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  		• In The News: Follow The Child; Purpose for Schools & Students; The Participation Gap
  		• New Hampshire Grade 3-5 Results 2007-2008 Academic Year (PDF - 355Kb)
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  		• Current Conditions - Monthly Newsletter
    February, 2008 issue (PDF 53Kb)

     
     
     
     
     
     


    HOME • NEWS • CURRENT CONDITIONS

    CURRENT CONDITIONS

    This 2-page monthly newsletter is meant to be shared and widely dispersed to your school and community. Please feel free to forward it to or photocopy it for as many people as you want. We intend this as yet another tool in your efforts to promote Aspirations throughout your building.

    Each month we will focus on one Condition. The newsletter contains helpful implementation tips as well as reports from the field. You will be hearing from your colleagues in other parts of the country and world as they try to improve the 8 Conditions and increase Student Voice.

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    [BROWSE ARCHIVE]
    Current Conditions...
  • June, 2009 (5.5MB)
    • Time for Reflection
    • One of the greatest challenges in schools today is finding time to reflect. We spend most of the school year hopping from one prep to another, one class to another, one student to another. No wonder so many of us play possum when summer arrives! June can be as busy a time as any when cleaning and closing classrooms compounds end of term grading and reporting. Yet giving reflection a fair go is a critical moment in the learning process...


  • May, 2009 (312KB)
    • ASPIRATIONS
    • Many of us can get caught up in the day-to-day details of school life. At its worst, our efforts decay into drudgery. Even at its best, such an approach can lead to the drama of putting out one fire after another with one new program after another. This month, step back and look at the big picture. What are you trying to accomplish for your students? What is the main goal?


  • April, 2009 (1.5GB)
    • Condition of the Month: CONFIDENCE TO TAKE ACTION
    • The recipe for confidence can be tricky. Too much self-assurance and it overcooks into a dense arrogance. Too little and it never sets up into the firm belief that anything can be accomplished if one is willing to put in the effort. As educators, we have a responsibility to infuse in our students the confidence to take action in support of their dreams.


  • March, 2009 (251KB)
    • Condition of the Month: LEADERSHIP & RESPONSIBILITY
    • In schools that provide little opportunity for students to have a say, students are reduced to whispering their concerns around cafeteria tables. In schools that intentionally invite students to sit down at the table where meaningful decisions are made, students have a say in choices that affect learning, policies, and school procedures. Schools that encourage this level of student voice cite two positive outcomes: the students learn how to be responsible leaders, and the schools develop more effective learning, policies, and procedures. Where are students sitting in your school?


  • February, 2009 (251KB)
    • Condition of the Month: SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE
    • Last month we witnessed the 44th peaceful transition of power in our government. This particular historic inauguration is the legacy of men and women who, with hope and virtue, took risks to improve their present and their futures. Our forebearers, of long and recent memory, overcame fear, failure, and difficulty to further a common good. Our students are heirs of this willingness to move beyond comfort, to be tested by challenges, and to create their futures.


  • January, 2009 (362KB)
    • Condition of the Month: CURIOSITY & CREATIVITY
    • What are your highest expectations for your students? Our hopes for those we teach may range from parrot to Pachelbel. Some days we need students to listen and learn facts, and when assessed, to echo what they have heard. Yet if assessment of achievement in schools stops there, we are nurturing only the skills that make for successful imitation and not those that nourish originality. Being original is not a talent. Originality is a habit of mind that can be developed and deepened. How do we assess in order to value each student´s recollection and imagination, memory and creativity, correct answers and relevant questions?


  • December, 2008 (362KB)
    • Condition of the Month: Fun & Excitement
    • Fun & Excitement is often the most challenging Condition for teachers to warm-up to. Yet when teachers are asked about what brought them into teaching or what keeps them teaching for decades, we frequently hear: Passion. Passion for students. Passion for science or history or literature. Passion for learning. Fun & Excitement is about making your passion, whatever its form, shimmer for your students.


  • November, 2008 (1.8MB)
    • Condition of the Month: Sense of Accomplishment
    • With November´s historical election, the attention of our country has been focused on the duty of all citizens to be informed about the issues. Citizens have a responsibility to vote for the people and ballot initiatives that best represent their point of view. As important as these yearly political duties are, practicing citizenship in schools should be a daily exercise. Schools that foster Sense of Accomplishment recognize and promote the contribution of students and staff in every facet of school life - from picking up paper to picking principals, from classroom to board room.


