Reblog of another blog of the ed.gov blog…
Kudos to this Kansas City, Kansas, elementary school!
School Sees ‘Turnaround’ Progress in Just Two Years | ED.gov Blog | Teacher Talk.
#educ_dr
Earlier in another blog, I linked to a Huffington Post education blog that addresses the incredible hurdles faced by many low-income and inner-city students. Read what I have to say here:
Or go directly to the Huffinton Post blog here:
#educ_dr
The post from Teacher Talk emphases the importance of science skills learned and still to be mastered in our nation’s schools. Digital technology helps students learn, but technology can also be used to assess learning. In science, the use of technology was able to examine which science skills–academic skills, actually–were assessed a few years ago. The impact of these skills and the importance of digital technology on all areas of learning can easily be derived. Does your school use and teach digital technology skills?
Teacher Talk | a place for education discussions.
If the link above does not work, copy and paste this URL into your browser:
http://blog.emillereducation.com/2012/06/25/hands-on-computer-tasks-used-for-naep-assessment/
#educ_dr
This showed up in my inbox earlier today. Note that JOFDL has been very receptive to publishing articles related to K-2 online learning, and before that other forms of K-12 distance education. Check them out…
Hello DEANZ members,
Please forward this on to interested colleagues
A few things concerning the DEANZ journal that may be of interest to you:
1. All Journal of Distance Learning archives are now available online!
The Journal of Open, Flexible and Distance Learning was once the Journal of Distance Learning. When JoFDL moved to its current online and open source format in 2011 the plan was always to eventually make all archives available. We are happy to announce that all issues of JoFDL and prior issues of JoDL are now available at http://journals.akoaotearoa.ac.nz/index.php/JOFDL/issue/archive.
2. Next Special Issue – “Instructional Design in Open, Flexible and Distance Learning”.
Attached is a call for papers for…
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Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
Thirty-seven words. Yet these words “forever altered our high schools and colleges for the better.”
Click on the link above to ed.gov for all of this week’s highlights from the US Department of Education. You’ll be glad you did.
Can’t make the link work? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/USED-45da50
#educ_dr
If your school is considering using mobile technology as part of the curriculum, it is probably worried about over-the-air-waves security. This article discusses how to reduce the risk of invasion of privacy for mobile technology. The article is from several months ago, but you might have missed it! Read on…
Going Public: The Simplest Approach to Mobile Security — THE Journal.
If the link above does not work, copy and paste this URL into your browser:
http://thejournal.com/articles/2012/03/21/going-public-the-simplest-approach-to-mobile-security.aspx
#educ_dr
In an era when teachers are fired and schools are vilified, here is a wonderful story of how one school changed its image, its vision, and its educational environment to pull an inner-city school out of the doldrums.
And it’s good to see this effort being recognized by the US Department of Education!
Leaders and Teachers ‘Go the Extra Mile’ to Transform Milwaukee’s Hamilton High.
Here is the URL to this ed.gov blog site to copy and paste into your browser: http://www.ed.gov/blog/2012/06/leaders-and-teachers-go-the-extra-mile-to-transform-milwaukees-hamilton-high/
#educ_dr
Rhode Island received support to develop and maintain online/virtual education for students because it sees a need
to achieve specific objectives, including:
– Standard criteria that ensure virtual courses and content for K-12 students are aligned with state content standards;
– Standard criteria for school districts to use to select quality providers of virtual courses and online content;
– Standard criteria that ensure teachers of virtual courses and other online learning activities are appropriately trained and qualified;
– Standard criteria that school districts can use to ensure that all learners in Rhode Island have access to high quality and relevant virtual courses;
– Standard accountability provisions that ensure school districts monitor students enrolled in virtual courses.
The sponsors said they introduced the legislation because Rhode Island is one of several states that have not yet established a statewide policy on virtual education.
Read the report here:
Legislation Enacted to Promote Virtual Education in RI | Digital Learning Now.
or copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://digitallearningnow.com/news/legislation-enacted-to-promote-virtual-education-in-ri/
My thanks to http://digitallearningnow.com/ for sharing the link to this news item.
#educ_dr
Some time ago, I reposted from a blogger who discussed teachable moments in critical thinking with technology, and used an English class as the topic. Well, the next day I saw a news item linked by Teaching Tolerance about a Miami-Dade County high school teacher who compared a rap song to a passage from Shakespeare’s Macbeth for her honors English class. Below you can find both the article itself and the link to the article, if you would prefer to read it at the source.
So what’s my point? Well, I believe the education technology blog and the non-technological rap/Shakespeare article are linked by some Other’s inability to grasp creative ways to teach critical thinking skills. In the blog, it is the anti-tech English teacher who might have lost teachable moments; in the article, it is the administration of a huge school district that is defining teaching too narrowly.
