Sunday, September 29, 2013

9-29-13 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL:

This Week’s “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t” – September

I have a huge backlog of resources that I’ve been planning to post about in this blog but, just because of time constraints, have not gotten around to doing. Instead of letting that backlog grow bigger, I regularly grab a few and list them here with a minimal description. It forces me to look through these older links, and help me organize them for my own use. I hope others will find them helpful

3 by Larry Ferlazzo / 12min

New Kindle Edition Of “Helping Students Motivate Themselves” Is Available

I’m happy to say that a new Kindle edition of my book, Helping Students Motivate Themselves, is now available and you can find it here. The original Kindle edition of the book was pulled a couple of of months ago after Routledge bought its original publisher, Eye On Education. They made revisions to all the EOE books, and now, as of today, it’s back! The new Kindle edition of Self-Driven Learning

3 by Larry Ferlazzo / 28min

Using Vine/Instagram In The Classroom

I do a lot of videotaping in my classes, primarily in IB Theory of Knowledge and in my ELL ones, and have been thinking about experimenting with Vine or Instragram’s stop motion clips. Though I posted The Best Resources For Learning To Use The Video App “Vine,” I haven’t used it much other than to try it out with videos of my pets . A new post by Amy Erin Borovoy over at Edutopia, however, has f

3 by Larry Ferlazzo / 7min

Day In Day in the Life Of A Connected Classroom (Kristen Wideen) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Day In Day in the Life Of A Connected Classroom (Kristen Wideen) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Day In Day in the Life Of A Connected Classroom (Kristen Wideen)

Kristen Wideen is a grade 1/2 teacher in Windsor, Ontario Canada. She says: “I love to collaborate with others and incorporate technology into my classroom. “

EDITOR NOTE: This is an abridged version of Mrs. Wideen’s postfor May 22, 2013.

I had a group of teachers visit my classroom last week. They were there to see how we incorporate technology in meaningful ways into the primary classroom. I had a couple of teachers ask me if I had a schedule of what we do throughout the day to give to them. Alas, a blogpost is born. So, here it is, a day in my room without you actually having to visit me! (I am taking the day that my visitors came in and writing what we did that day)

8:30 Entry

Students enter school and write a short message in their agendas. On Tuesdays and Thursdays students read or give mini lessons to their parents on the iPads in our Learning Commons. For those students that don’t have a parent come in they may blog, read independently or with a partner until 9:00. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays students choose to blog, read or write until 9:00. Many students chose to blog about our new tadpoles in our classroom that day.

9:00 Twitter Review – Reading Mini Lesson

If there are any mentions or interesting tweets on the class Twitter account, we read the tweets and respond. On this particular day, we had some interesting

Corner Office Lessons in Leadership | InterACT

Corner Office Lessons in Leadership | InterACT:

Corner Office Lessons in Leadership

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

tags: business, corner office, leadership

by David B. Cohen

From time to time I like to pick up useful advice intended for people in business, and apply it to education. One of my favorite sources is the New York Times feature “The Corner Office.” Adam Bryant interviews business leaders who share their insights and advice about management, and on September 26, the interviewee was Robin D. Richards, chief of the CareerArc Group. The title caught my eye: “Dissent Isn’t Just an Option. It’s Everyone’s Obligation.” What follows are some key quotes that are applicable both to teaching and to school system leadership.

What you learn as you develop as a manager is that balance of respect, approachability, empathy and friendship, so that you can say, “We’ve got a job to do and you have to do it, and it has to be done fast and properly.” I learned to be comfortable with those boundaries.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan could use some leadership tips from The Corner Office (2011, photo by the author)

I think there’s useful advice here for the classroom and the administration – though I might want to tease out the meanings of “friendship” with students. Certainly we can be friendly, and work with each other in a spirit of friendship, but that doesn’t make us buddies or peers. Much has been written in recent years about the importance of empathy, and it seems to be in short supply among the leaders of some of the most distressed school systems in the country. Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein, and

A Core dilemma: Will the littlest learners be able to type? | Hechinger Report

A Core dilemma: Will the littlest learners be able to type? | Hechinger Report:

Teacher-training schools under pressure to prepare for Common Core

It’s not just K-12 teachers who are being asked to adjust their teaching styles and curricula to ensure students learn the Common Core standards. The people who teach the teachers are also under the gun. But as the controversial standards take root, there’s disagreement over whether teacher-training programs are doing enough to prepare aspiring educators for the dramatic changes they will encounte

by Sarah Carr / 1h mark as read // save

A Core dilemma: Will the littlest learners be able to type?

