CURMUDGUCATION: Trump Demands Patriotic Classrooms

CURMUDGUCATION: Trump Demands Patriotic Classrooms

Trump Demands Patriotic Classrooms

Trump's education agenda is, well, terse. Eleven words, two items. And the second of the two is "Teach American Exceptionalism."

Monday, Trump expanded on that idea, saying that the nation needs to install "patriotic education" in schools. It's his plan for quelling rebellion in cities and countering "lies" about US racism (i.e. the "lie" that it exists). Gotta counter that "left-wing indoctrination" that all those indoctrinaty teachers are up to all the time (in between, you know, collecting lunch money and checking masks and updating web-based assignment materials).

As reported by Politico, here's the Trumpian solution to all our problems:

Children must be taught that America is “an exceptional, free and just nation, worth defending, preserving and protecting,” he said.

“The only path to unity is to rebuild a shared national identity focused on common American values and virtues of which we have plenty,” he said. “This includes restoring patriotic education in our nation's schools, where they are trying to change everything that we have learned.”

"To change everything we've learned" signals that in the spectrum of Trumpian policy ideas, we are in that folder labeled "Grampaw Hates This New-Fangled Thing."

What is American Exceptionalism, Anyway?

I put a subheading here so that you can skip this history lesson portion of this post if you wish.

I'll also note that "American exceptionalism" is one of those phrases that ignores that "America" is CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Trump Demands Patriotic Classrooms

Shanker Blog: We Choose to Reimagine Education: Centering on Love and Emotionally Responsive Teaching and Learning | National Education Policy Center

Shanker Blog: We Choose to Reimagine Education: Centering on Love and Emotionally Responsive Teaching and Learning | National Education Policy Center

Shanker Blog: We Choose to Reimagine Education: Centering on Love and Emotionally Responsive Teaching and Learning

This post is part of our series entitled Teaching and Learning During a Pandemic, in which we invite guest authors to reflect on the challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic for teaching and learning. Our guest authors today are Tia C. Madkins, assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas at Austin, and Alexis Patterson Williams, assistant professor in science education at the University of California Davis. Other posts in the series are compiled here.

Receiving new and conflicting information about COVID-19 is sending families, educators, and communities into a tailspin. Schools remain closed, students and their families are frustrated with remote schooling (RS), and school reopening plans are being revealed slowly—if at all. Many conversations about the upcoming school year have been rooted in fear of  what could go wrong. We argue that it is critical to start our conversation from a place of hope and reimagine what could go well in PK-12 education. This requires reimagining PK-12 education through the lens of love. If we don’t use this moment to reimagine education, we are missing an incredible opportunity, which will leave our children wondering why we didn’t work harder to leverage the moment to make their lives and schools better.

What does it look like to center love as we prepare to reopen US schools? When we say love, we mean a commitment to making each other better. Educators commit to being responsible for and to each other, to students, and to families. This is accomplished by having explicit high expectations and demonstrating care through both actions and words. At a time when schools are incredibly unequal, it is really important to show love and uplift the experiences of Black and Brown students. Thus, educators in PK-12 classrooms, both in and outside of schools, must engage in humanizing pedagogies that 1) foster emotionally responsive classroom environments; 2) support students’ critical consciousness development; and 3) co-construct curricula and knowledge with their students. Here is how educators can enact these practices.

Foster emotionally responsive classroom environments. When we center love, we create emotionally responsive learning environments. Educators who see their students as fully human and as children provide meaningful and robust instructional experiences. This requires examining, confronting, and rejecting deficit views of students, families, and communities CONTINUE READING: Shanker Blog: We Choose to Reimagine Education: Centering on Love and Emotionally Responsive Teaching and Learning | National Education Policy Center

An Ode to Coach John Thompson, a Black Educator - Philly's 7th Ward

An Ode to Coach John Thompson, a Black Educator - Philly's 7th Ward

AN ODE TO COACH JOHN THOMPSON, A BLACK EDUCATOR

The late, great John Thompson contributed more than college basketball wins. Much more.

Black educators are incredibly important to the success of Black students.

Black students who have had at least one Black teacher are more likely to graduate from high school, attend college and are less likely to drop out of school. Black students are also less likely to receive exclusionary discipline at the hands of a Black teacher.

However, the impact of Black educators cannot be limited to statistics such as test scores and graduation rates. Our impact is measured by our passion for and commitment to both the craft of teaching and Black lives.

John Thompson Jr. embodied that. It was why he chose a career in working with young people over continuing his career in the NBA.

