Now in South Korea

Walch has always had strong international sales, of course, but we recently made a great leap forward with the announcement that IAM Books, located in South Korea, would print and distribute, in Korea, nine titles from our popular Daily Warm-Ups series.

As you might expect, out of the more than four dozen Daily Warm-Ups titles, those chosen have to do with mastering the English language: Spelling & Grammar, Level I; Grammar & Usage, Level II; Analogies, Level I; Analogies, Level II; Common English Idioms, Level I; Common English Idioms, Level II; Commonly Confused Words, Level I; Critical Thinking, Level I; and Critical Thinking, Level II.

If you aren't familiar with Daily Warm-Ups, they're meant to be used as supplements in the classroom; each book has 180 short exercises that take 5-10 minutes each. Something to turn down-time into productive time.

In any event, what makes this sale exciting for us is not only that it represents a positive foray into a significant market, but also that it validates the work we've been doing stateside. Educators have been responding to our Daily Warm-Ups with great enthusiasm for many years -- that's why there are more than four dozen titles! -- and it's great to see that these books can now play a part in educating foreign students, too. (John Spritz)

NCTE in NYC

This past weekend, we, along with a few thousand teachers, attended the annual conference of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE, http://www.ncte.org)/ at the Javits Center in New York City. If you've never been to the Javits Center before, it is truly overwhelming. The NCTE show was just one of several mammoth events occurring simultaneously within its halls. (In fact, the NCTE show itself was so large that many of its sessions took place at the Marriott, on Times Square.)

Several hundred education providers were on hand, in booths ranging from a few feet across to mega-booth pavilions that looked somewhat akin to Oz, the Emerald City. No matter their size, however, they all had something interesting to show or talk about -- and for the most part, that meant books. In fact, the number of vendors displaying video or audio materials was surprisingly small...can it be that the printed word will indeed triumph?

No question that author signings are a surefire attraction. Put an author down at a table (or better yet, an author and his/her illustrator) and the line forms almost immediately. And of course there is nothing like free books, either. For the most part, those consisted of advance copies of 2008 fiction releases, primarily for the young adult market.

But perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the show was the continuing appela of an author named...William Shakespeare. In booth after booth, there were reprints of his plays (often annotated in a variety of styles), videos of Shakespeare films, audio CDs of Shakespeare readings, even a "manga" version of Shakespeare (and if you don't know what manga is, ask your adolescent or teenage son or daughter). At least among English teachers, the Bard is alive and well and flowering in a myriad of ways. (John Spritz)

Algebra and data analysis in Maryland and North Carolina

We’re just back from a couple of days visiting districts in Maryland and North Carolina. It was a fascinating trip, one in which we picked up many new insights into the issues and challenges facing educators in those states.

Let’s start with Prince George's County, Maryland, where we met with the mathematics team. They are a group of three intelligent, energetic women who were frank in describing some of the "unintended consequences" of Maryland's High School Assessment in Algebra and Data Analysis. Because the test includes as much as 45% data analysis items, the algebra curriculum has been "adapted" to incorporate instruction to prepare students for the HSA. Inevitably, this leaves out or gives short shrift to some important algebraic concepts.

The result? Geometry and algebra II teachers are left to fill in the gaps. Thinking through these issues, we realized that Walch could provide a solution for Prince George's County by developing a middle school algebra and data analysis program that addresses this domino effect before students reach high school.

Moving on to North Carolina, we found that math and science leaders in Charlotte-Mecklenberg Schools shared our enthusiasm for our new Building Math series. (http://www.walch.com/product/2137 These just-released books, created in partnership with Boston's Museum of Science and with support from the GE Foundation's Math Excellence program, provide middle school students with hands-on opportunities to apply algebra and engineering concepts in real-world contexts.

Building Math is getting a lot of accolades from educators who appreciate how the integration of math with basic engineering concepts can transform the learning experience in the classroom. The Charlotte-Mecklenberg folks are particularly excited about the opportunities for interdisciplinary teaching and learning, with potential for program crossover from mathematics to science and even social studies. We're hoping to return to North Carolina this summer to provide professional development for teachers who will be implementing Building Math there next year.

Our last meeting in North Carolina took place in Winston-Salem. There, we saw up-close a very real problem facing district level educators everywhere. The assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction had invited us to meet with all of the subject area specialists in hopes that we could "take something off their overflowing plates." The fruitful conversation that ensued reinforced a valuable lesson: educators often know what they want to achieve, but finding the time and capacity is a problem.

