The Notebook

Pay attention to what you feed your kids this month. (As if you don't the other 11 months.)

The national PTA  has deemed November  "Healthy Lifestyles Month."

They are doing it because statistics show that  our kids are suffering from obesity and developing diabetes at a faster rate than ever.

There are lots of fun and healthy programs you can get your own PTA to participate in to promote health and wellness.  Some past ideas  included  gettting schools  interested in planning a garden this winter and planting it in the spring. 

There are some   healthy activities and other information at  their web site pta.org.

They might be unlikely bedfellows, but Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz.,  and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., have teamed up to support a bill to boost the resources and ease participation requirements for the Troops to Teachers program.

According to a story in the Denver Post, the bipartisan  bill would increase  funding from $30 million a year to $50 million. In Colorado alone, another 1,150 schools would be eligible to participate.

Under the bill, people could participate with four years of active-duty service, instead of the six years required now.

Joe Morgan, regional director for Mountain West Troops to Teachers, is eager to see the bill pass, and hopes the large military population in the Colorado Springs area will push for its passage.

Get more information on the program here.

Jan Goff, a member of the Colorado State Board of Education, has been elected to a two-year term with the board of the National Association of State Boards of Education, according to CDE.

The national board's mission is to strengthen state boards as as policy making entities.

Goff, of Arvada, is serving a six year term on the state board. She has  served in the Jefferson County Public Schools for 34 years, including  teacher, world language curriculum coordinator, and international exchange director.

Need some grants for your schools?

Commission of Education Dwight D. Jones will be in Colorado Springs this week to talk to school superintendents and community members about how to get  federal  Race to the Top grants.

The meeting will be at 11:30 a.m.Friday at the  Peak Board of  Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), 725 Lorna Place. Those interested in  attending should email Margo Allen at allen(underscore)m@cde.state.co.us. 

Race to the Top , the brainchild of the Obama administration, provides  $4.3 billion in grants to schools for education reform and classroom innovation.

These are the areas of emphasis, according to the federal Department of Education: 

• Adopting internationally  benchmarked standards and assessments that prepare students for success in college and the workplace;
• Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals;
• Building data systems that measure student success and inform teachers and principals how they can improve their practices; and
• Turning around  lowest-performing schools. 

Gov. Bill Ritter has appointed Rico Munn as executive  director of the Colorado Department of High Education.

The department oversees 27  public institutions, 220,000 students, and several student loan programs,

Munn has served as executive director of the state Department of Regulatory Agencies since 2007.  Before that, he was  a member of the state Board of Education, and served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law.

We know it's a bit early to talk about Christmas, but there's  a Web site that adds a  dash (not Dasher, mind you)  of holiday fun to learning.

This is one way for teachers to add some holiday cheer to the classroom without being criticized for promoting religion.

 The site,  elfontheshelf.com , is run by two former  teachers, Carol Aebersold and daughter Chandra Bell, who wrote the book  "The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition."

One of the games  in the virtual school house allows students to run a hot chocolate stand at the North Pole where they have to buy ingredients and sell the drink. They choose what price they want to charge, and calculate if they are making any money.

In  one musical activity, the kids chose  instruments from around the world, and the computer  mixes the sounds to create a song.

La Vonne Neal, dean of the College of Education at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, will be a keynote speaker at the 19th annual National Association for Multicultural Education Conference Oct. 28-Nov. 1 in Denver.

The conference will feature experts in the fields of educational equality, diversity and cultural awareness for students ranging from preschool to secondary schools. More than 800 participants are expected.

Neal will speak at 7 p.m. Oct. 28 and also will facilitate a forum on Oct. 31. Neal is a recognized expert in African-American history and has done extensive research in the area of educational attainment by African-American men.

There's a new book out that says forcing  students to compete academically before they have achieved proficiency can lead to depression, resignation, feelings of inadequacy and performance anxiety.

Author Brent Zeller in his new book "Evolutionary Education: Moving Beyond Our Competitive  Compulsion"(Wingspan Press)  says the U.S. education system needs reform, especially in the area of competition which he says actually decreases motivation, lowers performance levels, increases stress and encourages overwork , cheating, and drop outs.

The problem,  Zeller states, is that  focus shifts from emphasis on learning skills to worrying about losing or hope of winning. He sites a University of Minnesota  analysis of 65 studies over a span of 55 years that shows children learn better when they work together as opposed to against each other.

Zeller, a tennis teacher,  says  his players mastered the basics more easily in a non-competitive learning environment.

Five people affiliated with Colorado College, including a student, will attend the Geological Society of America's annual meeting and exposition, Oct. 18-21 in Portland, Ore.

The society invited four members of the geology department and one from the education department to present their work.

Student David Goverman, a senior who collaborated with Christine Smith Siddoway, professor and chair of the geology department, will present his poster, "Microtextural Evidence of Melt and High Temperature Deformation Mechanisms in Wet Mountains, Colorado.

CC professors' work  includes mussel populations, seismic hazards, temperature connections and global climate change.

Approximately 6,000 scientists are expected to attend the event, which will address energy, environmental, water and mineral resource concerns.