Looking for a few good mentors | Ideas and Thoughts

Looking for a few good mentors | Ideas and Thoughts:

Looking for a few good mentors

by Dean Shareski

From January to April I'll be teaching a course called ECMP 455. It's an advanced course on using technology in education. Whatever that means.

Actually what it means is I want my students to dig deep into what teaching and learning looks like in 2012 as great teachers and great ideas come together to make learning better and richer and even transformative. I've taught this particular course 4-5 times now and am really looking forward to this term. I've got some interesting and new ideas planned and I'll share on that later.

The class is made up of pre-service teachers who are usually in their 3rd or 4th year of teaching and have had some classroom experience. This course is totally optional so they take it because they have an interest in technology and usually have some skill set above the average pre-service teacher. That doesn't mean they are

Fact Sheet: Multiple Measures: A Definition and Examples from the U.S. and Other Nations | FairTest

Fact Sheet: Multiple Measures: A Definition and Examples from the U.S. and Other Nations | FairTest:

Fact Sheet: Multiple Measures: A Definition and Examples from the U.S. and Other Nations

Submitted by fairtest on July 28, 2010 - 12:51pm

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Multiple Measures: A Definition and Examples from the U.S. and Other Nations

Summary

Definition. Multiple measures: the use of multiple indicators and sources of evidence of student learning, of varying kinds, gathered at multiple points in time, within and across subject areas.

Examples of multiple measures systems used successfully in the U.S.

• Learning Record: Developed for use with multi-lingual, multi-cultural populations, to assess progress in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Using a structured format, the teacher regularly observes and describes the student and her work, and attaches samples, to provide multiples sources of evidence. Student progress is summarized in writing and placed numerically on a developmental scale. LRs have been re-scored with high inter-rater agreement, and studies have supported its validity.
• Work Sampling System (WSS): The WSS, designed for students aged 3-8, facilitates the collection and evaluation of observations and examples of student work. Learning is summarized in writing and numerically. It was

SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL: Little Evan Stone And Princess Sydney Morris Are Do-Gooders (Thank God!)

SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL: Little Evan Stone And Princess Sydney Morris Are Do-Gooders (Thank God!):

Little Evan Stone And Princess Sydney Morris Are Do-Gooders (Thank God!)

by noreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher)

Let's try this. Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat (sound of teletype)rat-tat-tat-tat....From the newsroom of Educators4Excllence, breaking news!!!!

E4E, Little Evan Stone, and Princess Sydney Morris have been featured onthedogooder.com as a couple of gosh diddly darn do gooders! Yes, in an article entitled, "Educators 4 Excellence: An Independent Voice for Teachers" (notice the major typo when you see the article)written and attributed to no one, this puff piece shows just how how wonderful and

Schooling in the Ownership Society: For-profit teacher certification is booming

Schooling in the Ownership Society: For-profit teacher certification is booming:

For-profit teacher certification is booming

by Mike Klonsky

This, according to a Nov. 26 New York Times report.

As you might expect, Texas leads the way in for-profit teacher certifications. More than 110 alternative certification programs — including iteachTexas, and nonprofits like Teach for America — produce 40 percent of all new teachers in Texas, according to an analysis of Texas Education Agency data by Ed Fuller, a Penn State University education professor and former University of Texas researcher.

For-profit programs dominate that market: in each year since 2007, the two largest

Many Lenses, But Little Focus. « My Island View

Many Lenses, But Little Focus. « My Island View:

Many Lenses, But Little Focus.

by tomwhitby

To understand why certain decisions are made, we need to understand the decision maker and the pressures under which certain decisions are made. This is sometimes referred to as looking through the lens of the decision maker. It takes into view many of the factors pushing and pulling on an individual responsible for making a decision. Sometimes decisions of some magnitude may require a number of individuals on a number of levels to make separate decisions. Each of those decisions is made looking through a different lens.

Certainly the leader of any School district, the Superintendent, has the most politically influenced job. Most often the position is held by an educator who has exhibited great business management skills as a primary focus. Of course it is not expected that Superintendents need professional development at this stage of their career. They must be able to effectively deal with huge budget considerations with every decision. Matters of money,

Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through M.I.T.’s Male Math Maze will be at the University of Washington | Seattle Education

Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through M.I.T.’s Male Math Maze will be at the University of Washington | Seattle Education:

Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through M.I.T.’s Male Math Maze will be at the University of Washington

by seattleducation2011

From the Truth Values website:

Created as a response to former Harvard President Lawrence Summers’ now infamous suggestion that women are less represented than men in the sciences because of innate gender differences,Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through M.I.T.’s Male Math Maze is a true-life tale that offers a humorous, scathing, insightful and ultimately uplifting look at the challenges of being a professional woman in a male-dominated field. Performed barefoot on a bare stage with only a chair and small

