Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Carpetbaggers and Charlatans

Sam Dillon has a really important article on the New York Times this week, Inexperienced Companies Chase U.S. School Funds. He relates that "dozens of companies with little or no experience are portraying themselves as school-turnaround experts as they compete for the money." Dillon quotes Rudy Crew, a former New York City schools chancellor, as saying, "This is like the aftermath of the Civil War, with all the carpetbaggers and charlatans."

On the Blogs

Maria Sallee's Isn’t It Obvious on Failing Schools is a good look at why it isn't obvious to the general public how misguided much of the current "reform" effort is in education. John Spencer's poignant Drop the Gavel gives a lot of reasons why studying history is important through the story of his grandfather.

Obama Signs Bill to Prevent Teacher Layoffs (late update)

President Obama signed into law today a $26 billion bill to help save teacher jobs and shore up state Medicaid payments. The House passed the bill earlier today after being called back into emergency session. CNN's Obama signs bill to prevent teacher layoffs relates that the bill "is designed to save the jobs of approximately 160,000 teachers across the country, as well as create and save positions for police officers, firefighters and nurses, according to Democratic leaders."

Alyson Klein's House Passes Bill Aimed at Saving Teachers' Jobs on Education Week gives a good bit more detail about the situation. She notes that while "some school districts are preparing to rehire staff members who had received pink slips," others "are likely to use the funds to dodge future layoffs."

While this bill is commendable, the hype about saving teacher jobs for this fall is a bit misleading. School corporations knowing they would face budget shortfalls made layoff decisions in the spring, often according to their local labor contract. Teachers may be recalled because of the bill, but it will be weeks, if not months, before funds begin to reach the states and local school systems. Indecisive Democrats and obstructionist Republicans should equally share the blame of damage done to children's education because of the tardiness of the measure.

App Store Volume Purchase Program

A posting today on the Tennessee Apple mailing list (listserv) by Apple Rep Jim Eden said:

Apple is pleased to announce the App Store Volume Purchase Program. The App Store Volume Purchase Program makes it easy for US educational institutions to purchase apps for iPad, iPhone, and iPod in volume and distribute those apps to end users of the institution.   See http://www.apple.com/itunes/education/

The App Store Volume Purchase Program will allow qualified US educational institutions to use purchase orders and other payment options and will recognize the tax status of the purchasing institution and bill accordingly.

In addition, certain developers may offer, at their discretion, education pricing for their applications when education institutions purchase in quantities of 20 or more. (See http://volume.itunes.apple.com to search for apps and see any applicable pricing.)

Apple will also provide education pricing on iPad versions of Pages, Keynote, and Numbers.  

To get started, you must first set-up a Program Facilitator Apple ID and Password.  Please go to the following link for more information:  http://volume.itunes.apple.com/faq

An email communication will be sent to all Apple Store Authorized Purchasers for US Education Institutions announcing the program later today.

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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Planets Align for the Perseid Meteor Shower

Tony Phillips tells about a double treat coming up for astronomy buffs tomorrow night in Planets Align for the Perseid Meteor Shower. Dr. Phillips writes that Venus, Saturn, Mars and the crescent Moon will be in tight conjunction until 10 pm or so on August 12. "When they leave, following the sun below the horizon, you should stay, because that is when the Perseid meteor shower begins. From 10 pm until dawn, meteors will flit across the starry sky in a display that's even more exciting than a planetary get-together."

As is my usual practice, I used the free, open source Stellarium program to help me visualize where in the night sky to look for the conjunction of the planets. Here in west, central Indiana, Stellarium helped me remember that it won't be quite dark when the moon begins to set around 9:15ish (EDT). I also used Stellarium's info feature by clicking on the planets to obtain their apparent magnitude for tomorrow night. If you've forgotten your basic astronomy, the magnitude scale originally ranked stars (and planets) visible to the naked eye from 6 (dimmest) to 1 (brightest). In the 1800's, the scale was revised to accommodate and differentiate very dim and bright stars. for example, the sun tomorrow evening before sunset will have an apparent magnitude of -26.71. The revision of the scale used negative values for very bright objects. Anyway, tomorrow night's values are: Mars (1.5); Venus (-4.17); Saturn (1.26); and the crescent moon (-8.82) with just 5% of it illuminated. Even Mercury (0.71) gets into the act a bit earlier in the evening, setting around 9:20 P.M. (EDT) here.

