Franklin Matters

Thursday, April 22, 2010

"Students are different, but educational practice and the materials that support it are changing only slowly"

Continuing to entice you to dive in and read the 2010 Horizon Report: K12 Edition:

• Students are different, but educational practice and the materials that support it are changing only slowly. Schools are still using materials developed to teach the students of decades ago, but today’s students are actually very different in the way they think and work. Schools need to adapt to current student needs and identify new learning models that are engaging to younger generations. Many education professionals feel that a shift to a more learner-centered model focused on the development of individual potential instead of the imposition of a body of knowledge would lead to deeper and more sustained learning across the curriculum. To support such a change, both teaching practice and the tools used in the classroom must adapt. Assessment has also not kept pace with new modes of working, and must change along with teaching methods, tools, and materials.

Franklin, MA

14th Annual FEF Trivia Bee - April 29 - 7:00 PM

14th Annual FEF Trivia Bee…Still Time to Enter Your Team!

On Thursday, April 29, 2010, the Franklin Education Foundation (FEF) will hold its 14th Annual Trivia Bee at the Horace Mann Middle School starting at 7:00 p.m. This year’s theme is history.

We are thrilled to say that we have a impressive number of teams already signed up as well as some awesome auction items ... including Red Sox tickets!

THERE IS STILL TIME TO ENTER YOUR TEAM OR DONATE TO THE AUCTION!!!!

FEF is still accepting Team Sponsors and item donations for a special raffle. Companies, organizations, parents and individuals can enter a 3-person team of their own or sponsor a team of Franklin students. Team sponsorships are $300 each. The event is well known as a fun evening out with friends and neighbors, all while contributing to a worthwhile cause. It’s a great way to show your commitment to education in Franklin.

To sponsor a team or donate a raffle item please contact Maureen Roy at 508-528-5170 or MaurRoy@aol.com. For more information visit www.franklined.org.

Admission for spectators is free. Be sure to attend on April 29, and test your knowledge of history!

Franklin, MA

"Unfortunately it's the nature of the society we live in"

Q: How did it feel to win the award?

A: I was kind of surprised when I got the phone call because I know they've had some volunteers for many years ... I was very pleased, surprised and honored.

Read the full article here:

Q&A with Charles River volunteer David Dobrzynski

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Ashley Studley/Daily News correspondent

Parmenter 5K Race/Walk - Sunday May 16th

The Parmenter Elementary School will be the start and finish for their 2nd Annual 5K Race/Walk on Sunday, May 16th.

You can visit the event website for detailed information here
http://parmenter5k.weebly.com/index.html

You can also register at Active.com here
http://www.active.com/running/franklin-ma/2nd-annual-parmenter-5k-for-all-ages-2010

Franklin, MA

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

"No matter what we do, it's not going to be good,"

"If we continue town business this way, we will dismantle town government and the school system," said Horn. "As of May 1 there will be no Saturday ambulance ... there will be uncovered (police) shifts. It's a substantial reduction in services. People who think we have money are not looking at the facts."

Mendon is facing similar budget problems to Franklin, the difference right now is we don't know how deep or where the cuts are proposed to occur. You can read more about Mendon's issues here:

Mendon plans cuts if override fails

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Krista Perry/Daily News staff

You can review the budget workshop held in January to get a better understanding of the factors in Franklin's overall budget.

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/budget-workshop-collection-12510.html

You can review the Financial Planning Committee report. They have the long term plan that says we have a systemic problem and outline several options for resolving the issue. Many of those have been tried in the past year, the one other option left to us is to consider an override. The override discussion will be on the Town Council agenda for Wednesday Apr 28th.

"She asked the important questions"

Dunn helps clients visualize what they want in a variety of ways. Sometimes she helps them focus with meditation. Sometimes clients work on arts and crafts projects and clip pictures from magazines or draw to create collages, which helps them define their goals.

"In creating the collage, it all comes together and they can visualize where they want to go," said Dunn. "If they don't have the vision, they will repeat their old habits and get into a job they don't like.

"To get in touch with what we want, sometimes we need to play," said Dunn. "Part of it is finding the inner child. That's the part that needs to be exercised. Guys go out and play ball. Women don't tend to do that."

Franklin business helps people find themselves

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Kathy Uek/Daily News staff

"Digital media literacy continues its rise in importance as a key skill in every discipline and profession"

Continuing to entice you to dive into a reading of the 2010 Horizon Report: K12:

Along with current trends, the Advisory Board notes critical challenges that schools face, especially those that are likely to continue to affect education over the five-year time period covered by this report. Like the trends, these are drawn from a careful analysis of current events, papers, articles, and similar sources, as well as from the personal experience of the Advisory Board members in their roles as leaders in education and technology. Those challenges ranked as most significant in terms of their impact on teaching, learning, and creative inquiry in the coming years are listed here, in the order of importance assigned them by the Advisory Board.

• Digital media literacy continues its rise in importance as a key skill in every discipline and profession. The challenge is due to the fact that despite the widespread agreement on its importance, training in digital literacy skills and techniques is rare in teacher education and school district professional development programs. As teachers begin to realize that they are limiting their students by not helping them to develop and use digital media literacy skills across the curriculum, the lack of formal training is being offset through professional development or informal learning, but we are far from seeing digital media literacy as a norm. This challenge is exacerbated by the fact that digital literacy is less about tools and more about thinking, and thus skills and standards based on tools and platforms have proven to be somewhat ephemeral.

Franklin, MA