Vaccines, Blockchain and Bio-capitalism – Wrench in the Gears

Vaccines, Blockchain and Bio-capitalism – Wrench in the Gears

Vaccines, Blockchain and Bio-capitalism

Vaccine Markets

Pay for success finance deals will be well served by the global vaccine market that is being advanced through Gates’s outfit GAVI.  Vaccine doses are readily quantifiable, and the economic costs of many illnesses are straightforward to calculate. With a few strategic grants awarded to prestigious universities and think tanks, I anticipate suitable equations framing out a healthy ROI (return on investment) will be devised to meet global market demands shortly.

Over the past month, the gaze of investigative researchers has been fixed on GAVI, Bill Gates, Gates’s associates like Fauci, and the over-size influence they are having on public health policy around Covid-19.  Use the link for the map to dig further into the relationships. The members of the 2012 Development Impact Bond (DIB) Working Group Report are of particular interest, since DIBs are being considered as a way to finance vaccination campaigns.

Among them: CONTINUE READING: Vaccines, Blockchain and Bio-capitalism – Wrench in the Gears

Superintendents blast ‘inconsistent’ federal guidance on reopening schools - The Washington Post

Superintendents blast ‘inconsistent’ federal guidance on reopening schools - The Washington Post

Superintendents blast ‘inconsistent and incongruous’ federal guidance on reopening schools

The association that represents America’s school superintendents blasted the Trump administration for what it called “inconsistent and incongruous” guidance related to the reopening of schools during the coronavirus pandemic.

Daniel A. Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, issued a statement over the weekend criticizing the federal government for the guidance it has given in relation to opening schools, saying state and local leaders need “informative and actionable” guidance that they can “implement with minimal confusion and with confidence in the science behind it.”

More than 30 states and the District of Columbia have either ordered or recommended that schools be closed for the rest of the 2019-20 school year. On Saturday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) became the latest state leader to announce that distance learning should continue even as he moves soon to reopen the economy.

“I think the last thing you want to do is … to force everyone in school [only] to have half the kids not show up because their parents didn’t want to do it and have teachers not show up,” he said. “It was an easy decision to make knowing we have done so well with distance learning.”

Last week, President Trump announced optional guidelines for states to gradually lift economic restrictions that have been put in place this spring to try to slow the spread of covid-19, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives in the United States. Schools are mentioned in the second of three phases.

In his statement that AASA said was directed to the Trump administration, Domenech said the guidance relating to the reopening of schools is confusing.

Domenech first commended the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for their work “to achieve a balanced approach in their CONTINUE READING: Superintendents blast ‘inconsistent’ federal guidance on reopening schools - The Washington Post

Leah Austin Joins the Schott Foundation as Director of National Opportunity to Learn Network | Schott Foundation for Public Education

Leah Austin Joins the Schott Foundation as Director of National Opportunity to Learn Network | Schott Foundation for Public Education

Leah Austin Joins the Schott Foundation as Director of National Opportunity to Learn Network

Dr. Leah Austin, whose dynamic career has included teaching, grantmaking, organizing, research and evaluation, has joined the Schott Foundation for Public Education as Director of the National Opportunity to Learn Network. In her leadership role she will work with Schott grantees and partners to support effective campaigns focused on building systems to provide all students an opportunity to learn—through philanthropic support and other strategic capacity building resources. 

In announcing her appointment, Dr. John H. Jackson, President and CEO, said, “We are extremely pleased to have such a talented and passionate changemaker on the Schott team.  Her experience and relationships are exactly the bridge between philanthropy and our dedicated student, parent and educator partners that is needed to systemically address inequities.”

In April, 2018, Schott honored Leah as a Champion of Public Education at its #PublicSchoolGrad: Greater Atlanta Arts Showcase in Atlanta.

“Leah brings a deep knowledge of how to advance policies and programs to improve equity and excellence in public CONTINUE READING: Leah Austin Joins the Schott Foundation as Director of National Opportunity to Learn Network | Schott Foundation for Public Education

Just Give Up on Distance Learning - The Atlantic

Just Give Up on Distance Learning - The Atlantic

Distance Learning Isn’t Working
Instead of trying to move classes online, schools should support parents in educating their children.

