1-30-14 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:

The Dirty Little Secret That Discredits Florida’s Latest Charter School Miracle Study

I’m surprised that redefinED‘s Ron Matus bit on a charter school miracle piece in Jay P. Geene’s Blog and missed something critical to the veracity of the conclusion. But the new addition of the job title as  director for policy & public affair for Step Up for Students allows him to wear another hat. Writes Matus: Students who attend Florida charter high schools are more likely to persist in c

by Bob Sikes / 26min hide  //  save

Will Weatherford Promises “Massive Expansion” of Florida Voucher Program

From Halifax Media Group reporter Zac Anderson in the Lakeland Ledger: (Rep. Will) Weatherford and (Don) Gaetz are continuing to push conservative-leaning education reforms, including more school vouchers and a greater focus on career and technical education that prepares students for jobs. But Gaetz noted that even President Barack Obama backed a jobs-focused approach to K-12 education in his St

by Bob Sikes / 2h  

1-29-14 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: What It’s Like For States Not Burdened by Common CoreFlorida wisely dropped the legislature’s bad idea to require Algebra II last year only to have its education commissioner tweak Common Core by putting in Calculus standards, a math domain two levels above the course th

by mike simpson / 8h

1-30-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

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

Just Emailed Free Monthly Newsletter

I just sent out my free monthly newsletter to two thousand subscribers. You can subscribe here if you’re interested…..

by Larry Ferlazzo / 5min 

Infographic: “Chinese New Year”

I’m adding this infographic to The Best Resources For Chinese New Year: 50 Unbelievable Facts About Chinese New Year [Infographic] by the team at Giraffe

by Larry Ferlazzo / 5min hide  //  save

January’s “The Best…” Lists – There Are Now 1,257 Of Them!

Here’s my monthly round-up of new “The Best…” lists I posted this month (you can see all 1,257 of them categorized here): The Best Sites For Learning About The International Space Station The Best Sites For Learning About South Africa A Beginning List Of The Best Resources On California’s Drought The Best Fun Sesame Street Songs — Contribute Your Own! The Best Resources On California Court Case A

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

Infographic: “In Charted Waters – Mapping a Brave New World”

Here’s a pretty cool interactive infographic from MSC Cruises: Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

January’s Best Tweets – Part Five

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 shared 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, yo

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h

More Chinese New Year Resources

Here are new additions to The Best Resources For Chinese New Year, which starts tomorrow: How to Teach Chinese New Year is from The Guardian.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

1-29-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: ‘Teaching Character Is Not A Program Or Curriculum’‘Teaching Character Is Not A Program Or Curriculum’ is Part Two in my Ed Week Teacher series on teaching character. Here are some excerpts:by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h   1-28-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFLLarry Ferlazzo’s Websites of

by mike simpson / 8h 

1-30-14 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.:

Ten minute drawing. Give America a raise, unless they are over 65.

by Fred Klonsky / 7min 

The new math of Dennis Van Roekel. Add SB7 but take away SB191.

I’ve told the story a million times by now. How Stand for Children’s Jonah Edelman came to Illinois and dropped a bunch of money on a few legislative races, which came out the way he paid for. Then Democratic Speaker Michael Madigan immediately established an education reform committee that included Edelman and the IEA’s Executive Director, Audrey Soglin. That resulted in SB7, the law which took

by Fred Klonsky / 29min 

CTU says no deal to pension cuts.

Chicago Tribune: Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said Wednesday that negotiations over a pension overhaul with the school district are at a stalemate, and her members are ready to aggressively fight proposed cuts to their retirement benefits. According to Lewis, the latest proposal from the district would eliminate annual cost-of-living increases for retirees and cut total pension pa

by Fred Klonsky / 1h hide  //  save

BBB’s bully-letter goes viral and causes quite a stir.

