In Search of Lost Time | Gatsby In L.A.

In Search of Lost Time | Gatsby In L.A.:

In Search of Lost Time

 No, I haven’t just eaten a madeleine.  I’m talking about the idea of time, passing even as you read this–time, unstoppable, incessant, inextricably equated in our minds with money. “Every minute matters,” warns teaching guru Doug Lemov in his seminal teacher effectiveness text Teach Like a Champion.  “Time is water in the desert, a teacher’s most precious resource: to be husbanded, guarded and conserved.”  He exhorts teachers not to waste a single instant of class time, extolling the virtues of teachers who pepper their students with questions as they stand in line to enter class.  “A walk to the bathroom is the perfect time for a vocabulary review,” he says, though I cannot imagine there are many who share this sentiment, certainly not anyone who’s been swilling from a Big Gulp cup of iced coffee for the last two periods.

Not wasting time is at the heart of the current canonical view of effective teaching.  Time is the central unit of value, a commodity from which a maximum of measurable, testable instruction must be wrung.  To spend the last minute or so of class relaxing and chatting with your students is to “leave value on the table,” the moral equivalent of walking away from a deal without reaming your opponent for every last nickel. 

I’m not gonna lie: I left value on the table with some regularity.  Most of the time, I 

Student Organizers Shine at Albany Rally National Opportunity to Learn Campaign

National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity:

Student Organizers Shine at Albany Rally

At a recent rally for fair school funding in New York State, students gave powerful testimony in front of 1,500 protesters gathered at the state capitol. Watch some of the video clips and be inspired! Students are a force to be reckoned with in the movement to improve our nation's public schools, and the OTL Campaign is proud to stand with so many dedicated young leaders. At a recent

by jocelyn / 13min 

WI Should Invest Surplus in Kids

By Tom Beebe, Opportunity to Learn - Wisconsin Policymakers in Wisconsin should use the projected budget surplus $900 million to invest in schools and students and make up for years of budget cuts. Wisconsin has a $900 million budget surplus. In part, and in one of the great injustices in state history, it was built on the backs of over 800,000 children in our public schools. Th

by jocelyn / 3h 

YESTERDAY

New Infographic: The Cycle of School Closures

School closures are both a symptom and a cause of perpetuated inequality, and they leave students of color and those in low-income families without access to the educational resources they deserve. Here is how the Cycle of School Closures works. Mass school closures have become a popular, "quick fix" for policymakers trying to address struggling schools and budget crises – d

8 by jocelyn / 1d 

JAN 21

OTL Ally Featured in New York Times

Maria Fernandez, coordinator for the Urban Youth Collaborative, wrote a Letter to the Editor for the New York Times about what NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio can do to end harsh school discipline. Recently, the New York Times has been throwing the full weight of its editorial board behind school discipline reform. read more

by jocelyn / 3d 

Duncan: Bill Gates Has No Seat at the Education Policy Table - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Duncan: Bill Gates Has No Seat at the Education Policy Table - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Duncan: Bill Gates Has No Seat at the Education Policy Table

By Anthony Cody on January 24, 2014 1:37 PM

Joiselle Cunningham and Lisa Clarke are Teaching Ambassador Fellows. That means they are teachers who have been relocated to Washington, DC, to work for the Department of Education for a year. Today they released a video in which they pose some questions to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. These questions should be familiar to readers of this blog, as they have been asked many times over the past few years. I am providing some excerpts from this interview below, followed by my reaction. 

Lisa Clarke:

One of the particular questions we've heard teachers ask is if corporate-based philanthropists are playing too heavy a role in public education, and if there's a corporate agenda at the Department.

Arne Duncan:

I think that's a very important question of what role does philanthropy or the corporate side have, and anyone who thinks that those who are major donors to education, or those giving a 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Why Ames should stay a neighborhood school and why we haven't given up.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Why Ames should stay a neighborhood school and why we haven't given up.:

Why Ames should stay a neighborhood school and why we haven't given up.

