November is an important month to teach and discuss gratitude in the classroom. Here are 5 lesson ideas to inspire and teach gratitude to students. DONT PANIC END POVERTY Has the UN gone mad The greatest story in human history. FREE DOCUMENTARY. By accepting this message, you will be leaving the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This link is provided solely for the users convenience. Charter schools in NC Less diverse, less poverty. Charter schools in North Carolina are more segregated than traditional public schools and have more affluent students. Most charters have either a largely white population or a largely minority population, according to a News Observer analysis. On the whole, charter schools are more white and less Latino than schools run by local districts. In. North Carolina school districts, slightly more than half the students come from low income families. But in charter schools, one in three students are low income. Charters werent supposed to look like this. The 1. 99. 6 state law that allowed charters required that, within one year of the schools opening, their populations would reflect the racial and ethnic composition of the school district. The law defined one of the purposes of charters increasing opportunities to learn for all students, with a special emphasis on students who are at risk of academic failure or those who are academically gifted. The original charter law was the product of a bipartisan compromise brokered by a House Republican and a Senate Democrat. The requirements for racial and ethnic diversity were the authors response to worries of charter opponents that the schools would cherry pick the best students, said former Rep. Steve Wood, the Republican who negotiated the law. Opponents were concerned there would be creaming across the top, Wood said. The diversity requirement is a laudable goal, he said. Some of us said it may not be a completely achievable goal. The original law also capped charters at 1. If you are a teacher searching for educational material, please visit PBS LearningMedia for a wide range of free digital resources spanning preschool through 12th grade. History is filled with surprising stories of how people and ideas are connected. One such story is that of the origins of the most popular board game in modern history. Charter schools in North Carolina are more segregated than traditional public schools and have more affluent students. Nexa Font Full Version. On the whole, charter schools are more white. The charter school law has been rewritten many times in the last two decades, including a major and extensively debated change that removed the 1. Diversity is still mentioned, but its no longer a requirement. A 2. 01. 3 law dropped the mandate and diluted the language so charters must make efforts to reflect the local school districts racial and ethnic composition. Wib Gulley, a Democrat and former state senator who co authored the 1. It was a key provision that was meant to ensure that the charter schools didnt segregate in some way and did not take only students from wealthy families and that kind of thing, Gulley said. If thats the result even for one school, it is an undermining of the fundamental intent of the law. It perverts the premise of charter schools in a way that we never wanted and that both houses of the legislature voted to say would not happen. Wood, however, said the schools results matter more than who attends. Im not sure theres anyone whos ever been born who has the perfect formula for how many white kids, how many black kids, how many Hispanic kids, how many illegal immigrant kids, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera have to be in the classroom to get the best education, he said. Darrell Allison, executive director of the pro school choice group Parents for Educational Freedom, said comparing traditional and charter schools creates a distorted picture because charters dont have the resources districts do to create diverse schools. Charters do not receive capital funds to buy buses and many dont offer student transportation. The state needs to get serious about paying for charter buses if it wants low income students to have more school choices, Allison said. Lack of transportation is an impediment to students whose parents dont have cars or have work schedules that prevent them from driving their children to school. Parental choice drives charter enrollment, he said. Some charters are mostlymade up of black students because black parents seek out schools that are run by African Americans, or those that employ black male teachers, Allison said. We have to take into consideration where we are as a society, he said. We talk to a number of families of color, where 7. They are actively looking for good educational institutions. They are also looking for Afro American role models, particularly for their Afro American boys. Segregated schools. Of North Carolina charter schools open in the 2. By comparison, 3. North Carolina school districts in 2. Close. More wealthy students. Wealthier students are enrolling in charters at a greater pace than low income students. A study by the pro charter American Enterprise Institute found that charter schools in North Carolina serve dramatically fewer poor students than the five traditional public schools that are their closest neighbors. North Carolina stands out in that measure compared to most other states, said Nat Malkus, the author of the report. When you look at these poverty numbers, they are just jaw dropping, Malkus said. Malkus study looked at charters in 2. More recent state data show charters continue to draw greater proportions of wealthier students. Information from the federal Title I program shows that 3. Charters arent cherry picking students, but its hard for them to defend against that charge, Allison said. Popular charters must use lotteries to pick students because there are many more applicants than seats. Unlike traditional public schools, families whose children attend a public charter school are not artificially zoned into one, he said in an email. Every family must work take action to enroll their child into a public charter school. On the traditional school side of the ledger, the proverbial pencil, pen or marker has been and will continue to be a tool used to manage and arrive at an acceptable racialsocio economic level. Charters have opened the doors to us resegregating our schools. Tom Benton, former chairman of the Wake County school board. In Durham, Charlene Reiss enrolled her daughters in a district elementary school, E. K. Powe, which has a mix of black, white, and Latino students. Her younger daughter is in fifth grade, and her older daughter is a seventh grader at Lakewood Montessori Middle School. Keyboard Arabic'>Keyboard Arabic. Reiss toured six Durham schools before deciding on E. K. Powe. Finding a school with a diverse student population and services for academically or intellectually gifted students was important. Powe didnt look great on paper when the state started handing out letter grades, Reiss acknowledged. Its performance grades were Ds for three years. Powe improved last year earning a C and with academic growth exceeding expectations. Still, the schools letter grade doesnt take in to account the whole environment of that school and how the kids are being cared for, how theyre being turned into good human beings versus good test takers, said Reiss, who is white. Powe has this amazing environment where every child is cared for and loved and accepted for exactly who that child is. Reiss disdains the state system of performance grades, which emphasize