Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Rhode Island Teachers Ahead Of The Crowd, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"For teachers this is the time to enjoy the summer break to travel, stay home with their own children or just take a vacation. But for the majority there is something called professional development. Summer is the usual time when teachers go back to school to hone their skills, learn more about their subject area, work for advanced degrees or pick up some new practices for that high tech equipment sitting in the classroom. Like may other professionals who want to advance their careers and keep up with new ideas and practices, teachers also take courses during the school year …

There's Good News From The Nation's Classrooms, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Last May at the finals of the National Geographic Bee held in Washington, DC, Alex Trebeck was getting concerned because he thought that he would be running out of questions for the ten finalists who came from throughout the country. Well, he did have enough, although it was close.

In the previous year it took just 80 questions to determine a winner of the Bee, an annual event sponsored by the National Geographic Society in which over five million kids nationwide from grades four through eight compete. In 1999, however, it took 140 questions before a winner was determined. In …

Turned On Teachers Help Students Tune In To Geography, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"If you hear your youngster just home from school talking about some local issues related to transportation, land use, natural resources, air quality, water pollution, zoning, population growth or economic development, you can bet that she has been turned on by her geography teacher."

On Students, Standards, Employers And Jobs, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The recent an first national census survey on hiring, training and management practices in business in this country statistically reaffirmed the complaints of business leaders made a decade ago--young people coming out of our schools are not ready nor qualified for the workplace."

Bringing Geography To Life!, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"When Gil Grosvenor, president of the National Geographic Society, called a meeting of Kit Salter and other geographers from California nearly a decade ago, he had no idea that the discussion would have a profound impact on the teaching of geography in the nation's schools."

Attacking Geographic Illiteracy, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It has been clearly demonstrated through numerous surveys that US residents are among the most geographically illiterate people in the world. Whether trying to locate our own country or the Soviet Union on a world map, we score among the lowest of the major industrial nations of the world in such a simple exercise. But the future looks brighter, both in the nation and in Rhode Island, thanks to the efforts of the National Geographic Society.

Our Place On The Map, Chester Smolski, Anne K. Petry

Smolski Texts

"National Geography Awareness Week (Nov. 11-17) will have special significance for the schools of Rhode Island. The National Geographic Society has just awarded a $1000 planning grant to the two of us, one of such seven awards granted this year, to begin the process by which all of our schools may again bring geography to its full importance in the curriculum."