1-15-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education:

Are Stew’s Standards All About Keeping Florida’s Race to the Top Cash?

Fifteen percent. That’s the number of changes allowed in Common Core Standards ambiguous loosely defined copyright and the estimated amount of largely cosmetic changes Florida education commissioner Pam Stewart made to Common Core Standards to make them “truly ours.” The other number is $375 million. It’s how much Florida has left of the Race to the Top grant its was awarded by the Obama administr

by Bob Sikes / 3h

1-14-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: Michelle Rhee’s Florida Rep Says No Parent Trigger This YearFrom Gradebook’s Jeff Solochek: A national advocacy group that in recent years has pressured Florida lawmakers to adopt the controversial “parent trigger” school takeover plan will not push that initiative again

by mike simpson / 9h 

Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog 1-15-14

Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog:

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In Kingston, Jamaica a mosquito-borne virus appears to be spreading quickly in the Caribbean during the winter tourism season just weeks after epidemiologists first found local transmission occurirng in the French dependency of St. Martin. Scientists said that St. Martin now has as many as 200 cases of chikungunya, a virus found mainly in Africa and Asia that can cause a debilitating but rarely fa

by Raymond Duong / 9h hide  //  save

China's Moon Rover and Lander Spotted by NASA Spacecraft

For the first time in 40 years, after the Soviet Union's rover finally gave up in 1973, humanity once again has a rover exploring the surface of the moon. Coming to a surprise to me, this rover isn't Russian or American. The first country to perform a landing on the moon in 40 years is China. China's Chang'e 3 mission lifted off December 1, 2013 and landed on the surface of the moon on December 14

by Raymond Duong / 9h 

Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog 1-14-14

Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog: Problems With the New Kings Arena    To be fair, I'm not a fan of the Sacramento King's, but that doesn't mean that I am against them.  I don't believe that building a new arena downtown is going to solve any local problems, nor do I think it is right to carry out these plans without consulting those who live and work in the immediate area. They are the ones who will be

by mike simpson / 9h 

1-15-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

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

More “What If?” History Projects — Plus, What Students Thought Of Them….

Last week, I shared a few of the “What If?” history project my IB Theory of Knowledge students created and added them to The Best Resources For Teaching “What If?” History Lessons. Students just completed a simple evaluation of the project, and I thought readers might be interested in what they thought of it. As my IB students have done in previous years, they are teaching my English Language Lea

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h 

Important Interactive Infographic: “The Kids Aren’t All Right”

Here’s an excellent interactive infographic I learned about through The Answer Sheet: Produced By Healthcare Administration Degree Programs

by Larry Ferlazzo / 34min 

NEA Announces Online Lesson Project

The National Education Association has just announced a Master Teacher Project/CC Better Lesson site where thousands of Common Core aligned lesson plans are freely available to educators. I’ve embedded a video below about the effort, which appears similar to the American Federation of Teachers Share My Lesson site. And, believe me, there are so many poor lesson plans online, it’s nice that both un

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

“Parents Can Teach Educators ‘Lessons About Learning and Life’”

Parents Can Teach Educators ‘Lessons About Learning and Life’ is part three in my Ed Week series on parent engagement. Today’s post features contributions from Catherine Compton-Lilly, Dr. Sherrel Bergmann, Dr. Judith Brough and Maurice J. Elias.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

1-14-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Several Useful New Resources On Encouraging Intrinsic MotivationHere are several new additions to The Best Posts & Articles On “Motivating” Students: What does neuroscience research say about motivation and the brain? is by Judy Willis. PISA 2012 Results in Focus: What 15-year-olds know and what they can do with what th

by mike simpson / 9h 

1-15-14 Jersey Jazzman

Jersey Jazzman:

Michelle Rhee: Chicken?

This is hilarious:Michelle Rhee’s call this morning at 10:25 on Twitter, saying “I’m around for a bit, does anyone have any questions for me?” was like dumping pretzels on a beach filled with hungry seagulls.The Twitterverse lit up with questions that came fast and furious, and overwhelmingly from critics of Rhee, the former D.C. schools chancellor and current lightning rod for issues around schoo

2 by Duke / 44min hide  //  save

Karen Lewis Has @GovChristie's Number

Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, knows what it's like to have a bullying politician try to unilaterally force school system changes on students, their families, and their teachers. Because she is so damn smart, she saw through mayor Rahm Emanuel's transparent union-busting call for a longer school day, and demanded instead that Chicago's children get a better school day. Thank

42 by Duke / 1h 

Christie's Useless School Time Proposal in Three Graphs

So Chris Christie implemented "Operation Ignore Bridgegate" today at his State of the State address with a proposal that was sure to make reformies swoon:Despite the improvements we are seeing in Newark and Camden, I believe we need to take bigger and broader steps to adjust our approach to K-12 education to address the new competitive world we live in. Our school calendar is antiquated

200+ by Duke / 11h 

1-14-14 Jersey Jazzman

Jersey Jazzman: @GovChristie's Bridgegate Distraction: Shafting Students and TeachersWhenever Chris Christie needs a distraction, he goes to his fallback position: screwing teachers, students, and schools: Republican Gov. Chris Christie, dealing with a political payback scandal that threatens to damage his second term, intends to unveil a plan to increase the amount of time children spend in publi

by mike simpson / 9h 

1-15-14 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.:

Pension theft will turn retired teachers into paupers.

by Fred Klonsky / 39min 

USA Today: 7 scams retirees too often fall for. No. Make that 8 scams.