Clearly, the Florida teacher has a good grasp of what her students know best, and is trying to expand their horizons by showing them that the topic and angst found in today’s music has been reflected for centuries in great works of literature. She found a creative way to do it, and probably would have enlisted the help of technology for the comparison (well, I would have, so I’m probably projecting here). I wonder if the anti-tech English teacher would even have thought to show the similarities between a rap song and a great Shakespearean work.
So the question is, was the Florida teacher being too creative in hooking her students?
If you link to the site below, remember that the article is already more than 3 months old. Just sayin’…
http://www.sfltimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9477&Itemid=199
| TEACHER COULD BE FIRED OVER HIP-HOP LESSON PLAN |
| Written by Elgin Jones |
| By ELGIN JONESEJones@SFLTimes.com
***Pictured above is Homestead Senior School teacher Akilah Laster, left, and school principal Cory Rodriguez, right.
HOMESTEAD— A Miami-Dade County public school teacher is facing possible termination and loss of her teaching certificate for asking her students to compare the words of a Notorious B.I.G. gangster rap song to a bloody Shakespearean tragedy. Akilah Laster, 26, a language arts teacher at Homestead Senior High School, 2351 S.E. 12th Ave., Homestead, in south Miami-Dade, who teaches college-level preparatory courses for honors students, is at the center of the educational storm. Principal Cory Rodriguez issued a memo dated Feb. 2 informing Laster that she is under investigation. The controversy began after Assistant Principal Andrew Post and officials from the Florida Department of Education discovered the lesson plan on Laster’s desk during a Jan. 27 monitoring visit to Homestead High. School officials claim that the lyrics contain inappropriate language, even though other books and materials regularly used in classrooms have similar language. The lesson plan in question used words from Notorious B.I.G.’s 1997 song Somebody’s Gonna Die and Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The gangster-rap hit deals with gun violence and murder and uses profanity, the N-word and other controversial terms to an up-tempo beat. Macbeth, written around 1603, is about a 15th century general who is directed by witches to kill the king and assume the throne of Scotland. Macbeth becomes deranged and goes on a killing spree to maintain power. The play, which is Shakespeare’s bloodiest, contains graphic and vulgar language. Laster’s lesson plan required students to perform a “thematic juxtaposition” of the rap song and the play, to listen to the song and select words from the play and perform a comparative analysis. Rodriguez and Post did not respond to requests for comment. According to sources, Post has said that students complained about the assignment. Laster did not respond to interview requests. Laster, who has no history of disciplinary problems, is a University of Miami graduate. She is also a freelance reporter whose stories have been published in USA Today, In Focus magazine, The Miami Times and on HurricaneSports.com. She is a school mentor who also volunteers for several charitable organizations, including Alonzo Mourning Charities. The United Teachers of Dade (UTD) labor union is standing by Laster. “While I am personally unaware of the current status of this case, and all of the variables, let me assure you that we work to uphold due process for employees in any investigation,” Jason Joseph, director of Government & Labor Relations for the UTD, said. “As the employer, MDCPS (Miami-Dade County Public Schools) is free to investigate any situation it deems is worthy of investigation. The disciplinary outcome, if any, must be in compliance with the contract and state law. We vigorously defend each member and the spirit and word of the contract.” Citing the provisions of its labor agreement, Joseph declined to discuss specifics of Laster’s case, but he citied a provision in the labor agreement to indicate she may have been within her rights. According to the Academic Freedom Guidelines clause of the collective bargaining agreement, “Teachers shall be guaranteed freedom in classroom presentations and discussions and may introduce political, religious, or other controversial material whenever, in teachers’ professional judgment, it is appropriate to the instructional objectives and the age level of the students.” The clause further states: “Teachers shall be guaranteed freedom of choice and flexibility with respect to teaching styles and methodology to be used in the instruction of children within (Miami-Dade County School) Board objectives. Teachers shall not be censored or restrained in the performance of their teaching functions on the grounds that the material discussed and/or opinions expressed are distasteful or embarrassing to those in authority.” If Laster is found to have violated school or district policies, she could face disciplinary action that could include being fired. Her state teaching certificate could also be revoked. Jamie C. Mongiovi, a Florida Department of Education spokesperson, said the agency had not received any material related to the investigation. #educ_dr |
Below is a link to a blog I just published elsewhere. There is another link to inside (and below) to the College Affordability and Transparency Center, maintained by the US Department of Education.
Teacher Talk | a place for education discussions.
US Department of Education College Affordability and Transparency Center link:
http://collegecost.ed.gov/catc/Default.aspx
educ_dr
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