Sarah Kirby-Gonzalez: Sacramento County Teachers of the Year 2011for School Board

Sarah Kirby-Gonzalez for School Board

Her Facebook page is:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sarah-Kirby-Gonzalez-for-School-Board/140425392775087?fref=ts

An interview with the Folsom Cordova Unified School District Teacher of the Year 2011. The Sacramento County Teachers of the Year program recognizes excellence in teaching within the county's schools. Participating districts nominate individual teachers to receive this special recognition. At the Teachers of the Year awards recognition dinner, two teachers are identified as the Sacramento County Teachers of the Year and are then eligible to participate in the statewide competition. For more information, visithttp://tinyurl.com/ytsspf

For these are all our children - Winnie the Pooh - Wherever you are

Come out moon
Come out wishing star
Come out
Come out
Wherever you are

I’m out here in the dark
All alone and wide awake
Come and find me
I’m empty and I’m cold 
And my heart's about to break 
Come and find me

I need you to come here and find me
Cause without you I’m totally lost
I've hung a wish on every star
It hasn’t done much good so far 
I can only dream of you
Wherever you are

I’ll hear you laugh
I’ll see you smile
I’ll be with you just for a while
But when the morning comes
And the sun begins to rise
I will lose you

Because it’s just a dream
When I open up my eyes
I will lose you

I use to believe in forever
But forever is to good to be true
I've hung a wish on every star
It hasn’t done much good so far 

I don’t know what else to do
Except to try to dream of you
And wonder if you are dreaming too
Wherever you are

Wherever you are 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Reporting from Education Leadership Team Meeting

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Reporting from Education Leadership Team Meeting:

Reporting from Education Leadership Team Meeting

by Melissa Westbrook

The Mayor had organized an Education Leadership Team awhile back and I finally got to attend a meeting today.

The Team is made up of City staff, SPS staff, UW staff, community college reps, business reps and labor reps.  It's quite a diverse group (well, in what they do - not so much diversity in what they look like).  SPS staff there today included Pegi McEvoy, Duggan Harman and the Superintendent.

Most of the meeting was about the legislative agenda for each group.

The overwhelming talk was of McCleary and its enactment.  Basically it was stated that the McCleary decision said:

- not spending enough on K-12 education
- the way the dollars are received is structurally unsound
- the outcomes are not good enough to create

Responding to tragedy: Resources for parents - Sacramento City Unified School District

Responding to tragedy: Resources for parents - Sacramento City Unified School District:

Responding to tragedy: Resources for parents

Tonight, our thoughts are with the families in Newton, Connecticut who endured a terrible a tragedy today. I want to reassure all of our parents that nothing is more important than the safety and security of our students and staff.

Over the weekend, your child may have questions about this event, which is likely to dominate the news and the social media for many days to come. Resources to help parents and students at this difficult time can be found linked in the sidebar.

I would also like to reassure parents that our school staffs are trained to recognize students who many need additional support in understanding or coping with a tragedy of this magnitude and will be ready to assist on Monday.

As a parent myself, I know that it can be hard to find the right way to talk about something as awful as this with your kids. We hope that these resources, along with the support of the entire SCUSD family, can help you through this difficult time.

Thank you,

Superintendent Jonathan Raymond

Talking to your child about shootings

Tips and Resources for Teachers and parents

CA Dept of Edu: Coping with Tragedy

National Association of School Psychologists ( NASP)

NYC Public School Parents: Class sizes in early grades now largest in 14 years

NYC Public School Parents: Class sizes in early grades now largest in 14 years:

Class sizes in early grades now largest in 14 years

by Leonie Haimson

This year’s class size report continues a tragic trend. 

Class sizes in grades K-3 and grades 4-8 have increased for the fifth year in a row. In high school, they have increased sharply as well, though the data that the DOE reports is not fully reliable.

In Kindergarten, 1^st grade and 2^nd grade, class sizes are now the largest in 14 years, since 1998, when class size data first was reported by the Independent Budget Office.

In 3^rd grade, class sizes are the largest in the historical record – even larger than in 1998.

These are the grades where the research is crystal clear that class sizes make a significant difference in terms of student’s success in school and later in life.