As a homeschool mother, I’ve spent recent weeks giving pep talks to girlfriends. These friends tell me they’re spending their day troubleshooting lessons given over videochat. When they aren’t standing over their kids’ shoulders showing them which math problem to do, they’re printing their worksheets or scanning them to send back to the teacher. It’s exhausting for parents with one kid, but with three or four, it’s practically impossible. Many of these parents have told me they’ve ended the day in tears—or spent the entire day in tears.

The frustrations of these moms echo those of an Israeli mother of four who recently went viral in a screaming, pleading video to teachers, recorded in her car. She told the camera, “Listen. It’s not working … this distance-learning thing. It’s impossible!” She was “falling to pieces,” she said. “If we don’t die of corona, we’ll die of distance learning … Please. Turn it down. Foot off the gas. Leave them be.”

It’s a fine message for teachers and administrators who are working around the clock to create ad hoc curricula with absolutely no notice. But it’s not necessary for parents to plead with teachers to ease up on the gas. Parents can, and should, simply opt out.

Many school districts have attempted to shift schooling to home, but you cannot simply school at home. That’s why many homeschoolers call what they do “home education,” not homeschooling. Home education involves an understanding that children can learn while doing everyday tasks; baking can teach math, science, and home economics. Sitting on the couch reading Charlotte’s Web to kids in grades five and three and kindergarten counts as “school.”  So does taking a nature walk and creating a nature journal.

As a homeschool mother, I set my own curriculum and my own schedule. We have the CONTINUE READING: Just Give Up on Distance Learning - The Atlantic

School Counselors Have A Message For Kids: 'It's OK To Not Be OK' | 89.3 KPCC

School Counselors Have A Message For Kids: 'It's OK To Not Be OK' | 89.3 KPCC

School Counselors Have A Message For Kids: 'It's OK To Not Be OK'

The high school senior sitting across from Franciene Sabens was in tears over the abrupt amputation of her social life and turmoil at home. Because of the coronavirus, there will be no prom, no traditional send-off or ceremony for the graduates of Carbondale Community High School in Carbondale, Ill. And Sabens, one of the school's counselors, could not give the girl the one thing Sabens' gut told her the teen needed most.

"I want to hug them all, but I really wanted to hug that one," Sabens remembers.

Instead of a desk between counselor and student, there were miles of Internet cable and a computer screen. No hug. No private office. This is Sabens' new normal.

"Zoom is just not gonna ever bridge that gap," she says. "That one was pretty rough."

The job of the school counselor has evolved over the years, from academic guide to something deeper: the adult in a school tasked with fostering students' social and emotional growth, a mental health first responder and a confidant for kids, especially teens, who often need a closed door and a sympathetic ear. But the closure of nearly all U.S. schools has forced counselors like Sabens to reimagine CONTINUE READING: School Counselors Have A Message For Kids: 'It's OK To Not Be OK' | 89.3 KPCC

When Schools Re-Open | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

When Schools Re-Open | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

When Schools Re-Open

The above photos are not from any re-opened U.S. schools. They were taken a few days ago in Denmark. The first European country to re-open its schools. The following New York Times article written by Patrick Kingsley appeared April 17, 2020.

The cluster of red brick buildings in a remote part of southern Denmark looks unremarkable from the outside, but this week, its classrooms housed some of the rarest people during the pandemic in today’s Europe.

Schoolchildren.

On Wednesday, 350 pupils returned to classes at the Logumkloster District School for the first time in a month, as Denmark became the first country in the Western world to reopen its elementary schools since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. It has turned the Danish education system into a laboratory for whether and how schools can function in an age of contagion.

“It is a new world,” said Tanja Linnet, the school’s head teacher, as pupils arrived early on Thursday morning. “We used to make plans for if there was a terrorist attack here — but never this kind of attack.”

Other European countries have also gently eased restrictions on certain businesses and sporting activities in recent days.

