Reaction of Education Bloggers to the Election UPDATE #2

Reaction of Education Bloggers to the Election

(Will Be Updated as the Shock Wears Off) 

Don’t Mourn, Organize | One Flew East - http://wp.me/p5IMdV-rQ 

TBFURMAN: The Failed State - http://www.tbfurman.us/2016/11/the-failed-state.html

Hard times. | Fred Klonsky - http://wp.me/p4C3g-hLS

Dark Mourning in America: “The world is at least/fifty percent terrible” | the becoming radical - http://wp.me/p2GmBR-5fb 

Schools Matter: Stop Crying--Start the Fucking Revolution - http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2016/11/stop-crying-start-fucking-revolution.html

NYC Educator: Holy Fucking Shit - http://nyceducator.com/2016/11/holy-fucking-shit.html

CURMUDGUCATION: Teaching in Trump's America - http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2016/11/teaching-in-trumps-america.html

Three (No, Four) State Elections that Turned Out Well–and Our Plans for the Future | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://wp.me/p2odLa-fDW 

Statement on the Defeat of Charter Initiatives | Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools - http://www.reclaimourschools.org/node/152

glen brown: America - http://teacherpoetmusicianglenbrown.blogspot.com/2016/11/america.html

What one Chicago Public Schools teacher will teach after the presidential election | The White Rhino: A Chicago Latino English Teacher - http://www.chicagonow.com/white-rhino/2016/11/what-one-chicago-public-schools-teacher-will-do-after-the-presidential-election/

Big Education Ape: Does It Really Matter? | commoncorediva - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/11/does-it-really-matter-commoncorediva.html

U.S. 2016: “Every woman adores a Fascist” | the becoming radical - http://wp.me/p2GmBR-5fV 

"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope." - Martin Luther King, Jr - Wait What? - http://wp.me/p2fII0-32R

What Crazy Will Trump and the Republicans Deliver? – Cloaking Inequity - http://wp.me/p2D92I-4t6 

It's time to Push Back! Here's a Playlist. - SF Public School MomSF Public School Mom - http://wp.me/p4ndvh-1tZ

Ed Notes Online: Election Shock and Awe: Is The Clintonite/Obama, Neo-liberal “New Democrat” Party Dead? Has Our Democracy Died Too? - http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2016/11/election-shock-and-awe-is.html

A Dozen Quotes for the Morning After – Live Long and Prosper - http://wp.me/pUgLi-10n

The Morning After | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://wp.me/p2odLa-fDQ

Ed Notes Online: Donald Trump is moving to the White House, and liberals put him there | Thomas Frank | Opinion | The Guardian - http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2016/11/donald-trump-is-moving-to-white-house.html

Perdido Street School: Brexit Redux - http://perdidostreetschool.blogspot.com/2016/11/brexit-redux.html

Big Education Ape: a reasonable response to an unreasonable situation - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-reasonable-response-to-unreasonable.html

UPDATE #1 UPDATE #1 UPDATE #1 UPDATE #1 UPDATE #1 UPDATE #1

President Donald Trump Promised To Dump Common Core, Hillary Clinton Never Said The Words – Exceptional Delaware - http://wp.me/p4JboV-3ZR 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: What to Tell The Kids about the Election - http://saveseattleschools.blogspot.com/2016/11/what-to-tell-kids-about-election.html

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Election Results/ Thought Regarding Education - http://saveseattleschools.blogspot.com/2016/11/election-results-thought-regarding.html

A teacher wrestles with what to say to his students about Trump win - The Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/11/09/a-teacher-wrestles-with-what-to-say-to-his-students-about-trump-win/

Georgia Voters Say No to State Takeover of Schools | deutsch29 - http://wp.me/p36Q2R-27L 

How Did This Happen? Post-Election Thoughts - Living in Dialogue - http://wp.me/p4iUc2-1wY

Trump Set to Shift Gears on Civil Rights, ESSA, Says a K-12 Transition-Team Leader - Politics K-12 - Education Week - http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2016/11/trump_ESSA_civil_rights_transition_education.html

America Votes NO and Elects Trump: Speculation on a Trump Presidency | Ed In The Apple - http://wp.me/p2zCG-1OH

President-Elect Donald Trump on Education | Truth in American Education - http://wp.me/p1ASmC-2iz

A Letter from a Parent in Massachusetts Who Fought Question 2 | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://wp.me/p2odLa-fE6

'I’m Going to Reassure Them That They Are Safe': Talking to Students After the Election - http://wp.me/p5kbFE-9bY

Don't Mourn, Organize! - Lily's Blackboard - http://wp.me/p2mU9Y-1h8

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data. - http://wp.me/4C3g

(Will Be Updated as the Shock Wears Off) 

'I’m Going to Reassure Them That They Are Safe': Talking to Students After the Election

'I’m Going to Reassure Them That They Are Safe': Talking to Students After the Election:

'I’m Going to Reassure Them That They Are Safe': Talking to Students After the Election

Stories are flooding social media from parents whose children are afraid of what the 2016 presidential election results might mean. One boy with Autism was crying because he saw Trump mocking a disabled person. A teenager who is gay is afraid of what he will do to the LGBT community. Muslim students are asking if they’re going to be safe; Latino students are asking if they will be deported.

In partnership with parents America’s educators are offering support and a safe place for kids to talk about their concerns, like in Robert Ellis’ first grade classroom at Washington Elementary School in Richmond, California.

