Frontline: The Holocaust’s Last Living Survivors

In the most recent of his critically-lauded autobiographical films, Never Forget to Lie,  Marian Marzynski explores for the first time his own wartime childhood and the experiences of other child survivors.  The filmmaker teases out their feelings about Poland, the Catholic Church, and the ramifications of identities forged under circumstances where survival began with the directive “never forget to lie.”

Airing on WGBY on Tuesday, May 14 at 10:00pm, Never Forget to Lie chronicles the poignant, painful recollections of other child survivors. The film rescues haunting pieces of the past while exploring the conflicting feelings about national, cultural, and religious identity that mark many survivors.

Watch a preview, where you can also learn the latest about Marzynski’s documentary.  At the Frontline Teacher Center you’ll find new classroom activities with streaming video, downloadable lesson plans, and web-exclusive resources to accompany FRONTLINE programs in the classroom.

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WGBY Feature: “Divided We Stand: A Street in Our School”

WGBY announces the launch of “Divided We Stand: A Street in Our School,” a special Connecting Point series that will present various sides of one of the area’s longtime community issues: the tunnel beneath I-91 that runs through the Germán Gerena Community School in Springfield’s North End.

Built in 1973, the school currently serves 700 children.  Because of the building’s close proximity to I-91, a tunnel was built on the lower level of the school so that students and members of the larger community, divided once the interstate was constructed, could safely walk from one side of their neighborhood to the other. Over time, “the tunnel,” as residents refer to it, became more than a passageway linking Plainfield and Main Streets. It became a pathway providing access to varied community services. A generation came to depend on the organizations that filled space within the tunnel itself.

Yet, due largely to extensive flooding and structural damage, time has changed this once vibrant space. Community spaces now stand empty.As residents and city leaders discuss their vision for the Gerena School and tunnel, WGBY explores its past and present. Viewers will learn just how much happens in this place they don’t see.

For the first time, WGBY will provide Spanish subtitles for the series of segments, airing periodically between March and May. The series’ first segment, available online, included a discussion about the school and the status of repairs to the tunnel with Springfield Mayor Dominic Sarno and School Superintendent Daniel Warwick.

Future air dates are as follows: March 27, April 24, April 30 & May 20-22.

WGBY invites viewer feedback and especially encourages people who live near Gerena, largely members of the city’s Latino community, to contribute memories, stories or opinions throughout the series’ run.

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Program Feature: 180 Days: A Year Inside an American High School

180 Days:  A Year Inside an American High School

WGBY airs 180 Days:  A Year Inside an American High School tonight, March 25,  at 9pm.  Following the day-to-day stories of students, parents, teachers and staff at the Washington Metropolitan High School (also known as DC Met), this documentary is an intimate portrait of a public school that attempts to make a difference in the lives of students each and every day.

Whether they are preparing for college or becoming teen moms, the students at DC Met face many challenges with spirit and resilience and welcome us to challenge many of our own assumptions as we travel with the first graduating class to commencement. Led by a charismatic and outspoken young principal, DC Met invites us in for an unprecedented first-hand account of life inside of the school reform movement. Watch a preview.

As an educator, you may identify with what you see in this story of a principal who remains optimistic that her students can succeed despite the personal and academic obstacles they face.   We’d appreciate hearing what you think about this film or about your own obstacles or triumphs during the 180 days you spend inside an American school.

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PBS LearningMedia: New Content Collections

We hope you like the new look and feel of the PBS LearningMedia site ! You can also view it on your tablet or phone for an optimized experience and explore great new content collections like these:

Freedom Riders

NOVAscienceNow

NOVA: Making Stuff

Between the Lions

Environmental Public Health

Thanks for your patience if you notice bugs with this enhanced site, which PBS is working hard to fix.  And when you find a classroom resource or want to share your experience with PBS LearningMedia,  please leave a comment.  We appreciate hearing from you!

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PBS KIDS releases two new apps for math and literacy

PBS KIDS is excited to release two new, educational apps for kids from their hit TV series DINOSAUR TRAIN and THE ELECTRIC COMPANY.   Meant to encourage math and literacy skills, the apps use familiar characters from the series and interactive, engaging games to practice skills such as counting, measurement, geometry, telling time and much more!

