Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/436829
What's new at cta.org CTA Online Most popular post Viral video Favorite comments More top tweets Joanne Sheehan Lindevald | N O V 2 5 I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes, unable to go back to sleep. My nonverbal special education students often have no one but me to speak up for them. Some of them are surrounded only by people who are paid to be with them (including me). They truly have no family and no voice — those are the ones I am always worried about — so vulnerable. Wendi Smith | D E C 1 Glad to see CTA taking the lead and not sitting back waiting for school districts to provide the much-needed professional development! Paul Delgado | N O V 3 0 I wish we would find a way to get rid of the testing. I'm OK with CCSS. The testing is what puts a damper on it! Dyanna Young | D E C 2 When my Dad was dying of cancer in 2005-06, one of my students' mother was dying too. His mother was farther along, and he would come to school and tell me what to expect next. We would cry together, tell stories and support each other. When it was getting close to the time for his mother's passing, all of his teachers gave him independent work, had him stay home and spend time with his mom. The next year, he received the honor roll. He requested I attend with him as the teacher who made the greatest impact in his life. He told me that every time he saw me, he saw his mom, because I understood what he was going through. @jfenster CTA aims to reach 50K teachers in 3 yrs with training in #CommonCore. @JenniferDeWeerd Excited to be part of CA teachers corps for coherent PD in new standards. @adrianachavira Requiring mandatory donations of time, money or goods is illegal in California's public schools. @christinaixchel Students need to know their stories are taken seriously. They need to know their voices will be heard. @theoriginalpk Every American deserves a fair shot at higher ed. #DegreesNotDebt #CTATopTweet Use this hashtag in your tweets and we'll select our favorites for each issue of the California Educator. Excellent educators: It's nomination time! It's not too early to submit nominations for an NEA Award for Teaching Excellence, which honors members who promote greatness in teaching and advocacy for the profession. www.cta.org/neagrantsawards 1 2 What CTA is all about As CTA moves forward with its strategic planning process, we're focused on our goals to improve teaching and learning. www.cta.org/mission 3 Is your chapter's website listed? CTA has a page on its website where we list all the local chapter websites we're aware of. If your site is not there, let us know by writing webmaster@cta.org. www.cta.org/affiliates 4 Teachers teaching teachers Members of the Instructional Leadership Corps are transforming the profession by preparing fellow educators to meet Common Core State Standards and sharing best practices. www.cta.org/ilc Say hello to the holidays! Find the background on a host of family traditions comes to mind, including Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Happy holidays, all! www.cta.org/winterholidays 5 N O V 1 0 70 likes 39 shares How playing an instrument benefits your brain: It benefits in lots of ways, as explained in this animated video from TED Ed. trendinghot.net/what-playing-a-musical-instrument-does-to-your-brain 7 V O L U M E 1 9 I S S U E 5