12-5-13 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL:

Wow…This Is A Pretty Powerful Sandy Hook Video

Here’s a new video ad on gun violence at schools. You can read more about it at The Atlantic, and here’s the YouTube description: December 14, 2013, will mark the one-year anniversary of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is partnering with Mayors Against Illegal Guns to commemorate the anniversary with No More Silence, a campaign to honor the

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

Another Great Web App Bites The Dust: Bye, Bye Trapit

Trapit has been my favorite “web crawler” to scour the Web each day for news that I’m particularly interested in (for example, “parent engagement” articles. Each morning, it received an email with links to great articles and resources that I would have easily missed. Unfortunately, today it announced it was eliminating its consumer service to do something or other with businesses. So, I’ve deleted

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

Quote Of The Day: “Our Kids — Coddled or Confident?”

Our Kids — Coddled or Confident? is an excellent post by John Kuhn, and appeared in Anthony Cody’s Education Week Teacher blog. Here’s an excerpt: I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles On 2012 PISA Test Results.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

Resources On The Day Of The Virgin Of Guadalupe

December 12th is a Mexican National Holiday, and an important day for many Mexican-Americans — The Day Of The Virgin Of Guadalupe. You might be interested in The Best Sites For Learning & Teaching About The Day Of The Virgin Of Guadalupe.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h 

Voting is open! Check out the 2013 Edublog Awards nominees!

Between now and December 18th, you can vote for nominees listed at the Edublog Awards site. As I’ve said in previous years, I feel honored by being “shortlisted” in several of the categories and greatly appreciate those who nominated me. Nevertheless, instead of voting for me, I’d ask that you vote for those who I nominated — if they made the shortlist. If not, vote for one of the other worthy no

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h 

The Best Resources Honoring Nelson Mandela At His Passing….

The world loss a great man . I have an exhaustive The Best Sites For Learning About Nelson Mandela list. I thought it would be useful to create a second one highlighting resources coming out now to celebrate his life and mourn his death. I certainly be adding to it in the coming days: English Lesson Plan on Nelson Mandela is from Famous People Lessons. RIP, Nelson Mandela. http://t.co/RwjZ6tlCwn

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h 

Video: “Teachers on Newtown 911 tapes were ‘remarkably calm’ amid chaos”

I’m adding this video to yesterday’s post, Resources On The Sandy Hook Shootings: Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h hide  //  save

YESTERDAY

December’s Best Tweets — Part One

Every month I make a few short lists highlighting my choices of the best resources I through (and learned from) Twitter, but didn’t necessarily include them in posts here on my blog. I’ve already in earlier posts several new resources I found on Twitter — and where I gave credit to those from whom I learned about them. Those are not included again in this post. If you don’t use Twitter, you can a

by Larry Ferlazzo / 9h 

12-4-13 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Video: “The World Outside My Window – Time Lapse of Earth from the ISS”I’m adding this video to The Best Images Taken In Space:by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h The Best Places To Find The Most PopularI periodically post “most popular” lists of websites (and books) that I think educators might find useful. Of course, there are a numbe

by mike simpson / 8h 

12-5-13 Jersey Jazzman

Jersey Jazzman:

Everything You Heard Today About NJ Teachers Is Wrong

So I guess someone at the NJ Department of Education decided that today (the day after PISA Day) was the perfect time to tell the world that many of our state's teachers suck:  More than a quarter of teachers who were reviewed in a two-year pilot program of the state’s new evaluation system were rated only "partially effective" or worse in one part of the new system, according to a new r

by Duke / 11h 

12-2-13 Jersey Jazzman

Jersey Jazzman: 'Twas the Night Before PISA Day!'Twas the night before PISA Day, when all through the foundationsThe wonks were all dreaming about Bill Gates's donations;The rankings were crafted for each nation with care,In hopes that more grants would come from billionaires;The children were tested and stressed at their desks;While visions of bubble sheets made them feel quite grotesque;Suburban

by mike simpson / 9h 

12-5-13 teacherken at Daily Kos: "not an us-versus-them argument, but an all-of-us one."

Daily Kos: "not an us-versus-them argument, but an all-of-us one.":

"not an us-versus-them argument, but an all-of-us one. "

The words of my title are from The President, the Pope and the People, toda's New York Times column by Charles M. Blow.  It was written in response to Obama's speech yesterday, a speech in which, as Blow notes, " a populist president invoked a populist pope" with Obama citing the words of Francis I's recent Apostolic Exhortation. Blow offers quotes from the speech, and statistics galore.

by rss@dailykos.com ... / 5h 

 

12-4-13 teacherken at Daily Kos

teacherken at Daily Kos: Got a cell phone? The NSA knows where you've been and with whomas you can read in this Washington Post story, just up, written in part by Barton Gellman using his access to the documents provided by Edward Snowden. The snips I offer will be without the hot links, which you can get from the original piece. The opening paragraph reads The National Security Agency is gatherin

by mike simpson / 14h 

12-5-13 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University)

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University):

Setting Free the Books: On Stepping Aside as Teaching

While film critics have offered mostly negative reviews of This Is 40, I have watched all and then parts of the film multiple times during its run on cable TV because I am drawn to the scenes that include the children (who in real life are writer/director Judd Apatow’s children with lead actress Leslie Mann). In one scene, the older daughter, Sadie (Maude Apatow), charges into the kitchen and unle

by plthomasedd / 14min 

GUEST POST: Let’s Nurture Inner-Directed Students and Ignore the “No Excuses” Crowd, John Thompson

Let’s Nurture Inner-Directed Students and Ignore the “No Excuses” Crowd John Thompson Early in my career, Latifa taught me an important lesson about the teaching of noncognitve skills.  Latifa’s dress-for-success style and leadership made it easy to forget her unhappy childhood in foster homes.  When she got up, shut both doors, and walked to the front of the classroom, it was my time to take a se

by plthomasedd / 4min 

12-4-13 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): More on Failing Writing, and StudentsThroughout the 1980s and 1990s, I taught English in the rural South Carolina high school I attended as a student. Many of those years, I taught Advanced Placement courses as part of my load (I taught all levels of English and usually

by mike simpson / 6h 

12-5-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

Mandela

The Guardian puts his death in perspective:The death of Mandela will send South Africa deep into mourning and self-reflection nearly 20 years after he led the country from racial apartheid to inclusive democracy.But his passing will also be keenly felt by people around the world who revered Mandela as one of history's last great statesmen, and a moral paragon comparable with Mohandas Gandhi and Ma

by reality-based edu... / 12min 

Anthony Cody on The Standardization Of Schooling

Why turn school into drudge work for the overwhelming majority of children in this country via the Common Core and the Common Core testing?Here's why:In practice what this is likely to yield is an intensification of factory-style education for these low-scoring populations. Students who perform well may be somewhat relieved of this, but those in the low-scoring schools and social classes will get

by reality-based edu... / 9min hide  //  save

Andrew Cuomo Needs A Corruption Commission Of His Own

Fred Dicker outdoes himself with this:ALBANY – To many observers, the contrast between the new Moreland Commission’s findings on public corruption and Gov. Cuomo’s actions is nothing short of breathtaking. Monday night, Cuomo’s commission released a much-anticipated report that found the state’s “pay to play political culture” of big campaign contributions and special interest access had so badly

by reality-based edu... / 6h 

12-4-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Did De Blasio Interview Kaya Henderson To Be The Next NYCDOE Chancellor?On the heels of Bill de Blasio's flip flop over wanting an open process for the picking of the chancellor comes this doozy from the NY Times:In recent weeks, Mr. de Blasio and his team have reached out to Dr. Starr, the superintendent of the Montgomery County school district, and Kaya Henderson, chancell

by mike simpson / 8h

In 'The Spirit of Liberty' - Bridging Differences - Education Week

In 'The Spirit of Liberty' - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

In 'The Spirit of Liberty'

By Deborah Meier on December 5, 2013 9:58 AM

 "The spirit of liberty, which is not too sure it is right ... which seeks to understand the minds of others... which weighs their interests alongside its own ... that remembers that not even a sparrow falls to earth unheeded." -  Judge Learned Hand in a 1944 speech to new citizens.  

Dear Robert,

Sometimes friends ask me why I blog with people who fundamentally disagree with me.  The answer: It fascinates me—and some readers, I hope.  In short, you've raised issues that could keep me happily busy for many decades. 

But, believe me, after 50 years, one thing I know for sure—many schools are not places that respect either students, teachers, or their families. Respect is hardly the norm—ask parents who send their kids to under-funded schools where no one knows them well and where they receive a prescribed and uninspired standardized curriculum—sort of like the citizenship tests you write about. Chicago's public schools were the first institution I encountered that treated me with a range of disrespect that I had never before encountered.

Does the U.S. Citizenship civics test offer a good basic definition of the knowledge we all should possess, you ask?  Some of the 100 questions are halfway reasonable; some are absurd. An example:  Who wrote the National Anthem?  Most pass because, like the paper-and-pencil part of state drivers' tests, one is provided with a manual to prep for the test.  Do you still remember how many feet from a fireplug you can park?  Is there evidence of a correlation between good driving records and scores on the written driver's test? 

No, it is not "fair"—or sensible—to hang citizenship (or a driver's license) on this kind of knowledge.  Nor do I imagine any legislator who voted for them (did such a vote happen?) ever try passing the test. Would you take citizenship or voting rights away from those who fail the test?  (We did 

12*5*13 Open Congress : Major Bill Actions Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress

Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress:

Bill Introduced: H.R. 3612: Know Before You Owe Private Student Loan Act of 2013

To amend the Truth in Lending Act and the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require certain creditors to obtain certifications from institutions of higher education, and for other purposes.

6h hide  //  save

Bill Introduced: H.Res. 406: Expressing support for designation of the week beginning on November 11, 2013, as National School Psychology Week.

Expressing support for designation of the week beginning on November 11, 2013, as National School Psychology Week.

6h 

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress

Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress: Bill Introduced: H.R. 3583: Malala Yousafzai Scholarship ActTo expand the number of scholarships available to Pakistani women under the Merit and Needs-Based Scholarship Program.6h hide  //  saveBill Introduced: H.R. 3477: Veterans Legal Support Act of 2013To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide support to university law school programs t

by mike simpson / 8h 

Louisiana Educator: Education Amateurs Harm Public Schools

Louisiana Educator: Education Amateurs Harm Public Schools:

Education Amateurs Harm Public Schools

BESE this week adopted major changes in student, teacher, and school accountability as the Common Core State Standards implementation is being adjusted to a 10 year implementation schedule. Once again, educators and students will have to adjust to major changes in the ground rules.

Superintendent White, in response to concerns of parents and teachers, has proposed to gradually raise performance expectations related to the CCSS. Performance expectations as measured by the PARCC testing will begin in the Spring testing of 2015 and gradually increase to 2025. Acceptable performance on ELA and math will begin with achievement of a 3 out of a 5 point scale on test measures in 2015 and will go up to 4 out of 5 by 2025. New York state began this year by expecting achievement at a level of 4. This resulted in over 70% of tested students rated as unsatisfactory. I guess their leaders thought it was OK to use their entire student population as guinea pigs. White “believes” Louisiana can avoid the severe drop in student performance by using a more gradual approach. This gradual approach is supposed to give a reasonable time for students and teachers to adapt to the new learning standards.

Because of the change to the new testing system, no VAM ratings of teachers will be produced for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years. The student performance part of all teacher ratings will be based on student learning targets (SLTs) for those two years.

Local school officials will be given authority to wave minimum state test score requirements for students to be promoted from 4th to 5th grade and will be allowed to move 8th grade students to the high school level even if they do not pass the 8th grade state 

K-12 News Network | A Teacher’s Letter to President Obama: Play Is Being Pushed Out By Drill and Kill

K-12 News Network | A Teacher’s Letter to President Obama: Play Is Being Pushed Out By Drill and Kill:

A Teacher’s Letter to President Obama: Play Is Being Pushed Out By Drill and Kill

This is part of a series of letters written by practicing teaching professionals in classrooms around America. These teachers have daily direct contact with schoolchildren. K12NN is proud to present Letters to President Obama. Letters were delivered to President Obama as part of an overall conviction by many teachers that federal education policies, as currently implemented, are not benefiting public school students.

About the writer: La Pluma Poderosa is an early childhood educator based in San Francisco fighting the corporate push into public education.

November 30th, 2013

Dear President Obama,

I am an early childhood educator with many years of experience in the profession. It is extremely distressing to me to see corporate interests taking over our early childhood classrooms. Play is being pushed out and replaced with drill and kill. Instead of our children exploring their world and asking questions, they are being prepped for high-stakes testing. Instead of discovering scientific principles on their own or with the guidance of an expert teacher, they are being prepped to take computer adaptive tests. Instead of building autonomy and social skills, they are being prepped for a future in which there is one right answer and no variants will be allowed. Instead of learning how to work in a team and collaborate they are being prepped for tests that pit them against their peers.

Society is strengthened when all children are able to tap into what makes them unique; when their interests are fostered; and when they are valued as vital members of society. Secretary Arne Duncan can only see what data will let him and he is unable to see our children as the creative individuals we know they are. Arne Duncan lacks basic empathy and chooses not to see the damage foisted on our public school children by way of standards written by business people, high-stakes tests that only serve the stockholders, and tying teacher evaluations to test scores. No one wins this ‘race to the top’ except