Please Interpret Teachbad’s Dream | Mr. Teachbad

Please Interpret Teachbad’s Dream | Mr. Teachbad:

Please Interpret Teachbad’s Dream

by teachbad

I just had a crazy-ass dream and the details are fad­ing fast so let me get this down…

I am walk­ing around the grounds of Catholic Uni­ver­sity in Wash­ing­ton, DC. I stop and sit under a tree or on a bench; I don’t remem­ber. I fall asleep and start to dream.

In my dream’s dream, I was in my class­room dur­ing first period, which is my plan­ning period. I was work­ing on some­thing stu­pid or tedious or prob­a­bly both. I got bored and decided to go for a walk. I was walk­ing around the grounds of Catholic Uni­ver­sity. Walk­ing and think­ing; des­per­ately not want­ing to go back.

I stopped and sat down some­where. Under a tree, on a bench; I don’t remem­ber. I fall asleep and start to dream. I dream that I wake up and it’s five min­utes until my sec­ond period starts, but I’m about 20 min­utes away from school and have noth­ing planned for them at all.

Total panic. Heart rac­ing.

I’m going to get in trou­ble for not being there and then again for hav­ing noth­ing planned. I start run­ning back to school

The Port Huron Statement at 50! « Bill Ayers

The Port Huron Statement at 50! « Bill Ayers:

The Port Huron Statement at 50!

by billayers

By Alexander Cockburn

Fifty years ago, a group of students in the American Midwest issued a document rather portentously titled “The Port Huron Statement.” It was the founding manifesto of Students for a Democratic Society and became one of the most famous documents of that momentous and creative decade.

Read any history of the upsurges in the United States in the 1960s written over the past three decades and you’ll at once encounter tributes to SDS as on the cutting edge of radical organizing — in the battles against racial discrimination, particularly in the South; in the protests against the Vietnam War; and more largely in the aim of young people in the 1960s to break the shackles of the Cold-War consensus that had paralyzed independent thought and spread fear of McCarthyite purges through the whole of what remained of the organized left in America, in the labor movement, the

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: In my mailbox

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: In my mailbox:

In my mailbox

by Mike Klonsky

Dear Parents and Community Members,

As concerned parents we ask that you call Mr. Brizard, Chicago Board of Education CEO, on Tuesday, January 31, and urge him to immediately withdraw plans to close 6 schools and turn around 10 others. It will send a strong message if CPS receives many calls on the same day. Also, please call each Tuesday--February 7, 14, and 21—prior to the February 22 Board meeting when they will vote on the proposed actions. Please forward this email to others, share on facebook, and spread the word!

School closings and turnarounds are harmful to children, their families, and their communities.

Happy Birthday, Bob Marley! | News One

Happy Birthday, Bob Marley! | News One:

Happy Birthday, Bob Marley!

Written by D.L. Chandler on February 6, 2012 11:16 amClick for More

Today, Bob Marley would have been 67 years of age.

RELATED: Happy 58th Birthday, Oprah!

In the 31 years since his untimely death, Marley still remains the most-popular figure in Reggae music. Succumbing to cancer at age 36 in 1981, Marley had become a global ambassador for the music he helped make famous.

Marley’s passing shook the reggae and music community to its core; yet, his legacy remains intact through his timeless music catalog and talented children.

Marley was born in the village of Nine Mile in Saint Ann Parish in Jamaica (also the birthplace ofMarcus Garvey). Marley’s father was a white Jamaican man of English descent and his mother was a native of Jamaica. Discovering music as a teenager, Marley befriended Neville “Bunny” Livingston (aka Bunny Wailer) who shared his dreams of becoming a musician. Through singer

Do E-Books Threaten Democracy? - Forbes

Do E-Books Threaten Democracy? - Forbes:

Do E-Books Threaten Democracy?

+ Comment now

Do digital books threaten our democracy? Depends on who you ask.

eBooks are on trial once again. This time, they represent nothing short of an existential threat to democracy itself.

In the prosecutor’s corner we have novelist Jonathan Franzen, playing the role of ‘bookservative’ and decrying the rise of these anti-democratic digital tomes.

“Maybe nobody will care about printed books 50 years from now, but I do,” Franzen said recently.

Contributor

“When I read a book, I’m handling a specific object in a specific time and place. The fact that when I tak

SUPER BOWL AND MONDAY BLUES « Teachers Fight Back

SUPER BOWL AND MONDAY BLUES « Teachers Fight Back:

SUPER BOWL AND MONDAY BLUES

by alkleen

All the teachers at my school always complained that the Super Bowl was on a Sunday evening. We could never understand why it couldn’t be on a Saturday evening. If you are a teacher, you understand why the Super Bowl needs to be on a Saturday. Students are sleepy and disinterested on a Monday morning following such a party filled event like the Super Bowl. The usual amount of irresponsible parents party late into Super Bowl evening and their children are allowed to partake and therefore miss their usual bedtime.

Teachers who party late on Super Bowl evening know how difficult the next morning will be. A teacher on a post Super Bowl Monday needs to be at their absolute enthusiastic and motivational best. They know what the kids are going to be like and therefore they must be at their best to counteract the sluggishness of their students.

I don’t think the average person realizes what it’s like to try to motivate thirty-five students on a normal Monday

Tilden hearing shows sabotage of poor schools is CPS policy before 'turnaround'

Chicago Teachers Union | Substance News: Tilden hearing shows sabotage of poor schools is CPS policy before 'turnaround':

Substance News: Tilden hearing shows sabotage of poor schools is CPS policy before 'turnaround'

02/06/2012

Read original post here:

Illinois State Representative Esther Golar (D-6th) member of the Chicago Facilities Task Force (CEFTF) warned Chicago Public Schools that the “Fight is On!” She was rebuking Hearing officer Fred Bates during the public hearing held on a Friday night 7:30pm February 3, 2012 at Chicago Board of Education headquarters in downtown, regarding the plan to "turnaround" Tilden High School on Chicago’s South Side. In a dramatic five-minute speech, Rep. Golar first challenges the hearing officer's version of reality, then goes on to describe the impact of CPS sabotage on Tilden over the years.

RheeFirst! » Michelle Rhee comes to Alabama #edchat #edreform

RheeFirst! » Michelle Rhee comes to Alabama:

Michelle Rhee comes to Alabama

by admin

Originally posted on Blue in Alabama. Read the entire post here.
“It was recently announced, and not very publicly, that Michelle Rhee, the HIGHLY controversial ex-Washington, D.C. superintendent was coming to the state of Alabama at the request of Dr. Bentley (yes the Michelle Rhee from the Waiting for Superman documentary). It’s still unclear who’s going to be footing the bill for her visit. Apparently she and her group StudentFirst are coming to here to work with charter schools in the state. Dr. Bentley’s office didn’t notify the state Board of Education or the state school superintendent. That should be the first red flag. How can a woman come in to talk about education reform…without talking to the Board of Ed. or the state superintendent?!“

WTF Analysis: Why a charter school trumped a neighborhood school for space | school, charter, schools - News - The Orange County Register

Analysis: Why a charter school trumped a neighborhood school for space | school, charter, schools - News - The Orange County Register:

District: Charter law forced school's closure

Mission Viejo’s award-winning Barcelona Hills Elementary School will close in June to allow the 5-month-old Oxford Preparatory Academy charter school to grow.

By SCOTT MARTINDALE / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

MISSION VIEJO – Barcelona Hills Elementary is closing in June, but not because it's an underperforming school or because neighborhood parents are demanding sweeping changes.

The 34-year-old Mission Viejo school, a 2010 California Distinguished School recipient nestled in a middle-class Mission Viejo neighborhood of families who cherish and support their school, is closing because a charter school needs space to expand – and there isn't room for both schools.

These Barcelona Hills Elementary parents have led a months-long fight to save their school, pleading their case to the school district and school board in emails, phone calls, in-person meetings and public hearings. Pictured, from left, Lisa Middleton, Marcela Alcaraz, Sharon Mata, Monica Alvarez, Valinda Accetta, Jim Reynen, Linda Shepard, Gary Middleton, Patrick Mallon and Debbie Lackie.

LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

MORE PHOTOS »

The Capistrano Unified School District made the gut-wrenching decision to close Barcelona Hills in January, following a five-month experiment in which Barcelona shared its 25-classroom campus with the district's new Oxford Preparatory Academy K-8 charter school.

Behind the unusual outcome is a series of state laws designed specifically to empower public charter schools and guarantee them classroom space in public school districts, many of which historically have been unwelcoming and unfriendly to charter schools.

In Capistrano, however, these same state laws

TEMECULA: Board surrenders charter to district:

TEMECULA: Board surrenders charter to district

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By JENNIFER KABBANY For The Californian | Posted: Saturday, February 4, 2012 6:00 pm | 1 Comment

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• TEMECULA: Context founder wonders what's next
• TEMECULA: Context charter school to close

The remaining three members of Context Middle School's board voted to surrender the embattled school's charter to the Temecula school district at a short but fiery meeting Friday night.

After the 3-0 vote, which came without discussion, several parents who packed the classroom where the meeting was held called out "shame on you" to board members, two of whom were present, while the third attended the meeting via cellphone.

The vote effectively cancels the charter the Temecula Valley Unified School District board approved in June 2010 that spelled out the school's mission and curriculum, and puts the 7-month-old campus under distric

Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/temecula/temecula-board-surrenders-charter-to-district/article_1afa6443-ebfd-5d4b-b1e7-5044b08c1613.html#ixzz1lcdu5Jqw

Lost Malcolm X Speech Heard Again 50 Years Later : NPR

Lost Malcolm X Speech Heard Again 50 Years Later : NPR:

Lost Malcolm X Speech Heard Again 50 Years Later

by GUY RAZ

Last semester, Brown senior Malcolm Burnley took a narrative writing course. One of the assignments was to write a fictional story based on something true — and that true event had to be found inside the university archives.

"So I went to the archives and started flipping through dusty compilations of student newspapers, and there was this old black-and-white photo of when Malcolm X came to speak," Burnley says. "There was one short article that corresponded to it, and very little else."

Malcolm X came to speak at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on May 11, 1961. Burnley noticed that at the end of the article, there was a brief mention of another article — also from the Brown student newspaper — written by a senior named Katharine Pierce. Her article was the reason Malcolm X wanted to visit Brown.

He tracked down Pierce's phone number and gave her a call. "I immediately started asking