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WIDA Annual Board Meeting Held
Thank you to all 31 WIDA member state departments of education for sending your staff to participate in this significant event held June 3-6 in Madison, WI. WIDA relies heavily on the input of its member states to shape the direction of our work, so all of the wonderful ideas and opinions shared will guide us for months to come! For photos of the Board meeting and all our other events, take a peak at the WIDA Facebook photo albums.
June Featured Educator: Marcia Gaudet of Sioux Falls, SD
This month, we are pleased to recognize Marcia Gaudet, an ELL Instructional Coach in the Sioux Falls School District in South Dakota. Additionally, she is the Director of Dakota TESOL and an adjunct faculty member teaching English as a New Language Endorsement Classes at Augustana College. Read more
Featured Educator is a monthly interview with a classroom, district, or state-level educator on how he or she is making a difference for language learners. You can honor an exceptional colleague by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com with "Featured Educator Nomination" in the subject line.
Early English Language Development Standards Framework
WIDA is developing Early English Language Development (EELD) Standards to be used by early childhood practitioners, including child care, Head Start, preschool/prekindergarten educators, and caregivers. The purpose of the EELD standards is to provide a developmentally sound framework for supporting, instructing, and assessing dual language learners, ages 2.5-5.5 years. The EELD Standards provide early childhood practitioners with a map of English language development and give direction for supporting, instructing, and assessing dual language learners (DLLs) in developmentally appropriate social and academic English.
The draft EELD Standards are now available for your review! Please consider taking a few minutes to give us your feedback by completing an online survey. The standards documents and survey link are available on the new EELD standards page.
Reminder: Early Bird Conference Registration Ends May 31 at Midnight
WIDA is hosting its first annual national conference, "Language Learner Success: Building on Strengths," October 17-19, 2013 in Milwaukee, WI. The conference is intended for all who support the education of language learners. Early bird registrants receive a $100 discount. Space is limited, so please take advantage of these discounted rates now! Learn more
The ideal Research Assistant Director candidate will have extensive research experience and be motivated to lead a team of qualitative researchers. The Operations Coordinator will be responsible for managing the fiscal, strategic planning, and contractual activities of the project. Check out the Employment page to learn more about these positions.
WIDA is Now Hiring Professional Development Specialists
WIDA is recruiting 4-6 new professional development staff to deliver trainings (primarily on the WIDA ELD Standards, ACCESS for ELLs, the W-APT, and Interpreting Score Reports). Applicants are NOT required to relocate to Madison, WI and appointment percentages of 50-100% will be considered. These positions will also require extensive travel (approximately 60%). Ideal candidates will have K-12 teaching experience in ESL/Bilingual environments, experience delivering professional development to educators, and knowledge of WIDA's products and resources. Those with knowledge of or experience with instructional coaching, early childhood, students with disabilities, Native Americans, and bilingual (Spanish) speakers are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more
Recording of RtI2 for ELLs Webinar Now Available
WIDA is currently finalizing its newest publication, Developing a Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Approach to Response to Instruction & Intervention (RtI2) for English Language Learners, available as a draft on the Resources page.
To support educators in using this new document, an interactive webinar presented by Cristina Sanchez-Lopez and Laurie Donnell was recently recorded and is now available. The presenters share considerations for data collection around solution-seeking for ELLs. Viewers can also learn how WIDA tools and resources can be used within an RtI2 framework through viewing real examples from school districts across the consortium. Watch now
May Featured Educator: Magali Williams of Hoffman Estates, IL
This month, we are pleased to recognize Magali Williams, who teaches fourth grade at the John Muir Literacy Academy in suburban Chicago. Her philosophy toward teaching includes being a role model, taking risks, and building a miniature global community in her classroom. Read more
Summer Academy Registration Now Open
Registration is now open for WIDA's Summer Professional Development Academy to be held June 25-27 in Madison, WI. The Academy is entitled "Data Digging." Teams will engage in a structured data analysis process to examine data related to the performance of their ELLs. They will explore a variety of data sources including demographics and ACCESS for ELLs growth. They will identify trends and patterns in their data and use these findings to designate areas where more knowledge and data are needed. Participants will leave the academy with a plan for promoting data literacy and sustaining the data analysis process in their districts or schools.
View more details, download the academy agenda, and register now on the Academies page.
Free RtI2 for ELLs Webinar
WIDA is pleased to announce the release of a new publication, Developing a Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Approach to Response to Instruction & Intervention (RtI2) for English Language Learners, available on the Resources page.
To support educators in using this new document, an interactive webinar presented by Cristina Sanchez-Lopez and Laurie Donnell will take place on April 26 at 10:30am CDT. Learn more
WIDA Conference Registration Now Open
WIDA is hosting its first annual national conference, "Language Learner Success: Building on Strengths," October 17-19, 2013 in Milwaukee, WI. Early bird registration is now open to general education/content area, special education, and ESL/bilingual teachers, as well as school, district, and state administrators and all others who support the education of language learners. Early bird registrants receive a $100 discount and space is limited, so please register today! Learn more
In addition, two pre-conference workshops will be facilitated by Dr. Jeff Zwiers of Stanford and WIDA Lead Developer Dr. Margo Gottlieb. Milwaukee Public Schools has generously collaborated with us to set up an intriguing menu of school site visit options. Individuals who also attend the conference will receive a discount on these pre-conference opportunities.
The draft conference program will be announced soon! Be sure to visit www.widaconference.us regularly for the latest updates.
April Featured Educator: Adrienne Viscardi of Bedford, NY
This month, we are pleased to recognize Adrienne Viscardi, the Director of ESOL Programs in the Bedford Central School District. Her district's approach to English language learner achievement hinges on multi-faceted support for teachers to build their linguistic expertise and cultural competence. Read more
CLIMBS and Certification Institutes' Application Deadlines
WIDA offers two professional development institutes for individuals who are interested in becoming trained facilitators on WIDA products and resources. Both are now accepting applications for their respective summer institutes now through April 22.
CLIMBS Facilitator Institute
July 16-19, 2013, Madison, WI: After completing this institute, facilitators can offer the CLIMBS program to school teams of ESL/bilingual and general education teachers. The semester-long professional development program consists of five face-to-face sessions in which participants learn to implement the WIDA ELD Standards to support ELLs' development of academic language and help ensure their access to intellectually challenging grade-level content. Learn more
Professional Certification Institute
August 5-9, 2013, Madison, WI: Through the certification process, trainers can gain the expertise to create professional development opportunities that are transformational for educators of ELLs using WIDA standards and assessments. Participants may be sponsored by a district or state, or attend as an independent consultant or higher education faculty member. Learn more
Focus on Group Work for Content Learning
WIDA offers a series of bulletins on topics of interest to educators of English language learners known as our Focus Bulletins. The latest edition focuses on answering questions with strategies and research related to group work for language learners.
Do your students have opportunities to engage in academic conversation? How might collaborative interactions help students meet the U.S. college- and career-readiness standards? How might they help English language learners (ELLs) master the language of the disciplines? What are some promising ways to support group-based learning for ELLs in your classroom?
Read the March 2013 WIDA Focus Bulletin to explore this topic
Join WIDA's Margo Gottlieb at Common Core and More
For information about Common Core and More, a summer institute designed for teams of teachers, school leaders, and administrators looking to enrich their use of standards (including the WIDA ELD Standards) in their work with language learners, visit the Illinois Resource Center website.
Bring the CLIMBS course to your district or region
CLIMBS (Content & Language Integration as a Means of Bridging to Success) is a professional development course designed to assist teams of K-12 educators in meeting the needs of their English language learners (ELLs). Delivered to school teams of ESL/bilingual and general education teachers by local educators who are trained and authorized by WIDA, the course spans a full semester and consists of five full days of face-to-face meetings with assignments in between. CLIMBS helps educators integrate content and language standards; apply a research-based, comprehensive approach to scaffolding content and language instruction; use data from ACCESS language proficiency tests to inform instruction; and build collaborative relationships with other educators.
If you're interested in bringing CLIMBS to your district or region as a CLIMBS Facilitator, visit www.wida.us/CLIMBS or email firstname.lastname@example.com. Facilitators must apply for and attend a training institute scheduled for July 16-19, 2013.
WIDA is now hiring!
Learn more about three open position listings related to early childhood dual language learners, educator outreach, and event planning on the Employment page. We tremendously appreciate your help in spreading the word to qualified individuals.
March Featured Educator: José Reyes of Gadsden, NM
This month, we are pleased to recognize José Reyes, a district bilingual instructional specialist who has dedicated his 32-year career as an educator to promoting bilingualism, cultural preservation, and educational equity on the U.S. border with Mexico. Read more
WIDA Annual Conference Website is LIVE!
A new website, www.widaconference.us, is dedicated to sharing information on registration, hotels, travel, who we've invited as keynote speakers, and more on this first annual event to be held October 17-19 in Milwaukee. The conference theme is "Language Learner Success: Building on Strengths," and is intended for PreKindergarten through Grade 12 general education, content area, special education, and ESL/bilingual teachers; school and district administrators; and other stakeholders in language education. We have confirmed several great sponsors and exhibitors and are looking for more, so be sure to visit the website to find out who will be there.
We are thrilled to have more than 100 proposals already, but heard from many potential presenters who wanted more time so the deadline for proposal submission has been extended until March 1. Please consider submitting a proposal about your innovative practice supporting ELLs!
