3-5-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: Chicago: Testing Opt-Out Capital:

Chris Pavone's "The Accident" Gets NY Times Rave Review

Mr. Pavone writes: “First the web devoured book clubs, then magazines, and now its maw is agape, ravenous, ready to swallow the whole bloody publishing business.” Luckily, unputdownable books like Mr. Pavone’s help keep the business alive and well... Janet Maslin, NYTimes Chris, who is my long-time friend Vera Pavone's son, hits another home run with his 2nd novel. Since I am way behind on my read

by ed notes online / 1h hide  //  save

Tish James Calls for March 8 Meeting: Dear CEC, PTA presidents and Elected Officials Impacted by Co-Locations

Letitia James is making some noise, but it remains to be seen if that is all it is. The meeting announcement doesn't seem to call for de Blasio to revisit the recent decisions and announces an update on the law suit against co-locos. My guess this is not a good sign.With de Blasio waffling and shaky on the charter/co-loco issue - see Ravitch - The Big Lie about Mayor Bill de Blasio and Charters -

by ed notes online / 3h 

Microsoft and Pearson Join Forces to Create Common Core Curriculum: Are You $urprised?

A reader forwarded the following story. Microsoft and Pearson will join forces to build “the first curriculum…for a digital personalized learning environment that is 100 percent aligned to the new standards for college and career readiness.” Now we see the pattern on the rug. It begins like this: New York, NY (PRWEB) February 20, 2014 Today Pearson announced a collaboration with Microsoft Corp. th

10 by dianeravitch / 18min 

Chicago: Testing Opt-Out Capital

In some cases, principals have told teachers they will be arrested if they leaflet parents on the public sidewalks outside their schools, even though the teachers are distributing the materials on their own time.The explosion of the Chicago Opt Out movement comes despite orders from CPS administrators -- usually "Chief Officers" of the school system's 13 so-called "Networks" (w

by ed notes online / 21min hide  //  save

Dear Ms. Kopp - from a Newark Teacher

Dear Wendy Kopp,I am in a bit of a jam and I thought maybe you could help me out. State Superintendent Cami Anderson has announced plans to lay off one thousand Newark Public School teachers over the next three years. I do not yet know if I am on the list, but understandably I am feeling very nervous.It occurred to me that Teach for America could be the solution to my problems. I would like to app

by ed notes online / 21min 

YESTERDAY

More Protests Against de Blasio Co-Loco Decision

Press Advisory: JHS 52 families, HSEI families and CEC6 Members call for reversal of decision to co-locate M052 Families from JHS 52 and High School for Excellence and Innovation, Members of CEC6 and the District Six Pubic Education Advocacy Community call for reversal of DOE decision to proceed with co-location of M052 in Inwood, upper Manhattan.  Press conference tomorrow morning at 9AM outsi

by ed notes online / 9h 

Campaigning for Union Office: An Excerpt from How to Jump-Start Your Union: Lessons from the Chicago Teachers

This looks like one interesting book. I just started reading it. Here is a selection and somewhat of a blueprint for people to use. My advice for organizers: first start in your own schools with an organization sheet and some analysis of where people you work with stand. Then work within districts. Easier said than done but until we see this happening here, Unity will be in power.Campaigning for U

by ed notes online / 9h 

3-4-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: Brooklyn Rally Friday to Oppose de Blasio School Giveaway to Moskowitz/Success Charter"We want our schools back." Laticia James, at PEP, Oct. 2013.. RALLY, Friday, March 7, 2:30PM at Seth Low, 99 Ave. P.Will James be there? The counterattack begins. I know, how many of these anti-Eva rallies have we seen in school after school? Water off her back as she knows that when s

by mike simpson / 7h 

3-5-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education:

