12-8-13 Connected Principals | Sharing. Learning. Leading.

Connected Principals | Sharing. Learning. Leading.:

4 (Digital) Habits That Will Make You More Creative

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Eric E Castro Sir Ken Robinson’s talk on the notion that “schools kill creativity”, is the most viewed Ted Talk ever. The views and clicks do not only come from educators, but from people all over the world as we all have a vested interest in our students. More organizations are looking for students that have “creative” skills, and although schools will a

by George Couros / 52min 

Limits for Kids: Do we define them or inspire beyond them?

I had an invigorating conversation with a colleague yesterday.  Upon reflection, I realized it was because the tone, words, and content of the dialogue were galvanizing.  Thoughts were candid.  Suggestions were constructive.  Discussion flowed both ways.  There was a mutual respect.  At the conclusion of the conversation, I began to give some thought to an idea I vowed I never would.  Because I w

by Sam LeDeaux / 52min 

Evaluation in 2 Simple Steps

Embarrassing but true, the above cartoon is not far off from many evaluation experiences.  That is one way it can be done; I propose another, which can be completed with two simple steps: 1) Care. 2) See #1. Evaluation should be a process driven by collaborative discussion that results in desired growth.  Nobody knows you, like you.  Nobody knows you as an educator, like you.  Nobody knows what y

by Sam LeDeaux / 52min hide  //  save

What if I could do THAT??

On this Thanksgiving Day I am thankful for many things.  One of those is that I get paid to do what I love: teach kids.  Some people choose a job over their passion, while others work side jobs to make ends meet while pursuing their passion.  I consider myself lucky that my job is my passion. I know why I became an educator.  As a matter of fact, I can tell you the person, exactly what he did, and

by Sam LeDeaux / 52min 

Do kids have a voice? The power of choice

As I continue to connect, learn, and grow, I have met some amazing educators.  I attended EdCamp Chicago this past October and had a career changing experience.  The energy was high, passion strong, and enthusiasm contagious!  These educators were taking ownership of their learning, and having fun doing it.  Discussions were rich and engagement was 100%.  It was something I had never seen before! 

by Sam LeDeaux / 15h 

#OurVoice – TedX BurnsvilleEd

I was honoured to have been asked to speak at the TedX BurnsvilleEd event in Minnesota recently.  One thing that I have really tried to focus on lately is empowering voice; not simply students, but anyone involved in education who wants something better for students.  The power of our stories is imperative in creating a new narrative towards a better future for our students, as I believe there are

by George Couros / 1d 

DEC 06

How Competency Based Grading Has NOT Changed Our School’s Transcript

My school district implemented a K-12 competency-based grading and reporting system four years ago. The implementation included the adoption of a set of common competency-based grading practices that all teachers use in their classrooms and competency-based report cards that measure student progress towards mastery of course-based competencies. As the building principal, one of the most common q

by Brian Stack / 2d 

DEC 05

To Those That Have Heard Everything

cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by Steven Shorrock I was a little surprised to see a tweet from someone talking about how we shouldn’t be talking about “being connected” with people anymore because everyone should just be doing it.  I found it rather interesting as a great teacher would differentiate learning for students and understand that people are are different points in their j

by George Couros / 3d 

DEC 04

Bringing the Boom: What Hollywood Teaches us about Staying Inspired in the Classroom

If you’ve ever watched a movie in the genre of the Inspirational Teacher, you’ll recognize the formula: there’s a teacher who’s up against an evil administration; or unfeeling, conservative parents; or callous budget cuts (usually in the arts,) with a group of hard-to-please but not altogether unreachable students on whose behalf the teacher fights to create opportunities to thrive, be inspired, a

by Kassi Cowles / 3d 

Motivation by Wonder and Purpose

A good friend and fellow principal, Lydia Wilson, from Bixby Central Elementary, wrote me recently about personal motivation. “Laughing Zoe”, by airenmin. Creative Commons Photo I liked what she said so much, I asked her if I could share it with others. Her response is a good reminder of the deep satisfaction that comes when we have the right motives for school leadership. She writes: Ultimately,

