Wonder if NCATE has reviewed them?

You may have heard of the NCTQ report, which gave poor ratings to many highly-regarded schools/colleges of education, without ever stepping foot on campus or interviewing a living soul. Having completed one of those allegedly inadequate programs many years ago, I'm curious how NCTQ would rate TFA in terms of program quality, especially now that it is  “approved as a state sanctioned vehicle for the preparation of teachers in Idaho.” Exactly which exemplary practices are to be found in the 5-week summer boot camp and hit-or-miss follow-up during the school year, and particularly, what is exemplary and worth replicating in the minimal two-year commitment?
Perhaps our schools of education should emulate the financial arrangements of TFA in order to get back in the good graces of the folks at NCTQ.

Top NYC adminsitrators no longer evaluated

In the NYC school system, home of value-added evalutations and performance pay strategies, none of the senior personnel are subject to formal evaluations any more. The current Chancellor, Dennis Walcott, says formal evaluations aren't needed; he evaluates his staff informally on a daily basis, yadda yadda. Funny, I do the same with my students, but no one gives a damn about my assessments of their progress. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323683504578567970958195656.html?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird
BTW, it took a Freedom of Information Act request to get this info... so much for transparency.

Then there's this gem:
"Certainly that's how we do it in business," said Mr. Levy, who is a managing director of investment firm Palm Ventures. "Everyone has an evaluation from the CEO on down, and I've always thought that that was an appropriate way to manage."

QUESTION:
How many of those CEOs lose their jobs over these formal evaluations? my sense of it is they generally keep their job until they get into a pissing contest with the wrong faction on the board of directors.

Obesity and food deserts

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/experts-food-deserts-linked-childhood-obesity/nYtPQ/

Who is surprised?

Those greedy SNAP leeches

The Food Stamp Program, currently known as SNAP, is under attack in Congress. here are some examples of what's been going on. Remember, there are restrictions on what you can use your food stamps for, and it's no easy thing in this economy. Keep in  mind that Walmart, which opposes the Living Wage concept, keeps its employees low paid so that many of them actually qualify for assistance. In some states, teachers and college professors qualify for assistance. No small thing, yet certain of our legislators consider it to be a handout for lazy bums, not help for folks struggling to feed their families. Pay close attention to this graph from a July article:

Can't you just hear them in DC? Ah, let them eat cake!

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/07/farm-bill-deal-to-hungry-americans-youre-on-your-own/277721/?google_editors_picks=true

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/07/11/billions_for_farmers_nothing_for_the_poor.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/07/yes-you-should-be-totally-outraged-by-the-farm-bill/277159/

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/07/farm-bill-passes-food-stamps

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/07/hooray-lets-screw-poor-even-more-when-economy-already-keeping-them-out-work

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/06/republican-farm-bill-asset-test-food-stamps-snap

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/05/senate-agriculture-committee-food-stamps-discrimination

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/12/soledad-obrien-food-stamps-jeff-sessions-fiscal-cliff

On books and bookworms

I'm sitting in one of my favorite places to work and think, and just sit: the library. The public library, which has had its hours cut to the bone, barely allowing the staff to maintain their status as full-time employees. This library is open only 4 days a week, a total of 32 hours. Sad to think that one day, kids won't have the opportunity I had at their age.

Ahm, something to look forward to...

Getting smarter with age. In many different ways.

http://www.oprah.com/health/Aging-Brain-Facts-Do-You-Get-Smarter-as-You-Age

A Teacher on Teaching: NFL Adopts Common Core Playbook--Copying Education...

A Teacher on Teaching: NFL Adopts Common Core Playbook--Copying Education...: (Washington, D. C.) In a surprise news conference today U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and National Football League Commissioner R...

Weird statement on unemployment.

On the noon news, it was reported that unemployment figures are up statewide. The stated reason was "teachers and new graduates" who are not working this summer. But, teachers who are going back to work in a couple of weeks are NOT unemployed, nor are we eligible for unemployment benefits. And as for graduates, they aren't eligible for benefits either, as they are looking for that first professional opportunity. So I started searching and came up with this announcement from Labor which says, “The rate increased primarily because of two factors that occur this time of year,” said State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. “A large number of education workers are unemployed during the summer and new graduates are considered unemployed until they find a job.” So, it isn't teachers, but the other folks in seasonal jobs such as bus drivers and nutrition services, who are allowed to receive benefits (don't understand why; other folks in seasonal jobs are denied benefits on the grounds they knew the job was seasonal). As for the new grads, how do we know how many of them are 'unemployed' and not in internships, getting ready for grad school, leaving the state, getting married, joining the military, etc.
This is what should have been the real concern: "The number of jobs declined slightly to 4,043,500, down from 4,044,100 in May. State and local government education services lost 12,700 jobs, the most of any sector. However, some industries added workers. Those increases came in professional and business services, 8,000; leisure and hospitality, 4,000; construction and financial services, 1,700 each; and manufacturing and other services, 1,200 each."

