mathdittos2.com
...dedicated to...hmmm, we're still figuring that one out... |
|
Energy Efficiency Improvements from Stimulus Elizabeth Dunbar of the Associated Press writes of potential school energy efficiency improvements in Schools eye stimulus $$$ for energy efficiency. She tells of schools considering installing solar panels and replacing drafty windows, power-wasting lighting, and inefficient heating and cooling systems. She notes that these are "the types of projects that get shoved aside when budgets are squeezed and tax levies fail." Looking Ahead Beyond National Pretzel Day and Zipper Day, there are a few calendar events one might want a heads-up on for April and May. While possibly not a teachable holiday, a card or even some flowers on Secretaries Day (April 22) might make your life simpler throughout the school year. Along that same line of thought, Mother's Day
The Teachers Corner hosts holiday calendars for April and May (and all the other months) to help keep us all on track.
For years I watched folks at school struggle with spreadsheets and such trying to create a printable monthly calendar of events. Since the folks struggling with the task had switched over to PCs, I didn't bother telling them of a dandy, free, and at that time, Mac-only, application called Mom's Calendar that I've had posted on the mathdittos2 Freebies page for years. When I was updating an archive page on Educators' News today, I checked the link for Lucky Me Software and found that Mom's Calendar is now available for Macs and Windows! You can print out just a blank calendar, add info, and even have the calendar rendered in HTML. For the price (free), you can't beat it! Out of Orbit, Astronaut Meets His Chess Foes by Dylan Loeb McClain is the story of a chess game that began with one player as an ISS astronaut and the other a group of schoolchildren. Thoroughly modern modular tells of improved, modular classrooms now becoming available. And Education chief Bennett raises goal for tests, graduation gives us a Star Trek Captain Picard moment ("Make it so.") where Indiana's new, and apparently totally clueless, Superintendent of Public Instruction has declared that he will "push the state to the nation's highest graduation rate within four years and require students to make unprecedented gains in test scores." Those are wonderful goals, but Super Bennett is a bit fuzzy on the path to get there:
Congratulations and best wishes to them.
Send Feedback to |
Here in west, central Indiana, we've finally reached the "empty nest" point of child rearing. Our youngest of six, Julia, and her handsome beau, Terry, were married Saturday. We were fortunate that amidst all the nasty weather we're having right now, the kids had a beautiful day for their wedding and reception.
|
Lead DC I really hadn't planned on doing another posting this week on Educators' News until tomorrow when I noticed a bold ad beside Bill Turque's article, Rhee Works on Overhaul Of Teacher Evaluations. With the way banner ads work, I wondered if other, older, education articles in The Washington Post might also be carrying the ad today. When I checked several others, I found that, sure enough, there was the ad for school administrators...right beside article after article telling of administrators fired by Washington, D.C. School's Chancellor Michelle Rhee. The online ad features a competent looking adult surrounded by happy, enthusiastic children. Its bold text reads:
If you're quick and get there today, you may still see the ad beside or above some of the articles about the many administrators Rhee has fired:
I'm not sure whether the school administrators fired since Rhee has taken over the DC schools deserved termination or not. I can tell lots of war stories about terrible school administrators I've worked for. I can also tell of some excellent ones I worked for who got fired! But the sheer number of administrators terminated is scary. Getting back to Bill Turque's article today, Rhee Works on Overhaul Of Teacher Evaluations, I think if I were teaching in DC, I'd be very wary of giving up tenure for increased pay, as Rhee has proposed, with a Chancellor with a penchant for firing folks. And if I were a "talented" school administrator looking for work, DC might not be my best choice for career longevity. Baby Boomer Retirements Cause Concern and An Opportunity We've read for years about possible teacher shortages. Such shortages seem to be constant in hard to staff schools and in some subject areas. Sam Dillon writes in today's New York Times about potential upcoming teacher shortages due to baby boomer teacher retirements. Since I'm part of that group and already retired, Report Envisions Shortage of Teachers as Retirements Escalate caught my interest, as Dillon notes that:
Dillon's article is based on a new report from the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, Learning Teams: Creating What’s Next (640K PDF document). The report begins with the section header, "America's schools are about to be hit by the largest teacher retirement wave in history. Are we ready?" The gist of the report is that high attrition among rookie teachers coupled with baby boomer retirements could remove half of the teachers teaching today "in less than a decade." It suggests that "seventy percent of the teachers nearing retirement would be interested in staying if they were able to work in new education roles in 'phased or flexible retirement,'" and suggests retaining the best of the best in mentoring roles in teaching teams. Apple Blossoms