At around 11AM yesterday morning I got a message from a teacher who wanted to send me an email he had received from CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett. It was the same letter teachers all over CPS had been handed yesterday morning. Before noon it was posted here without comment. No comment was really needed. It was a bully-letter that threatened parents, students and teachers with consequences if they

by Fred Klonsky / 1h  

1-29-14 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.: The President on education. Waist deep in the big muddy.“Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, my fellow Americans, today in America, a teacher spent extra time with a student who needed it and did her part to lift America’s graduation rate to its highest levels in more than three deca

by mike simpson / 8h 

1-30-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online:

Newark: Cami Anderson Storms Out of Meeting

Delicious stuff. Every one of Joel Klein's slugs seem to turn out this way. I hope Joel is hiring the same types for Murdoch. Cami Anderson taking her agenda out of Joel Klein’s and Chris Cerf’s playbookBob Braun's LedgerEducation, taxes, housing, immigration, politics, and other issues that affect the people of New Jerseyhttp://bobbraunsledger.com/newark-superintendent-storms-out-of-tumultuous-s

by ed notes online / 42min 

Portelos Update, Farina Visits His School Today as He Undergoes Cross Examination Across From Tweed

Termination for what?...blowing the whistle on corruption at the school she is visiting. I hope she is aware and helps address the issues that have plagued my neighborhood school.... Francesco PortelosToday is another day of cross examination. Instead of going to IS 49 Farina should stop and watch this farcical waste of money as DOE Legal's Jordanna Shenkman flails around trying to find chinks in

by ed notes online / 2min 

Don't Miss This Event on Saturday, Feb 1: More Than a Score - Talking Back to Testing

Again, with a new mayor, a new chancellor and a movement building, it's a great time to engage with others who envision an educational system that is centered on the needs of children, focused on real teaching and learning and what is possible beyond the corporate reforms of the day.Connect with others who want to stop the over-use of testing in OUR schools this Saturday 11-3pmJoin the citywide ef

by ed notes online / 35min

1-29-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: TESTIMONY OF NYC SCHOOLS CHANCELLOR CARMEN FARIñA BEFORE THE STATE ASSEMBLY WAYS & MEANS AND STATE SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEES ON THE PROPOSED 2014-2015 EXECUTIVE BUDGETThis is frightening. Very disappointing.She supports common core for IEPs. Unbelievable.---- Parent comments on Farina testimony.Take this for what it is - I don't have the patience to read it. But when I sent it

by mike simpson / 7h 

1-30-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

Treating Teachers Like Children

Just got finished with three days of Regents grading in which our DOE superiors treated us like children.The people I was grading with and I plowed through many Regents exams the past few days, but as usual with the DOE, no matter what you do or how you work, you are always treated like a criminal.At one point, after grading hundreds of tests, we took a five minute break.A "quality assurance&

by reality-based edu... / 1h 

Politics And Regents Grading

Not a lot of time to post here before I have to run off to Regents grading, but the one thing I notice every time I meet teachers from other schools sent to a central site for grading is that many teachers the system over are feeling pissed off and demoralized.There's a certain education reform-friendly "news" blog that promotes the Gate Foundation-funded Educators4Excellence teacher gro

by reality-based edu... / 2h 

1-29-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Two State of the Union TweetsBecause I knew there would @#$% like this: Not just how well they can fill in a bubble on a test...wait whose policy was Race to the TOp? #SOTU— Liza Featherstone (@lfeatherz) January 29, 2014I decided this:Couldn't decide - watch the SOTU or paint dry? Decided to go w/ the paint. Drying paint doesn't lie or bull@#$% you...— realitybasededucator

by mike simpson / 8h 

Failure and Error among Doctors and Teachers | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Failure and Error among Doctors and Teachers | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Failure and Error among Doctors and Teachers

I had a conversation with a friend* last week about the two posts detailing my failures as a teacher with three students I have had over the years. He has practiced Family Medicine for over a half-century in Pittsburgh and for years helped resident physicians in doing medical research and now works with hospital residents in improving communication with patients.  He pointed out to me how similar teachers experiencing failures with students is to physicians erring in diagnoses or treatments (or both) of their patients.

I was surprised at his making the comparison and then began to think about the many books I have read about medicine and the art and science of clinical practice. In my library at home, I had two with well-thumbed pages authored by doctors who, in the  first dozen pages, detailed mistakes either they had made with patients or errors committed by other physicians on them or their families.

