Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Adapting Elizabeth May’s “Trash Drafting” for Students-as-Writers – radical eyes for equity

Adapting Elizabeth May’s “Trash Drafting” for Students-as-Writers

Science fiction and fantasy author Elizabeth May recently offered a really excellent Twitter thread about “trash drafting.”

As a writer and teacher of writing, I was particularly drawn to the final Tweet in the thread:

This emphasis on the proper place of editing in the writing process (attending to surface features later rather than earlier) reminded me of a dictum from Lou LaBrant (1946) that drives much of how I teach writing: “As a teacher of English, I am not willing to teach the polishing and adornment of irresponsible, unimportant writing [emphasis added]…. I would place as the first aim of teaching students to write the development of full responsibility for what they CONTINUE READING: Adapting Elizabeth May’s “Trash Drafting” for Students-as-Writers – radical eyes for equity

Mitchell Robinson: Stop Shaming Teachers into Reopening Schools | Eclectablog

Stop Shaming Teachers into Reopening Schools | Eclectablog

Stop Shaming Teachers into Reopening Schools

A friend of mine made a post on social media last night saying that she “wasn’t angry about people thinking schools should reopen,” and while I admire the measured tone and spirit of cooperation she displayed in her commentary, that sentiment left me feeling uneasy.

Because I AM angry about people demanding schools reopen ASAP.

I get the frustration, and the fear that so many have about possibly losing their jobs. But none of that makes it ok to try to shame teachers back into the classroom with comments like, “the kids need us”, “it’s going to be so powerful”, “we’re going to forget all our worries once we get into it”, and “remember why you became a teacher”. This is nothing more than cheap and lazy rhetoric designed to make teachers feel badly for trying to protect their own health, and the health of their families.

The solution isn’t rushing to open schools before they are safe–the solution is for Congress to pass a stimulus package large enough and bold enough to pay people to *not* go to work, and that provides bonus/hazard pay for those who *do* need to work–health care workers, public safety personnel (fire and police), grocery store workers, etc.

And that stimulus package also must provide the federal and state resources to actually *do* something about making schools safe, which to my knowledge has happened in very few places. It’s not enough for school districts to “encourage” their employees to get vaccinated–school systems should be proactively securing enough vaccine doses for all employees to get two shots, CONTINUE READING: Stop Shaming Teachers into Reopening Schools | Eclectablog

CURMUDGUCATION: Teachers and the Toll of Disinterest

Teachers and the Toll of Disinterest

The closest I ever came to leaving public education was almost twenty years ago, when I was the president of our local union, and we were on strike.

It was a challenging time. The contract negotiations started with stripping (a technique where the district proposes to gut the contract so that they can pretend to make concessions later by agreeing to only partly gut the contract, which of course involves them giving up nothing). The lead negotiator said publicly, "We have the money. We just don't want to give it to them." And my phone never stopped ringing.

This is a small town, and while I'm not exactly a public figure, I'm pretty easy to find. And so people called to offer their thoughts on the contract negotiations and the strike.

The worst were not the raging teacher-haters. It was the other folks, some of whom I knew personally, who wanted to explain calmly and rationally why teachers had no right to expect things like good pay and decent benefits, how they should simply accept what the board offered and be happy they were so much better paid than fry cooks and convenience store clerks.

I had to stare into the abyss of--well, I can't even call it disrespect, Disinterest. It's always a little background buzz that you learn to ignore, that buzz of all the people who really don't much care about public education and think that teachers are a glorified over-paid bunch of women who CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Teachers and the Toll of Disinterest

Union leader: Chicago teachers are battling both coronavirus pandemic and fear | Fox News

Union leader: Chicago teachers are battling both coronavirus pandemic and fear

Randi Weingarten says American Federation of Teachers trying to 'get the safety measures in place' for in-person classes to resume

American Federation of Teachers leader Randi Weingarten said Tuesday that Chicago educators are battling both the coronavirus pandemic and "fear" as an impasse continues over resuming in-person learning in America's third-largest city.

