What To Do About the Civil War?: "
The Teaching Tolerance team had a confab earlier this week
to plan ahead. Looking at a 2011 calendar, Sean Price, Teaching Tolerance’s
managing editor, reminded me that the 150th anniversary of the start
of the Civil War was fast approaching. Did we want to do something?
My first response? Frankly, no. As a former U.S. history
teacher, I suspected that the next four years will present an unending
opportunity mainly for military history buffs to strut their stuff. We would, I
suggested to Sean, better serve teachers by focusing on the themes that spoke
to racial justice.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Alan Sitomer - Why don't we just let the bubble test makers decide the school calendar, too?
Why don't we just let the bubble test makers decide the school calendar, too?: "
And in another case of the bubble tests being the tail that wags the entire educational dog, we see that one of the nation's largest school districts - Los Angeles Unified - wants to start school earlier next year.
And in another case of the bubble tests being the tail that wags the entire educational dog, we see that one of the nation's largest school districts - Los Angeles Unified - wants to start school earlier next year.Not add more days of school, mind you. (Of course not. That would cost money and perhaps even add value to a child's learning life.) Nope... they want to start earlier to 'give students more time to prepare for the tests.'
That's not a direct quote. Here's the direct quote...
'The Los Angeles Unified School District hails the idea as a step forward academically, arguing that students would be better prepared for exams.'
It's that blatant.
That's not a direct quote. Here's the direct quote...
'The Los Angeles Unified School District hails the idea as a step forward academically, arguing that students would be better prepared for exams.'
It's that blatant.
That direct.
That absurd.
Clearly, good widgets do well on good one-size-fits-all bubble tests and bad widgets do poorly on one-size-fits-all bubble tests so - just as clearly, we need to start concentrating on the bubble tests earlier next year as they are, after all, the entire raison d'etre for public education's entire existence.
It also goes to show how little the time is valued by our schools after bubble test season is over. (I've blogged about this before, about how once testing season passes the entire school shifts into 'bide-our-time til summer' mode because clearly, once the bubbles have passed, so has the need to 'really teach'.)
Why don't we just let the bubble test makers decide the school calendar and put this baby to rest once and for all? They could schedule our tests, they could schedule our pre-tests, they can schedule our practice tests, our warm-up tests, and our make-up tests.
And anything that's left over, will just be a furlough day. After all, if we are not preparing kids for the tests, how in the world can it be said that we are really teaching.
Because if it's not tested, why would we be teaching it anyway?
This will all save us time, money and energy. Since nothing else but the bubble tests matter, why are we even bothering to pretend that anything other than the bubble tests do matter.
Of course, once we parse the data, we'll know who to keep, who to fire, which kid to shame and which kid to put on the cover of the school district's newsletter.
It's a simple solution really. I have no idea why it's taken them so long to figure it out.
NYTimes - Celebrating the Civil War in the South
Erik S. Lesser for The New York Times
Camille Love, Atlanta’s director of cultural affairs, above, with Yakingma Robinson,
an official at the Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War Museum, which is being refurbished.
an official at the Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War Museum, which is being refurbished.
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
Published: November 29, 2010
ATLANTA — The Civil War, the most wrenching and bloody episode in American history, may not seem like much of a cause for celebration, especially in the South
.
Monday, November 29, 2010
The Best “The Best…” Lists For English Language Learners — 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
The Best “The Best…” Lists For English Language Learners — 2010: "
I’ve post many, many “The Best… lists this year, and I thought it might be useful to highlight a few of the ones I think are particularly useful for English Language Learners. Here are my choices for The Best “The Best…” Lists For English Language Learners — 2010 (apart from various other “The Best…” of 2010 lists):
The Best Sites To Learn “Feelings” Words
The “Best” Sites For Helping Students Write Autobiographical Incident Essays
A Collection Of The Best Sites For Learning About The Seasons
The Best “When I Say Jump” Online Sites For Practicing English
The Best Ways To Use Photos In Lessons
The Best Collections Of Funny Signs (For Use In English Classes)
The Best Sites For Creating Personalized “Newspapers” Online
The Best Sites For Walking In Someone Else’s Shoes
The Best Sites For Creating Sentence Scrambles
The Best Sites For Learning About Animals
The Best Sites For Gaining A Basic Understanding Of Adjectives
The Best Sites For Learning About “Cool” Cars (& Designing Your Own!)
The Best Movie Scenes To Use For English-Language Development
The Best Sites For Learning About Nutrition & Food Safety
The Best Sites For Learning About Weird-Looking Creatures (And For Making Your Own!)
Additional suggestions are always welcome. If you found this post useful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free. You might also want to explore the nearly 500 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.