Here's what the tv station put on their website, but the on-air reader screwed up. Notice also how much is left out of this version.

So, unemployment is actually up because there are FEWER JOBS. Who would have thought?

Unreal

A couple of points:
1. Funny that this occurred in late June, as school was closing for the summer.
2. I doubt that a fantastic collection, of, say, Holocaust materials, would be dumped so unceremoniously from the library of a school in the 'burbs.
3. First, it was a mistake, then the charter was offered the collection and they dumped whatever was rejected, then there simply isn't money to maintain the collection. Make up your mind, folks. Pick a story and STICK TO IT.
http://www.freep.com/article/20130625/NEWS02/306250101/Highland-Park-African-American-books-thrown-out

blasting NCTQ in the wake of their 'report'

@the chalk face- what a cool site, with lots of sharp-witted folks to write for them. I've been cruising a bit and found this one

Erich Fromm said 50 years ago that “we are losing that teaching which is the most important one for human development: the teaching which can only be given by the simple presence of a mature, loving person.” We are still losing them today, and we can’t afford to lose any more.

Paul Thomas on Common Core Evidence

Thomas here rips Duncan's defense of Common Core and points out that there is not a shred of evidence it will produce the desired recults, or indeed, any positive results. Another gem by way of Diane Ravitch.

Back to the myth of public pension liability

Public pensions and their beneficiaries have been taking a lot of heat the last couple of years. These defined benefit plans have been blamed for 'bankrupting' cities across the country. several states also blame public pensions for their fiscal woes. In Illinois, for example, the state is $100 BILLION in the red on pension obligations. Why? Not because those bloodsucking employees did anything wrong, but because lawmakers either skipped or shorted payments to the state's five retirement systems for decades. So, I'm with the governor on his plan to hold paychecks of legislators until they come up with a plan. It's the same all over. Cities and states have 'postponed' mandatory conributions again and again, and now the bill is due, but there's no money to pay it. Funny, if I do that, they turn off my utilities, right? legislators do it, and they just keep on rolling.

Having said all of this, I do not understand why a college basketball coach makes so much money. And I think I need to look into the possibility of a job with the prison system. Their docs, shrinks, and dentists seem to make out great.

An elected official in support of schools- endangered species

He says, among other things:

I do not have advanced degrees in mathematics or statistics, but I was entirely public-school educated, from grade school and high school to college and law school, and I know that restoring $100 million after a $1 billion cut is anything but record funding.

There is a myth that we live in an era of no options other than to continue to cut funding for schools and teachers, but what is so disturbing to me is the fact that we have practical options at our disposal to begin to restore adequate funding to our schools.

Institutions of public education should be grand. They should be bold. They should be tall, towering monuments to not just the achievements of American industry and perseverance, but to their potential as well. Let us fully fund and promote public education and allow America's youth to thrive in this new millennium with the tools, resources, and education needed to be the smartest, most innovative and most adaptive workforce on Earth. It won't happen overnight. It won't happen with one budget, in one state, in one year, but this is where we can start. Let's start to make America's public education system the envy of the world, as it once was

 

Amazing, isn't it? You can find the Diane Ravitch summary here, and then follow the link to his complete comments, with video.

The value of 'games'

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/02/beyond-strategy-and-winning-how-games-teach-kids-empathy/

Maybe the kdis are learning what it's like on the other side of winning. Maybe they are figuring out how to read the other playes and anticipate the next move. Maybe they are learning some planning skills. Regardless, we need to make time for games. Not gaming, but games.

Pontiac teachers’ health insurance cancelled when district uses insurance premiums to balance its books

Pontiac teachers’ health insurance cancelled when district uses insurance premiums to balance its books

Forget a lawsuit, someone needs to  pursue criminal charges of fraud and theft against everyone involved in this outrageous mess.

In spite of all the official rhetoric about our impossibly broken system that must be replaced instead of fixed, there are a few indications that all is not disaster in education. Wouldn't we all be better served if someone would examine these data and figure what went right so the rest of us can try to emulate it? Scalable, right?

