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Friday, March 16, 2012

In Oakland, transitional kindergarten is still a go - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools

In Oakland, transitional kindergarten is still a go - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools:


In Oakland, transitional kindergarten is still a go

Friday, March 16th, 2012 at 12:13 pm in Jerry Brownpreschool

photo of transitional kindergarten pilot at Greenleaf Elementary by Laura A. Oda/Staff
It’s been a confusing few months for families with children who are turning 5 in November — kids who, until this year, would have been eligible to start kindergarten.
First, they hear that their local district will be required to offer a two-year kindergarten program for their child this fall (and, eventually, children who turn 5 between Sept. 2 and Dec. 2). Then, they learn the governor wants to overturn the law instituting transitional kindergarten, and that districts — such as San Francisco Unified — are worried they might not have the funding for it.
Now, legislative analysts say that districts will have the per-student funding needed to pay for transitional kindergarten, even if Gov. Jerry Brown succeeds in repealing the mandate. And if the mandate stands, of 

Top Content this Week - The Educator's PLN

Top Content this Week - The Educator's PLN:



Top Content 

Rank
1What students should do about a 'bad grade'

What students should do about a 'bad grade'

Added by ruthschapira on March 7, 2012
2Why mobile learning?

Why mobile learning?

Added by Thomas Whitby on February 10, 2012
3Simple Booklet--simple, indeed!

Simple Booklet--simple, indeed!

Added by Leanna K Johnson on March 10, 2012
4How do you motivate your online learners?

How do you motivate your online learners?

Posted by Jackie Savini on March 12, 2012
5KONY 2012

KONY 2012

Added by Thomas Whitby on March 9, 2012
6How do you keep students engaged in your online classroom?

How do you keep students engaged in your online classroom?

Posted by Jackie Savini on February 12, 2012
7More Assessment info from Dr. Tomlinson

More Assessment info from Dr. Tomlinson

Posted by Jamie House on March 6, 2012
8An Introduction to Project-Based Learning

An Introduction to Project-Based Learning

Added by Thomas Whitby on March 7, 2012
9Tell Us Where You Blog!

Tell Us Where You Blog!

Posted by Mary Beth Hertz on November 5, 2009
10school kills creativity - ken robinson

school kills creativity - ken robinson

Added by Thomas Whitby on February 28, 2012
11New sister school in Cape Town

New sister school in Cape Town

Added by GĂ©rard Gatoux on March 12, 2012
12iPad Remorse

iPad Remorse

Posted by Adam Cross on March 16, 2012
1319 Pencils

19 Pencils

Posted by David Kapuler on March 14, 2012
14Open a Banana Like a Monkey

Open a Banana Like a Monkey

Added by Thomas Whitby on August 31, 2010
15Treasures Just Waiting To Be Discovered

Treasures Just Waiting To Be Discovered

Added by Nikki Robertson on March 12, 2012
16GLOBAL DIGITAL SPELLATHON CHAMPIONSHIP MAY 2012.

GLOBAL DIGITAL SPELLATHON CHAMPIONSHIP MAY 2012.

Posted by Richard Wood on March 14, 2012
17No Child Left Behind = Falsifying Documents?

No Child Left Behind = Falsifying Documents?

Posted by Jackie Savini on March 11, 2012
18I-pad is the key to unlocking the door to engagement

I-pad is the key to unlocking the door to engagement

Added by Irene Tortolini on March 16, 2012
19Time-saving Tablets

Time-saving Tablets

Added by Leanna K Johnson on March 10, 2012
20GLOBAL DIGITAL SPELLATHON CHAMPIONSHIP MAY 2012

GLOBAL DIGITAL SPELLATHON CHAMPIONSHIP MAY 2012

Posted by Richard Wood on March 14, 2012

How Charter Schools Can Hurt - NYTimes.com

How Charter Schools Can Hurt - NYTimes.com:


How Charter Schools Can Hurt

MY daughter is a kindergarten pupil at P.S. 261 in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. She started there in September, and she loves everything about it: her friends, her teachers and her school-related activities, like Girl Scouts. Intense excitement accompanied both the post office project earlier this year and the Halloween Day Characters Parade, in which her class dressed up as the Three Little Pigs.

Related in Opinion

A few weeks ago, for three days in a row starting at 3 p.m., a representative from the Success Academy charter school that is scheduled to open this fall in adjacent Cobble Hill stood outside the doors of P.S. 261, handing out fliers and attempting to recruit its students. On day two, outraged teachers asked the man to leave. He refused. On day three, a loose group of teachers, parents and students occupied the 

Helping girls make better choices - California Teachers Association

Helping girls make better choices - California Teachers Association:


Helping girls make better choices

By Sherry Posnick-Goodwin
Connie Iglesias (left) with Bianca Arias.
Castro Valley High School senior Bianca Arias plans on becoming a nurse, and she has applied to several universities to achieve her goal. She gives much of the credit for her academic success to the “strong support system” she receives from belonging to Mujeres, a group that meets regularly with school counselor Connie Iglesias.
“Instead of thinking short-term, I’m thinking long-term,” says Arias, who is the club’s president.
Iglesias founded the club because she saw some female students getting into fights, not succeeding at school, and even dropping out. She worried that they were making choices that might lead to a “rougher life” in adulthood — affecting their future relationships, career choices and overall well-being.
The Castro Valley Teachers Association member wanted to put these girls, mostly Latina, on a better path, and asked some of them to join a group called Mujeres, which is Spanish for “women.” Programs reaching out to minority youth, she observes, often focus on boys rather than girls, who may fall through the cracks.
“Traditionally, these kinds of girls don’t talk to adults and might be failing in class,” she says. “I can be that caring adult who wants them to succeed. I know what it’s like. I am a Latina, and some of my family members did not graduate from high school. I call their parents. I do a lot of hand-holding.”
Founded three years ago, Mujeres meets weekly for lunch to discuss life, coping skills, and how to be 