January 24, 2014

Contact: Joanna Brown, Save Ames Commttee, 773-744-1655

Press release:  Referendum campaign starts Saturday at Ames.

Come and find out why Ames should stay a neighborhood school and why we haven't given up.

The Save Ames Commttee will start its door-to-door campaign to -show voter support for a community -based Ames School Saturday, January 25, 2014 at 10:00 am, starting from Ames School, 1920 N. Hamlin, Room 105.  The campaign will continue through the March 18 election.

Supporters from Ames school, Logan Square Neighborhood Association  and other allies will begin voter education and registration door-to-door to let neighbors know that the Save Ames referendum will be on the ballot March 18 in the 8 precincts surrounding Ames School.

The committee believes that the Chicago Board of Education members who voted to close Ames Middle School and use it for a 7-12 grade Marine Military Academy did not understand the depth of community anger against the military coup.  

In November Ames parents presented to the CPS Board a two-foot high stack of signatures as proof of enormous community support for Ames community school : including 2400 original petition signatures, a 95% pro-Ames vote by 800 parents; and a door-to-door survey around Ames where 87% of residents did not want the military academy.  But CEO Barbara Byrd Bennett told the board December 18 that signatures needed to be verified, thus implying that they should not be considered.  Board members who voted to give Ames to the Marines stated they couldn't tell which side the community was on!

For more information on the SAVE AMES campaign contact Maria Trejo, 773-534-4970 (room 105) and Leticia Barrera 773-727-9941.

Ask Arne: The Role of Private Funds and Interests in Education -- Januar...

1-24-14 The Whole Child Blog - Free Webinar; Hanging In: Working with Challenging Students — Whole Child Education

Free Webinar—Hanging In: Working with Challenging Students — Whole Child Education:

ICYMI: Whole Child Podcasts on Personlized Learning

How do we help each student succeed? One promising way is to personalize learning and put each student at the center of her learning experience. Broader than individualized or differentiated instruction, personalized learning is driven by the learner. Ensuring personalized learning for all students requires a shift in thinking about long-standing education practices, systems and policies, as well

by Whole Child Podca... / 58min 

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Free Webinar—Hanging In: Working with Challenging Students

January 24, 2014 by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers

Join Jeffrey Benson, author of the ASCD book Hanging In: Strategies for Teaching the Students Who Challenge Us Most, for an exciting, free webinar on what you can do now for a challenging student in your school.

Thursday, January 30, 2014, 3:00 p.m. eastern time
Register now!

Every school has its challenging students. In this webinar you'll learn how to focus on individual students and build on those efforts to enrich your team's capacity to hang in with many students. Benson will also be presenting on this topic at the 69th ASCD Annual Conference and Exhibit Show in Los Angeles, Calif., on Monday, March 17. Learn more and register at www.ascd.org/annualconference.

Jeffrey Benson has worked in almost every school context in his 35 years of experience in education: as a teacher in elementary, middle, and high schools; as an instructor in undergraduate and graduate programs; as an administrator in day and residential schools. He has studied and worked side by side with national leaders in the fields of special education, learning theory, trauma and addiction, school reform, adult development, and conflict resolution. He has been a consultant to public and private schools, mentored teachers and principals in varied school settings, and has written on many school-based issues. The core of his work is in understanding how people learn, the starting point for everything that schools should do.

Explore forthcoming and archived ASCD webinars.

1-23-14 The Whole Child Blog -

Early Education Takes Center Stage — Whole Child Education: Early Education Takes Center StageWith so much attention being paid to college and career readiness, the importance of early childhood education should not be overlooked. In the new issue of Policy Priorities, ASCD explores the significance of early childhood education and details the challenges of expanding access and ensuring equitable

by mike simpson / 16h 

#AskArne? We'd rather see for ourselves. - Integrity in Education

#AskArne? We'd rather see for ourselves. - Integrity in Education:

#AskArne? We’d rather see for ourselves.

Yesterday, the US Department of Education posted a video with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan that supposedly answers questions about the role of corporate funds and interests in education. Though we’d like to take what Secretary Duncan says at face value, our experiences over the course of his years in office demonstrate that we can’t.

Instead of offering a change from the top-down, test-and-punish policies of the Bush Administration, Secretary Duncan and his team have continued and extended them. So while he may ‘listen to everyone’ as he says in his video, his policy choices suggest that he only acts on what he hears from certain people.

When he insults teachers one day, then meets with Pearson executives the next, who should we believe holds more influence with him, the teachers or the testing company?

When he dismisses concerned community activists as “armchair pundits” who “manufacture drama”, and writes off parents because he believes they’re just “White suburban moms who’ve discovered their kids aren’t as brilliant as they thought,” why would we believe that he is seriously considering our concerns? Especially when many of those concerns are about the very corporate interest groups who are so well-represented among the Department’s leadership?

We have seen time and again that there is a huge gap between the Department’s rhetoric and our reality. We’ve heard the talking points before, and they ring increasingly hollow as the years pass.

That’s why we look forward to examining the communications we’ve asked for in our FOIA request. We know better than to take Secretary Duncan’s words at face value. We’d rather see what’s been going on for 

1-24-14 Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"

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

“Educating, Engaging and Mobilizing Parents: A Conversation with Parents for Public Schools Executive Director Anne Foster”

Educating, Engaging and Mobilizing Parents: A Conversation with Parents for Public Schools Executive Director Anne Foster is a good interview from Learning First. Here’s how it begins: Public School Insights (PSI): What is Parents for Public Schools? Foster: Parents for Public Schools (PPS) is a national organization of community-based chapters working to strengthen public schools by engaging, edu

by Larry Ferlazzo / 28min hide  //  save

“Truancy down when teens eat with parents, says OECD”

Truancy down when teens eat with parents, says OECD is the headline of an article in the BBC. I think it’s just a different summary of the PISA report I recently posted about — see Two Somewhat Interesting Results From PISA Parent Survey. My post highlights what I think are more useful results from their survey. I’m not too sure anyone will be surprised by the lead in the BBC article: Young peopl

by Larry Ferlazzo / 28min 

I Reluctantly Suggest This Bilingual “Parent Toolkit” Is Worth Checking-Out

I have been, and continue to be, skeptical of anything connected to NBC’s Education Nation — including their “Parent Toolkit” (see NBC “Education Nation” Unveils “Parent Toolkit” — Time To Be Skeptical). However, they have just published a Spanish version of that Parent Toolkit and, given the dearth of good multilingual parent resources, I’m very reluctantly adding it to The Best Multilingual Reso

by Larry Ferlazzo / 28min 

“7 Crippling Parenting Behaviors That Keep Children From Growing Into Leaders”

7 Crippling Parenting Behaviors That Keep Children From Growing Into Leaders is an article from Forbes that offers some decent advice to both parents and to teachers. I might be useful as a hand-out at a parents meeting to quickly review and discuss…

by Larry Ferlazzo / 28min 

 

1-24-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: From The Archives: “Five key strategies to get/keep kids engaged at school”I’ve recently re-started an effort I’ve tried to do previously by regularly highlighting previous posts and articles I’ve shared in previous years that I think might be worth a second look. Today, I’m highlighting an excerpt from one of my books that

by mike simpson / 25min

Poll: Teachers Don't Get No Respect - Julia Ryan - The Atlantic

Poll: Teachers Don't Get No Respect - Julia Ryan - The Atlantic:

Poll: Teachers Don't Get No Respect

People think respect has declined among teachers, administrators, students, and parents since they were in school.

Paramount Pictures

“Anyone? Anyone?” a high-school teacher asks at the front of a classroom inFerris Bueller’s Day Off. His dazed students, popping bubble gum and falling asleep, gaze toward the front of the room, unaware a question has been posed. After a moment’s pause, the teacher answers his own question and drones on with his lecture while his students fight to stay awake.