6 by William Parker / 4d 

DEC 02

Learning From Eric Sheninger

It has been almost one week since I spoke at #Edscape in New Jersey, and it was a tremendous honour to have that opportunity.  Not only because I was able to connect with amazing educators in the area, but because I was asked by my friend Eric Sheninger.  Eric speaks around the world, inspiring people all over, has written books, and is one of the most known educators in social media.  For him to

by George Couros / 6d

12-8-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

It's True; There is no Shame in Being a Public Education Advocate

Whether it's ed reform or just plain old reform, there is praise to be given to anyone who speaks up for public education.  I have respect for even those with whom I disagree because public education matters.(I do have less respect for those in ed reform who do not want to have a dialog unless you agree to agree with them.  That's happened to me on charter schools.  I also have less respect for th

by Melissa Westbrook / 20min 

 

12-7-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum:Seattle Schools Community Forum mark as readEducation News RoundupI know that many of you do not read these Ed News Roundups.  I get it; there's a lot to do and read in a day.But understand this is to let you know what the REST of the country is experiencing so that (1) we don't have these things happening to our state and our district and (2) we can learn what work

by mike simpson / 36min 

NYC Public School Parents: Carol Burris and Ethan Young on the Common Core and testing

NYC Public School Parents: Carol Burris and Ethan Young on the Common Core and testing:

Carol Burris and Ethan Young on the Common Core and testing

Last night, principal Carol Burris of South Shore High School on Long Island and Tennessee student Ethan Young were on the Huckabee Show on Fox News.  Carol was named principal of the year in New York State and is theauthor of a petition against the state's teacher evaluation system in New York that more than one third of the principals in the state have signed onto.

Ethan's brilliant speech blasting the Common Core before the Knox Co. school board has gone viral on YouTube, BuzzFeed and elsewhere. Their appear appearance on the show is in two segments below; Carol and Ethan come on at about seven  minutes in the first segment.

Apparently Huckabee has been getting heat from his audience for his support of Common Core and testing,so the first and last part of the show features his attempt to clarify his views -- not altogether successfully.

It is fascinating how the conservative news shows have picked up on the grassroots rebellion against the Common Core, testing and student data sharing before the liberal cable channels like MSNBC; but still seem somewhat ambivalent -- probably because the Common Core high-stakes tests are so useful in allowing the bashing of public schools and teachers.

NYC Educator: Am I Growing Senile, or Is Tom Friedman Inadvertantly Pro-Teacher?

NYC Educator: Am I Growing Senile, or Is Tom Friedman Inadvertantly Pro-Teacher?:

Am I Growing Senile, or Is Tom Friedman Inadvertantly Pro-Teacher?

I'm not a big fan of NY Times columnist Tom Friedman. In fact, I'm not a big fan of any NY Times columnist, particularly when they write about education. Recently, even Paul Krugman, my favorite by far, has been whoring himself out writing pro-Common Core nonsense.

Friedman is not without flaw. For example, he writes about the Shanghai secret, presented by a publicity-thirsty government, and almost seems to forget that the other 98% of China is not on display. He's got no problem aping the talking points of Arne Duncan, and like many of his colleagues, can't be bothered with cursory research that would prove him wrong.

But in this piece, looking at the much-ballyhooed PISA scores (for which China submitted only the city of Shanghai), he comes to conclusions I'd never expect from a corporate stooge like Duncan:

So now let’s look at the latest PISA. It found that the most successful students are those who feel real “ownership” of their education. In all the best performing school systems, said Schleicher, “students feel they personally can make a difference in their own outcomes and that education will make a difference for their future.”

It's pretty clear to me that students who see the importance of their studies will perform better. I'm not certain 

Why ALEC Lied About Failures at Public Schools » Resist the Privatization of America

Why ALEC Lied About Failures at Public Schools » Resist the Privatization of America:

Why ALEC Lied About Failures at Public Schools

 Sunday, 04 August 2013

ALEC vs. Kids: ALEC’s Assault on Public Education. That’s the alarmingly accurate title of a new report that focuses on how the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) education task force has used a state-by-state report card to fabricate failure in state public schools in order to create sales opportunities for their corporate membership. [editor's note:  the ALEC v Kids report is at the end of this post.  We previously posted on the fallout from this report in the Florida media, which you can see here]

That concept is, of course, not new: the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was famously known as No Corporation Left Behind, when instead of delivering equal access to public education to millions of American children, it provided billions of dollars in profits to corporate clients through dubious processes of testing and assessment and supplemental educational services.

The wedding of big business and education benefited many, including Sandy Kress, chief architect of NCLB; Harold McGraw III, textbook publisher; Bill Bennett, former Reagan education secretary; and Neil Bush, the then-president’s youngest brother.

Apparently, ALEC likes that business model.