That's where Walch can help – developing materials and doing the work that curriculum coordinators and teachers would do themselves if they had the time. (Jill Rosenblum)

Professional development and Sunshine State standards

The Florida Council of Teachers of English's (http://www.fcte.org/) 2007 Institute for Professional Development took place on October 18th – 20th in Altamonte Springs, Florida. This year’s theme was “Teaching: The Heart of Learning.” While I’ve attended conferences as a teacher and as a workshop presenter, this event was a first for me. My role at the event was as an exhibitor. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect.

Ahead of time, I had spoken to the Program Chair, Jane Feber, an award-winning educator from Jacksonville. She told me that the conference’s goal is for teachers “to leave with a plethora of new ideas and new friends and return to their classrooms energized.” I was to expect to meet teachers, literacy coaches, department chairs, principals, curriculum directors, college professors, student teachers, and educational professionals interested in literacy.

Meet them, I did! The Grand Opening of Exhibits began Thursday night with a reception, allowing attendees to mill around the space to meet one another while chatting with folks like me. I had brought stacks of titles from Walch’s Daily Warm-Ups series, the new series of 16 Extraordinary Americans, our Media Literacy series, the Critical Literacy series, Daily Writing Fundamentals, and a few other titles. It’s always so fun to see educators react to these titles that we work so hard to produce. I was pretty proud to see one woman thumbing through one of the Daily Warm-Ups (http://www.walch.com/catalog.php?catid=22) when a complete stranger walked up to her and said, “OH, I loooooove those! I use them every day!” What a warm welcome for Walch titles!

For the next couple of days, I learned more about how Florida differentiates among teaching reading, teaching writing, and teaching English. I was well versed in the reading and writing benchmarks according to the Sunshine State Standards. What I didn’t know was there are distinct characteristics among who teaches each discipline. Reading teachers specifically address word analysis, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Writing teachers address prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and technology. English teachers, generally, focus on literature. Of course, all of these distinct roles integrate content and skills to some extent.

That said, this information made my conversations with each educator pretty specific. With writing teachers, I discussed Daily Writing Fundamentals (http://www.walch.com/product/2005). We’d talk about how students benefit from looking at samples of one another’s work and drilling down on specific tasks (just what this series happens to do).

With the Florida Supplemental Reading Adoption taking place this year and assessment results always under scrutiny (specifically the FCAT), those were two hot topics—particularly for reading teachers. Word had gotten out that Walch’s Florida Academic Support Program for English Language Arts (what we call the “ASP,” http://www.walch.com/product/2165) had just been unanimously recommended to the Florida Department of Education (http://www.fldoe.org/) for Supplemental Intervention Reading Program adoption. So, I was eager to showcase the materials and recommend how the ASP can help. Teachers and literacy coaches seemed particularly pleased with how the ASP not only can be used according to a scope and sequence but also how its targeted approach functions as a toolkit.

All in all, it was a terrific trip. I had the pleasure of talking to energetic educators about some of the classroom issues facing Floridians today and how product developers like me could lend a hand. But I have to admit that the highlight of the conference was meeting two literacy coaches who had been told to “look me up” by a friend I had in Manatee County schools. So, while the goal for the teachers was “to leave with a plethora of new ideas and new friends”— I managed to reach that goal too! (Susan Graham)

New education standards and funding questions in Florida

Our hats are off to the organizers of this week's annual meeting of the Florida Council of Teachers of Mathematics (FCTM, http://www.fctm.net/). They’ve used a "math rocks" theme to put together a well organized and well attended conference. You can pick up a great t-shirt with a chalkboard on the front for under $10, the food is super and the discussion is lively.

At the Walch Publishing booth, and elsewhere on the convention floor, we’ve been hearing two topics on everybody’s lips. First is the anticipated state budget cuts that are expected to have a negative affect on educational funds. This, in a state where the per-pupil spending level is already one of the lowest in the country. The Miami Herald covered the story of the budget cuts, and the School Board chairman of Broward County has weighed in with a reasoned reaction. (http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/property_tax/story/267528.html
and
http://www.browardschools.com/pdf/consortiumwilliams.pdf

The second issue is testing. The current Sunshine State Standards are changing, but the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) isn’t scheduled to be revised for there years. Understandably, there's some confusion: will districts wait to implement the new standards, because the existing FCATs reflects the old ones?

While these appropriately weighty matters are being discussed, we took the opportunity to introduce show attendees to our "coming out" party for the Academic Support Program for Middle School Mathematics, developed with the School District for Palm Beach County. The reactions were resoundingly positive and it looks like we have a winner on our hands. We look forward to working closely in the future with Palm Beach and other districts to keep these products fresh and relevant, and, most importantly, effective. (Al Noyes)