JOHNSTON MIDDLE SCHOOL: GETTING TO THE HEART OF
THE MATTER
At Johnston Middle School in Houston, Texas,
MindOH! is helping educators get to the heart of the matter when it comes to
discipline referrals. "On one MindOH! What's Up? report, a student accused his
teacher of racism . . ." says Pearl Mangon, assistant principal and MindOH!
liaison, "something I'm sure he would not have said to me face-to-face. It was a
serious accusation." The student was very upset with his teacher. After
reviewing the entire report, it became clear that the student didn't really
understand what the term meant. Ms. Mangon seized this teachable moment. "I pulled out a
dictionary and we looked up the word 'racism' together. I asked, 'Is this true
of your teacher?'" "No" was the answer and with that a potentially explosive
situation was defused.
"We had another student who made it clear on his What's Up? report that he was 'off the meter' with his anger. During a parent conference, I mentioned this. The parents said they didn't understand their son to be the kind of child who got angry and expressed some doubts about the statement. When I showed them the report, they were shocked." The parents then shared confidential information about an issue at home. Ms. Mangon had a better understanding of the situation, and together they were able to help the student.
Johnston has done an excellent job of integrating MindOH! into the discipline process. In addition to helping assistant principals Pearl Mangon and Meilin Jao gain a better understanding of what's happening with discipline referrals, MindOH! has helped with in-school suspension and with an after school program. Coach David Terry has been putting his ISS students on MindOH! for two years now. He has also allowed students participating in the 21st Century Schools program to take advantage of the MindOH! Life Skills Series. Currently, Ms. Mangon is working toward getting classroom computers initialized so teachers can use MindOH! as part of their classroom management strategy and plans are being made to use MindOH! in after school detention next fall.
CITY OF HOUSTON CERTIFIES MINDOH! AS A WOMEN BUSINESS ENTERPRISE
The Mayor's Office of Affirmative Action and Contract Compliance (AACC) established the Minority/Women Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (MWBE) program to provide quality certification, compliance, business development, and training programs to promote equal employment and economic opportunity at every level of City government. With 67 percent woman ownership, MindOH! was awarded the certification in Spring 2003 which allows schools and organizations looking to purchase the Company's products to satisfy city affirmative action and contract requirements.
"As government agencies, public schools are obligated to award a percentage of their contracts to small and disadvantaged businesses in the city of Houston," said Beth Carls, MindOH! CEO/Co-founder. "This certification not only allows MindOH! to meet those requirements, but also have access to local resources in support of affirmative action through the city's Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) program."
MINDOH! WELCOMES JENNIFER VODVARKA, CREATIVE GURU
Jennifer Vodvarka joined the MindOH! Team in March 2003 as Creative Guru. Jennifer brings years of experience in writing, information architecture and graphic/information design to MindOH! Born in the suburbs of Chicago, Jennifer received her B.A. in 1994 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she double-majored in English and American literature and creative writing. Jennifer most recently worked for Schlumberger in 2002 as an information architect in their web solutions group and managed the creative efforts for the group's internet applications. To read more about Jennifer, visit the MindOH! team Web page at http://www.mindoh.com/about_team.asp.
CELEBRATE TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK MAY 4-10
Join the PTA in celebrating National Teacher Appreciation Week May 4-10, 2003. Since 1984, National PTA has encouraged all citizens to show their appreciation to teachers during this . Each May, Teacher Appreciation Week offers the opportunity for citizens to reaffirm their commitment to parent-teacher partnerships. The following link is a calendar of publicity and program ideas: http://www.pta.org/parentinvolvement/teacher/idea.asp.
RECOMMENDED READING: THE EFFECT OF COMPUTERS ON STUDENT WRITING
For educational leaders questioning whether computers should be used to
help students develop writing skills, the results of the meta-analyses suggest
that on average students who use computers when learning to write are not only
more engaged and motivated in their writing, but they produce written work that
is of greater length and higher quality. Meta-analyses were performed including
26 studies conducted between 1992-2002 focused on the comparison between K-12
students writing with computers vs. paper-and-pencil. These
articles indicate that the writing process is more collaborative,
iterative, and social in computer classrooms as compared with paper-and-pencil
environments. To read the entire
study by the Journal of Technology, Learning and
Assessment, visit http://www.bc.edu/research/intasc/jtla/journal/v2n1.shtml.
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FUNDING CORNER: JORDAN FUNDAMENTALS GRANTS FROM JORDAN BRAND, A DIVISION OF NIKE INC.
Since 1999, basketball legend Michael Jordan's Jordan Fundamentals program, a division of Nike Inc., has donated up to 400 grants of $2,500 each year. The grants fund resource materials, supplies, equipment, transportation, or other costs related to field trips, software and other items required to implement and assess the proposed lesson or thematic unit. Teachers or paraprofessionals who work with students in grades six through 12 in a United States public school-and who also demonstrate instructional creativity and exemplify high learning expectations for economically disadvantaged students are eligible to apply. Applicants must develop an original lesson plan or thematic unit. Unique teaching methods and projects are encouraged. At least 40 percent of the school's student population must be eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program. The application is due June 15, 2003 and can be accessed online at http://www.nike.com/nikebiz/gc/ca/pdf/jf_application.pdf. For additional funding opportunities, visit our Funding Web page: http://www.mindoh.com/funding.asp.
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