Getting back to the Perseids, Dr. Phillips fills us in on a bit of astronomical history:

The Perseid meteor shower is caused by debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle. Every 133 years the huge comet swings through the inner solar system and leaves behind a trail of dust and gravel. When Earth passes through the debris, specks of comet-stuff hit the atmosphere at 140,000 mph and disintegrate in flashes of light. These meteors are called Perseids because they fly out of the constellation Perseus.

Swift-Tuttle's debris zone is so wide, Earth spends weeks inside it.

The best time to view the meteor shower is "during the darkest hours before dawn on Friday morning, Aug. 13th, when most observers will see dozens of Perseids per hour." But even if you want to catch some sleep tomorrow night, there should be some shooting stars visible after dark. they may appear all over the sky but "all of their tails will point back to the radiant" near Perseus in the northeastern sky. The Stellarium image below with the Perseid radiant marked is from 12:30 A.M. (EDT) on August 13.

It's all free, and you don't even need a telescope to enjoy the show.

What Does Each State Get

A DOE posting last evening had a download link (208K PDF document) that tells how much each state will receive from the recently enacted edujobs bill. (See table below.) The funds are being "distributed to states by a formula based on population figures." The various states "can distribute their funding to school districts based on their own primary funding formula or districts' relative share of federal Title I funds."

And since this all should have been done last spring, the DOE "will streamline the application process so that states can submit applications within days. The Department will award funding to states within two weeks of their submission of an approvable application." So, if you got laid off and were hoping to be recalled due to this new funding, it may be a while.

Turnarounds

Walt Gardner's Is Teacher Empowerment Finally Here is a good read today. He writes about Teach Plus, a non-profit organization financed by the Gates Foundation, in which experienced teachers still teach a full load in turnaround schools, but also act as paid leaders for their grade level. (Note: The Teach Plus site was down while I was writing this posting.) Walt notes that "It's important to remember that high on the list of reasons for teacher turnover is dissatisfaction with teaching conditions, and sagely adds, "When teachers feel that their voices are not being heard, they become frustrated and angry until they finally decide to quit."

Michael Winerip's Lesson Plan in Boston Schools: Don’t Go It Alone covers some of the same ground as Walt Gardner does. Winerip writes that the Obama administration’s turnaround options, "From Washington this makes abundant good sense, a way to galvanize rapid and substantial change in schools for children who need it most. In practice, on the ground, it is messy for the people most necessary for turning a school around — the teachers — and not always fair."

Odds 'n' Ends

I'd already selected Walt Gardner's article linked above to include in today's posting when my wife called to see how my annual substitute teacher orientation meeting went. Walt's comment about teachers getting frustrated and quitting (or retiring as I did) came up when Annie shared a couple of links with me she'd run across:

• The Huffington Post: 7 Awesome Ways People Have Quit Their Jobs by Katla McGlynn
• Cracked: The 7 Ballsiest Ways Anyone Ever Quit Their Job by Dan Seitz

So if you're thinking about getting out, you might find some creative inspiration from the articles linked above. And of course, as you mull it over, I'd recommend listening to Johnny Paycheck's Take This Job And Shove It or Already Gone by the Eagles. Of course, if you do so, you may need to use the (banner) link below!

Friday, August 13, 2010

How the iPad May Help Students with Autism

Ashley Harrell's iHelp for Autism on SF Weekly is not only an interesting look at how the iPad may become a great education resource for people with autism, but also a heart warming case study about nine-year-old Leo, his growth with the iPad, and developers plans for the device. Harrell writes:

Since the iPad's unveiling in April, autism experts and parents have brought it into countless homes and classrooms around the world. Developers have begun pumping out applications specifically designed for users with special needs, and initial studies are already measuring the effectiveness of the iPod Touch and the iPad as learning tools for children with autism. Through the devices, some of these children have been able to communicate their thoughts to adults for the first time. Others have learned life skills that had eluded them for years.

Though there are other computers designed for children with autism, a growing number of experts say that the iPad is better. It's cheaper, faster, more versatile, more user-friendly, more portable, more engaging, and infinitely cooler for young people.

Leo's father believes his son's interest in the iPad has lengthened his attention span and said, "It gives you hope, and you begin to expect more instead of less." Harrell adds:

But there's a reason the Rosas aren't quite calling this a miracle. There have been times when Leo loved a new toy for a few days or weeks, then never looked at it again. It's hard to say what he's really capable of learning. They don't want to overhype the effects of the iPad, especially before finding out whether science will back them up.