ALEC – All About Favoring Corporations

ALEC was formed in 1973 by a group of conservative activists who came together to advance a national right wing agenda in state legislatures across the country. They do this by coordinating and connecting corporate special interests, insurance companies, lobbyists, right wing think tanks, the super rich and conservative state legislators.

So it is no surprise that the hallmark of ALEC model legislation is to make conditions as favorable to corporations as possible. The group is behind just about every bad Republican initiative, including union-busting, Voter ID and Stand Your Ground gun laws that helped George Zimmerman go free after murdering an unarmed Trayvon Martin.

Recently the conservative lobbying group has found its way into the previously untapped market of public education by producing an education “report card.” And the 2013 result is not a pretty sight.

Report Full Of “Shoddy” Research

Professor Christopher Lubienski and doctoral candidate T. Jameson Brewer, both of the University of Illinois, reviewed the [ALEC v Kids.pdf] document:

12-8-13 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet:

D.C. Mayor Gray needs a history lesson on apartheid

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray, while speaking about the legacy of the great Nelson Mandela, drew parallels between the inhuman system of apartheid that lasted for decades in South Africa and the citizenship restrictions that D.C. residents are forced to live under in the nation’s capital. Here’s what he said on Friday: I think there […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 54min 

How to get effective teachers in the most needy schools

We just lived through PISA week, complete with newly released scores from the 2012 Program of International Student Assessment and the avalanche of media coverage about the results.  Here’s a post on education beyond PISA by Jeff Bryant, an Associate Fellow at the Campaign for America’s Future and the owner of a marketing and communications […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 9min 

Education innovation: A case study in what not to do

The $1 billion initiative by the Los Angeles public schools district to give an iPad to all 650,000 students and teachers for home use has been nothing short of a mess, plagued by poor planning and bad execution. You can read about it here. Here’s a new look at what went wrong from  Larry Cuban, a […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 7min 

All Week @ The Answer Sheet 12-7-13

The Answer Sheet: mark as readUC system president Napolitano ‘deeply skeptical’ about Education’s college rating systemJanet Napolitano, who was President Obama’s Homeland Security secretary before being named president of the University of California system this past summer, said Friday that she was “deeply skeptical” of a plan by the administration to rate colleges according to specific criteria

by mike simpson / 30min 

UPDATE: The Week’s Florida Test Data Spin From Jeb Bush and Michelle Rhee + Common Core’s Chickens Are Coming Home to Roost in Florida | Scathing Purple Musings

Common Core’s Chickens Are Coming Home to Roost in Florida | Scathing Purple Musings:

The Week’s Florida Test Data Spin From Jeb Bush and Michelle Rhee

From Sunshine State News: Bad news for Florida’s education system: Students in the Sunshine State who took international tests in math, reading and science last year did worse than other teens in the country and performed far worse than teenagers in the world’s top-performing education systems in Asia, according to Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores released Tuesday mornin

by Bob Sikes / 16min 

Common Core’s Chickens Are Coming Home to Roost in Florida

Posted on December 8, 2013by Bob Sikes

There’s a nifty little site I can  calculate the number of days it has been since my last post – 116 to be exact. More on my sabbatical later. But it seems ironic now that my last post on August 15th was  It’s Begun: Florida County’s Republican Assembly Officially Demands Explanations on Common Core.

While some Washington republicans like Sen. Marco Rubio and the Republican National Committee have taken stands against Common Core,  the state republican apparatus is far more invested in them – much more, in fact, than most other red states. The purse strings controlled by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Council of 100 and Jeb Bush demand rigid compliance

My, oh, my, we’ve come quite a ways haven’t we? And pushback is increasing. State school board members and superintendents have joined the effort. Writes Anastasia Dawson in the Tampa Tribune:

TAMPA — School board members and superintendents from across Florida are hoping to pump the brakes on implementing tougher math and language arts standards into classrooms next school year.

Leaders from the Florida Association of District School Superintendents 

Give the Gift of Excellence | EduShyster

Give the Gift of Excellence | EduShyster:

Give the Gift of Excellence

 300 million ways to support Teach for America this holiday season

Happy holidays, reader! Tis the time of year when our thoughts turn to the neediest among us, those that require just a little extra giving this season. I give you: the Philadelphia Public Schools Teach for America. You see, it takes a lot of those special Christmas envelopes, each containing a crisp $10 bill, to add up to TFA’s now $306 million annualbudget (roughly 30,600,000 envelopes by my calculations). Fortunately TFA has plenty of corporate elves working overtime to ensure that its stocking is filled with excellence this year. Let’s meet these little helpers, shall we?