It' good to know who our elected officials really serve

Because it sure isn't us!
The governor of Idaho pitched low labor costs in his state in trying to entice gun manufacturers to relocate. His letter said that "Idaho’s average cost for our highly skilled, often custom-trained workforce is 21 percent less than Connecticut". Who would have ever imagined that having the second- lowest per capita personal income would be a point to brag about? The gov's spokesman says that the intent was to emphasize predictability for business: “You want predictability in taxes, you want predictability in labor costs, you want predictability in your costs,” Hanian says. “Right now, in this business sector, in a number of states, there is anything but certainty. That’s not the case with Idaho.”  And when big business comes to town, they will expect those favorable conditions to be maintained. How will that play with the voters, I wonder?
In out nation's capital, Walmart is in a funk over a proposed "living wage". Keep in mind that they are the masters of low-wage management and manipulation. They are upset that someone might actually want them to pay a decent wage, which the federal minimum definitely is not. So, they threatened to take their marbles and go home. The mayor's position? "In a statement, Gray hinted more strongly than ever that he is prepared to veto the legislation. “The cancellation of three planned stores will surely set us back,” he said. “I strongly urge the Council to consider whether this legislation will actually promote strong economic development in the District and expand job opportunities for District residents.”"  Apparently he REALLY wants Walmart in his neighborhood. When they pulled this in Chicago, the mayor caved and vetoed the legislation. Again, whose interest is being served here?

And more sea waste...

The images in this slide show are all from the Pacific Ocean, but the point applies every where: when it goes overboard, or downriver, this is where it winds up.

Some of the locations of the photos:
Monterey Canyon, off the coast of California
http://sanctuarysimon.org/monterey/images/build/sc_overview_map_full.jpg
info here: http://sanctuarysimon.org/monterey/sections/submarineCanyons/overview.php

Davidson Seamount:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/02davidson/background/missionplan/media/locatormap.html


Axial Seamount:
a seismically active underwater volcano at the edge of the Juan de Fuca plate (remember the tectonic plates? this is the smallest and it's sliding underneath the North american plate.) This is the area I visited as a teacher at sea some years back...
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/axial98/axial98.html

More about submarine volcanoes here: http://www.ooi.washington.edu/story/Axial+Seamount  These folks know their stuff. Axial photo here: http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=331021
And a 2011 eruption at Axial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY8Cx9rLiY4  Folks in Seattle are up on this stuff.

Ever notice a local restaurant that has tremendous turnover of their waitstaff? The reason may be something like this. In other words, these business people/entrepreneurs are breaking the law. and, that's not all. There's more. Let's just remember that most of this contract would be unenforceable if challenged in court, but how many of their servers have the resources to do so? It would be much better, now that this is all out in the open, for the state of Arizona to launch an investigation. But, of course, that's not likely to happen. And so, these two individuals will not learn any respect for the law nor for their employees in the foreseeable future.

Dolphins can choke on your fishing gear

So, since apparently no one has considered this possibility before, please pay attention to how you dispose of your lines, hooks, lures, etc. Don't leave them behind. Not only dolphins, but waterfowl, small pets, and children can be injured by the junk you leave behind. Drop it in the trash can, and if there isn't one, put it in your tackle box or your car until you get to someplace that has one. Remember the bait shop where you stopped on the way to go fishing? Truly, I'm tired of picking up tangled and abandoned fishing lines with all manner of hardware still attached...

http://news.discovery.com/earth/oceans/dolphins-choke-on-fish-and-fishing-gear-in-florida-lagoon-13062.htm#mkcpgn=emnws1

Good grief, how do they get anything done?

And where is the reearch to support htis model as effective? Or is the focus simply on the bottom line?

http://ideas.time.com/2012/08/15/why-the-open-office-is-a-hotbed-of-stress/

Indeed, what should it be called?

Robert Reich has a way of posing deeply thought-provoking questions. Here's one: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/an-impertinent-question_b_3582032.html?utm_hp_ref=daily-brief?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=071213&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BlogEntry

I'm inclined to agree. and I have a follow-up question: What does one call it at the state or local level?

Malala Day

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/12/malala-un-visit_n_3585465.html?utm_hp_ref=daily-brief?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=071213&utm_medium=email&utm_content=NewsEntry

Rhee in Tennesee

Next stop, Texas? she's speaking in December to the charter schools organization there...
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/113204/michelle-rhee-tennessee-studentsfirst-floods-school-races#

Cats don't really ignore us

and my next thought on reading this headline was, 'we're invisible'.
But, seriously, there's been a study, and they found that cats do respond to human voices, just not by tail wagging or jumping up and barking, like dogs do. Of course, I could have told them that...

http://news.discovery.com/animals/pets/cats-do-not-ignore-humans-130625.htm#mkcpgn=emnws1

morning routines: creativity killer?

I'm not sure aobut how to make this work for me. work in progress.
http://ideas.time.com/2012/02/01/why-morning-routines-are-creativity-killers/

HOw long before the temp craze hits teaching?

