Teacher Tom: Only Compassion Makes Hope Worth Something

Teacher Tom: Only Compassion Makes Hope Worth Something

Only Compassion Makes Hope Worth Something

Seattle's public schools have re-opened for in-person instruction this week, a sign that many are taking as the beginning of our return to "normal." Vaccinations in our state are going to be available for everyone over 16 starting next week, another signal that "normal" is just around the corner. But let's remember some things.

Nearly 40,000 American children lost a parent to the pandemic. Black children were disproportionately impacted.

So far, only one American child has died from influenza during the current flu season. A typical season sees a couple hundred deaths.

More than one in four educators are considering leaving the profession due to the pandemic.

77 percent of US educators are working more today than a year ago.

60 percent enjoy their job less. The same number do not feel their school district's safety precautions were adequate.

The share of schools that found it very difficult to fill a teacher vacancy nearly doubled between 2012 and 2016.

Between 2009 and 2016 there was a 15.4 percent drop in the CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: Only Compassion Makes Hope Worth Something

Ending the year with hope | Laura Bradley

Ending the year with hope | Laura Bradley

ENDING THE YEAR WITH HOPE

Usually I’m a planner. I like to-do lists and calendars and vision boards and check boxes. But I’m also fond of those lightbulb moments when an idea pops into my head and I can see an entire project unfold that my students could start tomorrow. And that’s what happened when I read this article from Edutopia: In Schools, Finding Hope in a Hopeless Time, by Nora Fleming.

I have worried so much this year about my students, 7th and 8th graders I have never met face-to-face. We have been learning on Zoom all year, and while I have seen lots of growth, creativity and community in our Zoom classes, I know there has been plenty of pain and struggle that I haven’t been able to see or respond to online.

But now we are on Spring Break, and in a couple weeks we will return to a campus that will be brand new for most of my students. We will finally see each other in person! The sun is out, the CONTINUE READING: Ending the year with hope | Laura Bradley

Poetry of Pain, Poetry of Hope – radical eyes for equity

Poetry of Pain, Poetry of Hope – radical eyes for equity

Poetry of Pain, Poetry of Hope

When I posted my newest poem yesterday, we weathered winter (silence & shouting), I realized this is my first poem of 2021. It is unusual since it is mostly a poem of hope, a poem uniquely set in the Covid-19 pandemic.

As I looked back, I also realized that the last poem of 2020 was about my aunt’s suicide, a human throat (ineffable), a poem of pain anchored to the frailties of being human—although this poem too cannot avoid the ghost of the pandemic lingering there.

My newest poem feels out of character for me, a person prone to cynicism and a general negative outlook on life paraded as a “realistic” view. The poem is also unusual because most of my poetry comes in bursts; first there are entire sections that come to me whole (often in sleep or near sleep) and then several hours of tinkering and shaping the poem that is calling to me to bring it forth.

I ended 2020 in the paradox of writing about the ineffable, a suicide of a family member who filled me with contradictory and confusing emotions. So starting 2021 with some hope feels both odd and perfect as I sit in South Carolina CONTINUE READING: Poetry of Pain, Poetry of Hope – radical eyes for equity

Hope During a Pandemic is Both Hard and Inescapable | gadflyonthewallblog

Hope During a Pandemic is Both Hard and Inescapable | gadflyonthewallblog

Hope During a Pandemic is Both Hard and Inescapable

I cried when I got my second Covid-19 shot.

Not a lot.

Just a few drops.

But the flood of emotions I felt that accompanied that tiny pinch in my arm was totally unexpected.

It was like I gasped for breath and hadn’t realized until then that I was suffocating.

I looked up at the volunteer who had injected me to see if she’d noticed, but it’s hard to read someone’s expression under a mask.

So I found myself shrugging the feeling off, giving her a brisk “Thank you” and heading off to file my paperwork, get another stamp on my vaccination card and plopping in a chair for 15 minutes of observation before heading on my way.

As I sat there, I started to feel this growing sense of excitement in my chest.