When Tania Nyman’s 9-year-old son decided a year ago to type a page of his homework rather than handwrite it, the experiment did not go well. “It was painful to watch him type and how long it took,” said Nyman, who lives in Baton Rouge, La. “He managed it, but it was a slow process.” Next school year, the 9-year-old’s keyboarding skills will once again be put to the test. Quite literally. In the s

by Sarah Carr / 1h

9-29-13 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online:

Parent Calls for Support of Oct. 9 "Win Back Wednesday"

Janine Sopp issues a call to her network. There are links to the Toolkit prepared by MORE for use in your schools, plus a great video prepared by MORE Media. The day will culminate with a rally outside the UFT Delegate Assembly (52 Broadway) on Oct. 9 at 4PM with a focus on the evaluation system the UFT leadership is pushing. If only the usual suspects are there they will be ignored.The game will

1 by ed notes online / 22min

9-28-13 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: Reign of Error Review: Kozol on Ravitch, Speculating on Why There is No Middle Ground in the Ed WarsHaving Kozol review Ravitch is like getting the gold ring. Which means someone at the NY Times Book Review has some sense. The NY Post has a Michelle Rhee clone do the review. I imagine there are different forces at work within the Times and I expect we will see a different type of

by mike simpson / 12h

9-29-13 @ THE CHALK FACE

@ THE CHALK FACE:

“Stupid” #commoncore Comments debunked: @WiStateJournal

Last week Wisconsin governor Scott Walker agreed that the common core might not be the best standards in the Milky Way Galaxy. So he decided to allow for hearings and public comment. This of course fired up the common core supporters that already had “common core or die” tattooed across their hind quarters. Shrieking and […]

7 by Timothy D. Slekar / 33min

Required viewing for all #edtech enthusiasts

Seriously. Minimize screen time, especially for the youngest. It’s a sad habit.

by Shaun Johnson / 9min

Petrilli’s Embarrassing Post about Poor Mothers Being “Bad”

This post is embarrassing—both for the content and the fact that Petrilli appears unaware how embarrassing it is. Single-mothers are not “bad”; they are overwhelmed. Education is not to create economically self-sufficient people (that serves the privileged who feed off the economy). Education’s goals are much BIGGER than that—self-awareness and complete autonomy, within which economic […]

by plthomasedd / 32min

All Week 9-28-13 @ THE CHALK FACE

@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: All Week 8-10-13 @ THE CHALK FACE This is why the Tea Party can shove their anti #commoncore sentiment #tcotTea Party zealots have been rather late to the party, actually. In only the last few months or so have they sought fit to propose anything related to education other than abolishing all public schools and the Department of Education. The latter of the t

1 by mike simpson / 8h

9-29-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

Save Her The Money, Bill

De Blasio, on tour of Sandy battered Queens, offered to write college recommendation letter to girl wishing to go to NYU, his alma mater— Michael Barbaro (@mikiebarb) September 29, 2013Write her a nice letter of recommendation to a SUNY school and save her the money, Bill.NYU - overpriced, over-hyped, overrated.Kids should look very closely at CUNY and SUNY schools instead and visit Greenwich Vill

by reality-based edu... / 2min

Students United For Public Education Take On Teach For America

From The Nation:On October 1, Students United for Public Education will be launching its first national campaign, Students Resisting Teach for America.The goal is to raise awareness in prospective TFA corps members about the problems surrounding TFA; elevate the voices of students and TFA alumni whose stories are often overshadowed by TFA’s message; put pressure on TFA as an organization to change

by reality-based edu... / 41min

This Comment Crystallizes Why You Should Vote Against Dan Squadron

Someone left this comment on the Daily News endorsement of Dan Squadron for public advocate:How can the Daily News, once the paper of the working man, endorse an anti-labor candidate who is in bed with Bloomberg's developer cronies and charter school hedge fund investors and charlatans?As I wrote earlier,the public advocate's office should be held by someone who looks out for the powerless and the

by reality-based edu... / 27min

How To Resist Corporate Education Reform

Someone asked in a comment on an earlier post how to resist the corporate education reformers.Michael Fiorillo responded to that question with eloquent advice:Resist by showing kindness to our students, and support for our colleagues.Resist by doing what you know is right in the classroom.Resist by supporting the union, but exposing and rejecting the leadership's collaboration with those who would

by reality-based edu... / 3min

If The Daily News Likes A Candidate, You Know He Must Be Bad

The DN editors endorsed Dan Squadron for public advocate today: Since 2009, Squadron has ably represented lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, including Greenpoint and Carroll Gardens, in the state Senate. He brought intelligence, diligence and rationality to the post with a strong bent toward problem-solving on behalf of his constituents — exactly the qualities needed in a public advocate. As a