Temporary employment is up 50% since the 'end' of the recession. More employers are going through temp agencies and labor contractors, rather than hire directly. This used to be a way to shift benefit costs and liability to a third party. Now it's just a way to keep wages artificially low.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/temp-jobs_n_3562180.html

Cyberbullying

This is a topic more and more in the news and in our meetings. Here is one story:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/cyber-bullying-unmasked-the-tragic-case-of-cassidy/?utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_source=2012-06-25

Yes, teachers deserve a break

Especially after a hellish year like the one in Dallas. If they don't want to teach summer school, so be it. It's extra duty, for extra pay. Key word: extra. If you wanted teachers chomping at the bit to take a few more weeks of abuse, you shouldn't have treated them so badly to begin with. It's telling that upper-level administrators are also jumping ship.
http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/06/26/summer-school-dallas-no-teachers

Citizen Scientists REcognized by White House

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=128359&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

Gun found in Atlanta airport; man taken into custody

Gun found in Atlanta airport; man taken into custody

Check your bags before going to the airport, people. It really isn't THAT hard!

A diminished HOPE turns 20. And the debate continues

A diminished HOPE turns 20. And the debate continues

Gov Miller's legacy is being systematically gutted. Such a sad outcome. The HOPE program is being defunded, slowly, even as the lottery commission pays bonuses to top-level staff. Teacher compensation is no longer the highest in southern states. What's left?

As the world turns: Drama on Cherokee school board turns to...

As the world turns: Drama on Cherokee school board turns to...

So, the Supe doesn't see eye to eye with some board members. After doing something stupid on a weekend (going out for drinks and then jaywalking), you get even by filing a false complaint with the police. As if there is no way you could be found out... Brilliant move.
And just imagine what these clowns would do with a teacher who didn't dance to their tune. This is why we need ALL due process protection.
But, it's all about the kids, right?

everyone thinks they have the answer

Here is the perspective of a scientists turned teacher: http://www.musingsonlifeandlove.com/2010/09/13/the-hardest-job-everyone-thinks-they-can-do/#comment-13172

He points out that when he worked in the lab, nobody ever told him how to do his work. Now that he is in the classroom, everyone seems to think they know what he's doing wrong. I feel his pain.

Kudos to Diane Ravitch for posting the link to this gem.

Amusing "news" items

Check out Teachbad's fake news page: http://teachbad.com/fake-education-news-2/

There are some priceless headlines, like Permanent Marker Used on White Board, and Thanks for Raising Our Kids. My absolute favorite: Teacher Psyched About Getting Same Room. Having changed rooms every year, for like, ever, I can relate.

What a relief!

Turns out, I don't have to like teaching to be good at it. That's fortunate, because many days, I can't stand teaching, or more precisely, what it has become. The endless rounds of meetings and documentation while nothing of substance changes and little of substance is accomplished. The total lack of administrative support. The complete apathy of certain parents and students, usually those who can least afford to be apathetic. So, it's a good thing that good teaching and misery are not mutually exclusive.

Life is not a multiple choice test

Those are the words of Ron Maggiano, an award-winning Fairfax County (Va) teacher who has resigned after a career of 33 years. He's fed up and has  had enough. Valerie Strauss has his refelction on the decision and reasons for it. It all boils down to: testing.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/06/24/life-is-not-a-multiple-choice-test/

What a depressing look at 'return on investment'

It turns out I'm not getting a good return on the cost of my college degree. That sucks.
Of course, my students might have a different view of it. Personally, I'm tired of shopping at thrift stores for everything but undergarments. Are you listening, state legislators who've denied cost-of-living adjustments? Are you listening, board memebers who've slashed the local supplement to nothing and reduced my 403b match to almost nothing? Are you listening?

Anthony Cody on defeating Common Core

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2013/06/lesson_for_our_leaders_the_bes.html

Cody is fantastic, and tells it like it is:

We need to be absolutely clear. The Common Core is NOT a new paradigm.

It is old wine in a new, high tech bottle. If you want to give teachers a set of

loose standards and the time to work together to make them come alive

for their students, fantastic. However, if you want to create a seamless

system of cradle to college expectations, measured in all sorts of high stakes

tests, we are not interested, and will fight you every step of the way.

So, that's how the studios do it.

