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Sunday, April 29, 2012

The Teaching World Used to Be Sacred, Like Coaching | One Teacher's Perspective

The Teaching World Used to Be Sacred, Like Coaching | One Teacher's Perspective:


The Teaching World Used to Be Sacred, Like Coaching

My writing rate dropped off this past week with the kickoff of my kids’ soccer seasons and my seasonal return to the coaching world .

Coaching now trumps writing as the single most therapeutic experience of my week. The anti-public educatorism brought to Wisconsin by outside moneyand outside forces (like the Koch BrothersALEC,and MacIver Institute) and subsequently adopted and implemented by Governor Scott Walker have caused terminal damage to my daytime profession as an educator. In the evenings and on weekends, coaching provides relief from Walker’s dichotomous creationin Wisconsin.

In recent years, my coaching has centered on my kids’ activities. However, I have been at the coaching game my entire adult life. In fact, I was a coach before I was a teacher. Under the wing of one of my former coaches, I started coaching as a college student. Of course, I then had no idea my coaching experience would be the 

A Few Secrets About My Appearance at TEDxNYED | The Jose Vilson

A Few Secrets About My Appearance at TEDxNYED | The Jose Vilson:


A Few Secrets About My Appearance at TEDxNYED

You didn’t think I’d let the weekend go by without talking about TEDxNYED right?
I was honored to be invited to speak (second!) at the TEDx conference at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens yesterday. You often hear notes from the audience’s perspective, but the speakers who don’t post as often as they should. Part of it might be that speakers may feel weird about saying, “Mine was the best talk, but here are other ones I liked.” It could also be that they’re so into their talk that they didn’t hear the other ones until later on. Whatever the reason, I decided to shed some of those notions.
Let me share some secrets.
1. Every speaker who was good on stage was nervous as hell backstage.
Sorry for putting that out there, but it’s true. I won’t say which of the talks resonated with me, but all the speakers who resonated with me paced back and forth in the green room. I know I was a complete mess; I occupied the backstage mirror trying to convince myself that I had it in me to do this talk. I can only imagine 

http://www.southbronxschool.com

http://www.southbronxschool.com:


Once Upon a Time The UFT Manipulated a School Based Organization Vote

Yesterday, I touched on a flyer that will be distributed on May 1 in teacher's mailboxes throughout the city touting the "accomplishments" of UFT El Presidente and Unity Politburo Chief Michael Mulgrew. Tonight, I shall relate a story of voting shenanigans that only Unity and The UFT could have pulled off.

Back in September of 2003 I had just arrived at PS 156 in The Bronx after working out of the District 7 office for 3 years. Sometime that fall we were having some type of SBO vote. I forgot what we were voting for, but I do recall that it was something that the principal at the time wanted, and since she wanted this and our chapter chair was in her pocket, it was to be.

The day of the vote I arrived at the school to notice an 

Ten Things You Should’ve Read About Education This Week (in case you haven’t already) | Re:education in Baltimore

Ten Things You Should’ve Read About Education This Week (in case you haven’t already) | Re:education in Baltimore:


Ten Things You Should’ve Read About Education This Week (in case you haven’t already)

Illustration from 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. Original caption: Fig. 1.--Fruit of the pine-apple (''Ananas sativa''), consisting of numerous flowers and bracts united together so as to form a collective or anthocarpous fruit.
This is one of those weeks where there was too much going on to reflect. So, I collect:
1. Housing Policy and Educational Opportunity: Some Notes, Rachel Levy, All Things Education blog, April 24, 2012
If you’re interested in the questions that come up in the debates around zoned versus citywide elementary schools – issues about access and prohibitive housing costs and the importance of socioeconomic diversity to student achievement – this is chock full of important links. (Loosely related to this was a piece in the New York Times about a housing fight in Texas. Then there’s this, on political discussions in Washington, D.C., about whether charters schools can be neighborhood schools. I don’t have time to connect the dots at the moment.)
2. Believing in City Schools, Adam Bednar, North Baltimore Patch, April 26, 2012
The Village Parents have been models of active citizenship when it comes to informing the community about the

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Late Nite Posts 4-29 #soschat #EDReform


Missouri Education Watchdog: Educational Tidbits about Israel, Politicians and School Lovers in the Sunday Education Weekly Reader 04.29.12

Missouri Education Watchdog: Educational Tidbits about Israel, Politicians and School Lovers in the Sunday Education Weekly Reader 04.29.12: Educational Tidbits about Israel, Politicians and School Lovers in the Sunday Education Weekly Reader 04.29.12bystlgretchenWelcome to the Sunday Education Weekly Reader for 04.29.12.From Israel andLessons from Abroad:"There is an urgent need to ‘restart’ the concept of education, to re-examine the connection between scholastic scores and the school culture. It is time to go back to the basics — to educational environments motivated ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts 4-29 #SOSchat #p2 #edreform

I draw your a… « Bill AyersBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-4 minutes agoI draw your a… « Bill Ayers: I draw your a…bybillayersI draw your attention to this important petition that I recently signed:“Edu4: 4 children, 4 the public, 4 social justice, 4 the future”http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/edu4/?utm_medium=emailutm_source=systemutm_campaign=Send%2Bto%2BFriendThis is an important cause, and I encourage you to add your signature, too. It’s free and takes just a few seconds.Thanks!The Petition We are education scholars, students, teachers, and citizens who support wor... more »

OCCUPY EDUCATION - #LetOurVoicesBeHeard | Western International High...

OCCUPY EDUCATION - #LetOurVoicesBeHeard | Western International High...: (bySouthwestKnoxx) #LetOurVoicesBeHeard | Western International High School | Southwest DetroitOur Demands to the Detroit Public School System are the following:1. Don’t close Southwestern High School.2. Don’t close Maybury Elementary.3. Remove suspensions for students involved in the walkout.4. Don’t keep students away from school for walking out to stand up for what they believe.5. Don’t want suspensions to go on our student records.6. Don’t press criminal charges against students’ involved in the walkout.7. ... more »

ASCD Express 7.15 - Assumptions About Accountability

ASCD Express 7.15 - Assumptions About Accountability: Assumptions About AccountabilityMaking the Right Policy to Honor an Essential Human ValueNancy FlanaganOne of the most moving and eye-opening experiences of my life was attending a national conference, hosted by the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People and the National Education Association, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of theBrown v. Board of Education of Topekadecision. Like most Americans, I had been taught thatBrownwastheturning point toward justice and equity in educational opportunity ... more »

Rheeinforcements TFA Group Violates Connecticut’s Ethics Laws? - Wait, What?

Another “Education Reform” Group Violates Connecticut’s Ethics Laws? - Wait, What?: Another “Education Reform” Group Violates Connecticut’s Ethics Laws?byjonpelto It now appears that Teach for America is joining the “you won’t find our lobbying report” club.Is there no “Education Reform” group willing to live by Connecticut’s ethical standards?As noted previously, Connecticut’s Ethics law is really quite simple.A lobbyist is “any person [or organization] thatspends or receives $2,000 or more in a calendar year to communicate with, or to solicit others ... more »

Number of Minor Children Immigrating Alone to Find Parents on rise - Hispanically Speaking News

Number of Minor Children Immigrating Alone to Find Parents on rise - Hispanically Speaking News: First Ladies of Latin America Combating Number of Minor Children Immigrating Alone to Find ParentsPublished at 2:29 pm EST, April 29, 2012During a conference sponsored by the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, first ladies from Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala joined forces to raise awareness of the growing numbers of illegal immigration of unaccompanied children. The conference occurred one week after 100 undocumented immigrant ... more »

The in box. Richard Ingram in Naperville. « Fred Klonsky

The in box. Richard Ingram in Naperville. « Fred Klonsky: The in box. Richard Ingram in Naperville.byFred KlonskyFrom a reader who attended the TRS meeting with TRS Executive Director Richard Ingram in Naperville last week.I attended the Naperville TRS Town Hall meeting Thursday afternoon.It was “troubling.”Terrible location for a meeting. Terrible sound system. No provision for a Mic for questions — so you relied on Ingram’s re-statement as your guide. There was no chance at a follow up.In my opinion– ... more »

Questions To Ask in Making the Changes in Schools and Classrooms: A Primer | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Questions To Ask in Making the Changes in Schools and Classrooms: A Primer | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Questions To Ask in Making the Changes in Schools and Classrooms: A Primerbylarrycuban Far too many reformers, regardless of ideology, forget two key principles in pushing for changes that will stick in community institutions.The first principle is an organizational fact. Both change and stability are constants in every societal institution. No institution is static. They are stable in ... more »

An unintended consequence of value-added teacher evaluation - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

An unintended consequence of value-added teacher evaluation - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post: An unintended consequence of value-added teacher evaluationByValerie Strauss A high school teacher in New York sent me the following e-mail, which discusses a most unfortunate unintended consequence of the state's new teacher and principal evaluation that depends largely on how well students do on standardized test scores.The“value-added”method of evaluation — which uses complicated formulas to determine how much “value” an educator has added to a ... more »

Daily Kos: Bi-partisan Failure: Misreading Education "Gaps"

Daily Kos: Bi-partisan Failure: Misreading Education "Gaps": Bi-partisan Failure: Misreading Education "Gaps"byplthomasEdDFollowShare1PERMALINK1COMMENT It took about twenty years, and then another secondary ten years, but the hysterical and misleadingA Nation at Riskunder the Reagan administration successfully kicked off three decades of public school accountability.In the beginning, the hysteria revolved around several points that were factually inaccurate, but publicly effective: (1) U.S. public schools were failing, (2) U.S. students were weak, and possibly lazy, but their school... more »

I draw your a… « Bill Ayers

I draw your a… « Bill Ayers: I draw your a…bybillayersI draw your attention to this important petition that I recently signed:“Edu4: 4 children, 4 the public, 4 social justice, 4 the future”http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/edu4/?utm_medium=emailutm_source=systemutm_campaign=Send%2Bto%2BFriendThis is an important cause, and I encourage you to add your signature, too. It’s free and takes just a few seconds.Thanks!The Petition We are education scholars, students, teachers, and citizens who support worldwide democratic efforts that demand economic and social justice. Access to decent e... more »

If Rhee and Klein put students first, they would stop supporting the failed policies of Bloomberg and NCLB:

We really should put students first - New York Amsterdam News: Opinion: We really should put students firstStoryCommentsShareSharePrintCreate a hardcopy of this pageFont Size:Default font sizeLarger font sizePosted:Sunday, April 29, 2012 12:00 amBy OCYNTHIA WILLIAMS|0commentsEarlier this month, former Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and former Washington, D.C., Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee announced that their StudentsFirstNY education group intends to raise $10 million a year to make sure that Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s education legacy continues after he leaves office. For many o... more »

Diane Ravitch sees no reform in Phila. plan

Education leader sees no reform in Phila. plan: Education leader sees no reform in Phila. planByKristen A. GrahamInquirer Staff WriterPost a commentRELATED STORIESPhilly schools gearing up for radical restructuringPHILLY.COM's TOP FIVE PICKSPhilly schools gearing up for radical restructuringThe fine art of the moveHoping for FiOS, some feel abandonedAn un-Christie for 2013?A bank of big dreams, big lossesDiane Ravitch, education historian and pointed observer of the American educational scene, came to Philadelphia last week to speak at a math teachers' convention.She ... more »

Gerard Robinson Continues to Mislead Floridians on Charter Schools | Scathing Purple Musings

Gerard Robinson Continues to Mislead Floridians on Charter Schools | Scathing Purple Musings: Gerard Robinson Continues to Mislead Floridians on Charter SchoolsbyBob Sikes Gerard Robinson knows he’s being fact-checked. Twice in a weekend interview withGradebook’sJeff Solocheck, heclearly sought tounburdenthe weightof a question. Despite having his guardup, Robinson let loose withsome real whoppers. Responding to a probe by Solochek regarding recent instances of serious malfeasance in charter schools, Robinson said this:There is nothing in place right now that prohibits the local ... more »

Jersey Jazzman: There IS a Teacher Labor Market

Jersey Jazzman: There IS a Teacher Labor Market: There IS a Teacher Labor MarketbyDuke I find it hysterical that so many of the "corporate reformers" also love to sing the praises of free market. They seem to believe that they can cap salaries and take away pensions, benefits, and workplace protections, but somehow still attract loads of qualified people to the field - in complete contradiction to their stated beliefs about the private sector.Take tenure; somehow, the reformies think you ... more »

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky: Sunday links.byFred KlonskyRecall Walker phone banks in Wisconsin.NY Times photo.Apple loves Teach for America, but pays little in state taxes thatsupport public education.John Dillon’s Pension Vocabulary lesson of the week:Doublethink. Your pension is now a benefit.Glen Brown poses some important legal questions about Illinois pensions, funding and benefits.He also asks the question:Where is the IEA leadership?We all saw AFSCME’s Anders Lindall take on the Civic Committee corporate mouthpiece Ty Fahner the other day. But finding ... more »

Schools Matter: David Coleman's Global Revenge and the Common Core

Schools Matter: David Coleman's Global Revenge and the Common Core: David Coleman's Global Revenge and the Common CorebyJim HornAs you grow up in this world you realize people really don’t give a shit about what you feel or what you think.--David Coleman at NY State Department of Education presentation, April 2011In order to give the above quote the context it deserves, here is the clip from Mr. Coleman's speech. Please notice that in offering the transcript for public download, the ... more »

Parent trigger misfires, again - San Bernardino County Sun

Parent trigger misfires, again - San Bernardino County Sun: Parent trigger misfires, againDean E. VogelPosted: 04/28/2012 07:10:46 AM PDT The Adelanto Elementary School District Board of Trustees boldly stood up for students and the rights of all parents in the school community by rejecting an attempt led mainly by a group of outside organizers to shut down an elementary school, replace the entire staff, and create a privately managed charter school.The trustees recognized that Parent Revolution organizers at Desert Trails ... more »

Jersey Jazzman: Tom Moran Doubles Down

Jersey Jazzman: Tom Moran Doubles Down: Tom Moran Doubles DownbyDukeTom Moran, op-ed editor of theStar-Ledger, tried to make a folk hero out of Janine Caffrey in his pages. And he will not allow his hard work in making her an iconto be undone:Janine Caffrey, the superintendent of Perth Amboy schools, has been shut out of her office and sent home.No one disputes that she works hard and that she was putting in place exactly the reforms she promised when she ... more »

Educators: Are You a Seed Planter or a Seed Killer? « Diary of a Public School Teacher!

Educators: Are You a Seed Planter or a Seed Killer? « Diary of a Public School Teacher!: Educators: Are You a Seed Planter or a Seed Killer?byOldschoolteachI attended a conference today called, ”Diversity Exchange:Learning from One Another.” The keynote speaker was supposed to beReginald Weaver, former NEA president,but unfortunately he is ill. Merwyn Scott, did a good job standing in for Mr.Weaver at the last-minute.Something Mr.Scott said, as he shared his thoughts, stood out to me. He said that when ... more »

The Lies, The Deceit, The Chutzpah of UFT President Mike Mulgrew

http://www.southbronxschool.com: The Lies, The Deceit, The Chutzpah of UFT President Mike Mulgrewbynoreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher)Leave it to Norm over atEdnotesto get that good juicy inside information on the manipulative machinations of The UFT and The Grand Exalted Mystic Ruler, and sometime Collaborator, Michael Mulgrew and his Unity hacks.UFT President Mulgrew Seen Here With Vichy President Philippe PĂ©tainAsecret memo has gone out to all Unity (I believe just Unity) chapter chairsfrom LeRoy Barr along the lines that Mulgrew is really neat, and ... more »

Saturday Night Home School Fever | Lefty Parent

Saturday Night Home School Fever | Lefty Parent: Saturday Night Home School FeverbyCooper ZaleConfessing my own bias as a big supporter of unschooling, I read Dennis Danziger’s piece,“Home School Fever”, in the April 24 edition of theHuffington Post, and it seemed to push more buttons in me than I even knew I had! I recall that classicSaturday Night Live“Weekend Edition” bit where Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd do a “Point-Counterpoint”, and after Curtin dresses down Aykroyd in every possible way ... more »

New York’s Bargain Basement Tests « Diane Ravitch's blog

New York’s Bargain Basement Tests « Diane Ravitch's blog: New York’s Bargain Basement TestsWhen I read Gail Collins’ nifty column about the pineapple fiasco, I realized why New York ended up using a ridiculous story that was recycled from tests given in several other states. Wherever that pineapple story appeared on the state tests, the kids said it was a stupid story with stupid questions. Pearson didn’t listen and

Prom Queens & Ed Reform - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Prom Queens Ed Reform - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher: byNancy FlanaganProm Queens Ed ReformIf American schools are stages where our children act out and explicate our societal values, then perhaps this week's focus isn't only aboutdancing pineapplesandwhether parents have the legal right to shield their children from harmful bubbling.Maybe we should be scrutinizing another springtime tradition: the school prom.The word "prom" entered the American dictionary in 1894, and Dorothy Parker notably wisecracked, pre-Depression, that if ... more »

Peg with Pen: The Crime in Philadelphia

Peg with Pen: The Crime in Philadelphia: The Crime in PhiladelphiabyPeggy These are not my words. These are the words of Mr. Johnson, who commented on the articlePhiladelphia School District announces its dissolution. I am sharing them here because the crime in Philadelphia continues to be ignored. The children of Philadelphia continue to be ignored. Share widely.Mr. Johnson, thank you for this comment - the outrage you express is what I feel in my heart about the dismantling of public ... more »

Latest skeptic of teachers unions is clothing label’s city billboard | GothamSchools

Latest skeptic of teachers unions is clothing label’s city billboard | GothamSchools: Latest skeptic of teachers unions is clothing label’s city billboardbyRachel Cromidas, at 2:18 pmThis spring, the West Side Highway’s typical advertising fare also includes a political message that seems aimed at teachers unions.A billboard advertising Kenneth Cole — the clothing company owned by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s brother-in-law — puns to southbound commuters,”Shouldn’t Everyone Be Well Red?” In smaller lettering, the billboard says, “Teachers’ Rights Vs. Students’ Rights …”The ... more »