Will the Tech Industry’s Obsession for Disruption End my Blogging | Crazy Normal - the Classroom Exposé

Will the Tech Industry’s Obsession for Disruption End my Blogging | Crazy Normal - the Classroom Exposé

Will the Tech Industry’s Obsession for Disruption End my Blogging

Last Saturday, July 18, 2020, my blogging was disrupted by WordPress, and my temper, calm for months, exploded.  Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I had lunch with friends every week and joined others in group meetups. Thanks to the virus, I have lived alone since March 13. No one has visited me, and I have visited no one. Zoom, e-mails, phone calls, and WebEx help but cannot replace face-to-face visits.

Back to July 18 when I logged onto my iLookChina.net blog to schedule three new posts for August, my first thought when I saw the new editing page for WordPress was, “What the FUCK!”

I complained to WordPress and the little help they offered did nothing to end the stress from the disruption they caused.

I learned that WordPress was changing the Classic Editor I had been using for a decade to a Block Editor (whatever that is).  From what I saw, I did not like the Block Editor and that feeling has not changed.

I was comfortable using the Classic Editor. I have better things to do than being forced to learn something new that stresses me out.

On Sunday, July 19, I wrote an angry letter expressing my frustration to Matthew Charles Mullenweg, the Founder, and CEO of WordPress.  When I write an angry letter, I never mail the rough draft. I wait a few days and then revise to filter out the worst of my anger. But that rough draft will never be revised and mailed to Mr. Mullenweg. Instead, that letter has been added to this post.

Matthew Charles Mullenweg, Founder, and CEO of WordPress

WordPress Corporate Office Headquarters Automatic, Inc.
60 29th Street #343
San Francisco, California 94110-4929

Dear Mr. Mullenweg:

This morning I attempted to start scheduling the August 2020 posts for my https://ilookchina.com/ blog [806,254 hits/visits], and ran into an “alleged” improvement to the page where bloggers like me create their posts and  CONTINUE READING: Will the Tech Industry’s Obsession for Disruption End my Blogging | Crazy Normal - the Classroom Exposé

Review of Governor's updated COVID-19 guidance for schools Webinar (CA Dept of Education)

Review of Updated School Guidance Webinar July 20 - Health Services & School Nursing (CA Dept of Education)

Review of Governor's updated COVID-19 guidance for schools Webinar

Recorded webinar on the Review of Updated School Guidance from the California Department of Education on July 20, 2020. During this webinar, officials from CDE and the California Department of Public Health will provide local educational agencies (LEAs), county offices of education (COEs), and all educational stakeholders a detailed overview of the Governor's updated COVID-19 guidance for schools and answer questions as districts and educators navigate implementation.

This video is 1 hour and 20 minutes in length.

Additional Information

• State Superintendent Thurmond Issues Statement on Governor's School Guidance
• Coronavirus Response and School Reopening Guidance

Providence Journal Blasts Governor Raimondo for Acting Like Trump | Diane Ravitch's blog

Providence Journal Blasts Governor Raimondo for Acting Like Trump | Diane Ravitch's blog

Providence Journal Blasts Governor Raimondo for Acting Like Trump

The Providence Journal published a scathing editorial about Governor Gina Raimondo’s dereliction of duty in demanding the full opening of schools next month while failing to provide sensible plans to do so.

It is titled “Rhode Island’s Education System Goes from Mediocre to Just Plain Chaotic.”

Raimondo is a former venture capitalist who redesigned the state’s pension system by cutting them. She is also a “reformer” who welcomes charter schools and is a favorite of DFER. And she is chair of the Democratic Governors Association.

The editorial begins:

On June 10, Governor Gina Raimondo asserted that all students would be back in the classroom on August 31.
This was after her confusing narrative that Rhode Island was “#1 in online learning,” a claim that sends chills through frustrated parents, educators, and students who knew another reality this spring.

Raimondo nearly every day proclaims Rhode Island is #1 CONTINUE READING: Providence Journal Blasts Governor Raimondo for Acting Like Trump | Diane Ravitch's blog

2020 Medley #15 | Live Long and Prosper

2020 Medley #15 | Live Long and Prosper

HOW TO MOTIVATE A READER? MAKE THEM FEEL GOOD

The First Question to Ask of a Vulnerable Reader

In this recent blog post, Russ Walsh provides us with seven things teachers can do to foster a desire to learn to read in their students. Unfortunately, if students come to school without the desire to learn to read, it just makes it that much harder for teachers to convert them into avid readers. The suggestions in Walsh’s post will help, of course, and with many students (and with perseverance) it will succeed. However, it would be much easier for students if their development of a desire to learn to read began at home.

