CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION + ICYMI: Stay In Place Edition (3/22)

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Stay In Place Edition (3/22)

Stay In Place Edition (3/22)

Well, here we all are, in place (except for some of you who think this is a fake and some of you who think nothing should interfere with spring break). Frankly, the reading this week has been a bit....well, repetitive. But here are some things to peruse while you're holding down your couch.

An Open Letter To Seniors
Louisiana's teacher of the year has some thoughts for high school seniors, whose big year is threatening to end with a whimper instead of a bang. Courtesy of the indispensable Mercedes Schneider, who also has some thoughts of her own for seniors facing this derailment.

Welcome To Your Hastily Prepared Online College Course
From McSweeney's. Probably the funniest thing you'll read this week.

AI Is an Ideology, Not a Technology
Intriguing contrary opinion about the artificial intelligence movement, courtesy of Jaron Lanier at Wired. A thoughtful look at the reasons to not be an AI fan.

The Demise of the Great Education Saviors  
Kevin Carey at the Washington Post looks at how choice and charters have lost political clout at this point. Maybe.

Only Ten Black Students  
Meanwhile, in NYC, you may recall a big flap last year over the proportionately tiny number of Black students who made it into Stuyvesant High School, one of the city's elite selective schools. Well, one year later, after carefully considering the issues-- nothing has changed at all. The New York Times has Eliza Shapiro on the story.

They Didn't Have A Chance To Say Goodbye
Yeah, I virtually never see eye to eye with Erika Sanzi, and am not exactly a fan of Education Post. But if you ignore those two things, this piece about the emotional cost for students of the sudden ending of school is on point. In PA we may feel it extra, since the governor shut down schools late Friday afternoon, after many students were already gone.

Coronavirus opens the gap  
This piece from the Philadelphia Enquirer takes a look at how the coronaviral break highlights that some districts can give every student a computer, and other districts, not so much.

Meanwhile, there are a million pieces about how you too can better handle the learning from home thing. I got tired of reading and eye-rolling at them about Tuesday.

So hang in there, stay safe, and order food from your local restaurants that are still trying to stay open, and any other local small business you can support.

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Stay In Place Edition (3/22)

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION

AND DON'T FORGET PETER GREENE ON FORBES CLICK HERE 

AI Is Not Going To Drive Trucks (Or Your Classroom)

32by Peter Greene / 23h

From Jalopnik, we get this report from the world of self-driving truck s. Mark it the gazillionth cautionary tale for folks who believe that AI will be able to take over critical human functions any time soon. The article takes a look at Starsky Robotics, a company that was in the business of producing unmanned semis for public highways. Now it's just in the business of shutting down. The co-found

MAR 20

Don't Ever Forget How Much Some Folks Hate Public Education

30by Peter Greene / 1d

Interesting piece this week in the Washington Post , penned by Stuart Stevens , a GOP non-Trump fan consultant with a book coming out. The whole piece, about how the GOP has morphed into the kind of party ripe for something like this coronviracation we're now all sharing, is well worth reading, but here's just one quote: The failures of the government’s response to the coronavirus crisis can be tr

MAR 19

PA Scraps the Big Standardized Test

100+by Peter Greene / 2d

Word has been shooting out over social media for the last twenty minutes. The PSSA, the Keystone exam, and even the PASA are officially not happening this year . “Our school communities are operating within unprecedented conditions,” said Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera. “Schools are making extraordinary efforts to remain connected to students and families, to provide food service and to pu

MAR 18

Trust And Teaching

by Peter Greene / 3d

Among the may lessons we get to glean from the coronavirus semester is this one: trust matters. Trust matters a lot. And it matters in little things as well as big things, because little things set the stage for big things. You can start out with silly stuff like "My inauguration crowd was the biggest ever," and folks can just wave it off as harmless, but at the other end of the road is a major ev

MAR 17

Scrap The Big Standardized Test!

200+by Peter Greene / 5d

Education writers have been saying it for a week. I said it. There are plenty of reasons to question the high stakes use of these tests in any year, but one thing is clear—this year, they will produce no useful data. Peter DeWitt said it . Given all of the stressors that students, teachers, staff and leaders are under right now, and given the fact that there is still so much we do not know about C

On Line Class Discussions

23by Peter Greene / 5d

Think of this as part of a series on ed tech tools that can actually be useful, now that some folks are being required to use them. Some of my teacher friends are discovering the joys of on-line class discussions, and I myself was always a fan. The best ed tech doesn't supplant the classroom, but extends its reach, and the on line discussion format offers several appealing features. Most importan

MAR 15

It's Okay. You Don't Have To Homeschool.

500+by Peter Greene / 6d

Like most teachers, I've had those student requests. End of the period, usually, they stop by the desk, usually looking downhearted. "Could I have the assignments for the next week or so," they ask. And then the cause. Death of a relative. Family emergency. A non-elective operation. A family tragedy. Some sort of unavoidable crisis that would take them away from school. My answer was usually somet

ICYMI: I'm a Grandfather Again Edition (3/15)

by Peter Greene / 7d

Beware the Ides of March, indeed. It's been a busy week and I've been a little behind on my own reading, so the list might be a little short today (and late, too). But my new grandson is beautiful. Texas Takeover in Shepherd A school 

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