INEFFICIENT USE OF A TEACHER’S TIME « Teachers Fight Back

INEFFICIENT USE OF A TEACHER’S TIME « Teachers Fight Back:

INEFFICIENT USE OF A TEACHER’S TIME

by alkleen

I would like to see education reformers insist that school districts make efficient use of a teacher’s time. There are way too many times that teachers are doing jobs that are nothing more than glorified babysitting.

Teachers often have what is known as “bus duty”. They supervise students on the school grounds as they arrive at school and when they leave school. The “bus duty” can often require the teacher to spend up to a half hour supervising students.

Teachers often have “lunch duty”. This duty requires the teacher to be in the school cafeteria supervising students . Some of the teachers even help to clean up the lunchroom.

Teachers often must supervise athletic events that are held at the school. The teachers patrol the stands in the

Three Years of Lefty Parent | Lefty Parent

Three Years of Lefty Parent | Lefty Parent:

Three Years of Lefty Parent

by Cooper Zale

I’m three years into my writing under the banner of “Lefty Parent”. It has been the key outward expression of my effort to move beyond the mid-life crisis of my early fifties. In that time period I have written about 325 pieces, had over 120,000 views of those pieces on my ownwww.leftyparent.com blog, and thousands of additional views and comments on the Daily KOS version of my blog.

I consider myself blessed to be living and writing in the age of the Internet, so I can have an audience for my work without officially being “published”. Such is the nature of this new communication technology that allows us to share our written ideas with each other without having to necessarily go through a “gatekeeper” like an actual book, magazine or newspaper publisher. Not that I would not love my work to be formally published and garner a

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts #ows #edreform

Looking for a few good mentors | Ideas and Thoughts

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Looking for a few good mentors | Ideas and Thoughts:Looking for a few good mentorsby Dean ShareskiFrom January to April I'll be teaching a course called ECMP 455. It's an advanced course on using technology in education. Whatever that means. Actually what it means is I want my students to dig deep into what teaching and learning looks like in 2012 as great teachers and great ideas come together to make learning better and richer and even transformative. I've taught ... more »

Fact Sheet: Multiple Measures: A Definition and Examples from the U.S. and Other Nations | FairTest

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Fact Sheet: Multiple Measures: A Definition and Examples from the U.S. and Other Nations | FairTest:Fact Sheet: Multiple Measures: A Definition and Examples from the U.S. and Other NationsSubmitted by fairtest on July 28, 2010 - 12:51pm fact sheets k-12 whats newMultiple Measures: A Definition and Examples from the U.S. and Other NationsSummaryDefinition. Multiple measures: the use of multiple indicators and sources of evidence of student learning, of varying kinds, gathered at multiple points in time, within and across subject ... more »

SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL: Little Evan Stone And Princess Sydney Morris Are Do-Gooders (Thank God!)

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SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL: Little Evan Stone And Princess Sydney Morris Are Do-Gooders (Thank God!):Little Evan Stone And Princess Sydney Morris Are Do-Gooders (Thank God!)by noreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher)Let's try this. Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat (sound of teletype)rat-tat-tat-tat....From the newsroom of Educators4Excllence, breaking news!!!!E4E, Little Evan Stone, and Princess Sydney Morris have been featured onthedogooder.com as a couple of gosh diddly darn do gooders! Yes, in an article entitled, "Educators 4 Excellence: An Independent Voice for Teachers" (notice the major typo when you ... more »

Schooling in the Ownership Society: For-profit teacher certification is booming

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Schooling in the Ownership Society: For-profit teacher certification is booming:For-profit teacher certification is boomingby Mike KlonskyThis, according to a Nov. 26 New York Times report.As you might expect, Texas leads the way in for-profit teacher certifications. More than 110 alternative certification programs — including iteachTexas, and nonprofits like Teach for America — produce 40 percent of all new teachers in Texas, according to an analysis of Texas Education Agency data by Ed Fuller, a Penn State University education professor and ... more »

Many Lenses, But Little Focus. « My Island View

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Many Lenses, But Little Focus. « My Island View:Many Lenses, But Little Focus.by tomwhitbyTo understand why certain decisions are made, we need to understand the decision maker and the pressures under which certain decisions are made. This is sometimes referred to as looking through the lens of the decision maker. It takes into view many of the factors pushing and pulling on an individual responsible for making a decision. Sometimes decisions of some magnitude may require a number of individuals ... more »

Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through M.I.T.’s Male Math Maze will be at the University of Washington | Seattle Education

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Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through M.I.T.’s Male Math Maze will be at the University of Washington | Seattle Education:Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through M.I.T.’s Male Math Maze will be at the University of Washingtonby seattleducation2011From the Truth Values website:Created as a response to former Harvard President Lawrence Summers’ now infamous suggestion that women are less represented than men in the sciences because of innate gender differences,Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through M.I.T.’s Male Math Maze is a true-life ... more »

Occupy Philly Facing Eviction TODAY | OccupyWallSt.org #ows

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Occupy Philly Facing Eviction TODAY | OccupyWallSt.org:Occupy Philly Facing Eviction TODAYby OccupyWallStOccupy Philadelphia has announced they are facing imminent eviction:[Mayor] Nutter has joined the chorus of Mayors nationwide to silence and render invisible this movement against Wall Street greed. The City told us to leave City Hall with all of our belongings by 5pm today. At 5pm let's show them how much support this movement has. Come to City Hall and stand with the 99%! Chances are police will not ... more »

NYT: Policy-Making Billionaires – Their policy is to make billions off our kids. Shut the school house gates on Gates. « Continuing Change

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NYT: Policy-Making Billionaires – Their policy is to make billions off our kids. Shut the school house gates on Gates. « Continuing Change:NYT: Policy-Making Billionaires – Their policy is to make billions off our kids. Shut the school house gates on Gates.by gatorbonbcPolicy Making Billionaires Boys Club making education their pet project.Wanna bet their policy is to make sure they make billions…

Is the Job of a Teacher 24/7 | Connected Principals

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Is the Job of a Teacher 24/7 | Connected Principals:Is the Job of a Teacher 24/7by Akevy GreenblattPicture from: nysut.orgI haven’t blogged for a while and have been thinking about what to blog about. I am jealous of all of those in my PLN that blog daily and sometimes more than once a day. After thinking about this for a while I decided to put my thoughts down on “paper”.Today we talk about child centered learning and the teacher as ... more »

Library group denounces book destruction at Occupy Wall Street - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post #ows

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Library group denounces book destruction at Occupy Wall Street - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:Library group denounces book destruction at Occupy Wall Streetby Valerie StraussThe American Library Association has denounced the destruction of books at a library set up by Occupy Wall Street when New York police raided a park where protesters were staying earlier this month.The ALA, the oldest and largest library association in the world, issued a release that said some of its members who had ... more »

Kitzhaber backs Richard Lariviere ouster while University of Oregon community rallies in support | OregonLive.com

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Kitzhaber backs Richard Lariviere ouster while University of Oregon community rallies in support | OregonLive.com:Kitzhaber backs Richard Lariviere ouster while University of Oregon community rallies in supportPublished: Saturday, November 26, 2011, 7:31 PM Updated: Saturday, November 26, 2011, 8:44 PM By Kelly House, The Oregonian View full sizeThomas Boyd/The OregonianUniversity of Oregon President Richard Lariviere greets head football coach Chip Kelly before the Ducks game against Oregon State University Saturday at Autzen Stadium. The popular university president received an ou... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts #ows #edreform

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Occupy LA: “Oh No! We Won’t Go!” Mayor Says “11/28 at 12:01am Park Will Be Shut Down” | La Figa #owsBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-17 minutes agoOccupy LA: “Oh No! We Won’t Go!” Mayor Says “11/28 at 12:01am Park Will Be Shut Down” | La Figa:Occupy LA: “Oh No! We Won’t Go!” Mayor Says “11/28 at 12:01am Park Will Be Shut Down”Lisa Derrick Friday November 25, 2011 5:24 pm Tweet3 In their official statement below, Occupy Los Angeles ... more »

UCD readies for strike; regents’ presence unsettled | Davis Enterprise #ows

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UCD readies for strike; regents’ presence unsettled | Davis Enterprise:UCD readies for strike; regents’ presence unsettledby Cory GoldenOn Monday, the University of California regents are likely to get an earful about the pepper-spraying of nonviolent protesters, but no appointed regents may be on the Davis campus to listen.Meeting by teleconference, the UC Board of Regents will take public comment from four campuses between 9 and 10 a.m. At UCD, public comment will be taken in the Activities and Recreation Center ... more »

