School Tech Connect: They Don't Believe In Freedom Of Speech

School Tech Connect: They Don't Believe In Freedom Of Speech

They Don't Believe In Freedom Of Speech

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

Word.

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It's okay for someone to hold the opponent's sign at a public appearance. Nobody gets hurt by it. Unless you're the guy holding the sign and the rally is filled with right-wingers who haven't read the First Amendment. Then

School Tech Connect: Interesting, Attractive, and Morally Purposeful...

School Tech Connect: Interesting, Attractive, and Morally Purposeful...

Interesting, Attractive, and Morally Purposeful...

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

I'm not sure how I feel about all my favorite bloggers contributing to HuffPo-- for my money, HuffPo is a dishonest venue that brooks no criticism. I follow HuffPo because they publish voices that aren't quickly available in any other single place, but I'm not under any delusions-- they're pushing Arianna's agenda just like Fox Newsis pushing Rupert Murdoch's. Hillary Clinton couldn't catch five seconds of a break from HuffPo, for one thing.

For another, Arianna is so body-dunked in the ed deform Kool Aid tank that as far as I'm concerned, she's

Voters to decide on education funding and Republican backed laws | NewsOK.com

Voters to decide on education funding and Republican backed laws | NewsOK.com

Voters to decide on education funding and Republican backed laws

The 11 state questions on Tuesday's ballot cover everything from education funding and term limits to Sharia Law and opting out of federal health care reform.

BY MEGAN ROLLAND 1

Published: October 31, 2010

Of the 11 state questions voters will consider on Tuesday, the behemoth is State Question 744 that calls for at least $830 million more to be spent on common education in Oklahoma over the next three years.

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The constitutional amendment was put on the ballot by more than 238,000 voter signatures collected with the support of the Oklahoma Education Association, a state teachers' union.

It would mandate that Oklahoma spend the same per student as the average expenditure in surrounding states. Oklahoma currently ranks 49th in the nation on per-pupil spending.

Opponents of the measure say that because there is no funding source identified, the money will have to come out of the general revenue budget and require devastating cuts to other state agencies including higher education, the Department of Human Services and others.

The bill does not specify where the money will come from, or how it will be allocated

Read more: http://newsok.com/voters-to-decide-education-fund-plan/article/3509720#ixzz13xc5o0xU

RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms

This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA's Benjamin Franklin award.

School Tech Connect: Hey, Nevada!

School Tech Connect: Hey, Nevada!

Hey, Nevada!

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

I got nuthin'!

Seriously, my Kindle has transformed my life; I'm know knee-deep in Will Cather, Ford Maddox Ford, Richard Price, The NYT Book Review, The Nation, and The Atlantic Monthly. The adjustable font size makes it possible to read while you're walking your dog along the lake. Does life get any better? It's hard to blog when there's so much good stuff to read.

Since nothing's going to happen until this election is over, I'm going to use this moment to ask a question of the good people of Nevada, and the question is this: what the hell is wrong with you people? Of all of the bizarre elections this cycle, Sharron Angle's popularity in Nevada is to me the most breathtaking. When I think of Nevada, well, actually nothing comes to mind. Liberace? Paul Laxalt? Dawn Wells?

What I do know is this--- there are fewer people in the entire state of Nevada than in the city where I live, and

Mike Klonsky: When I tried Showing my Students a Video, Alarms went off

Mike Klonsky: When I tried Showing my Students a Video, Alarms went off

Mike Klonsky

Education writer, blogger, ed activist

Posted: October 29, 2010 01:53 AM

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When I tried Showing my Students a Video, Alarms went off

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Read More: Bullying , Information Technology , Teaching/Learning , Chicago News

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After watching and listening to a recent Education Nation interview NBC's Andrea Mitchell did with Pasi Sahlberg, Finland's Minister of Education, I am even more astounded by the low regard we show for the teaching profession and the lack of trust we have in educators in this country. Finland, we are told, leads the world in science and math education, while as a nation, the U.S. trails far behind. (A side note is due here, because I have always felt that if we compared our heavily-resourced schools in upscale suburban neighborhoods with those of other nations, we would hold our own). Nevertheless, Salhberg attributes much of Finland's success to the high esteem in which his country holds its teachers. They are highly paid, trained at government expense, unionized, and given lots of freedom and autonomy -- not driven by standardized testing.

