Schoolwide Blog

After many months of R&D, Schoolwide is proud to present the debut of it's video site at http://www.schoolwidenetwork.com/. We invite you to log on, browse around, and, most of all, comment on what you'd like to see and how we might make it possible. As a one-stop web filter for teachers, administrators, and all educators looking for quality teaching materials, our goal is to provide you with the tools necessary to succeed.

What is The Schoolwide Network?More...

I was sitting in the faculty room of one our buildings listening to colleagues discuss their summer reading.  One after another mentioned a “beach book” and spoke with guilty pleasure of having read something totally trivial, a mystery or romance novel, that was “fun,” “superficial,” and thoroughly “entertaining.”  It was as if they were describing some kind of an illicit act, something they would not ordinarily do, and admitting to their friends in the sanctity of the faculty room that what took place in Vegas, stayed in Vegas. More...

Research on teaching literacy shows that a knowledgeable teacher can overcome obstacles like poverty and demographics to increase achievement for all students. Research has identified the most important key for success: Effective professional development that focuses on research-based best methods for teaching reading and writing skills and strategies. More...

In another sneak peek at the forthcoming Schoolwide Network video site, author Vera B Williams advises on when to edit and write using her book, Scooter, as an example.  Look here for more announcements on the official launch of the Schoolwide Network in the weeks to come.

With more and more controversy over President Obama's speech traveling over the Internet, we thought we'd repost this speech here. While it may fire up some political conversation, the purpose of this blog is to communicate ACADEMIC concerns. So as you read, watch, or listen to this speech today, we're interested in hearing how teachers think Obama's speech/educational approach either addresses current concerns or offers a pragmatic solution to all of the challenges facing both students and teachers today.  How can we help make sense of the challenges that President mentions below? How do we conquer them? What can school districts do? Parents and individual teachers? What are the fundamentals necessary for long-term academic success?

Transcript Below Taken From The Wall Street Journal More...

With President Obama’s upcoming address to students across America causing quite a stir with both parents and teachers, we thought we might open up our forum to feelings, comments, and questions as we approach this event on Tuesday, September 8.

The U.S. Department of Education has recently released some useful activities for discussing this tremendous event.  We've listed the PreK- 6th grade questions here, but we're interested to know how you plan on addressing this important speech and how you might use it to further your in class goals. More...

My books are provocative by nature. They deal with subject matters many adults might feel uncomfortable talking about. I try to show these topics honestly without preaching or judging. These books show the truth as I have seen it and hopefully, they provoke discussion and thought. More...

As we move closer to the new school year, Schoolwide is pleased to announce we are also closer to the launch of our new Schoolwide Network, a video site focused on quality. The Schoolwide Network is meant to be a filter for pooling together the web's best and most comprehensive professional development content. Our goal: to give teachers one place to search for their teaching tools and professional development resources in a faster and more organized fashion.

Anyone interested in getting a preview of the site please comment below with your contact information.

Below is another sneak peek at the kind of content you'll be likely to find on the Schoolwide Network.  Here staff developer Linda Bausch explains the writing process and how to inspire students to write.

Staff Developer, Linda Bausch models a writer's workshop lesson on immersing students in fantastic mentor texts in a 2nd/3rd grade class.

 Our keynote speaker for Schoolwide's Literacy workshop on March 17, 2010 (click here for details), J. Patrick Lewis recently gave us a poem that will soon be appearing in ESL Magazine.

I’m Learning to Speak English, Por Favor

Be pashunt please, I don’t know how to spell
Or read or write your language.  Por favor,
I’m learning to speak English—ESL.  More...