Two weeks, I thought.

In two weeks I will be fully vaccinated.

Moderna is 94.1% effective at preventing infection. That means I should be able to return to school and teach my students in-person. Safely.

Some of them have been back in the classroom for weeks now, but I’ve had to stay CONTINUE READING: Hope During a Pandemic is Both Hard and Inescapable | gadflyonthewallblog

ARE BETTER TIMES REALLY AHEAD? – Dad Gone Wild

ARE BETTER TIMES REALLY AHEAD? – Dad Gone Wild

ARE BETTER TIMES REALLY AHEAD?

“I think the world honestly would be a much healthier place if instead of trying to find rationalizations for our bad behavior we would just say, “I was an asshole. Sure, there were reasons behind it, but that doesn’t matter.”
― Colin Quinn

 

Somebody forgot to give 2021 the memo. This year was supposed to be better. We were supposed to be better. This past week casts doubt on those suppositions. Instead of easing the rough waters, the week’s worked to heighten an already tumultuous time. A time that threatens to rend us from each other.

Back in the old days, when we still recognized the value of education as more than just a pathway to future earnings, there was a thing called a liberal arts education. Along with reading, writing, and arithmetic, we taught science, social studies, and civics. Students were expected to become familiar with the basics of several disciplines in order to become better citizens, and not just better earners. This loss of focus has contributed to a loss of the ability to engage in civil discourse

Maybe I’m just looking at things through the lens of nostalgia, but we used to debate ideas and policies. We would try to convince others based on the strength of our argument, not our ability to discredit our opponent. Now more effort is put into dehumanizing those we disagree with, then making the case for our argument based on its merits. This has resulted in an ever-widening breach between us. A breach that allows for those motivated by self-interest to take advantage of CONTINUE READING: ARE BETTER TIMES REALLY AHEAD? – Dad Gone Wild

NANCY BAILEY: Guarded Hope and 7 Concerns for Public Education this New Year

Guarded Hope and 7 Concerns for Public Education this New Year

Guarded Hope and 7 Concerns for Public Education this New Year

We have a new President and a new education secretary and hope for the future of public education.

Hope doesn’t come easy because schools face what appear to be insurmountable difficulties due to Covid-19. Also, wealthy individuals and groups who want school privatization are established in the system, mostly in dozens of anti-public school nonprofits, foundations, and think tanks.

We’ll be watching to see who Education Secretary Miguel Cardona chooses to work in the U.S. Department of Education and watch what happens to public schools at the State and local levels.

Here are some concerns.

1. Covid-19

Covid-19 dominates the education discussion. Governors and school officials must take the virus and school openings seriously without caving to political pressure to open schools when it’s dangerous. The virus doesn’t care what school students attend. Some CONTINUE READING: Guarded Hope and 7 Concerns for Public Education this New Year

Arthur Camins: My Hopes and Dreams for My Grandchildren’s Education | Diane Ravitch's blog

Arthur Camins: My Hopes and Dreams for My Grandchildren’s Education | Diane Ravitch's blog

Arthur Camins: My Hopes and Dreams for My Grandchildren’s Education

Arthur Camins has had a fruitful career as a teacher, science educator, and technology expert. He writes here about the kind of education he hopes his grandchildren will have.

He begins:

Persistent inequity and underfunding, especially after decades of emphasis on test-based accountability and privatization, largely unopposed increases in racial and socioeconomic segregation, and four years of leadership by an active opponent of public education bring us to a moment of choice for K-12 public education in the United States: Change or give up on the needs of most of America’s children.

I usually write what I hope are persuasive essays about education policy and other social justice issues. However, the divisiveness of the last election demonstrates that we can’t argue or campaign our way to lasting fundamental change through presidential elections.  The change we need begins with building relationships through shared multiracial conversation and struggle.  