"We're fighting a pandemic and now we're fighting fear," Weingarten told "The Faulkner Focus." "And what we're trying to do as a union is get the safety measures in place, I'm on the phone constantly with Chicago, in trying to actually have that kind of plan so that we can address both the pandemic and the fear."

Weingarten briefed Biden White House officials last week on the standoff betweeen Chicago public officials and the Chicago Teachers Union, an affiliate of Weingarten's AFT. Members of the Chicago Teachers Union overwhelmingly voted over the weekend to refuse a district order to return for in-person instruction on Monday. The city said it viewed the move as a de facto strike.

Biden sided with the union on Monday, saying that teachers want to work as long as it's in a safe environment.

BIDEN DECLINES TO TELL CHICAGO TEACHERS REFUSING TO TEACH IN-PERSON TO GO BACK TO WORK

"We should make school classrooms safe and secure for the students, for the teachers and for the help that is in those schools maintaining those facilities," said Biden, who has vowed to reopen most schools within his first 100 days.

"I think that President Biden's goal is really important, and I think that unless we have a variant like what happened in Great Britain or Germany that created those kind of CONTINUE READING: Union leader: Chicago teachers are battling both coronavirus pandemic and fear | Fox News

Teacher Tom: What I Miss

What I Miss

Most of the time these days I manage to make peace with the pandemic, but there are other days when I wallow in what I miss.

I miss the feeling of little fingers exploring my knee cap through the holes in my jeans as I read from a story book.

I miss the blast of overheated breath against my cheek as they excitedly whisper their news in my ear.

I miss the warmth of tears spreading through the fabric of my shirt and onto my shoulder as I hold them after a fall.

I miss the dampness that soaks through the seat of my pants when I sit on wet ground in order to be eye-to-eye with them.

I miss being genuinely eye-to-eye.

I miss living my days in a place where whenever I need to CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: What I Miss

NYC Educator: Bill de Blasio and His Magic 8-Ball

Bill de Blasio and His Magic 8-Ball

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is absolutely sure schools will open at "full strength" in September. That's great to hear, of course. I, for one, am growing tired of looking at computer screens rather than live students.

On the other hand, Mayor de Blasio has not proven particularly adept at predicting the future. I'm sure you recall his ridiculous presidential campaign, the one in which he garnered no more delegates than my dog. (In fairness, my dog is far cuter than the mayor.)

Of course, that's not the only example suggesting this mayor's clairvoyance is not to be relied upon. Mayor de Blasio held on to keeping buildsing open way too long last March. He never wanted to close them, and he was ready to open them at a moment's notice. Look at the process we went through in September. We delayed and delayed. We had to threaten a strike in order to enable testing. If we hadn't done that, the results could have been dire and deadly.

Like all the various cheerleaders for school openings, Mayor de Blasio seemed to believe the numbers were going to stay low. I read op-eds from people saying the positivity rate was below 1%, so we ought not to fret over Covid. Just send everyone back and hope for the best. Back then, the state was saying we should CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Bill de Blasio and His Magic 8-Ball

How the Arts (& #artseducation) Can Save the World – Sam Chaltain

HOW THE ARTS (& #ARTSEDUCATION) CAN SAVE THE WORLD

In Australia, the country of his birth, Thanh Bui learned early on that kids who looked like him faced two possible paths.
On one, traversed by the only other Asian student in his school, the cold sting of isolation and ridicule awaited. On the other, however, came the assimilatory embrace of knowing you were “one of the lads.”
For Bui, youthful, outgoing, and kinetic, it was an easy choice — one that would take him to heights his immigrant parents could never have imagined: first, playground popularity and acceptance, and then, eventually, global celebrity and superstardom.
The only requirement was that he suppress his Vietnamese identity.
It would take decades before Bui understood the true cost of his unconscious choice.
And it’s why he’ll spend the next decade planting seeds that he hopes can one day frame new paths, and new choices, for a new generation of Vietnamese children.
Recently, amid the symphony of barking dogs and the aromatic smell of diesel fuel, Bui sat on a fishing boat atop the muddy waters of the Mekong River, contemplating how his family’s journey had begun in this exact spot, a lifetime ago.
This was where his parents, along with eighty-five tightly-packed strangers, had summoned the courage to leave the country of their birth in search of a better life.
“They were the age then, 28, that I was when I first came back,” Bui said. “They had no education, no money, and nothing but the clothes on their backs. That’s why I wanted to come back here. I wanted to know exactly the place they had left.
“When you know where you’re from,” he said slowly, “there’s this sense of humanity that sweeps through you. I don’t think you’re ever O.K. until you know exactly where you’re from — and I’ve been on that journey my whole life.”
For anyone who is the child of immigrants, Thanh Bui’s journey will feel familiar. Although he grew up in CONTINUE READING: How the Arts (& #artseducation) Can Save the World – Sam Chaltain