We hope you'll make plans to join us in Milwaukee for the first ever WIDA national conference!
Three weeks left in Lesson Plan Share Space Contest
We are looking for lessons that accomplish at least one of the following...
Take time to upload a language-focused lesson plan for a chance to win one of the four remaining drawings for an Amazon gift card. One more participant's name will be drawn each Friday plus the grand prize on March 1. And check out others' work while you're there!
Visit the Lesson Plan Share Space to learn more
LADDER Project Featured on WCER Website
The Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WIDA's home) has featured the LADDER project in a website cover story. This article details the program through interviews of past participants and WIDA staff facilitators about the journey districts can take toward collaboratively analyzing data and setting goals for educating English language learners based on that data. Read the article: Districts Climb to New Gains in WIDA's LADDER Program
The next LADDER coaching institute will take place May 14-16 in Madison, WI. The deadline to register is March 1. There are limited spots available, so please sign up now! More information is available at www.wida.us/ladder
New Video to Demonstrate Packing and Shipping Test Booklets
Thanks to WIDA's partner company, MetriTech, Inc., a new video has been created to demonstrate packing test booklets for return shipping. If you are responsible for returning the secure ACCESS for ELLs and Alternate ACCESS for ELLs test booklets to be scored, this video takes you through the process with clear step-by-step instructions. Watch now
New Website Section: Featured Educator of the Month
We at WIDA feel that educators are heroes. They routinely go the extra mile to see their students learn and grow. Please help us celebrate the hard working educators in your life!
Read about the Featured Educator for February 2013: Jessica LeCrone of Wilson, NC. She is an ESL teacher in a K-8 public charter school that emphasizes the arts. Jessica took the time to discuss with us how she integrates language learning and the WIDA ELD Standards within the arts and other subject areas to motivate students and encourage high attendance. Featured Educator is a monthly interview with a classroom, district, or state-level educator on how he or she is making a difference for language learners. You can honor an exceptional colleague by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com with "Featured Educator Nomination" in the subject line. Briefly tell us why you think he or she is doing an amazing job. Please include the person's name, what they do, and contact information we can use to set up an interview. Thank you for helping us feature amazing educators of language learners and we hope you enjoy this new offering on the WIDA website!
Response to Instruction & Intervention (RtI2) for ELLs Publication
WIDA is excited to announce the release of Developing a Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Approach to Response to Instruction & Intervention (RtI2) for English Language Learners. Within this guide, WIDA proposes a framework for proactively supporting instruction, intervention, and assessment for ELLs within an RtI2 process. The information gathered about student performance for the proposed framework will help educators implement culturally appropriate instruction and assessment practices. Check it out
We are interested in hearing your feedback on the content and usefulness of the document before it is published. For this purpose, an evaluation form is available along with the guide on the website. We hope that you will fill it out and share your opinions about whether it will assist states and LEAs in implementing the Response to Instruction and Intervention school-wide reform initiative. The evaluation form will be available until March 29, 2013. Review the guide
LADDER Registration
Register now for WIDA's new professional development program: LADDER, which enriches collaboration, reflection, and action around data to support English language learners. The district registration deadline is March 1, 2013 to attend the LADDER Coaching Institute on May 14-16, 2013 in Madison, Wisconsin. Limited spots available.
Watch the LADDER Webinar or visit the LADDER website to learn more
Now Accepting Applications to become a WIDA Certified Trainer
Through the certification process, you can gain the expertise to create professional development opportunities that are transformational for educators of ELLs using WIDA products. Certification participants will be able to:
Learn more
New! Lesson Plan Share Space
WIDA is excited to announce the debut of an online Lesson Plan Share Space! In response to numerous educators' requests for example lesson plans incorporating both English Language Development (ELD) and content standards, we have created this new resource. On this page, educators can download a sample lesson plan template along with a guide to using the template. To get our share space off to a strong start, we are offering a raffle contest for educators who upload lessons from now until March 1, 2013. For each lesson uploaded to the Lesson Plan Share Space, teachers will be entered into a drawing to win one of several Amazon gift cards that can be used to purchase classroom books or supplies. Please direct any questions or feedback to firstname.lastname@example.com; we will do our best to make this a flexible, user-friendly, and valuable resource by considering your ideas and needs.
Michigan adopts the WIDA ELD Standards
In addition to Utah and Idaho, Michigan has formally adopted WIDA's English Language Development Standards. These three states do not participate in other consortium activities, but we are thrilled to include them in our mission of advancing academic language development and academic achievement for language learners. See the map of current Consortium members
Spring Academy Registration Now Open
Registration is now open for WIDA's Spring Professional Development Academy to be held April 3-5 in St. Louis, MO. The Academy is entitled "A Custom Design: Integrating the WIDA ELD Standards, Common Core State Standards, and Next Generation Science Standards." Participants will discuss the language demands of the CCSS and the NGSS. In school teams, participants will work in integrating content and language standards to develop a custom design for the instruction and assessment of ELLs. Teams will create materials for implementation of the three sets of standards back in their school sites.
View more details, download the academy agenda, and register now on the Spring Academy page.
Language Learner Success: Building on Strengths
WIDA is pleased to announce our WIDA 2013 National Conference, "Language Learner Success: Building on Strengths." The Content Committee invites all educators to submit proposals to share their innovative educational practices. This is open to ALL educators, not just members of the WIDA Consortium. More information, guiding questions, and a sample proposal, is available here: http://www.widaconference.us/
ASSETS Website Live
ASSETS is a 30-state consortium, building on the work of the WIDA Consortium, to create the next generation of English Language Proficiency tests. The Consortium's work is supported through a federal Enhanced Assessment Grant (EAG) with plans for full operationalization of the new assessment system in 2015-16. Learn more on the brand new ASSETS website
Draft Spanish Language Development Standards Posted
WIDA is pleased to release a draft of the Spanish Language Development Standards. After reviewing the file on the SALSA page, please send any feedback to Lorena Mancilla (firstname.lastname@example.com). WIDA appreciates your ideas and support in completing this publication! The final publication is scheduled for release in early 2013. Download the SLD standards
UW-Madison ranks high in research
As the largest project in one of the largest research centers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, WIDA is very proud of the recent distinction ranking the UW as the fourth largest research university in the nation. Read the full article
The Wisconsin Center for Education Research, where WIDA is housed, is one of the oldest, largest, and most productive university-based education research centers in the world. From the WCER web page: "The future of education starts with sound research and development" and WIDA is eager to continue contributing to that vision for the future. Learn more about WCER
Introductory Webinars to the 2012 Amplification of the WIDA ELD Standards
WIDA is pleased to announce a FREE opportunity for educators. If you weren't able to participate in WIDA's 2012 Amplified Standards Debut Events recently held in Madison, Denver, Charlotte, and Boston, we'd like to bring a little piece of the debut event to your computer screen. Two webinars will be held on November 29, 2012 and January 11, 2013. We hope you will join us to get started exploring WIDA's 2012 Amplification to the English Language Development Standards. Registration is limited so be sure to sign up today! Learn more
LADDER Informational Webcast
Does your district want to use data to improve instruction for ELLs? Register now for live webcasts to be held on January 17 to learn more about WIDA's new professional development program: LADDER. Webcasts will take place at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm (CST). LADDER works to build local capacity of districts and schools through the continuous improvement of programs, instruction, and assessment of English language learners. Learn more
Alternate ACCESS for ELLs Updates
The Alternate ACCESS for ELLs section of the WIDA website has been updated in preparation for large-scale assessment in all consortium member states this year. Among the changes, you will find new information about 2012-13 testing participation criteria, new draft Performance Definitions, accommodations, and how to interpret 2011-12 score reports. Check it out!
2012-13 ACCESS for ELLs Test Administrator Training Toolkit
The Training Toolkit has been updated for this year's test administration. WIDA encourages local professional development trainers to use these materials, including PowerPoint presentations, to assist in preparing for the 2012-13 testing season. Please login to download and view the files.
The ACCESS for ELLs Item Writing Course will be on hiatus for Spring 2013
As WIDA transitions from the paper based ACCESS for ELLs assessment to a new technology delivered assessment, the annual ACCESS for ELLs Item Writing Course will be on hiatus for Spring 2013. Further information will be forthcoming in 2013. With this said, WIDA will still continue to include educators in the test development process such as Bias and Content, Post Field Test, and Forms Reviews. Educators from across the consortium will be invited to participate in these various offerings as opportunities arise.
Welcome to the Consortium, Nevada!
Nevada has just become WIDA's 31st Consortium member. Nevada previously adopted the English Language Development Standards and is now preparing to participate in ACCESS for ELLs testing for the first time. We look forward to assisting Nevada educators and further extending our mission of promoting educational equity for English language learners!
WIDA/WestEd Academic Literacy Conference Underway
This week we are excited to host a conference on the Sociocultural Contexts of Academic Literacy Development for Adolescent English Learners. This event was coordinated in partnership with WestEd and funded by the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Additional funding is generously provided by the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research (WCER). Learn more
2012-13 ACCESS for ELLs Test Administration Manuals Now Available
The Kindergarten and Grades 1-12 Test Administration Manuals have now been posted inside the secure ACCESS for ELLs training course. Please login to download and view the files.
Welcome to the Consortium, Colorado!
