Henderson Elementary Nurse Nanci Purcell kisses Dottie the pig after students reach a fundraising goal. Photo courtesy Northside ISD

Dottie the Pig recently received an extra dose of affection at Northside ISD’s Henderson Elementary School as part of a deal made with students to reach a fundraising goal.

Principal Tom Mackey, Vice Principal Norma Farrell and Nurse Nanci Purcell all pursed their lips and planted a kiss the 260-pound pink-snouted sow before a crowd of squealing kiddos.

The team had offered to smooch the pig if students raised $4,000 during a Pasta for Pennies fundraiser benefitting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, according to a district newsletter. The kids, inspired by first grader Ismael Pinedo, who is being treated for leukemia, surpassed their goal. They ended up bringing in $5,000, according to the district.

As part of the deal, Ismael also chose which color the administrators would dye their hair. Mackey temporarily dyed his bright orange. Farrell went green. And Purcell’s hair turned a Smurf-esque shade of blue that matched her scrubs.

In the video below, Henderson Principal Tom Mackey and Vice Principal Norma Farrell kiss a pig when a student fundraiser surpasses its goal.

Below, Nurse Nanci Purcell puckers up to Dottie.

Pictured (from l-r) are Vice Principal Norma Farrell, Nurse Nanci Purcell, student Ismael Pinedo, Principal Tom Mackey, and Dottie the Pig. Photo courtesy Northside ISD

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Tags: Pig

Do you think wording matters in public opinion polls? That is, if a question is phrased slightly differently, can the pollster get very different results?

The correct answer is: yes.

If you want an NY Times summary of how wording matters in polls, its here.

One of my favorite articles on the topic was written in 1941, by George Gallup. Yep, that Gallup.

Anyway, now lets move on to a specific poll.

There were two versions of the question. Version 1 was asked in certain years. Version 2 was asked in certain years.

Much has been made of this opinion survey.

(You can click on the image to make it clearer).

So what do you think?

Specifically,

1. Do you trust the upward line? Is this policy getting more popular?

2. Do you think the 2011 drop is caused by something? Or is it simply an outlier? Or are you not sure? Its just one data point.

Now lets re-examine the graph, but with the years listed on the X-axis.

Now what do you think? Sputtering around until 1995, then a surge. Then a down point in 2011.

So if you want to connect the public opinion here to federal policy, youd connect it to Clinton/Bush, and then maybe blame Obama.

Okay, now Ill show you the whole image.

Now what do you think?

Well heres what happened when this survey came out.

1. Some reporters wrote: Teacher satisfaction has dropped to a 20-year-low. Example.

2. Some commentators argued: The decline is the fault ofPresident Obama.Michelle Rhee.teacher bashing.

Let me briefly address the commentary. If you want to opine on Race To The Top (federal policy) causing the 2011 low point, would you also ascribe the high scores to President Bush and No Child Left Behind? My guess: no. Then how do you determine causality?

To the reporters, however, Id question the 20-year-low meme.

Because.drum roll.this survey has used TWO different questions.

And we agreed from the jump that wording matters in public opinion polls.

Lets create 2 new graphs from the data, shall we?

This graph is for the question:

All in all, how satisfied would you say you are with teaching as a career?

This next graph is for the question:

All in all, how satisfied would you say you are with your job as a teacher in the public schools?

The first poll question uses the word career. We can probably agree that evokes certain emotions.

The other poll question omits career and injects public schools. Also evocative.

So how might a reporter more precisely write up this poll? Well, I know it would kill the theme (teachers are unhappy!), but these would be more precise:

Teachers were asked a question about job satisfaction 5 times in the last 26 years. Three times (2011, 1987, 1985) roughly 40% said they were very satisfied. Once that number hit 52% (2001) and once it hit 33% (1986).

That would be a neutral version.

Or:

Teachers were asked a question about job satisfaction 5 times in the last 26 years. The second highest level of satisfaction was in 2011, with 44% saying highly satisfied.

I wouldnt choose to write it that way, even though its factual. The 44% is probably within margin of error to the 40% numbers.