7 by reality-based edu... / 57min

NYCDOE Hires Interim Principal Accused Of Sexual Harassment, Intimidation And Lewd And Racist Comments To Run Flushing High School

Even the NY Post thinks they did this as revenge for not being to shit the school down last year.The city hired James Brown, a former middle school principal, to act as interim principal at Flushing High School, with the possibility that Brown could be hired permanently. The only problem?Brown has a nasty past:As The Post reported last Sunday, Brown seems to have racked up a dubious record while s

by reality-based edu... / 1min

Are Americans Waking Up From Their Self-Induced Comas?

Washington Post polls finds many Americans no longer believe in the fantasy of the "American Dream:Four years into an economic recovery in which most of the benefits have flowed to the top earners, a majority believe that the American Dream is becoming markedly more elusive, according to the results of a Washington Post-Miller Center Poll exploring Americans’ changing definition of success an

by reality-based edu... / 35min mark as read // save

Should He Be Using This Comparison?

From Politico: If the government shuts down on Oct. 1, the GOP will “fold like hotcakes” in the fight to defund Obamacare, Sen. Tom Coburn said Friday afternoon before a critical set of votes.The Oklahoma Republican said that after seven or eight days of shutdown the Republicans will begin to feel the heat from their constituents over lack of services back home, like pay for members of the militar

by reality-based edu... / 4h

9-28-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: The Google Cloud Monster Ate My GraphicsMulgrew Waves Goodbye To BloombergMulgrew on mayor: "We can all take comfort from the fact that Bloomberg will soon be only a bad memory to the people who care about schools"— Lisa Fleisher (@lisafleisher) September 27, 2013Alas, with all the concessions Mikey Mulgrew and his boss, Randi Weingarten, made to Bloomberg and the

by mike simpson / 8h

Fees (the other Tax) pile up for parents in Colorado public schools - The Denver Post

Fees pile up for parents in Colorado public schools - The Denver Post:

Fees pile up for parents in Colorado public schools

By Zahira Torres
The Denver Post

POSTED: 09/29/2013 12:01:00 AM MDT11 COMMENTS| UPDATED: ABOUT 5 HOURS AGO

Rocco Palumbo and Brock Rubley share a vise to work on their jewelry pieces during class at Mountain Vista High in Highlands Ranch. (Erin Hull, The Denver Post)

Gone are the days when parents could send their children to public school with a few classroom supplies and some lunch money.

Strapped school district budgets, caused by dwindling state and federal dollars, are forcing parents to dig deeper into their pockets as more school systems in Colorado and across the country turn to student fees to maintain services and programs.

Want to play sports? That could cost up to $130 at Adams 12 Five Star Schools.

Taking an advanced-placement class? You could pay up to $189 in fees at Jefferson County Public Schools.

Need to ride the bus to school? An annual transportation pass in the Douglas County School District is $150.

The fees pile up quickly for Lisa Ramsey,

empathyeducates – What We Know Now (and How It Doesn’t Matter)

empathyeducates – What We Know Now (and How It Doesn’t Matter):

What We Know Now (and How It Doesn’t Matter)

By P. L. Thomas
Originally Published at the becoming radical on August 19, 2013

Randy Olson’s Flock of Dodos (2006) explores the evolution and Intelligent Design (ID) debate that represents the newest attack on teaching evolution in U.S. public schools. The documentary is engaging, enlightening, and nearly too fair considering Olson admits upfront that he stands with scientists who support evolution as credible science and reject ID as something outside the realm of science.

Olson’s film, however, offers a powerful message that rises above the evolution debate. Particularly in the scenes depicting scientists discussing (during a poker game) why evolution remains a target of political and public interests, the documentary shows that evidence-based expertise often fails against clear and compelling messages (such as “teach the controversy”)—even when those clear and compelling messages are inaccurate.

In other words, ID advocacy has often won in the courts of political and public opinion despite having no credibility within the discipline it claims to inform—evolutionary biology.

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