Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog 1-27-14

Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog:

Anti-Protest Laws Scrapped

On Monday, Ukraine's president agreed to scrap anti-protest laws that set off riots between protesters and police. The anti-regime demonstrators that occupied the Justice Ministry left but continue to blockade the building resulting in multiple clashes over the past weekend with three protesters dead. Read more here.

by austinwu1 . / 49min 

Call of Duty

Mohamed Morsi named General Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi defense minister and pledged to keep the military seperate from politics. A year later General Sisi dethroned Morsi to answer the people's call for their revolution. Field Marshal Sisi took his first step to becoming Egypt's next president insisting he was yielding to "The free choice of the masses" and "The call of duty".Read mo

by austinwu1 . / 1h 

Finding Noah's Ark

A team of evangelical Christian explorers believe they've found the remains of Noah's Ark cover in deep beneath snow and volcanic debris on Turkey's Mount Ararat (map). The team claim to have found in 2007 and 2008 seven large wooden compartments buried at 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) above sea level, near the peak of Mount Ararat. They return to the site on 2009 with a film crew. Some archaeologist

by Lee Thao / 1h 

Supreme Court Goes Against Workers

           Why wear protective gear iff you are not getting payed to? The Supreme Court hat recently ruled that steelworkers do not have to be payed for the time it tales to put on and take off protective gear on the job.      Today the court ruled in favor of the U.S. Steel Corps over workers claims that they should be payed under federal labor laws for the time it takes to put on the gear.      

by Loni Pooi / 2h 

Sexual Harassment At San Jose State University

Have you applied to San Jose State University for the Fall semester of 2014? Are you a female? Read this article on the most updated news about what's been happening on campus at San Jose State University, ladies and gents. Lately, there's been two reports about being sexually harassed at San Jose State University. Two females have claimed that a white male, between the age of 20 and 30 with a mus

by Michelle Thao / 2min hide  //  save

Noth Korea's Kim Jong Un Strikes A Plague

Kim Jong Un has decided to take his dictatorship to the next level. He's become a psychopath. Killing his relatives, aunts, uncles, cousins, and children, is all of what he's done lately; they were those who were his actual family members. People say that his brutality has exceeded his father and grandfather's. Kim Jong Un has had troops drag his family members out and shot repeatedly. What do you

by Michelle Thao / 17min 

Another Shooting...Yet Again

There was a mall shooting this past weekend in Maryland.Surprised? I surely do hope because I hope this doesn't become a norm in our society.Here is a link to a video on NBC's website: Maryland mall shooting witness.Apparently a 19-year old had a legal possession of a a gun and walked into a Maryland mall. He shot down two people working at a Zumiez and injured others before turning the gun to him

by Esther Kuang / 1h

1 in 5 Women Assaulted at College

One in five women are sexually assaulted at college and ONLY 12% report any sort of incident.This disturbing new report was found here , a video on NBC's website.As a young woman going to college, I am afraid for all women everywhere, even myself, when I hear this new statistic. Apparently, it has now turned to such an issue that Obama had to address this problem himself. He promises that there wi

by Esther Kuang / 3min 

Ukrainian Protesters

Thousands of protesters in Kiev mourned over the death of one of their former friends and protesters, Mikhail Zhiznevsky. They crowded the streets shouting "Hero" as his open coffin was carried through the streets of the capital. Protesters are demanding a free trade agreement with the European Union and they will not back down until their wish is granted.

by Jane Wagner / 0min 

Public shootings are now trending

Another public shooting has occurred. This is not the first time in the past year where a shooting has been in the news. This time it was at a mall and the shooter had no motives other than dissatisfaction with life. This raises the question of why are people shooting up random locations for no particular reason. The amount of press that these shootings get may be the reason for the increase of th

by Thomas Bates / 43min

Problems with Sochi Winter Olympics

As the UK reports that a terrorist attack in the winter olympics is  " very likely", the world is unsurprized as it is just another problem addded to an already growing list. With so many  problems arising one may be beging to ask him/her self  why Sochi was choosen in the  first place. With the torch Relay being composed of laps around the stadium, its seems to be that this olympics wil

by Carlos Cruz / 2min 

Top 6 Scams

The top 6 scams create a lot of inconvenience and it all scams people's money. Some of the scams do not seem as harsh but it is so unnoticed and the person who scams makes it sound like it is a fair trade. Most of these scams are done over the phone.Click here to check out the top 6 scams and how they work.

by Vincent Chan / 43min 

McDonald's is Going Down.

