eat and how are they equipped to get this food?
How are they helpful to man? Which are harmful to man?

By now you are very proficient at searching out topics and sites on the
Internet so I will only suggest that you try to use a wonderful search
engine called Google. Simply type in the location box of your browser:
google.com  Then enter the insect you wish to research, or simply the word,
insect.

Man wages unceasing war against most of these creatures. He encourages the
propagation of the hundreds of kinds of insect-eating birds that are of
inestimable help as his allies. In spite of their damaging habits, the
earth's insect inhabitants have carved their niche in the interdependence of
living things. Where would we be without them?  Challenge your students to
debate that question...make sure you include our favorite of all, the lowly
cockroach! It's been around longer than any of us realize. Any lessons to be
learned here? :-)

Happy hunting!
 
~Joan Berger
New York, New York USA
Internet Educational Consultant
Associate Professor, Molloy College, Graduate School of Education
Email:  jberger5@concentric.net    jberger@li.net
Visit "JOAN BERGER'S WINDOWS TO THE WORLD--A Reference
            for Students and Teachers" at:
http://www.li.net/~jberger
http://www.concentric.net/~jberger5
======================================
 
~ Steve McCarty's East-West Perspectives from Japan ~
Japan's IT Educational Reforms and Asian Digital Divide Plans
 
Japan's IT Educational Reforms and Asian Digital Divide Plans
A truly independent country goes at its own pace and digests
issues in terms of its own language and culture. This can be
exasperating to outsiders, for example when one does
newsworthy things, but the time is not ripe for the public
to be deemed receptive to such information. Japanese people
do seem to take years to reach a consensus on important issues,
but then concerted action is possible, backed by huge funds.
That seems to be happening now with information technology
(IT) in Japan. Educational reform cannot and should not be
radical, but the so-called IT revolution can have radical
effects on the school environment. Now things are happening
so fast that there is no primer readily available, and many
sources are available only in Japanese. One might almost
wonder if there is not some secretiveness about the most
important developments, but the powers that be certainly
do not make it easy for outsiders to find out the inside story.
 
So today, in what follows, I can mainly show a trail of recent
events via Websites for hardy researchers to follow up upon.
It is also my pleasure to announce what I have presented to
educators and the Ministry of Education in a new article:
 
"Reforms in Computer Education that are Possible for Japan"
Tokyo: Child Research Net -- Educational Visions
http://www.childresearch.net/CYBRARY/EVISION/2000/STEVE.HTM
 
Recently Japan has made a commitment to help solve the
digital divide in Asia. Plans are also afoot to start virtual
universities, as Korea and China have also been doing, and
the online class e-Learning platform WebCT has been
translated into a version with a Japanese interface,
which has been going on behind the scenes since 1998.
Then many of Japan's plans involve satellite broadband
Internet. The UN Office of Outer Space Affairs approves
of this approach to alleviate the Asian digital divide,
signaled by an upcoming conference in Malaysia. Near the
beginning of the program is Japan's Comprehensive
Cooperation Package to Address the Digital Divide.
This does appear decidedly elitist, compared to low-cost
streaming video and so forth, but the question is whether
or not substantial sums of money will trickle beyond
Japanese companies and fund worthy projects by less
wealthy innovators. In the case of the University of
South Pacific satellite network based in Fiji, nearly
all the funds went to the Japanese company that built
and maintained the network. Now IT projects are taking
the place of some traditional pork-barrel projects, but
the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (which has been
said to be neither liberal nor democratic) will want a
say in its appropriation. In Japan itself, will foreigners
remain hired guns, bringing in Indian software engineers,
with no effect on policies? Watch my career and see :)
 
Here are some recent sources for those wishing to research
these issues more deeply:
 
Report of G8 Education Ministers' Meeting and Forum
http://www.monbu.go.jp/g8/eng/e_h1.htm
 
Okinawa Charter on the Global Information Society
http://www.asahi.com/paper/okinawa/english/it_charter.html
 
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
http://www.jica.go.jp/english/
 
JICA seminar & Japan's digital divide plan for July Okinawa Summit
http://www.friends-partners.org/~utsumi/gu-l/mid-2000/5-24-a.html
 
Barriers for Educational Use of the Internet in Japanese Higher Education
http://www.nime.ac.jp/conf99/pre/Narita-Masahiro.paper/Narita-Masahiro.html
 
"Japan's Education Ministry to recognize Virtual Universities"
http://www.wested.org/hyper-discussions/deos-fwl/2000/1911.html
 