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Late Nite Posts 3-16 #soschat #EDReform



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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: The Texas Two-Step -- Cut budgets, increase class size

2012-Mar-16
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: The Texas Two-Step -- Cut budgets, increase class size: The Texas Two-Step -- Cut budgets, increase class sizebyMike Klonsky"I try to meet their needs. I'm not sure I am anymore," says Sara Estrada, who has been teaching for 27 years, says of her pre-kindergarten class at Lion Lane School in Houston, which has grown to 25 students even as it lost its full-time teacher's aide.--Houston ChronicleRahm Emanuelloves the way they do schooling in Texas. Time and ...
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Beyond personal pain, teacher layoffs have rippling effects on schools | EdSource Extra!

2012-Mar-16
Beyond personal pain, teacher layoffs have rippling effects on schools | EdSource Extra!: ""Beyond personal pain, teacher layoffs have rippling effects on schoolsMarch 15th, 2012 |Add a CommentBySue FreyandLouis Freedberg~ EdSource ExtraOf all the budget-cutting remedies that school districts have to undertake, laying off teachers — or even the threat of being laid off — has a rippling effect on schools and students that goes far beyond the pain being experienced by individual teachers faced with losing their jobs.Layoffs create ...
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New York’s Common Core Pre-K Standards: They’re Not Kidding Around | Dailycensored.com

2012-Mar-16
New York’s Common Core Pre-K Standards: They’re Not Kidding Around | Dailycensored.com: New York’s Common Core Pre-K Standards: They’re Not Kidding AroundWritten bysusanoDaily Journal (Opinion),Education,Media,PoliticsMar 16, 20120diggShareAn angry New York City parent of a preschooler got my attention on Twitter. “Are you f**king kidding me?” she wrote. “I may just quit my job and home-school my daughter.”I wondered what on earth could be so terrible. I soon found out: the New York City Department of Education’s “Common Core–aligned tasks embedded ...
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For The Love of Self, Get Yourself Checked Out | The Jose Vilson

2012-Mar-15
For The Love of Self, Get Yourself Checked Out | The Jose Vilson: For The Love of Self, Get Yourself Checked OutbyJoseFor my thirtieth birthday, I got myself two ties, a blue cardigan, a metallic grey collared shirt, and an appointment for a general doctor.The latter item didn’t come so easy, either. The last time I went to the doctor, it was because I had a serious heart scare that turned out to be nothing … but stress, and too ...
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Harvard Business Review asked what could be done to improve education. So I Responded. | The Classroom Sooth

2012-Mar-15
Harvard Business Review asked what could be done to improve education. So I Responded. | The Classroom Sooth: Harvard Business Review asked what could be done to improve education. So I Responded.byclassroomsoothHere’s my response to Sarah Green’sarticle. We’ll see if it get’s approved, anyway.“Here’s what I would do:1) Kill Testing Culture- high-stakes tests inhibit creativity and curricular innovation, and are used as a blunt weapon for judging students, educators, and schools leading to the label “failure.” This was the one ...
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LAUSD: WE WILL NOT SCREW TEACHERS..."EXCEPT AS REQUIRED BY LAW" - Perdaily.com

2012-Mar-15
LAUSD: WE WILL NOT SCREW TEACHERS..."EXCEPT AS REQUIRED BY LAW" - Perdaily.com: LAUSD: WE WILL NOT SCREW TEACHERS..."EXCEPT AS REQUIRED BY LAW"byLeonard Isenberg(Mensaje se repite en Español)(For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)LAUSD has issued over 9500 "rif" notices (reduction in forces) at the beginning of this week. If other threatened LAUSD employees are added to this number of rifs, that number balloons to well over 11,000. While the mainstream media soft ...
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MomsRising Blog #parents

2012-Mar-15
MomsRising Blog: I can sleep again thanks to health reformDeidre BagockiatMomsRising Blog-9 minutes agoMy son was born with a genetic disorder called Williams syndrome. His health care costs totaled $1 million before he turned two. The night the Affordable Care Act passed was the best night’s sleep I’d had since he was diagnosed. Shame on any presidential candidate who says he will repeal this act if elected. We [...]Thanks to the ACA, my daughter is safe from losing coverageElaine CornettatMomsRising ...
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Education Research Report: Beyond The #Classroom: Drexel University Study Looks at Teachers on Twitter

2012-Mar-15
Education Research Report: Beyond The #Classroom: Drexel University Study Looks at Teachers on Twitter: Beyond The #Classroom: Drexel University Study Looks at Teachers on TwitterΩTeachers are stretching Twitter’s reach to more than just 140 character quips according to a new study by The iSchool at Drexel University researchers. The study, entitled “Grassroots Professional Development: How Teachers Use Twitter” suggests that teachers are molding Twitter from its common perception as a social medium for sharing personal information and observations, to a .