The world famous restaurant franchise is going down due to many reasons that all relate to the money earned and spent. Also, when it comes to food, McDonald's is become the least of people's choice to eat at. Other franchises such as Burger King and Wendy's are offering better and cheaper products in their menu which makes McDonald's lose its costomers. McDonald's had also gone through a new manag

by Vincent Chan / 1h 

Happy Cows Come from California... When Its Not In a Drought

Around this time you can see cows freely roaming green pastures from the freeway, however, lack of rain has caused these pastures to die out. Ranchers are selling their cattle and an increasingly fast rate in California. With California being in it's third dry year, the cattle industry has suffered. All of our happy California cows are being sent to Texas where they may be not so happy. To read mo

by Thomas Bates / 5h hide  //  save

Grammys promote homosexual equality and acceptance

The music industry is stepping up and promoting same sex marriage and equality. The Gammys hosted a performance by Macklemore of his popular song "Same Love", a song addressing the need for homosexual acceptance. During the performance 34 couple of different races, ethnicities, and sexual preferences were married by Queen Latifah. This is huge because of the huge influence music has on p

by Thomas Bates / 5h 

YESTERDAY

Children Suffer in Syria :(

We are truly fortunate to live in America today. As violent protests remain strong in Syria, there seems to be no end of chaos and dying people all around. I recently saw this video on NBC's website. Syria's Children Continue to Suffer in the CrossfireIt is disheartening to watch because at least one third of the children in Syria are under 15. As these innocent young human beings are living and g

by Esther Kuang / 7h 

Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog 1-26-14

Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog: The Sound of MusicIn this generation, everyone has very easy access to their favorite songs but maybe the quality of the sound is not very satisfying. Today the vinyl long-playing records is being re-introduced since the 1930's and apparently it has the best sound quality. Its big and old-fashioned and not portable; it is worth a fortune. Also, if you decide to buy the

by mike simpson / 4h 

1-27-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL:

Updates On California Case Attacking Teachers

The Vergara vs. California court case began today. Here are new additions to The Best Resources On California Court Case Attacking Teacher’s Rights: California teacher tenure, dismissal challenged in lawsuit is from The San Jose Mercury News. RT @Joy_Resmovits: #Vergaratrial defendent, repping Cali: VAM is "purely theory," plaintiffs cannot prove teachers are "grossly ineffective&q

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

My Latest NY Times Post For ELLs: Learn The Progressive Tense & Create A Future Family Tree

My latest New York Times post for English Language Learners helps students learn the progressive tense and family vocabulary. It also includes a teaching idea about creating “future” family trees. A student interactive is included. You can see all my NY Times posts here.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

1-26-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELLI’ve started a somewhat regular feature where I share a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention: Teaching English at The British Council has greatly expanded the number of bloggers who are writing monthly posts on dif

by mike simpson / 8h 

1-27-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

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

John Dillon, retired teacher, pension activist and writer.

Ten minute drawing. Common Core and cheesecake.

  H/T to my bro.

3 by Fred Klonsky / 1h 

Ten minute drawing. Special interest groups.

by Fred Klonsky / 12min 

Grammys and teachers.

  Yoko Ono greets my granddaughter at anti-war protest in NY, 2004. Photo: Grandpa Fred. I don’t want to make to much in the way broad social generalizations from watching the Grammy Awards last night. I am 65 and it clearly wasn’t for me, as my kids used to say when they were teenagers because I was shaking my head at the decline in pop music. That was before you could text that as SMH. I have g

1 by Fred Klonsky / 21min 

John Dillon. Now we know that SB1 is not enough to cover the crime.

  John Dillon, retired teacher and pension activist and writer. John Dillon’s Pension Vocabulary: Prescience: Looking for answers in Illinois. Had the real purpose of SB1 been to show how disconnected forced diminishment of workers’ compensation was to Illinois’s fiscal problems, it couldn’t have been more successful. A week-old report by the Fiscal Futures Project at the University of Illinois

by Fred Klonsky / 1h hide  //  save

Special Education. The Paul Vallas baggage and current ISBE practices.