Today, I offer my hopes for my two grandchildren and the rest of the children with whom they will grow up and live CONTINUE READING: Arthur Camins: My Hopes and Dreams for My Grandchildren’s Education | Diane Ravitch's blog

What A Biden Presidency Could Mean For Education | 89.3 KPCC

What A Biden Presidency Could Mean For Education | 89.3 KPCC

What A Biden Presidency Could Mean For Education

With the eyes of the country upon him, Joe Biden shouted out education during his speech Saturday in Wilmington, Del: "For American educators, this is a great day for you all. You're going to have one of your own in the White House."

Of course, the president-elect was talking about his wife, Jill Biden, an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College. She continued her teaching career during Biden's two terms as vice president, and in a break with precedent, intends to continue doing so as first lady.

Which raises the question as the transition planning moves forward: How has this perspective shaped the president-elect's education agenda? And how much of that agenda can Joe Biden hope to achieve, with the massive challenges of the coronavirus and the economic recession, and with Democratic control of the Senate in doubt?

Here's our overview of his policy priorities for K-12 and higher education:

Reopening schools safely

Like so much in the country, experts say, the president's education agenda must start by confronting the threat of the coronavirus. As of Nov. 9, according to one national estimate, 63% of U.S. students were enrolled in districts that offered some in-person learning at least a few days a week.

But even within those districts, many or most students are staying home to avoid the virus. And education experts still forecast huge amounts of learning loss and negative social and emotional impacts, especially for younger students, those with special needs and lower-income students.

The question of whether, and when, to reopen schools became a political debate over the summer when President Trump called forcefully for reopening without providing additional funding through Congress. Biden, by contrast, has publicly CONTINUE READING: What A Biden Presidency Could Mean For Education | 89.3 KPCC

Five Reasons to be Cautiously Optimistic About the Biden Presidency | gadflyonthewallblog

Five Reasons to be Cautiously Optimistic About the Biden Presidency | gadflyonthewallblog

Five Reasons to be Cautiously Optimistic About the Biden Presidency

President-elect Joe Biden.

Go ahead and say that aloud once.

“President-elect Joe Biden.”

How does it feel?

If you’re like me, it feels pretty good.

And to be honest I never expected that it would.

Sure, I voted for Joe. I gave money to the campaign. I volunteered.

But Biden was far from my first choice. In fact, looking over the field of Democrats seeking the party’s nomination, he might have been my last pick.

I was a Bernie Sanders guy and probably will be until the day I die.

But damn if it doesn’t feel good to say “President-elect Joe Biden!” CONTINUE READING: Five Reasons to be Cautiously Optimistic About the Biden Presidency | gadflyonthewallblog

Compare the town halls: How Biden and Trump will bring educators out of the pandemic - Education Votes

Compare the town halls: How Biden and Trump will bring educators out of the pandemic - Education Votes

Compare the town halls: How Biden and Trump will bring educators out of the pandemic

By Amanda Menas

On the night that was supposed to be the second presidential debate, Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump appeared at separate events presenting their vastly different visions to voters.

“The words of a president matter,” Biden said of Trump’s actions regarding the coronavirus pandemic during his town hall on ABC. “When a president doesn’t wear a mask, or makes fun of folks like me when I was wearing a mask, for a long time, then people say, ‘Well, you know, it mustn’t be that important.’”

Biden presented his vision of leadership to bring back the American economy, workforce, and middle class out of the recession caused by the pandemic and Donald Trump’s failed response. He pointed to his leadership throughout the spring in calling for school closures and reopening safely by listening to the experts, while Trump lied and hid the facts from the public.

“You can open businesses and schools if in fact you provide them the guidance that they need as well as the money to be able to do it,” said Biden about his school reopening plan if elected. Biden noted that Trump’s administration told the American public that they would provide masks for every student and teacher, and then subsequently walked it back. “We need more teachers in our schools to be able to open and smaller pods. We need ventilation systems changed,” Biden said.

Trump and his education secretary, Betsy DeVos, have failed students, educators, and the American people with their response to the pandemic. Trump even failed to take CONTINUE READING: Compare the town halls: How Biden and Trump will bring educators out of the pandemic - Education Votes