Ready, Set, Go! survey results
A big thank-you to the more than 400 Education Minnesota members who offered opinions on Ready, Set, Go! in our December survey. Here are some of the things you told us:

• More than half of respondents had not seen the newsletter before.
• More than three-quarters want to receive information from Education Minnesota that’s targeted to new teachers.
• Respondents are most interested in resources for teachers and tips on teaching and classroom management.
• The largest number of respondents prefer to keep getting this information in e-mail format.

We also received many specific ideas for content. We’ll be exploring ways to improve this and other services for new teachers in the coming year. Feel free to send additional comments and suggestions to editor Linda Owen at 800-652-9073, 651-292-4818 or linda.owen@educationminnesota.org.

Just for fun (and prizes)
Have you come across a fun educational Web page that other teachers might enjoy? Send us the URL with your name and address, and if we publish it in our new “Just for fun” section of Ready, Set, Go!, we’ll send you a nifty prize, courtesy of Education Minnesota ESI.

Here’s one to get you started: Is anyone out there still diagramming sentences? These pages cleverly merge language arts and civics with diagrams of the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution  and the Pledge of Allegiance.

Education Minnesota ESI provides programs and services exclusively for members. In addition to financial and retirement planning, ESI offers auto and home insurance, mortgage and realty discounts, long term care insurance, travel discounts, credit cards and more.

Find teaching tips on Education Minnesota’s new Web site
Education Minnesota launched a new Web site last month, with the same URL (www.educationminnesota.org) but a new look and a new navigation system based on studies of how members actually use the site.  You’ll find useful articles and tips in the New Teachers section under Professional Development. We’ve also started archiving back issues of Ready, Set, Go! in the New Teachers area. We’re still working on the section, so please let us know if there’s anything else you’d like to see there.

Quick facts for Black History Month
February is Black History Month, and each year the U.S. Census Bureau marks the occasion with an updated fact sheet.  Did you know:

• The United States has 40.2 million black residents.
• 81 percent of black adults over 25 had at least a high school diploma in 2006; 1.3 million had advanced degrees (almost double the number in 1996).
• There were 2.3 million black college students in fall 2005 – a million more than 15 years ago.
• There are 1.2 million black-owned businesses, generating $88.6 billion in annual revenue.
• There are 2.4 million black military veterans, the largest number among minority groups.

More facts are available from the U.S. Census Web site. 

Getting students to do assigned readings
Many students enter college with weak reading skills and little interest in reading. Some read so slowly that long reading assignments can take hours, says Linda B. Nilson of Clemson University’s Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation. No wonder it’s hard to get students to read assigned material.  What can you do?

In a series of articles in NEA's Advocate Online, Nilson offers some advice that may also be helpful to high school teachers:

• Make sure students understand they will have to read daily to pass the course.
• Be realistic about the readings you choose, and pare assignments to the essentials.
• “Sell” the readings to students to spark their interest.
• Stop lecturing the readings in class – there’s no incentive to read if students know you’ll digest it for them.
• Teach strategies for efficient reading.
• Hold students accountable for reading through writing assignments, quizzes, etc.

Painless professional development
The most convenient place to learn more about reading and writing instruction might be your iPod. The International Reading Association has free podcasts of research-based teaching ideas to download, including “Writing to learn across the curriculum,” “Teaching key vocabulary” and “Supporting struggling adolescent readers.” Each comes with an article, a list of the relevant research, and in some cases lesson plans or recommended books.

Special education: The disproportionality dilemma
Black and Native American children are identified for special education services at much higher rates than white students, while Hispanic and Asian students are under-identified.  The NEA has published a new 56-page educators’ guide, “Truth in Labeling,” that tackles the issue of “disproportionality” and offers strategies on how to avoid mislabeling students. It’s available in a free online version or from the NEA Professional Library at a special member price.

Free teaching resources from the feds
A model that lets students "zoom" down from living things we can see with our own eyes to the macromolecules from which they are made. Sound recordings and transcriptions of fiddle tunes from the Old Frontier.  Page images of historic African-American diaries and other writings. Those are only a few of the many free resources for teachers at www.free.ed.gov  (Federal Resources for Educational Excellence).  You’ll find hundreds of offerings in the arts, math, science, U.S. history, world studies and more.