USA Today today ran a an article on the front page of their USA Today Money section: 7 scams retirees to often fall for. But, you know USA Today. They make all the news short. Sometimes shorter than they should. Take the 7 scams: 1. Never pay for anything you didn’t order. 2. Someone calls claiming to be a grandchild asking for money. 3. Scam charities asking for cash. 4. Computer scams claiming

by Fred Klonsky / 22min 

Andy Velez and the generosity of Bruce Rauner.

From the Beachwood Reporter. Andy was a sophomore. He played left field. Couldn’t hit much but he could go after a fly ball with dexterity, and as my leadoff man, he walked frequently and could steal a base. He also lived right across the street from the school in the 4500 block of West Wrightwood. If Andy was late to a game or practice, which was infrequently, I could always knock on his front do

by Fred Klonsky / 5min 

The Trib’s Eric Zorn. “Bruce Rauner is generous.”

From Mike Klonsky’s blog: No surprise here. It’s the Trib’s Eric Zorn. He identifies with the Republican billionaire’s clout problems. I didn’t have to play that game with my elder son, who easily tested into Payton in 2004, but I can’t blame many of those who did. “Nothin’ wrong” with asking for a favor, after all, when favors were going to be doled out anyway.  Was it seemly for Bruce Raune

by Fred Klonsky / 2h hide  //  save

Remembering Dr. King on his birthday.

I posted this a year ago on Dr. King’s birthday. Tomorrow starts my second year of teaching uke to K-1 students in the same Chicago public school. Our first song will be, “This Little Light of Mine.” My latest retirement project is volunteer teaching ukulele to a mixed kindergarten and first grade class at a public school in Chicago’s Little Village. Once a week on a Monday for about an hour. More

by Fred Klonsky / 2h 

1-14-14 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.: Real world math.“I do not understand your last post.  How do you figure the $10.00,” writes a friend about my assertion that SB1 means $10 an hour for retirees. That’s Squeezy’s proposal for a minimum wage. Let me do the real world math. If the average retiree is getting $48,000 a year now, what will

by mike simpson / 9h 

1-15-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online:

NY Post Editorial Tries to Shift Blame for PS 106 From Bloomberg to de Blasio

It was pretty clear to me that with the history of PS 106 having been out there (on ednotes and The Wave) for over 6 years) Sue Edelman and the Post waited until the real culprits were out of office and could no longer be held accountable.Mike Bloomberg’s education policy wasn’t perfect, or PS 106 wouldn’t have fallen through the cracks as long as it did. But Bloomberg was pretty clear about what

by ed notes online / 5mi

PS 106: Telemundo Video Report - Including Me Not Speaking Spanish

Reporter Pablo Gutierrez got in touch after googling my articles on PS 106 from 2008 (something Sue Edelman of the Post didn't do) and since he and his cameraman were on the way out to Rockaway they stopped over at my house to interview me. Then these hard-working guys spent the rest of the day around the school and caught Marcella Sills leaving. I can't understand Spanish but they got a bunch of

by ed notes online / 43min 

PS 106 Update: The Network Up to Ears in Coverup With a Tisch on the Chain

In addition to the Mayor in control of our schools, his appointed Chancellors, Deputies and Sups, what about the Networks that provide support and oversight, in al things pedagogical and not in the current operational structure? Bill Colavito is the NL of the old PSO CEI-PEA whose Board includes:Seymour Fliegel and Ann Rubenstein Tisch.... Lisa DonlanLisa Donlan has the scoop on the PS 106 the net

by ed notes online / 59min 

1-14-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: Videos: PS 106The fancy prom.video I shot at the school on Jan. 13, 2014by ed notes online / 7h  1-13-14 Ed Notes OnlineEd Notes Online: The Corporate Ed Reform DogExclusive: PS 106 Library Funds Diverted by Sills as Llloyd-Bey Ignored ComplaintsI'm heading down to PS 106 right now for The Wave - I was just interviewed in my house by Telemundo who sent their truck over to the scho

by mike simpson / 9h 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 1-15-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

UNREPORTED IN LAUSD BOARD MTG COVERAGE: Apple DOES NOT permit Pearson to present iPad curriculum content to Board of Ed.

by smf 15 Jan 2014  ::  The media has a hard time covering multiple stories. Last night the Board of Ed:  OKed Deasy's controversial iPad Phase 2 – green lighting the purchase of up to 100,000 additional iPads  Voted to approve a plan to appoint a caretaker for Ms. LaMotte's vacant seat. Got the news that the Phase 2 LAUSD iPads would be the new IPad Air model at the same price as

by smf / 47min 

LAUSD SCHOOL BOARD IGNORES BOND COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS; GIVES SUPERITENDENT ALL THE iPADS HE THINKS HE NEEDS WHENEVER HE THINKS HE NEEDS THEM

Boardmembers Galatzan and Zimmer work out an amendment “…to just leave it up to the superintendent”. L.A. school board moves forward with computer effort The board votes to distribute iPads to 38 more campuses, start purchasing laptops for seven high schools and buy as many tablets as needed for state testing. By Howard Blume | LA Times |

by smf / 42min

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 1-13-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: L.A. UNIFIED SURVEYS PRICES OTHERS PAY FOR iPADS, SIMILAR DEVICESBy Howard Blume. Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/1awjkeF In Perris, Pinacate Middle School students Raul Curil, 13 and Marco Fuentes, 12, in Mark Synnott's journalism class, work on Chromebook devices producing their electronic newspaper, the Puma Press. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Tim

by mike simpson / 9h