Mike Falick's Blog

Spring Branch Navy JROTC Car Wash for Breast Cancer Research October 6

How the Class of 2011 Sees the World

In June, I found and posted the  Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2010.  Benoit College recently released its Mindset List for the Class of 2011.

An explanation for the Beloit College Mindset List can be found here.

Here is the Class of 2011 Mindset List:

BELOIT COLLEGE'S MINDSET LIST®
    FOR THE CLASS OF 2011

Most of the students entering College this fall, members of the Class of 2011, were born in 1989. For them, Alvin Ailey, Andrei Sakharov, Huey Newton, Emperor Hirohito, Ted Bundy, Abbie Hoffman, and Don the Beachcomber have always been dead. 

1. What Berlin wall?
2. Humvees, minus the artillery, have always been available to the public.
      
         
    
    
    
    
    
3. Rush Limbaugh and the “Dittoheads” have always been lambasting liberals.
4. They never “rolled down” a car window.
5. Michael Moore has always been angry and funny.
6. They may confuse the Keating Five with a rock group.
7. They have grown up with bottled water.
8. General Motors has always been working on an electric car.
9. Nelson Mandela has always been free and a force in South Africa.
10. Pete Rose has never played baseball.
11. Rap music has always been mainstream.
12. Religious leaders have always been telling politicians what to do, or else!
13. “Off the hook” has never had anything to do with a telephone.
14. Music has always been “unplugged.”
15. Russia has always had a multi-party political system.
16. Women have always been police chiefs in major cities.
17. They were born the year Harvard Law Review Editor Barack Obama announced he might run for office some day.
18. The NBA season has always gone on and on and on and on.
19. Classmates could include Michelle Wie, Jordin Sparks, and Bart Simpson.
20. Half of them may have been members of the Baby-sitters Club.

Recap of Tonight's Board Meeting (Recognition of TBEC Honor Roll Schools, District Maintains Top Financial Integrity Rating, Adoption of Policies, and Campus Performance Objectives)

Our Board held its regular monthly meeting tonight.  Here's a recap of the issues discussed and actions taken on tonight's Agenda.

• Trustee Susan Mathews delivered the invocation.
• We had three special presentations tonight: Recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month with students from Edgewood Elementary performing 2 musical numbers, recognition of our September 2007 Volunteers of the Month, Robin Howell and Christine Wilson from Rummel Creek Elementary, and the presentation to our four Texas Business & Education Coalition Honor Roll schools:  Frostwood Elementary, Memorial Middle, Memorial High, and Westchester Academy for International Studies.
• Next on our Agenda was Citizens Participation, and we had a number of people speak about the bond election.
• The Board then approved the Campus Performance Objectives for each of our campuses.
• We then held a Public Hearing on the District's 2007 School Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) rating.  I am proud to report that, for the 5th consecutive year, SBISD maintained the highest possible rating - Superior Achievement.
  
• Each of the Board members then gave their liaison reports.
• We next had first readings of TASB (Legal) and (Local) Policy Updates that resulted from legislative changes during the 80th Legislative Session.
• As part of our Board's work to revise the Board's Policies, we then adopted the following policies: The Board had second readings and extensive discussion on the following policies: BJA (Local) Superintendent: Qualifications and Duties, DEA (Local) Compensation and Benefits: Salaries, Wages, and Stipends, EIA (Local) Academic Achievement: Grading/Progress Reports to Parents, and EIB (Local) Academic Achievement: Homework.
• The Board approved the Budget Status Summary with Budget Amendments as of August 31, 2007, and the Facility Improvement Program Monthly Status report as of August 31, 2007 .
• The Board also approved the award of numerous contracts and the Order that will permit Spring Branch to hold its November 6 bond election jointly with Harris County.
• We concluded the meeting by approving the items on our Consent Agenda.

Where Will the Continents be in 250 Million Years? The Answer Might Surprise You

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day website predicts that 250 million years from now, the surface of the Earth will look like the picture to the left (click the picture to enlarge).

From the website:

  Pangea Ultima: Earth in 250 Million Years?
Credit & Copyright: C. R. Scotese (U. Texas at Arlington), PALEOMAP

Explanation: Is this what will become of the Earth's surface?  The surface of the Earth is broken up into several large plates that are slowly shifting.  About 250 million years ago, the plates on which the present-day continents rest were positioned quite differently, so that all the landmasses were clustered together in one supercontinent now dubbed Pangea.  About 250 million years from now, the plates are again projected to reposition themselves so that a single landmass dominates.  The above simulation from the PALEAOMAP Project shows this giant landmass: Pangea Ultima.  At that time, the Atlantic Ocean will be just a distant memory, and whatever beings inhabit Earth will be able to walk from North America to Africa.

 

Something Frivolous for a Sunday Morning: TelevisionTunes.com has Over 1100 TV Theme Songs for Your Listening Pleasure

For your listening enjoyment, the TelevisionTunes.com website offers you over 1100 of your favorite TV Theme songs.