Panel Recommends That Japan Recognize Degrees Earned Online
http://chronicle.com/free/2000/07/2000071201u.htm
 
Science and Technology Agency Reveals Two New Satellite Projects
http://www.nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com/wcs/leaf?CID=onair/asabt/news/109281
 
The Digital Divide Goes Global
http://www.japaninc.net/online/sc/aug00_sc_digital.html
 
UN/OOSA workshop on digital divide in Kuala Lumpur, 11/20-24/00
http://www.friends-partners.org/~utsumi/gu-l/mid-2000/9-8-b.html
 
Japan's Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture
http://www.monbu.go.jp/emindex.html
 
Collegially,
 
~Steve McCarty
 Professor, Kagawa Junior College, Japan
Home Page: http://www.kagawa-jc.ac.jp/~steve_mc/presence.html
Asia Society "Asia Expert" database profile:
http://www.asiasource.org/experts/ax_mp_03.cfm?expertid=1944
President, World Association for Online Education: http://waoe.org/
     (dues abolished; Online Educator Development Practicum also free)
"International/Multicultural Issues & New Technologies for Learning"
Teaching in the Community Colleges Online Conference (April 2000):
http://www.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcon2k/writing_teams/team5_report1.html
E-Testimony to the Web-Based Education Commission
(U.S. Congress) on educational technology (September 2000):
http://www.kagawa-jc.ac.jp/~steve/congress.html
Online Library: Bilingualism and Japanology Intersection
(an Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library 4-star site):
http://www.kagawa-jc.ac.jp/~steve_mc/epublist.html
 
======================================
 
~ Technically Speaking with Kathleen A. Catapano
A Little Project is a Good Place to Start
 
Here's an idea for a beginners' technology project that will get everyone
going. Have children type something on the computer that will be useful to
them or to you. The little ones can make a list of their names according to
the table they sit at. The teacher types in "TABLE 1" and each child can
independently come to the computer to add his or her name. The list can be
posted in the classroom.
 
Older students can make a class list of names and phone numbers or addresses.
Perhaps each one could show how to count by twos, fives or tens. A short
letter home from each student can help everyone:
 
 
Dear Folks,
Our class trip will be to the Bronx Zoo on November 15.
Your son,
Derik
 
 
This type of project is a good way to set up the routine of taking turns
working quietly and independently at the computer. Any word processor will
work for this kind of activity. Set the font to size 14 or greater and
choose a bright font color or try using KidWorks, if it is available. Put a
checklist next to the workspace so children can check off their names when
they have finished their tasks. It may take the whole class several days to
finish the project. Students will enjoy the responsibility and get a little
keyboard review at the same time. Give it a try and let me know what you
think. Email me at catapano@mec.cuny.edu

~Kathleen A. Catapano
Brooklyn, New York USA
Educational Technology,
Medgar Evers College - CUNY
E-mail: catapano@mec.cuny.edu,
 
======================================

~ Tammy Bailis' Senior School Musings ~
THE Y'S THE LIMIT:
 
Those of you studying differential Calculus will have already met up with limits, and
you've probably scratched a furrow or two into your scalp while battling to understand
just what a limit means. Well, the title says it all.
 
When we evaluate a limit such as the limit as x approaches a for f(x), we are looking
for a y value. And of course, since f(x) is just an alias for y, when we find the limit as
x approaches -2, say for f(x) = 1/(x + 2), we are investigating what happens to the y-value
on the curve at the point where x approaches -2. Since division by 0 is undefined in our
number system, and 1/(x + 2) becomes 1 / 0 when x = -2 , the value -2 is not an element
in the domain set of f. This is why we take a limit -- from the left and the right -- investigating
the y values associated with x values close to -2. For the current function, we would have
to split the limit into two separate limits. We would find limx-->-2- f(x) and limx-->-2+ f(x). In a
case like this, the left limit goes to negative infinity and the right limit goes to positive infinity,
so there is no limit, since the limit from the left must equal the limit from the right for a limit
to exist.
 
Let's look at a more interesting function. Consider the limit as x approaches 3 for:
f(x) = (x - 3) / (x2 - 9) = (x - 3) / [(x - 3)(x + 3)] = 1 / (x + 3); x g 3.
As you probably learned in your first limits lesson, generally with a fraction such as this,
we factor, cancel and substitute -- but we have a value of x that makes both numerator and
denomiator equal to zero here. When x = -3, only the denominator is 0 here and so x = -3 is
a vertical asymptote of this function. But what about x = 3?? It makes both numerator and
denominator equal to 0 and so it creates a hole in the graph. We know that the x-value
of hole is 3, but what is the y-value? It is found by taking the limit of f(x) as x approaches 3.
 
