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Sunday, March 4, 2012

To train and control or to teach and learn: is there a choice? « Cooperative Catalyst

To train and control or to teach and learn: is there a choice? « Cooperative Catalyst:

To train and control or to teach and learn: is there a choice?

Originally posted at educatedtodeath.com

It seems that the goal of institutions is dominion over mankind. Organizations function to tame wild spirits and make them act civilly. This is not a terrible thing— people acting civilly. But, do the rulers act civilly? Not just the grand rulers, the government, corporations, etc., but the smaller rulers. Those who have dominion over few. Teachers might fall into this category. Are we just miniature tyrants? Are we forced to be? Expected to be? If we are, or aren’t do we have a choice in the matter?

The choice is often a matter of rebellion. Our institutions, which stand to standardize the masses, require a certain level of tyrannical behavior for those who work within their walls. My power as a teacher, in this system, is based on how well I manage behavior and control the flow of information. The flow of information and behavior are tied together. In a system such as our where we deposit arbitrary and minimally useful information into learners then there must be a system of behavioral management. When you colonizing a mind, there must be

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Write to Your Legislator NOW

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Write to Your Legislator NOW:

Write to Your Legislator NOW

From afar I have been following the machinations of the State Senator Republicans (and the 3 Roadkill Dems including Rodney Tom) and the state budget.

I can only say that, like Nick Hanauer, this is no way to show loyalty to your party. I think if Senator Tom wants to be a Republican, he should go back to being one (he acts like one anyway). I also think that these three men have done damage to their reputation within the Democratic delegation. I certainly would not trust what they say in the future.

I also had been wondering why LEV had been so silent on the subject of the charter legislation and now it's obvious. They knew this ploy was coming. I'm sure that they were pushing it all along and hope that they will come out with the charter bill (in some form) passed. I can only say I hope that if that happens, they take the $3M away from Pettigrew. It would all seem like a bit much.

School Tech Connect: In Which I Admit I'm Squatting....

School Tech Connect: In Which I Admit I'm Squatting....:

In Which I Admit I'm Squatting....

Scout In Pursuit
Here's an image from the day, mashed up in Fotoflexer.

So here's a conundrum. I have a number of different URL's that I pay for--- none of them have anything to do with these topics--- and I keep up the payments for those URL's through my web hosting service, A Small Orange, a company I can't say enough good things about. If you ever want to host a site and you want a company that will take care of you, go Orange.

However, this little blog is a Blogger Blog, and while Blogger has many good features, the whole get-your-own-URL thing I never understood. When I started this blog, I paid for the rights to www.schooltechconnect.com, and to this day, that's the address of the blog.

However, I stopped owning the URL at about a half a year ago. Someone hoovered it up, and if I want to own it

NYC DOE "Chancellor" Dennis Walcott Says That "Just Cause" in 3020-a Arbitration is Harmful To His Agenda - ParentAdvocates.org

Parent Advocates - ParentAdvocates.org:

Government Lies, Corruption and Mismanagement | Posted 3/4/2012 at 4:28 PM
Walcott gets my award for the most despicable member of any education administration currently in office. Cant we get rid of him? The reason for my saying this is that I know how school administrators push good people out of their jobs, just read my post on this blog and on my website called "The Gotcha Squad". In NYC right now, if you use a pen instead of a pencil you can get terminated. This Just Cause Standard seems to be the most

NYC Special Education Teacher William Johnson: Confessions of a ‘Bad’ Teacher
What makes a great teacher? To a lot of people, the answer seems simple enough: a great teacher is one whose students achieve. For the most part these days, student success is measured with test scores. Logically then, a great teacher is one whose students perform well on tests......I’m a bad teacher. That’s not my opinion; it’s how I’m labeled by the city’s Education Department. Last June, my principal at the time rated my teaching “unsatisfactory,” checking off a few boxes on an evaluation sheet that placed my career in limbo. That same year, my school received an “A” rating. I was a bad teacher at a good school. It was pretty humiliating.

William Johnson
March 3, 2012
Confessions of a ‘Bad’ Teacher
By WILLIAM JOHNSON, NY TIMES
LINK

I AM a special education teacher. My students have learning disabilities ranging from autism and attention-deficit disorder to cerebral palsy and emotional disturbances. I love these kids, but they can be a handful. Almost without exception, they struggle on standardized tests, frustrate their teachers and find it hard to

Big Education Ape: 3-4-12 PM Test scores mean nothing EDition

Big Education Ape: PARENTS CAN!:
Big Education Ape: PARENTS CAN!

Published by Coopmike48 – 6 news spotters today

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