Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Invest in Teachers – The Art of Teaching « Cooperative Catalyst

Invest in Teachers – The Art of Teaching « Cooperative Catalyst:


Invest in Teachers – The Art of Teaching

POSTED BY  ⋅  ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT
A teacher is someone who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework
– Lily Tomlin
Let us redefine the word “Teacher”.
Teaching is not a job; it is an art. An art hidden behind a load of responsibilities. It lays the foundation of discovering mysteries, solving problems, and training our minds to question, explore, and investigate. To a world where knowledge is a treasure, teaching is a mirror that reflects future generations.
You can see that teaching is not an easy task. It is, in fact, a multi-task where a teacher has to combine creativity, intelligence, and passion when teaching productively, because after all, everything is a product of teaching. Teachers are the agents of the future fueling students with lifelong passion for learning.
But it is a matter of how we define the word “Teacher” in today’s society. Some think of a 50 year-old teaching materials than no one can digest, a 14 year-old teaching students her age, or a guy changing the world one video at a time. Others imagine the wisdom of Confucius, Socrates, and Anne Sullivan.
As I come to define the word “teacher”, I often look up how it’s perceived by societies, countries, and dictionaries. For centuries, we have 
Posted by at

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Media Matters nails WSJ and ALEC on "Parent Trigger"

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Media Matters nails WSJ and ALEC on "Parent Trigger":


Media Matters nails WSJ and ALEC on "Parent Trigger"

by Mike Klonsky
According to Media Matters:
The Wall Street Journal this morning failed to report ties between the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and controversial "parent-trigger" legislation that would allow parents to take over and convert public schools to charter schools. They also failed to report that the Journal's parent company, News Corp, is a member of ALEC. The Journal's treatment of the legislation also cited no criticism of the proposal, which has been described as an 
Posted by at

Schools Matter: Obscuring history and human agency through NCLB, RTTT and CCSS

Schools Matter: Obscuring history and human agency through NCLB, RTTT and CCSS:


Obscuring history and human agency through NCLB, RTTT and CCSS

by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene
"Prior research, then, strongly suggests that charter programs have not lived up to their initial promise of transcending the segregating effects of traditional district boundary lines. In fact, these studies indicate charters exacerbate already rampant school segregation, particularly for Black students." — Erica Frankenberg, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, Jia Wang

The Smith and Carlos Statue at San José State University
The Smith and Carlos Statue
at San José State University
I was reading Dave Zirin's latest piece, Fists of Freedom: An Olympic Story Not Taught in School, this morning and several things stood out and had me thinking in terms of how Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and its related high-stakes testing regimes not only distort curriculum, but how they are intended to distort students' consciousness of their reality.
It was probably Zirin's mention of the testing-industrial-complex conglomerates 
Posted by at

Romney goes after the huge and growing US Anglo-Saxon voting bloc. « Fred Klonsky

Romney goes after the huge and growing US Anglo-Saxon voting bloc. « Fred Klonsky:


Romney goes after the huge and growing US Anglo-Saxon voting bloc.

by Fred Klonsky
So you know I’m not exactly this huge Barack Obama fan.
But then there is this story out of England where Mittens has started his foreign tour, which will end at the feet of Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel.
One of his people is quoted:

“We are part of an Anglo-Saxon heritage, and (Romney) feels that the special relationship is special,” the adviser is quoted as saying. “The White House didn’t fully appreciate the shared history we have.”

Special relationship?
Aside from the not so hidden racism of this, how stupid are these people?
Do they think there is a large and growing Anglo-Saxon voting bloc in the US that they haven’t already tapped


Teachers jam Clark Street: “We’re not done yet.”

by Fred Klonsky

The pension cost shift.

by Fred Klonsky
For some strange reason known only to Tribune columnist Eric Zorn, he decided to try and explain how Chicago Public Schools are overfunded.
It’s an argument too stupid to even get started on. But at the end of his blog post, Zorn mentions the pension cost swap in passing.
This is a topic worth addressing.
The pension cost swap is Mike Madigan’s idea. The state owes the Teacher Retirement System maybe $44 billion dollars. Maybe more.
Why?
Because for over fifty years the state either hasn’t paid what they owed or used TRS funds to build bridges, 
Posted by at

2012 KIDS COUNT Data Book - Data Book 2012 - Data Book - KIDS COUNT Data Center

2012 KIDS COUNT Data Book - Data Book 2012 - Data Book - KIDS COUNT Data Center:


2012 KIDS COUNT Data Book

National and state-by-state data on key indicators of child well-being.

download or
order book
media
resources
state rankings & interactive wheel
create custom data reports

Follow KIDS COUNT

Download or Order the Data Book

The 2012 KIDS COUNT Data Book introduces a new KIDS COUNT index, which provides a detailed picture of how children are faring in the United States. In addition to ranking states on overall child well-being, the Data Book provides state rankings for four domains: Economic Well-Being, Education, Health, and Family and Community.
Order a
hard copy
of the report
Definitions and sources (PDF, 3 pages)

Media Resources

National Fact Sheet (Spanish) (PDF, 4 pages)

State Rankings

Family and Community Rank

Interactive Wheel

webinar image

Posted by at

Bronx Educator Grows Organically Engaged Citizens

Bronx Educator Grows Organically Engaged Citizens:


Bronx Educator Grows Organically Engaged Citizens

By Helen Weatherall / July 23, 2012 10:04 pm 
Stephen Ritz, Founder of The Green Bronx Machine
There’s a lot to the Stephen Ritz story. As told in rapid fire by the man himself the whole quickly disperses like an exploding star. He’s a kid from the South Bronx, the world’s oldest 6th grader. As an athlete in a different life he spent time in NBA camps. For a spell he would consume two-dozen eggs a day. Yes, he has had a critical health issue – more than one even. “I would have eaten myself to death,” he says letting the words hang in the air. He is high energy. He is a teacher. He is a parent. He is the originator and driving force behind an agriculture educational project calledThe Green Bronx Machine.
The story of The Green Bronx Machine, an urban agriculture education program that integrates farming and technology into the classroom to yield organic produce and job opportunities for public high school students in the South Bronx, began in 2005 during a 
Posted by at

School Tech Connect: Jawanza Malone At City Hall

School Tech Connect: Jawanza Malone At City Hall:


Jawanza Malone At City Hall

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)
"We are done having people make decisions for us that don't care about us."

Jawanza Malone from KOCO spoke this morning at City Hall in support of the elected, representative school board.
Popout
Toward the end there, he says this:
Everybody, everybody wants their children to grow and develop and be strong, right? Is there anyone who looks into their child's face, and says to that child, "I don't want you to be anything?" Is there any parent up here who believes that they can look their child in the eye and condemn 


Colleagues Not Too Happy With Joe Moore

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)
At the CODE press conference in City Hall this morning, Aldermen John Arena and Robert Fioretti had a few things to say about Alderman Joe Moore's obsequious cave-in to Rahm on the elected school board resolution.
Popout
I know I've become One Topic Tim here, but let me just suggest that the earth has moved underneath the 49th Ward alderman, and he's not aware of it yet. We're assembling a small army of petition-gatherers in Rogers Park 

Things Are Starting To Move In Chicago

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)
Busy morning tomorrow. The CTU rally outside the Appointed Board of Education starts at 9:00.
Simultaneously, Communities Organized For Democracy in Education is having a press conference at 9:30 over a City Hall. I'll be at that.

I'll post a more specific location inside City Hall when I find out.

Lots going on. 

Meanwhile, last night people were standing in line to sign our petition for an elected, representative school board.  I didn't even get to visit half my friends in the neighborhood yet, so I'll finish up tomorrow night. Of the people who answered the door, not a single one said no, except for a house-sitter. Did I mention we're in a precinct that soon will be moving over to Joe Moore's ward?
Posted by at

Alyssa Granacki: Until Schools Are No Longer Separate, We Must Strive for Equal

Alyssa Granacki: Until Schools Are No Longer Separate, We Must Strive for Equal:


Until Schools Are No Longer Separate, We Must Strive for Equal

Posted: 07/25/2012 2:02 pm





AmazingInspiringFunnyScaryHotCrazyImportantWeird

3
5
0
As a first-year teacher, I believed the incredibleresults that my charter school produced couldn't be anything but positive. Then, in February, newresearch suggesting charter schools promoted segregation by removing minority students from public schools caused me to reevaluate my thoughts on the charter system I worked for. Was I complicit in, encouraging even, a system of racial injustice?
Although progress has been made since Brown, our schools (public and charter alike) are still separated by socio-economic status, which too often falls along divisions of color. The notion that charter schools, which provide an alternative to public education, support segregation is incorrect and unwarranted. Our country's urban environments are plagued with segregated schools, as socioeconomic disparity separates low-income minorities and middle-class white students. Charter schools, for the most part, seek to serve those students who have been left behind.
Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)