But by allowing hundreds of children to congregate once again at thousands of schools across Denmark, the government has taken the boldest step toward something resembling normal life, in a measure that will be watched carefully around the world.

“That’s the dilemma of the whole world,” said Finn Christensen, the school’s deputy head. “When to open up?”

Denmark’s approach contrasts with that of Spain, where most children have not CONTINUE READING: When Schools Re-Open | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

An End to Schooling as We Know It? To Grocery Stores? To Concerts? To Live Plays? To Dances? To Offices? | Diane Ravitch's blog

An End to Schooling as We Know It? To Grocery Stores? To Concerts? To Live Plays? To Dances? To Offices? | Diane Ravitch's blog

An End to Schooling as We Know It? To Grocery Stores? To Concerts? To Live Plays? To Dances? To Offices?

A wise reader, who is anonymous, posted this comment a few days ago. I thought it was wise because we hear so many Disrupters cheering about “the end of schooling as we know it” when the reality is that most parents and students can’t wait for real school to start again. You don’t hear those same voices saying that no one will ever work in an office again; no one will every go to a concert or a play; no one will ever go to a physical store. They clearly have an agenda, and their predictions are their wishes, but they fly in the face of reality. Life goes on. It is never the same after an earth-shattering event such as a pandemic. But many things will not change. Who knows? Schools may even change for the better as parents show their gratitude to teachers and their public schools, and as the backlash against distance learning grows stronger, based on experience.

He or she wrote:

No one is calling for the end of grocery stores for Instacart, restaurants for takeout, church buildings for live streaming, physical stores for their online versions, theatre/sports/concerts for streaming, conventions for talking heads on video, clubs for solo dance parties on Zoom, renting office space for work at home, theme CONTINUE READING: An End to Schooling as We Know It? To Grocery Stores? To Concerts? To Live Plays? To Dances? To Offices? | Diane Ravitch's blog

School in the time of Coronavirus #1 – The digital divide | Live Long and Prosper

School in the time of Coronavirus #1 – The digital divide | Live Long and Prosper

School in the time of Coronavirus #1 – The digital divide

The Digital Divide

Millions of American school children are at home, their school year abruptly ended because of the coronavirus pandemic. Schools and teachers have been offering pickup meals and online education activities. The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) has a page with educator and parent online resources for continuing students’ education during the time schools are closed.

But what about students who have no internet access? The IDOE resource page includes links to free or reduced access opportunities, but one needs access to learn about those opportunities. Some of those opportunities may not be available in all rural areas. The only access for some families is a cell phone. And some parents won’t avail themselves of the opportunities even if they are aware of them.

The chronological list of articles and blog posts below highlights the fact that under the extraordinary circumstances we now find ourselves, some students CONTINUE READING: School in the time of Coronavirus #1 – The digital divide | Live Long and Prosper

Russ on Reading: John Steinbeck, Ray Bradbury and the Power Of Choice Reading

Russ on Reading: John Steinbeck, Ray Bradbury and the Power Of Choice Reading

John Steinbeck, Ray Bradbury and the Power Of Choice Reading

During my monthlong period of social isolation I have been re-reading several books by John Steinbeck: The Long Valley, Cannery Row, East of Eden. I have described Steinbeck as my favorite author since I was a 14-year-old in ninth grade at Benjamin Franklin Junior High School in Levittown, PA in 1962. I became a Steinbeck reader by choice. I had never and have never been assigned to read a Steinbeck work, but I found my way to him, fell in live with his writing and his books have long held an honored place on my bookshelf and in my heart. Occasionally I pull them down and re-read them.