Kansas HS Student Won't Apologize to Governor for Tweet | MyFDL

Kansas HS Student Won't Apologize to Governor for Tweet | MyFDL:

Kansas HS Student Won’t Apologize to Governor for Tweet

by Teddy Partridge

High school tweeter Emma Sullivan

High school tweeter Emma Sullivan, citing free speech and Gandhi, will defy her high school principal and not apologize to Governor Sam Brownback for the supposedly hurtful things she twittered to her (then-60) Twitter followers, implying she spoke back harshly to the governor, called him out publicly for his views, and suggested he blows — a lot.

None of which, we suppose, is true. Or (until the governor’s director of communications demanded an apology)

First Amendment hijacked by moneyed interests #ows

First Amendment hijacked by moneyed interests:

First Amendment hijacked by moneyed interests

Robert Reich

Sunday, November 27, 2011

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A UC Davis police officer uses pepper spray on protesters during an Occupy rally Nov. 18.

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A funny thing happened to the First Amendment on its way to the public forum: It was hijacked.

According to the Supreme Court, money is now speech, and corporations are now people.

Yet when real people without money assemble to express their dissatisfaction with the political

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/26/INBM1M2LC7.DTL#ixzz1exVoShyz

On school reform, concensus grows around three principles | NJ.com

On school reform, concensus grows around three principles | NJ.com:

On school reform, concensus grows around three principles

Published: Sunday, November 27, 2011, 12:04 PM

By Star-Ledger Guest Columnist By Mike Lilley and Tim Melton

From President Obama to Gov. Chris Christie to the New Jersey Education Association to Michelle Rhee, a national consensus is emerging that significant changes must come to public education.

It would have been unthinkable as recently as a year ago, but today the issue isn’t whether the political will exists in New Jersey to disrupt the status quo but how quickly change will come and how far-reaching will it be.

Better Education for Kids’ vision for reform is based on four common-sense tenets. First, the interests of students must be the first priority. Second, there must be an effective teacher in every classroom. Third, teachers must be given the necessary training and resources to be effective. And fourth, all public policy — and all administrative and personnel policies — must support these goals.

Students lose individual attention as class sizes swell across the metro area | OregonLive.com

Students lose individual attention as class sizes swell across the metro area | OregonLive.com:

Students lose individual attention as class sizes swell across the metro area

by Nicole Dungca, The Oregonian

HAPPY VALLEY -- After walking into Carl Sander's algebra class with a late pass in hand, Alex Gonzales, 13, found himself alone at a side table. It wasn't punishment. The Happy Valley Middle School classroom simply doesn't have enough desks for 47 students.

In many school districts across Oregon, this year's classes represent the largest yet, and students are feeling the effects. "We just learn better in smaller classes," said eighth-grader Hannah Pasco, 13, from the back of Sander's first-period algebra class. "We'd get a better education."

Every day, Sander's six math classes, four with more than 40 students, exemplify the problems with bigger classes -- claustrophobic desk arrangements, more noise, more distractions, student questions that go unasked or unanswered.

"When you're increasing class sizes, you're creating a system in which we are preordaining that a certain percentage are going to fail," said Leonie Haimson, the executive director of the Class Size Matters, a New York-based organization that advocates for small classes. "For the high-need

NYC Public School Parents: A message from Parents to Improve School Transportation: Relax about bus strike but not about safety

NYC Public School Parents: A message from Parents to Improve School Transportation: Relax about bus strike but not about safety:

A message from Parents to Improve School Transportation: Relax about bus strike but not about safety

by Leonie Haimson

PIST was an invited guest at the monthly membership meeting of school bus drivers’, escorts’, and mechanics’ Local 1181 ATU on November 22. This was clearly NOT a meeting to hold a strike vote. The president went over the union’s position on Employee Protection Provisions but no date was set for a strike vote, let alone a strike.

PIST described how parents were made to worry all weekend by media reports--traceable to Mayor Bloomberg—that a school bus strike could or would happen on the 21^st. On Monday, some students came home with forms requested updated emergency contacts specifically in case of a sudden strike. President Michael Cordiello replied that never in the history of the local would they strike in the middle of the day and leave children stranded.

Leaders of PIST and of the Community Education Council 31 in Staten Island are some of