Here in the United States, on the other hand, there is an unprecedented assault on the teaching

Several Lessons to Be Learned from the Finnish School System — Open Education

Several Lessons to Be Learned from the Finnish School System — Open Education

Several Lessons to Be Learned from the Finnish School System

by Thomas

The Internet has been abuzz since the release of “What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?” by Ellen Gamerman of the Wall Street Journal. In essence, Finland teens are able to deliver the goods on international tests and now American educators have begun researching the Finnish system to see what tidbits they can glean.

According to Gamerman, the differences between Finland and American education are enormous. High-school students rarely get more than a half-hour of homework a night in Finland. Furthermore, children don’t start school until they reach seven. There are no classes for the gifted students and no recognition organizations for those who achieve. There is also little in the way of standardized testing.

In other words, Finland educates its children with a model that is virtually the anti-thesis of what we do in America. Yet out of the 57 countries tested, Finland’s 15-year-old students earned some of the highest scores in the world.

Different Schools and Different Kids
However, though school is different, it should be noted that Finnish

Extend the school day, but do it right — Joanne Jacobs

Extend the school day, but do it right — Joanne Jacobs

Extend the school day, but do it right

by Joanne

Extend the school day to make time for academics and foreign languages, sports, music, drama, debate and other enriching activities, writes Sehba Ali, chief academic officer for KIPP’s Bay Area schools, in Newsweek.

I met the dynamic Ali when she was recruiting students for KIPP Heartwood Academy, a public charter school in San Jose that ranks in the top 10 percent of California schools, despite its low-income, minority enrollment. KIPP’s school day typically goes from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., along with a mandatory three-week summer-school program, Ali notes.

But a long school day that’s all math and reading will burn out students, Ali warns. Teacher burn-out also is a risk.

At KIPP, we build in time during the day for teachers to meet with colleagues in the same grade or

The IEA’s secret endorsement of Judy Topinka and why you should ignore it. � Fred Klonsky's blog

The IEA’s secret endorsement of Judy Topinka and why you should ignore it. � Fred Klonsky's blog

The IEA’s secret endorsement of Judy Topinka and why you should ignore it.

by Fred Klonsky

The race for Illinois Comptroller isn’t one of the hot races on Tuesday. Most people couldn’t tell you who is running. And most teachers couldn’t tell you who the IEA endorsed. Even if you go to their web page which is filled with election stuff.

The Democrat is David Miller. He was on the platform yesterday with President Obama. He’s a young African-American state rep from Dolton who won the appreciation of delegates to last year’s RA for strongly supporting

Halloween links. � Fred Klonsky's blog

Halloween links. � Fred Klonsky's blog

Halloween links.

by Fred Klonsky

ABC news is trying to get a lot of attention by hiring right-wing blogmeister Andrew Breitbart as an election night commentator. To the news whores at ABC any publicity means ratings in a world where nobody under the age of 80 watches network news. If your the least bit confused by the demographics of network newscasts, just look at the commercials. They’re all for denture cream and pharmaceuticals.

Lily’s not waiting for any comic book hero. On her blog, NEA VP Lily Eskelsen says, “Public school teachers and support staff are used to politicians and pundits ignoring their voices. Why would a movie director who needed a simple story of good guys and bad guys be any different?”

On the eve of this election, NPR reminds us of a forgotten hero of the Civil Rights Movement.

A Halloween fright: Schools that are scared of witches and goblins and the Super Mario Brothers.