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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 4-23-13 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2




Nite Cap UPDATE


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CORPORATE ED REFORM



Resolve


dark-classroom
This morning, after a few sips of my coffee and getting ready for class, a cold sweat developed in the palms of my hand. I rubbed my hands a few times before I put the marker to the whiteboard, hoping the few examples of problems I do today serve less as a lesson and more as a fine tuning. Pacing the room 30 minutes before class made my feet ache, but I didn’t realize it until a few hours after, when my first three periods of class would be done.
Besides, tomorrow starts the Big Test, and the deluge of multiple-choice questions and extended-response is one that even the most hopeful of teachers and brilliant of students feel a little anxious about. Did I cover enough material? Did the material I cover have anything to do with what’s actually on the test? Will the conceptual questions dominate or will there be an even mix of conceptual and procedural?
More importantly, will all my kids have a good breakfast?
Will the one kid I know actually get to school in time to take it? Will the other one stop trying to go to the 

I'm a Poet, And I Know It! Celebrating National Poetry Month!

I love National Poetry Month! I used to write poetry, maybe I will again some day.  But in the meantime, I like to give my kids a chance to grow to love writing poetry as much as I do. There was a time, pre-standardized testing, when we would gather up all our original poetry, pair it with two really funny pieces of poetry, and have Poetry Day. We would invite the parents, and each child

PBS Special “TED Talks Education” On May 7th (Along With Supplemental Resources)

PBS is airing a special TED Talks Education program on May 7th. It’s an interesting line-up of speakers, and I thought I’d list a few of them along with previous posts in this blog that readers might find helpful:
Bill Gates will be speaking about, among other things, his big new $5 billion initiative to videotape teachers. You might find these posts useful:
Videotaping teachers the right way (not the Gates way)
The Best Posts & Articles About Videotaping Teachers In The Classroom

Many of my previous posts
 about Gates, along with his MET Project.

Professor Angela Duckworth
 will be speaking about “grit.” Check out her work at The Best Resources For Learning About The Importance Of “Grit.”
Geoffrey Canada from the Harlem Children’s Zone. You can find a link to my many posts — both positive and 

We Need (More) Research on Academic Tech Professionals

Commenting on my post The Liberal Arts of Ed Tech, Brian Reid asked:

"What evidence is there that the number of people coming from a liberal arts background into educational technology is growing? Is this in absolute numbers, relative numbers, or both?"

What Does Obama’s Budget Proposal Mean for Latino Education?

latina student
By John Benson, Voxxi
The recently released Obama’s budget proposal has educators within the Latino community cautiously optimistic.
One such person is California State University San Bernardino Education Professor and Latino Education and Advocacy Days (LEAD) Executive Director Enrique G. Murillo, Jr. PhD.
voxxi“From my stance as an educator professional and someone who deals with issues around Latino students, I have to praise it,” Murillo told VOXXI. “Of course, it’ll go through a process and things get changed but the blueprint is favorable to Latinos in higher education.”
According to Murillo, among the highlights of Obama’s budget proposal are the increase in Federal Pell Grants and work-study programs. He said the latter, a federally funded program assisting students with the 

School Rat Patrol

On these pages we have taken to task and eviscerated (and rightly so) fellow teachers and UFT members when necessary. Evan Stone, Sydney Morris, Ruben Brosbe, Matt Polazzo, Michael Loeb, etc... or any of the E4E or StudentsFirst turd blossoms the are deserving.

In our opinion here at SBSB, once you start stabbing your colleagues in the back, once you go against the Union, once you go try to separate a teacher from their direct deposit you are then fair game.

So here is my question. Does a teacher in your school that lives in the administration's colon, that runs back and rats you or your colleagues out time after time, do such types deserve not to have the tables turned on them, but upping the ante? Outing them on the blogosphere? Twitter? Facebook?


30 days to go

As today comes to a close, I enter upon the final month of this my 67th year on earth.
I always try to find time to reflect.
I spent a good deal of the year leading up to my 60th birthday reflecting upon my life, and that led to my writing


Editorial: Kids, don’t take part in CPS boycott (and Teachers, no more damn striking)

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Chicago Public Schools CEO BarbarByrd-Bennett
Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett
Updated: April 23, 2013 8:23PM
 

If you are a junior in the Chicago Public Schools, you know where you belong on Wednesday:
At school, taking a state-mandated test called the PSAE.
Love standardized testing or hate it, love Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s school policies or hate them, all juniors belong in school on Wednesday taking day two of the PSAE.
A student boycott is planned — and the threat is serious enough to rattle CPS leaders. Letters went home to juniors Monday and Tuesday, and all parents of juniors received a robocall, reminding them how important the test results are to each student’s future.
So why take the test? All students must sit for at least one day of the two-day exam to be promoted to 12th grade and graduate. The first day is the ACT exam, the second includes science, math and reading tests that can lead to a career-readiness certificate endorsed by employers. The PSAE also is used to help evaluate each school and teacher.
Sure, there is a makeup day in May. But what if a student is sick that day? And if a student shows up Wednesday but refuses the exam, a makeup likely won’t be an option. Organizers want 

