Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Before Writing A Protest Poem [Peace to Gil] | The Jose Vilson

Before Writing A Protest Poem [Peace to Gil] | The Jose Vilson

Before Writing A Protest Poem [Peace to Gil]

Gil Scott-Heron

Beautiful Sunday. Driving with my family back to NYC after my brother graduated a couple of weeks back. Before I knew Gil was on his last legs.

[taps pencil on Moleskine repeatedly]

“What to write, what to write …”

[taps knee with pencil, taps front car seat with pencil, bites eraser, gets tired of tapping]

“Ahhh! What the hell!”

[scratches head]

“Monuments shake and graves roll …”

[nods to a beat in his head]

“OK, what next, Vilson?”

“I told them the title of the poem is called ‘This Is Not A Test.’ What does it mean to

City teachers tell of "mandated" cheating - NYPOST.com

City teachers tell of "mandated" cheating - NYPOST.com

Teachers hostage to 'success'

Last Updated: 6:52 AM, May 29, 2011

Posted: 11:15 PM, May 28, 2011

headshotMichael Goodwin

The e-mail box runneth over with bad tidings. Teachers are reporting that cheating is rampant in New York City schools -- and they claim principals are the culprits.

The reports are responding to my column that many schools are denying students the freedom to fail in a misguided bid to help them. To judge from the response, the problem is worse than I feared. Much worse.

First, a professional in a Manhattan high school wrote to say that teachers in her school are "encouraged" to pass 80 percent of students, no matter their grades or attendance. She offered student writing samples filled with glaring errors of spelling and grammar to prove that "social promotion is alive and well."

GETTY IMAGES

Now others are revealing shocking examples from their schools about how unprepared kids are being pushed along to the next grade and out the door with a sham diploma. Their disheartening tales deserve attention.

"Our mandated passing rate is 60 percent," one wrote. "We need to explain in detail why this student failed, what methods were used to get him to pass, how much home contact was made.

"The one group that is not called in for interrogation is the students themselves. No blame falls on them . . . The students know what is going on. It has empowered them to feel that they can work less or not at all and still pass the class."

Another, from a Brooklyn high school, says the principal fudges attendance and grades with a warning that unless the school improves, the Department of Education will close it and



Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/teachers_hostage_to_success_dmR2TxGjD85oGWJ3UCzp0O#ixzz1Nz6thsOB

Dear Seniors: Please, Just Go | Mr. Teachbad's Blog of Teacher Disgruntlement

Dear Seniors: Please, Just Go | Mr. Teachbad's Blog of Teacher Disgruntlement

Dear Seniors: Please, Just Go

Holy shit…you guys are the cat’s meow…let me tell you. You seniors…

But you don’t need me to tell you. Am I right? You already know just exactly how goddamn fucking awesome you are. And some of you really are. But others, not so much.

You come in late, or nor at all. You complain about how stressful your life is. You sleep in class…because you are sooo stressed.

What’s with you guys? I know you are stressed. The stress is maybe a little like alcohol. They say it enhances your personality. But what if you are a lazy douche bag? Then what?

I think the alcohol comparison is pretty good. This is the end of the road for everybody. I just got a text message from a senior I had taught in American Government who was all mad that I didn’t explain to her that Animal Farmwas really about the Russian Revoluion and Stalin’s rise to power. That’s above and beyond the call for somebody who’s really got it quite made and is about to get out of high school very soon unless she ran screaming up the steps of the capitol with a metal box tapped to her head.

The great, swollen middle is the people who mostly don’t give a shit, but will climb out of their holes every so

Librarian Positions Cut In Schools Across The Country

Librarian Positions Cut In Schools Across The Country

The Questionable Future Of School Librarians

Tracey Weiss Suits, a 25-year teacher who worked for the last six years as a media specialist in a Land O' Lakes, Fla., school, had a feeling her job was going to end. She just didn't know when.

Over time this spring, it became clear at Pasco County budget meetings that a slew of education programs and positions could be scrapped.

"I had a sense that media specialists weren’t one of the priorities, but I hoped they were cutting other programs," she recalled.

One day earlier this month, Weiss Suits' principal called her into a meeting, and she had her answer. The first thing she noticed was, she said, "the obligatory Kleenex box." Her principal told her she did an excellent job, but that her position -- a media specialist who helped implement the school’s technology from the library -- was being eliminated.

"I’m still in an anger phase right now," she told The Huffington Post a few hours afterwards.

Two weeks later, the district placed her in a language-arts teaching position in a different middle school. But

Big Education Ape: 5-31-11 PM A Dark Day in New York State Edition

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now
Big Education Ape: Ed News Now

Published by Coopmike48 – 5 contributors today



A Dark Day in New York State - Bridging Differences

blogs.edweek.org - Dear Deborah,May 16, 2011, was a dark day in the history of New York state. On that date, the New York State Board of Regents, once known for careful deliberation and the integrity of its standards...
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