A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

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

A VERY BUSY DAY

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Every Teacher Who Has Ever Felt Pressured To Present “Both Sides” Of An Event Or Belief Should Read This Article

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h

Some believe that it’s important for teachers to provide complete “objectivity” in the classroom, and treat both sides of events and beliefs equally. I believe that it is important to understand both sides of issues – as the old community organizing adage goes, “we live in the world as it is, not as we would like it to be.” So, understanding different perspectives is important for a variety of re

Three Important Resources On Reopening Schools In The Fall

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h

Wokandapix / Pixabay Here are new additions to THE BEST POSTS PREDICTING WHAT SCHOOLS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE FALL : Considerations for Reopening Pennsylvania Schools is very impressive and applicable everywhere. In California budget deal, no cuts for K-12 but billions in late payments to schools is from Ed Source and, near the end, talks about important elements for California schools. Planning Yo

Today’s “Must-Read” – “What Is Owed” By Nikole Hannah-Jones

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h

Nikole Hannah-Jones, Pulitizer Prize winner and author/organizer of the The 1619 Project (see USEFUL RESOURCES FOR LEARNING ABOUT THE 400TH ANNIVERSARY OF BRINGING ENSLAVED AFRICANS TO AMERICA ), has just written an important piece headlined “What Is Owed.” I’m adding it to: A BEGINNING LIST OF THE BEST RESOURCES FOR TEACHING ABOUT REPARATIONS THE BEST RESOURCES DEMONSTRATING THE WEALTH GAP BETWE

“Representation Matters in Classroom Libraries”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 3h

Representation Matters in Classroom Libraries is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Four teachers discuss specific titles, and common elements, in books that students find popular, including the importance of being able to see themselves in the characters. Here are some excerpts:

Study Finds What All Teachers Know – Interrupting Class Is Bad For Everybody!

by Larry Ferlazzo / 13h

The Hidden Cost of Classroom Interruptions is an accessible write-up of a new study by Matthew A. Kraft. It just appeared in ASCD Educational Leadership. It points out what we teachers know – classroom interruptions don’t help anybody. **HALF** of all brief external interruptions we observed led to longer disruptions to learning. Our observational data suggest some interruptions, and the disrupti

A Look Back: Project Zero’s “Thinking Routines Tool” Is An Excellent Resource

by Larry Ferlazzo / 13h

I thought that new – and veteran – readers might find it interesting if I began sharing my best posts from the first half of this year. You can see the entire collection of best posts from the past thirteen years here . I’ve written many posts and shared many links about Project Zero’s Thinking Routines (I’ll list a number of them at the end of this post). I don’t know if they recently redesigned

The VERY BEST Resources To Support Teachers Dealing With School Closures In 2020 – Part One

by Larry Ferlazzo / 16h

I’m continuing with my mid-year “Best” list posts… I’m adding this post to All 2020 Mid-Year “Best” Lists In One Place! I have sixteen – count ’em, 16 – separate “Best” lists about the school closure crisis, and you can find them all here . Included among them is The “Best Of The Best” Resources To Support Teachers Dealing With School Closures list, but even that is pretty darn long. So, I though

My Most Popular Pins Of 2020 – Part One

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

kirstyfields / Pixabay My mid-year “Best” list posts continue… I’m adding this post to All 2020 Mid-Year “Best” Lists In One Place! I have “pinned” nearly 22,000 educational resources on my Pinterest boards that I have not shared on this blog. Here are the most popular ones for this year (the most popular is the first one):

Ed Tech Digest

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

Nine 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 2020 – PART ONE , as well as checking out all my edtech resources . Here are this w

“Q&A Collections: Classroom-Management Advice”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

Q&A Collections: Classroom-Management Advice is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. All Classroom Q&A posts sharing classroom-management advice (from the past nine years!) are described and 

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

Stronger Together Guidebook Video Overview - Health Services & School Nursing (CA Dept of Education)

Stronger Together Guidebook Video Overview - Health Services & School Nursing (CA Dept of Education)

Stronger Together Guidebook Video Overview

Dr. Stephanie Gregson, Chief Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction for the California Department of Education, provides an overview of the CDE guidance, "Stronger Together: A Guidebook for the Safe Reopening of California's Public Schools".

This video is 5 minutes and 44 seconds in length.

Additional Information

• Stronger Together Guidebook
• Stronger Together: Instructional Scheduling Models
• Coronavirus Response and School Reopening Guidance
• Release of Guidance Document and Upcoming Webinar

Questions:   California Department of Education | COVID19@cde.ca.gov

Stronger Together Guidebook Video Overview - Health Services & School Nursing (CA Dept of Education)

Big Education Ape: Stronger Together - Health Services & School Nursing DON'T MISS THE NEWS CONF. FACEBOOK.COM/CAEducation 11:15 am pdt - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/06/stronger-together-health-services.html

NYC Educator: More Questions on Hybrid Learning

NYC Educator: More Questions on Hybrid Learning

More Questions on Hybrid Learning

Here's another photo of the hybrid Rav4 I bought from Toyota. It's supposed to run over 500 miles on a tank of gas, but the gas tank will not fill. Toyota says they're working on a fix, but they've been telling me that since September. I'm rapidly losing faith in hybrids, and I'm not well-disposed toward trying a new one at this juncture.