The easiest motivational tool, and number two on Walsh’s list, is read aloud.

Reading aloud makes the reading process a pleasurable experience before they even get to school, because, as Jim Trelease wrote, “Human beings will voluntarily do over and over that which brings them pleasure…When we read to a child, we’re sending pleasure messages to the child’s brain.” In other words, it feels good.

This “feel-good” quality is the reason that reading aloud is the most important activity for building the knowledge required for success in reading, especially CONTINUE READING: 2020 Medley #15 | Live Long and Prosper

A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

A VERY BUSY DAY

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

The latest news and resources in education since 2007

You Won’t Want To Miss This NY Times Podcast On School Segregation: “Nice White Parents”

23by Larry Ferlazzo / 11h

mohamed_hassan / Pixabay The New York Times just announced that they are unveiling a new podcast next week called “Nice White Parents.” : “Nice White Parents” is a new podcast from Serial Productions, brought to you by The New York Times, about the 60-year relationship between white parents and the public school down the block. We know that American public schools do not guarantee each child an e

Friday’s Three Must-Read Articles On School Reopening Plans

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

christels / Pixabay Here are new additions to THE BEST POSTS PREDICTING WHAT SCHOOLS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE FALL : Reopening Schools Is Way Harder Than It Should Be is from The NY Times. Schools may soon apply for waivers to reopen — but only with union support is from The L.A. Times. Remote Learning? No Thanks. is from The NY Times.

Trump Gets CDC To Modify School Reopening Guidance – This Certainly Will Strengthen Everyone’s Confidence In It

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

geralt / Pixabay President Trump was successful today in getting the CDC to modify it’s school reopening guidelines. Surprisingly, though it does appear that the changes weren’t as much as many of us feared. Nevertheless, with public confidence in the CDC getting lower by the day , agreeing to any changes that appear to further Trump’s political agenda are likely to result in those perceptions ge

The Distance Learning Chapter Of Our New Book Will Be Available For Free On Saturday

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

DavidRockDesign / Pixabay As I wrote last week , the publisher of the second edition of The ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide , has agreed to release our distance learning chapter early and free-of-charge – and no registration will be required! It’s ready, and will be available first at the VirtuEL website on Saturday morning, where you’ll be able to check out lots of workshops (and a keynote by m

Federal Eviction Expires Today; California’s Expires In September – How Will Schools Cope With Big Increase Of Homeless Students?

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

The federal moratorium on eviction expires today (see A federal eviction moratorium ends this week, putting 12 million tenants at risk ). California’s state moratorium ends in September (see Coronavirus CA: Gov. Newsom extends state eviction moratorium through September ). The number of homeless students in the United States last year was estimated to be 1.5 million . Even if “only” five-to-ten p

Here Are Detailed – & Tentative – Distance Learning Plans For All My Fall Classes

by Larry Ferlazzo / 16h

Wokandapix / Pixabay This week, in an attempt to alleviate some of my many worries about the fall , I wrote up very tentative plans for each of my upcoming fall classes. I want to emphasize the word “tentative.” In fact, I’ve already made changes to them since they were originally published. I still have to write one more post to complete this series but, based on the feedback I’ve received so fa

Next: Here’s A Distance-Learning Plan For My Theory Of Knowledge Classes

by Larry Ferlazzo / 16h

geralt / Pixabay Two days ago, I posted Okay, Now, Here’s My Tentative Remote Teaching Plan For U.S. History . Yesterday, I shared Updated Distance Learning Plan For My Newcomer/Intermediate ELL Class . Now, it’s time for my last scheduled class: three periods of the International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge course. Yesterday was the last day of a four-week class preparing educators for all

Not-Surprising Statistic Of The Day: A Lot Of Our Students Don’t Have Devices Or High-Speed Internet

by Larry Ferlazzo / 22h

California is short 1 million laptops and hot spots for kids as it prepares online school is from today’s Sacramento Bee, and is not good news. 16.9 million children remain logged out because they don’t have internet at home is a new report released by FutureReady, and is also not good news. It’s going to be a hell of a fall…

Slideshow: Sketchnotes From Books About Teaching ELLs

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

Katie Toppel is the founder and coordinator of a fabulous online book study group for teachers of English Language Learners. She makes “sketchnotes” about the different books, and she agreed to let me share a sampling. Enjoy!

Google Unveils “It’s A Wonderful World” For Traveling – Virtually

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

Today, Google unveiled “It’s A Wonderful World, ” a Google Arts and Culture selection of the most iconic places to visit around the world. You can read more about it here . In addition, they provide video instructions about how to create a video travelogue showing your own virtual travels throughout the 

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007