Colorado has just become WIDA's 30th Consortium member. Colorado previously adopted the English Language Development Standards and is now preparing to participate in ACCESS for ELLs testing for the first time. We look forward to assisting Colorado educators and further extending our mission of promoting educational equity for English language learners!
Save the Date!
WIDA will hold its first national conference October 17-19, 2013 at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center. Our goal is to offer educators a forum in which to learn, connect, and explore effective learning for language learners. More information will be available soon.
Can Do Descriptors Updates
Have you visited the Can Do Descriptors page lately? If not, be sure to check it out. We've added name charts allowing you to type in your students' names under their levels for each language domain. The booklets for each grade level also contain a Spanish translation to share with students and families. Have a look, and be sure to send us your feedback and ideas for using these new resources at firstname.lastname@example.com. We always appreciate educator ideas, reactions, and stories about our resources in practice.
WIDA is now hiring a Spanish Language Development Project Manager
The Program Manager is responsible for overseeing the completion of the Spanish Language Development Standards publication, managing the communication channels between the development team, the expert advisory committee, WIDA departments, participating school districts, State Education Agencies (SEAs), and the Center for Applied Linguistics. The manager will develop and implement a transition plan to integrate the SLD standards and related publications and professional services into the broader WIDA system. The successful applicant will have experience in K-12 education and be bilingual and biliterate in English and Spanish. View position description to learn more
Annual Report Now Available
WIDA's Annual Report for July 2010-December 2011 is now available on the Resources page. The Annual Report details our mission and information about all WIDA activities conducted during this time frame, including Consortium member relations, grants, finances, testing, professional development, and research.
Welcome to the Consortium, Northern Mariana Islands!
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands have just become WIDA's 29th Consortium member, adopting the English Language Development standards and preparing to participate in ACCESS for ELLs testing in 2012-13. We look forward to assisting CNMI educators and further extending our mission of promoting educational equity for English language learners!
The 2012 Amplification of the English Language Development Standards is here!
WIDA is pleased to announce the release of the 2012 Amplification of the ELD Standards.This document was developed with input from educators in WIDA Consortium member states as well as leaders in the field. The work was also informed by the latest developments in both English language development research and states' content standards for college and career readiness.
Additions and enhancements to the standards framework include strengthening links between WIDA standards and content standards with illustrations at individual grade levels, overlaying cognitive demand on linguistic model performance indicators, and clarifying the features of academic language. In support of this release, WIDA will be holding four two-day events around the country from August to November. At these Debut Events, participants will:
Please visit the ELD Standards page to download the new publication and register now for a Debut Event.
Annual Technical Report for 2010-11 Testing Now Available
The ACCESS for ELLs Technical Reports address the validity and reliability of ACCESS for ELLs in its ability to accurately assign students their proficiency level scores. To download the latest Technical Report, please visit the ACCESS for ELLs Technical Reports page.
Take a Tour Inside MetriTech
Have you ever wondered what happens to ACCESS for ELLs after you ship it back? Watch a short video on the Partners page to see how the whole process works and "meet" the folks at MetriTech who work hard to get your students' scores to you.
New Video, Academic Language: WIDA's "Can Do" Approach
A new video has been posted to introduce WIDA's Can Do Philosophy toward educating language learners. Over several months, we visited consortium schools to capture classroom footage and interview educators, plus we also interviewed a few of our own staff members and partners. Some of the footage we captured appears in this video, and more will be used in upcoming projects. A big thank you to all involved! Check out the final product
WIDA would appreciate your feedback on the video and your ideas on how you might use this resource. Please send us your thoughts at firstname.lastname@example.com.
WIDA welcomes its 28th member state, Massachusetts! Massachusetts has just become the 28th state to join the WIDA Consortium, adopting the English Language Proficiency standards and preparing to participate in ACCESS for ELLs testing in 2012-13. We look forward to assisting Massachusetts educators and further extending our mission of promoting educational equity for English language learners!
Board meetings a success!
Thank you to all our wonderful state and local education agency representatives who attended our WIDA Consortium and ASSETS board meetings last week in Madison, WI. You truly inspire our work and we draw energy from these meetings all year long. Thanks also to our partners from CAL and MetriTech who always contribute so much to the effort. We look forward to seeing some of you at the Executive Committee meeting in November!
And the winner is...
We are excited to present the four winning entries of the 2011-2012 WIDA Video Contest! Kara Lawson took first place for her video, Increasing the Use of Academic Language During Guided Math Groups. You can watch Kara's video and the other winning entries on the Video Contest page, as well as read a brief explanation of why the WIDA video contest award committee selected them. Contestants had to create a 5 to 10-minute video submission that included two components: (1) classroom events promoting effective teaching, learning, and/or assessment of content and language for language learners, and (2) reflections on those classroom events. A big thank you to all who submitted videos to this year's contest!
2012 ACCESS for ELLs Interpretive Guide for Score Reports
The 2012 ACCESS for ELLs Interpretive Guide for Score Reports is now available. Download it from the ACCESS for ELLs page in the right hand column under "Downloads & Products."
This publication is refreshed annually to support educators' interpretation of ACCESS for ELLs score reports. Part 1 of the Interpretive Guide describes the types of scores generated by ACCESS for ELLs assessment and provides cut score tables for each grade level. Part 2 describes each score report and offers information on how to use the data in each reports.
Now accepting registrations for WIDA's Fall Academy
Registration is now available for both professional development academies being offered this year. The Summer Academy entitled "Dynamic Formative Language Assessment for ELLs" will be held June 26-28 in Madison, WI. We will be in Baltimore, MD October 3-5, to present "Two are Better Than One: Collaborating to Support ELLs Within the WIDA Framework." Both academies cost $400 per person and attendees are responsible for travel expenses. Please register now before these opportunities fill up! To learn more, please visit the PD Academies page.
Register now for the WIDA ELD Standards, 2012 Edition Debut Events! Registration is now open for our four debut events scheduled for August-November in Madison, WI, Denver, CO, Charlotte, NC, and Boston, MA. The cost is $125 per person for 2 days and payments can be submitted online using credit card. Group rates at hotels will be posted very soon. Reserve your place at these landmark events now!
Draft Spanish Language Development (SLD) Standards Surveys
WIDA is conducting a series of surveys on the academic Spanish Language Development (SLD) standards being developed under the SALSA grant. The general purpose of the surveys is to determine if each strand of model performance indicators (continuos del Desarrollo Lingüístico) contain appropriate representations of the language skills necessary for specific content areas within a specific grade level.
We invite all educators who are familiar with students receiving content instruction in Spanish to participate in the online surveys to provide feedback on the drafts of the Spanish Continuos del Desarrollo Lingüístico. The surveys will be available until May 2, 2012. Visit the SALSA page to get started.
Standards Debut events coming to a city near you!
Starting in August 2012, WIDA will be holding four unprecedented events to introduce educators to the 2012 Edition of its English Language Development Standards. Featuring nationally-recognized keynote speakers, several WIDA presenters, and a panel of local experts from each region, these events will be a transformative opportunity for educators of English language learners. Visit the Debut Events page to download the draft agenda, view dates, locations, the cost, and sponsorship opportunities. More details will be added in the coming weeks. Please check back regularly for updates.
Alternate ACCESS for ELLs Test Administration Manual and Quiz
The Alternate ACCESS for ELLs Test Administration Manual and certification quiz for test administrators are now available. In 2012, recommended training for test administrators will consist of three steps:
Please note that some states or districts may have additional requirements of their test administrators, or offer local training on the topic.
For more information about this new assessment, please visit the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs page.
Spanish Academic Language Surveys
Now through February 17, 2012, WIDA is conducting surveys as part of a research study called "Exploratory study of expressive language domains in academic Spanish." As part of this research, we invite all educators who are familiar with students receiving content instruction in Spanish to participate in an online survey to provide feedback on speaking and writing prompts related to the areas of language arts and mathematics. To learn more or start the survey, please visit the SALSA page.
Recruiting Teachers for ACCESS for ELLs Field Tryouts
WIDA and CAL are currently accepting applications for participation in field tryouts of ACCESS for ELLs speaking and writing items. Field tryouts are an important step in preparing items for use on ACCESS for ELLs tests. During the Field Tryouts, teachers administer test items to their students, and then give feedback to test developers via an online survey. The speaking items are slated to appear on Series 301 (2012-2013), while the writing items are expected to appear on Series 302 (2013-2014).
Apply Online
Professional Certification for Trainers Website
The new Professional Certification for Trainers website was launched today! If you facilitate local trainings on WIDA standards and assessment, you could attend our Jul. 30-Aug. 3 institute and become a certified trainer. You may also browse the workshops offered and find trainers in your area to provide professional development to your school or district.
Alternate ACCESS for ELLs
Two new resources, an administration training tutorial and Alternate ACCESS for ELLs sample items document, have been added to the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs page!
Visit the WIDA Blog site!
Have you visited WIDA's new blog site? Great questions have been rolling in about Tammy King's 2-part exploration of transforming strands of MPIs. Tammy, our primary blogger, is a professional development facilitator who has worked as a district ESL/bilingual program director, an ESL resource teacher, and a 4th/5th grade bilingual teacher. Check it out (and bookmark the site!)
