SPECIAL CORONAVIRUS UPDATE Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

SPECIAL CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... 

The latest news and resources in education since 2007

This Week’s Resources To Support Teachers Coping With School Closures

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h

Wokandapix / Pixabay I have a number of regular weekly features (see HERE IS A LIST (WITH LINKS) OF ALL MY REGULAR WEEKLY FEATURES ). It’s time for a new addition to that list, and this post introduces a weekly compilation of new and good resources to support those of us dealing with school closures. Some will be added to The Best Advice On Teaching K-12 Online (If We Have To Because Of The Coron

YESTERDAY

“Reading & Writing Instruction in the Age of the Coronavirus”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

Reading & Writing Instruction in the Age of the Coronavirus is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Keep it simple, keep it flexible, and keep the routine familiar are among the suggestions three educators give in assigning students work while distance learning. Here are some excerpts:

Harvard Business Review Highlights Three Tried-And-True Classroom Management Strategies

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

ractapopulous / Pixabay The Harvard Business Review often writes about strategies to use in business that can easily be applied in the classroom Today’s article, How to Persuade People to Change Their Behavior , is another example of that cross-over (just to be clear, however, most business practices have no place in schools – see The Best Posts & Articles Explaining Why Schools Should Not Be Run

“Six Ways Educators Can Support LGBTQ Students During COVID-19”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 13h

Six Ways Educators Can Support LGBTQ Students During COVID-19 is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. During the best of times, LGBTQ students often have a tough time navigating safely through the negative actions thrown their way. Two educators explain how teachers can help these students remotely. Here’s an excerpt:

NBC News Video: “From Smallpox To The Coronavirus: The History Of Vaccinations Explained”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 14h

Clker-Free-Vector-Images / Pixabay I’m adding this new video to A BEGINNING LIST OF THE BEST RESOURCES FOR LEARNING ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS.

Ed Tech Digest

by Larry Ferlazzo / 14h

Eight years ago, in another somewhat futile attempt to reduce the backlog of resources I want to share, I began this occasional “” post where I share three or four links I think are particularly useful and related to…ed tech, including some Web 2.0 apps. You might also be interested in THE BEST ED TECH RESOURCES OF 2019 – PART TWO , as well as checking out all my edtech resources . Here are this

APR 20

“Spanish-Language Infographic: ‘7 Tips for Parents Supporting Remote Learning'”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

Spanish-Language Infographic: ‘7 Tips for Parents Supporting Remote Learning’ is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. In it, Educator Xatli Stox translates Lindsay Kuhl’s infographic on helping parents support distance learning into Spanish. Here it is:

My Latest BAM! Radio Show Is On “Six Strategies to Keep the Passion for Reading Alive While Teaching Online”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

Six Strategies to Keep the Passion for Reading Alive While Teaching Online is the title of my latest ten-minute BAM! Radio Show. I’m joined by Sarah Said, Jennifer Orr, and Sarah Kirby-Gonzalez, who have all also contributed to my Ed Week Teacher column. I’m adding this show to All My BAM Radio Shows – Linked With Descriptions .

It’s Patriots’ Day – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources About The American Revolution

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2d

272447 / Pixabay It’s Patriots’ Day : Patriots’ Day is an annual event, formalized as several state holidays , commemorating the Battles of Lexington and Concord , and the Battle of Menotomy , the first battles of the American Revolutionary War . I don’t actually have a specific Revolutionary War “Best” list. However, I have several posts about it filled with resources I use in my ELL US History

“All Classroom Q&A Posts on the Coronavirus Crisis”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2d

All Classroom Q&A Posts on the Coronavirus Crisis is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. You can find links here to all Classroom Q&A posts related to supporting teachers, students, and parents 

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Teaching Writing Remotely in a Time of Crisis – radical eyes for equity

Teaching Writing Remotely in a Time of Crisis – radical eyes for equity

Teaching Writing Remotely in a Time of Crisis

My students and I are in our last couple weeks of remote learning and teaching due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As I have examined, the transition for me was facilitated by many of my philosophical/theoretical commitments and practices—most of which are non-traditional and tend to cause tension in traditional circumstances.