Matt Bai: Time for Teachers to Grow Up and Get Back into the Classroom | Diane Ravitch's blog

Matt Bai: Time for Teachers to Grow Up and Get Back into the Classroom

Matt Bai is an opinion writer for the Washington Post. He wrote recently that teachers should recognize that they are essential workers and get back into the classroom. He points out that remote learning is a disaster, that it is a horrible means of learning, and that students’ emotional health is damaged by not being in a physical classroom with a teacher. He blames “the teachers’ unions” for teachers’ obstinate refusal to return to full-time in-class instruction. That old familiar demon, “the teachers’ unions.”

He begins:

It won’t be easy for President Biden to get America’s teachers back into public schools. Teachers unions are a powerful force in Democratic politics, and they’re resisting calls to return to classrooms where about half the nation’s kids ought to be sitting.

When asked about the issue on Monday, Biden seemed to back up the unions, saying the onus was on districts and governments to make the classrooms safer.

Behind closed doors, however, Biden’s message to the teachers should be straightforward and emphatic: You are vital, irreplaceable public servants. And it’s time you started acting like it.

You don’t have to be a parent to understand the growing perils of what’s euphemistically known as “remote learning.” It is basically a hollow and socially isolating echo of real school that has dragged on for almost a year now in scores of large districts.

A friend sent me the article and asked me what I thought.

I responded:

I agree that remote learning is a disaster and has many very negative effects on students.

Teachers feel, whether or not they are in a union, that it’s not safe to reopen schools because the government has done next to nothing to make schools safe.

Teachers have died of COVID where schools stayed open. They are frightened. Other essential workers are not penned in a small, usually unventilated room for hours with the same people. The latest studies show that children are as likely to transit the virus as adults. CONTINUE READING: Matt Bai: Time for Teachers to Grow Up and Get Back into the Classroom | Diane Ravitch's blog

NANCY BAILEY: How the Media and School Districts Shame Teachers During Covid-19

How the Media and School Districts Shame Teachers During Covid-19

How the Media and School Districts Shame Teachers During Covid-19

Listen to the news one moment, and you’re warned about the new variants of the virus. There’s uncertainty about it and whether it’s more deadly than the current strain. Next, the media gives voice to critics who belittle teachers and their unions for not returning to school or being afraid.

There’s a dislike of teachers and disrespect in school districts across the country. When three Cobb County school employees died of Covid, the Superintendent and a school board member wouldn’t put on a mask when asked to honor one of the deceased victims who was a teacher.

Can’t everyone hang on until teachers are safely vaccinated? Teachers have been working diligently with students remotely and in-person since the start of the pandemic. They deserve better.

The Media

The Washington Post

Here’s an opinion piece. Teachers are vital public servants. Time for them to start acting like it. This title sounds like teachers are throwing a tantrum! The author expresses a dislike for online learning.

He understands teachers are worried about being in the classroom, but since they bargain for better pay, tenure, and a decent pension, that means to him that they’re CONTINUE READING: How the Media and School Districts Shame Teachers During Covid-19

glen brown: Why You Should Double-Mask to Prevent Covid-19 and How to Do It

Why You Should Double-Mask to Prevent Covid-19 and How to Do It

“As more contagious coronavirus variants emerge, health experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, say it’s probably a good idea to start doubling up on your face masks.

“The new variants are thought to have an easier time binding to our cells, so the more layers we have covering our noses and mouths, the less likely we’ll be exposed to viral particles that can infect our cells and make us sick. Two masks may help create a stronger shield between you and the virus (or, at the very least, they couldn’t hurt).