Rigorous evidence shows that children who are in smaller classes in the early grades get higher test scores, better grades, fewer disciplinary referrals, and are more likely to  go to college and 

Dawn Hochsprung Principal, Sandy Hook School RIP

AFT Statement on Massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School

AFT - A Union of Professionals - AFT Statement on Massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School:

 

AFT Statement on Massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Statement of American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
"The entire AFT community is shaken to its core by this massacre of young children and the educators and school employees who care for and nurture them. Twenty children and six adults were shot and killed today in one of the worst school shootings in history. We grieve for them all, and our prayers are with the Sandy Hook Elementary School community and all of Newtown, as well as the AFT nurses caring for victims at Danbury Hospital, following this heinous act. I just got off the phone with Newtown Federation of Teachers President Tom Kuroski, and pledged to do everything we can to provide support and comfort to the students, teachers, administrators, their families and everyone in this community grappling with this trauma.
"Our thanks go out to all of the first responders for their efforts to ensure the safety of all the students and staff. In this horrible moment, there were also extraordinary acts of courage by school staff to lock down the school and protect children.
"We'll never be able to prevent every senseless act of violence, but our children, educators and school employees go to school believing it is a safe sanctuary. We've been through this too many times. Everything we can do, we must do, including a renewed focus on gun control and preventing gun violence."

 

Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten

Trying to make sense of a senseless act. « My Island View

Trying to make sense of a senseless act. « My Island View:

Trying to make sense of a senseless act.

by tomwhitby

This is probably the wrong time to sit down and address what has just happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. All of the details are not yet out, but the news media has made many statements and assumptions that seem to hold up myths about schools that we continue to hear each time another of this growing number of horrendous incidents explodes on the TV screen. Reporters continue to ask the question, “Were all of the security and safety measures in place and adhered to?”
Here is a fact: Video cameras, Buzzers on doors, People sitting at desks in the hallways of schools, even metal detectors are not security against an armed attacker. The people maintaining these items could very well be the first victims of the assault. These measures and methods taken by schools are to give an illusion of safety to caring parents and teachers. It is an assurance that schools are seemingly doing something to protect children. None of these measures however, protect children from an armed intruder bent on killing as many people as 

New Leadership Inside UTLA - LA School Report

New Leadership Inside UTLA - LA School Report:

New Leadership Inside UTLA

by LA School Report

There could be small signs of change going on inside UTLA. This week’s internal elections for the 350-member House of Representatives were contested in 22 of 32 districts for the first time in recent years.  Some of those seats were expected to have been won by a new caucus within UTLA, called NewTLA, which is working for broader representation within the tightly run organization. However, NewTLA has not responded to our requests for information about how they did in the election.
To see the full list of elected UTLA representatives, click here. The new House of Representatives will be ratified on January 23 and will meet for the first time on January 30.
Previous posts: Internal Elections for UTLA Leadership,Insurgents Aim for Union Takeover, Teachers Endorse Multiple Candidates, UTLA Board Keeps Options Open

Every public employee with a state pension should read this report on cash balance programs. « Fred Klonsky

Every public employee with a state pension should read this report on cash balance programs. « Fred Klonsky:

Every public employee with a state pension should read this report on cash balance programs.

by Fred Klonsky

Ending the defined benefit pension system is one of the agenda items in Illinois.
Monique Morrissey of the Economic Policy Institute reports on the specifics of Louisiana. But the dangers of theCash Balance Plan apply to many states, including Illinois.

With Congress mired in partisan gridlock, states are serving as laboratories for retirement policy as well as other policy areas. While some states are making positive strides, others are moving in the wrong direction. Among the latter is Louisiana, where a bill signed earlier this year by Gov. Bobby Jindal will switch many newly hired state and local government workers from traditional defined benefit pension plans to a cash balance plan starting in 2013.

Public-sector workers in Louisiana are not covered by Social Security. However, the current Louisiana public pension system provides death and disability 

Slideshow: Anger surges during rally at Phila. School District | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Slideshow: Anger surges during rally at Phila. School District | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Slideshow: Anger surges during rally at Phila. School District

by thenotebook

Rally-goers gathered outside the School District of Philadelphia headquarters at 440 N. Broad St. yesterday as the announcement was made that dozens of schools were recommended for closure or relocation. If the plan is approved, some 17,000 students might be moving to new schools. The rally was organized by the Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools.