Black educators enter the education profession to have a profound impact on the lives of Black children. It’s why I am an educator. For us, Black lives more than matter; Black lives are earthen vessels containing hidden treasures we CONTINUE READING: An Ode to Coach John Thompson, a Black Educator - Philly's 7th Ward

SSPI THURMOND STUFF TODAY FROM THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

    California Department of Education

SSPI THURMOND

STUFF TODAY FROM THE

CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Initial ELPAC Test Moves Online

15min

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Announces Major Step to Assess English Language Proficiency During Distance Learning

USDA Summer Meal Program Waiver Extensions

18h

On August 31, 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released nine Summer Meal Program Waiver Extensions.

COVID-19: CNP Response 44, 45, 46, and 47

19h

On August 20, 2020, as part of the COVID-19 Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued four Child Nutrition Programs (CNP) flexibility waiver extensions as part of the COVID-19 Child Nutrition Response.

COVID-19: School Re-opening FAQs

19h

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) related to re-opening guidance for school nutrition programs as of August 28, 2020.

USDA Extension of Summer Meal Programs

19h

U.S. Department of Agriculture Announcement on the Extension of Summer Meal Programs Until December 31, 2020.

    California Department of Education

John Jackson: Using Philanthropy to Build Loving Systems | Schott Foundation for Public Education

John Jackson: Using Philanthropy to Build Loving Systems | Schott Foundation for Public Education

John Jackson: Using Philanthropy to Build Loving Systems

A recent QCityMetro profile of Black philanthropists featured Schott President & CEO Dr. John H. Jackson. In the profile John describes the intersection of philanthropy, racial justice, public education, and grassroots movements — precisely where he and the Schott Foundation do our work.

John Jackson came to philanthropy through his work in education justice, first as a member of the Clinton administration, and later in his national work with NAACP Education Division across 2300 sites. Through that work, he grew in his appreciation for the power of grassroots investments, an understanding of which influenced his personal and professional approach to philanthropic investment.

John Jackson subscribes to three tenets of giving. First, he believes that it is about resourcing individuals and institutions “closest to the pain” and offering the best opportunity for progress toward addressing those needs. Second, it is about building trust between funders and recipients, and trusting that those closest to the needs will use resources appropriately to bring about change. Third, Jackson invests for systemic change to ensure that change becomes a public good, not limited to localized impact. 

John Jackson is adamant that, in his work and in Black giving, we must use a racial/gender equity lens in funding.  Specifically, he believes that we can’t get to excellence in educational systems because the inequities are defined by racial and ethnic inequities. These institutionalized, race-based inequities can only be rectified by funding in a way that targets the sources and root causes of the inequities.

John Jackson described a years-long movement to integrate restorative justice in schools across the country. When he CONTINUE READING: John Jackson: Using Philanthropy to Build Loving Systems | Schott Foundation for Public Education

Russ on Reading: Vocabulary Instruction: Try Word Riffs

Russ on Reading: Vocabulary Instruction: Try Word Riffs

Vocabulary Instruction: Try Word Riffs

Many young readers hit a wall when their reading demands that they decode longer and longer words. Research has shown that instruction in morphology (roots and affixes) can help readers make this transition. Some excellent resources are available for teaching morphological understanding. One that I particularly like is the Word Ladder approach of  Dr. Tim Rasinski. Word Ladder books for various grade levels are readily available from Scholastic, but lately Tim has been posting Word Ladders on his Twitter feed. You can follow him @TimRasinski1 to get his latest freebies. 

I have had success with a variation on the Word Ladder, adding an element of the Think Aloud, in my own teaching. I call it, for lack of a better term, the Word Riff. The idea of the Word Riff is to help students use morphology in decoding, expand student vocabulary, and turn students on to the richness and logic in the English language. 

The Word Riff grows out of each students' Vocabulary Self-Collection Notebook. As a part of the student's interactive notebook they keep for my class (a place for reflections, reading responses, notes, etc.) I ask the students to collect new, unknown and interesting words they run across in their reading. The student is asked to identify the word, the context (sentence) the word was found in, a best guess definition of the word, and a dictionary definition of the word. If you would like to read more about the CONTINUE READING: Russ on Reading: Vocabulary Instruction: Try Word Riffs

Teacher Tom: Big and Strong

Teacher Tom: Big and Strong

Big and Strong

"Teacher Tom, look at my muscles." He was flexing his biceps in the classic muscle-making pose.

"I'm looking at your muscles."

He admired them himself for a moment, then said, "I made them."

I nodded.

Apparently, I'd not shown sufficient astonishment, so he added, "I did! I actually made them!" 

"You actually made them."

He flexed for a moment then let his arms fall limply to his side. "Want to know how I made them?"

"Yes."

"By exercising."

"I see. Exercising your muscles made them stronger."

"And bigger! So big. I want to see your muscles, Teacher Tom."

I flexed for him.

He looked disappointed. "My dad's are CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: Big and Strong

Dissenters | Bill Ayers

Dissenters | Bill Ayers

Dissenters

I’m helping launch a new anti-militarism youth movement!

I’m helping launch Dissenters, a new anti-militarism youth organization. Will you join me in investing in this exciting new group of leaders?