Click on the letter to access the TV Theme song index:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N
O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #s

The TelevisionTunes.com website even provides a name that tune timed game.

Inspiration for a Sunday Morning

The difference between a warrior and an ordinary man is that a warrior sees everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man sees everything as a blessing or a curse.

Carlos Castaneda, A Separate Peace

(Found at the end of an email I received yesterday from a phenomenal educator).

Want to be Able to Identify the Constellations in the Night Sky Anywhere in the World? Space.com Has the Answer

The Starry Night website allows you to enter your zip code or location and immediately see where constellations and planets are at any time during the day or night. 

The picture to the left shows tonight's sky at 10:00p in Houston (click picture to enlarge).

Interestingly, the site also allows you to see what the sky looks like from the Moon, in case you find yourself there.

Spring Branch Students Significantly Exceed State and National Scores and Participation Rates on the SAT and ACT College Entrance Exams

Spring Branch students exceeded both the State of Texas and National average scores on both the 2007 SAT and the ACT college entrance exams. 

Of equal significance is the fact that Spring Branch increased the percentage of students taking the SAT to 72% (the State participation rate is 52% and the National rate is 48%).  This is a critical step in achieving the District's college focus goal.

More from the Spring Branch website:

SBISD outscores state and national averages on the 2007 SAT and ACT

Spring Branch ISD students posted scores significantly higher than state and national averages on the expanded 2007 SAT, according to figures released recently by the College Board, the nonprofit organization that administers the popular standardized exam.

SBISD’s test participation by seniors increased from 68 percent a year ago to 72 percent this year, much higher than the state and national participation rates of 52 and 48 percent, respectively. Students may take the test more than once while in high school.

Nearly 1.5 million students in the national class of 2007 took the SAT. The number and diversity of test takers rose both in Texas and across the nation, national researchers report.

High school seniors here who took the recently expanded test also earned some of the highest scores in the Houston region.

The SAT is a three hour and 45 minute test with math, critical reading and writing sections. Students may earn between 200 and 800 points on each portion of the test.

On the SAT writing test, introduced two years ago, Spring Branch students averaged a 502. That was 14 points higher than the national public school average of 488, and a significant 24 points higher than the Texas average of 478.

On the critical reading test, SBISD’s average score of 508 exceeded the state public school average of 487 by 19 points. The national public school average was 498.

In math, Spring Branch students posted a significantly higher 540, 31 points higher than the national public school average in math of 509, and 35 points higher than the Texas public school average of 505.

“Once again, Spring Branch’s students outperformed their state and national peers. Our students continue to produce some of the highest SAT scores in the area, even as almost three out of every four seniors now take the test,” Superintendent of Schools Duncan Klussmann said.

Many high school students also take the ACT, a curriculum-based measure of college readiness. In the ACT, students are tested in English, mathematics, reading, and science, and earn individual scores in each area as well as an overall composite score.

Scores on the ACT range from 1 up to a maximum of 36.  Just as they did in the SAT, Spring Branch students exceeded the state and national averages in every subject and overall composite score. The 2007 district composite average score was 23.4 exceeding both the state average composite of 20.5, and the national composite average of 21.2.

Since 2004, the number of students taking the ACT has increased in Spring Branch by nearly 43 percent compared with an increase of 11 percent over that same period for the state.

In English, SBISD students averaged 22.5, while the state average was 19.5 and the national average was 20.7.

In reading, the SBISD average of 23.4 outpaced the state average of 20.6 and the national average of 21.5.

Similarly in science, SBISD seniors scored an average of 22.8 compared with 20.4 for Texas and 21.0 for the nation.

In mathematics, SBISD reached the highest of its average scores with 24.2, more than 3 points higher than both the state average of 20.8 and the national average of 21.0.

The Journey of Man Shows How People Migrated Across the Planet Over the Last 160,000 Years

The Bradshaw Foundation has posted an interactive website that shows the migration of mankind over the last 160,000 years.  Very interesting and very informative.

From the Bradshaw Foundation website:

Genetic Map

The Bradshaw Foundation, in association with Stephen Oppenheimer, presents a virtual global journey of modern man over the last 160,000 years. The map will show for the first time the interaction of migration and climate over this period. We are the descendants of a few small groups of tropical Africans who united in the face of adversity, not only to the point of survival but to the development of a sophisticated social interaction and culture expressed through many forms. Based on a synthesis of the mtDNA and Y chromosome evidence with archaeology, climatology and fossil study, Stephen Oppenheimer has tracked the routes and timing of migration, placing it in context with ancient rock art around the world.

Mrs. Glosser's Math Goodies: A Good Math Help Site for Teachers, Students, and Parents

I recently found Mrs. Glosser's Math Goodies while trying to find information to help me with my daughter's Algebra homework.  The website has some free content and sells a CD with more that, since I don't own, I have not reviewed.

The website also provides a forum that contains questions and posted answers that are also helpful.