This scene, set in 1986, doesn’t show much esteem for the teaching profession.(The movie doesn't have much regard for administrators, either. Ferris continually outsmarts the cartoonishly spiteful Principal Rooney.) And yet, a recent poll found that adults believe that people respect teachers and administrators even less now than then did in the past. While 79 percent of Americans said students respected teachers when they were in school, only 31 percent believe students respect teachers today, according to a Harris Poll of 2,250 American adults.

When they were in school, 91 percent of respondents said that parents and teachers respected each other, but when asked about today, only 49 percent said parents respect teachers and 64 percent said teachers respect parents.

Related Story

Report: Teachers Aren't Trained to Praise Their Students

Respondents continued to report a decline in trust between teachers and students: When they were in school, 86 percent said teachers respected students, but only 61 percent say that is true today. Eighty-eight percent said the administration respected teachers when they were in school, while 58 percent say that continues to be true in today’s schools.

Parents of school-aged children, who might be in the best position to judge the environment of today’s 

1-24-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

My Article in the Washington Post on January 23, 2014

Below is the text of my article entitled, A Challenge: Teach Eighth Grade Common Core Before Endorsing It, published in the Washington Post on January 23, 2014. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ On January 21, 2014, Valerie Strauss’ Washington Post education blog, The Answer Sheet, ran a supposed “reaction to” education historian Diane

5 by deutsch29 / 1h

1-23-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: On Public Schools and Common Core: Graff’s Critique of RavitchOn Public Schools and Common Core: Graff\’s Critique of Ravitch. via On Public Schools and Common Core: Graff’s Critique of Ravitch.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical2 by plthomasedd / 2h 1-22-14 @ The Chalk Face@ THE CHALK FACE: Vergara V. California Would Turn Teachers into Second Class CitizensDavid Cohen’s

by mike simpson / 20min 

1-24-14 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.:

Tony at the Red Line Tap.

“Dragon Stout?” Sean looks up from his worn copy of Etienne de La Boétie’s Discours de la servitude volontaire. “Cold or room temperature?” sighed Sean as if I were asking him, a bartender, to actually serve me a beer. “Cold,” I responded with a certain puppy-dog look, as if he were doing me a great favor. “Sometimes I just hate my job,” Sean said. “Get another one,” chimed in Tony. “No, no. I me

by Fred Klonsky / 2min 

Noble charter teams up with $35K tuition teacher certification mill.

Catalyst: A Relay representative said that Chicago is an “obvious” place for Relay to expand because of the demand for teachers and the support for new programs within the city’s education community. Relay plans to work exclusively with Noble Street Charter School for its first several years in operation here. If approved by the state, the school would begin by preparing a small number of teachers

by Fred Klonsky / 11min 

Is my pension generous?

A pay raise for JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon. Priceless. Fred, Where do you think the money to pay for these very generous pension plans should come from? Do you think taxes should be raised to pay for these pension plans? Should the spending on everything else be curtailed to pay for the pension plans? We hear all these complaints but never any suggestions for alternatives. - Bob Kastigar IBEW

5 by Fred Klonsky / 55min

Next. Chicago public pensions in the cross hairs.

  After the Illinois General Assembly passed Senate Bill 1, which cut public employee pensions – including the pensions of current retirees – the Democratic legislators who voted yes were flooded with angry phone calls, emails and snail mail letters. In classic cover-their-ass mode, almost all these Democrats responded by saying something along the lines of, “Well. I don’t know. We just want the

3 by Fred Klonsky / 35min

1-23-14 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.: Chicago Teachers Union on the CPS charter vote.CHICAGO – Today, Chicago Teachers Union President (CTU) Karen Lewis said the decision by the Chicago Board of Education to approve seven new charter schools is hypocritical in the face of recent school closings and only further illustrates the predatory c

by mike simpson / 11min