“Here’s everything you should know about double-masking ― including how to go about it ― so you can prevent COVID-19 as best as you can:

“Pick two masks that have enough layers and air filtration.

“‘The more layers, the more barriers you can put between yourself and the virus, the better off you’re going to be,’ said Thomas Duszynski, the director of epidemiology education at Indiana University’s Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health.

“N95 face masks are the gold standard in terms of protection. If you can get ahold of an N95 and double it up with a surgical mask, you’re going to have an efficient shield against viral particles. But N95 masks continue to be in limited supply, so they’ll be difficult to score for the time being. The issue then is how to spice up your cloth or surgical face masks, said Onyema Ogbuagu, a Yale Medicine infectious disease doctor and principal investigator of Yale’s Pfizer COVID-19 trial.

“The two properties of a mask you want to look for are the filtering capacity and the breathability, according to Ogbuagu. You want masks that can both filter the air we breathe in and limit how many respiratory secretions we shoot out.

“KN95 masks are thought to be pretty good alternatives to N95 masks in non-clinical settings. They might not be quite as rigorous as N95s — there’s really no beating them — but KN95 masks still offer a lot of protection for you and others when sealed around your nose and mouth. (Here’s a list of the KN95s that have received emergency use authorization.) Surgical masks are great for protecting you and others against large respiratory droplets, but due to their loose fit, they’re not foolproof at keeping out all of the smaller, aerosolized particles. (Tip: if your surgical mask is loose, try tying knots in the ear loops to keep it taut.)

“Put your air-filtration mask on first, then cover it up with another one. Make sure you choose breathable fabrics with no valves, otherwise you’ll defeat the purpose.

“The mask with the greatest filtering capabilities should go on first, like the N95, KN95 or a well-fitted surgical mask. Make sure that mask is tightly sealed against your face. You don’t want gaps in the mask along the sides of your face where contaminated air can sneak in. Data suggests certain cloth masks might not be as protective as we once hoped, so it might be time to officially ditch the bandanas and neck gaiters and have your second layer be a multilayer cloth mask or another surgical mask.

“In general, the more layers your masks have, the better off you — and the people around you — will be. Studies have found that masks with multiple layers can block 50% to 70% of small droplets. When it comes to cloth masks, evidence suggests three layers of tightly woven fabric are the way to go.

“‘The more layers you have covering your nose and mouth means less virus CONTINUE READING: glen brown: Why You Should Double-Mask to Prevent Covid-19 and How to Do It

CURMUDGUCATION: The Curmudgureading List

The Curmudgureading List

I was recently reminded that it has been a while since I've done one of these. The edublogging universe has, I think, shrunk a bit in the last year or two, which is not to say that there aren't still hundreds out there. But lots of folks come and go, and I drop blogs from the list on the side when they've gone dormant for more than a few months. There has also been a shift to newsletters and substacks and podcasting, as well as, I think, a loss of more conservative voices in support of public ed. I'm going to stick to good old fashioned web-based education policy text here, mostly, with blogs, magazine style sites, and a few key organizations. A web presence is not an easy thing to maintain, but here's what's out there right now that's worth reading--or at least, that I know about.

Recommendations always gratefully accepted. Let me know what I missed.

Accountabaloney

Florida-centric blog is one of the best-looking blogs around. This duo stays on top of Florida's education shenanigans, which is no small feat.

Affective Living

Chase Mielke writes this blog that focuses on teacher burnout. Practical and frequently helpful.

Alfie Kohn

Infrequent blogger, but always interesting with plenty of resources, particularly if you're interested in getting away from grading and testing.

Bellowings

Akil Bello is a testing expert and a good follow on Twitter. While he blogs infrequently, it's always worthwhile, and this is one of those blogs that's worth a stroll through the archives, particularly if you're reading up on big standardized tests.

Big Education Ape

After all these years, still king of the edu-blog aggregators. He'll give you a taste and a link and do not discount the value of the art that he adds.

Bust-ED Pencils

One of the few (okay, two podcasts on the list. Passionate and progressive, hosted by Dr. Timothy Slekar. All of the big guns have stopped by at one time or another.