•  In The Electric Company Party Game: Lost on Prankster Planet, children use their math and literacy skills to help Marcus and Jessica escape from Prankster Planet and get back to Earth.  Based on the show, THE ELECTRIC COMPANY,  the free app for iPad and Kindle Tablet allows kids to complete wacky challenges, counting races, silly brainstorms, math questions and more.  They will add, draw, discuss, think, act, problem solve, and dance their way back to Earth, all while practicing skills in subjects including geometry, data analysis and graphing, telling time and more!

• In the Dinosaur Train Classic in the Jurassic, Jr. app, based on the series, DINOSAUR TRAIN, kids play through three math-based games focused on sorting, balance and counting to help Gilbert get Troodon Town ready for the big event – the Classic in the Jurassic, Jr. games! This app is available for the iPad for $1.99.

 

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Good News About American Students’ International Ranking

By Meris Stansbury, Associate Editor, eSchool News, January 16, 2013 — Prominent international tests skew comparisons of test scores, and U.S. student performance actually ranks much higher than believed, according to a new report released by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). The truth, says the report, is that—when comparing apples to apples in weighing U.S. student performance against that of other industrialized countries—U.S. students don’t rank 25th in math, but 10th; and in reading, the country is not 14th, but 4th.

Read the entire story by clicking here. 

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Helping Today’s Wired Students Learn to Focus

From Larry Rosen, eSchool News — While educators agree that digital technology can help students learn, there is an overwhelming feeling among many that today’s digital technologies are creating an easily distracted generation with short attention spans and that today’s students are too “plugged in” and need more time away from their digital devices.

Mr. Rosen goes on to describe the various studies that have been conducted and offers suggestions on avoiding the hazards that digital technology can have on the quality of education today.

Read the entire article by clicking here

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Save the Date: “The World of Water” Teacher Conference

Keynote Speaker Fabien Cousteau

Save the Date!  On Friday, April 5, 2013, Wilbraham & Monson Academy will sponsor “The World of Water”, a half-day professional development conference focused on the incorporation of water and economics learning into the classroom.

The highlight of the day will be a Keynote speech from Fabien Cousteau, son of Jean-Michel Cousteau and grandson of the late Jacques Cousteau, entitled “What’s Good for Water is Good for Business”.

Registration will open in the coming weeks, but please mark your calendars.  We hope you will join us for what looks to be an exciting day!

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Space-Themed Resources from PBS Learning Media

Investigate the Solar System, peer into distant galaxies, and show students how astronauts, scientists, and astronomers interact with their environment using PBS LearningMedia’s classroom-ready, standards-based resources.  Here are just some of those resources:

Building Curiosity: Rover Rocks Rocker-Bogie
Grades 9-12 | Video + Support Materials | Space Research
Take your students behind-the-scenes with a NASA Mobility Engineer to observe the development of a Mars rover and consider the decisions behind its intricate construction.

Hubble’s Expanding Universe
Grades 6-12 | Video + Support Materials | Space Research
Inspire curiosity in your classroom around the topic of the Cosmos by exposing your students to Edwin Hubble’s discoveries.

Scientist Profile: Galactic Astronomer
Grades 4-6 | Video | Astronomy, Careers in Science
See how Marianne Takamiya’s girlhood fascination with the sky led her to a career as an astronomer. Use this video to compliment a lesson on careers in science and for insightful commentary on the study of galaxies.

Gabriela Talks to an Astronaut
Grades PreK-1 | Video | Astronauts, Careers in Science
Show your young students what astronauts do and how they train for space travel with this animated clip from Sid the Science Kid. Your class will hear from an astronaut who helps build and fix objects in space.

If you’ve yet to sign up for this vast digital resource that’s free to teachers, you can register now for the full collection of space-themed resources or to explore additional subject areas.

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Chicopee School Committee reviews new MCAS teacher accountability system

Masslive.com, November 24th, Jeanette DeForge:

Early last week, Masslive.com covered a story on the Chicopee School Committee and their review of the new MCAS teacher accountability system.  Changes have been made to the original system, most notably, the replacement of the Annual Yearly Progress standard with the Progress and Performance Index.  This benchmark looks to have schools reduce the proficiency gap in achievement by 50 percent over a period of five years.  For example, if students are only 60 percent proficient in 2011, the school will have to improve proficiency by 20 percent by 2016.  City officials support this change, citing that it will provide teachers with more information while also maintaining more realistic benchmarks for progress.

What do you think?  For those familiar with the changes in the accountability system developed alongside the Common Core Standards, are they an improvement?

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