New WIDA MODEL Tote Bag Available in Online Store
WIDA is now selling tote bags specially designed for the WIDA MODEL Kindergarten assessment. It has enough space for the activity board, card pouch, student booklets, pencils, and even a water bottle or hand sanitizer. Of course, it could serve any number of additional purposes, all while declaring one's enthusiasm for WIDA's CAN DO approach to educating English language learners! All double kits sold will now contain a tote bag as well. Check it out in the online store.
New Speaking Test Sound Files Available
This year, WIDA is pleased to bring ACCESS for ELLs Speaking Test administrators (TAs) a new training resource. New sound files (66 of them!) have been added to our online course, including students at all levels of language proficiency from grades 1-12. This new section of the online training course is intended to provide additional support and practice to Speaking TAs, particularly for veteran TAs who have already completed the training course but need a refresher of what to expect from students on the Speaking Test. It is recommended that TAs listen to sound files each year as close to the time they will administer the test as possible, but not more than two weeks in advance of the start of testing.
Tech Report Release The ACCESS for ELLs® Annual Technical Report No. 6, Series 201, 2009-2010 Administration is now available. These documents address the validity and reliability of the ACCESS test to accurately assign students their proficiency level scores.
ACCESS for ELLs Test Administrator Training Course Updates The Speaking Module has been updated with information on the new T2 Start procedure for the Speaking Test for students taking Tiers B and C of the group administered components (Listening, Reading, and Writing). Test Administrators giving the Speaking Test must complete this updated module before administering the ACCESS for ELLs test for the 2011-2012 school year. The updated module also includes a new T2 Start video tutorial. Login with your personal training account to review the updates!
New Tier Placement Tutorial Available Now! A new tutorial on Tier Placement has been posted. Feel free to use this resource along with the Tier Placement Protocol to help determine the appropriate tier placement for each student.
Watch the tutorial
Placing each student into the tier that most appropriately targets his/her range of language skill is important to ensure the best possible testing experience for each student and the most meaningful results.
Video Contest for Educators of ELLs WIDA recognizes that there is a wealth of expertise within our Consortium, and we believe it's important to honor those educators whose model classroom practices develop students' academic language and advance ELL achievement. Further, we believe that sharing these model practices with the rest of the Consortium will benefit educators and students alike. With these goals in mind, we are excited to introduce a video contest for educators of English language learners (ELLs). Details are available on the Get Involved page.
All Consortium members who successfully complete the submission process will receive a free copy of the 2012 elementary or secondary English Language Development Standards booklet. The first-place award winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize and a scholarship for the awardee and a colleague to attend a 2012 WIDA Professional Development academy. The second-place award winner will receive a $500 cash prize and a scholarship for the awardee and a colleague to attend a 2012 WIDA Professional Development academy. The third-place award winner will receive a $250 cash prize and a scholarship for the awardee and a colleague to attend a 2012 WIDA Professional Development academy.
If you have any questions about the contest, please e-mail WIDA Media Specialist Connie North (email@example.com).
2012 Teacher Collaboration and Standards-Based Test Item Writing Course Starting October 1, WIDA will be accepting online applications for the 2012 Item Writing course. Please review the information page and consider applying! A wait list will be available if necessary. Participants are encouraged to enroll as ESL/General Education teacher pairs.
WIDA to Build Next-Generation Comprehensive Assessment System We are pleased to announce that the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, on behalf of WIDA, has been awarded an Enhanced Assessment Grant for nearly $10.5 million over 4 years to build a comprehensive and balanced technology-based assessment system for English language learners.
The assessment system will be anchored in WIDA's English Language Proficiency Standards that are aligned with the Common Core State Standards, will be informed by rigorous ongoing research, and supported by comprehensive professional development and outreach. WIDA will maintain its consortium approach to decision-making about the design and direction of the project and will involve the expertise of partners such as the Center for Applied Linguistics, UCLA, WestEd, Data Recognition Corporation, and MetriTech, Inc. The system will include a summative test, an on-demand diagnostic (screener) test, classroom benchmark assessments, and formative assessment resources.
To learn more, read the award letter and project abstract .
The English Language Development Standards, 2012 Edition Draft Release The English Language Development Standards, 2012 Edition, is now available in DRAFT form for your review! For several years we have listened to educators from our Consortium, our organizational partners, and experts in the field. The development process began with the goal of improving how we illustrate academic language within our standards framework, especially considering the wide impact of the Common Core State Standards on curriculum and instruction. We have presented our ideas, plans, and templates at focus groups, workshops, and professional learning institutes. We have shared our vision with our member states, Executive Board, and Standards National Advisory Panel. We have involved hundreds of teachers, consultants, administrators, university faculty, and test developers. Thanks to the input and support of many, the vision of reframing how we represent our language standards has become a reality. But we need your feedback to finalize the draft!
On the ELD Standards page, you will find a a set of FAQs, a glossary, a 10-minute overview tutorial explaining the rationale behind our work and introducing you to the new elements of the standards matrices, and the drafts themselves. Note that we have not changed our five standards since originally published in 2004; however, we have extended their representation to address other school subjects and break down the linguistic elements represented in our Performance Definitions.
Your opinion is important to us! Please review the drafts and submit your comments and suggestions by mid October. Following the incorporation of your feedback, we anticipate the final version of the 2012 Edition will be released in the spring. Thank you in advance for taking the time to support this exciting initiative!
Finally, if you are interested in professional development to support local implementation of the 2012 Edition, please take 3-4 minutes to respond to our ELD Standards Professional Development Interest survey. This will help us tailor our offerings to meet your needs.
Order WIDA MODEL for Grades 6-8 and 9-12 today!
The WIDA MODEL assessment suite is now complete! The grades 6-8 and 9-12 kits are now available. Place your order today using our online store. To learn more about the assessment, please visit the WIDA MODEL page, which will soon be updated with more information.
Get familiar with our new website! Watch the tutorial.
Welcome to our new website! If you would like a brief orientation to the features and navigation of this site, you may click the button below to watch a tutorial (make sure your sound is turned on!).
WIDA Launches New Website for Beta Testing This June and July, WIDA is offering a sneak preview of this new website and hopes to collect your feedback and ideas. We wanted to give you this unique opportunity to be among the first to see the site.
Here are some new features you may want to check out:
If you have 3-5 minutes to spare, please click on the survey link below to share your reactions to the changes.
Take the Feedback Survey
WIDA welcomes its 26th and 27th member states, Maryland and Montana! We look forward to assisting educators in these two states and further extending our mission of promoting educational equity for English language learners!
2010-11 Translated ACCESS for ELLs Parent/Guardian Reports WIDA and MetriTech, Inc. are excited to introduce a FREE new tool granting district and school administrators the ability to generate translated Parent/Guardian reports in many native languages. This tool will be hosted on MetriTech's secure web page and will become available to your district and school once MetriTech has shipped the score reports. Please check on your state's page for the estimated shipping dates of your district's score reports.
For more information please download the Parent/Guardian Report translations flyer .
Please contact MetriTech Customer Service at 800-747-4868 or email firstname.lastname@example.com with your district information to request access to the secure web page.
WIDA ELP Standards to Common Core State Standards Alignment Study Report The WIDA ELP Standards to Common Core State Standards Alignment Study Report is now available; please contact Meredith Alt to request a copy.
Key findings of the report include that the WIDA ELP Standards strongly link to the Common Core State Standards across the majority of grade-level clusters. In many cases, the WIDA ELP Standards were found to go beyond what is currently required in federal guidance by not only matching, but also broadly covering and meeting the cognitive demands of the Common Core State Standards.
Read the press release to learn more about the study which was conducted by the University of Oklahoma Department of Educational Training, Evaluation, Assessment, and Measurement (E-TEAM) in November 2010.
Tech Report Release The ACCESS for ELLs® Annual Technical Report No. 5, Series 200, 2008-2009 Administration is now available. These documents address the validity and reliability of the ACCESS test to accurately assign students their proficiency level scores.
WIDA welcomes our 25th member state, Alaska! We look forward to assisting Alaska's educators and further extending our mission of promoting educational equity for English language learners! Please see Mary Ann Zehr's Education Week blog to read about WIDA's continued growth. Alaska will begin testing with ACCESS for ELLs in 2011-12.
PRIME Update For educators looking to select instructional materials for ELLs, the WIDA PRIME program can provide you with information about how the materials correlate to the WIDA ELP Standards. The PRIME Inventory is a methodology for examining materials resulting in a correlation document that publishers are beginning to use. See the first published correlations documents to learn more.
WIDA will also be hosting a WIDA ELP Standards and PRIME Correlations training on March 29-30, 2011 in Madison, WI. This training could be of interest to publishers seeking to correlate their materials to the WIDA ELP Standards, or to state or district personnel who wish to gain a deeper understanding of how to evaluate whether or not curricular materials address the academic language development continuum outlined in WIDA's standards.