When we factor, cancel and substitute 3 for x, we get 1/6, thus the hole in this curve occurs
at the point (3, 1/6). By the way, should you be asked to graph this function, you could graph
the function f(x) = 1 / (x + 3) for all values of x other than 3, and then insert a hole at the point
(3, 1/6). This hole is known as a removable discontinuity or a removable jump since there
is only a single point missing. Thus, we could make this function continuous at x = 3 by
stipulating that f(3) = 1/6. The discontinuity that occurs at x = -3 however is an infinite discontinuity
otherwise known as a vertical asymptote. There is no way to fill the gap created here.
 
When we investigate limits at infinity, we are looking at the behavior of the y-values at the
extremes of x, in other words -- how does the graph behave when x approaches | infinity |.
Generally, if we have a rational function (a fraction), to find the limit as x approaches infinity,
we divide every term of the fraction by the highest power of x in the fraction and then set x
equal to infinity. Of course, anything divided by infinity is equal to zero, so any terms that
have any power of x in the denominator will equal 0 and have no effect on the resulting limit.
 
For example: if f(x) = (3x2 - 5x + 4) / (16 - 5x2) , we divide everything by x2. As you can
probably see, the result, once we make x = infinity, is 3/-5. Thus, should we graph this
function, it will have a horizontal asymptote at y = -3/5. The y-value will approach
-3/5 as x gets extremely large (approaches infinity) or extremely small (approaches negative
infinity), and since x can never equal plus or minus infinity, y will never equal -3/5.
 
Once you begin studying derivatives, you will encounter a special limit known as Newton's Quotient
which will enable you to evaluate the slope of the tangent at any point along a given curve. I will
discuss this topic in my next article.
 
P.S. If you're wondering why we call fractions rational numbers you need only look at the
 first 5 letters of the word rational to comprehend the logic.
 
~ Tammy Bailis
Montréal, Québec
BA (McGill U.) 
Masters in Teaching Mathematics (Concordia U.)
Author: Sinostrology: A Guide to the Zoo
A new and fresh approach to the ancient science of chinese astrology 
(published 1998 by The American Federation of Astrologers);
(French version published 1990 by les Editions de Mortagne)
E-mail: piglet@vif.com

======================================
Fluid Access with Steve Feld
Reflection on the Mona Lisa Web Site
 
Getting our first page published on the web was particularly
challenging, in light of the 15 year old Tandy computers, we were using
in our Bronx High School classroom at the time.
 
When I attended the ThinkQuest meeting at City College in December 1996
I had little knowledge of web design. My students were eager to take the
plunge into the ThinkQuest Internet Challenge with their provocative
research prompted by the compelling centuries old question - Why is the
Mona Lisa Smiling?
 
With their peer partners in Borlange Sweden, John F. Kennedy Bronx High
School students, under my coaching, put together an interactive,
engaging web site in three short months! This web site includes not
only a unique theory about the Mona Lisa smile and original da Vinci
music, but also an interactive guestbook, quiz and site survey.
 
The interactive components of this international Internet collaboration
are integral to its growth and success.  
 
Furthermore, our multilingual musical postcard options provide our visitors
with a vehicle to communicate with their community of Internet friends.
 
The intent of our project was to provide content that is unavailable
anywhere else on the web: Listen to Leonardo's original music, learn
about Leonardo's Bronze Horse, and see the Mona Lisa Bridge. Read about
the Miho Museum in the dialogue between John F. Kennedy High School
students with Japanese peers.
 
As an outcome of an email we received, from an Internet novice,
Leonardo's Portrait of an unknown Musician has now been identified.
We were receptive to feedback and entertained new theories about the
Mona Lisa model. As a result, a scientific inquiry component was added
to compare the differing perspectives.
Our popular Mona Lisa guestbook has been signed each day for over 3
years.
 
 
Another important issue we address is disability accessibility. Click on
the signing hands to view the Special Needs Resources.
 
Lesson Plans and many curricula resources were contributed by teachers
to help us build our Study Help resources.
 
I can recommend the ThinkQuest experience without reservation, to any
students or teachers who want to learn the Internet in record time.
 
We were able to apply these new Internet skills in the latest extension
to our project, ArtiFAQ 2100 which was created in our new State of the
Art computer lab in only 45 days. In response to the Microsoft
Challenge, my student probe past art history motivations and
inspirations to predict art trends 2100. Take the new challenging quiz to
gain access to the future art Gallery.
 