  • October, 2008 (194Kb)
    • Condition of the Month: HEROES
    • As we approach the November elections, we are asked to consider the experience and character of the men and women who seek to serve our country as leaders. No matter where we stand politically, these people exhibit care for our country´s citizens and the laws that govern them. At this important time in our country´s history, we can focus on the positive traits of the candidates and the heroism of public service.


  • September, 2008 (121Kb)
    • Condition of the Month: BELONGING
    • If you watched the Olympics last month, you may have seen world-class athletes close in age to students you work with everyday. This summer we were also treated to a 41 year-old swimmer and athletes who came back from seemingly career ending defeats or injuries. Night after night we cheered people achieving their dreams. Yet the brilliance of their accomplishments in Beijing, may blind us to the day-to-day inspiration necessary to train, sacrifice, and persevere. QISA defines Aspirations as the ability to dream about the future while being inspired in the present to reach those dreams.


  • June, 2008 (121Kb)
    • Condition of the Month: PURPOSE
    • Having a sense of purpose for the warmer weather is as much about who we are while loafing, learning, and laboring as it is about the activities themselves. Help students add purpose to their summer by asking who will be a good friend at camp, who will think of others while on vacation, and who will take on the challenge of summer learning with a positive attitude and sense of accountability.


  • May, 2008 (158Kb)
    • Condition of the Month: CONFIDENCE TO TAKE ACTION
    • Making a difference may mean finding a cure for cancer or negotiating a peace between warring nations. Making a difference may also mean encouraging a student who is struggling with a biology lesson or helping colleagues see both sides of a divisive issue. Each positive action each one of us takes improves the world no matter the degree.


  • April, 2008 (167Kb)
    • Condition of the Month: Leadership & Responsibility
    • Leaders are typically thought of as people who have vision and voice. They have a clear picture of where they want to go and effectively communicate that to their followers. The challenge is creating a shared vision from multiple viewpoints and speaking in a voice that harmonizes the voices of the entire community. We invite you to consider how you are modeling and teaching this more responsible form of leadership to your students.


  • March, 2008 (197Kb)
    • Condition of the Month: Spirit of Adventure
    • Teaching a classroom of diverse students is a challenge. How do we design classroom assignments that appropriately challenge all learners, pulling some from their comfort zones and others from their panic zone? How do we provide an environment where it is safe to fail or to succeed?


  • February, 2008 (114Kb)
    • Condition of the Month: Creativity
    • Creativity is often thought of as "extra-credit" or "extra-curricular." Or, if curricular, creativity is the sole responsibility of the art teacher. There is another point of view; one that runs counter to more traditional approaches to education: Creativity is the starting point of any education that seeks to be relevant.


  • January, 2008 (55Kb)
    • Condition of the Month: Curiosity
    • Our students from young to old, from naïve to cynical, are curious. They want to make sense of their world. They seek out more information... Effective teachers lead students to discover the connection between their students´ insatiable wondering and the infinitely wonder-filled world around us.


  • December, 2007 (57Kb)
    • Condition of the Month: Fun & Excitement
    • How do you hook students on learning? What´s the bait? Bugs? Blume? Binomials? Byzantine buildings? "Reel" learning occurs when a student is engaged and connected to the learning material and process.


  • November, 2007 (77Kb)
    • Condition of the Month: Sense of Accomplishment
    • What is learning and how do we measure it? Being accountable for results is crucial to the success of schools. Yet those working in schools know that meaningful accountability cannot be reduced to indicators of merely academic "end product." Such measures represent only one narrow dimension of accountability. Let´s hold ourselves and our students answerable for all the factors we know contribute to an educated citizen.


  • October, 2007 (5Mb)
    • Condition of the Month: Heroes
    • There is something about a HERO that demands, or rather, commands respect. At the same time, HEROES are accessible, attentive listeners, trusting and trustworthy. Be a HERO and respect will follow.


  • September, 2007 (5Mb)
    • Condition of the Month: Belonging
    • Welcome back to another exciting school year! Summer highlights the remarkable variety of human individuality. Ask those who have rejoined you in school what they did and you will discover summers ranging from reading to rock climbing, from tutoring others to taking courses, from painting houses to playing in the park.




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    © The Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations
    29 Falmouth Street | Portland, ME 04103
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    email: info@qisa.org