At the root of these commitments, I think, is that I am essentially a teacher of writing. Therefore, I am prone to creating classroom experiences around workshop formats, open-ended discussions, and text-based examinations that are seeking goals beyond simply summarizing or analyzing the texts for meaning.

Most of my teaching career—almost two decades each at the high school and higher education levels—has involved teaching writing to students who are not trying to become writers. My writing instruction is primarily grounded in fostering the power of writing as that is valued within academic and scholarly contexts.

Photo by hannah grace on Unsplash

One of my best assignments, I think, is that I ask my first-year writing students to interview faculty at my university about how they conduct CONTINUE READING: Teaching Writing Remotely in a Time of Crisis – radical eyes for equity

Over a million California students still lack access to remote learning | CalMatters

Over a million California students still lack access to remote learning | CalMatters

Over a million California students still lack access to remote learning

More than a month since officials closed schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, California officials said a two-week blitz led by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom has brought in 70,000 computers and other devices that will be distributed to needy students this week.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has stressed the importance of distance learning and education multiple times during the past month — even talking about helping his own children with school work. Today he focused attention on his administration’s efforts to secure donations from tech giants such as Google and Apple, garnering tens of thousands of computers and internet connections to children in need.

“For class to be in session, it is imperative that California addresses the inequities in access to computers, technology tools and connectivity to ensure that online learning can in fact reach all of California’s children,” Newsom said. 

In addition, in Sacramento, the city is converting seven transit buses into super hotspots. Google is to begin establishing the first of 100,000 previously pledged hotspots during the first week of May. Already, Apple has distributed 10,000 IPads to 800 school districts and Google has given out 4,000 laptops.

Yet, even with all of  the new devices going out in the coming weeks, it’s unclear if all of these efforts will really make a dent in the gap — highlighted by the pandemic — between those who have digital access and those who do not. 

Siebel Newsom said one in five California children does not have connectivity or a device to access remote learning. Based on 2018-19 enrollment data, that means roughly 1.2 million children in California lack access. 

“We all know that education is fundamental to opportunity and our mission will not end until every child has what they need to continue learning,” she said.

Previously, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said that the state is trying to get 150,000 devices in the hands of students who don’t have one.

This is especially critical for low-income students and students of color, Siebel Newsom said, referring to a recent study that showed 50% of low-income parents and 42% of parents of color “are worried about distance learning because they don’t have a personal device at home.”

Newsom also indicated the state will spend $30 million to connect more households that need it.  Most of those funds, $25 million, will come from the California Teleconnect Fund and will be CONTINUE READING: Over a million California students still lack access to remote learning | CalMatters

Sacramento City Unified may have budget cuts from coronavirus | The Sacramento Bee

Sacramento City Unified may have budget cuts from coronavirus | The Sacramento Bee

Coronavirus crisis may mean more cuts to Sacramento school district’s already battered budget

The Sacramento County Office of Education delivered another negative certification to Sacramento City Unified School District’s revised budget, after the district also gave itself a negative certification, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic may result in more revenue shortfalls that could require state budget reductions.

“In light of the recent situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the uncertainty of how this will affect the economy, state revenues, and state funding, state budget cuts may be coming as soon as the 2020-2021 budget year,” read a letter sent to the district on Wednesday from county superintendent David Gordon. “Now more than ever, it is imperative that the district and its bargaining partners work together to agree on resolving the $27 million budget shortfall, and insure fiscal solvency by building reserves and eliminating deficit spending.”

It’s unclear how school districts across California will be affected by potential state budget reductions, but Sacramento City Unified’s $27 million budget gap could grow significantly.

County school officials concurred with the negative certification of the district’s second interim report, because the district will fall short by $14.2 million in 2021-2022, leaving the district with a $2 million negative balance.

School districts are required to have a minimum reserve two years in advance, including the 2021-22 fiscal year.

The report said that without further budget restrictions, the district will have a negative balance of $19.5 million in November 2021.

While the district identified more than $31 million in prospective budget reductions, it will need to negotiate with its labor partners to make such changes.

Gordon called the lack of progress in negotiations “crippling.”

“The point we tried to make over in the letters the last 6 to 12 months is that all of this requires cooperation and collaboration,” Gordon told The Sacramento Bee on Friday.