Can't wait to see someone try and leverage this model for education.
from Bloomberg

Obama, in his own words

Thank goodness for Valerie Strauss digging this up...
He actually sounded like he was against expanded standardized testing. That's not how it sounds these days...  What happened?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/05/27/what-obama-said-back-then-about-standardized-tests/

How to kill a school and a community

Break it up, install 'magnet' programs, require the teacher to re-apply for their jobs and then only "School reform", LA-style.  http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-adv-crenshaw-teacher-20130701,0,1041818,full.story

Why are teachers made to feel isolated?

http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2013/06/11/fp_greene_coffee.html?tkn=TXZFkU3OS2F39RmtHM9AlvlobZ4uCqFd9w%2FP&cmp=ENL-TU-NEWS1

In schools where I've worked in the past 10 years, the teachers' 'lounge' or 'break room' has been rebranded 'Teacher Work Room'. Apparently we aren't meant to take breaks.
Free cup of coffee? Haven't seen such in forever. Teachers who want some java generally keep a pot going in their room, or in the supply area behind the room, and maybe share with friends/teammates.

Why all this? It keeps us isolated, insecure, submissive.

Hunger affects decision-making and perception of risk

Hunger affects decision-making and perception of risk

It's like the ocmmercial says, "You're not yourself when you're hungry". I know I'm not, and my decision-making and reactions under stress aren't rational when I'm hungry.

back to that value-added study

About a year or so ago, the NY Times ran a big, splashy article about a new study that purported to quantify the value added by a great teacher over the earning lifetime of his/her class. Well, just like the Texas Miracle, the Atlanta Debacle, and the Rhee Makeover, it seems maybe it wasn't quite such a good study in the first place. Bruce Baker has been looking at it, and concludes the numbers were overstated, to say the least.


http://dianeravitch.net/2013/06/13/bruce-baker-another-look-at-the-much-hyped-chetty-rockoff-freidman-study/comment-page-1/#comment-187587

Assorted images... they tickle me.

Get ready to say good bye to paid sick leave in Florida

ALEC-sponsored legislation has passed in Florida that prohibits local regs requiring employers to provide paid sick leave...

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/06/paid-sick-leave-florida-disney-alec

The Ministry of Information

Yes, I am old enough to have read 1984, as well as Brave New world. Don't get me started on the parallels between their visions and our developing reality. I'll just say this: the BS coming from the CCSS/Charter/Broad/TFA/Gates/Walton/Duncan/Bloomberg/Klein/Walcott 'reform' crew reminds me of the Ministry of Information, which, as we all know (those of us who were required to read thought-provoking fiction, that is), was in the business of disseminating propaganda. They might just as well drop flyers from airplanes for all the value in their statements.
http://www.cato.org/blog/whos-misinforming-exactly

Ealum pushes School Bd. pay raise - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Ealum pushes School Bd. pay raise - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Just like our elected officials at other levels, wanting to increase their own pay while the rest of us struggle.
I would ordinarily agree that the stipend is not enough, but in an economy of furloughs, layoffs, pay cuts and school closings, it is utterly ridiculous to propose quadrupling the amount. It reflects a short-sighted and self-absorbed character. To quote those who respond to my comments on salary, if you don't like the pay, take your skills elsewhere...


UPDATE: The school board has already voted on this 4 to 3, and raised their stipend of 300%. All that's needed now is the stamp of the General Assembly. Upside: the General Assembly does not meet till Jan, so this can't go into effect till next July. Their is a slim possiblity that the GA could refuse approval on this, but somehow I doubt it.
http://www.walb.com/story/22697686/dougherty-county-school-board-members-approve-pay-raise

To their credit, "Carol Tharin, Lane Price and Robert Youngblood voted against the increase, saying it's not the right time.
"With the financial's in the condition that they're in and the multiple needs that we have in the school system, it seemed to me that the timing was not correct," said Price."

Too bad the other 4 board members didn't see it that way.

This resonates on so many levels...

From Susan Ohanian's blog :



Translation is given as: 'Despotic officials and shyster underofficials, may they feel ashamed!'

She saw it on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It dates to the time of the Monghol Khans. The man who wrote it, Yelu Chucai, was a Chinese survivor of Ghenghis Khan's seige of Beijing. He submitted to Monghol authority and became the Khan's soothsayer, and later Prime Minister of northern China under the Monghols.

Parents banned wholesale from school event- UK

It's not specific unruly or dangerous parents discussed in this article. It's all the parents. They've asked parents not to attend Sports Day (what we in this area know as Field Day, i guess), so as to minimize the stress of being watched by a large crowd. Apparently, the concern is that the kids can't enjoy themselves if their parents and the parents of their classmates are around. Uh, excuse me? What kids doesn't want to perform, or even show off, for parents? And those that don't care to participate shouldn't be required to. Simple. I'm with the parents who want to boycott and organize their own event.

Some comments on Common Core

This is Robert Shepherd on what is lacking in the Common Core.

“One could implement the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts perfectly and have students entirely miss what reading literature is about. They would not come away from their literature classes with the understanding that when they read a literary work well, they enter into an imaginative world and have an experience there, in all its concreteness and specificity, and it is then THAT experience that has significance, that matters, that has “meaning.”