I just had a column in the Daily News about how proposed hybrid learning is impractical and undesirable. My vision was giving a lesson while standing in one place. I figured some students would see me live while most would watch remotely. Even that, though, is hard to figure out.

In our sorely overcrowded school, for example, students would only come in once every five days. When we did our walkthrough yesterday, our principal had set up a model room with ten chairs. The idea would be the room could accommodate nine students and one paraprofessional at a time. Okay. Assuming every student and adult practiced social distancing and wore masks all the time, it was something we might be able to accomplish.

The think is, though, with five groups, I'd only see an average of seven students. That's not necessarily an issue in itself. Were I on camera, I'd still have a full class. But how exactly would we interact? All the students in the classroom would need devices to interact with the students who weren't in the room. I couldn't fairly focus on only those present, and I'd argue, in fact, that seven might be a too small a class size anyway. You need to have a mix of students, and in a group that small I could easily draw seven painfully shy kids who would might follow each other's examples.

But let's say we did find a way for the entire class to communicate. It's possible that we could direct the stream to the screens we have in front of most of our classrooms. That way, the students attending the class could easily see those not attending, and we could interact. Of course, to do that, the students in the actual classroom would need to have their own devices so that those learning remotely could see them as well. Once we get to this point, I have to ask once more--What is the actual point of my students and CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: More Questions on Hybrid Learning

Defunding the police in Detroit schools: A youth perspective | Eclectablog

Defunding the police in Detroit schools: A youth perspective | Eclectablog

Defunding the police in Detroit schools: A youth perspective

The following essay was written by students in the Detroit Public Schools Community District. At a time when the Overton Window view about the role of policing in our society is shifting ever more to the left, their voice is important and deserves to be heard. Organized by the group 482Forward which is working for a quality education for EVERY child in Detroit, the contributors to this piece are:

• Malacah Mason–Contributing writer
• Emily Wilson–Contributing writer
• Laila Nasher–Contributing writer
• Ely Vasquez–Contributing writer
• Surabhi Prasad–Contributing writer
• Jecholiah Marriott–Contributing writer
• Yvonne Navarrete-Castaneda–Contributing writer
• Sunidhi Majalikar–Contributing editor
• Naomi Wilson–Contributing editor

You can read about a recent action taken by 482Forward members HERE.

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Black Youth and Encounters with Police:

I was 14 and in the 8th grade when a girl assaulted me and I defended myself. They took us down to the counselor’s office. They closed the door. It was just me, her, the counselor, and the officer that they also called in. They let the girl explain her point of view but I didn’t get the same chance. So I was like, “am I going to get a chance to explain”? But every time I tried to cut in, they cut me off. I was getting pushback for what I did. Even though the whole thing was self-defense. But with the way it was going, I couldn’t even respond. If I had responded, the officer probably would have used it against me. I was taught my rights, so I figured that if I had said something, they would CONTINUE READING: Defunding the police in Detroit schools: A youth perspective | Eclectablog

Audio: Why There's A Push To Get Police Out Of Schools | 89.3 KPCC

Audio: Why There's A Push To Get Police Out Of Schools | 89.3 KPCC

Why There's A Push To Get Police Out Of Schools

At least two-thirds of American high school students attend a school with a police officer, according to the Urban Institute, and that proportion is higher for students of color. Now, the national uprising for racial justice has led to a push to remove police officers from security positions inside schools. School systems in Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Denver, Portland, Ore., and two districts in the Bay Area have all moved in recent weeks to suspend or phase out ties with police.

Jesse Hagopian, a teacher and activist in Seattle, says removing police from schools has been a key demand of the Black Lives Matter movement for years.

"There's just so much research that shows that they aren't making our kids safe."

Data show that schools with cops are more likely to refer children to law enforcement, including for non-serious violent behaviors. In 43 states and the District of Columbia, Black students are more likely to be arrested than other students while at school, according to an analysis by the Education Week Research Center.

"And there's been horrific acts of police violence in schools," Hagopian adds.

He points to two separate incidents captured on body cameras in the fall semester of 2019. One officer in Florida put a 6-year-old girl in handcuffs as she sobbed. Another in New Mexico was shown shoving an 11-year-old girl against a wall. Both CONTINUE READING: Audio: Why There's A Push To Get Police Out Of Schools | 89.3 KPCC 

For Police-Free Schools: The Loving Communities Response Fund for Racial Justice | Schott Foundation for Public Education

For Police-Free Schools: The Loving Communities Response Fund for Racial Justice | Schott Foundation for Public Education

For Police-Free Schools: The Loving Communities Response Fund for Racial Justice

You’ve seen the videos of the devastating impact of police violence against people of color in the streets. As you express outrage — and take action, we urge you to look deeper. 