One of the iPad apps that Harrell mentioned in the article sounded familiar to me. I wrote back in January about AssistiveWare's Proloquo2Go for the iPod Touch (and iPhone). I'd run across the app via an HECC listserv posting that led to an old, but excellent article by Greg Toppo, iPhone applications can help the autistic. Toppo wrote of the app producing a breakthrough in communication for a 7-year-old, non-communicating student with autism.

A few weeks after posting the blurb, I got an email from Tom Rademaker, who teaches at Oak Hill High School (IN). Tom wrote:

Steve, just wanted to let you know that I passed on your post of 1/8/10 about Proloquo2Go and iTouch and how it could be used to aid non-verbal student communication. The short story is that 2 special ed teachers are already using the app with at least 2 students.

AssistiveWare has, of course, created a version of Proloque2Go for the iPad. It's not cheap, running at $190, but it appears to be one of those apps that can do great things in some cases for kids with autism.

Museums on the App Store

While on the subject of apps for handheld devices, I noticed that a number of museums have apps in Apple's Top Free Apps listing. MoMA for iPhone by The Museum of Modern Art in New York allows users "to find out about current exhibitions, plan a visit, browse or search tens of thousands of works in the collection, take multimedia tours, or learn about artists and art terms." The Library of Congress - Virtual Tour gives users "a virtual tour that mirrors the Library of Congress Experience, an award-winning group of exhibitions and features that has drawn record numbers of visitors." Likewise, AMNH Explorer helps folks find their way around the American Museum of Natural History.

The Smithsonian takes a bit more creative tack with their MEanderthal app, asking, "Do you look like your relatives? Your prehistoric relatives? Try morphing yourself backward in time with MEanderthal. You might be surprised when you see your face transformed into the face of an early human with the Smithsonian Institution's first-ever mobile app." Obviously, you can also transform others, as I did with the image of a public figure at right. (Click on the image to reveal the Smithsonian output along with who the image really is.)

New D.C. Teachers (or Cannon Fodder)

Bill Turque writes in D.C. public school teachers begin orientation ahead of start of academic year on the Washington Post of the 400 new D.C. teachers going through their orientation:

Whether they fully realize it, the newcomers are walking into one of the most closely watched and politically charged education-reform efforts in the country. In all likelihood, they will be observed, assessed, poked and prodded more intensively than their peers in other urban school systems.

On his blog, Bill writes:

As I looked at all the fresh-faced teachers starting their orientation Wednesday at Columbia Heights Education Campus (CHEC), I had to wonder how many would still be around in two or three years. If the existing data is any guide, the answer is not that many.

Bill is absolutely correct in his appraisal of what the new teachers face in their first year. And that really is a bit unfair. While adequate observation, supervision and guidance of new teachers is essential, I think back to my first year(s) of teaching and remember some of the goofs my kids endured and survived. Being under a microscope would have only made things worse. And entering a system where there is a constant revolving door of personnel can't be good for the kids.

And About That Tight Conjunction...

Our stargazing last night just didn't work out. After carrying on for several paragraphs on Wednesday about the evening conjunction of Mars, Venus, and Saturn, with the Moon just a few degrees off, it turned out to be a cloudy evening. It made for a pretty sky and some challenging photography, but it sure wasn't what I wanted. The best shot I got is on the right below of Venus and the Moon. The full sized shot on the left actually shows Venus with a bright, white dot to its left. Unfortunately, that dot, which isn't visible on the smaller, optimized image, turned out to be a nearby bright star instead of Mars.

The clouds did clear enough that I was able to get out early this morning and see a bit of the meteor shower.

Odds 'n' Ends

A lot of folks are headed back to school about now. Winnie Hu's story today in the New York Times, After Layoffs, Yonkers Trims Curriculum, could really be almost any city or school corporation around the country. Students and teachers will be returning to reduced offerings and larger classes due to cutbacks by almost all states in school funding. Teachers will continue to do amazing things with kids despite all the negative press about "bad teachers" and "failing schools." And various government officials and education "experts" who've not taught long enough, if at all, to really understand teaching will continue to offer their remedies for the problems that educators face.

It's not a good way to start a school year.