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Gun Violence In American Schools Is Nothing New « Student Activism

Gun Violence In American Schools Is Nothing New « Student Activism:

Gun Violence In American Schools Is Nothing New

by Angus Johnston

We’re seeing a lot of suggestions today from the right side of the political spectrum that events like today’s massacre at a Connecticut elementary school are something novel in American history — that they’re a reflection of the fact that we took prayer out of schools, or that our society has lost its sense of morality, or something.
Well, a couple of years ago I did some casual research on the history of American school shootings. A conservative scholar on a blog I read at the time had said that he’d looked for evidence of such shootings in the 1940s and 1950s, and found none, so I fired up the search engine for the archives of the New York Times, looking for articles published between January 1, 1940 and December 31, 1959 that included the words ”shot” and “school.”
The search returned 4,940 results.
Most of these weren’t actually articles about school shootings, of course. Many were stories about gun violence that happened to refer to a school that a perpetrator or victim attended. A significant number were sports 

Connecticut School Shooting: President Obama's Emotional Statement

Statement by the President on the School Shooting in Newtown, CT

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

3:15 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  This afternoon, I spoke with Governor Malloy and FBI Director Mueller.  I offered Governor Malloy my condolences on behalf of the nation, and made it clear he will have every single resource that he needs to investigate this heinous crime, care for the victims, counsel their families.

We’ve endured too many of these tragedies in the past few years.  And each time I learn the news I react not as a President, but as anybody else would -- as a parent.  And that was especially true today.  I know there’s not a parent in America who doesn’t feel the same overwhelming grief that I do. 

The majority of those who died today were children -- beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old.  They had their entire lives ahead of them -- birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own.  Among the fallen were also teachers -- men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams. 

So our hearts are broken today -- for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost.  Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children’s innocence has been torn away from them too early, and there are no words that will ease their pain. 

As a country, we have been through this too many times.  Whether it’s an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago -- these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children.  And we're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.

This evening, Michelle and I will do what I know every parent in America will do, which is hug our children a little tighter and we’ll tell them that we love them, and we’ll remind each other how deeply we love one another.  But there are families in Connecticut who cannot do that tonight.  And they need all of us right now.  In the hard days to come, that community needs us to be at our best as Americans.  And I will do everything in my power as President to help.

Because while nothing can fill the space of a lost child or loved one, all of us can extend a hand to those in need -- to remind them that we are there for them, that we are praying for them, that the love they felt for those they lost endures not just in their memories but also in ours.

May God bless the memory of the victims and, in the words of Scripture, heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.

END  
3:20 P.M. EST

Schools Matter: How about another test?!

Schools Matter: How about another test?!:

How about another test?!

by skrashen

Comment posted on bloomberg.news
Stephen Krashen

Mark Bauerlein wants to add still another test to the already overwhelming load of tests the common core will inflict on American students: A literature test covering “best works of American civilization.” Bauerlein says it should feature questions “that will make students draw on Twain, Shakespeare, ancient myths, Edith Wharton and so on.” In other words, the test is designed for college English majors.

Bauerlein’s suggestion is sure to stimulate lots of debate over what the best works of American civilization are (should Shakespeare be considered American literature? Are ancient myths part of American civilization? Why include this author and not that one …?).

Such a debate is a fine way of distracting us from the larger questions: Should we have national standards and 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Eighteen Children Dead in Conn. School Shooting

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Eighteen Children Dead in Conn. School Shooting:

Eighteen Children Dead in Conn. School Shooting

by Melissa Westbrook

I heard about this story early this morning before there are many details.  I had assumed it was not serious.

A man with a gun has shot and killed 27 people, 18 of them children, at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.  Allegedly, the killer went after his mother, a teacher, and then killed 18 students in her classroom.  He also shot seven other adults.

From the NY Times:

A photograph published by a local newspaper, The Newtown Bee, showed a line of children being escorted out of the school with some of the children crying. 

This is BULLSHIT.