In one, Jerome Groopman, an oncologist, described what occurred with his 9-month old child after a series of doctor misdiagnoses that almost caused his son’s death. A surgeon, who was a friend of a friend, was called in at the last moment to fix an intestinal blockage and saved his son.

In the other book, surgeon Atul Gawande described how he almost lost an Emergency Room patient who had crashed her car when he fumbled a 

The Shriver Report – Why Are American Moms Maxed Out and on the Brink?

The Shriver Report – Why Are American Moms Maxed Out and on the Brink?:

Why Are American Moms Maxed Out and on the Brink?

CARA P. LEMIEUX | 01.30.2014

© Photographee.eu – Fotolia.com

From the outside, it appeared that Katrina Alcorn was “doing it all.” She had three healthy kids, a loving husband and a growing career. Then one day in 2009 while driving to Target to buy diapers, it all came to a crashing halt when she had a breakdown.

As she battled her way through crippling depression and tried to heal, she wondered how other women – many others with less supportive bosses, less engaged spouses and lower paychecks – were managing it. As she began talking to other women and listened to their stories of migraines, depression and anxiety, she realized they weren’t. Like her, many were just hanging on by a loose thread.

She penned her book, Maxed Out: American Moms on the Brink, to not only share her story and show other women that they aren’t alone, but also to break open the conversation about the dysfunction breeding in the lives of working women as they struggle to juggle care and career.

I caught up with Katrina to find out about her own struggle to try to do it all, what changes she thinks would help women find balance, and what she hopes will come from sharing her own personal story.

TSR: The way I came upon this book was actually through another working mom friend who passed along the article of the blog that was in The New York Times, and she said the constant refrain of working moms is, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Honestly, when I read it I started to get choked up because I was like, “This is exactly how I feel all the time.” Can you just take me through what really prompted you to write this book?

Alcorn: Sure. Originally it came out of crisis. I had this perfect life on 

She Shares Conversation with Maria Shriver LIVE! WATCH IT HERE!

  On Thursday, January 30, Maria will be the featured guest at She Shares, a conversation series featuring trailblazing women who have made a difference in California and beyond. Presented by the Dewey Square Group and moderated by DSG’s Karen Breslau, the conversation will be held in Sacramento at the California Museum and will be available as well by live stream, from 12:30 pm -1:30 pm PDT.  Ma

by Cara Lemieux / 9min 

“Never Worry Alone” and Other Tips to Pushing Back from the Brink

Credit: © denebola_h – Fotolia.com Marie Forleo is a business and life coach with a mission to help you realize your greatest potential and use your unique talents to change the world.  Marie has helped a number of women push back from the brink through her online business school for modern entrepreneurs, known as B-school.  Her energy is contagious, her passion is palpable, and she shared some of

by Cara Lemieux / 6h 

Valerie Strauss Parses Public Education Rhetoric and Reality in SOTU | janresseger

Valerie Strauss Parses Public Education Rhetoric and Reality in SOTU | janresseger:

Valerie Strauss Parses Public Education Rhetoric and Reality in SOTU

Posted on January 30, 2014 by janresseger

My expectations for what the President would say about public education in the State of the Union message were low.  After all, I have not once noticed any recent shifting away from a public school strategy that emphasizes competition, standardized testing, and sanctions for school teachers and for so-called failing schools.

President Obama’s so-called school reform policies have closed schools across the poorest neighborhoods of America’s big cities, promoted privatized charter schools as the alternative, and emphasized the need to grade school teachers on their children’s test scores.

In contrast, I believe our society’s highest priority for education ought to be investing in improving public schools in poor communities and creating incentives for states to equalize their investments, for it is true that our reliance on local funding for education ensures that the most public money is spent year after year on the children in wealthy suburbs where there is lots of property to tax.

Even so, I found the President’s comments in the State of the Union disheartening.  I was sad to hear him brag once again about his Race to the Top program that takes money from the Title I formula—a centerpiece of the fifty-year-old War on Poverty—to fund a state-by-state grant competition with winners and losers.  Much of the money that went to the winning states remains unspent, there is some question about whether the programs have made a difference, and more states and school districts have been losers in this competition than