“I arrived this morning determined to provide these students with the support they need,” he says. “I’m not sure what the tone will be like over the course of the day, but I know they’re fearful. I’m going to reassure them that they are safe. I don’t want them to shoulder the burden of worry and concern.”

The election results will have a traumatic experience on our students. The best thing we can do today is be there for them, talk to them about their experience, and listen” – Robert Ellis, teacher

Ellis’ students, who are mostly from low-income and Hispanic families, have a very sophisticated understanding of government for a group of first graders. They’ve learned about the different branches and checks and balances, and Ellis will remind them that no one person can make the decisions that affect the country. They have to be agreed upon by different parts of the government and the voices of the citizenry.

“I’m also going to tell them that nothing is going to change overnight,” Ellis says. “I want them to feel safe. As educators, that’s what we do in difficult times.”

Demetrio Gonzalez, president of United Teachers of Richmond CTA/NEA acknowledges that in the wake of the election, there are students and kids hurting.

Throughout his district, many kids will go to school scared that it might be their last day in this country. Many kids will go to school scared that their parents will be sent back to their countries of origin. Some might feel defeated and broken.

“The election results will have a traumatic experience on our students,” he says. “The best thing we can do today is be there for them, talk to them about their experience, and listen. Hold them and tell them we love them, and that in moments of uncertainty and fear, we have to hope and believe we will have a brighter tomorrow. We can reassure them that this country was built in the backs of people who persevere and people who have gone through struggle. Hold that sad student a little tighter and please do not forget to also take care of yourselves in your incredibly challenging roles, but remember that at times we are all they got. ”

Talking to High School Students

Teaching tolerance and acceptance is a top priority for Fakhra Shah, a Muslim teacher at Mission High School in Oakland, California. When the election results became clear last night, she came up with tips and lessons for educators to use in high school classes where kids are from diverse backgrounds.

“I hope you will take the time to put all lessons aside and talk to students about what has happened and how they feel,” she says. “Let them say what is on their minds, this is crucial for our schools and our communities.”

Shah’s Class Discussion Tips

• The objectives of the discussion should be to let students express their concerns and voice their thoughts and feelings, gain feelings of empowerment and hope, and feel safe and respected.

• Ask students to speak one at a time and validate their feelings by saying things like, “What you are saying is valid,” or “I hear you,” “I support you and I understand you.” Let them speak, guide the discussion, and use a talking piece if necessary.

• Offer students hope and empowerment. Offer them opportunities to uplift themselves and their communities. Ask them what they would like to do or express. Can we come up with a plan to uplift our school community?

• Tell them that we demand justice and equality and we will keep on fighting for those rights.

• Tomorrow and every day must be a day of empowerment, hope and justice.

Resources

What Do We Tell the Children?

Tell them, first, that we will protect them. Tell them that we have democratic processes in the U.S. that make it impossible for one mean person to do too much damage, says a teacher writing for the Huffington Post.

Facilitating Difficult Conversations

How can we as educators best support our students as they process the results of this divisive political season? “Fostering Civil Discourse” is a free resource that offers strategies for establishing a safe space for sensitive topics, creating a classroom contract, providing opportunities for student reflection, and modeling respectful civil discourse.

 'I’m Going to Reassure Them That They Are Safe': Talking to Students After the Election:

Does It Really Matter? | commoncorediva

Does It Really Matter? | commoncorediva:



Does It Really Matter?

Warriors, it’s the day AFTER the biggest election we’ll see for another 4 years. Did your anti CCSS candidate win? While the dust is settling, let’s please remember we have SERIOUSissues, especially when it comes to education.
I realize I may lose some followers after this article, but I feel we MUST look at the entire scope of who’s leading in D.C….and in your States.  Warriors, we must not let our guards down. The CCSS Machine is JUST as much in the Republican party as it is the Democratic party. With both Chambers of Congress, we’ve seen a tea-totaling sell out to federally led education, NOT less! Are we really so caught up in the moment we are forgetting that while our President is important, it is Congress which is participating with the CCSS Machine evenmoreso?

As anti CCSS Warriors, we oppose not only Common Core, but:

CTE, Career Tech Education; which has been proven to be not only the adult form for the express purpose of skilled laborers to boost the national and global economy but has been tracked to trickle down from jobs to higher education all the way back down to early learning.

ESSA, Every Student Succeeds Act; which mandates MORE federal control; gives power to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services; embeds skill based education for post-secondary readiness (embedding the U.S. Dept. of Labor); mandates STEM {Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math}, which embeds the U.S. Dept. of Education, the U.S. Dept. of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. State Dept., and more; re-brands Common Core as “Challenging State Academic Standards”, “College and Career Readiness”, “21st Century Learning Skills”, etc.; states that ‘region specific’ education is to be taught; makes teachers and school leaders into puppets for the CCSS Machine agenda; be it in the career and college readiness trap OR the ‘let’s all micromanage education by becoming pseudo doctors so we can  diagnose students of all ages and abilities. That way, the federal government can justify giving more Title One Funding with oh, so many MORE strings!’

WIOA, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (which embeds U.S. Dept. of Laborinto the education of our nation at ALL grade levels and consumes EVERY school choice!)
You’ll also find certain mandates from WIOA woven into ESSA. Without CTE, WIOA would be hard pressed to even exist as a federal law. Those mandates include: massive data collecting, tracking, and streamlining (the CCSS Machine uses the phrase ‘personalized Does It Really Matter? | commoncorediva:

a reasonable response to an unreasonable situation

a reasonable response to an unreasonable situation