Occupy Philly Facing Eviction TODAY | OccupyWallSt.org #ows

Occupy Philly Facing Eviction TODAY | OccupyWallSt.org:

Occupy Philly Facing Eviction TODAY

by OccupyWallSt

Occupy Philadelphia has announced they are facing imminent eviction:

[Mayor] Nutter has joined the chorus of Mayors nationwide to silence and render invisible this movement against Wall Street greed. The City told us to leave City Hall with all of our belongings by 5pm today. At 5pm let's show them how much support this movement has. Come to City Hall and stand with the 99%! Chances are police will not move in at that time. The City will probably

NYT: Policy-Making Billionaires – Their policy is to make billions off our kids. Shut the school house gates on Gates. « Continuing Change

NYT: Policy-Making Billionaires – Their policy is to make billions off our kids. Shut the school house gates on Gates. « Continuing Change:

NYT: Policy-Making Billionaires – Their policy is to make billions off our kids. Shut the school house gates on Gates.

by gatorbonbc

Policy Making Billionaires Boys Club making education their pet project.

Wanna bet their policy is to make sure they make billions…

Is the Job of a Teacher 24/7 | Connected Principals

Is the Job of a Teacher 24/7 | Connected Principals:

Is the Job of a Teacher 24/7

by Akevy Greenblatt

Picture from: nysut.org

I haven’t blogged for a while and have been thinking about what to blog about. I am jealous of all of those in my PLN that blog daily and sometimes more than once a day. After thinking about this for a while I decided to put my thoughts down on “paper”.

Today we talk about child centered learning and the teacher as a facilitator to learning and allowing students to drive the learning with their questions. They are right and this is a major part of the role of the teacher in the 21st Century and it must change from the Sage on the Stage model.

However I believe that this is only part of the role of a teacher. A teacher needs to be a leader and a change

Library group denounces book destruction at Occupy Wall Street - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post #ows

Library group denounces book destruction at Occupy Wall Street - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Library group denounces book destruction at Occupy Wall Street

by Valerie Strauss

The American Library Association has denounced the destruction of books at a library set up by Occupy Wall Street when New York police raided a park where protesters were staying earlier this month.

The ALA, the oldest and largest library association in the world, issued a release that said some of its members who had visited the site before the Nov. 15 raid in Zuccotti Park had praised the People’s Library for having a balanced, catalogued collection of materials that included works of different views.

Read full article >>

Boys joining girls’ swim teams in high school

by Valerie Strauss

A growing number of boys are joining girls’ high school swim teams in Massachusetts and authorities that regulate athletics aren’t quite sure what to make of it.

The Boston Globe reports that the issue became more problematic recently when a boy broke a meet record for girls’ 50-yard freestyle. With more boys on girls’ swim teams this fall than ever, the state’s Interscholastic Athletic Association is expected in January to try to figure out how to handle the new record and the overall policy.

Read full article >>

Lady Gaga sends anti-bullying video to student

by Valerie Strauss

Lady Gaga sent a personalized video (see below) to a high school student council president who had sought help with an anti-bullying assembly he was hosting.

Jacques St. Pierre, 17, a senior at Etobicoke School of the Arts in Toronto, who had been a victim of bullying when he was younger, received an e-mail with a subject line that said, “To Jacques from Lady Gaga,” theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Read full article >>

The EduTalk: Teacher Voices Define Our Choices: Occupy the Classroom

The EduTalk: Teacher Voices Define Our Choices: Occupy the Classroom:

Occupy the Classroom

If Occupy in its infancy has some of the characteristics of a child, it makes me wonder what should be preserved and what refined and matured. I ask myself where innocence should be maintained and where boundaries become practical and necessary. I think of the movement's struggle to forge a community out of diverse classes of people who have made their way to various sites of encampment or protest. As a teacher and union representative, I am aware that some in our association balk at the prospect of teachers standing shoulder to shoulder with the homeless, addicted and

Virtual schools are multiplying, but some question their educational value - The Washington Post @ritacolleen

Virtual schools are multiplying, but some question their educational value - The Washington Post:

Virtual schools are multiplying, but some question their educational value

Dayna Smith/For The Washington Post - Gennifer Hirata, 10 — pictured with her mother, Michele — and her brother, Tyler, 8, are enrolled in the Virginia Virtual Academy, a full-time public school through which students take all their classes online.

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By Lyndsey Layton and Emma Brown, Published: November 26

A Virginia company leading a national movement to replace classrooms with computers — in which children as young as 5 can learn at home at taxpayer expense — is facing a backlash from critics who are questioning its funding, quality and oversight.