Look within our schools.

Watch the video of a police officer slamming a high school girl to the ground and dragging her from her classroom before arresting her.

Or a six-year old student who was sitting listening to a story when she was handcuffed and led crying and pleading to a police squad car.

As graphic as they are, these are not isolated incidents: for example, over a recent five-year period more than 30,000 children under age 10 were arrested. Yes, arrested. Children as young as kindergartners are being taken from school in handcuffs to be booked like criminals for behavior that can and should be handled by caring education professionals dedicated to creating safe learning environments. 

Help us in this critical moment to remove police from our schools.

The Schott Foundation is a Black-led national public fund serving as a bridge between philanthropic partners and education advocates to advance racial justice and to build a movement that provides all students an opportunity to learn. In response to these extraordinary times, Schott, in partnership with three national coalitions — the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, Dignity in Schools Campaign, and Journey for Justice Alliance — launched the Loving Communities Response Fund for Racial Justice to support community-led, grassroots education justice organizations responding to racial justice emergencies.

The Loving Communities Response Fund for Racial Justice deploys funding and technical support to communities to ensure that the people and organizations most impacted by an extraordinary moment have the capacity and support to lead in the transformative moment. Our participatory grantmaking process moves resources to the people and communities most in need. In March 2020, the fund supported youth and families directly impacted by school CONTINUE READING: For Police-Free Schools: The Loving Communities Response Fund for Racial Justice | Schott Foundation for Public Education

Update on Efforts to Expand Internet Access - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

Update on Efforts to Expand Internet Access - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and Digital Divide Task Force Receive Update on Multiple Efforts to Expand Internet Access for All

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and leaders serving on the Closing the Digital Divide Task Force received a progress report Friday on multiple ongoing efforts and commitments made to date to expand services for the state’s most vulnerable students and families

During Friday’s hearing, the task force, co-chaired by Senator Connie Leyva (D-Chino), heard presentations from internet service providers including Charter, Comcast, Cox Communications, Frontier Communications, T-Mobile, and Verizon on their commitments to expand free and discounted services to more California students, particularly those living in poverty and rural households.

An archived broadcast of Friday’s task force hearing can be found on the California Department of Education (CDE) Facebook page.

“We believe in giving credit where credit is due, and we’re grateful that many companies have stepped up and answered the call to work with us to help our students access devices and internet,” said Thurmond. “Though we are making progress, we still have a lot of work ahead in order to ensure all our students are connected and able to learn. Affordable computing devices and internet are not only necessary for distance learning but also for lifelong success.”

“Since the task force started working in mid-April on the digital divide issues facing many California students, we have strengthened our cross-sector partnerships that prioritize closing the ongoing technology gaps in our state, “ said Leyva.

“It’s critical that we continue to work hard to meet the technological needs of students, particularly now that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that distance learning is critical during times of crisis to ensure continued student growth and achievement. We must capitalize on the current momentum to make lasting change for students and communities that urgently need reliable digital access.”

In the months since school campuses across the state closed and educators and students shifted to distance learning, the California Department of Education (CDE) has helped facilitate the shipment of 38,591 tech devices and 64,000 mobile hotspots to schools and districts throughout California. The hotspots and devices, which include laptops and tablets donated by Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, will be delivered to 269 districts, schools, districts, and county offices.

In addition to the devices, the CDE will be granting $5 million to local educational agencies to purchase 20,000 more devices or hotspots. The funds are from the California Public Utilities Commission’s California Advanced Services Fund.

Still, staggering need persists and only grows more urgent as schools plan to resume learning this fall. Although tens of thousands of devices and hotspots have been shipped to schools across California, CDE estimates more than 700,000 computing devices and more than 300,000 hotspots are still necessary to meet students’ needs moving forward. It will cost at least $500 million to meet the technology needs of all students, not counting the costs associated with expanding broadband infrastructure.

California students received a substantial boost earlier this week: an anonymous pledge of $4.7 million to procure more computing devices and hotspots. The commitment was facilitated by the Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation (CDE Foundation), the private non-profit partner of the CDE since 2011, through the California Bridging the Digital Divide Fund. The fund is a joint effort of the Governor’s Office, State Board of Education, CDE, and CDE Foundation. Individual contributions may be made on the CBDD Fund web page, and corporate and institutional donors may contact Mary Nicely at mnicely@cde.ca.gov.

Friday’s task force hearing included a presentation from the California Public Utilities Commission on the Federal Communications Commission’s upcoming multibillion dollar Rural Digital Opportunity Fund reverse auction, an initiative to bring high speed fixed broadband service to rural homes and small businesses that lack it. As much as $2.5 billion could be available to California in this effort, and State Superintendent Thurmond asked internet service providers present at Friday’s hearing to provide an update on whether their companies will be applying for these funds. 

            Task Force members also heard an update from Caltrans on an initiative to expand broadband infrastructure along state highway right of ways.

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Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

Update on Efforts to Expand Internet Access - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)