untold Holocaust story

over the next week, PBS stations across the country will air "Rescue in the Phillippines", the story of a WWII rescue of some 1200 jews from the Phillipines. As the Japanese troops advanced, the Jews directly in harm's way. Some of them were desscended from Spanish families who fled the Spanish Inquistion, others had evacuated Europe or Shanghai.
http://rescueinthephilippines.com/

Marry my son, please!

So a Princeton grad and mom (and 'pioneer' of 1973) has written an open letter advising Princeton women to marry Princeton men, and to hurry up about it. After all, you only have 3 years before you are down to a limited pool because you will be older than 3/4 of them. Great advice, pioneering mom.
Wonder how her son feels?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2301415/Susan-A-Patton-wrote-Princeton-student-newspaper-urging-female-students-snag-man.html

poisoned by students

I thought the rudeness and lies were bad to deal with, now we have to worry that students might spike our drinks. Isopropyl alcohol is not meant for consumption- not only will you be buzzed, there's risk of permanent organ damage. This is no joke!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/middle-school-teacher-says-she-was-unaware-hand-sanitizer-was-being-put-in-her-tea/2013/03/29/4b9033f6-987d-11e2-b5b4-b63027b499de_story.html

this may really be how it started...

something to think about while watching Andy Murry getting creamed in Miami

Fantastic (NOT) idea

http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2013/03/27/new-race-to-the-top-teacher-evaluations-with-strong-reliance-on-test-scores-begin-in-2014-2015/?cp=3#comment-273225

Our esteemed and infallible legislators/policymakers/school detsroyers have finally enshrined VAM in state law. There is every reason to believe the Gov will sign this piece of toilet paper. He certainly has not said anything suggesting he wouldn't. 'At least' 50% of this score is now mandated to come from test scores.
Not one of these nitwits has spent time in a classroom to see students go to more effort avoiding their work than it would take to just do it. None of them has had the joy of hearing a student announce his/her intention to 'get' you in trouble, even if it requires a conspiracy of lies that rivals Watergate. Non of them has been grabbed by a student and dragged up and down the hallway in front of students and teachers. None of them has ever witnessed a student DELIBERATELY blow the test, for personal reasons (avoid higher demands, get parental attention, get out of the gifted classes, compete with peers for lowest possible results, etc.)
 Keep in mind the tests in question have yet to be written as we are in the middle of switching to Common Core standards, and the CCSS-based tests (from the PARCC Consortium) do not yet exist. Also keep in mind that NO ONE has yet shown that these tests measure ANYTHING other than the ability to distinguish the four letters A,B,C, and D. Further, keep in mind that the children and grandchildren of the aforementioned wonks attend non-public schools and will never be subjected to this bullshit of a system.
It's time to get the hell out of this place, if it's the last thing we ever do.

VRM evaluation system...

Love the idea. Let's expand it to include our legislators and business leaders...
http://protectportelos.org/new-nyc-firefighter-evaluations/

No thanks for the 'miracle', Florida

Umm, if this is what 'success' looks like, I'll pass.

http://m.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/opinion/editorial-florida-needs-no-advice-from-jeb-bush-on/nWYCy/

What happens when the 'war' is won?

Personally, I like the "Pottery Barn rule". Absolutely, you break it, you bought it.
Absolutely, there are a lot of factors that have not been considered in this data-driven, value-added, BS model we are being handed. Not just homeless kids and SWD, but also families that just move, sometimes 3 or 4 times in a year. And 'accountability' of the charters, private schools and other non-public entities that receive our students courtesy of 'vouchers', 'scholarships', or whatever sweet term is concocted. The comparison with mental health 'reform' is especially apt.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-epstein/the-education-reformers-e_b_840831.html

Thinking about how we measure learning...

