Why I am grateful for Daily Kos
is simple - it is a community that has made a huge difference in my life. It is through writing here that I developed a voice on education, and occasionally on other topics I have developed friendships, some with people I know only electronically even to this day, but friendships that mean a great deal to me It has kept me connected in many ways - with issues, with people It has challenged my thi
after two weeks of classes, another reflection on teaching
It does and does not feel like two weeks of classes: Monday the first week only freshmen were in the building, and this past week we were off for Labor Day and for Rosh Hashanah. Thus I have only been "teaching" for 7 days. But then, our classes are except on advisory days 90 minutes long, and on advisory days over 70. So in terms of class time it has been longer than what I would have spent w
YESTERDAY
an astonishing, horrifying failure
is what Paul Krugman calls American economic policy since the failure of Lehman Brothers five years ago. His column this morning, titled Years of Tragic Waste, is as blunt and to the point as Krugman usually is on issues like this. As he says near the beginning of piece, Suddenly, we were looking at the possibility of real economic catastrophe. And the catastrophe came. Lest anyone have any dou
SEP 03
Leaves on the Current - looks to be terrific news
She visited with her oncologist today. If I may quote the text she sent me (merely masking the doctor's name): Great news: no cancer showed up on my bone marrow biopsy!!! Dr.X. says my recovery has been "amazing"!!! She will continue to receive one of her medications for maintenance, but even that is on hold. One approach that is sometimes done at this point is to extract and save her own bone
SEP 02
the idea of War for Virtue
is thoroughly examined - and I think equally debunked - in this Washington Post piece by Henry Allen, who was an editor and reporter at the paper for 39 years, and who won a 2000 Pulitzer for Commentary. He writes in the context of those attempting to justify intervention in Syria on various grounds, none of which are the security of the nation. He writes from the experience of having been in Chu
Krugman has a very good column for Labor Day
titled Love for Labor Lost and as he reminds us in the very beginning of the piece It wasn’t always about the hot dogs. Originally, believe it or not, Labor Day actually had something to do with showing respect for labor. He tells us of the origination of the celebration, after DEMOCRAT Grover Cleveland used 12,000 federal troops to break the 1894 Pullman strike, which succeeded but using armed fo
SEP 01
Who will tell the children?
Who will tell the children that we have allowed the water they need to live to be poisoned by fracking? Who will tell the children that the beaches on which we used to loll and get sun-tanned were wiped out by the oceans rising because we would not control carbon emissions? Who will tell the children that they cannot expect a decent job because we allowed transnational corporations to ship them ov
AUG 31
Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom.
This is a review of the book of that title by Sylvia Sylvia Libow & Gary Stager, which first appeared yesterday at Education Review. As the author of the review I am cross-posting it here because I believe it may be of interest to many who will encounter it here. This book doesn’t just advocate for tinkering or making because it is fun, although that would be sufficient. The central thesis is
A new school year, one week in
Yesterday ended the first week with students at my new school. On Monday we had only freshmen so they could begin to learn their way around the building, and on Tuesday the rest of our students (except for those whose families decided to take an extra week of summer) arrived. Since our classes are 90 minutes, every other day on an A-Day / B-Day schedule, that means I have had classes with studen