Campaign to let Georgia girl play football goes worldwide

Campaign to let Georgia girl play football goes worldwide

She was good enough to make the team and play this year, but suddenly, it's not a good idea anymore. Tell you what, when she gets tired of taking shit from the boys on the team, either she'll give up playing or she'll kick their asses for being dummies. either way problem solved. He prayed on this, and he know's it's right. arrogant ass.

Another Day, Another Trashing of Teachers

Another Day, Another Trashing of Teachers

The New York Daily News has apparently declared open season on teachers, trumpeting every accusation with or without evidence, testimony, witnesses, or due process, as a foregone conclusion. Having been on the receiving end of what some folks can dream up, I'm more careful than I was about passing judgement on someone whose name comes up on the news. Aaron Hernandez comes to mind. I was willing to accept it might be coincidence, and then they found his gum and the shell casing, and the security video from inside the house. They've got something to work with. Before that, it was just words.

So, who attends those schools being closed?

Opportunity to learn has posted the following graphic:

Why wouldn't we wnat this?

Georgia scores low grade for content preparation of elementary...

More on the NCTQ report. I love the reader comment about how we shouldn't be taking the lowest scoring students for teacher prep. But, how to attract the 'best and brightest' to this dismal, failing, low-paid, low-prestige/respect profession? They have already decided they want to make a killing on Wall Street or some such.

Georgia scores low grade for content preparation of elementary...

Get your geek on. Support the library. | geekthelibrary.org

Get your geek on. Support the library. | geekthelibrary.org

The Red Queen was right: Life must continually evolve to avoid extinction

The Red Queen was right: Life must continually evolve to avoid extinction

Funny, I feel the same way as an educator. If I don't continually improve and evolve (or maybe, in some instance, devolve), I can't survive in the classroom.

Well, duh!

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/06/sunscreen-new-rules-uva-uvb

Is your sunscreen lying, says the headline. Silly question in this hands-off, free market environment.

Good advice

http://lctablog.wordpress.com/

Make sure to leave a mark.

Love it.

Geography could save you in the Zombie Apocalypse

Kids always ask, 'Why do we have to learn this?" Here's a possible response: If you learn geography, you might have a better chance of surviving when the zombies come after you... 

If we resolved all our disputes the same way...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BjexNXJYblQ

Maybe we'd be better off?

disconnect on policy

so if we aren't talking to each other, what are we doing?

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/teachers-and-policy-makers-troubling-disconnect/

science on facebook

Rare whale spotted by Canadian Coast Guard

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/06/19/haida-gwaii-whale-watching-rare-species_n_3469244.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Evaluation of Next Generation Science Standards- final review by Fordham Institute

"In the final evaluation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the Thomas B. Fordham Institute grants the standards a C grade. The NGSS grade is clearly superior to grades we granted to the science standards of sixteen states and the PISA framework in the State of State Science Standards 2012 but clearly inferior to those of twelve states and the District of Columbia, as well as the NAEP and TIMSS frameworks."
http://www.edexcellence.net/publications/final-evaluation-of-NGSS.html?goback=%2Egde_1791816_member_250891980

For more details, the full report is available.

just like many of my students...

from I Fucking Love Science

on testing

from Save Our Schools

science teacher joke

The real status quo?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/05/29/how-school-reform-preserves-the-status-quo-and-what-real-change-would-look-like/

when parents don't do their job...

http://www.nj.com/times-opinion/index.ssf/2013/04/opinion_when_parents_do_their.html

Frank Breslin on demonizing teachers

http://www.nj.com/times-opinion/index.ssf/2013/03/opinion_why_america_demonizes.html

How would Commissioner King fare?

What if 20-25% of his rating were based upon factors beyond his control, such as successful and complete funding of all schools and programs? Would he get to keep his job, I wonder? It fascinates me that those who advocate these schemes for you and me wouldn't dream of abiding by the same expectations for themselves...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/06/opinion/better-teachers-for-new-york-city.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Lightning strikes twice

Another from Fox News. This time it's Judge Andrew Napolitano. Love his books.

In 30 years, from 1979 to 2009, the legal standard for searching and seizing private communications -- the bar that the Constitution requires the government to meet -- was lowered by Congress from probable cause of crime to probable cause of being an agent of a foreign power to probable cause of being a foreign person to probable cause of communicating with a foreign person.

The NSA says that Congress knew about all this, but its members were prohibited from telling the American people. What kind of a democracy is that?

The modern-day British soldiers -- our federal agents -- are not going from house to house; they are going from phone to phone and from computer to computer, enabling them to penetrate every aspect of our lives.

