
coopmike48

makeitplain

makeitplain

coopmike48




If parents could engineer the perfect child, would he grow up to be unbearable? Katie Roiphe takes on overparenting — familiar ground but always good for a rant — in Slate.
You know the child I am talking about: precious, wide-eyed, over-cared-for, fussy, in a beautiful sweater, or a carefully hipsterish T-shirt. Have we done him a favor by protecting him from everything, from dirt and dust and violence and sugar and boredom and egg whites and mean children who steal his plastic dinosaurs, from, in short, the everyday banging-up of the universe? The wooden toys that tastefully surround him, the all-sacrificing, well-meaning parents, with a library of books on how to make him turn out correctly— is all of it actually harming or denaturing
. . . .A jury in Austin found DeLay guilty of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Punishment for the first ranges from five years to life in prison, but the former congressman from the Houston suburb of Sugar Land could receive probation.
DeLay will remain free until he is sentenced on Dec. 20.
"This case is a message from the people of the state of Texas that they want - and expect -
Mayor Michael Bloomberg scored a huge victory for New York City public education in 2002 when he won control of the school system, but parents and state officials often complained that outside voices were not heard. On Tuesday, a panel of state educators essentially upbraided him for failing to listen to those who wanted a professional educator as the system’s new chancellor.
If the mayor wants to retain his choice, Cathleen Black, a media executive, he should accept the compromise being offered by state officials — to appoint a chief academic officer as Ms. Black’s right hand.
Ms. Black has a distinguished record in magazine and newspaper publishing, but she has spent very little time in a public school — her own children went to a private boarding school — and has no professional experience in education. Mr. Bloomberg has dismissed concerns about her résumé by suggesting that all the school system needs is a smart and talented manager.
The message seems to have rung sour. Chancellor Joel Klein, who also had no educationa
In the days before an advisory panel and the state’s education commissioner expressed doubts about Cathleen P. Black’s qualifications to become the New York City schools chancellor, state officials and the Bloomberg administration held secret talks about the possibility of appointing an experienced educator to her side, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
State officials proposed that City Hall consider the second appointment to settle concerns about Ms. Black’s lack of experience in education, these people said Wednesday. But talks fell apart by Tuesday, and that afternoon David M. Steiner, the education commissioner, hardened the state’s position by saying publicly that he was disinclined to approve Ms. Black unless she had an official with education experience to help her run the system.
Ms. Black needs a waiver from Dr. Steiner because she lacks the educational experience that state law requires of chancellors.
On Tuesday, an advisory panel appointed by Dr. Steiner also expressed reservations about Ms. Black’s fitness for the job, with four of the eight members recommending that
Carol Donnelly (pseudonym) has taught 13 years, the last six at Las Montanas. She has been using laptops since 2002 when they were introduced at the school. In 2009, when I interviewed her and observed her classes, she was teaching biology to honors students (one class), regular students (one class), and English Language Learners (ELL) in three classes. She used the same basic lesson for all of her biology classes, stretching out the content for ELL classes while going in more depth in the regular and honors classes (e.g., research papers, PowerPoint presentations, Science Fair projects). She integrated laptops into her lessons once a week.
Every Wednesday, she told me, is laptop day. She brings a mobile cart from the Media Center to her classroom. In one lesson I observed, Donnelly began class with a review of yesterday’s material on photosynthesis. Afterwards she had students open their laptops to watch animations of photosynthesis that she had loaded on their machines earlier. A pop-up quiz appeared after the animations. Donnelly walked around and checked student scores on the quiz. She then summarized the concept of photosynthesis by questioning
BY RACHEL MONAHAN AND MEREDITH KOLODNER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Thursday, November 25th 2010, 4:00 AM

Even though it's unclear if Mayor Bloomberg will tap a co-chancellor for Cathie Black, the speculation has already started.
Bloomberg could look to his own Education headquarters for the chief academic officer recommended by State Commissioner David Steiner or cast his search farther afield.
"Whoever the chief academic officer is needs to have a strong record of building curriculum and education programs that include students with special needs and English Language Learners," said Kim Sweet, executive director of Advocates for Children. Education experts are zeroing in on Eric Nadelstern, deputy chancellor for school support and instruction.
"Nadelstern is the obvious choice and has bought into the policies, and essentially he's