Top Content this Week - The Educator's PLN

Top Content this Week - The Educator's PLN:

Top Content this Week

Top Content 

Rank
1	To Tweet Or Not To Tweet Added by Thomas Whitby on December 9, 2011
2	Finland - An Inconvenient Truth Added by andy mellor on December 3, 2011
3	Social Media in Education - Teaching Digital Natives.mov Added by Thomas Whitby on October 13, 2011
4	YouTube for Schools: Join the Global Classroom Today! Added by Thomas Whitby on December 12, 2011
5	Traditional teaching Added by Thomas Whitby on December 7, 2011
6	Chat Pages Added by Thomas Whitby on August 2, 2011
7	Alfie Kohn on Feel-Bad Education Added by Andrew Neuendorf on October 13, 2011
8	Learning to Change-Changing to Learn Added by Melissa Lim on October 26, 2009
9	easy video conferencing Posted by Alison Bullock on July 8, 2010
10	Educational IPad Apps Posted by Thomas Whitby on November 23, 2011
11	Grey's Anatomy & Twitter Added by Thomas Whitby on December 7, 2011
12	2nd grade math worksheets and lessons Added by Kuleep Kaur on August 3, 2011
13	Adding fractions with unlike denominators Added by Kuleep Kaur on August 20, 2011
14	Social Media Policy Added by Thomas Whitby on October 23, 2011
15	Edublog Awards Don’t Suck! Added by Thomas Whitby on December 15, 2011
16	The GIST Added by Marc-André Lalande on December 12, 2011
17	Having fun with colleagues and friends! Added by Gérard Gatoux on December 13, 2011
18	Learn about China online! Posted by Maggie Epstein @ Primary Source on December 15, 2011
19	Is mandating online learning a good idea? Posted by mrsdurff on December 11, 2011
20	Influential People Posted by Anne Beninghof on December 16, 2011

Letter from Council of Elders to Trinity Church | OccupyWallSt.org

Letter from Council of Elders to Trinity Church | OccupyWallSt.org:

Letter from Council of Elders to Trinity Church

Posted 38 minutes ago on Dec. 16, 2011, 9:43 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt

December 16, 2011
Dear Rev. Dr. James Cooper,
We are veterans of the Civil Rights, Women’s, Peace, Environmental, LGBTQ, Immigrant Justice, labor rights and other movements of the last 60 years. Many of us have been or continue to be leaders of religious congregations and organizations, so we are deeply understanding of the need to protect the spaces and buildings that generations of the faithful have transmitted to us.
We are also deeply committed to using the share of God’s abundance that has been entrusted to us for the help and healing of those “least of these” – the poor, the humiliated, the hungry, the homeless, the dis-empowered – whom God has called us to protect.

“Tiger Moms” Now Usurped by “Wolf Dads”:

“Tiger Moms” Now Usurped by “Wolf Dads”

by CYNTHIA on DECEMBER 17, 2011

Corporal punishment is the unspoken dark side of Asian and Asian Pacific American parenting, and if the whirlwind created by Amy Chua’s sardonicTiger Mom memoir wasn’t enough to roil the interwebs, the much less funnyWolf Dad will.

A Chinese writer publishing a provocative essay in the English-languageDiplomat says that “Wolf Dads,” or yet another distorted form of sado-masochistic pressuring of kids to be Harvard-ready, has found its latest expression in Xiao Baiyou’s parenting manual — complete with detailed explanations of how and where to use a rattan cane on your child for 

Education angst bared at JBC hearing | EdNewsColorado

Education angst bared at JBC hearing | EdNewsColorado:

Education angst bared at JBC hearing

by Todd Engdahl

Hopes, fears and frustrations about public schools, reform and state finances were at the boiling point Friday during the Joint Budget Committee’s hearing on the Department of Education’s proposed 2012-13 budget.

Deputy Education Commissioner Diana Sirko and Commissioner Robert Hammond

The hearing was part of the end-of-year routine during which the JBC is briefed by staff analysts on proposed budgets for state agencies and compile questions for department executives to answer at follow-up hearings. The hearing for CDE was Dec. 3 (see story), and Friday’s morning-long event was the opportunity for department executives to answer those questions (read their written responses).
The session was expected to focus on costs for proposed new state tests, a key issue because CDE wants $25.9 million in additional funding for creation of new tests required by a 2008 law, because Gov. John Hickenlooper doesn’t want to spend the money and because the legislative is facing another tight budget year.
Testing costs did get a thorough airing, but the discussion also ranged into school finance in general and the

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Parent Group Files Lawsuit Charging LAUSD With Misuse of $2.5 Billion in Federal Title I Funds

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Parent Group Files Lawsuit Charging LAUSD With Misuse of $2.5 Billion in Federal Title I Funds:

Parent Group Files Lawsuit Charging LAUSD With Misuse of $2.5 Billion in Federal Title I Funds

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 22 minutes ago

press release FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert A. Brown, Esq. 213-596-5992 Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Parent Group Files Lawsuit Charging LAUSD With Misuse of $2.5 Billion in Federal Title I Funds December 12, 2011 The District Advisory Committee (DAC), a parent group established

Race to the Top: CALIFORNIA PRESCHOOLS TO GET MILLIONS FROM WHITE HOUSE …for “Accountability”, not Education

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 1 hour ago

-- Rick Rojas – LA Times/LA Now | http://lat.ms/rCVmt7 Photo: The South Portico of the White House is seen after the 2011 National Christmas Tree Lighting. Credit: Roger L. Wollenberg / EPA December 16, 2011 |  1:16 pm - White House officials announced Friday that California will be among nine states to share in a $500-million grant for early-childhood-development programs, the latest chapter

LAUSD TEACHERS APPROVE REFORMS TO CAMPUS AUTONOMY

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 1 hour ago

By Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | KPCC | http://bit.ly/vU7nsg Download Audio Dec. 15, 2011 | Los Angeles Unified’s teachers’ union announced Thursday that its members have overwhelmingly approved a contract with the school district that will grant individual campuses more control over the way they operate. The Board of Education now gets to vote on it. Teachers this week considered the changes. The top

CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICTS DECRY END TO BUSING FUNDS

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 1 hour ago

By CHRISTINA HOAG, Associated Press /Bakersfield Now/KBAK/KBFX |http://bit.ly/vyXiC9 File photo Dec 14, 2011 at 6:42 PM PST =LOS ANGELES (AP) — School districts throughout California are scrambling to cover the elimination of $248 million in funding for school buses starting next month, with the state's largest district filing a lawsuit to block the cuts and others saying they'll have to

COLLECTIVE BARGAINEERING @ 140 CHARACTERS OR LESS: UTLANow+DrDeasyLAUSD tweet it all 4U

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 19 hours ago

tweeting on the fault line UTLAnow UTLA Th. Dec 15, 4 pm, join LAUSD teachers at Virgil Middle School to protest devastating budget cuts. Details at bit.ly/tga856 UTLAnow UTLA Press conference has begun: Teachers and students stand together to protest devastating budget cuts. Enough is enough! 4:14PM 12.15.11 UTLAnow UTLA Rain is falling but that won't

HEY CONGRESS, PIZZA IS NOT A VEGETABLE!

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 1 day ago

Op-Ed By Betsy Landers and Scott Folsom | San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Pasadena Star News/Whittier Daily News | http://bit.ly/vajEt4 12/14/2011 - ONE-THIRD of American children are overweight or obese. More than 12 million adolescents suffer from obesity. What used to be adult onset diabetes has become a childhood disease in the past decade. Poor nutrition promotes this seeming contradiction of

U P D A T E D: The Governor isn’t the only one reducing funding to schools; LAUSD BOARD OF ED ELIMINATES FEDERAL FUNDS FOR 23 SCHOOLS

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 1 day ago

here it is, for all to see: BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES Governing Board of the Los Angeles Unified School District REGULAR MEETING STAMPED ORDER OF BUSINESS 333 South Beaudry Avenue, Board Room 1 p.m., Tuesday, December 13, 2011   12. Board of Education Report No. 120 – 11/12          ADOPTED Office of the Superintendent (Fiscal Year 2012-13

GOV. PULLS TRIGGER, HITS EDUCATION: Budget cuts slam higher education, almost spare K-12

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 1 day ago

…Magnet and Special Ed students in LAUSD are collateral damage By Kathryn Baron |ToPEd:Thoughts on Public Education | http://bit.ly/vXIPNP | also appeared in the Huffington Post (John Fensterwald coauthored this article.) Midyear budget cuts hit California like a tornado on Tuesday, leaving public schools with less damage than anticipated while bearing down on state colleges and

CHALLENGES FACE HISPANIC STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 1 day ago

Nov/Dec 2011 Issue Urban Educator | Council of the Great City Schools| http://bit.ly/rsrQ2P Many of the nation’s Hispanic school-aged children face circumstances that challenge their potential to learn and school systems’ ability to provide a quality education to this growing population. This is the picture painted in a new report by the Council of the Great City Schools called Today’s

STATEWIDE EDUCATION GROUPS DECRY BUDGET CUTS

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 2 days ago

-- Theresa Watanabe | LA Times/LA NOW | http://lat.ms/vFpSfa Photo: State Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times December 14, 2011 | 12:14 pm :: A statewide coalition of educational leaders decried massive new budget cuts to public schools Wednesday, saying they would consider legal action and pursue new school-funding initiatives. On

LA UNIFIEDS GRADE-SCHOOL GAME: Getting your child into the L.A. Unified elementary school of your choice involves a lot of planning, patience — and luck + smf’s 2¢

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 2 days ago

Op-Ed by  Leslee Komaiko in the LA Times | http://lat.ms/rIGBOc 99th Street Elementary School. (Los Angeles Times) December 14, 2011 - Want to send your child to a well-regarded LAUSD elementary school? Get your notepad ready, and maybe some aspirin too. If money is no object, move — simply purchase or rent a home near your desired school. Residential property. An office where you're

LAUSD IS SUEING TO PROTECT BUS MONEY + All other coverage

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 2 days ago

  By Barbara Jones, Daily News Staff Writer | http://bit.ly/t3Ev6l   The Los Angeles Unified School District's magnet program is dependent upon busing. (Dean Musgrove/Daily News Staff Photographer) 12/13/2011 10:52:42 PM PST  :: Acting on behalf of 38,000 magnet and special-education students, Los Angeles Unified will file suit today in federal court challenging state budget cuts that wipe

STATEMENT FROM LAUSD SUPERINTENDENT JOHN DEASY ON TRIGGER CUTS: LAUSD to File Lawsuit Wednesday Opposing California Trigger Cuts to School Bus Transportation

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 2 days ago

Source Document News Statement For Immediate Release December 13, 2011 Contact: Tom Waldman (213) 241-6766 #11/12-83 Los Angeles Unified School District OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS 333 S. Beaudry Ave., 24th floor Los Angeles, CA 90017 Phone: (213) 241-6766 FAX: (213) 241-8952

Report: OVERWORKED, UNDERTRAINED PRINCIPALS - Annual survey seconds call for new evaluations

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 3 days ago

By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess | http://bit.ly/uhYirF Posted on 12/13/11 • Conduct more intensive teacher evaluations. Be the CEO of site-based budgeting. Guide the transition to Common Core standards. School reforms on the books or in the making would pile on significant responsibilities for school principals. But a new study by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning at

GOV. BROWN PULLS BUDGET ‘TRIGGER’: Colleges, school bus funding and services for disabled hit

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 3 days ago

By Steven Harmon Bay Area News Group | San Jose Mercury News http://bit.ly/t4VUPM Posted: 12/13/2011 12:24:30 PM PST Updated: 12/13/2011 12:56:50 PM PST SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Jerry Brown today said he would slash $1 billion in funding for higher education, school buses MediCal and services for the disabled, but K-12 schools will be largely spared from the devastating cuts many had feared.

LOBATO v. COLORADO: “The Court finds that the Colorado public school finance system is unconstitutional.”

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 3 days ago

smf background | compiled for 4LAKids: The framers of the Colorado State Constitution included a mandate that the state legislature “establish and maintain a thorough and uniform system of free public schools throughout the state.” In 2008-09, before the recession began, Colorado spent $1,809 less per pupil than the national average. [That year Colorado spent 94% of the national average per pupil

BRAVO MAGNET HIGH-SCHOOLERS UNDERTAKE 4-MILE WALKOUT TO LAUSD BOARD MEETING OVER SCHOOL BUS CUTS

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 3 days ago

By Simone Wilson | LA Weekly blog |  http://bit.ly/rTCiqz Tue., Dec. 13 2011 at 9:35 AM :: No more school buses in Los Angeles? < flickriver A few hundred students from Bravo Medical Magnet High School in Boyle Heights will trudge over four miles through whizzing downtown streets today. Fittingly, the brave urban hike will end in a plea to local Board of Education members: Don't you dare

2 CHARTER SCHOOLS ALLOWED SOME FAMILIES TO BYPASS LOTTERIES: L.A. Unified will weigh a ban on preferences like those at Larchmont and Los Feliz, which admitted some students in return for special services or volunteering by parents.

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 3 days ago

By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/v1PqAX The Board of Education on Tuesday will consider a ban on preferences in admissions to charter schools. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) December 12, 2011, 10:39 p.m. :: Two popular Los Angeles charter schools have allowed some families to bypass a lottery for admission in exchange for providing special services or a substantial

Countdown to Dec 15th: (NOON)TIME TO PULL THE BUDGET TRIGGER

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 3 days ago

Sac Bee AM Alert: http://bit.ly/uy38CZ 12.12.11 :: State Finance Director Ana Matosantos is expected to say @ noon today just how much in cuts will be triggered by California' failure to meet its optimistic budget projections. Her announcement on the state's revenue forecast, in a briefing for credentialed news media, will be held at noon in Room 126 at the Capitol. Any cuts will go into

Countdown to Dec 15th: LAUSD CHIEF PLANS TO DEFER “IMMORAL” CUTS TO NEXT YEAR

smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 3 days ago

●●smf: …because after the Mayan end-of-time morality will be different? By Barbara Jones Staff Writer/LA Daily News,Daily Breeze |  http://bit.ly/srXt90 12/13/2011  :: Vowing to fight "immoral" reductions in state funding, LAUSD's chief has crafted a complex strategy that would defer millions of dollars in cuts until next year - when programs like adult and early-childhood education could