Fact-Checking Rick Scott’s Sketchy Education Claims

It didn’t take long for the media call Rick Scott on one of his education claims from his State of the State address yesterday. In his attempt to take credit for “four schools in the nation’s top ten” PolitiFact responds: We sent Scott’s claim to several education experts to ask their opinion on the Newsweek and U.S. News rankings. None of them embraced these rankings, and they offered several cri

by Bob Sikes / 3h hide  //  save

Just About Everything Jeb Bush Says About Common Core is “Untrue”

d Jeb Bush’s Common Core problem continues. Writing in conservative website Breitbart News, Dr. Susan Berry analyzes the credibility and political problems that Bush has with his unwavering support of Common Core Standards: The problem for Bush is that just about everything he says about the standards is untrue. Common Core is a federally promoted, not state-led, initiative introduced in the Obama

by Bob Sikes / 4h 

3-4-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: Florida Senate Republicans Ignore Superintendts, Jeb Bush Abandons College Readiness in First Passage of New School Grade BillIt comes as no surprise the republican-dominated Senate Education Committee didn’t listen to the recommendations of two school superintendents in

by mike simpson / 15h

3-5-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

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

Resources For Cesar Chavez Day

Cesar Chavez Day is recognized as a holiday by eight states in the U.S., and falls on March 31st — his birthday (or a Monday/Friday that is closest to a weekend). You might be interested in The Best Sites For Learning About Cesar Chavez.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 52min hide  //  save

March’s Infographics & Interactives Galore – Part One

There are just so many good infographics and interactives out there that I’ve begun a new semi-regular feature called “Infographics & Interactives Galore.” You can see others at A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Infographics and by searching “infographics” on this blog. I’ll still be publishing separate posts to individually highlight especially useful infographics and interactives, but you

by Larry Ferlazzo / 52min 

Getty Images Has Just Become The Number One Source For Images In Social Media — Choose From 40 MILLION!

Getty Images has just unveiled an embed feature for 40 million of their photos, making them available for non-commercial use. 40 MILLION! That’s a lot of images. However, that’s less than a third of the photos on their site, so after searching with a keyword, you have to look for photos that have the embed symbol (circled) on the bottom right, as in the screenshot below: I don’t see how you can

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h 

“Earth Hour” Is On March 29th — Here Are Lots Of Related Resources

Earth Hour, the annual time when people around the world switch-off lights for an hour to bring attention to environmental issues, takes place on March 29th this year. You might find The Best Sites To Learn About “Earth Hour” helpful….

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

The Hindu Festival Of Holi Starts On March 17th — Here Are Useful Resources

The Hindu Festival of Holi starts on March 7th this year. To quote from the UPI, “Holi, also called the Festival of Colors, is a popular Hindu spring festival observed in India, and many other countries around the world. Holi, is celebrated by people throwing colored powder and colored water at each other.” You might find The Best Sites To Learn About The Hindu Festival Of Holi useful….

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

Updated World Water Day Resources — It’s On March 22nd

The United Nations designated March 22nd as World Water Day. It’s designed to bring attention to the fact that over one billion people in the world are without access to adequate water, and focuses attention on the growing issue of “water privatization” — forcing many people to pay private companies exorbitant prices to obtain the necessary water to survive. It’s of particular interest this year

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

YESTERDAY

New Online Learning Games For Language-Learning (Plus, A Little Science)

I’ve previously posted how I use online video games for language learning, and have shared links to many of them. Here are two new ones: Here’s a link to the game, Words (click English), and here’s its Walkthrough. Escape from Mr. K’s Room 4 and here is its Walkthrough. This next game is a little different. Citizen Sort creates free online video games where players sort and identify items as par

by Larry Ferlazzo / 9h hide  //  save

“TED Talks” Unveils Redesigned Website With New Useful Tools

TED Talks has just unveiled a new design for their website, and it now includes some additional useful tools. You can see their list of the new tools here. They include enhanced videos, the ability to save a list of the talks you’ve watched or want to watch, and the addition to many of the videos of speaker-suggested additional resources. I’m adding this info to The Best Teacher Resources For “TE

