THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES #REDFORED #tbats #COVID-19 #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #COVIDOUTBREAK #BIDENWINS #46

 THE TOP BANANA

TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES 

Montgomery County parents stage another COVID-19 school-closing protest, this time with a road rally - https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-covid-montgomery-county-schools-closing-protest-20201129.html#new_tab via @PhillyInquirer

Reopening Whiplash in New York City - The New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/30/us/reopening-whiplash-in-new-york-city.html

Appeals court refuses to intervene after health dept. closes Mich. school - https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/11/29/appeals-court-denies-intervention-christian-school-closed-health-department-coronavirus/6457178002/#new_tab via @freep

Schools Have Struggled To Fulfill IEPs Amid Pandemic, Government Report Finds - Disability Scoop - https://www.disabilityscoop.com/?p=29099 on @disabilityscoop

New Jersey moves to strengthen Black history education mandates - https://www.inquirer.com/education/nj-education-black-history-curriculum-amistad-legislation-cherry-hill-mcknight-angela-assembly-20201125.html#new_tab via @PhillyInquirer

Scottsdale Unified School District to close five schools Monday due to lack of staffing - https://www.abc15.com/rebound/state-of-education/scottsdale-unified-school-district-to-close-five-schools-monday-due-to-lack-of-staffing#new_tab by @DanielleLerner on @abc15

DeVos: Postpone National Assessment of Educational Progress exam in 2021 - The Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/naep-exams-2021-devos/2020/11/25/8f8741a4-2f3c-11eb-860d-f7999599cbc2_story.html#new_tab

Black Lives Matter lesson heightens racial tensions in Burlington Area schools - https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/education/2020/11/30/black-lives-matter-lesson-heightens-racial-tensions-burlington-area-schools/6424763002/#new_tab via @journalsentinel

New York City to reopen schools for 200,000 students Dec. 7, mayor says - https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2020/11/29/new-york-city-to-reopen-schools-for-200-000-students-next-week-mayor-says-1338269#new_tab

Virtual Charter Schools Are Booming During COVID-19 : NPR - https://www.npr.org/2020/11/30/928209482/virtual-charter-schools-are-booming-despite-a-checkered-reputation#new_tab on @NPR

Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District votes to strip healthcare benefits for striking teachers | wkyc.com - https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/education/cleveland-heights-teachers-benefits-strike/95-907d435e-a208-449a-8c9f-02477bd9c566#new_tab on wkyc

Kentucky COVID-19 restrictions: Appeals court closes in-person classes - https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/education/2020/11/29/kentucky-coronavirus-appeals-court-ruling-religious-schools/6436082002/#new_tab via @courierjournal

Amid COVID-19, homeless students form learning pod at carport - Los Angeles Times - https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-11-26/covid-19-homeless-students-form-learning-pod-carport#new_tab by @LauraMNewberry on @latimes

Mike Klonsky's Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES - http://michaelklonsky.blogspot.com/2020/11/weekend-quotables_30.html

Kentucky coronavirus restrictions order likely headed to Supreme Court - https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/education/2020/11/30/daniel-cameron-kentucky-coronavirus-religious-schools-restrictions-supreme-court/6462195002/#new_tab via @courierjournal

Perspective | An argument for giving kids open-book tests during the pandemic (and after) https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/11/30/an-argument-giving-kids-open-book-tests-during-pandemic-after/?tid=ss_tw

OPINION: What math class and police brutality have in common

by Mike Simpson / 56min

What math class and police brutality have in common An obsession with rule-following cuts short Black students’ opportunities Last May, a 15-year-old Black girl in Michigan known only by her middle name, Grace, was put in juvenile detention for not completing her homework. Teens not turning in their homework is hardly an anomaly. Other teens are scolded, lose marks or, at worst, get detention fo

Teaching in the Pandemic: ‘This Is Not Sustainable’ - The New York Times

by Mike Simpson / 56min

Teaching in the Pandemic: ‘This Is Not Sustainable’ Teacher burnout could erode instructional quality, stymie working parents and hinder the reopening of the economy. At Farmington Central Junior High in rural Illinois, classes still start at 8 a.m. But that’s about the only part of the school day that has not changed for Caitlyn Clayton, an eighth-grade English teacher tirelessly toggling betwe

Teacher Tom: Talking to Children About the Pandemic and Everything

by Mike Simpson / 56min

Talking to Children About the Pandemic and Everything In a recent interview in The New York Times Magazine , children's book author Mo Willems was asked if he had any advice for parents struggling to talk with their children about difficult things, like the pandemic. "Probably the most fundamental insight is that even a good childhood is difficult: You're powerless; the furniture is not made you

Making the Transition from Writing in High School to Writing in College – radical eyes for equity

by Mike Simpson / 56min

Making the Transition from Writing in High School to Writing in College Three behaviors have over the course of about 40 years come to constitute a significant percentage of who I am—writing, teaching, and cycling. Of those three, I have received the most formal education in teaching, completing all three of my degrees (BA, MEd, EdD) in education; in many ways, I am self-taught as a writer and a

CURMUDGUCATION: Donors Choose Monday: Expanding the Library

by Mike Simpson / 56min

Donors Choose Monday: Expanding the Library This week's project is exactly the sort of thing that shouldn't be on donors choose. Mrs. Gibson is an elementary teacher in South Carolina, and she's looking to expand her classroom library. My students are living in a low income area where literacy is our focus in order to meet the needs they may not be receiving at home. My focus is to bring in book