From Jonathan Pelto’s What Wait? Paul Vallas hasn’t even left Bridgeport…In fact; the taxpayers of Connecticut and Bridgeport are picking up his salary and benefits for another month… But his legacy is already becoming clear. Late last week, the Connecticut State Department of Education released a report blasting the Paul Vallas’ leadership and the Bridgeport School System because, among other vi

1 by Fred Klonsky / 1h 

1-26-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Sunday reads.Corporate school reformers are wringing their hands over the Common Core and testing push-back. NY teachers have no confidence in Commissioner John King. The school nobody wanted except the community. “Clearly, all we need is a candidate because I have not heard anyone defend Rahm or his

by mike simpson / 6h 

1-27-14 Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"

Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement":

“Parents’ campaign leads to reforms at Cudahy elementary school”

Parents’ campaign leads to reforms at Cudahy elementary school is an article in the Los Angeles Time describing a successful effort by parents and teachers to replace an ineffective principal. Here’s an excerpt: United Teachers Los Angeles also worked with parents, organizing meetings to help plan strategies. Mario Andrade, the union’s representative at Teresa Hughes, said 25 of the school’s 40 te

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 6h hide  //  save

Nice Wash. Post Article on Teachers Visiting Families, But Terrible Headline

Students won’t learn? Go visit their parents. is the terrible headline of a decent article in The Washington Post about teachers visiting families. As the article points out, the purpose of the visits is to build positive relationships with families, not to punish students. I’m still adding the article to The Best Resources For Learning About Teacher Home Visits.

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 6h 

“The Defiant Parents: Testing’s Discontents”

The Defiant Parents: Testing’s Discontents is an excellent piece in The New Yorker. Here’s an excerpt: Parents who complain about testing—particularly affluent, educated ones—are easily derided, as they were by Arne Duncan, President Obama’s Education Secretary, a few months ago, when he described critics of the Common Core as “white suburban moms who—all of a sudden—[find] their child isn’t as br

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 6h 

1-26-14 Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"

Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement": PTA’s National Standards for Family-School PartnershipsThe PTA has developed National Standards for Family-School Partnerships, which you can find here (along with additional resources). There was also a recent #ptChat on Twitter about the Standards, which I think is particularly useful. You can find the transcript to it he

by mike simpson / 4h

Daily Kos: Living with cancer - one year anniversary

Daily Kos: Living with cancer - one year anniversary:

Living with cancer - one year anniversary

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It was one year ago today that I posted Quakers ask people to hold them in the lightthrough which I informed people that my beloved wife, Leaves on the Current, had just been diagnosed with cancer.

At the time we were preparing to deal with the worst.  The preliminary diagnosis was some kind of metastatic organ cancer, she was being sent to the Emergency room for a CT scan before she would be admitted to the hospital, and later that evening we were told to prepare for emergency surgery.

In many ways the night of January 27-28 2013 was the longest we have spent together, not knowing how much longer we might have together.  

By the next morning it seemed clear that it was NOT a metastatic organ cancer, and within a few days we knew it was a treatable blood cancer.

In the twelve months since we have traveled a long road, grown together in ways we had not expected, become sobered both by the realization of how lucky we are in many ways and by the realization that despite how well my wife has responded to treatment, we still do not know how long we have together - after all, I am almost 11 years older, and had not done a good job in caring for myself until recently.

Along the way we had a crisis with one of our beloved rescued cats, Cielito, who died in my wife's arms as we were rushing him to the emergency vet clinic.  

Yet despite all this, or perhaps because of it, we go forward with a positive attitude.

Sometimes it is with some humor.  Although she does not recommend the method she used, Leaves has been able to lose a substantial amount of weight, which very much pleases her.  

Sometimes it is by overcoming a certain amount of anxiety -  we have come to accept that 

1-27-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

Was The Fix In On The ELA Regents Exam?

NYC Educator has a post up tonight about the outrage that was the ELA Regents exam.Here's a bit of what he said:Read the two passages and show a controlling idea about insights. That's what today's Regents exam asked my kids to do. The thing is, most of them have only been in the country a few years. And there are likely plenty of American-born kids who don't know what an insight is. Certainly ins

by reality-based edu... / 54min 

Brutal ELA Regents Exam Grading Chart From NYSED

Okay, they're looking for a high failure rate at SED on the ELA Regents exam, that's for sure.Students need to get 20 out of 25 multiple choice questions right in order to get only a 6 on their writing component.Given how hard the passages were, I suspect we are going to see lots of 6's on the writing components.That means we're going to get lots of failures.The chart is even harder than last Augu

by reality-based edu... / 2h 

Space Aliens, Yellow Dust And Stars On The ELA Regents...