by Larry Ferlazzo / 9h 

3-4-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Video: “WKRP: Venus Explains the Atom” Shows Great Teaching In ActionNeil deGrasse Tyson shared this great video on Google Plus. I’m adding it to The Best Places To Learn About (And View Video Clips Of) Teachers In The Movies:by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h hide  //  save“Building ‘Political Will’ To Retain Teachers In High-Need Sch

by mike simpson / 7h 

3-5-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

Communities of color have been decimated by corporate reform. Now anger spreads when it affects white folk like @RBNLake

Robin Lake of Seattle writes: As the director of an education think tank focused on national issues, it feels indulgent to write about my own kids’ experiences in the public school system. But there’s no better way to illustrate one of the reasons my organization pursues the work it does on behalf of students. Let […]

1 by Shaun Johnson / 1h 

The Conversation: Moving ‘quality’ teachers between schools will not help disadvantaged children

Moving ‘quality’ teachers between schools will not help disadvantaged childrenFiled under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical Tagged: disadvantaged children

5 by plthomasedd / 3h hide  //  save

YESTERDAY

You don’t know the meaning of #dontbackdown

I’m pretty angry.  Yesterday, I was on a panel discussing Teach For America with, among others, Josh Anderson- head of TFA Chicago.  Overall, I thought the panel went well.  Debate was passionate (mostly on my part) but civil.  Still, at the very end, when Josh gave the final remarks of the event, he said something […]

4 by Katie Osgood / 9h  

3-4-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: Some Details on the First NPE ConferenceThe first annual Network for Public Education (NPE) Conference was this past weekend, on Saturday, March 1, and Sunday, March 2, 2014. Below is a news brief on the conference: I participated in the NPE conference as a member of three panel discussions, the topics being investigative journalism, philanthropy (as such is undermining the democ

by mike simpson / 8h 

3-5-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University)

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University):

The Conversation: Moving ‘quality’ teachers between schools will not help disadvantaged children

Moving ‘quality’ teachers between schools will not help disadvantaged children

1 by plthomasedd / 3h 

 3-4-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): Ravitch, Lewis, and Kuhn at NPEDiane Ravitch, Why We Will Win Karen Lewis and John Kuhn1 by plthomasedd / 1h hide  //  saveCommon Core Costs Too High, Failure GuaranteedTeaching literacy has been my career and life for over thirty years now. Having grown up in the South

by mike simpson / 8h 

UPDATE: empathyeducates New Survey: Teachers Say Their Voices Aren’t Being Heard + Common Core Costs Too High, Failure Guaranteed

empathyeducates:

New Survey: Teachers Say Their Voices Aren’t Being Heard

By Emily Richmond | Originally Published at Education Writers Association. February 26, 2014 When it comes to having their voices heard, teachers overwhelmingly say they aren’t being listened to on matters of education policy at the state or national level. At the school level, however, 69 percent […]

by empathy / 2h 

Common Core Costs Too High, Failure Guaranteed

By Paul L. Thomas, Ed.D. | Originally Published at The Becoming Radical. March 4, 2014 Teaching literacy has been my career and life for over thirty years now. Having grown up in the South with my own peculiar grasp of so-called standard English, I feel fortunate to […]

by empathy / 7h  

empathyeducates Many L.A. Unified School Libraries, Lacking Staff, are Forced to Shut

empathyeducates: 123PreviousNextMany L.A. Unified School Libraries, Lacking Staff, are Forced to ShutHands raisedRaising their hands, Alexa Martinez, 7, back row, left; Jennifer Hernandez, 6; Helen Hernandez, 7; and Noe Ortiz, 6, are eager to answer a question from library aide Cindy Ramirez after reading the book “Abe Lincoln’s Hat” at San Pedro Elementary School in Los Angeles. (Liz O. Baylen /

by mike simpson / 8h