Monday, November 14, 2011

Koch Brother Front Group Americans For Prosperity Pushes Smear Campaign Against Me | ThinkProgress:Koch Brother Front Group Americans For Prosperity Pushes Smear Campaign Against MeBy Lee Fang on Nov 9, 2011 at 5:30 pmLevi Russell, Americans for Prosperity Director of Public Affairs, contributed to a blog post calling Lee a "liar." Russell, however, erroneously quoted the conversation and has refused to issue a correction.Levi Russell, Americans for Prosperity Director of Public Affairs, contributed to a blog post calling me a ...more »

Walk Away From Student Debt #ows

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 2 hours ago

Black In America Series Says Race Matters In Silicon Valley | Resurgence | Big Think

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 2 hours ago

Black In America Series Says Race Matters In Silicon Valley | Resurgence | Big Think:Black In America Series Says Race Matters In Silicon ValleyKris Broughton on November 13, 2011, 3:20 PMinShare1I don’t usually watch the Black In America series, but I will tonight because one of the entrepreneurs in The New Promised Land- Silicon Valley episode is Angela Benton, a dynamic woman from the East Coast who used to pay me to write for one of her websites a little ... more »

Burning Down the House - Arlington, VA, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 2 hours ago

Burning Down the House - Arlington, VA, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post:Looking AheadBurning Down the HouseA week ago I posted the following graphic and comment: Me: “You know what's sad? This entire altruistic movement has no end goal...the world has spoken and it's still business as usual...SMH...” The following discussion ensued: Emma: “But you know what's cool? That a friend of mine who *doesn't* approve of this movement (per se) has called it altruistic, and has expressed frustration with ... more »

What The Founding Fathers Thought About Corporations | Addicting Info

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

What The Founding Fathers Thought About Corporations | Addicting Info:What The Founding Fathers Thought About CorporationsNovember 13, 2011By Stephen D. Foster Jr.Citizens United. This is the 2010 Supreme Court case that shocked America, influenced an election, and reversed over 100 years of campaign finance laws. In this case, corporations were declared as people and as such declared to have the same rights as people do. It also opened the doors for corporations to pour unprecedented amounts of campaign donations into ... more »

CEO Andrés Alonso Promotes the Push for School Choice in Baltimore City | Re:education in Baltimore

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

CEO Andrés Alonso Promotes the Push for School Choice in Baltimore City | Re:education in Baltimore:CEO Andrés Alonso Promotes the Push for School Choice in Baltimore CityCEO Andrés A. Alonso, Ed.D., sent out an email on November 9 with the subject line “Great Event: Please Join Me on Saturday November 19!” It’s the School Choice Fair. And it’s his favorite.This is my favorite City Schools event because it offers a glimpse—like no other occasion or news release can—into the incredible ... more »

Thousands Rally to Resist Occupy Portland Evictions | OccupyWallSt.org #ows

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

Thousands Rally to Resist Occupy Portland Evictions | OccupyWallSt.org:Thousands Rally to Resist Occupy Portland Evictionsby OccupyWallStPopout10,000 filled the areas around the Occupy Portland encampments last night as the deadline approached for eviction. 12:01 am came and went but the cops could do nothing: too many supporters blocked their path. It was peaceful.The cops waited it out and are clearing out the Chapman and Lownsdale Park camps this morning, tearing down the remaining tents. There is a General Assembly meeting at ... more »

Seize the Ponies « occupy california #ows

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

Seize the Ponies « occupy california:Seize the Poniesby *The actions this Wednesday on the UC Berkeley campus under the banner “Occupy Cal” were the largest political manifestation there since September 24, 2009. On that occasion, a faculty-initiated walkout in concert with two union strikes, shortly joined by a mass of students, mobilized protesters across the UC system against the privatization of public education — 5,000 alone at Berkeley. Amidst broad and spectacular national attention and predictable comparisons to the spirit ... more »

Are You Sick Of ‘Highly Paid’ Teachers? | Addicting Info

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

Are You Sick Of ‘Highly Paid’ Teachers? | Addicting Info:Are You Sick Of ‘Highly Paid’ Teachers?November 13, 2011By Guest WriterBy Author Unknown (if you know who wrote it, PLEASE let me know)Teachers’ hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or10 months a year! It’s time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do – babysit!We can get that for less than minimum wage.That’s right. Let’s give them $3.00 an hour and only ... more »

Occcupy with Aloha. « Fred Klonsky #ows

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

Occcupy with Aloha. « Fred Klonsky:Occcupy with Aloha.by Fred KlonskyWhen Asia Pacific world leaders gathered in Hawaii these past couple of days, the meeting, hosted by Obama, included dinners and entertainment.Makana, a popular Hawaiian singer and guitarist was invited to perform.As he began to sing his recent song in support of the Occupy Movement called We Are Many, he opened his jacket to reveal a t-shirt that said, Occupy with Aloha.Here’s the video story. Very moving.