Honk if U Like Excellence
First up: Subaru’s Share the Love Event. Here’s how it works—buy or lease a new Subaru and the company will make a $250 donation to Meals on Wheels, Make-a-Wish, the National Parks Foundation, the ASPCA or Teach for America. Hungry elders, sick kids, litter strewn parks—the appeal of the other charities is obvious, but exactly will our sending $250 worth of Subaru bucks accomplish? According to the Share the Love website, “More than 16 million American children face 

The Auditor: Christie, education leader go from friendly to foes again | NJ.com

The Auditor: Christie, education leader go from friendly to foes again | NJ.com:

The Auditor: Christie, education leader go from friendly to foes again

Just 13 months ago, Gov. Chris Christie and Randi Weingarten, national president of the American Federation of Teachers, were all smiles, appearing together on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe."

The one-time foes praised each other for the bipartisan compromise that led to a landmark Newark teachers’ contract — the first in the state and one of the first in the nation to base teacher pay on classroom performance, including student progress.

"Every time we had a problem at the table, it was about what is going to work for the kids of Newark," Weingarten said of the merit pay deal. The governor even invoked his "boulevard of compromise" line.

But those good vibes are gone.

On Monday, Weingarten will travel to Newark to lead a march and rally in protest of what a coalition of advocacy groups called "Christie’s failed leadership on education in Newark."

"I think it’s fair to say there are areas of agreement and disagreement," AFT spokesman Marcus Mrowka told The Auditor, pointing to the fair funding formula, local control and school closings. "Those three things the governor does have some control over."

The day after Christie cruised to re-election, Weingarten chastised him for choosing to "publicly demean and vilify" a teacher with whom he had an argument on the campaign trail in Somers Point.

At one time, Christie’s relationship with the AFT, which represents about 4,000 Newark teachers, looked like a welcome departure from his contentious battles with the New Jersey Education Association.

Drewniak to McKeon: Don’t invade my space

State Assemblyman John McKeon recently parked in the wrong space at the 

12-8-13 Wait What?

Wait What?:

Sunday night and Steve Perry loses his cool…

Still angry over the fact that the Hartford Board of Education would not approve a plan to shift the management of Capital Prep and SAND elementary to a private company Perry created, the embattled Principal of Capital Prep. has lost his cool and his tweeting up a storm. In the last few minutes Perry has […]The post Sunday night and Steve Perry loses his cool… (Again) appeared first on Wait What?.

by jonpelto / 26min

Democratic response to Malloy’s fundraising strategy is absurd and insulting…

Over the past month, Governor Malloy’s strategy for raising money for his potential re-election bid has become increasingly clear.  Not only does he intended to take the millions in public financing but he is seeking to augment that amount with millions more in donation from those who do business with the state, have received funds […]The post Democratic response to Malloy’s fundraising strategy i

by jonpelto / 26min  

12-7-13 Wait What? All Week

Wait What?:    mark as readMalloy Gets Standing Ovation From State Union Leaders: Rank + file wonder if someone spiked the punchLate today the Hartford Courant posted a blog item entitled, “Malloy Gets Standing Ovation From State Union Leaders.” The Courant wrote, “Gov. Dannel Malloy rarely receives any plaudits from Republicans or skeptics of his policies on the state budget and other issues…But

by mike simpson / 35min

12-8-13 Fred Klonsky | Running for our pensions. | VOTE 4 Fred Klonsky

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.:

Sunday reads.

  In a private office in the Thompson Center with no press allowed, Squeezy signs the #pension theft. Why are they smiling? Another battle by parents with CPS to keep a public school open. Now that he’s dead, and can cause no more trouble, Nelson Mandela is being mourned across the ideological spectrum as a saint. Imagine. It was 33 years ago. When did “reform” become a bad word. We must reclaim

by Fred Klonsky / 23min

  

12-7-13 Fred Klonsky | Running for our pensions. | VOTE 4 Fred Klonsky.

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Fred Klonsky | Running for our pensions. | VOTE 4 Fred Klonsky. mark as readUpdate on North Carolina Moral Monday. Twelve more convictions.  CONVICTED FOR THEIR CONVICTIONS! In Raleigh, NC, the next group of “Moral Monday” are now convicted for civil disobedience: Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, Rev. Curt

by mike simpson / 43min