As we continue to evolve, my students are using technology to begin
dissolving digital divides of geography and language. There are several
pages of our site translated into Spanish and Russian.
http://library.thinkquest.org/13681/data/spsci.htm
 
The Mona Lisa web site serves an award winning model of Excellence and
can be found at the Getty Museum Digital Experience, the Boston Science
Museum, the Vatican, Britannica, the Encarta Lesson Plan Collection and
the Smithsonian Institution.
 
Steve Feld
New York State New York   USA
Computer Graphics Instructor   
John F.Kennedy High School
FluidArts Millénnaire Founding Board Member
Learning About Leonardo for ThinkQuest     
http://library.advanced.org/13681/data/davin2.shtml
ArtiFAQ 2100 to meet the Microsoft Challenge.     
http://library.advanced.org/13681/data/nyc 
E-mail:  sjfeld@erols.com
 
======================================
Quentin D'Souza
Tips For The Frugal Teacher
 
A major concern educators have is the amount of funds that are being removed from
the education sector.  Teachers spend hundreds of dollars each year on classroom
resources, materials, and teaching supplies.  Here are a few cost saving tips and
tricks that you can use.
 
1.  Need some new ways to organize your students work or another project, tangerine
crates work well.  Make some new friends at the grocery store.  Those people in the
produce department can be really helpful.  Tell them what you are going to use the crates
 for and ask them to save some for you.  I received 32 crates over 3 weeks from the local
Loblaws store, for one class project.
 
2.  Do you know a new mother?  Ask her for baby food jars or baby wipes boxes. 
These are great for storing paint and other odds and ends in the classroom.
3. Looking for another way to store those odds and ends or a class project.  Ask your
pharmacist for empty pill bottles.  They are great for buttons, erasers and small things
that get easily lost in a classroom.
 
4. Is your classroom to noisy from chairs scratching at the floor.  Makes some friends
at a tennis club.  Ask for the old tennis balls, split them in half, and glue them to the
bottom of the chairs. (A glue gun works the best)
 
5.  If you teach small children and your classroom has a linoleum floor, visit your local
carpet store.  They have square carpet samples that your students can sit on.
 
6. Need an inexpensive desktop organizer use paper towel rolls.  Take four or five rolls
and cut them into varying heights.  Glue them face up onto the cardboard.
7. Spruce up your old memo pad.  Glue it to a heavy piece of cardboard that is covered
in wrapping paper.  You can also make some really neat shapes out of the cardboard for
an added effect.
 
8. Create pencil and pen holders to help organize your students desks.  Have them
cover juice tins with paper or paint.  Use larger containers for bigger materials.
 
9.  Do you want a safe place to store your scissors?  Turn an egg carton upside down
and cut holes in the cups.  You can decorate it and then place the scissors in the cups.
 
10.  Cans are great to store all those odds and ends in a classroom.
 
11.  Make a note holder.  Glue a paper towel roll to a piece of cardboard, face up.  Slit
the top of the roll.  This is where you can place the note.  A great tool for reminding
students about classroom routines.
 
12. Use Styrofoam and wood pieces to make stamps.  Cut out your design and simply
glue it to the wood, just like a rubber stamp.  Your students will have a lot of fun making stamps.
 
Feel free to share these tips with other educators in your school or educational community.  
 
Quentin D'souza
http://www.thecanadianteacher.com/about2.htm
Editor And Grade 6/7 Teacher
The Frugal Teacher
http://www.thecanadianteacher.com/frugal/
E-mail:  qdsouza@thecanadianteacher.com
 
======================================
 
The Human Connection with Robin Kagan
Hello Again...
 
Hello again, everyone. I hope that you are all well. A few months ago, I spoke with you about
a book that I am writing, concerning “ The Human Connection” in the classroom. I am presently
teaching in the inner city of New York, where I have been a classroom teacher for 31 years and
I have noticed that as time passes, the way to teach effectively changes.  It is through trial and
error, sensitivity, and the desire to help children, that I have learned the importance of empowering
children.  In today’s world, children need to have control over something important in their lives.
 
Change is the one thing that we as human beings can count on. I have created a “conversation” for
use with children in the classroom that centers on inner changes and self-image. The children learn
to set short term and long term goals and as they learn to modify their own behavior, they become
better communicators. The children take this work home with them and the parents begin to set
goals with the children. Before you know it, the family environment begins to change and a family
of love and harmony emerges.  I believe that children need to feel good about themselves and their
lives, to some degree, before they can branch out and help others. 
 