Monty Neill responded to Parsing the Nation's Report Card

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

National Journal Online -- Education Experts -- Parsing the Nation's Report Card:NAEP gaps; 2003; what is to be done?Monty NeillDeputy Director, FairTestThree quick points:First: Aaron Pallas looked at NAEP results from 2003 to 2011 (the NCLB years) for all 50 states and DC to identify instances in which whites gained while lower-scoring other groups gained even more, hence closing the gap in a positive way. For the 4 tests (reading and math at grades 4 and 8) there were very ...more »

A Sociological Eye on Education | The Nation’s Report Card and NCLB: Friends or Foes?

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

A Sociological Eye on Education | The Nation’s Report Card and NCLB: Friends or Foes?:The Nation’s Report Card and NCLB: Friends or Foes?The 2011 results are out on the Nation’s Report Card—also known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)—and the headlines emphasize the stability in student performance over the past few years in reading and math across the 50 states and Washington, D.C.To be sure, more states posted gains than losses, and a few showed gains in both ... more »

November 15 Strike Endorsements « occupy california #ows

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

November 15 Strike Endorsements « occupy california:November 15 Strike Endorsementsby *from reclaimUC:The following groups have endorsed the November 15th higher education strike:UC Berkeley Faculty AssociationUCSF Faculty AssociationUC Davis Faculty AssociationUC San Diego Faculty AssociationThe UC Council of Faculty AssociationsAFSCME 3299 – UC patient care and service employeesAlliance of Californians for Community EmpowermentCalifornia Nurses AssociationCommunities for a New CaliforniaUAW 2865 – UC student employeesUAW 4123 – CSU student employeesUC-AFT – UC lecturers and librar... more »

Parents organize to push for better California schools - latimes.com

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 9 hours ago

Parents organize to push for better California schools - latimes.com:Parents organize to push for better California schoolsSome 100 parent leaders with the Educate Our State network gather to train on how to better campaign for more school funding, top-notch teachers and a high-quality education for all students.Comments27Share207At their training Saturday at Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles, parents learned how to effectively tell their stories, organize a signature-gathering campaign and brainstorm festive campaign kickoff events. (Michael Robinson Chavez, Los ... more »

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES::

Schools are like businesses – with students as knowledge workers | Thoughts on Public Education

Schools are like businesses – with students as knowledge workers | Thoughts on Public Education:

Schools are like businesses – with students as knowledge workers - by Jeff Camp

by Jeff Camp

Schools are like businesses, but not in the way most think. I frequently find myself in conversations comparing “how it works in business” with “how it works in education.” A popular version goes something like this: Schools are like factories. They take raw materials (kids and textbooks) and, through years of [...]

Online ‘Bill of Rights’ for high school students - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

Students whose high schools don’t offer the required courses or enough sections to qualify them for admission to the University of California or California State University would have a right to take those courses online, under an initiative that sponsors are targeting for next November’s ballot. The California Student Bill of Rights would greatly expand high [...]

Monday morning. A Wisconsin teacher story. « Fred Klonsky

Monday morning. A Wisconsin teacher story. « Fred Klonsky:

Monday morning. A Wisconsin teacher story.

by Fred Klonsky

Here’s a good story to get your blood flowing and start the week. From Mr. Helper on Daily Kos.

I just got off the phone with my wife. She and another Wisconsin teacher are actively subverting Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s plans to demoralize and discourage Wisconsin teachers from doing their jobs.
Like ALL Wisconsin teachers, my wife is making considerably less money this year. For a while, I thought that meant she would be doing less for her students. Similar to teachers across this great country, my wife has always invested heavily in her students, and not just with her time.
My wife just gave me a thrill, and I hope you’re as proud of her as I am. More below the squiggly

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Turn Me to We: Get Along, Work Together, Protect Kids from Adult Arguments

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Turn Me to We: Get Along, Work Together, Protect Kids from Adult Arguments:

Turn Me to We: Get Along, Work Together, Protect Kids from Adult Arguments

by coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher)

Image via WikipediaTrue organizational greatness is about turning Me into We.