The Best “The Best…” Lists For English Language Learners — 2010: "
I’ve post many, many “The Best… lists this year, and I thought it might be useful to highlight a few of the ones I think are particularly useful for English Language Learners. Here are my choices for The Best “The Best…” Lists For English Language Learners — 2010 (apart from various other “The Best…” of 2010 lists):
The Best Sites To Learn “Feelings” Words
The “Best” Sites For Helping Students Write Autobiographical Incident Essays
A Collection Of The Best Sites For Learning About The Seasons
The Best “When I Say Jump” Online Sites For Practicing English
The Best Ways To Use Photos In Lessons
The Best Collections Of Funny Signs (For Use In English Classes)
The Best Sites For Creating Personalized “Newspapers” Online
The Best Sites For Walking In Someone Else’s Shoes
The Best Sites For Creating Sentence Scrambles
The Best Sites For Learning About Animals
The Best Sites For Gaining A Basic Understanding Of Adjectives
The Best Sites For Learning About “Cool” Cars (& Designing Your Own!)
The Best Movie Scenes To Use For English-Language Development
The Best Sites For Learning About Nutrition & Food Safety
The Best Sites For Learning About Weird-Looking Creatures (And For Making Your Own!)
Additional suggestions are always welcome. If you found this post useful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free. You might also want to explore the nearly 500 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.
The Best “The Best…” Lists On School Reform Issues — 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
The Best “The Best…” Lists On School Reform Issues — 2010: "
I thought readers might find it useful if I gathered all my “school reform” – related “The Best…” lists from this year together. Today also has been declared a Day of National Blogging for Real Education Reform, promoted by AASA and ASCD. Cooperative Catalyst is collecting links to posts being written by bloggers across the United States and beyond. Here are The Best “The Best…” Lists On School Reform Issues posted this year:
The Best Posts About The Appalling Teacher-Bashing Column Superintendents Wrote In The Washington Post
The Best Posts & Articles About The Teacher-Bashing “Waiting For Superman” Movie & Associated Events
The Best Posts About The LA Times Article On “Valued-Added” Teacher Ratings
My Best Posts On “School Reform”
The Best Resources For Learning About Effective Student & Teacher Assessments
The Best Resources For Learning About The “Value-Added” Approach Towards Teacher Evaluation
My Best Posts On Students Evaluating Classes (And Teachers)
My Best Posts On How To Prepare For Standardized Tests (And Why They’re Bad)
The Best Resources For Learning About How Class Size Does Matter
A Collection Of The Best “Laugh While You Cry” Videos — Contribute More!
The Best Blog Posts & Articles About Joel Klein’s Departure & The Question Of Who Should Be Leading Our Schools
My Best Posts On Building Parent Engagement In Schools — 2010
The Best Posts & Articles Analyzing Charter Schools
Feedback is always welcome. If you found this post useful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free. You might also want to explore the 500 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.
The Best “The Best…” Lists On School Reform Issues — 2010: "
I thought readers might find it useful if I gathered all my “school reform” – related “The Best…” lists from this year together. Today also has been declared a Day of National Blogging for Real Education Reform, promoted by AASA and ASCD. Cooperative Catalyst is collecting links to posts being written by bloggers across the United States and beyond. Here are The Best “The Best…” Lists On School Reform Issues posted this year:
The Best Posts About The Appalling Teacher-Bashing Column Superintendents Wrote In The Washington Post
The Best Posts & Articles About The Teacher-Bashing “Waiting For Superman” Movie & Associated Events
The Best Posts About The LA Times Article On “Valued-Added” Teacher Ratings
My Best Posts On “School Reform”
The Best Resources For Learning About Effective Student & Teacher Assessments
The Best Resources For Learning About The “Value-Added” Approach Towards Teacher Evaluation
My Best Posts On Students Evaluating Classes (And Teachers)
My Best Posts On How To Prepare For Standardized Tests (And Why They’re Bad)
The Best Resources For Learning About How Class Size Does Matter
A Collection Of The Best “Laugh While You Cry” Videos — Contribute More!
The Best Blog Posts & Articles About Joel Klein’s Departure & The Question Of Who Should Be Leading Our Schools
My Best Posts On Building Parent Engagement In Schools — 2010
The Best Posts & Articles Analyzing Charter Schools
Feedback is always welcome. If you found this post useful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free. You might also want to explore the 500 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.
The Best Quotes About Education
by Larry Ferlazzo
The Best Quotes About Education — Contribute Your Own Favorites: "
As regular readers know, I’m a member of the Teacher Leaders Network. A year ago, TLN members began to contribute their favorite education-related quotations. John Norton from TLN gave me permission to pick some of them to share here. Please contribute your own in the comments section, and I’ll post a “Part Two” of this list at the end of the year.
Here is a beginning list of The Best Quotes About Education (contributors names are in parentheses):
This is my personal favorite: “When one is building a ship, one does not begin with gathering timber and cutting planks, but rather by arousing in people the yearning for the great wide sea.” — Antoine de St. Exupery
The Best Quotes About Education — Contribute Your Own Favorites: "
As regular readers know, I’m a member of the Teacher Leaders Network. A year ago, TLN members began to contribute their favorite education-related quotations. John Norton from TLN gave me permission to pick some of them to share here. Please contribute your own in the comments section, and I’ll post a “Part Two” of this list at the end of the year.