What does it mean to say that a student (or group of students) has gained a year of learning, half a year of learning, whatever?
When we use a standardized test as the basis for such statements, what kind of raw scores are we talking about? Even the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Acheivement (3 ed), used with my students with disabilities and individually administered, sometimes makes me wonder.
So, what if we were talking about a generic test 40 questions long? How do you use that to gauge the amount of learning that has occurred?
TFA says you can claim a year of growth based on answering 3 more questions correctly compared to a control group... http://garyrubinstein.teachforus.org/2013/03/09/is-a-half-year-of-learning-equivalent-to-one-question-on-a-multiple-choice-test/

So, we aren't the only stupid ones

The push to privatize public education continues in England as well, to the detriment of the schools and their students:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/04/education-capitalist-command-economy

Glowing soldiers at Shiloh

Yep, during the Civil War.
After the battle of Shiloh, weather prevented medics from reaching the wounded soldiers. They lay in the mud during an overnight rain, getting filthy and hypothermic. When it was finally possible to go out and offer treatment, reports came back that some of the men's open wounds were glowing. Those who had the myssterious glow seemed to have better prospects for recovery than those who did not, and it became known as "Angel's Glow".
A while back, someone figured out a possible scientific explanation for the Angel's Glow: http://mentalfloss.com/article/30380/why-some-civil-war-soldiers-glowed-dark#ixzz2M1f5U4PV

Fascinating.

consistency- hobgoblin of little minds?

At my school, it's a running joke that if a decision is made by administration, it will get changed in no time. You can count on it. We might be told to tighten up on enforcing the dress code on Monday, then we'll be told Wednesday to ease up and concentrate on 'the important things'. The following week, when the kids are starting to look like MTV video stars, suddenly it's important to jump on that dress code again. You can get whiplash trying to keep up with the shifts in policy. And that's just one example. We've been given contradictory instructions about the school discipline plan, RTI procedures, and most anything else you can imagine. My favorite is when we get nailed for not doing something correctly, after following the only instructions we were provided, because the new expectation was never communicated to us. We have to constantly ask questions to clarify exactly what someone wants us to do, because it changes frequently and without notice.

ravitch remembers

So do I. It was all about what I was willing, and able to do. It never occured to me that the teacher was responsible for my test results.

http://dianeravitch.net/2012/07/27/do-you-remember/

the changing ways we communicate

The Social Century: 100 Years of Talking, Watching, Reading and Writing in America - The Atlantic

I wonder, what is the societal effect of these changes in the last 50 years?

sound and fury

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/01/science/discord-sound-noise-and-our-elusive-quest-for-quiet.html?pagewanted=1&src=recg&_r=0

There are times we just crave quiet, though we don't always realize that's what is happening.
And so, sometimes, I just want to lock my door and eat lunch, by myself, in relaive peace and quiet. Or at least accompanied by sounds of my choosing, instead of someone else's.

editorial on high stakes testing.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20130213/OPINION01/302130015/Editorial-High-stakes-tests-killing-our-schools?gcheck=1&nclick_check=1

This writer said last month "deprivation of financial resources coupled with a regimented, dispassionate approach to measuring outcomes will by design sort out winners and losers". Ironically, it was exactly that kind of sorting system that we educators have been trying to get away from for many years. Race To the Top has revived it, on steroids. After all, how many can actually win the "race"?

Here's how I want to go out when te time comes

with a bang, not a whimper: http://www.upworthy.com/see-the-teacher-s-resignation-video-that-280-000-people-have-already-watched?g=3&c=ufb1

Define 'effective'

that''s the easy part.
Now, measure it.
"While the MET project has brought unprecedented vigor to teacher evaluation research, its results do not settle disagreements about what makes an effective teacher and offer little guidance about how to design real-world teacher evaluation systems."

Basically, they figured out that 'teacher effectiveness' is very difficult to measure in any meaningful way. I could have told them that, for a lot less money.

Diane Ravitch posted this today on her blog.

Finally, a rationale for student phones

When you get caught at school with liquor on your person, you have to be able to call your lawyer before speaking with the resource officer... Frankly, I'm surprised he got such prompt advice. When I need legal advice from my professional association, it takes several calls over a couple of days.

http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2013/03/15/heres-why-students-need-cellphones-in-school-to-call-their-lawyers/

http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2013-03-15/oconee-student-calls-lawyer-when-found-gin-school