If anything violates the lessons of our history, the essence of our values and the letter of the Constitution, it is this.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/06/13/liberty-in-shambles/?intcmp=trending#ixzz2W6JtRbxd

I never would have thought I would be reposting something from Fox News, but here it is: Rand Paul on Constitutional protections.  He points out:

President Obama says, “You can't have 100 percent security and also then have 100 percent

privacy and zero inconvenience.” But we couldn’t have 100 percent security even if we

 turned America into a total police state—something too many seem eager for—because

 there’s no such thing as a risk free society.

He also says "Anytime we give up our liberty—we lose."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/06/12/sorry-mr-obama-constitution-is-not-negotiable/?cmpid=GoogleNewsEditorsPicks&google_editors_picks=true#ixzz2W6GxBBmk

What is wrong with people?

Local kid gives fantastic rendition of the National Anthem at the NBA finals in San Antonio. Better than most adult professionals, I might add. Video goes out, Twitter blows up, and bigots come out of the woodwork. Holy stupidity, batman! Who the hell are these troglodytes? Find their rock and stick them back under it, for heaven's sake!
Actually, they remind me of some of the narrow-minded folks I encounter around here. I'm just waiting for someone to go there with me; I'm so ready for it.

 http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/watercooler/mexican-american-boy-sings-national-anthem-at-nba-finals-game-criticized-faced-racist-comments-sebastien-de-la-cruz-061313

https://www.facebook.com/sebastien.delacruz.3

http://www.heavy.com/news/2013/06/sebastian-de-la-cruz-racism-national-anthem/

University of Minnesota researchers control flying robot with only the mind : UMNews : University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota researchers control flying robot with only the mind : UMNews : University of Minnesota

A whole new category of drone...

Yertle meets the Common Core

" It was a plain, little turtle doing a plain, little thing that brought liberation to the turtle citizenry. "

http://kidsinthesystem.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/teachers-in-their-own-words-a-plain-little-thing-2/

trying to reach "noise-addicted, distraction-ridden, pumped-up poseurs and video-gamers"

According to Frank Breslin, these are the audience we are trying to bring on board. And we wonder why it doesn't always go as planned?

Most "super" supermoon of 2013 on June 22-23 | Tonight | EarthSky

Most "super" supermoon of 2013 on June 22-23 | Tonight | EarthSky

Hartsfield concourse evacuated following explosion in...

Hartsfield concourse evacuated following explosion in...

There's been an outrageous amount of energy spent on reporting this live, as if it were a terrorist act. In fact, it so far sounds like an electrical overload.
Add to that, there were a couple of bomb 'threats' in the Capitol area this morining,and two buildings were evacuated for police clearance. Seems like nothing significat there, also.

Gates Foundation looking to make nice with teachers | Education | The Seattle Times

Gates Foundation looking to make nice with teachers | Education | The Seattle Times

But it's too little, too late. Gates has already done more damage to education in this country, and teachers specifically, than he can possibly repair in a lifetime of make-nice events. Don't know what his personal beef is, but I wish he'd discuss it with a professional before going in front of the microphones.

Brave, stupid, or crazy?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance?CMP=twt_gu


Edward Snowden is holed up in Hong Kong, waiting to see what NSA,CIA, etc throw at him.

100 Clayton students intending to take ACT turned away

100 Clayton students intending to take ACT turned away

Can't wait to hear the "explanation". Why wasn't there even a custodian around? Someone would need to be there to open the building for the ACT folks, right? Rumor has it the exam was cancelled. If so, why, and shouldn't registered students have been notified?

take one for self-pity. repeat as needed

Bret dunlap nearly died as a child. It's been a rough road to carve out a life for himself. When feeling pitiful, this puts it back in perspective. http://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/bret-dunlap-discovered-running-and-it-changed-his-life?page=single

get ready and be accountable?

http://edushyster.com/?p=2539

On the purpose of a college education

There's been a lot of hype about college. go to college and get a 'good' job. Go to college and you'll be assured of a high paying job. Get out of the minimum wage trap by going to college. Unemployed? Go to college and learn a new field to get a job. on and on. We sell it to our kids all the time. There is now discussion of whether colleges should offer courses of study that are not geared to current employment needs/targets. Should students major in something that doesn't guarantee them employment? Etc. Here comes a former student, who majored in drama, who is employed, to answer a remark by the Chancellor of the University System of Georgia.
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/jun/01/chancellor-students-choosing-wrong-areas-study-inc/

