November 2011
44 posts
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How Kids in Developing Countries Dream Big... →
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New York Principals Protest Role of Testing in... →
President Obama and his signature education program, Race to the Top, along with John B. King Jr., the New York State commissioner of education, deserve credit for spurring what is believed to be the first principals’ revolt in history.
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New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2011 →
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How About Better Parents? →
IN recent years, we’ve been treated to reams of op-ed articles about how we need better teachers in our public schools and, if only the teachers’ unions would go away, our kids would score like Singapore’s on the big international tests. There’s no question that a great teacher can make a huge difference in a student’s achievement, and we need to recruit, train and reward more such teachers. But...
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“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just...”
– Will Rogers
“You’re either reading a book or you’re not.”
– Jonathan Franzen (via reading-is-fun)
Perfectly sums up how I feel about people.
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Detroit's Teach For America Recruits Stuck In... →
TFA Detroit members teach both in traditional public schools and in charter schools. They are the face of the latest wave of Detroit education reform — one that draws much skepticism from Detroiters who see it as yet another outside intervention that takes decision-making power away from citizens…
Since the Detroit TFA program is just over a year old, few performance metrics are...
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High-Performing Public Schools Make It Onto List... →
California schools with high API scores can end up on the list partly because no single district can have more than 10% of its schools designated as a “low-achieving” school. So some schools with low API scores escape the designation because they are in a district with schools with even lower ones.
Why the obsession with our kids’ happiness may be... →
Back in graduate school, the clinical focus had always been on how the lack of parental attunement affects the child. It never occurred to any of us to ask, what if the parents are too attuned? What happens to those kids?
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“But dismantling any government agency, let alone the Education Department, is...”
– Rick Perry’s Education Plan: Inadequate, Unfeasible And Unfair, Some Experts Say (via robot-heart-politics)
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“Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and...”
– Leo Tolstoy (via paperlover)
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WatchColbert Report November 9, 2011
Bully Pulpit ~ Michigan’s license to bully based on religious beliefs
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Tough Questions on Changing Teacher Evaluations →
For the first time next year, thousands of Chicago Public Schools teachers will be evaluated based partly on how well their students are doing academically. Many fear they will face dismissal if the standards are not applied fairly.
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Wall Street Journal: Teacher's Hours Among World's... →
Among 27 member nations tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), U.S. primary-school educators spent 1,097 hours a year teaching despite only spending 36 weeks a year in the classroom — the lowest among the countries tracked. That was more than 100 hours more than New Zealand, in second place at 985 hours, despite students in that country going to school for 39...
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Tennessee's Push to Transform Schools →
At the legislative hearing, superintendents and other school leaders praised the new system, saying that it had forced principals to spend more time in classrooms and required them to offer more help to novice teachers. The president of the teachers’ union, however, pointed out that some evaluators failed to give teachers the feedback they need to improve. And she raised concerns about the...
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The Inequality Map
Dear visitor, we are a democratic, egalitarian people who spend our days desperately trying to climb over each other. Have a nice stay!
Socially Acceptable
academic inequality
fitness inequality
sports inequality
income inequality
technological inequality
status inequality for college professors
travel inequality
vocational inequality
Socially Unacceptable
ancestor inequality
moral...
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“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it,...”
– Salinger
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Teaching With the Enemy →
On Quoting Shakespeare
If you cannot understand my argument, and declare “It’s Greek to me”, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than in anger; if your wish is farther to the thought; if your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting...
Can Everyone Be Smart At Everything? →
Praising the achievement rather than the effort will backfire.
To a kid, “Good job” means “You’re smart” or “You’re talented” — the praise goes to inherent, natural-born abilities or intelligence. But that immediate spark of self-pride will turn into deep self-doubt when the child invariably comes across a bigger challenge and doesn’t immediately succeed.
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"It's All About Distrust" →
This perfectly details exactly what happened among my colleagues just a few weeks ago when it came down to deciding how we, part of the majority of teachers in Tennessee lacking state test scores for evaluation, would like to gamble away our effectiveness as educators.
willrichardson:
The scariest part of this story about how the new teacher evaluation policies in Tennessee are sending “morale...
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In Tennessee, Following the Rules for Evaluations... →
Not the way I would have liked to see Tennessee education gain national attention, but I am so glad that the unfairness of this system is being highlighted. My job is one that, along with over half of all Tennessee teachers, lacks student test scores for professional evaluation.
I’m sorry, over half?! What an absurd indication of my effectiveness as a teacher, of my ability to generate...
Merger of Memphis and County School Districts... →
“As far as racial trust goes,” Mr. Clayton, who is white, added, “I don’t think we’ve improved much since the 1970s.”
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His Libraries, 12,000 So Far, Change Lives →
Yes, you read that right. He has opened nearly five times as many libraries as Carnegie…
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“I think the reward for conformity is that everyone likes you except yourself.”
– Rita Mae Brown (via misswallflower)
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Creative Education: Creativity Is Intangible →
creative-education:
Creativity is not about having new ideas. It is about using old ideas in new ways! Creativity cannot be “scientifically” measured because there is no standard of comparison for “different”. Standardized testing within a standardized curriculum ignores student creativity!
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“If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will...”
– Jack Dixon
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Are Teachers Overpaid or Underpaid? →
Uh what every “study” fails to address is the value of education. The obvious issue here is that teachers are undervalued because educational quality in this country is undervalued.
Largely due to the privatization of public schools. Conveniently aligned with the actions and philosophies of the conservative think tanks in this article that think teachers are underpaid.
Fly Above the Prejudice
People of all groups and cliques
prove that our world is just a mix
of people who think different ways
they say it is just a phase
but hard work pays
We’ve all learned that, Mrs C’s taught us
that working hard is not useless
society may say the worst
but the 7 friends I have are not the first
to live in the clouds
above the crowds
We’ll fly above the prejudice
A...
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Stop Writing Objectives on the Board? →
Because the prevailing wind of conventional wisdom consistently blows in favor of content-bloated, prefabricated externally mandated standardized standards, it takes courage to pause and reflect. -Joe Bower
Whether or not we post and update both our unit and daily lesson objectives on the board for all subjects (interestingly labeled “essential” questions by my administration) holds great...