text: 03/07/2013 TROY SNYDER AND OLATUNJI KOSILE EACH FINISH WITH 12 POINTS IN LOSSUMES Drops Regular Season Finale to Savannah State 03/04/2013 LOUIS BELL AND TROY SNYDER TALLY 17 POINTS EACH IN HAWKS' LOSSBell Nailed Four Three Pointers in Second Half to Close Gap 02/26/2013 DOMINIQUE COWELL AND LOUIS BELL EACH SCORE 14 POINTS IN HAWKS LOSSDominique Cowell and Louis Bell Finish with a Team-High 14 Points 02/18/2013 DOUBLE OVERTIME THRILLER BREAKS HAWKS SIX-GAME SKID TO WIN 64-62 OVER COPPIN STATETroy Snyder Finishes with Game-High 22 Points in Talon-Gripping Finish 02/16/2013 OLATUNJI KOSILE POSTS DOUBLE-DOUBLE IN UMES HOMECOMINGTroy Snyder Finishes with Team-High 14 Points in Hawks' Homecoming Loss 05/07/2013 Men's Basketball vs. Coppin State as "HAWK GO GREEN"See some shots of the game vs. Coppin State when UMES participated in the "Hawks Go Green" Game. 03/28/2013 UMES Men's Basketball vs. Savannah State in the 2013 MEAC TournamentSee Mark Sutton's shots from the game at the Norfolk Scope Arena. 01/19/2013 UMES Men pick up win over Delaware State 1.19.13See Lloydlee Heite's shots of the Hawk's first win of 2013. 12/06/2012 Men's Basketball at MarylandSee Yusuf Abdullah's pics from the men's game at Maryland on December 5, 2012. 11/13/2012 UMES Men's Basketball vs. Arkansas Pine-Bluff at the Rainbow ClassicSee Hawaii Media Source's photos of game five of the 2012 Rainbow Classic 2012-13 Season: Made an appearance in 28 games, starting six of those contests. Averaged 20.5 minutes per game to score 5.4 points per game. Shot 38.8 percent from the field, averaged 3.7 rebounds per game, 1.6 assists in 573 minutes. Scored a season-high 15 points in the opening game of the season at Hawai'i. 2011-12: Started 12 games in his freshman season ... Played in 26 games to total 182 points (7.0 ppg) ... Averaged 25.2 minutes ... Shot 38.8 percent from the field (62-160) ... Finished second on the team in assists (83) ... Recorded a team-high 29 steals ... Fourth on the team in total rebounds (95). Personal: Son of Richard Pitt and Dana McCarty ... Has two brothers Rio and Shiloh Pitt ... Born April 2 in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada ... Earned academic honors his freshman, sophomore and senior years of high school ... Plans to pursue master's and doctorate after graduation ... His personal goals are to be the best leader and player he can be. PITT'S CAREER STATISTICS

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Dear Spring Community,
We're happy to announce the availability of Spring Roo 1.2.0.M1 (download here). Spring Roo is a rapid application development tool for Java, allowing you to create full enterprise applications in just minutes.
Please see my blog post with all the details about the new features.
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Heinz Guderian
StatsBirth Name: Heinz Wilhelm Guderian Born: 17 June 1888 Died: 14 May 1954 Country of origin: Germany Ethnicity: White / Caucasian PhotosView all Heinz Guderian pictures (1 more)
Heinz Guderian was a German general during World War II. He was a pioneer in the development of armored warfare, and was the leading proponent of tanks and mechanization in the Wehrmacht. Germany's panzer forces were created and organised under his direction as Chief of Mobile Forces. During the war, he was a highly successful commander of panzer forces in several campaigns, became Inspector-General of Armored Troops, rose to the rank of Generaloberst, and was Chief of the General Staff in the l
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text: At its February 21, 2013, meeting, the Alexandria Rotary Club welcomed Jeff Bartholomew, director of the local YMCA. He spoke to the group on the success of the YMCA in its first two years and a new, $2.5 million capital campaign that will construct new child watch and multi-use space as well as outdoor fields at the facility. If the campaign is successful, the YMCA expects to have the new space available for use by January 1, 2014.


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Contact Information
Doctor Who Information Network
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(have you checked our New Series FAQ about CBC airdates and other queries first?)
DWIN can be found both in YahooGroups and on Facebook!
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In the latest issue: Issue 169
The Snowmen Cometh (Christmas Special Reviewed!) : The 2012 Christmas special gets a look-over! Plus…
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PS I love you.
one claire day.
i'm sure by now you've probably seen the Ikea PS cabinet popping up in more than one friend's house. and most likely, inconspicuously so. its simple design and clean lines enable it to drop-in just about anywhere in a seemingly effortless and practical way.
the PS cabinet's simplicity lends itself to expression. it screams out for it....
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(dailyRx News) When worries pile up, seem inescapable and interfere with day-to-day activities, it's time to see a doctor.
Overwhelming worry is a symptom of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The March issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter covers the symptoms of GAD and treatment options.
With generalized anxiety disorder, shedding worries is difficult, even when the worry is seemingly out of proportion to the concern. ("I can't face my book club tonight." "I wish I didn't have to leave the house and deal with anyone." "I hope I don't feel sick again today. What if I am?")
Other symptoms include startling easily, trouble falling or staying asleep, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, muscle tension, restlessness, feeling out of breath, nausea, diarrhea, headaches and excessive irritability.
Signs and symptoms appear gradually over time. Some people who have GAD cannot recall the last time they felt at ease. Often the disorder begins between childhood and middle age, but it can occur anytime.
GAD is one of several types of anxiety disorders. Others include phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and social anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders can occur on their own, independent of other health concerns. Anxiety can also be a symptom of several health conditions, such as heart or lung disease, thyroid problems--even dietary problems. Treating the underlying condition can help reduce or manage the anxiety.
When anxiety is the primary concern, psychotherapy and medications can help worries become manageable.
Psychotherapy involves working with a therapist to identify unhealthy, negative beliefs and behaviors that contribute to anxiety and then learning how to replace them with healthy, positive beliefs.
Medications, both antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs, also can help.
Among antidepressants, the first choice often is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). This category includes fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil), sertraline (Zoloft) and citalopram (Celexa). Other antidepressants that may be considered include duloxetine (Cymbalta) and venlafaxine (Effexor). These drugs can be highly effective but may take several weeks to months before the full effects are evident. Treatment may also require trying more than one drug to determine what works best for an individual.
For acute anxiety and short-term help, your physician may recommend a benzodiazepine, which generally eases anxiety within 30 to 90 minutes. Drugs in this category include alprazolam (Xanax), chlordiazepoxide (Librium), clonazepam (Klonopin), diazepam (Valium) and lorazepam (Ativan). Long-term use of these medications is a concern because they can be habit-forming and cause unsteadiness or balance problems, drowsiness and reduce muscle coordination. Buspirone (BuSpar) is another medication prescribed for anxiety. It doesn't pose a risk of dependence but takes several weeks of regular doses to be effective.
Jesse Bradley
[email protected]


text:
Wilshire Boulevard
Trip Ideas
Explore Further
Though the most famous stretch of Wilshire Boulevard runs through Beverly Hills, in truth this major artery reaches from Downtown L.A. all the way out to the coastline (almost) of Santa Monica. If you drive the whole thing, you'll travel 16 slow miles along the densely populated, totally developed strip.
Along the way, you'll travel the Miracle Mile, pass the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel and the La Brea Tar Pits, see the main drag in Koreatown, and whiz past MacArthur Park.
You can spend more than a day touring L.A. just by making your way from one end of Wilshire to the other, stopping at the dozens of sights and landmarks as you go.
© Liz Hamill Scott from Moon California, 2nd Edition
Buy Moon Travel Guides
Moon Travel Guides make independent travel and outdoor exploration fun and accessible. With expert and adventurous travel writers delivering a mix of honest insight, first-rate strategic travel advice, insider travel tips and an essential dose of humor, Moon Travel Guides ensure that travelers have an uncommon and entirely satisfying experience. Each travel book is filled with unique trip ideas, easy-to-use maps, and detailed information on sights, restaurants, and accommodations. Moon Travel Guides not only point you in the right direction, they inspire new ideas and adventure. Whether you are seeking a relaxing beach trip to Hawaii, or an adventure travel trip to the rainforests of Costa Rica, Moon guidebooks—and Moon.com—are with you every step of the way. Founded in 1973, the Moon Travel Guides series includes Moon Handbooks, Moon Outdoors, Moon Metro, Moon Living Abroad and Moon Spotlight travel books. Moon is based in Berkeley, California and is a proud member of the Perseus Books Group.


text:
Australian Gp Race Review!!
Posted 22 March 2012 - 06:40 PM
Your Australian correspondent (that is, moi) has just returned after a long and exhausting trip – after all it's not easy to get to Melbourne on a student's budget, so you will have to forgive me.
Unfortunately my pedal boat was attacked by Indonesian pirates along the way and I had to save myself to the best of my ability, thus arriving in Melbourne a day late and missing qualy. A pity too, because I've been told it was interesting and the grid looked messed up at first glance on Sunday. I mean, obviously Kimi should have been on pole, right? And what do you mean HRT failed to qualify? Their donkeys were obviously the fastest around that track! Investigation is in order…
So, on to the main event, one of the few races guaranteed to be exciting no matter how much the teams/Bernie/Global warming might want to prevent it.
Sunday was a sunny and friendly day, contrasting with testing (or so I'm told). Everyone was happy, excited and looking forward to the race (except for Damon Hill). Vvvrooooommmmmmmmm… cars rev the engines and start moving along the track – two minutes and we're getting started!
Everyone finds their place, suddenly they grow still aaaaaand it's GO! Button launches a carefully planned shot down the side of Hamilton and gets the best place into the corner – that's a guy who just made his race. McLarens at the front and out of the mess now the interest shifts to the rest of the grid who didn't have such a clean shot at the race line.