Here is a beginning list of The Best Quotes About Education (contributors names are in parentheses):
This is my personal favorite: “When one is building a ship, one does not begin with gathering timber and cutting planks, but rather by arousing in people the yearning for the great wide sea.” — Antoine de St. Exupery
The Best “The Best…” Lists On Technology — 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
The Best “The Best…” Lists On Technology — 2010: "I’ve posted many “The Best…” lists this year, and I thought readers might find it useful if I highlighted the ones specifically relating to technology. Here are my choices for The Best “The Best…” Lists On Technology — 2010:
The Best Sites Where Students Can Upload PowerPoint Presentations To The Web
The Best Sites For Beginning iPhone Users Like Me
The Best Ways To Create Online Video Playlists
My Best Posts Related To Twitter
The Best Third-Party Twitter Apps That Don’t Require Your Password
The Best Web Applications That Lets Multiple People Upload Their Photos To One Place
The Best Applications For Sending Online Video Messages
My Best Posts For Tech Novices (Plus One From Somebody Else)
The Best Sites For Learning About The History Of Technology
The Best Tools For Cutting-Out & Saving Portions Of Online Videos
The Best Online Applications For Creating Panoramas
Not The “Best,” But A List… Of Online Video Editors
The Best Sites To Learn About The Internet
The Best Resources For Learning About “Word Clouds”
The Best Sites For Online Photo-Editing & Photo Effects
The Best Ways To Create Online Content Easily & Quickly — 2010
The Best Applications For Creating Free Email Newsletters
The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education — 2010
“When Pictures Make History”
by Larry Ferlazzo
“When Pictures Make History” is a neat TIME Magazine slideshow.
It features images from the cave paintings at Lascaux to the Renaissance painters to the use of propaganda by the Nazi’s. I’m adding the link to The Best Sites To See “Photos That Changed The World.”
"
“When Pictures Make History” is a neat TIME Magazine slideshow.
It features images from the cave paintings at Lascaux to the Renaissance painters to the use of propaganda by the Nazi’s. I’m adding the link to The Best Sites To See “Photos That Changed The World.”
"
The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education — 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education — 2010: "This annual post is always the most popular one of the year. You might want to visit previous editions:
The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education — 2009
The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education — 2008
The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education — 2007
(You might also find The Best Ways To Create Online Content Easily & Quickly — 2010 useful)
In order to make this list, a site had to be:
* accessible to English Language Learners and non-tech savvy users.
* free-of-charge.
* appropriate for classroom use.
* completely browser-based with no download required.
It’s possible that a few of these sites began in 2009, but, if so, I’m including them in this list because they were “new to me” in 2010. You might also be interested in exploring the 530 other “The Best…” lists that I’ve posted over the past three years.
Here are my choices for The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education — 2010:
Twenty: Sitehoover is a new application that lets you create a personal homepage showing thumbnail images of your favorite websites. You can also organize them into separate “folders. It can be very useful to students doing research, or identifying their favorite language-learning site.
Bit.ly’s New “Bundles” Are Perfect For Internet Scavenger Hunts
by Larry Ferlazzo
Bit.ly’s New “Bundles” Are Perfect For Internet Scavenger Hunts: "
Bit.ly, the wildly popular application that shortens url addresses, has just introduced “Bit.ly Bundles.” All you have to do is copy and paste several url address into the box on their site, click “Bundle,” and it will give you one url address that shows screenshots and descriptions of each of the url address you pasted in — in one url address. You can add your own descriptions, as well as rearrange their order. The only negative I see is that, in order to use it, you have to actually register with the site (which takes seconds). You don’t have to register if you just want to use their regular shortening service.
This kind of feature makes it ideal to create Internet Scavenger Hunts, with teachers listing questions they want teachers to find on each website.
I’m adding it to The Best Places To Create (And Find) Internet Scavenger Hunts & Webquests, where you’ll find similar applications to use that don’t require registration. Bit.ly’s advantage, though, is that it is probably more financially stable than these others and is more likely to stick around. I’ll also be adding info on this new feature to my description on Bit.ly on The Best Ways To Shorten URL Addresses list. Thanks to TechCrunch for the tip.
Bit.ly’s New “Bundles” Are Perfect For Internet Scavenger Hunts: "
Bit.ly, the wildly popular application that shortens url addresses, has just introduced “Bit.ly Bundles.” All you have to do is copy and paste several url address into the box on their site, click “Bundle,” and it will give you one url address that shows screenshots and descriptions of each of the url address you pasted in — in one url address. You can add your own descriptions, as well as rearrange their order. The only negative I see is that, in order to use it, you have to actually register with the site (which takes seconds). You don’t have to register if you just want to use their regular shortening service.
This kind of feature makes it ideal to create Internet Scavenger Hunts, with teachers listing questions they want teachers to find on each website.
I’m adding it to The Best Places To Create (And Find) Internet Scavenger Hunts & Webquests, where you’ll find similar applications to use that don’t require registration. Bit.ly’s advantage, though, is that it is probably more financially stable than these others and is more likely to stick around. I’ll also be adding info on this new feature to my description on Bit.ly on The Best Ways To Shorten URL Addresses list. Thanks to TechCrunch for the tip.
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