Often at the center of its budget negotiations is the district’s health care benefits, which Gordon said are more generous than the industry standard and could be a source of budget reductions

“Our district was already facing significant budget challenges before the unprecedented health crisis that we find ourselves grappling with now,” read a statement from Sacramento City Unified Superintendent Jorge Aguilar. “That is why – even during this difficult time – we’re asking our labor partners to sit with us at the table to continue negotiations on the high costs of our employee benefits. We know our challenges won’t go away without compromise – even in the face of a crisis.”

The Sacramento City Teachers Association was critical of the district, but also criticized SCOE for “looking away” when Aguilar received a $34,000 pay increase — an amount the district said included health and pension costs.

“SCUSD continues to demonstrate fiscal mismanagement, and SCOE continues to demonstrate an absence of oversight,” read a union statement to The Bee. “The SCOE letter says nothing new.”

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Sacramento City Unified may have budget cuts from coronavirus | The Sacramento Bee

CURMUDGUCATION: The Road Out

CURMUDGUCATION: The Road Out

The Road Out

Sometimes I use this blog as a sort of macro-- when I find myself engaged in the same pieces of the same argument, it just gets easier to try to hash it all out in one spot so that thereafter I can just point instead of typing it all out again. This isn't very much about education, it's not very carefully edited (in fact, I may well keep adding edits till I get it closer to what I really want--hey, I'm a blogger, not a journalist), and it's not short. You won't hurt my feelings if you just skip it.

My social media pages are overflowing with anger these days; I imagine yours are much the same, even if you only interact with people on your side of things. Worse even than the usual political sniping, I find it kind of disheartening and discouraging. It's as if we as a country, as a society, are emotionally unable to process, let alone cope with, the unfolding crisis. 

It's not that people just disagree--it's that the human tendency to assume that people on the other side are stupid and/or evil just seems to be out of control. It's not enough for my pro-open-back-up friends have to disagree with people who see a larger threat. They can't just say, "I think that model is wrong" or "This seems like a bad idea." Instead, it's characterizing people who are complying with safeguards as hysterical victims. Governors are fascist, trying to impose authoritarian regimes. Hospitals and medical authorities are cooking the books and faking the numbers because money and Big Pharma. 

Meanwhile, on the other side, people who want to re-open the economy are murderous bastards, money grubbing killers intent on lining their pockets with blood money.

And all of them talking about this situation is really, really simple and if you don't see it that way, CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: The Road Out

Leading public education advocates write open letter to Joe Biden - The Washington Post

Leading public education advocates write open letter to Joe Biden - The Washington Post

Leading public education advocates write open letter to Joe Biden: Your ‘statements encourage us’

During the Obama administration, public school advocates led by Diane Ravitch opposed the education agenda of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who had embraced standardized testing, charter schools and the Common Core State Standards as the way to improve America’s schools.

Ravitch, an education historian and research professor at New York University, became the titular leader of the grass-roots movement against the privatization of public education in 2010, when she published her best-selling book, “The Death and Life of the Great American School System.” It detailed her conversion from a No Child Left Behind supporter to an opponent.

From 1991 to 1993, Ravitch served as assistant secretary of research and improvement in the Education Department under President George H.W. Bush. She was, too, an early supporter of No Child Left Behind, the chief education initiative of his son, President George W. Bush, which ushered in the high-stakes standardized-testing movement. But when she researched the effects of the measures, she saw that NCLB’s testing requirements had turned classrooms into test prep factories and forced schools to narrow the curriculum to focus on tested subjects.

She changed her long-held views about how to improve schools and for the last decade has been speaking and writing about education reform. She also co-founded and heads the nonprofit Network for Public Education, which links people and groups that advocate to improve public schools and fight school privatization.

Ravitch became a lightning rod for criticism by supporters of President Barack Obama’s Race to the Top initiative, which made standardized tests more important than ever. But, at 81 years old, she is still writing and advocating for public schools. Her most recent book was published this year, “Slaying Goliath: The Passionate Resistance to Privatization and the Fight to Save America’s Public Schools.”

The Network for Public Education that she leads opposes charter schools — which are publicly funded by privately managed — seeing them as part of a movement to privatize public education. It published two reports last year about how the federal government wasted millions of dollars on a program aimed at expanding the charter sector. CONTINUE READING: Leading public education advocates write open letter to Joe Biden - The Washington Post