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September 15, 2002
Timely Resources For Back To School
By Susan McLester, Editor in Chief
In this month's cover story, "Put Your Web Site to Work," author David Warlick states, "School and classroom Web sites have become the storefront for the business of education." This metaphor seems particularly apt and timely for an era when federal legislation is calling for an emphasis on the broad-based integration of technology into schools and communities (see Trend Watch), and when the general perception of computers and the Internet as interesting gadgets separate from "real life" is joining dusty AV equipment on a closet shelf. Warlick is not a promoter of bells and whistles. He is not in awe of technology. Rather, he advocates that educators take a focused, workmanlike approach to building and using Web sites: identify the obstacles between you and the best job you can possibly do, and then use the Net to muster assistance from parents and community in overcoming these obstacles. Any elements on your site that do not work toward meeting your identified goals should simply not be there. As is his hallmark-both in writing and speaking-Warlick combines vision with practicality. Accompanying this forward-thinking view of using the Net is a host of tips, practical how-tos, tools, and additional resources we hope you'll find useful for optimizing your Web site as a vehicle for communication.
Also timely is Iris Lafferty's "Ready, Set, Read!", which offers a careful, detailed evaluation of six early reading titles that can help your young learners gain the confidence and literacy skills the Bush administration's Early Reading First initiative is designed to promote. Next month we continue to zero in on the topic of reading, via a cover feature updating you on the politics of reading today and how technology can enhance or come to the rescue of your program.
It has been-so unbelievably for many of us-an entire year since the events of September 11. These past months have been marked by turbulence, uneasiness, a general lack of confidence in traditional methods and institutions, and even a national examining of conscience on many levels. A central lesson to take away from this might be that indeed, momentous, unforeseen events are entirely possible. To that end, we can continue to help our children cope in a positive way with what might be called the "newer order" of things. One valuable resource is a group of materials, provided by the nonprofit Families and Work Institute, which target pre-K through 12th-grade students and are designed to help them process this anniversary "with resiliency and hope." These materials are available now at familiesandwork.org.
Read other articles from the September Issue
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