Nico Rosberg had a great start, passing cars like an arrow until he landed in 4th, very well executed and quite aggressive. Meanwhile, further back Alonso seemed to just be minding his own business, not a movement to show aggressiveness or desire to overtake the 11 cars in front of him – but he caught the racing line full on it looked like he had a railway made for him. While everyone around him went wide at that first corner, there he was - passing 1, 2, 3…
Of course there were some dismal starts as well, but obviously those are not half as interesting. As expected from Albert Park, not half a mile down the road there was already a car facing the wrong way and more than a few visiting the gravel for a short while. Webber got sandwiched between two excited youngsters (I bet he didn't like that) but finally they regrouped and the full effect of the start could be felt. But wait… not before Maldonado makes a move on Grosjean and leaves the Qualy hopeful out of the race with a broken suspension. There, that's it, now we can count:
McLarens breezing along, Mercedes straight after them with Vettel breathing down their necks, then Alonso (hey, when did you get here, amigo?) and then a flurry of Williams, Sauber, a FI and a Lotus here and there.
Surprisingly fast, Vettel sorted out his Rosberg problem and went right after Schumacher in the other Mercedes. Then he set himself up by going wide and by the time he caught up to Schumi again and resumed attacking him the Mercedes had a gearbox problem. Ouch, goodbye Schumi. And now Vettel has a clean track to chase the McLarens so… further back we go.
Back to Rosberg and Alonso having fun, to Maldonado getting back what he lost when he collided with Grosjean, to Raikkonen and Kobayashi looking good for entertainment, and – oh wait – back to Massa struggling to drive his car properly (yes, even by Massa standards). It seems the rubber-eating monster that lives somewhere around his suspension had taken a bite of his rear tyres and forced him to pit alarmingly early.
The Ferraris were fast to pit, but many more did the same not long after. The notable exceptions were Kimi who lasted a bit longer but didn't seem to profit from it, and Perez who just had fun playing "can you overtake the slow car" with the front-runners. Thanks to their help the field livened up a bit: Vettel chasing Hamilton and Alonso, Rosberg and Webber battling with Maldonado closing in on them.
Then, as soon as second pitstops were required, kammerad Vitaly parked his car onto the grass on the main straight in what will undoubtedly be known as the Vettel-Petrov-Gate. The Safety Car made its appearance and this allowed Vettel to make his pitstop at the right moment before the cars bunched up and, profiting from the delay where Petrov had stopped, to reappear right in between the two McLarens he had been trying to catch the whole race. Webber did some kind of a magic trick that allowed him to jump the cars he hadn't overtaken properly on the track. All in all the RBR benefitted.
After the race restart Button sped away, Vettel couldn't catch him yet again and Lewis stuck to his third place sandwiched between the Red Bulls. Quite obviously, Webber couldn't overtake him. Kobayashi pulled a lightning-fast pass on Raikkonen that couldn't get the position back. The Rosberg/Alonso/Maldonado group looked fun but did little. No desperate tries to overtake each other or anything.
But not to worry, Massa will come to save the day. In a tangle with Bruno Senna for what seemed to be last place (because that's where a Ferrari belongs, surely?) sparks flew, tyres were punctured and decreed it was that the end for his race this was to be. At least the sparks looked impressive. But the manoeuvre (seriously, that's how you spell maneuver? By George…) in itself was even below Massa's usual style (and you can tell me it was Senna's fault for I do not know and care very little).
Anyway, let's fast forward to the last lap because the interesting stuff seemed to concentrate there. Rosberg's car said goodbye slowly but surely. Maldonado, after a great race, managed to crash his car because of a little misjudgement (ouch). Perez must have really killed his one-stop strategy tyres because suddenly everyone got past him, and the Toro Rossos (close behind) decided this was the perfect moment to battle it out team-style and what better than to bring it right to the finish line? Ricciardo won that battle and got a point or two.
All in all, a fun race, lots of action, people crashing… everything we expect of Melbourne (oh, and Webber not being on the podium too). The hot-blooded Latin guys were fun to watch, as was Kobayashi. A pity for Maldonado, but everything can happen in Melbourne, so now he knows that.
And now for something completely random, because you can't really expect a technical/serious (or even accurate) review of me and I have to make up for that.
- Hamilton's girlfriend has suddenly become modest and less flashy. Hidden motives? And not even jumping around, that's weird.
- Jenson Button was wearing his grandma's sunglasses as a good luck charm and it seems it worked wonders for him.
- Tons of brats (Pic with that silly haircut, Ricciardo looks straight out of high school, and I didn't even see the rest of them XD).
- Maldonado's girlfriend is cute (so far so good) but he looks like a potato… this potato-human pair puzzles my childish brain.
- Button is funny – which is nice.
- Kimi is Kimi – which for me is nice. I think if I ever go to a race I will have to bring a blue flag for him to sign.
- By the way, I didn't take digs at Webber because I hate him. No, really, I don't.
- Or Massa.
- I just never seem to see them on track so I have to make up what they did or didn't do.
- Handy was right about the Williams (at least so far he looks spot on).
- Lists are nice but I forgot half of what this one had to contain.
- Oh, wait, wait, McLaren is better than Red Bull!! I was forgetting that. Half the forum was right then. And bonus – it looks better too
- By the way, I'm rooting for Button until Kimi starts getting on the podium. There
Anyway, I have to go now, I have a shark bite which needs some tending to. That, and I want to read the tons of posts I missed this weekend
Posted 22 March 2012 - 06:57 PM
Good job. Who took Malaysia?
Posted 22 March 2012 - 06:57 PM
Now, who's up for the Sepang review?
"Great drivers are the ones who win the races they're not supposed to" - K.Chandhok
"On the rare occasions that I play a racing game I often think 'you know what this needs? A boss battle or two.' A Formula One game in which, suddenly, everybody else has a monster truck and their sole desire is to squash you. A street racing game with a tank or two blowing the roads and buildings to bits. A Nascar game with a track that occasionally bends to the right" (Adam Smith - RPS)
Posted 22 March 2012 - 07:14 PM
Massa, on 22 March 2012 - 06:57 PM, said:
Good job. Who took Malaysia?
I thought to mention that too, but it sounded incriminating... Yayy, Malaysia is on tomorrow
Posted 22 March 2012 - 07:22 PM
"Great drivers are the ones who win the races they're not supposed to" - K.Chandhok
"On the rare occasions that I play a racing game I often think 'you know what this needs? A boss battle or two.' A Formula One game in which, suddenly, everybody else has a monster truck and their sole desire is to squash you. A street racing game with a tank or two blowing the roads and buildings to bits. A Nascar game with a track that occasionally bends to the right" (Adam Smith - RPS)
Posted 22 March 2012 - 07:33 PM
Massa, on 22 March 2012 - 07:02 PM, said:
I guess you didn't see his post race interview either. I quite like the guy:
Anyway - nice report - thanks for taking the time to write that, it was a good read. At least the person who takes Malaysia has 2 or 3 weeks (how long is it anyway?) before China.
If no-one else wants to do it, I guess I'll go against what I said before and nominate myself.
Posted 22 March 2012 - 08:35 PM
And can someone please teach these F1 drivers how to wear a freaking hat? Let's get back to a day when you used tools to work on cars, not to drive them.
Posted 22 March 2012 - 08:47 PM
JHS18, on 22 March 2012 - 07:33 PM, said:
Anyway - nice report - thanks for taking the time to write that, it was a good read. At least the person who takes Malaysia has 2 or 3 weeks (how long is it anyway?) before China.
If no-one else wants to do it, I guess I'll go against what I said before and nominate myself.
I only commented about his looks because I haven't paid that much attention to his personality and didn't want to offend anyone. He does seem nice
Posted 22 March 2012 - 11:57 PM
Ha, ha... The Vettel-Petrov-Gate. Tongo, tongo, tongo...
Fray Luis de León said:
Tradition has it that he began his lecture the first day after returning from four years' imprisonment with the words "as we were saying yesterday..."
Posted 23 March 2012 - 07:42 AM
Edited by BradSpeedMan, 23 March 2012 - 07:43 AM.
"We keep on working, we do our thing," Vettel shouts over the team radio, "We are who we are!"
"Vettel is a champion. That's not referring to his achievements, but rather to his approach to everything he does. He wins. All the time. His preparation is meticulous, his attention to detail reminiscent of Michael Schumacher at his peak, and his performance on the track is almost always flawless. Vettel is capable only of domination. He knows no other way... Vettel is not in Formula One to be liked. He is there to win. And in the words of Ayrton Senna, perhaps the greatest of all Formula One drivers, "Nice men don't win.""
Chris Cameron-Dow
"One might be tempted to say Ferrari are inconsistent this year. I think the opposite.
They are having one very good race followed by one very poor race. Consistently."
Multi21 on JA blog
Posted 23 March 2012 - 02:20 PM
just signed up to the forum, nice review of the Australian Grand prix!
I'm Counting down the minutes until this weekends race!
see you around!
Posted 23 March 2012 - 06:37 PM
Maybe you'd like to write a race review at some point this season? There are still some unclaimed races open, if you want to try it, we'd all enjoy reading it.
Posted 23 March 2012 - 06:38 PM
Posted 23 March 2012 - 06:40 PM
..and good report Tanita!
Posted 24 March 2012 - 02:13 AM
Posted 24 March 2012 - 02:30 AM
Posted 24 March 2012 - 04:43 AM
You're just trying to get me to bite first so you feel less stupid when you go back to NicoFan...