I discovered Steinbeck in my 9^th grade English class. We had been assigned the reading of the novel Silas Marner, by George Eliot. I am sure Silas Marner is a great book. I am sure the school curriculum committee had very good reasons for choosing it. I also know that my 14-year-old mind was not ready to receive it with open arms or even open eyes. I didn’t read it then (I tried the first few chapters and gave in to a deep and satisfying sleep). Sitting in class as the teacher reviewed some early chapters in the book, I sat, trying not to make eye-contact so I wouldn’t be called on, rifling through the pages of the book. In the back of the text, I found the Steinbeck CONTINUE READING: Russ on Reading: John Steinbeck, Ray Bradbury and the Power Of Choice Reading

A Public School Evaluation System That Fails to Account for What We Value | janresseger

A Public School Evaluation System That Fails to Account for What We Value | janresseger

A Public School Evaluation System That Fails to Account for What We Value

What really matters in public schools?  There are some very different definitions of the purpose of schooling. Proponents of business-driven, standardized test-based school accountability, the system mandated for two decades by the federal government, say we must use data to measure the quality of the student products turned out at high school graduation.  Educators—and I believe parents and children—agree that what matters is students’ experience of learning while they are in school.

In these months when our children are at home because the pandemic has closed their schools, parents, children, and teachers have all been talking and writing about what they are missing—what is most important for them in the daily experience of of formal schooling.  But lots of education policy wonks seem worried about whether schools can quickly get back on schedule with the standardized testing regimen we’ve come to expect since annual testing was mandated in 2002 by No Child Left Behind.

In an important new reflection in The Kappan, Educational Accountability Is Out of Step—Now More than Ever, two professors of education, Derek Gottlieb of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley and Jack Schneider of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell reflect on what today’s school closures are teaching us about the value of schooling. Gottlieb and Schneider worry: “State governments… may have waived standardized testing this year, but once their public schools reopen, they’ll go right back to measuring them by the same few CONTINUE READING: A Public School Evaluation System That Fails to Account for What We Value | janresseger

CURMUDGUCATION: We’re About To Hear Many Suggestions About How To Reshape Education. Here’s How To Sort Them Out.

CURMUDGUCATION: We’re About To Hear Many Suggestions About How To Reshape Education. Here’s How To Sort Them Out.

We’re About To Hear Many Suggestions About How To Reshape Education. Here’s How To Sort Them Out.

The vast majority of the nation’s schools have pressed pause due to the current pandemic. In many areas they will stumble through the remainder of a year that will little resemble an ordinary year. This is already prompting many folks to declare this a golden opportunity to reconsider some of the traditional features of U.S. schooling. 

If we’ve got to have school without grades, without desks and rooms, without set hours for meeting anyway, why not consider how to play with these features to create better school systems? Lots of folks have thoughts. Some of the ideas that emerge will be useful and worthwhile, some will be opportunistic profiteering, and some will be baloney.

Here are some clues to sorting the educational wheat from the opportunistic chaff.

Who is pitching the idea?

Teachers know the system better than anyone; they are, in fact, the leading experts on public education in this country. Most teachers have spent their entire career thinking and talking about how to make the system better serve students. They’ve already started talking about how this crisis could present opportunities (here’s one such conversation in action). 

When you’re considering a hot new idea for education, consider the source. Look the pitcher up—do they have any educational training or experience at all. Note: if they spent two years in a classroom before starting their career as an educational entrepreneur or thought leader, that doesn’t count. And if their bold idea just happens to involve a program produced by a company they run or invest in, well, that doesn’t necessarily mean their idea is a bad one, but it certainly is reason to examine the goods carefully.

Has the idea been field tested?

Is there any evidence that this bold new idea might CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: We’re About To Hear Many Suggestions About How To Reshape Education. Here’s How To Sort Them Out.

Trumpsters are Furious Over My Refusal to Sacrifice Students to the Economy | gadflyonthewallblog

Trumpsters are Furious Over My Refusal to Sacrifice Students to the Economy | gadflyonthewallblog

Trumpsters are Furious Over My Refusal to Sacrifice Students to the Economy

You can’t make this stuff up!

I published an article yesterday on my blog with the title “You Can’t Have My Students’ Lives to Restart Your Economy.” 

In it, I criticized Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil and a Walton Family Foundation advisor who lambasted social distancing efforts as a response to the Coronavirus global pandemic, especially here in the United States. To varying degrees, they each thought it was acceptable to sacrifice children’s safety by reopening schools early if it would get businesses back up and running again.