ITHAKA

As you set out for Ithaka hope the voyage is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. Laistrygonians and Cyclops, angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them: you’ll never find things like that on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare excitement stirs your spirit and your body. Laistrygonians and Cyclops, wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul, unless your soul sets them up in front of you. Hope the voyage is a long one. May there be many a summer morning when, with what pleasure, what joy, you come into harbors seen for the first time; may you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine things, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual perfume of every kind— as many sensual perfumes as you can; and may you visit many Egyptian cities to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars. Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you are destined for. But do not hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years, so you are old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you have gained on the way, not expecting Ithaka to make you rich. Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you would not have set out. She has nothing left to give you now. And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you. Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

Translated by Edmund Keeley/Philip Sherrard

(C.P. Cavafy, Collected Poems. Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Edited by George Savidis. Revised Edition. Princeton University Press, 1992)

There Aren’t Happy Endings for Teachers in the Trenches | Teach4Real

There Aren’t Happy Endings for Teachers in the Trenches | Teach4Real

Having bbeen assured (I saw the schedule) that my assignment would remain the same for next year, I was resigned and almost optimistic about teaching math again. It was a nightmare this year; I'm not the caliber of math teacher my kids needed, deserved. I'm much stronger in almost any other area but math.

School let out, and when I returned for post-planning, I was looking forward to getting to stay in the same classroom for a change. In five years at thsi school, this was my 5th room. In the last 16 years, I've changed rooms or schools every year but one. I've only stayed in the same room once, and that was a last-minute change.

On the first day (of two) of post-planning, I learned that once again, things had changed, and I was not only being reassigned to a different grade(s) and subject, but had to relocate to another room. In a day and a half I had to move all of my shit to the new location. I've now put my energy into building rapport with the person I'll be coteaching with, but now there's an opportunity to interview for a different job at another school. Right now I'm not sure I even want it.

Such is the professional life of a teacher of students with disabilities.

Silicon Valley's 49%

Technology, the great equalizer. With 21st Century Technology, it doesn't matter who you are, because you can get the job done from anywhere. Right?

So why is Silicon Valley still a bastion of white males, where women earn 49 cents on the dollar compared with their male counterparts?
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/06/silicon-valley-race-gender-problem-income-inequality

cloaking inequity on early childhood education

http://cloakinginequity.com/2013/04/09/cis-first-infographic-perks-of-preschool/

Teaching machine, or Zombie Apocalypse?

Way back when, as early as the turn of the 20th century, there was a dream that one day we could develop a machine that would replace teachers and make learning painless, effortless, and efficient, as depicted below:

From Taylor, Thorndike, and Pressey, to Skinner, and now, the Dreambox, the idea has resurfaced multiple times over the past 100-plus years. Now, the dream is revived, like a zombie that keeps coming back. It takes the form of computers, filled with data, that will 'deliver instruction', assess progress, record and analyze results, and ultimately, replace the live teacher in the room.

I wish...

Finally, someone has opened their eyes!

Charter school are notorious for being unwilling or unprepared to serve students with disabilities. Some actively discourage enrollment of such students. In Milwaukee, the schools have gotten their hand slapped for their shenanigans. Diane Ravitch picked this up recently. The ACLU filed a complaint in 2011, and the USDOE responded in May:

"The state cannot, by delegating the education function to private voucher schools, place students beyond the reach of the federal laws that require Wisconsin to eliminate disability discrimination in its administration of public programs," DOJ officials wrote in the letter to Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Tony Evers.
In the letter, the DOJ firmly establishes that the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to voucher programs, with potentially far-reaching impact across the country. Twenty states and the District of Columbia currently offer taxpayer-funded voucher programs or tax credits permitting students to use public funds for private school education.
"The Department of Justice has affirmed that private schools that receive taxpayer dollars do not operate in a civil rights vacuum," said Courtney Bowie, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union Racial Justice Program.

Hallelujah!!!

Here is why teachers aren't speaking up

If even someone at Peter DeWitt's level can be subjected to intimidation, what about the rest of us?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/06/02/the-story-of-an-offending-blog-post/

Our governors at work

attempting to extricate their feet from their mouths...  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/06/04/mississippi-governor-educational-troubles-began-when-mom-got-in-the-workplace/

Maybe we should be more like Ontario

http://www.edsource.org/today/2013/california-looks-to-ontario-schools-reformer-for-guidance/30644#.UYZjUsu9KSP


http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/05/what-america-can-learn-from-ontarios-education-success/256654/

http://www.edsource.org/today/wp-content/uploads/Fullan-Wrong-Drivers1.pdf

Here's what's wrong with Race to the Top

Turley hits the nail on the head. I'm grateful to Diane Ravitch for linking this.

This is what it was like teaching common core math this year

My students lacked the foundation skills to be successful with grade level material, and now under common core they are expected to master linear equations, direct variation, etc. They are struggling with basic math facts, so many days our lessons sounded like the philosophy class in this article. Using textbooks written (and not corrected/updated) by the College board complicated matters.