I got hooked last night watching my favorite teacher movie, Teachers. It inspiringly speaks to why we all went into the profession, "to make a difference." I hope you all will proudly return to your classrooms this fall and find ways to work around all the craziness going on in education "reform" to make a real difference in the lives of the children you teach.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Conjunction of Mars, Venus, and Saturn

We had a gorgeous evening for stargazing last night. Even though there were some clouds and a thunderstorm rolling in from the northwest, the sky was clear enough to the west for us to get a good view of the conjunction of Mars, Venus, and Saturn. I'd hoped to get a good view of the conjunction on Thursday night, but we had a partial cloud cover in the west at sundown that made seeing anything more than brief glimpses of the moon and Venus impossible. Last night, I again had my Canon Digital Rebel XSi and its EF-S 17-85mm lens mounted on a firm, SLIK tripod (model 615-315) in anticipation of recording the conjunction. Using 1 to 25 second exposures, I was able to capture some fairly nice images of the conjunction despite wispy clouds moving through the area. In the image below, the moon, Mars, Venus, and Saturn are visible despite the twilight.

The image at right is a Stellarium creation of our night sky at around 9:30 P.M. (EDT). At risk of beating the subject to death, as I've already praised the open source planetarium application this week, you can't beat it for predicting where things will be in the night sky or for identifying objects in the night sky.

As it got darker, I was able to zero in a bit more on just the planets, revealing just a hint of detail of Mars. It made me wish I'd lugged out my telescope, but I actually had my hands full with keeping from bumping the tripod and getting the shots I wanted.

When I began processing the photos last night, I got a bit of a surprise from the one below and several like it.

As I looked at the image, I noticed that Mars (upper left) appeared to either have a moon or a background star visible near it. I quickly fired up Stellarium and saw that the small object was probably Phobos, one of the moons of Mars. But clicking on the object in Stellarium revealed that Phobos has an apparent magnitude of around 15. Since 6 is the dimmest magnitude one can see with the naked eye on very, very dark nights, I was perplexed for a moment. Then I realized that the telephoto lens was acting as a weak telescope and by using a ten second time exposure, the camera's sensor was gathering more light than the naked eye can recognize. It was Phobos, possibly with Deimos a bit further away.

While I got what for me were some really good images, I also had more than a few images with bright blobs where I botched the focus, bumped the tripod, or made some other mistake. Also, when taking time exposures, passing cars (blur at right) on the road and our security light and those from neighbors are a challenge.

One of the joys of digital photography is that you can take as many shots as you want without incurring any expense beyond the equipment you already have. I took 78 exposures, the equivalent of about three rolls of 35mm film last night, experimenting with different exposure lengths and lens settings, and playing with the composition of the images. Years ago when working with film, I would have probably just taken a single roll because of the expense of the film and processing.

Before packing it in for the evening (by then I was too hot and mosquito bitten to think about staying out longer to see a few more Perseid meteors), I composed a night landscape shot a bit to the left of where I'd been shooting. It shows the glow of the Marathon refinery in nearby Robinson, Illinois, the moon and the conjunction in the center, and our neighbor's lights to the right.

My "Toys" Used for the Conjunction Photoshoot

A year ago I finally got back to an SLR camera. After some bad experiences with Nikon "service," I "went home" to Canon for my digital SLR. I still have my 30+ year-old Canon AE-1 SLR in good working order that I bought when I got out of professional photography many years ago. So far, I'm glad I went with a Canon. Below are the "toys" I used last night.

Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12MP Digital SLR Camera	Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 Image Stabilized USM SLR Lens for EOS Digital SLR's	SLIK PRO 700DX Professional Tripod with Panhead (615-315)

Like most folks, I bought my XSi with the standard kit lens. I recommend folks buy just a camera body and then a better lens than the rather disappointing kit lens supplied by Canon. I use my 17-85 lens as my standard, walking around lens. It's a good bit heavier than the kit lens, but has better range and image quality.

And of course, my XSi is now a bit behind the times. When I bought it, the Canon EOS Rebel T1i was already available, but I saved a hundred bucks by buying a bit behind the bleeding edge. The latest and greatest in the series now is the T2i. And Canon has come out with a similar lens to mine, albeit an f/stop faster (and $300 more) in the Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM UD Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras.

If you're camera shopping, be sure to check out whatever brand and model you're interested in on both Buy.com and Amazon. Both have some incredible camera deals.

Have a great weekend!

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