I think that’s beyond ridiculous.

Here’s an excerpt:

The rich need the poor to get back to work. And they’re willing to put our lives on the line to do it.

What’s worse, they’re CONTINUE READING: Trumpsters are Furious Over My Refusal to Sacrifice Students to the Economy | gadflyonthewallblog

NYC Public School Parents: News update: PEP meeting postponed after reports of hugely wasteful spending of $700 million on busing we're not using

NYC Public School Parents: News update: PEP meeting postponed after reports of hugely wasteful spending of $700 million on busing we're not using

News update: PEP meeting postponed after reports of hugely wasteful spending of $700 million on busing we're not using

Update on Sue Edelman's reporting last night of how the DOE is proposing to extend busing contracts through the end of June, at a potential cost of $700 million, despite the fact that our schools are closed and there is no busing happening or needed.  

We have now heard from several reliable sources that Wednesday's meeting of the Panel for Educational Policy when these contracts were to be voted upon has now been postponed until April 29, presumably to allow DOE to reconsider the need for these contracts and hold additional discussions with Panel members, though we have not heard a peep about this officially or from the DOE itself. Update: DOE has now posted the postponement here, which you see when you click on April 22, 2020 meeting.

See also my blog post about this and other wasteful spending being proposed by DOE, which is especially mind-boggling given the fiscal crisis we are facing.  My blog also includes a letter to the Chancellor from the NYC Comptroller, pointing out that some of these busing contracts contain a Force Majeure clause, which means that either party can cancel them when faced with extraordinary circumstances, including epidemics.

When I first looked at these contracts last Tuesday, I was simply astonished.  Even though I am used to DOE's profligate ways, I haven’t been this flabbergasted since on a Sunday night, six years ago, when I was leafing through a list of proposed contracts to be voted on the following week.  

That Sunday night, February 22, 2014, I  noticed that the DOE was proposing to award $1.1 billion in one year for computer wiring and internet devices, extendable to two billion dollars over two years, to a company called Custom Computer Specialists, a contractor that had been named in a notorious DOE kickback scheme a  CONTINUE READING: NYC Public School Parents: News update: PEP meeting postponed after reports of hugely wasteful spending of $700 million on busing we're not using

NANCY BAILEY: Public School “Reimagine” and “Revolution” Hypocrisy: Put Them Out to Pasture!

Public School “Reimagine” and “Revolution” Hypocrisy: Put Them Out to Pasture!

Public School “Reimagine” and “Revolution” Hypocrisy: Put Them Out to Pasture!

Teachers and parents on the frontlines of this pandemic should be given control of how their schools are reimagined in the future. When this crisis ends, they should be given the voice on how to bring back democratic public schools and make them their own. Any revolution surrounding schools is theirs.

Those who foisted unproven and draconian school reform on America’s public schools in the past, now attack those reforms like they’re the fault of teachers and school systems. If public schools are broken it’s largely due to what these so-called reformers did to schools. They’re criticizing the mess they created!

Who…

• insisted on high-stakes standardized tests?
• pushed a no-play, no-recess curriculum on our youngest learners?
• denied children with disabilities the services they need?
• wrote and insisted on Common Core State Standards?
• insisted on one-size-fits-all goals and instruction?
• drove parents to distrust teachers?
• ignored the mental health needs of children in our schools? CONTINUE READING: Public School “Reimagine” and “Revolution” Hypocrisy: Put Them Out to Pasture! 

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

SPECIAL CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... 

The latest news and resources in education since 2007

It’s Patriots’ Day – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources About The American Revolution

by Larry Ferlazzo / 3h

272447 / Pixabay It’s Patriots’ Day : Patriots’ Day is an annual event, formalized as several state holidays , commemorating the Battles of Lexington and Concord , and the Battle of Menotomy , the first battles of the American Revolutionary War . I don’t actually have a specific Revolutionary War “Best” list. However, I have several posts about it filled with resources I use in my ELL US History

“All Classroom Q&A Posts on the Coronavirus Crisis”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 3h

All Classroom Q&A Posts on the Coronavirus Crisis is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. You can find links here to all Classroom Q&A posts related to supporting teachers, students, and parents during the school closure crisis. I’m adding it to THE “BEST OF THE BEST” RESOURCES TO SUPPORT TEACHERS DEALING WITH SCHOOL CLOSURES .

