Sunday, May 9, 2021

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION + ICYMI: Mother's Day Edition (5/9)

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Mother's Day Edition (5/9)



Mother's Day Edition 

Honestly, it has been kind of a rough week here, and it's not getting better any time soon. So whatever else you do today, make sure you hug a loved one and let them know you care. Time is relentless and remorseless. Humans do not have to be. Here's some reading from the week.

Teacher Evaluations (Hammers and Nails)

Blue  Cereal Education with a story of what teacher evaluation looks like in the field, and why sorting everything into hammers and nails is a problem of its own.

The Great (Unemployed and Underpaid) Transformation

Nancy Flanagan takes a look at what has changed, and why we're not going back to "normal."

A state legislator is howling indoctrination because my 7th graders are learning the ocean is polluted

One of the new anti-indoctrination policy ideas now making the rounds is to force teachers to post their lesson plans and materials (the better for folks to catch educators in their indoctrinatin' ways). Justin Parmenter inadvertently became a poster boy for that initiative in North Carolina. He tells eth story at Notes from the Chalkboard.


At the Washington Post, an overview of the current right wing freakout over CRT (or at least what they imagine CRT must be). Pair this with the next piece on the list.


Michelle Goldberg at the New York Times suggests that the right needs something to get the based fired up, and since Joe Biden won't fill the bill, let's get excited about all that pub lic school indoctrinatin' going on.


Jan Resseger looks at the potential effects of Biden's big AFP proposal.


Thomas Ultican takes a look a new book about diversity research and considers teacher voice in policy ideas.


If you're puzzled by the story of how Seth Andrew managed to take a pile of money from the charter he founded, the indispensable Mercedes Schneider clarifies how it was all done. 


The Centner Academy hit the news when it announced that it would fire teacher4s for getting vaccinated. That turns out to be just the tip of the crazy iceberg. The New York Times went digging.


At Salon, Thomas Nail considers why artificial intelligence research may have wandered down the wrong road.


Kate Crawford at the Atlantic explains why all those programs claiming they can read student emotion are actually bunk.


At the very least. Chuck Goldenberg at EdWeek explains.


McSweeney offers a perfect true/sad/funny chaser for Teacher Appreciation Week. 









Accountability Whiplash
36by Peter Greene / 2d
It's one of the little inconsistencies in the reformster movement. Some will point at charts showing that spending on public education has increased steadily (in constant dollars) and ask, "What have we gotten for it?" There are answers to that question, including but not limited to A) more education for special ed students previously warehoused in some back room, B) better funding for previously
Teaching Legacies
by Peter Greene / 3d
It's easy as a teacher-- particularly if you've taught in a single school for a lot of your career-- to think of your legacy being in the building or in some program that you created or nurtured. But that's not it. As you approach retirement, you may notice (if you haven't already) that no matter how ever-present and plugged in you may be, no matter how many invaluable extras you provide, once you
Khan Academy Expanding To Littles
28by Peter Greene / 4d
The pandemic has been very, very good to Sal Khan, and he's ready to grab the big sticky ball and run with it. He recently did an interview with Emily Tate for EdSurge, and it's all just as discouraging as you would expect. Khan opens with a few thought about pandemic life in the Bay Area: “Obviously, some aspects have been suboptimal for everybody,” he says, acknowledging that his family has bee
ICYMI: What? May Already? Edition (5/2)
by Peter Greene / 7d
That whole April thing seemed to slide by quickly. What could come next? I'll remind you (as I haven't in a while) that sharing is your power as a reader, and that if any of these really speak to you, the best gift you can give the writer of your favorite piece is more readers. Share. I'm a Chicago princi
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