It is sad when you see a team take their eye of their goal and turn upon each other. When you're busy fighting each other, you lose sight of the main mission and cannot achieve it. We human beings can only handle so much. We are finite in our ability to process and finite in our ability to mete out self control. When we are under attack, we use all of our resources to fight or flight even if that attack is from those who are supposed to be on our own team.

Friendly Fire Kills Cooperation
This "friendly fire" comes from out of the blue often from those who are supposed to be our rear guard. From

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 11/14/2011

by coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher)

Mii Avatar Maker - Resources - TES
Cool Avatar maker that is like the Mii avatars on Wii.

The Innovative Educator: Teaching Generation Text Goes Global! TODAY!

The Innovative Educator: Teaching Generation Text Goes Global! TODAY!:

Teaching Generation Text Goes Global! TODAY!

by noreply@blogger.com (The Innovative Educator)

Join Lisa Nielsen and Willyn Webb, authors of Teaching Generation Text, as they present two sessions at the free online Global Education Conference today!

The Texting Teacher

4:00 EST

join here

Break the Ban on Cell Phones

and Open the Door for Global Connections: A 6 Part Plan

6:00 EST

join here

Learn about all of the exciting ways you can empower students, using only the cell phone in their pocket, to take their learning to a whole new level with global connections.

Proof there is no proof for education reforms - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Proof there is no proof for education reforms - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Proof there is no proof for education reforms

by Valerie Strauss

This was written by Carol Corbett Burris, principal of South Side High School in New York. She was named the 2010 New York State Outstanding Educator by the School Administrators Association of New York State.

By Carol Corbett Burris

My three daughters loved Miss Levin. Each of them had Gail Levin in elementary school. Whenever she was their teacher, I knew I was taking the back seat from September to June. I did not mind. She made them feel very smart. That was because she challenged them to think deeply and critically about what they learned. She reminded me of the very best teachers that I have enjoyed at all levels of my own schooling — those who would not accept opinion as fact and challenged my thinking with the opposite point of view.

Read full article >>

Time to put collegiate sports into proper focus

by Valerie Strauss

This was written by Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, who was president of George Washington University from 1998 to 2007 and now holds an endowed chair in the university’s Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration. Before moving to GWU, he was president of the University of Hartford and an administrator at Boston University.

Read full article >>

NYC Educator: Why the Push for Teacher Evaluation?

NYC Educator: Why the Push for Teacher Evaluation?:

Why the Push for Teacher Evaluation?

by NYC Educator

There is a crisis in this country. A crisis of unprecedented proportions. Apparently, there are billions of dollars being poured into this education thing, and many hedge fund managers are not getting even a fraction of this cash. What to do? Most importantly, we have to get rid of this whole union thing so we can stop frittering away vital resources on salaries for teachers. Of course, that message would not sell well enough to accomplish the goals of redirecting the cash.

Thus, there is a crisis in this country. Apparently, the public schools the children of hedge fund managers would not attend on a bet need fixing. The problem? Teachers, the very people preventing the hedge fund managers from wetting their beaks, need to be removed

Concern Over Changing Teacher Evaluations - Chicago News Cooperative

Concern Over Changing Teacher Evaluations - Chicago News Cooperative:

Concern Over Changing Teacher Evaluations

by REBECCA VEVEA

For the first time next year, thousands of Chicago Public Schools teachers will be evaluated based partly on how well their students are doing academically. Many fear they will face dismissal if the standards are not applied fairly.

“It’s going to make people really angry,” said Ruth Resnick, a librarian at O’Keefe Elementary School, who spoke last week at a public forum about carrying out a new state law that changes how teachers, principals, librarians and other staff are graded.

But state and district leaders say the new evaluations will be better than the decades-old system now in use. They say more thoughtful and effective evaluations will not only increase student achievement, but also provide teachers with better feedback for how to improve.

Despite low graduation rates, test scores and other measures of student performance in the district, more than

An Unusual Library Finds a New Home

by JUAN-PABLO VELEZ

On a recent Saturday afternoon in Humboldt Park, a small band of volunteers scrambled to put the finishing touches on their library’s new home — the sixth in as many years for the Read/Write Library, Chicago’s largest depository of grass-roots printed materials.