YESTERDAY

Video: Here’s An Example Of My Daily Online Lesson For ELL Newcomers

37by Larry Ferlazzo / 10h

GraphicMama-team / Pixabay Regular readers know that I’ve been teaching a daily half-hour live class to my ELL Newcomer class (see Here’s What I’m Trying Out In My Daily Thirty-Minute Live Online Newcomers Class ). I also record the main parts of the lesson separately and post it on Google Classroom. Students who miss the lesson can watch it there, and they can also re-watch it to help them with

“Visualization of ‘7 Tips for Parents Supporting Remote Learning'”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 10h

Visualization of ‘7 Tips for Parents Supporting Remote Learning’ is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Teacher Wendi Pillars shares a visual illustration of the points made in my video, “7 Tips for Parents Supporting Remote Learning.’

A Guide To The Best Teaching & Learning Resources On This Blog

28by Larry Ferlazzo / 18h

Jon Tyson Readership of this blog has more than doubled over the past few weeks, as has readership of my Ed Week Teacher column. I’ve been posting here for over thirteen years, and the resources can sometimes appear overwhelming. Newer readers might find this post useful: The “All-Time” Best Teaching & Learning Resources Available On This Blog

Study Finds Writing In Content Enhances Learning, As Long As It Is A Specific Kind of “Writing-to-Learn”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 23h

The Effects of Writing on Learning in Science, Social Studies, and Mathematics: A Meta-Analysis is a new study by Steve Graham, , Sharlene A. Kiuhara, and Meade MacKay. The quote in the text box at the top of this post summarizes their findings, but what I think is most important is the kind of writing they included in their meta-analysis. It’s what they called “writing-to-learn” activities. Keep

Pins Of The Week

by Larry Ferlazzo / 23h

I’m fairly active on Pinterest and, in fact, have curated 21,000 resources there that I haven’t shared on this blog. I thought readers might find it useful if I began sharing a handful of my most recent “pins” each week (I’m not sure if you can see them through an RSS Reader – you might have to click through to the original post). You might also be interested in MY MOST POPULAR PINS OF 2019 Here

APR 18

Most Popular Posts Of The Week

21by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

I’m making a change in the content of the regular feature. In addition to sharing the top five posts that have received the most “hits” in the preceding seven days (though they may have originally been published on an earlier date), I will also include the top five posts that have actually appeared in the past week. Often, these are different posts. You might also be interested in IT’S THE THIRTE

This Week’s Resources To Support Teachers Coping With School Closures

40by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

Wokandapix / Pixabay I have a number of regular weekly features (see HERE IS A LIST (WITH LINKS) OF ALL MY REGULAR WEEKLY FEATURES ). It’s time for a new addition to that list, and this post introduces a weekly compilation of new and good resources to support those of us dealing with school closures. Some will be added to The Best Advice On Teaching K-12 Online (If We Have To Because Of The Coron

Video: Dylan Wiliam On “What formative assessment is and isn’t”

40by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

It might just be me, but I prefer my videos to be ten minutes or less. This new Dylan Wiliam video lasts sixteen minutes, but it’s well-worth watching. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About Formative Assessment .

Harriet Voices The Feelings Of All Of Us Teachers These Days

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2d

Check out this cute video:

Video: “Earth Day 1970 – 2020: 50th Anniversary”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2d

purwakawebid / Pixabay I’m adding this new video from the American Museum of Natural History to The Best Earth Day Sites :

Join Me On April 30th For A Webinar On “Distance Learning & ELLs: What Have We Learned So Far?”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2d

DarkWorkX / Pixabay I do lots of professional development sessions for our school, but I don’t often do webinars or professional development elsewhere because of all my teaching and writing commitments (and my usual 

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007