Duncan Calls for Longer School Year Well, I guess there is some big education news after all. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan called for longer school days, weeks, and years in a speech in Denver yesterday. In Education secretary calls for 11-months of school, the AP's Kristen Wyatt quotes Duncan as saying, "I think schools should be open six, seven days a week; 11, 12 months a year!" Duncan "also applauded Denver’s pay-for-performance teacher pay system...praised Denver schools for allowing schools to apply for almost complete autonomy, which allows them to waive union contracts so teachers can stay for after-school tutoring or Saturday school," and "talked up school choice ...though he didn’t mention vouchers." New England Teacher Initiative The New England Regional Teacher Leader Initiative hopes to "encourage New England teachers to network and learn about educational policy making on the federal, state and local levels so they can participate in shaping educational policies that affect their work." It's formation was announced in a DOE posting yesterday, U.S. Department of Education Announces New England Regional Teacher Leadership Initiative. ELL Left Behind in Boston James Vaznis reports in the Boston Globe that students not fluent in English have floundered in Boston schools since a change in Massachusetts law six years ago requiring school districts to teach them all subjects in English. In Boston students struggle with English-only rule, Vaznis tells of a report released today by the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and the Center for Collaborative Education. He writes, "Overall, the statistics show that the law - hailed as a quicker way to teach students English - has not helped them gain ground on their English-speaking peers, and in many cases may have left them even further behind." Happy 12th Birthday Low End Mac Yesterday marked the 12th birthday of the Low End Mac site, an incredibly valuable resource for users of older Macintosh computers. Low End maintains profiles of every Mac ever produced along with upgrade and related information for each. Publisher Dan Knight chronicles the site's history in 12 Years of Low End Mac. Note: My old View from the Classroom series of columns was hosted for its first year on Low End Mac.
On Science@NASA
Odds 'n' Ends Inkeri Chisholm has a good article about the need for language-immersion education in our public schools in The Oregonian: Finland's successful language immersion could teach us a valuable education lesson. Debra J. Saunders writes in the San Francisco Chronicle about Math performance anxiety and the stink from the Palo Alto Unified School District adopting the Everyday Mathematics series for grades K-5. David Nakamura tells in Ad Campaign Touts Positive News About D.C. Schools about a $9,000 radio ad campaign designed to lure students back to the District of Columbia Public Schools from charter and private schools. Restored greenhouse sprouts opportunity for students is an interesting blurb about a school using a pre-existing greenhouse on school property to enhance the school's environmental science program. And the title of a press release from the University of Chicago Press Journals pretty well tells its story: Privatized Philly schools did not keep pace. Detroit Closings and Layoffs Faced with a $303 million budget deficit, the state-appointed official overseeing the finances of the Detroit schools announced a plan yesterday that would close 23 schools this summer and lay off as many as 600 teachers. Approximately 7,500 students will be transferred to other schools under the plan to downsize the school system to match the its shrinking student population. The president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers said the plan appears to be a move in the right direction for the district's long-term health.
Odds 'n' Ends
Annie and I traveled to one of our favorite venues, The Rosebud Theater in Effingham, Illinois, in January to see an Air Supply concert. Before buying our tickets, I'd found a good online review of their concert by Jason Hare. He writes in part:
Hare had taken his mother, a big Air Supply fan, to the concert, as his first rock concert was an Air Supply concert in 1985 his mother took him to. He relates that when the duo left the stage to sing in the crowd, Hitchcock hugged Hare's mother, making the concert perfect for her. Our concert experience was similar to theirs, minus the hug, as the duo worked the crowd and sang all their hits (on key). Have a great weekend!
Ads shown on this site do not represent an endorsement or warranty of any kind of products or companies shown. Ads shown on archive pages may not represent the ads displayed in the original posting on Educators' News. |
I'm writing today's posting while listening to the haunting, plaintive (some might say whiny), love songs of 
, as I feel like I'm making a posting "out of nothing at all!" I generally try to make about three postings a week on Educators' News, but the DC Schools 
©2009 Steven L. Wood