K12 Inc. of Herndon has become the country’s largest provider of full-time public virtual schools, upending the traditional American notion that learning occurs in a schoolhouse where students share the experience. In K12’s virtual schools, learning is largely solitary, with lessons delivered online to a child who progresses at her own pace.

@TeacherKen on Common Core Standards | The Classroom Sooth

@TeacherKen on Common Core Standards | The Classroom Sooth:

@TeacherKen on Common Core Standards

by classroomsooth

Ken Goodman says it well: It’s high expectations, not standards that we need.

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky:

Sunday links.

by Fred Klonsky

Respecting teachers seems a foreign thing to Jeff Libman in a letter to the Chicago Buffoon. And he’s not talking about disrespect from students.

For-profit teacher certification mills are booming in Texas. Ah, Texas.

On November 30th to December 3rd, ALEC will be meeting in Scottsdale at the Weston Kierland Resort for their States and Nations Summit. Occupy Phoenix has other plans.

The University of California Regents will get an earful on Monday when UC Davis students are calling for asystem-wide strike. It’s about more than pepper-spray.

Here’s a good reading list. These are the books that were destroyed by the NYPD at #OWS eviction from

Education | Big expansion, big questions for Teach for America | Seattle Times Newspaper

Education | Big expansion, big questions for Teach for America | Seattle Times Newspaper:

Big expansion, big questions for Teach for America

In a distressed neighborhood north of Miami's gleaming downtown, a group of enthusiastic but inexperienced instructors from Teach for America is trying to make progress where more veteran teachers have had difficulty: raising students' reading and math scores.

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO

AP Education Writer

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MIAMI —

In a distressed neighborhood north of Miami's gleaming downtown, a group of enthusiastic but inexperienced instructors from Teach for America is trying to make progress where more veteran teachers have had difficulty: raising students' reading and math scores.

"These are the lowest performing schools, so we need the strongest performing teachers," said Julian Davenport, an assistant principal at Holmes Elementary, where three-fifths of the staff this year are Teach for America corps members or graduates of the program.

By 2015, with the help of a $50 million federal grant, program recruits could make up one-quarter of all new

Foundation's donation for L.A. schools stirs a conversation online - latimes.com

Foundation's donation for L.A. schools stirs a conversation online - latimes.com:

Foundation's donation for L.A. schools stirs a conversation online

A $4-million donation this month to the education website DonorsChoose.org by the Wasserman Foundation certainly captured the attention of teachers and local officials. As The Times reported Sunday, many in Los Angeles' education community see the money as much-needed aid for students at a time of steep budget cuts.

Another group chimed in as well: A number of prominent athletes, including former Lakers star Magic Johnson and cyclist Lance Armstrong, hopped onto Twitter to give a shout-out to sports entrepreneur Casey Wasserman — whose family's foundation made the donation — and encouraged their followers to contribute.

The Wasserman donation is the largest of its kind to DonorsChoose, which allows teachers to solicit money for classroom projects. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also has donated $4 million to the website but it was to be used nationwide, while the Wasserman gift is just for Los Angeles schools.

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Power philanthropy: 'Influence peddling writ large'

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Power philanthropy: 'Influence peddling writ large':

Power philanthropy: 'Influence peddling write large'

by Mike Klonsky

Political reporter Nicholas Confessore has an important piece in today's Times, "Policy Making Billionaires" which reveals the disproportional power over public policy and institutions held by and handful of the world's richest men.

“It’s sort of influence-peddling writ large,” said Richard L. Brodsky, a senior fellow at the liberal-leaning research organization Demos and

Authenticity - Arlington, VA, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post

Authenticity - Arlington, VA, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post:

Looking Ahead

Authenticity

You’ve thought through 21^st century tools and 21^st century skills, but how are you set for 21^st century virtue? What do you mean “virtue” is a Victorian notion? Don’t you need a stance, a perspective, a context in which to make sense of these quickly-changing times? Think of virtue not as an unblemished character trait, but as a vantage point which gives you the ability to take action and make a difference. There may be a number of such virtues, but there is one that that comes before all others. Authenticity: the ability to impact your world as your genuine self.

The next great frontier turns out not to be the oceans or outer space, but human potential. Think about it. When you look at all the skills and tools touted as the hallmark of this century, what is the common denominator? Real-time, authentic, in-the-moment, interaction. No confinement by physical space and time. No limits to creativity, collaboration, productivity and building new understandings. Our minds are the ultimate frontier.

The irony of the 21^st century is that, because of its immediacy, people have become that much

Democracy or Plutocracy? A Chart | Truthout

Democracy or Plutocracy? A Chart | Truthout:

Democracy or Plutocracy? A Chart

Monday 14 November 2011

by: Dave Johnson, Campaign for America's Future | News Analysis

Updates: