I teach high school. I love all of high school, including high school sports, and including the fun that students have at Friday night (or Thursday night this week for us) football. So I understand the intent of the following headline in The Denver Post.
But, as it does every year at this time (and several times throughout the year), The Post throws the rest of school under the bus.
Summer is almost over, and the disappointment about returning to class . . .
Really?
Really, Denver Post, that's the message you want to send? With all your whining on the editorial page about the state of our schools (and pretty consistently getting it wrong by the way), you don't feel any responsibility to actually read your own paper and perhaps, just perhaps, make sure you aren't contributing to the anti-education culture of the state of Colorado?
I just had a conversation similar to this in our break room during lunch with some colleagues. The gist was that students who enter HS from a 9th grade academy (9th grade only) were full of themselves and that they needed to be "knocked down for a couple of months".
I spoke up in aggravation at the gall of another educator putting negative light on students and school in general.
This may seem like nit-picking, but really, do we want to add to the negativity at any level?
What makes you NYSCATE? NYSCATE means so many things to so many people. We want to know more about what NYSCATE means to you, and so does our membership. Participate in our "I am NYSCATE" video contest and you could win you a trip to NYSCATE 2010!Members are invited to create their own video (via video camera, webcam, mobile phone, etc.) that describes their experience(s) and benefits they receive as a member. NYSCATE will add user submissions to its custom YouTube playlist, “I Am NYSCATE”.Prize: One (1) full conference registration and two (2) nights hotel to Annual Conference held November 21-23, 2010 in Rochester, NY. Deadline for Entry: October 31, 2010 - Winners announced first week in November.
How to Participate
1. Create a video around the theme “I am NYSCATE.” (see Suggested Prompts below) 2. Use YouTube to upload your video to the web 1. You may need to create a YouTube account or you can sign in using a Google Account. 2. 3. Title your video “I am NYSCATE” 4. Tag the video “iamnyscate” (no quotation marks) 5. Copy/Paste the URL (web address) of your video in an email to bsmith@nyscate.org 6. Share by telling your friends, family and colleagues to vote for your video by clicking on the Like button below your video.If you need help with this process, use the this screencast (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZT8EKrNLGw) which shows how to create a YouTube account, upload your video submission, title/tag it appropriately, and email the URL (web address) of your video.
Suggested Prompts
• How does NYSCATE help you transform teaching and learning? • How do you benefit from being a member of NYSCATE? • What’s great about the annual NYSCATE conference? • What do you look forward to most about NYSCATE’s Annual Conference? • How has NYSCATE challenged you? • How has your practice changed as a result of NYSCATE and the opportunities it has facilitated?
Rules
2 minute or less in length
All media used in the production of the video should abide by copyright and provide proper attribution
All NYSCATE members are eligible to submit a video for the contest*
Video must start and end with the following statement “I am NYSCATE.”
One submission per participant
Full name, email, phone, and school/affiliation in your email submission
Specific video criteria
* NYSCATE Conference committee members and Board of Directors can create and submit video, but are ineligible to win. NYSCATE also requests that you give your video a Creative Commons license of “share alike” so that it may use and possibly remix video submissions.
FAQs
Do I have to use YouTube? It’s blocked in my school. Yes, all submissions must be submitted to YouTube. YouTube’s “like” feature will be the platform for voting during this contest. You will need to create a YouTube account (or use a Google account) to participate. If it is blocked at your school you will need to access it from home or any other unfiltered location. If you need help with this process, use the following screencast which shows how to create a YouTube account, upload your video submission, title/tag it appropriately, and email the URL (web address). [insert link to screencast created by Steve Ransom] Are travel expenses included in the prize too? No, winners will receive full conference registration and two (2) nights accommodations. Travel expenses to and from Rochester are not included.Video submissions should be no longer than two (2) minutes in length and must include the statement “I am NYSCATE” in the beginning and the end. How do I attract Likes (votes)? NYSCATE will be aggregating all video submissions in a playlist on our NYSCATE YouTube channel’s playlist, I Am NYSCATE (). You can also use your website (embedding video in your site) or blog, share it on social networks like Facebook and Twitter and more! Will I be able to view other submissions? Yes, we will be using our YouTube channel to aggregate all video submissions where people can view all videos submitted. Can I submit more than one video? Only one submission (the first emailed) will be eligible for the contest. By submitting more than one video, you risk splitting votes between your videos.