Grassroots Education Network- November 2020 Newsletter - Network For Public Education

by Mike Simpson / 56min

Grassroots Education Network- November 2020 Newsletter The NPE Grassroots Education Network is a network of over 155 grassroots organizations nationwide who have joined together to preserve, promote, improve, and strengthen our public schools. If you know of a group that would like to join this powerful network, please go here to sign on. If you have any questions about the NPE Grassroots Educat

Nobody Should Be Wasting Time Worrying About When to Administer Standardized Tests | janresseger

by Mike Simpson / 56min

Nobody Should Be Wasting Time Worrying About When to Administer Standardized Tests Parents, children, teachers, principals, and school superintendents are living through a time of unknowns. COVID-19 is raging across the states with many public schools operating only online. Some public schools, which have been able to open in person or on hybrid schedules, have subsequently been forced to close

Virtual Charter Schools Are Booming, Despite A Checkered Reputation | 89.3 KPCC

by Mike Simpson / 56min

Virtual Charter Schools Are Booming, Despite A Checkered Reputation Parent Mandii Brower vividly remembers what it was like when her kids' school in Yukon, Okla., switched to distance learning in the spring: "It was just like, we never learned with our teachers again. They never checked on things again." She says "school" consisted of just a few short daily assignments. "I [couldn't] see my kids

A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007

by Mike Simpson / 56min

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/11/this-week-in-education-larry-ferlazzos_28.html “This Is Not Sustainable”: Important NY Times Article About Teachers’ Str

CURMUDGUCATION: The 2020 Edubook Christmas List

by Mike Simpson / 3h

The 2020 Edubook Christmas List Time to go hunting for books for the people on your Christmas list, and I have some recommendations for you if there are people on your list who care about public education (and really, everybody should). Before we start shopping, let me also direct your attention to Bookshop.org , an online vendor set up to benefit local independent booksellers instead of, say, g

In a twist, de Blasio’s latest screw-up is not his worst | JD2718

by Mike Simpson / 3h

In a twist, de Blasio’s latest screw-up is not his worst Over the last nine months Bill de Blasio has gotten a lot wrong. Almost every announcement has been late, off-base, and off kilter. He kept schools open when they should have been closed, he canceled break when students and teachers needed it, he announced policies without consulting teachers, families, principals, he came up with half-ass

NYC Educator: The Chancellor Reveals His Re-opening Plan

by Mike Simpson / 3h

The Chancellor Reveals His Re-opening Plan Dear Colleagues, I hope you had a restful Thanksgiving holiday this year. You’ll need it, because I’m about to arbitrarily and capriciously change my reopening plan, again, with no consultation whatsoever with your union. This has been an eventful and challenging year on many levels. We’ve managed to double the infection rate in the city. Worse, parents

Reclaiming the Field | The Merrow Report

by Mike Simpson / 22h

Reclaiming the Field I know that I interviewed hundreds of future Trump supporters during my 41 years of reporting on public education for PBS and NPR. I’m also pretty sure that I taught some of them in high school 55 years ago. Joey L. is a case in point. Joey was a junior back in 1966 when he was in my English class, so he would be about 70 years old today. Back then most public schools (inclu

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION + ICYMI: Long Weekend Edition (11/29)

by Mike Simpson / 1d

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Long Weekend Edition (11/29) Long Weekend Edition (11/29) Thanksgiving was not so bad at our house; the board of directors had a lovely time and I was able to talk to both grown children. So we'll call it a win. In the meantime, people keep writing stuff and I have some of it here for you to read. How a Bad Bill Becomes a Bad Law Sharon Murchie is an English teacher in Mich

CommonWealth Magazine

by Mike Simpson / 1d

In-person learning now considered ‘high risk’ by CDC Change in guideline quietly made on agency website THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL and Prevention quietly removed controversial guidelines from its website promoting in-person learning in schools, and instead is now listing it as “high risk. The disputed guidance was composed of documents written by political appointees outside of the agency.

A Week in the Life of a Baltimore School Returning to In-Person Classes (Erica Green) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

by Mike Simpson / 1d

A Week in the Life of a Baltimore School Returning to In-Person Classes (Erica Green) New York Times Journalist Erica Green spent a week in a Baltimore school where in-person instruction resumed. It is rare to get such a peek inside a big city district school during the pandemic–nearly all large urban districts are shuttered and rely upon remote instruction. This article appeared November 28, 20

Choosing Democracy: Its Over: Democracy Won !

by Mike Simpson / 1d

Its Over: Democracy Won ! We want to thank the many people who helped us avoid a catastrophic coup. It looks like the worst may be over. Monday likely was decisive. Trump was handed another legal slapdown in his effort to disenfranchise millions of confirmed voters with evidence-free claims. Local organizing in Michigan pushed-back against wayward electorates — ending with Michigan officially ce

TOP POSTS THIS WEEK 11/28/20 #REDFORED #tbats #COVID-19 #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #COVIDOUTBREAK #BIDENWINS #46

by Mike Simpson / 1d

Big Education Ape TOP POSTS THIS WEEK 11/28/20 ‘Slaying Goliath’: Diane Ravitch argues in new book that public education advocates have beat back efforts to privatize schools - The Washington Post The real story of New 

Big Education Ape