“After all the trials and tribulations we’ve had, we’re cashing in our space karma,” said Nell Taylor, the founder and executive director of the all-volunteer, donation-financed library, which officially reopened on Friday. Since its founding in 2006, the library has been a perennial refugee, but Taylor said she believes that she has finally found a safe haven: a century-old, two-story yellow brick building on a quiet stretch of California Avenue.

Formerly known as the Chicago Underground Library, Read/Write rejects the selectivity of traditional libraries and

Cataloguing Chicago’s Cultural Landscape

by CHRIS CASCARANO

Popout

California Needs to Fund Public Education and Social Services, Not Prisons | California Progress Report

California Needs to Fund Public Education and Social Services, Not Prisons | California Progress Report:

California Needs to Fund Public Education and Social Services, Not Prisons

by megan

By Amy Vanderwarker, Critical Resistance and Matt Haney, University of California Students Association

Last Wednesday night, more than one thousand students and campus workers at University of California Berkeley held a day of action protesting budget cuts and fee increases to build momentum toward a state-wide demonstration at the UC Regents meeting on November 17th. Like other Occupy movements around the country, the crowd was cleared with police violence and mass arrests. The irony was not lost on one professor, who noted that the sharp rise in student debt has occurred during a period where prison funding has consistently been prioritized over funding for higher education.

The Educated Reporter: Evaluating Teachers: Lessons From the EWA Seminar

The Educated Reporter: Evaluating Teachers: Lessons From the EWA Seminar:

Evaluating Teachers: Lessons From the EWA Seminar

Over the weekend, EWA hosted a one-day seminar at the University of Chicago on the subject of "Evaluating Teachers: Beyond the Rhetoric." I can tell you the sessions were engaging, thoughtful and thought-provoking. One of the reoccurring themes we heard from teachers (and their advocates) at the seminar was that they welcomed evaluations, if the intent was to actually help them improve at their work. What policymakers should be worried about is whether the evaluation models "improve instruction ... not just `did we rate them well,'" said Rob Weil, director of field programs in the educational issues department of the American Federation of Teachers. The idea that you can identify teachers who are falling short "and nature will take its course" and people will improve on their own "doesn't happen," Weil said. "You have to help." When teachers are presented with an evaluation system

American Education Week: Creating Amazing Public Schools - Lily's Blackboard – Lily's Blackboard

American Education Week: Creating Amazing Public Schools - Lily's Blackboard – Lily's Blackboard:

American Education Week: Creating Amazing Public Schools

Nov 14th, 2011

by Lily.

Happy American Education Week. In honor of the week-long celebration, I was asked to focus my remarks this week on my “vision” for an amazing public school system. Oh my.

The last time I did that, I was accused of smoking something. Apparently there is a fine line between “vision” and “hallucination”. But I will repeat myself and tell you exactly what I want in my visionary, dreamy, hallucinogenic, utopian planet.

Aside from the obvious (that you would never have to go down to Staples and buy your own reams of paper because there wasn’t enough in the District budget for such exotic baubles), I would be in charge.

I’m pushy that way. In my system, classroom teachers would be in charge.

There would never be a Non-Teacher who would hand us a script to read to our

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week 10: Why teach narrative writing?

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week 10: Why teach narrative writing?:

Week 10: Why teach narrative writing?

from Reflections on Teaching by alicemercer

Miniature Pool Ball 9
So, I did last week’s post late, and it was more about the beginning of this week (which didn’t get much better by the way) than week 9. Rather than focus on the FUBAR that week felt like (it wasn’t that bad, just felt that way),a post by Dina Strasser seemed relevant to a discussion about writing that the kids did in Week 9, so I’m sorry if it’s confusing, I’m going back in time. Warning, there is minor profanity in the post, but asterisks.

It’s all about the new Common Core writing standards, and the case one of the main authors of the writing standards is making for expository rather than narrative writing, and most especially, expository writing that is devoid of personal opinion, or “flavor” because kids need to learn that we adults think what they think is, well worthless. We’ve already tried to remove a lot of the joy from reading, but pushing towards more short passage

Latest News and Comment from Education

Monday, November 14, 2011

Monday, November 14, 2011

WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

Evaluating Teachers: Lessons From the EWA Seminar

American Education Week: Creating Amazing Public Schools

Sunday, November 13, 2011