Kathie Nunley's Educator's Newsletter

---June 2001 Edition---

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Layered Curriculum(tm)news and updates to

Kathie Nunley's Site for Educators:

http://help4teachers.com

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Free subscription available at

http://help4teachers.com/newsletter.htm

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Section One: Teaching Tips

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Tip #1: As those of us teaching on the traditional calendar

close another school year, it is time for reflection.

While you are packing up the classroom, take some time

to write down (1) the things that went really well this

year and you want to continue (2) the things that were not

good and you want to eliminate or avoid next year (3) the

ideas and events you may have dreamed of or seen other

teachers using that you would like to try next year.

Take the time to actually write these thoughts down on

paper. Put the paper in your "summer folder" (see below).

Tip #2: Rather than picking up your lesson plan book at

the beginning of next school year, get it now before you

leave for the summer. Use this book (or a manila file

folder) as your summer ideas folder. When you think of an

idea, jot it on a post-it note and put it in the folder.

When you run across an article or internet site you want to

use, put it in the folder. Ideas run through our heads all

summer and we assume we'll remember them next schoo year,

but we don't.

Tip #3: Be generous with field trips. One of the 3 main

components to IQ is the ability to adapt to new situations

which improves problem solving skills. As a teacher, one of

the best ways to develop this area is with field trips. Take

as many as you can, especially if you teach a population

that may not have a wealth of experience opportunities.

The trips don't have to be to traditional educational sites

like museums, try something new. Ideas: the airport,

a butcher, a bank, a factory, downtown businesses, cultural

performances such as city theatre or opera, a university

library, the mayor's office.

Send your favorite teaching tip to:

tips@brains.org

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Section Two: Hot Topics

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HOT TOPIC 1: Smaller class size doesn't seem to

make a difference in quantity of material taught,

but certainly does effect quality. A study out

of UC-San Diego, shows that in smaller classes, teachers

covered the same amount of material during the year,

but the time spent on individual assistance, tutoring,

and one-on-one help increased. Betts, J. & Shkolnik, J.

1999. Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis.Vol 21(2),

193-213.

HOT TOPIC 2: Homework or no homework? That's a difficult

question. According to research, student achievement has

little relationship to whether or not the class has

assigned homework. In elementary grades, teacher

assigned homework actually correlated to

students' poor attitude toward school.

Achievement DOES relate positively to how much time

the parents spend assisting with homework - which

should come as no surprise to anyone.

Cooper, et.al. 2001. Journal of Experimental

Education. vol 69(2) 181-199 and Journal of Educational

Psychology (1998), vol 90(1),70-83.

HOT TOPIC 3: Not only is the amygdala of the brain

responsible for many of our emotions, it also is what

allows us to interpret emotions in others by looking at

their facial expressions. According to a study out of

Iowa, people with damage in the amygdala region (paired

also with damage to the front of the temporal lobe) can't

"read" the emotion of a person's face.

Schmolck, H & Squire, L. 2001. Neuropsychology,

vol. 15(1), 30 - 38.

More Hot topics are available at:

http://help4teachers.com/hottopics.htm

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Section Three: Website Updates

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****With this issue, our newsletter readership tops the

4,000 mark. WELCOME!

****Many of you have been writing to ask for the references

for the new articles at the websites. Thanks for your

patience. I realize I put the cart before the horse, but

the citations and references are now there. You can find

them at:

http://help4teachers.com/references.htm

****We are looking for new Layered Curriculum units

to post at the website. Please send any units you may

have to me electronically at:

kathie@brains.org

****Thanks to those of you who have sent in units. I

added three this week: "A wrinkle in Time", "A Christmas

Carol", "USHistory" - Hawaii standards w/grading rubriks.

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Section Four: Kathie's Email

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Dear Kathie: I am attempting my first unit in Layered

Curriculum for my AP Biology class. I also teach

part-time at the community college and I noticed in your

blue book that you also use a form of layered curriculum

on that level. Do you teach biology or other classes?

If you teach Gen. Biology, any hint or unit plans that

you may have available, I would lilke to see, or at

least a sample. I am teach Human Anatomy and

Physiology at present, but I am applying for a full

time position and I would like to be able to discuss

possible Layered Curriculum methods on the college.

Sincerely, Pat F.

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Pat,

A few of my AP Biology units are now up on the website.

I am including some AP Psychology units as well.

I will try to add more this summer. Also, I have a colleague

who teaches Human A & P and uses Layered Curriculum.

I'll see if I can get him to share.

Kathie

(ok Randy, where are those promised units!!:>).

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Hi Kathie, I found your article on ADHD and Drugs and Your

Brain very interesting. I had always heard that ADHD was a

neuro-biological disorder (but how do they know this?), but

only recently heard that it had to do with dopamine levels.

Do you know if Ritalin increases the amount of dopamine in the

attention centres of the brain? Will using Ritalin cause the

same kind of "natural shut downs" as you describe with the

other drugs? Just curious....

Janis L

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Janis,

People with ADD have limited blood flow in the Reticular

Activating System as well as problems with their

pre-frontal cortex.

Stimulants such as Ritalin increase blood flow in the

RAS - one of the 2 centers of the brain involved in ADD.

The drug companies try to combat that "natural shut down"

process you refer to by making drugs that act as

"re-uptake inhibitors" rather than just artificial

chemicals. After body chemicals, such as dopamine, are

released into the synapse, they are re-cycled back into

the neurons. This process is called re-uptake.

Ritalin is in fact, a dopamine re-uptake inhibitor.

That means that rather than providing artificial dopamine

to the brain, it just keeps the body from re-absorbing

it's own natural production.

There is a ton of research on this topic and it has been

observed with PET scans, EEGs, functional MRI and MEG.

--all of which show a distinct pattern of processing.

Much of the research is summarized in the hot topics

area and some of the references are listed on the reference

page at the sites as well. Hope that helps.

Kathie

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Section Five: Workshop Schedule/misc

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Happy Summer! (at least for those of us in the northern

hemisphere). The majority of us are packing things up

as we conclude another school year. I hope your year was

as wonderful as mine.

I'm excited about some summer trips to Arizona, Maryland,

Illinois, Hawaii, Pennsylvannia, and Quebec. And that's

not to mention my personal family vaction to New York and

Nova Scotia.

The Fall 2001 schedule is now full. If you are needing

a workshop for your Professional Development days or an

address for a Winter or Spring 2002 conference, please

let me know. Anyone interested in having a workshop

or presentation in Febraury 2002, I will need to arrange

those ASAP as flight schedules in and out of Salt Lake

City will be tricky during the Winter Olympics.

An updated calendar is at:

http://help4teachers.com/calendar.htm

Best wishes for a great Father' Day and a restful summer.

Keep in touch,

Kathie

Dr. Kathie F. Nunley

http://help4teachers.com

http://brains.org

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Workshop information is available at the website or
call: 801.253.4536
email: kathie@brains.org
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