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9 units, 33 complete reproducible lesson plans

View Full Teacher’s Guide here: Born to be Wired

Though some of these workers are heading to the education field out of necessity, others say a long-lasting recession signaled them to reevaluate their careers to determine their true passion.

Thursday was the Marion County School District’s annual new teacher orientation, held at Forest High School. The event is sponsored by the School District and the Public Education Foundation of Marion County.

While most of the new teachers are younger, within a few years of graduating college, some are about to start a second, third or fourth career.

Many of those older new teachers said Thursday that the recession made them do some career soul-searching and discovered that teaching was their passion, leading them to change professions.

That was the case for Michael Rudy, 58, who spent the past three decades in the biotech field. He said downsizing led him out of the field earlier this year and he ended up back where he was 30 years ago: the classroom.

Rudy, who will teach physical science at Vanguard High, said his old firm decided to hire younger people for less money. The good news is that it led him back to his true love: educating children.

Superintendent of Schools Jim Yancey said Thursday that the national recession has led better-quality teaching candidates to the district. He noted that fewer teachers left the district this year.

Just last year, there were 250 new teachers hired. The year before that, in summer 2009, the number was 300. Yancey said a hiring freeze has also meant fewer teachers, many of whom are being hired as full-time substitutes.

Deputy Superintendent of Schools Diana Greene said the district will begin feeling the strain. The district has virtually no room for error when it comes to the number of teachers needed.

She said many more teachers will be forced to change schools because of shifting population of students due to the class size amendment that passed in 2002, capping class sizes at different grade levels.

After the 10-day count, which will be Sept. 2, class sizes will be evaluated. To meet the law, new classes may have to be created and some teachers may even have to change schools.

Greene said there are about 15 more new vacancies that must be filled before Aug. 22, the first day of school, thanks to unexpected departures and retirements.

West Port High School principal Jayne Ellspermann said she is in a unique situation. Her school is the only high school campus in the county where a student can get his or her associate’s degree.

That’s because it is now part of the College of Central Florida. Called Early College, a countywide magnet program, West Port High students can get all of the high school and college credit at the same time.

Beginning last August, West Port High began offering all the college courses needed to earn an associate’s degree. Students will not have to leave campus.

The program is free to all qualified students in Marion County.

Because of those college courses, many highly qualified job candidates are applying at West Port. Ellspermann said many teachers like the idea of teaching higher-level courses to college-bound students.

Lem Gray, who has a master’s degree, said he had five job offers in three states. He said he chose West Port High, where he will teach and supervise the ROTC program, because of the school’s dedication to education.

Gray, who moved from the Duval County school system, said he was impressed with Ellspermann, as were two of her other hires — both of whom are law school graduates.

Chris Carlisle, a former attorney for the Ocala law firm of Gray, Ackerman and Haines, who was hired to teacher honors American history and American government at West Port High.

“It was (solely) a personal choice,” said Carlisle, 28, a 2001 Forest graduate. He looked over to his left at another new West Port High teacher, Steven Simmons, 25, a 2003 North Marion High graduate.

Simmons just finished law school and also decided to go into teaching. He will teach sociology and economics. He took his teacher’s certification exam and the bar exam this summer. He will know if he passed the bar in September.

Joe Callahan can be reached at 867-4113 or at joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter at JoeOcalaNews.

She used her finger to drag letters on a tabletop screen over the top of animated animals. She drew lines on the larger-than-life Etch A Sketch, realizing how important the device could be for slow learners or art students.

Kiefer-Shelton is amazed at today’s technology and the difference from when she started teaching at the Maricamp Road high school back in 1983.

“We have students to help us with computers,” she noted. “They (the students) are smarter than we are when it comes to technology.”

Wednesday was the “Day of Technology 3″ event, an impressive display of technology that drew 600 teachers to Lake Weir High on their off-time to explore new toys and to get some of their professional learning certification accomplished.

The purpose of the event, launched by the district’s Technology and Information Systems department, is to expose teachers and administrators to the latest technology used in classrooms throughout Marion County.

Though there were many fun items at this year’s event, some of those items will be out of reach this school year. That’s because a budget crunch means less technology purchases.

And what money there is must go toward computers to get schools ready for FCAT and end-of-course exams next spring.

Deputy Superintendent of Schools Diana Greene said with the state mandate of the new computerized exams, the district will have to invest in new computers in the immediate future.

And the money used to buy computers was carried over from last year. All other technology purchases will be put on hold unless they are paid for through federal or state grants.

“We will have to start back investing in computers (that can handle the state testing),” she said. “We have to keep pace.”

Scott Hansen, the school district’s director of technology and information, said the school district’s technology department already had permission to spend $5 million on technology upgrades for student computers.

At the event, Hansen also unveiled a new employee desktop portal — a digital dashboard that can be accessed on any computer. He also talked about a student desktop that will be released in October.

“Employees will be able to access their records (possibly as early as today),” Hansen said.

Greene said the event is considered a part of the district professional development. The teachers are not forced to go, since they are technically off until Monday, when they are scheduled to report back. School starts Aug. 22.

Day of Technology is important to all teachers because the students “of today live in a different world,” Greene said, adding that teachers get credits toward their professional learning requirements.