Posted 24 March 2012 - 12:32 PM
In the strongest man, there's a child so weak.
In the whole wide world, there's no magic place.
So you might as well rise, put on your bravest face.
Though we might have precious little...
It's still precious.
Rush - Bravest Face
Posted 24 March 2012 - 02:20 PM
By the way, thanks guys, I'm glad you liked it
Posted 24 March 2012 - 09:48 PM
Fray Luis de León said:
Tradition has it that he began his lecture the first day after returning from four years' imprisonment with the words "as we were saying yesterday..."
Posted 25 March 2012 - 07:23 AM
Posted 25 March 2012 - 07:51 AM
freaky2, on 25 March 2012 - 07:23 AM, said:
Fray Luis de León said:
Tradition has it that he began his lecture the first day after returning from four years' imprisonment with the words "as we were saying yesterday..."
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Prana Biotech publishes Huntington's disease animal model data for PBT2
Prana Biotechnology has released data demonstrating their drug, PBT2, is effective in animal models of HD
By Dr Jeff Carroll on January 14, 2013
Edited by Dr Ed Wild
The Huntington Study Group and Prana Biotechnology are currently running a clinical trial, Reach2HD, to determine whether the drug PBT2 is effective in HD patients. Now, they've released the preclinical data behind the trial, showing the drug is effective in two animal models of HD.
History of PBT2
Many Huntington's disease families have been excited by word of a new player developing a novel treatment for HD. Prana Biotechnology, a drug development company in Australia, has developed a new drug they call PBT2.
HDBuzz has previously written about Prana and their drug, which works in a surprising and novel way. While all the details are not understood, the drug is designed to interfere with interactions between the huntingtin protein and the metal copper.
Interfering with copper in the body may sound like a strange and surprising way to attack Huntington's disease, but there is a history of investigating changes in copper in the brain of HD patients.
Another genetic disease called Wilson's disease is caused by mutations in a gene that helps cells get rid of excess copper. The cells of patients with Wilson's disease accumulate too much copper because they don't know how to get rid of it, thanks to their defective gene.
It turns out that Wilson's disease patients have brain damage in the same areas of the brain as Huntington's disease patients, and that in HD, these parts of the brain accumulate copper too. This supports the idea that copper might be important for the particular parts of the brain that die in HD.
Based on in-house work that suggested PBT2 was effective in Huntington's disease, Prana Biotechnology began working with the Huntington Study Group to initiate a trial of their drug in human HD patients. The trial, currently running in the US and Australia, is called Reach2HD.
This trial happened so fast that few people outside the company had seen the data that suggested their drug was effective. They've now published this data for everyone to see in the new Journal of Huntington's Disease.
The animal models
Before testing a drug in humans, scientists like to have an idea of whether it is safe and effective. The only way to study this is to give the drug to animals who have been genetically modified to carry the same mutant HD gene as human patients.
These animals have problems that mimic, in some ways, those experienced by HD patients. While the animals don't have Huntington's disease, they do provide an objective way of testing whether a drug has an impact on the problems caused by expression of the mutant HD gene.
To test PBT2, the team of scientists, lead by Stephen Massa of the University of California at San Francisco, turned to two different animal models of HD. First, they used a tiny worm with a big name — 'Caenorhabditis elegans'. Unlike humans, with their billions and billions of brain cells, C. Elegans has precisely 302 brain cells.
Forcing C. elegans' worms to express a gene similar to the one that causes Huntington's disease in people causes these worms to become paralyzed and unable to move. Because the mice are so small and have a very short lifespan, they can be used to quickly test whether a drug reduces the harm associated with the mutant gene.
The second animal used to investigate the effectiveness of PBT2B was a mouse that has been genetically engineered to express a mutant HD gene. This gene makes them very sick, very fast — they have problems with coordinating their movements, show shrinkage in the brain similar to that seen in HD patients and ultimately die very young. These mice provide a simple tool for testing a Huntington's disease drug — scientists can simply give the mice a drug and see if it can improve any of their symptoms.
The results
In the worm model, PBT2 was very effective — worms treated with PBT2 were able to live for much longer without becoming paralyzed. Rescuing worms is nice, but it's a long way from people! The mice, despite being small and having fairly simple behaviors, are much closer to people. How did PBT2 do in HD mice?
While alive, HD mice treated with PBT2 showed some improvements in the coordination of their movements — that is, they were slightly less clumsy. More interestingly, treatment with PBT2 prolonged the survival of HD mice by a significant amount: mice treated with the drug lived about 26% longer than untreated mice. That's a pretty decent extension, though we should remember that the mice were still quite sick during the extended period of their life.
Other measures were improved by PBT2 treatment as well. Like many HD patients, these HD mice lose weight. Weight loss can be a major problem for HD patients, and is difficult to combat. Treatment with PBT2 helped HD mice maintain body weight in a fairly dramatic fashion.
In the brain, HD mice showed shrinkage similar to that experienced by HD patients. This loss was significantly, but not completely, rescued by treating the mice with PBT2. This suggests the drug isn't just masking symptoms, but might actually be stopping the brain cell death that causes symptoms to occur.
Caveats and questions
All in all, it's easy to see why these scientists were excited about the results of PBT2. The beneficial effects in the mice, in particular, are pretty impressive.
As with any trial conducted in animals, it's worth thinking about the limitations. The mice, for example, were treated with PBT2 from 3 weeks of age — essentially from when they first start eating and drinking on their own, rather than nursing from their mothers. This is not what will happen in people, who are only being given the drug after their symptoms start. Can PBT2 work, even if it's only given when someone is already sick? We just don't know yet.
PBT2 has advantages over some other experimental drugs in HD. For one, it is known to get into the brain, where it needs to be to work. Furthermore, it has already been shown to be well tolerated in human Alzheimer's Disease patients, making it less likely that the drug will fail because of side-effects.
The clinical trial currently investigating PBT2 in HD patients is formally only designed to study whether the drug is safe in HD patients when administered for 26 weeks. But the investigators are also measuring a host of changes in these patients caused by HD, including behavior changes, thinking problems and biological changes in the blood, urine and brain. Looking at these things now may give us a hint of whether PBT2 is effective.
Especially in light of these positive results in animal models, HDBuzz is encouraged to hear that the trial is now fully recruited, and we look forward to hearing the results.
Learn more
Full manuscript describing PBT2 work in worms and mice (open access)
Webpage of the Reach2HD trial, including a video from Dr. Ray Dorsey
'Guard dog' proteins reveal surprising connections between Huntington's disease and other brain disorders
Dyeing to prevent dying? Methylene blue beneficial in Huntington's disease mice
Targeting oxidative stress in Huntington's Disease
Of mice and men: using animal models to study Huntington's disease


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(Para información en español por favor llame (619)-233-6262 pida hablar con Vickie o Alberto.)
Clients must be referred to Mama's Kitchen by their case manager or physician to qualify for meal delivery services.
Mama's Kitchen provides nutritional support to San Diego residents who are diagnosed with HIV Symptomatic/AIDS or cancer and are physically or mentally unable to prepare their own meals. If you or someone in your household is in need of a daily hot meal program or other Mama's Kitchen services, please ask your case manager or physician to contact us. Meal deliveries usually begin forty eight hours after receipt of your referral documents. Case management or medical provider group presentations regarding our services are available by contacting us (PDF 117K).


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How to Start a Simple Home Business Refilling Ink Jet Cartridges
July 22nd, 2011
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Who wouldn't love to start a profitable business and what do you say if that business can be run from home and requires very little technical knowledge? If you take into account that nowadays many jobs do require a lot of knowledge no matter what type of work is required, then if you find a simple and, what is best, at home job, what else can you say but research a bit further into it. You also know that a large number of people see it as a chance of a life time to run successful home business even if the outcome secures only modest life with nothing extra. But some business can give you more and only you can drive that into the success you've been dreaming about.
Can you believe that there are such opportunities which may be learned very quickly and that they do not require any special equipment and when you work harder you get paid better. That's what everybody wants, all of us know how disheartening it may be when all you've been fighting for goes unnoticed and all of our work not paid adequately. Now you can work hard and get paid for it. Consider how huge this market is, almost every home has a printer and imagine how many printers are in regular offices be it big or small. Do you see how big this market is? In my previous posts I've told you that printer ink is one of the most expensive common liquids on earth and that's true. From this fact you can draw a conclusion how much money there is for everybody involved, so there is a bit for everyone in that business.
As much as we hate the price of the printer cartridges, you may be thankful for it if you start doing this business because now it works for you too and you would be thankful for the recession cause everyone is trying to save some more and then some people and businesses try to save some more. And you can even call it environment friendly business and how you're saving the planet from pollution. Now if you're in need to find out more you need to get your hands on a structured course which will give you the necessary information that may get you to the right track immediately. The information which will enable you to start your business and with little practice and some hard work you could be selling your refilled cartridges very quickly! Read more…


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Dresses wanted for prom dress sale
The Sandwich High School Post Prom Committee is seeking dresses for its seventh annual Prom & Special Occasion Dress Sale.
The sale will be held at Timber Creek Best Western in Sandwich and include gently used prom, homecoming and graduation dresses, as well as accessories. The committee will accept items for the sale from noon to 4 p.m. Jan. 13 and 5 to 8 p.m. January 14 through 16. All items must be in good, recently cleaned condition. Items should have been worn to an event within the past four years and the group has the right to refuse any item not in acceptable condition.