Normally when I finish proctoring the ELA Regents and see some of my students outside the building after the test, they say that test wasn't so bad, here's what I wrote for this part, etc.Today when I saw students outside the building, they all said "What was up with that test?"I also heard:"What was up with those passages?""I wasn't sure about that quote..."And... &q

by reality-based edu... / 37min

Cuomo Lights $5 Million In Tax Money On Fire For The Super Bowl

The Daily News, Post and Times are always railing about how tax money shouldn't be wasted on municipal employees, that there are better things to spend the money on.They mean on stuff like this:New York taxpayers are underwriting several parties in the coming days, including picking up $500,000 of the bill for reporters to eat and drink at a Super Bowl media bash at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan on T

by reality-based edu... / 12min 

Cuomo Rakes In Big Bucks From Eva Moskowitz's Success Charters

Gee, I wonder what they want for all this money?Supporters of a charter-school network in Mayor de Blasio’s cross hairs are pouring big bucks into the campaign coffers of Gov. Cuomo, a friend of charter schools. Records show board members at the growing Success Academy, which runs 22 charters in the city, have given $375,367 to Cuomo’s re-election campaign — including $90,000 since de Blasio won t

3 by reality-based edu... / 1h hide  //  save

Someone Should Sue Cuomo Over The Unfunded Mandates In NY State

From North Jersey.com:The Saddle Brook Schools may join with several other local school districts in a lawsuit appealing unfunded state education mandates.Superintendent Dr. Richard Katz at the Jan. 15 school board meeting said that school districts including Denville, Montville, Readington and Wayne have been making appeals either to the New Jersey Council of Local Mandates, or directly to the Co

by reality-based edu... / 5h 

1-26-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School: Rick Hess: Ed Reformers Overreached, Reform Backlash ResultedRick Hess in the Daily News today: Those who follow New York City schools have been witnessing a time-honored ritual — pro-testing school reformers have mightily overreached, inviting pushback that’s now poised to dismantle much of their useful handiwork. Mayor de Blasio has said that he and his new chancellor, Car

by mike simpson / 8h 

Using Technology To Nail down What We Know and Don’t Know about Effects of High-Tech on People Today | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Using Technology To Nail down What We Know and Don’t Know about Effects of High-Tech on People Today | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Using Technology To Nail down What We Know and Don’t Know about Effects of High-Tech on People Today

Do all the new devices around the world that we now use to get information and communicate separate or bring us together?

That either-or question has been debated since the telegraph, telephone, radio, and television became common technologies. The question pinches again with the swift spread of smart phones, social media, and dependence on the Internet.

Sherry Turkle’s recent book title, Alone Together, says it all. High-tech devices offer the fantasy of connection and companionship without personal intimacy, she says. Thus, people feel even more lonely after they “friended” someone on Facebook or texted 25 times in 10 minutes someone they just met.

What is missing from Turkle’s argument is a baseline for comparison of now and then. Has there been a “golden age” where most people felt connected to family, friends, and community? We do not know from Turkle’s book because she does not compare explicitly the present moment to an earlier time. She does implicitly compare, of course, since that it is the basis of her argument.

COMPARING THEN AND NOW PEOPLE USE OF PUBLIC SPACE

Rutgers sociologist Keith Hampton recently tried to answer the question of 

Eight Problems with the Vergara Lawsuit | InterACT

Eight Problems with the Vergara Lawsuit | InterACT:

Eight Problems with the Vergara Lawsuit

JANUARY 27, 2014

tags: edreform, lawsuit, vergara

by David B. Cohen

Here’s a quick review of why I think Vergara et. al. v. California is a deeply flawed lawsuit and should be rejected at trial (beginning today).  I’ve written about the case before, based on a presentation by the plaintiffs at the Stanford Law School. That prior post had a bit more in the way of citations and links, so if you want to deeper, give it a read.

1. Plaintiffs misunderstand the challenges facing California public schools. Our state’s spending on education is dismal – nearly the worst in the nation. Our students have disturbingly little access to nurses, libraries, librarians, and counselors, and our student-to-staff ratios are also rather high for both teaching and administrative staff. The measures used to argue school failure are also more apt to show the effects of poverty and language acquisition – and we are a state with high percentages of children living in poverty, and learning English as a new language. Even a key witness for the plaintiffs, Erik Hanushek, is among a group of researchers who have demonstrated that school and teacher effects are relatively small (15-20%) when analyzing test performance. If there are problems in California public schools that rise to the level requiring a constitutional challenge, those problems are not caused by ed. code provisions relating to teacher hiring, layoffs, and employment status.

2. Plaintiffs rely inappropriately on standardized tests to identify problem schools and supposedly inferior teachers. Wealth is the number one predictor of relative performance on standardized tests. Here and around the world. Period. See the graph in this recent article for the latest example, taken from the PISA test. The use of test scores and val