Greene said students are quite technology savvy when they start school. They can text and use iPhones and computers. In some cases, they can operate devices better than their own teacher.

Throughout the day, teachers attended many presentations, which included iPads, Smart tables and many other devices. It was a taste of what could one day end up in the classroom.

The morning keynote speaker was Apple employee Kate Kemker, the former director of technology learning and innovation with the Florida Department of Education.

Contact Joe Callahan at 867-4113 or joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter at JoeOcalaNews.

DeWese, along with assistant principal Gay Street, began meeting with teachers and targeting four of the main FCAT areas: reading, writing, math and science.

With ideas from district administrators, Fessenden teachers and staff went into the 2010-11 school year with a new attitude. And in January, DeWese asked everyone to try a new concept.

This concept required students to stay an hour after school ended, teachers and aides to volunteer an hour of their time, and parents to buy into the new plan to help boost FCAT scores in all areas.

It was 63 days of intense after-school tutoring.

“Ninety percent of the teachers and students bought into the idea, as did 100 percent of the paraprofessionals (teacher aides),” DeWese said, adding that the parents also played an important role in the revitalization.

The end result: Not only did Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) scores skyrocket, but Fessenden’s grade rose to an A this summer, an accomplishment that was recently honored by the state.

Fessenden was one of only 17 schools in Florida to raise from a D or F to an A.

Raising the bar is a difficult task.

The school grades for elementary and middle schools are derived from student performance on the FCAT in eight categories:

The percentage of students scoring proficient, or 3 on a 5-point scale, in each of the four main subjects: reading, math, writing and science.

The percentage of students who made learning gains in reading and math.

The percentage of lower-performing students — the bottom 25 percent — who made learning gains in reading and math.

So, each school receives eight percentage figures. The perfect score would be 800 — 100 percent in each of the eight measurements.

Fessenden’s score in the eight FCAT categories rose from a combined 468 percentage points last year to 539 points this summer — an impressive 71-point jump.

“Achieving these kinds of results takes a coordinated effort at all levels and I couldn’t be more proud…,” Education Commissioner John L. Winn said in a news release.

Fessenden registered, on average, nearly a 9 percentage point gain in each of the eight FCAT categories. DeWese has dubbed 2011-12 with a new catch phrase: “New Beginnings.”

Three other Marion County schools also dramatically bolstered their school grades.

One of the top gainers statewide was Stanton-Weirsdale Elementary, which raised its total by 107 percentage points — from 473 to 580 — for an average of 12 percentage points per category.

Principal Brent Carson said Stanton-Weirsdale had been an A school in recent years; when it dropped to a C last summer, the teachers, staff, parents and students took it personally.

Carson said everyone made it “a personal challenge” to boost the grade back up. And they did so in a big way. Out of 3,250 middle, elementary and charter schools in Florida, Stanton-Weirsdale’s 107-point climb was about the 20th highest.

Hammett Bowen Jr. Elementary had the second-highest overall jump countywide — 86 overall percentage points — and was one of only three Marion schools to meet the federal Adequate Yearly Progress designation. Madison Street Academy and Dr. N.H. Jones also met what is known as AYP.

“We owe it to quality teachers, supportive staff, involved parents and fantastic students,” said Hammett Bowen principal Leanna Dixon of the school’s rise from 517 to 603 points, pushing the school grade from a B to an A.

Evergreen Elementary School — which had been a F school in 2010 — jumped 79 percentage points, from 357 to 436, to raise its grade to a C.

“We’re starting to move back up,’ said Principal Cassandra Boston, adding that her teachers, paraprofessionals and parents deserve a lot of the credit as well. “I’m extremely proud of my kids.”

Belleview-Santos Elementary had the county’s fifth-highest jump, moving up from 457 percentage points to 513, and from a C to a B.

Statewide, three schools actually had more than 200 points in total gains. The highest jump was Miami-Dade County’s Somerset Academy Charter Elementary School, which gained 223 points — averaging 27 percentage point gains in each of the eight categories.

Contact Joe Callahan at 867-4113 or joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter at JoeOcalaNews.

On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamist extremist group al Qaeda hijacked four airliners and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Often referred to simply as 9/11, the attacks resulted in extensive death and destruction, triggering major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism. Nearly 3,000 people were killed during the attacks including more than 400 police officers and firefighters and 266 passengers and crew on the four planes. This was the most deadly terrorist attack in U.S. history.

View Full Teacher’s Guide here: Remembering 9/11, 10 Year Anniversary

Cereal Bowl Science – Five Modules explore the science behind everyday activities, challenging students to observe, predict, experiment, find a solution and communicate results.

View full Teacher’s Guide here: Cereal Bowl Science

CIVICS/SOCIAL STUDIES – The NAA Foundation celebrates NIE Week annually. This Teacher Guide is full of lesson plans on using the newspaper in teaching students Civic Engagement. In addition this link Celebrate the Power of Newspapers will take you to even more lessons and interactive material provided free by the NAA Foundation.

View full Teacher’s Guide here: Lessons in Civics, Math, and Fine Arts for NIE Week 2011

This tab blends mapping skills with discussion of the various communities to which everyone belongs.

LEVEL ONE – SOCIAL STUDIES

This tab looks at community identity and geography’s effect on local economies and life styles.

LEVEL TWO – SOCIAL STUDIES