Folks, what kind of country do we live in that we are accepting of this kind of thing, month after month, year after year?  What is is going to take until citizens - across the country, across political lines - say NO MORE? 

From Quill Pens to Computer Adaptive Testing: Old and New Technological Devices | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

From Quill Pens to Computer Adaptive Testing: Old and New Technological Devices | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

From Quill Pens to Computer Adaptive Testing: Old and New Technological Devices

by larrycuban

There are many definitions of instructional technology. One concentrates on devices teachers use in classrooms.  Another definition focuses on the different ways that teachers have used such devices as tools to advance learning in lessons. Even other definitions frame technology as processes, ways of organizing classrooms, schools, and districts.
I examine the second definition in this post: the connection between writing tools students used and the perpetual demand over the past two millennia of teachers in every culture to find out what students have learned. Here I consider the quill and steel-tipped pen, pencil, ball-point pen, and yes, the computer.
I begin with the quill pen.

Here is how Robert Travers (1983, pp. 97-98) described quill pens.
The quill pen was first mentioned in the writings of Saint Isodore of Seville in the seventh century…. The quill seems to have been by far the best writing instrument invented in its time for it displaces all other forms. It became the main instrument used in schools, apart from the slate…. Even in the late 1800s, the quill pen was still the most widely used instrument for writing. Quills [came] from the wings of geese, but swan quills were also 

Connecticut School Shooting: 4 Tips to Help Kids Cope - ABC News

Connecticut School Shooting: 4 Tips to Help Kids Cope - ABC News:

Connecticut School Shooting: 4 Tips to Help Kids Cope

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(Image credit: Melanie Stengel/The New Haven Register/AP Photo)

Every parent trying to come to grips with the scope of the tragedy in Connecticut is wondering how to talk to their kids about it.

LIVE UPDATES: Newtown, Conn., School Shooting

Alan Kazdin, a professor of child psychology at Yale University, offers four tips for parents to frame that discussion and help their kids cope.

Don’t Over-Talk This

Parents can easily project their own fears onto their kids.   Your kids will likely hear about it, so your child has questions. Answer at the level of the question.  Parents shouldn’t dwell on the tragic nature of it,  but don’t be evasive.  Don’t lie, don’t withhold.

Shield Kids From the Media

After 9/11, kids suffered trauma from overexposure to the media.  Child psychologists call it  “secondary terrorism.” As parents, we sometimes take the stance that our kids need to be tough and “they might as well know the truth.” But psychologists say they need to be  ”coddled, cushioned and comforted” now so they can be emotionally stronger later.

Don’t Pull Your Kids Out of School Today

Try to keep as many normal rituals going on as possible.  Go to soccer practice.  Keep that play date.  Kids need you to know that this doesn’t affect them.

Reassure, Reassure

If your child develops a  fear of school, tell them, “This is so rare.  Something this terrible has never happened before.  This never happened to mommy’s school. Grownups are doing everything to keep kids safe.”

Remember that through  “middle childhood,” kids have normal excessive fears: the dark, sharks, etc. If they say, “I don’t want to go to school,” help them distance themselves from it.

Repeatedly reassure without dismissing their fears and give them a hug. Touch makes a huge difference.

How Modern School Finance/Education Policy Works: Lessons from New York « School Finance 101

How Modern School Finance/Education Policy Works: Lessons from New York « School Finance 101:

How Modern School Finance/Education Policy Works: Lessons from New York

by schoolfinance101

I’ll admit that the more I do this stuff, the more I write about today’s education policy environment and especially the environment around school funding, I do get more cynical. And few states have done more to encourage my cynicism than New York, of late. But I suspect that the tales from the trenches in many other states might be quite similar. So let me use New York as a prototype of the twists and turns and warped logic of modern state education policy.  New York education policy has followed a four step process:

Step 1: Slither out from court order by rigging low-ball foundation aid formula

As I noted on another recent post, several years back the New York Court  of Appeals ordered that the state legislature provide sufficient funding (specifically to New York City) to achieve a “sound basic education” which was ultimately equated with a “meaningful high school education.”  The city and governor’s office presented to the court alternative estimates of what that would cost. The state (governor/legislature/regents), as might be