In Case You Missed It...(because yes, educators also work summers)
In Case You Missed It…
Educators are busy people. Hard as we try to stay current with the latest education news and trends, we can’t keep track of everything. With 2015 coming to an end, here’s your chance to review this year’s most widely read items from NEA.org, NEAToday.org, and Lily’s Blackboard.
Of course it includes my favorite news item from 2015: the Every Student Succeeds Act, ending more than a decade of No Child Left Untested. It represents a huge victory for students, educators, and parents, and an opportunity for a new golden age in education. But now we must make sure the law is implemented in a way that places students and learning at the center of everything we do.
Don’t think of this reading list as a homework assignment. This is your time to reflect on the wonderful profession we’ve chosen and prepare for the year ahead. And don’t worry. There won’t be a test.
Happy holidays, NEA!
From NEA.org
These lessons, activities & resources target seasonal changes and animal adaptations.
Issues we should focus on as educators and actions we can take to ensure student success.
Links to grants and awards to enhance teaching and learning.
Make your money go further with these members-only discounts.
From NEAToday.org
Good things are worth waiting for – even if they take 13 years. After countless false starts and delays, the U.S. Senate stepped up on Thursday and passed the Every Child Achieves Act (ECAA).
Although students have been using cell phones consistently in their daily lives for almost a decade, many public schools continue to resist allowing the devices into the classroom.
First impressions matter – especially on the first day of school. Students arrive with a mix of emotions. However, teachers can do a lot to ensure their classrooms are safe and welcoming on the first day of school.
Across the country, parents, teachers, and students are voicing their opinions in the homework debate.
Richard Ingersoll, professor of education and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, spoke with NEA Today about the nuances behind the teacher shortage narrative and why we need to turn the spotlight on keeping good teachers in the classroom.
From Lily’s Blackboard
I have been to the mountaintop. I have trodden sacred ground. I have seen the light. I have been to Finland.It’s the place where teachers go after they die if they’ve been good and taught the Whole Blessed Child; if they’ve rejected the hell of Obsessive Standardized Testing.
Yes, I am a fanatic for Finland, the Land of Common Sense and Good Schools that rejects Toxic Testing, privatization and de-professionalism. But it’s expensive to visit. And you need a passport. And time to fly over the Atlantic Ocean. And it’s really cold. I have a suggestion. Drive to Helena, Montana.
I think I just need to say this. I mean it in a respectful way. Kind of. But Normal People don’t work in a public school.
What happened to Andrea Rediske and her son Ethan will break your heart, and illustrate the callous absurdity of high stakes toxic testing.
I’ve got a friend in New York who wants me to call on every parent in America to Opt Out of state mandated standardized tests which are, of course, the mother’s milk of the No Child Left Untested federal testing feeding frenzy.
In Case You Missed It...(because yes, educators also work summers) - Lily's Blackboard: