Sunday, February 23, 2014

Nite Cap 2-23-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2




James Baldwin said it best: 

"For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."


A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAP




Teachers Speaking out Against Common Core – (What was promised, was not what was delivered) | Crazy Crawfish's Blog
Teachers Speaking out Against Common Core – (What was promised, was not what was delivered) | Crazy Crawfish's Blog: Crazy Crawfish's BlogZesty Louisiana Education PoliticsTeachers Speaking out Against Common Core – (What was promised, was not what was delivered)Posted on February 23, 20140This information comes from our friends at LAPACC, Louisiana Parents Against Common Core.https://www.facebook
2-23-14 empathyeducates – For Whites Only – Students and Teachers Matter
empathyeducates – For Whites Only – Students and Teachers Matter: For Whites Only – Students and Teachers MatterTeacher Linda Robinson works on algebra with students, left, Alicia Varney and Savannah Reed, both 16, at Union County’s Porter Ridge High, one of the schools that logged a strong performance on new state ratings of teacher effectiveness. Davie Hinshaw — dhinshaw@charlotteobserver.comInt
Louisiana Educator: Jindal Loses Again
Louisiana Educator: Jindal Loses Again: Jindal Loses AgainPlease Help Make Sure He Continues to LoseWhen Governor Jindal rammed through his brutal attack on teachers and public schools in the 2012 legislative session he was warned that his new laws violated the constitution, violated basic due process rights of teachers, and improperly usurped the authority of our elected school boards. But he dec
So What If It's Not Relevant Right Now? (Just Math It) - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson
So What If It's Not Relevant Right Now? (Just Math It) - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson: So What If It’s Not Relevant Right Now? (Just Math It)by JOSE VILSON on FEBRUARY 23, 2014in MR. VILSONThis week, I’m supposed to teach my students how to solve a system of equations by elimination. It’s the hardest of the four ways  for solving systems (graphing, substitution, guess-and-checking), and I’m n
On Turning Public Spaces Into Forces of Consumption | educarenow
On Turning Public Spaces Into Forces of Consumption | educarenow: On Turning Public Spaces Into Forces of ConsumptionPosted on February 23, 2014 | Leave a commentThe common spaces traditionally provided for the public are slowly being eroded in the name of economic efficiency, victim to the ideology of pervasive market fundamentalism that serves as the scourge of our age.  On the front edge of pos
CURMUDGUCATION: Standardized Testing Sucks
CURMUDGUCATION: Standardized Testing Sucks: Standardized Testing SucksI am not a testing scientist. There are bloggers and writers and people who frequent the comments section of Diane Ravitch's blog who can dissect the science and the stats and the proper creation and forming and parsing of testing and testlettes and testicles (okay, maybe not those). I'm not one of those people; Mercedes Schneid
2-23-14 The Answer Sheet
The Answer Sheet: Why test-based school reform isn’t working — by the numbersAward-winning Prinicipal Carol Burris of South Side High School in New York has been exposing the problems with New York’s botched school reform effort for a long time on this blog. (You can read some of her work here, here, here,  here, and here.) In the following post she looks at irrefutable data to show that the test-
2-23-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida ALL Week
Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: Are Florida Tea Party Voters Turning Away From Rick Scott and Jeb Bush?The mostly conservative Florida opponents of Common Core didn’t like the brush-off they received from Board of Education commissioner Gary Chartrand at last week’s public hearing. Chris Quakenbush, a
Willful Ignorance Is Not A Desired Trait For Elected Officials | PWC Education Reform Blog
Willful Ignorance Is Not A Desired Trait For Elected Officials | PWC Education Reform Blog: Willful Ignorance Is Not A Desired Trait For Elected OfficialsFebruary 23, 2014 — pwceducationreformLast week, by majority vote, PWC School Board chose to send a letter to Governor McAuliffe asking him to allow Virginia to remain independent from the Common Core State Standards initiative.  The vote was clo
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 2-23-14
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: John Marshall High School: ACADEMIC DECATHLON PUTS THE WORK IN TEAMWORKMarshall team members forge friendships, gain confidence and learn as they train for the statewide competition after winning the L.A. Unified contest. By Alicia Banks, LA Times  |  http://lat.ms/1cED2FT Academic Decathlon coach Larry Welch talks to members of the John Marshall High S
A Teacher’s Advice to Bill Gates | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates
Teachers’LettersToBillGates | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates: A Teacher’s Advice to Bill GatesPosted on February 23, 2014by Teachers'LettersToBillGatesTeachers'LettersToBillGates:Dear Bill and Melinda,Are you out of touch with those who do not travel in the circles of American CEO’s?Do we need to do an intervention for you, CEO’s and the rest of the 1% corporate edreformer vulture philanthropists
2-23-14 V.A.M.: Value Added Measure
V.A.M.: Value Added Measure: The Common-Core Pushers Rebrand their ProductAt the Common-Core Beauty Pageant, Rebranding is the Name of the Game.  Who will win this year?  Will it be Miss. Iowa Core, Miss Arizona College and Career Ready Standards, Miss Next Generation Sunshine State Standards, or any of one of a number of the other "Rebranders"? The Common-Core pushers realize the dwindl
2-23-14 Wait What?
Wait What?: The sickness that has crept into Connecticut politics and governmentAs measured by the number of college graduates Connecticut is among the most educated states in the nation.  As measured by per capital income Connecticut is wealthiest state in country, and if we were our own country we’d be one of the wealthiest and best educated countries in the world. And yet there is a […]The post
Schooling in the Ownership Society: New religious charter believes in Value-Added
Schooling in the Ownership Society: New religious charter believes in Value-Added: New religious charter believes in Value-AddedStudents participating in By the Hand Club's after school program, say a prayer at the end of their chapel session before returning to their classrooms to begin their homework. | Jessica Koscielniak / Sun-Times“My faith motivates me to do more,” says Donnita Travis, the f
2-23-14 Ed Notes Online
Ed Notes Online: REVIVE UFT : Mulgrew Forms New Group to Ally With MORE, Causing Split in Unity"Before we can move forward, we must resolve many outstanding issues from those dark years, starting with our working conditions, which are also our students’ learning conditions."... Michael MulgrewUFT President Mike Mulgrew is finding so much in common with the MORE caucus he has decided to b
Morning Wink 2-23-14 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS2-23-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdDthe becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): remnant 56: “thus I, for example, in the midst of my unhappiness”remnant 56: “thus I, for example, in the midst of my unhappiness”.by plthomase
2-23-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD
the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): remnant 56: “thus I, for example, in the midst of my unhappiness”remnant 56: “thus I, for example, in the midst of my unhappiness”.by plthomasedd / 6min   2-22-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdDTHE BECOMING RADICALRadical Sc
2-23-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher
Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Sunday reads.  Elijah Edwards, AFSCME Local 2858 Vice President (right) and I talk pension theft with Keeanga-Yahmahtta Taylor and Micah Uetricht of Jacobin Radio Chicago. One Newark means firing 700 union teachers, replaced by TFA kids. Finding: Conservative activists are manufacturing the perception
Union Election in Los Angeles: Meet Candidate Caputo-Pearl - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher
Union Election in Los Angeles: Meet Candidate Caputo-Pearl - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: Union Election in Los Angeles: Meet Candidate Caputo-PearlBy Anthony Cody on February 23, 2014 9:44 AMColeen Bondy, Los Angeles teacher, has prepared special coverage of the upcoming teacher's union election in her city. Here is her report:United Teachers Los Angeles, the teachers' union for L
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 2-23-14 Diane Ravitch's blog #thankateacher #EDCHAT #P2
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Instructions to Teacher in Chicago about Which Kids Count MostThis letter from a teacher in Chicago public schools shows how gaming the system has become more important than helping each and every child achieve their best. Data matter more than students. Data matter more than learning. Numbers trump education and equity. The advice
2-23-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: The “All-Time” Best Ways To Create Online Content Easily & QuicklyI’ve been posting annual lists of the Best Ways To Create Online Content Easily & Quickly for seven years. I thought it would be useful for readers, my students, and me to review them all and identify my choices for the “all-time” best ones. These web
2-23-14 @ The Chalk Face
@ THE CHALK FACE: Fiction changed to informational text, #commoncoreThis looks about right.7 by Shaun Johnson / 25min A lot of discussion about these “data walls” latelyThe concept of the “data wall” has been gathering some attention lately, more so than normal. They’ve been with us, I don’t know, for a few years now.  To be honest, I don’t have much experience with them. I certainly don’t have on
2-23-14 Perdido Street School
Perdido Street School: How The Chinese Rig Their PISA Scores - And Why It Doesn't Matter AnywayThe next time some education reformer type spews alarmist clap trap around the PISA scores, you can lay this on them:Chinese experts are also less impressed than Truss by the Pisa scores. "Even though Shanghai students scored well on the test, this doesn't mean that Shanghai's education system doesn
Open Letters To ‘D-List’ Reformers I Know. Part 1: Justin ‘Juice’ Fong | Gary Rubinstein's Blog
Open Letters To ‘D-List’ Reformers I Know. Part 1: Justin ‘Juice’ Fong | Gary Rubinstein's Blog: Open Letters To ‘D-List’ Reformers I Know. Part 1: Justin ‘Juice’ FongA little over a year ago, I wrote a series of open letters to ‘reformers’ I’ve known throughout the years.  I was not surprised that the majority of them did not respond.  On average, they each are making over $300K a year in the ed
thoughts on living and teaching
thoughts on living and teaching: thoughts on living and teachingbyteacherkenFollow    Email  11 Comments / 11 NewI have not blogged much recently.  I have put more of myself into teaching, and I have decided to make some major changes in my life.  As some may already know, on December 30, I took my first ever yoga class, at Flow Yoga Center on P Street, near Logan Circle, in DC.  I had prior to th
Newark: 700 teachers may be laid off, many replaced by TFA | Bob Braun's Ledger
Newark: 700 teachers may be laid off, many replaced by TFA | Bob Braun's Ledger: Newark: 700 teachers may be laid off, many replaced by TFAThe state administration of the Newark Public Schools (NPS) is expected to lay off hundreds of experienced city teachers and replace many  with new hires, including more than 300 members of Teach for America (TFA).  The report comes from union sources but is su
NYC Educator: The Seat at the Table
NYC Educator: The Seat at the Table: The Seat at the TableThis is something our leadership always appears to want. And it's certainly true that it pays to talk to everyone. I'm not a big fan of Bill Gates, but you never know. Maybe one day, even someone as impervious to fact and science as he is may decide to listen. But since there's little evidence to support that supposition, it's best not to b
Strengthening Leadership Strategies On Tap at NEA Summit | NEA Today
Strengthening Leadership Strategies On Tap at NEA Summit | NEA Today: Strengthening Leadership Strategies On Tap at NEA SummitFebruary 23, 2014 by egraham  Filed under Featured News, Top StoriesBy Edward GrahamAs educators all across the country work to tackle the most pressing issues facing public education today, a group of over 550 educational leaders convened this weekend to discuss solution-b

YESTERDAY

Guest Post Series. Part One: How Interning for TFA Convinced me of its Injustice | Gary Rubinstein's Blog
Guest Post Series. Part One: How Interning for TFA Convinced me of its Injustice | Gary Rubinstein's Blog: Guest Post Series. Part One: How Interning for TFA Convinced me of its InjusticeRecently, several people have contacted me with interesting stories they wanted to share with the people who read this blog.  In the coming weeks there will be more guest posts like this one from Bryn Mawr College
On the Serving Platter: The NEA-Teach Plus “Partnership” | deutsch29
On the Serving Platter: The NEA-Teach Plus “Partnership” | deutsch29: On the Serving Platter: The NEA-Teach Plus “Partnership”February 22, 2014I think both national teachers unions have some skewed arrangement to “seek solidarity” by fastening themselves to privatizing groups. Perhaps such is an adult display of grasping to belong to the “cool kids” clique.The “cool kids” are the ones exploding wi
Nite Cap 2-22-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
James Baldwin said it best: "For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAPIndiana Choice Parent Questions Vouchers for Church Steeples - Living in Dialogue - Education Week TeacherIndiana Choice Parent Questions Vouchers for Church Steeples - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: Indiana Choice Parent Questions



Teachers Speaking out Against Common Core – (What was promised, was not what was delivered) | Crazy Crawfish's Blog

Teachers Speaking out Against Common Core – (What was promised, was not what was delivered) | Crazy Crawfish's Blog:



Teachers Speaking out Against Common Core – (What was promised, was not what was delivered)

Posted on February 23, 2014

This information comes from our friends at LAPACC, Louisiana Parents Against Common Core.
In this post, you will find the testimony of a Louisiana teacher. The identity of this teacher will not be revealed, you will just have to trust that we have verified this to be from an actual teacher.
We hope that this brave teacher’s testimony will open the flood gates. We invite each and every Louisiana teacher to send us their up close and personal look at what Common Core is doing to education. All you have to do is email info@lapacc.com.
Thank you, brave teacher. We thank you and support you!!!
Teacher Testimony:
“Common Core.” I first heard those words uttered only a few years back. I still remember going to a fellow classroom teacher’s room during my planning period to watch a state education webinar that gave some very “basic” information about it. After viewing it, we all had mixed emotions. We weren’t sure exactly what it meant. It didn’t sound too terribly bad. From what we were told, it was a curriculum that got rid of unnecessary grade level expectations that we were already struggling to fit into our jam packed curriculum back then. It would supposedly focus on the basics and concentrate on them longer until they were mastered by the students. Another proposed positive of the coming national curriculum was that it would ease the transition of students that moved 

Quick update to crawfish events
I will not be on theChalkface radio today at 5 -6.  I came down with pneumonia after the Common Core conference and speaking is not one of the things in am doing well at the moment. (Coughing and wheezing is even less pleasant to listen to over the radio than in person, I assure you.) I will be at the NPE Event in Austin next week (1st of March) but will only be on a panel on the first on student

FEB 19

Common Core Information Forum February 20th, 6PM
crazycrawfish:Epic Common Core Forum tomorrow night! It’s not too late to get your ticket online and reserve your seat. Originally posted on Crazy Crawfish's Blog: Please consider attending this event if you are curious about the reasons many folks are opposed to the Common Core State Standards initiative. Common Core is not just something that impacts public schools; most private schools have alr

2-23-14 empathyeducates – For Whites Only – Students and Teachers Matter

empathyeducates – For Whites Only – Students and Teachers Matter:



    For Whites Only – Students and Teachers Matter

    Teacher Linda Robinson works on algebra with students, left, Alicia Varney and Savannah Reed, both 16, at Union County’s Porter Ridge High, one of the schools that logged a strong performance on new state ratings of teacher effectiveness. Davie Hinshaw — dhinshaw@charlotteobserver.com
    Introductory Essay By Betsy L. Angert | Published at EmpathyEducates. February 7, 2014
    A court case will determine what is best for our children; an experienced teacher in every classroom or one deemed “more effective.” A young one, a fun one, or perchance a Teach For America [TFA] Fellow? There is much to be said for having powerful connections. Sure there are studies [one], that might partially substantiate the claim that TFA teachers are effective, but what do these say? It is good to be white and among the elite if you want a quality education.
    When we think of Teach For America, perhaps we will see facts are the facts except when they are fluid, which may mean frequently facts are not facts. As researchers note, rarely are these balanced. [See LAUSD Human Capital Diagnostic; Understanding Teacher Effects for a read on "Limitations of Teacher Effects."] How might this be? We each see correlations. With little information we deduce causation. Good teachers and great management equals an excellent education – or were it not for tenure regulations, all would be well, so says Students Matter. This is an organization vested in privatization. The intent is to prove that public education is the source of discrimination rather than the great equalizer. And the plan may succeed if a judge and jurors are persuaded.
    It is believed that ‘the truth will set us free,’ but how can that be when frames of reference are 

    2-22-14 empathyeducates All Week
    empathyeducates:The 4 Most Profound Ways Privatization Perverts EducationBy Paul Buchheit | Originally Published at AlterNet. February 16, 2014 Profit-seeking in the banking and health care industries has victimized Americans. Now it’s beginning to happen in education, with our children as the products.
There are good reasons – powerful reasons – to stop the privatization […]20 by empathy / 1d Tea

    Louisiana Educator: Jindal Loses Again

    Louisiana Educator: Jindal Loses Again:



    Jindal Loses Again

    Please Help Make Sure He Continues to Lose



    When Governor Jindal rammed through his brutal attack on teachers and public schools in the 2012 legislative session he was warned that his new laws violated the constitution, violated basic due process rights of teachers, and improperly usurped the authority of our elected school boards. But he decided to use the immense power of the governor's office to bully the legislature into taking away the tenure and seniority rights of teachers and much of the authority of our school boards to oversee the employment and dismissal of teachers.

    This recent article  in the Monroe News Star explains how a district judge once again returned a verdict striking down one of Jindal's attacks on teachers. The Louisiana Association of Educators (LAE) initiated this lawsuit challenging the weakening of due process rights of teachers in Act 1 of 2012 for one of its members in Monroe. LAE president Debbie Meaux has pledged to continue the defense of LAE members who are being deprived of their rights by Jindals “deforms”. Judge Jones' ruling now 

    So What If It's Not Relevant Right Now? (Just Math It) - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson

    So What If It's Not Relevant Right Now? (Just Math It) - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson:



    So What If It’s Not Relevant Right Now? (Just Math It)

    by JOSE VILSON on FEBRUARY 23, 2014

    This week, I’m supposed to teach my students how to solve a system of equations by elimination. It’s the hardest of the four ways  for solving systems (graphing, substitution, guess-and-checking), and I’m not entirely sure everyone in the class gets the first three. The main point of the unit is to determine exactly where two or more linear relationships meet, if they ever do. The situation could be realistic (two cars running a race, two trains on a schedule, cell phone pricing plans) or already abstracted (simultaneous equations), but I’m hoping they can find this meeting point because it’s really interesting. Is it relevant to their daily lives? Perhaps. Do I care? Not necessarily.
    Really, I don’t always want the things that people learn to be within the realm of possibility, because I’m trying to prepare them for the improbable as well.
    One missing piece of the Common Core State Standards debate is that, while I’m glad to teach
    - See more at: http://thejosevilson.com/relevant-right-now-just-math/#sthash.VoZ8f4c6.dpuf