Or:

Teachers were asked a question about satisfaction 8 times between 1985 and 2009. The proportion of very satisfied teachers rose steadily.

Now what causes teacher opinion to change? I have no idea. It seems to me that the results could lend themselves to all sorts of plausible guesses.

But I do fault the survey, and the reporters, for not separating the results of the 2 questions. Its likely that the wording skews the results in some way.

A 20-year-low would suggest to the many readers that youd asked a question every year or so, which did not happen. A 20-year-low would not convey what really happened: you asked 3 times in 20 years.

Put another way:

Lets say this 2012 survey reverts to the public schools wording of the question. The one which has shown steady increase over the years.

Id bet a beer that MORE than 44% are very satisfied despite Obama, Gates, Rhee, the Red Sox, Mayan calendar, and other proposed causes of teacher dissatisfaction.

Anyone want that bet?

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While others were having some good Aprils Fool fun with their homepage, the University of Notre Dame quietly launched a revolutionary homepage yesterday afternoon.

This could well be the Holy Grail of higher ed website design: a web design based on the mobile first approach that serves content on any devices using a combo of responsive web design techniques and server side detection to reduce the load for mobile (as the concept was explained by Dave Olsen a few weeks ago).

Heres a quick look at the before and after screenshots on different widths:

BEFORE

AFTER And, heres a screenshot of the desktop version:

Make sure you go play a bit with the page it is VERY playfull and so easy to use (I cant wait for Nick DeNardis to review it on EDUCheckup)

Thats truly beautiful work in my book. Congratulations to Erik Runyon and the rest of the team! What do YOU think? Anybody else in higher ed who has followed the mobile first approach yet?

4-week online course: Mobile & Responsive Web Design for Higher Ed (asynchronous with weekly lessons and assignments)

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Tags: Homepage, Notre Dame

By Taryn DiMartile

Learning styles – everyone’s is different. It’s one of many things that make us unique. Personally, I’m a visual learner – tell me something and I’ll probably forget it, but give me that same information in writing and I will be able to process and remember it for a long time.

I am one of the lucky ones. The modern education system is full of textbooks and written information; perfect for my learning style. However, If you’re a kinesthetic or auditory learner the system is not so kind.

One of the reasons homeschooling is so powerful for high school students is because the curriculum can be customized as opposed to the one-size-fits-all method used by public schools.

But, what if your homeschooler is a kinesthetic or auditory learner who struggles with a core subject like math or science? A traditional textbook may actually work against them, holding them back from experiencing a learning breakthrough.

Think about it – the kinesthetic learner thrives at the dissection table and the auditory learner might do well immersing in a foreign language or listening to a book on tape for their literature class. It’s the 21st century and it’s time for all learning styles to have resources that work well for them.

My friend Kelsey, who is also a CollegePlus grad, has written the first ever eBook for homeschool families that explains how homeschool families can use an amazing piece of technology to help their students experience learning breakthroughs in math, science, history, and literature, no matter what their learning style – the iPad.

In the free eBook, How Homeschoolers Unlock Learning Breakthroughs With the iPad, you will learn how iPads are helping homeschoolers truly love learning and take more ownership of their education. And you will also get practical advice on helpful apps designed to help students of all learning styles experience learning breakthroughs in core subjects.

You can download the free iPad eBook now and get a chance to win a free iPad, courtesy of CollegePlus.

In the eBook, you will learn about tools and apps to tailor your student’s educational experience to their exact learning style.

For example, with the Shakespeare in Bits app, students can read a play in smaller, digested bits, as well as jump right into the story with animated reenactments or full audio, voiced by prominent actors.

The Elements app not only allows you to pull up information about each element with the touch of a finger, but it also shows each element in 3D. Once the element is in 3D, you can spin the object with a touch of the finger to view it from all sides. This app goes a long way to help those kinesthetic learners who are wallowing through their Chemistry textbooks.

There’s a whole lot more to this eBook, so be sure to get your free copy today and you’ll be entered to win a free iPad.

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Tags: Learning, Learning Ipad