The sale is similar to a consignment contract. Sellers pay a $5 (per dress) nonrefundable handling fee due at drop-off. Each seller sets their price on each dress. Seventy percent of the selling price goes to the seller and the committee keeps the remaining 30 percent. Each dress owner should be prepared to share the dress's history.
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The new sheriff vowed to clean up the town of San Luis. For many locals, the price was too high.
A young labor organizer was sexually assaulted by a colleague. Was Local 7 to blame?
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Eventos em Florença e subúrbios: pormenor
De 20 Setembro 2013 a 28 Setembro 2013
World Cycling Race Championship Florence 21 - 29 September 2013
In 2013, the UCI Road World Championships will take place in the heart of Tuscany, filling a gap incycling's history.
2013 will be the first time that this beautiful region of Italy hosts a road World Championships despitethe fact that it is steeped in cycling tradition and has produced some of the greatest cycling names ofall times.
PAT MC QUAID UCI PRESIDENT speech at Maastricht championship presentation:
"We can't talk about the history of Tuscany's cycling without mentioning the duo of Gino Bartali, andFiorenzo Magni. Bartali, prominent both sides of the second World War, was the biggest rival of thegreat Fausto Coppi.
I am delighted to return to Italy for the 2013 edition of the World Championships. The fact thatFlorence has been awarded these Championships for 2013 is a demonstration of the high esteem that cycling, and the UCI, has for Italy.
In September next year, we will enjoy top level cycling that will take us through some of the mostbeautiful cities and towns of the world, not least Florence and Lucca. It is an event not to be missedand I know that the Organising Committee will ensure, in true Italian style, a magnificent edition of the UCI Road World Championships.


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Varsity Sports
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men's tennis team will be hosting the Lehigh Fall Tennis invitational on the Goodman Campus beginning Friday and continuing through Sunday. The event will take place on the Ulrich Varsity Courts and inside the Lewis Tennis Center. Lehigh will be joined by Saint Francis (Pa.), Bucknell, Delaware and Loyola (Md.) in the five-team event.
Lehigh will kick off the event with a singles matches against Loyola starting at 3 p.m. on Friday. The Mountain Hawks will play doubles matches against the Greyhounds at 4:30 p.m. Competition will continue on Saturday and Sunday starting at 9 a.m. with Lehigh facing the remaining three teams in singles and doubles action. There will be no team scoring but all matchups will consist of three or four doubles matches and six to eight singles matches.
The Mountain Hawks opened their fall season with a solid showing at the Penn Invitational. Four Lehigh players won their opening round matches and Sophomore Ben Gilman advanced to consolation finals on Sunday where he eventually fell
3-6, 6-2, 6-0 to Jonas Dierckx of Iowa. The Mountain Hawks are led by
senior captain Andrew Krentz and Matt Savran. At the Penn Invitational Krentz won his opening match in straight sets before falling to Joey White of Iowa in a super-tiebreak in the second round.
Following the Lehigh Fall Tennis Invitational, The team will travel to compete in the ITA Regionals in New Haven, Conn. on Oct. 18.
Story by Josh Fitch '13
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Stowe: 802.253.9771 Stowe Village: 802.253.1806 Morrisville: 802.888.1102 |
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Ed Izzo
Ed Izzo served thirteen years on the Stowe Development Review Board, an organization with a deep commitment to sustaining the beauty and integrity of Stowe. This experience was very influential in shaping Ed's vision of and commitment to this community.
"Stowe has been a wonderful town to me and I am thrilled and fortunate to call it home", says Ed, adding, "I came to Stowe many years ago, planning to stay for one year... and never left!"
A graduate of Merrimack College, MA, and student athlete, Ed went on to developing extensive business experience as a restaurateur, night club owner, business consultant, financial operations professional and small business turn-around specialist. He has alternated roles between consultant and manager at Topnotch and Bolton Valley Resort, the former Sirloin Saloon and the New England Culinary Institute.
Ed believes that "Being detailed, timely and organized are essential in achieving goals in life and work." This is the mantra he keeps close at heart in both professional and family life. He cultivates a supportive and appreciative attitude toward the community he calls home, as well as those who share his path. "I have three outstanding children who have blossomed into successful adults and a beautiful wife", he announces, with gratitude.
Ed joined the Pall Spera Company team in January 2011.


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One of the problems with BOLD MRI is that it may be measuring synaptic activity that does not result in any action potentials. In other words, it may be measuring every time the gun is drawn, rather than every time it is fired. This would obviously make interpretation of BOLD MRI signals a little tricky. But lest you outlaw the technique completely, take a gander at the two papers in tomorrow's Science. They report that hemodynamic, or BOLD MRI signals, correlate tightly with neuronal firing.
In the first, Rafael Malach and colleagues at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, and the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv, together with collaborators at New York University and the University of California, Los Angeles, compared fMRI signals with neuronal action potentials from the auditory cortex in humans.
First author Roy Mukamel and colleagues elicited the help of two epilepsy patients who were being monitored with intracranial electrodes. This allowed the authors to directly record spike, or action potentials, from 53 neurons in the Heschl's gyrus of the auditory cortex as the two patients watched a 9-minute clip from the Western. The spike potentials recorded were then used to build a "spike predictor," which converts the firing spikes into a predicted fMRI signal. By comparing this predicted BOLD MRI to actual scans taken from 11 healthy volunteers as they watched the same movie clip, Mukamel and colleagues found that the predicted and actual MRI scans had almost a one-to-one correlation.
The correlation between the predicted fMRI from the first epilepsy patient and the averaged fMRI scans from the 11 volunteers was about 0.75 for the entire duration of the recording. But there was a 3-minute section in the middle of the clip that seemed to particularly grip all the volunteers, because during these scenes the individual fMRI scans were highly matched. Here, the correlation between the predicted and averaged fMRI scans was 0.9, and the value was highly significant, statistically. The correlation between the predicted fMRI signals obtained from the second epilepsy patient were poorer, however, only 0.56 for the entire 9-minute scan and 0.75 for the 3-minute section in the middle. But the predicted fMRI scans for the two patients did not entirely match either, probably because the electrodes were not placed in exactly the same locations, which may explain the weaker correlation obtained from the second patient.
The authors also found that there was significant correlation between the BOLD fMRI signal and local frequency potentials (LFPs), which are thought to be related to synaptic activity in the dendrites rather than the axons, in other words, signals coming into the neurons rather than those going out. The correlation was highly positive, reaching as high as 0.9 (at frequencies between 30 and 300 Hz). "Our results indicate a high linear correlation between spiking activity, high-frequency LFP, and fMRI BOLD signal measured in human auditory cortex during natural stimulation," write the authors. While their method cannot identify whether the spike potential or the LFPs were the driving force for the BOLD signals, nevertheless, they conclude, based on the high correlation, that "BOLD fMRI signals can be trusted as a faithful measure of the average firing rate of the underlying [neuronal] population."
In the second paper, Ralf Galuske and colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt, and the Technical University of Darmstadt did manage to pinpoint the driving force. First author Jörn Niessing and colleagues found that there is a direct relationship between the average spike rate and the BOLD fMRI signal in the visual cortex of the cat. However, under constant stimulus, the MRI signal fluctuated, and though only loosely correlating with action potentials, these fluctuations were tightly correlated to LFPs in the 50-90 Hz range, commonly called gamma oscillations. The data would suggest that BOLD signals best reflect input via dendrites rather than output via action potentials, bringing us back to one of the criticisms of the technique.
But not so fast there, pardner. If you are a critic, you might have to holster that six-shooter. Niessing and colleagues also report that it is the precise synchronicity of neuronal firing that determines the scale of the BOLD fMRI response. Because the MRI signal most tightly correlates with LFPs in the gamma range, which only occur when neuronal firing is most synchronized, the MRI signal does indeed reflect output as well as input.
But in an interesting twist, the authors also speculate that what drives the BOLD MRI signal is inhibitory interneurons, which only represent about 20 percent of cortical neurons. This is because there is evidence to suggest that gamma frequency oscillations, which are driving the MRI signal, are due to synchronized discharges from this particular subpopulation (see Traub et al., 1996 ).
So what does this mean for the study of AD and other neurodegenerative diseases? Well, oscillations in the gamma frequency range are associated with many cognitive and executive functions, such as short-term memory, sensory-motor coordination, and movement preparation (see review by Engel et al., 2001). So as Niessing and colleagues write, "hemodynamic responses may thus be ideally suited to visualize neural processes associated with higher cognitive and executive functions." Notch one up for the fMRI proponents.—Tom Fagan.
References: Mukamel R, Gelbard H, Arieli A, Hasson R, Fried I, Malach R. Coupling between neuronal firing, field potentials, and fMRI in human auditory cortex. Science. 2005;309:951-954. Abstract
Niessing J, Ebisch B, Schmidt KE, Niessing M, Singer W, Galuske RAW. Hemodynamic signals correlate tightly with synchronized gamma oscillations. Science. 2005;309:948-951. Abstract
PRIMARY PAPERSCoupling between neuronal firing, field potentials, and FMRI in human auditory cortex.Hemodynamic signals correlate tightly with synchronized gamma oscillations.
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