Blue Cereal Education

Formerly based in OK, he's now hunkered down in Indiana. Lots of issues covered, but he's also working his way through Supreme Court cases dealing with church and state separation.

Bright Lights, Small City

Sarah Lahm keeps an eye on Minneapolis schools, policy and politics. It's yet another regional stage where reformster ideas go for their out of town trial runs.

Citizen Teacher

CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: The Curmudgureading List

Suddenly President Biden Has Made Ameliorating Child Poverty a Topic of the Hour | janresseger

Suddenly President Biden Has Made Ameliorating Child Poverty a Topic of the Hour

Last summer and through the autumn, Jason DeParle—a NY Times reporter and long chronicler of the devastation wrought when, in 1996, welfare reform eliminated Aid to Families with Dependent Children—made the case (here and here) for augmenting the Child Tax Credit as the best way to reduce child poverty in the United States. In a long piece in July for the NY Review of Books, DeParle explained why reforming the Child Tax Credit is the key to reducing the alarming incidence of child poverty in the United States:

“In talking with scholars over the past year, I’ve been struck by how many substantive reasons there are for focusing on poor kids—even more now than three decades ago. Neuroscientists have shown that much of a child’s developmental trajectory is set during the first few years of life, before children even start school. Economists have shown that even a brief episode of poverty, especially in early childhood, can have life-long consequences—leading to fewer years of education, lower earnings, and worse health in adulthood. It’s also become harder to excuse America’s exceptional child poverty by arguing that the U.S. enjoys exceptional mobility compared to CONTINUE READING: Suddenly President Biden Has Made Ameliorating Child Poverty a Topic of the Hour | janresseger

NYC Public School Parents: What the leaked DOE memo on the "gifted" test reveals

What the leaked DOE memo on the "gifted" test reveals

In several of the articles on the controversy over the renewal of the Pearson contract for the gifted test, which will be voted on tomorrow Wed. night by the Panel for Educational Policy, including in the Daily News and Chalkbeat, a confidential draft DOE memo from July 2020 is mentioned that was leaked to PEP members.

The memo is embedded above and is also posted here. Several things stand out about this memo. First of all, it clearly points out that doing any testing at during the pandemic is likely to intensify the inequities of this program, that are already too evident:

"Testing during this time could exacerbate inequities for an admissions program that is widely known to have disparate outcomes by race. Data shows that the pandemic has impacted poor and ethnically diverse New York neighborhoods at higher rates than wealthier, predominately White ones. The difference in performance by racial and/or socioeconomic group could be increased by the impact of the pandemic, as students face loss of loved ones, loss of family income, food instability, etc."

Also: "Funding used for this program could be redistributed to programs providing more essential services to students."

This is surely true. Yesterday at the PEP Contract committee meeting, the DOE admitted that based on previous years, administering CONTINUE READING: NYC Public School Parents: What the leaked DOE memo on the "gifted" test reveals

2021 Medley #2 – Privatization, the Free Market, and Propaganda | Live Long and Prosper

2021 Medley #2 – Privatization, the Free Market, and Propaganda

PRIVATIZATION, AND THE FREE MARKET

Betsy DeVos might be gone from our federal government, but she and those who support her privatization schemes for public education are still around.

It’s “School Choice Week” & I Choose…

Stu Egan, who blogs at Caffeinated Rage wrote this about school choice week. In it, he reminds us that “Our public schools are better than many lawmakers and ‘pro-choice’ advocates portray them to be – many of whom have never spent time as educators.” The privatizers define the parameters in order to place public schools in a poor light…and then claim that public schools are “failing.”

Supporters of public schools must change the narrative.

With the constant dialogue that “we must improve schools” and the “need to implement reforms,” it is imperative that we as a taxpaying public seek to understand all of the variables in which schools are and can be measured, and not all of them are quantifiable.
And not all of them are reported or allowed to be seen.
Betsy DeVos’s March, 2018 assertion on 60 Minutes that America’s schools CONTINUE READING: 2021 Medley #2 – Privatization, the Free Market, and Propaganda | Live Long and Prosper

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