test scores over how much students learn each year. She said the grades were designed to discredit traditional public schools and drive people to charters and vouchers that pay tuition at private schools. The charter schools are pulling away white middle class and upper middle class families, she said. Some are pulling away more involved black families. Its leaving people with the fewest resources and the highest needs in public schools. Parental choice. Tom Benton, former chairman of the Wake County school board, sees the racial imbalance at schools in his town of Zebulon. East Wake Academy, a K 1. Zebulon, was more than 8. Hispanic. At Zebulon Middle School, a traditional public school less than a half mile from East Wake Academy, 7. Hispanic while 2. Ways to Teach Gratitude in your Classroom. Whatever your activities for November and Thanksgiving, Ive got some ideas to inspire gratitude in your classroom. Use it to inspire art or just a change of heart as we help children become more grateful, joyful people. And while youre at it, join Everyartist. Teach about gratitude and encourage students to say thank you with activities and projects this November. Here are 5 ideas to inspire gratitude. This post was first written in 2. Everyartist. me which is still going strong. When I saw how many educators are using this resource each November and October, Ive updated the post with current links and information. Updated November 7, 2. Ways to Encourage Gratitude in Students. So, your students are going to create art inspired by gratitude. What if they arent grateful Or, what if, the student has a hard life or has something difficult they are dealing with right now There are many reasons that students may struggle with gratitude. Start by defining gratitude. I like the definition of gratitude and its benefits from Psychology Today Gratitude is an emotion expressing appreciation for  what one hasas opposed to, say, a consumer oriented emphasis  on what one wants or needsand is currently receiving a great deal of attention  as a facet of positive psychology. Gratitude is what gets poured into the glass to make it half full. Studies show that gratitude not only can be deliberately cultivated but can increase levels of well being and happiness among those who  do cultivate it. In addition, grateful thinkingand especially expression of it to othersis associated with increased levels of energy, optimism, and empathy. There are real, tangible benefits to being the kind of person who is grateful. Gratitude is worth cultivating, and that attitude permeates the thought of Thanksgiving. To prepare for your art project, there are a couple of tangible suggestions I have for starting right now cultivating the sense of gratitude 1. Keep a Joy Journal. I talked about this in 9 Fine Reasons to Keep a Journal. Research studies have shown that keeping a 5 minute a day gratitude journal will increase your long term well being more than winning a million dollars in the lottery. Talk about this with students, set a timer, and keep a joy journal every day for the next 2 weeks. Ask older students to plot their mood to see if they notice any change in their own outlook on life. When it is time to create your art, review your journal for patterns of things that bring you joy. Those are great targets for gratitude. Benefits This activity can have students writing, journaling, and improving their mood at the same time. You can also encourage parents to join in this activity and educate them on this. Successful organizations show gratitude, so do successful classrooms. Gratitude shouldnt be a secret. Help children share a word of thank you with each other and with those who serve and help them every day. Show gratitude to each other. Ive read that it takes 7 compliments to counterbalance 1 criticism. In a recent human resources blog, I read that the highest performing teams have a ratio of 5. The lowest have. My children all have kept an activity from elementary school where every student gave one genuine compliment for every other student. They typed them up and put a picture of each student in front with classmates behind with a title like why were thankful for Suzie or Johnny or insert name there. The teacher should add one there as well. Benefits This activity helps students show gratitude towards each other and to intentionally say thank you and can have an impact on the whole class, particularly in helping them appreciate the strengths of each child. Show gratitude to others who serve. There are so many people who do so much for kids at the school. Showing gratitude to each person on staff in meaningful ways can make a difference. You can start off by asking students to give another a genuine verbal compliment and discussing the response they received. Then, you can level up and have students write thank you notes, cards, or have them use their art as a form of recognition and thank you to those who encourage and serve them. Ramayan Br Chopra on this page. You can also combine this with youmatter activities. Benefits The entire school begins to be reminded to be grateful for one another. Show gratitude to parents and family. Students often take their caregivers for granted. Encourage students to take time to write parents a note or to list all of the things they are grateful for from their parents. Use these thoughts to inspire artwork designed to enhance the thanksgiving experience. Benefits strengthen the homeschool connection and encourage parents to show gratitude to their children as well. Plan a thank you party. Plan a thank you party for Thanksgiving centered around saying thank you to heroes among us. Include your artwork and a time of thanks to those who do so much to help kids. Benefits Make meaning as part of your thanksgiving party. Plan your art project with a gratitude theme. If youre looking for art ideas, then peruse, but remember that often kids only need the materials and time and theyll do the rest to create the art. Plan your art project around the theme of gratitude. With a basis of understanding gratitude and the types of things they are grateful for, youll need to prepare for your art project. There are two places I recommend for your planning. Learn More about Every. Artist Live Read Resources for Parents Grandparents. If youre a parent or grandparent and want your child to participate, I recommend that you link up with 2. Read How can I use the video to promote our schoolWatch the video to understand this global art project and sign up to participate with your child, students, or school. Email this video to your friends and fellow teachers to encourage them to join in. Over 3. 00,0. 00 participants have signed up so far This is something every school can and should do. After you sign up, email a link to your local education reporter at the newspaper or television station to help them understand what youre doing so they can cover the event for their Thanksgiving edition. This is a cool personal interest story as you are teaching interpersonal skills and 2. Introducing Everyartist from Breck Kling on Vimeo. This post is inspired by Every. Artist Live, a national, collaborative art event with the goal of engaging a million elementary school children on November 2. Want to get involved Join us in our efforts to show that Creativity. Matters. Sign up at http everyartist. Disclosure of Material Connection This is a sponsored post. The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 1. CFR, Part 2. 55 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Send me the 2. Superhandout You did it The 2. Let me know what you learn Vicki Davis coolcatteacher.