Newsletter 2413 Issue 2413200977101852

INTERVIEW

• Six-Figure Teachers
  Zeke Vanderhoek believes you get what you pay for—even in education. That’s why this former middle school teacher is launching the Equity Project (TEP) Charter School, a middle school in upper Manhattan where teachers will make six-figure incomes, this fall. We caught up with him to ask why he thinks his vision will succeed.
  
  How did you decide to pay teachers $125,000 a year?
  This is not an original idea. Many people since the beginning of time have said we’ve got to pay teachers. When I wrote the charter I looked at our budget, and I wanted to see if we could value teachers without lip service. Teacher quality is essential to student achievement. What is the way to get great people? First, you have to pay people according to their talent. Two, you have to provide an environment where you give them freedom and autonomy. They have one-year contracts, and they operate like they’re in any other job. They don’t have tenure, and they’re evaluated based on performance. more » » » 

Blogs

• ShelfTalker: A Children's Bookseller's Blog
  Josie Leavitt, Co-owner, Flying Pig Bookstore, Shelburne, Vt.
  Upsell, Baby, Upsell
  This is a quick post about the art of upselling. Upselling means getting customers to buy a little more than they came in for. As I told my staff, if we can get six customers to buy one more $15 book ...
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• Bowllan's Blog
  Amy Bowllan, The Hewitt School, New York
  Long Lake Library and the Adirondack Museum
  Like I said yesterday, The Adirondacks is bear country. And just yesterday after I posted about my hunt for libraries (and not bears), I stumbled upon this bear, right outside the Long Lake Library, l...
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• Good Comics for Kids
  Katherine Dacey, ,
  GC4K Reading List: Comics That Celebrate America's Cultural Diversity
  Among the folks who responded to our GC4K Summer Reading List was a librarian and educator who asked if we could compile a similar bibliography of titles featuring historically under-represented group...
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• Practically Paradise
  Diane Chen, Librarian, Hickman Elementary School, Nashville, Tennessee
  Also Known As Harper by Ann Haywood Leal
  Also Known As Harper by Ann Haywood Leal is going on my list of books to recommend to budding authors, poets, and creative souls. 256 pages, Middle-Grade Fiction, Henry Holt, May, 2009. ISBN...
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NEWS

• DOE Sees Increased Role for E-Learning
  Online classes coupled with classroom instruction may be more effective than traditional face-to-face teaching alone, according to an analysis of 46 studies of student performance recently released by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE).
  
  The results were most stark at the college level, but DOE officials are looking at how to apply the findings in K-12 classrooms, potentially emphasizing e-learning over teacher-led classes.
  
  “A computer can do as well as a professor and [is] a heck of a lot cheaper and a heck of a lot more reliable,” says Marshall Smith, senior counselor to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “At the post-secondary level this is a pretty powerful thing.” more » » » 

WATCH AND READ

• Animal Agents
  Bound to appeal to kids who like their action heroes small, furry, and full of attitude, G-Force (PG) bursts into theaters on July 24, 2009. A cast of computer-animated critters stars alongside the actors in this action/comedy film, which marks the directorial debut of special-effects wizard Hoyt Yeatman. The live-action movie is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer (the mastermind behind the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy) for Walt Disney Pictures in Disney Digital 3-D.
  
  Disney Press presents a lineup of G-Force titles with covers that feature the inherently cute but also stalwart-looking characters posed for action in front of backdrops with a high-tech veneer. more » » » 

REMARKABLE READS

• Sailing
  The feeling of being afloat, under the power of only the current and wind, can be equal parts liberating and frightening. Maybe it’s that primal connection with the water, a desire for open space, or a yen for an outdoor adventure. Readers who dream about their next time on the high seas will want to line these titles up for their summer reading. more » » » 

LIBRARIAN'S INTERNET

• Liberty! The American Revolution
  www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/index.html
  
  Paul Harvey’s radio program often featured a spot called “…And Now For the Rest of the Story.” Since we so recently celebrated Independence Day, encourage older kids and teens to discover the exciting “rest of the stories” of the Revolutionary War that led up to the ratification of the Declaration of Independence.more » » » 

JOB OF THE WEEK