This educational idea, although it seems quite simple, has one key element that is essential for
success. The teacher must be actively working on his or her own personal growth, not just in
school, but at home as well. The teacher must be an active and willing participant in this work -- sharing
successes as well as failures with the children. With sincerity the educator helps the children to
transform the classroom into an exciting and supportive environment that rewards effort, focuses on
consistency and positive thinking. 
 
I hope that these ideas will help you in your own work with children. I am having tremendous success,
not only with the children, but their parents as well. I look forward to sharing more ideas with you again,
next time.
 
~Robin Kagan
Brooklyn, New York  USA
Teacher, Author, Speaker
http://www.ps161.com/
E-mail: rkagan@ps161.com 
 
 
======================================

~ Internet Educational Hot Spots ~
 
Cool sites to check out!
(External sites are not endorsed)
If any link is not underlined and completely in blue, try highlighting the
entire link, copy (control C) and paste (control V) into your browser so the
link will work properly.
Special thank you to Steve Feld sjfeld@erols.com for his great contributions
to this "Hot Spots" column! 

 
Send FREE Email Greeting Cards!
Great eCards for any occasion...
http://www.jrydevelopment.com/cards.html
 
Help the United Nations fight world hunger for FREE!
Make just one click here to make a FREE donation!
Bookmark the page and make a free donation EVERY day!
http://www.thehungersite.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/HungerSite
 
Daily Grammar 
http://www.dailygrammar.com/
 
Special Needs
 http://library.thinkquest.org/13681/data/deaf.htm

 Lesson Plan Fluid Arts Logo Design
 http://library.thinkquest.org/13681/data/nyc/fluid1.htm

 Bridging the Digital Divide
http://library.thinkquest.org/13681/data/links/summary.htm

 Character Education
 http://library.thinkquest.org/13681/data/links/hero.htm

 Uses of Digital Photography
 http://library.thinkquest.org/13681/data/museum/photodig.htm

 Curtains Up Lesson Plan
 http://home.con2.com/jfkhs/images/invite.htm

Gender Equity Issues
http://library.thinkquest.org/13681/data/links/cyber.htm#equity

Multicultural Collaboration
http://library.thinkquest.org/13681/data/links/cyber.htm#multicultural
 
Dr. Labush's Links To Learning   
http://www.netrox.net/~labush
ABC Teach
http://abcteach.com
 
 Assessment Rubrics: Definition
http://www.music.utah.edu/assessment/rubricsDef.html

Ruminating on Rubrics
http://www.accessexcellence.org/21st/SER/JA/rubrics.html

Rubric 1
http://www.corona.bell.k12.ca.us/teach/imag/rubric1.html

LAEP Rubric
http://www.corona.bell.k12.ca.us/teach/imag/rubric.html

A Portfolio Handbook - Standards, Rubrics, Portfolios, and Assessment
http://www.pde.psu.edu/connections/WRITING/PORTHAND/asssre.htm

Introduction
http://www.nwrel.org/eval/toolkit98/chapter1.html

The Teachers' Internet Use Guide
http://www.rmcdenver.com/useguide/assessme/identify.htm

Rubric
http://home.wsd.wednet.edu/WSD/FMSFolder/TechLab/rubric.htm

Automating Authentic Assessment With Rubrics
http://stone.web.brevard.k12.fl.us/html/comprubric.html

Assessment and evaluation rubrics
http://www.liverpool.k12.ny.us/LCSD/index/UsingInternetResources/PlanAssess.html
 
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/

SCORE: Web Page Design Rubric
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/actbank/WebPageDesign.html

About Blue Web'n - Site Evaluation Rubric
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn/rubric.html

Portfolio Web Page Rubric
http://www.coh.arizona.edu/inst/edp512s97/portfoliowp.html

WEB PAGE RUBRIC
http://westy.jtwn.k12.pa.us/users/djm/webrubric.htm

rubric for evaluating web sites
http://edtech.sandi.net/rubric/

Rubrics from The Staff Room for Ontario
http://www.odyssey.on.ca/elaine.coxon/rubrics.htm

Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators - Assessment Rubrics
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/assess.html

Assessment & Curriculum tools for teachers from Strategic Learning
Technologies. <http://www.rubrics.com/>

Safe Schools - Safe Students
http://www.stwnews.org/
 
 
==== CALL FOR IDEAS ===================
 
Do you have tips or opinions on current theories/methodologies to share?
Do you have a great site you think I should add to Mrs. Young's Super
Charged Educational Voyage? Submit it!
E-mail:  mrsysuggestions@jrydevelopment.com
 
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