 

Click here: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/invest-in-a-new-anti-militarism-youth-movement/?source=email&

 

Thanks!

Dissenters | Bill Ayers

With A Brooklyn Accent: Official Statement: The Mission of Fordham's Department of African and African American Studies in a Challenging Time

With A Brooklyn Accent: Official Statement: The Mission of Fordham's Department of African and African American Studies in a Challenging Time

Official Statement: The Mission of Fordham's Department of African and African American Studies in a Challenging Time

Official Statement: The Mission of the Department of African and African American Studies in a Challenging Time August 31, 2020 We, the faculty of the Department of African and African American Studies at Fordham University, write this statement during an extraordinary time when the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and racism have transformed our lives, livelihoods, and institutions. Our condolences go out to members of our community who have lost loved ones during this difficult time. We find hope and strength in our commitment to justice, equality, and freedom which are the core values of African and African American Studies. We stood in full solidarity with the millions of people who marched across the country and the world in past months following the brutal killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many other people of color in spite of a global pandemic. Jointly with other departments and programs at Catholic Universities and Colleges around the country, we issued a statement expressing our full solidarity with Black Lives Matter movement and the protests in defense of justice and equality. We believe that the protests in the streets will not be enough to transform our society, nor will statements alone. The world is changing around us but it is not changing soon enough to address the evils of our society that have terrorized black people and people of color for too long. COVID-19 has exposed the profound impacts of the existing structural injustices in the U.S. Blacks and people of color are disproportionately affected by the dual pandemics. During this difficult time, faculty members and students in the department have increased their level of activism, joining Black Lives CONTINUE READING: With A Brooklyn Accent: Official Statement: The Mission of Fordham's Department of African and African American Studies in a Challenging Time

Are Students “Consumers”?(David Labaree) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Are Students “Consumers”?(David Labaree) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Are Students “Consumers”?(David Labaree)

David Labaree is a professor emeritus at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education. He blogs on schooling, history, and writing.

Observers of American education have frequently noted that the general direction of educational reform over the years has not been forward but back and forth. Reform, it seems, is less an engine of progress than a pendulum, swinging monotonously between familiar policy alternatives. Progress is hard to come by.

However, a closer reading of the history of educational change in this country reveals a pattern that is both more complex and in a way more troubling than this. Yes, the back-and-forth movement is real, but it turns out that this pattern is for the most part good news. It simply represents a periodic shift in emphasis between two goals for education — democratic equality and social efficiency — that represent competing but equally indispensable visions of education.

The bad news is that in the 20th century, and especially in the past several decades, the pendulum swings increasingly have given way to a steady movement in the direction of a third goal, social mobility. This shift from fluctuation to forward motion may look like progress, but it’s not. The problem is that it represents a fundamental change in the way we think about education, by threatening to transform this most public of institutions from a public good into a private good. The consequences for both school and society, I suggest, are potentially devastating.

Let me explain why. First we’ll consider the role that these three goals have CONTINUE READING: Are Students “Consumers”?(David Labaree) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

USDA Summer Meal Program Waiver Extensions - Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)

USDA Summer Meal Program Waiver Extensions - Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)

USDA Summer Meal Program Waiver Extensions

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Main Web Page

On August 31, 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released nine Summer Meal Program Waiver Extensions that allows schools that have started the new school year to use the Seamless Summer Option (SSO) and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) through December 31, 2020 instead of the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. These waivers are in response to the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic.

These waivers are effective immediately and USDA will be posting on the USDA Food and Nutrition Services Child Nutrition COVID-19 Waivers web page:

• Nationwide Waiver to Allow Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option Operations through December 2020

• Nationwide Waiver to Extend Area Eligibility Waivers – Extension 2

• Nationwide Waiver to Allow Meal Pattern Flexibility in the Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Program Seamless Summer Option – Extension 7.

• Nationwide Waiver to Allow Non-congregate Feeding in the Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Program Seamless Summer Option – Extension 4

• Nationwide Waiver to Allow Parents and Guardians to Pick Up Meals for Children – Extension 4

• Nationwide Waiver of Meal Service Time Restrictions in the Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Program Seamless Summer Option – Extension

• Nationwide Waiver to Allow Area Eligibility for Closed Enrolled Sites in the Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Program Seamless Summer Option – Extension

• Nationwide Waiver to Waive First Week Site Visits in the Summer Food Service Program – Extension

• Nationwide Waiver to Allow Offer Versus Serve Flexibilities in the Summer Food Service Program – Extension

The Nutrition Services Division will provide additional clarification on the next Tuesday@2 School Nutrition Town Hall meeting scheduled for September 8, 2020. Go to the Tuesday at 2 School Nutrition Town Hall web page for information to join.

Questions:   Nutrition Services Division | 800-952-5609

USDA Summer Meal Program Waiver Extensions - Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)