Latino Education Affordability is the Future of the U.S. Labor Force

graduation
By Susana G. Baumann, Voxxi
A projected 37.6 million or 80 percent of the 47 million new workers entering the labor force in the next four decades will be of Hispanic origin. However, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment rate for Hispanics (9.7 percent) is still higher than the national average for whites (6.8 percent) mostly due to disadvantages in schooling.
Is everything harder for young Latinos looking to build their future through a higher education?
voxxiA hot topic in the national arena, affordability of higher education  is even hotter for some groups like Dreamers and other Latino students, especially because interest rates on student loans are expected to skyrocket—doubling in next July.
College tuition has mushroomed as well. According to ScholarshipExperts.com, a free scholarship search service, the average tuition and fees charged by both private and public U.S. four-year colleges and universities 

David Petraeus to Join CUNY as Visiting Professor

David H. Petraeus, the former C.I.A. director, has accepted a one-year position, starting in August, to teach public policy at Macaulay Honors College.

Democratic Senators propose alternative to Brown’s local control formula | EdSource Today

Democratic Senators propose alternative to Brown’s local control formula | EdSource Today:


Democratic Senators propose alternative to Brown’s local control formula - by John Fensterwald

Jersey Jazzman: Who "Created" Michelle Rhee? John Merrow Did.

Jersey Jazzman: Who "Created" Michelle Rhee? John Merrow Did.:


Who "Created" Michelle Rhee? John Merrow Did.

John Merrow, education reporter for PBS, has blown the lid off of the Washington, D.C. cheating scandal. It's quite clear that then-chancellor Michelle Rhee was informed that there were potentially large-scale problems across the district with test scores, and that she did little to address the problem.

Merrow is to be commended for his dogged pursuit of the truth; but it's also true that he, perhaps more than any other journalist, was responsible for turning Rhee into a national figure. His coverage of her was not all laudatory - far from it. But he did spend an inordinate amount of time covering her tenure in Washington, culminating in aFrontline episode this past January, The Education of Michelle Rhee.

The program appears to be, at least in part, a digest of Merrow's total reporting on Rhee, which he describes as: "... twelve (!) pieces about her efforts over the 40 months — about two hours of primetime coverage. That’s 

Guest post. 35 Springfield politicians oppose fair taxation. | Fred Klonsky

Guest post. 35 Springfield politicians oppose fair taxation. | Fred Klonsky:


Guest post. 35 Springfield politicians oppose fair taxation.

Guest post by MiC.
In Glen’s post today I read about thirty-five Springfield politicians opposing even the idea of putting an Illinois graduated income tax to a vote of Illinois residents. Writing legislation to oppose something that hasn’t even be put before Illinois’ voters? That seemed odd. So I read the text of the bill. Follow me through this laughable legislation:
WHEREAS, Illinois’ income tax has been levied at a non-graduated rate since its inception in 1969; and
That’s right. We should all do things the same way we did them in 1969. I like orange shag carpet, black and white TV and transistor radios. Why change? But wait, it gets better.
WHEREAS, The current flat rate structure is a commitment from the Constitution of the State of Illinois; and
I wonder why that doesn’t seem to matter where pension legislation is concerned for the sponsors of this bill?
WHEREAS, Illinois’ current flat tax rate provides a more predictable, sustainable, and enticing climate for businesses and individuals alike; and
OK, now we get into the “this has been disproven by countless studies” territory.
For example:
The major study on the relationship between state personal income tax policy and entrepreneurship was commissioned by the U.S. Small Business Administration and published in final form in early 2012.
[...]
In summarizing their findings, the economists stated: “We find no evidence of an economically significant effect of state tax [policy] portfolios on entrepreneurial activity. . .”
Or this example:
A September 2012 study by scholars at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation — the leading think tank conducting research on entrepreneurship — found that the number of Inc. [magazine] 

Professional Development on Effective Utilization of Google Drive Student Voice

Student Voice:


Professional Development on Effective Utilization of Google Drive

Online Collaboration
With the recent surge in embracing technology to aide our leadership endeavors, many students, teachers, parents and business leaders have shifted in using Online Collaboration Tools as a means to support their work.
Clement Coulston, a Student Voice Organizer, is also a Youth Leader with the National School Climate Center.  He recently hosted a Google Hangout On Air Professional Development Opportunity in making the case for online collaboration and providing guidance on using many of the features Google Drive has to offer.
As one may consider how to best collaborate with his or her colleagues, we encourage one to invest time in





About the Author
Clement Coulston is an Elementary Teacher Education Student at the University of Delaware. He is a member of the Special Olympics Project UNIFY® National Youth Activation Committee and a Youth Leader with the National School Climate Center, co-creating an inaugural 2013 Policy Institute.  He recently co-authored a publication on School Climate and Inclusion. Clem is a Student Voice Social Activist, which is a grassroots organization working towards including Students in the Education Reform discussions now!   All Change Agents, please Join me on Twitter @clementc26.