Rethinking Public Education

Are we in the middle of a political class warfare?

 Why educate the masses when we don't need them as workers?  Let's put the cash in our pocket instead?

Be data informed..........not data driven.  PBL allows for formative assessment.  

A quirky article to get you thinking.  I would add a few more:  Rubric, Stake Holder, Conversation,and Let's  Unpack This.  

" I am calling for a moratorium -- not on the standards, or even on the testing, but on the high stakes attached to all of this -- until the standards have been properly implemented and field-tested."

exactly..........there is great opportunity here.  We must do it WELL.  Deeming it a fail because all was implemented poorly won't cut it.  

Very interesting article with many ramifications.  

Ts need to KNOW the content; but moreover, they need to know the common roadblocks kids encounter while learning the content.  

We can't "give" this.  they have to want it.  our job is to help them see that they want it; then help them discover how to take it "well" and make it their own.  

"The Wall Street crowd wants us to think of education in terms of means – which usually means finding ways to spend less – rather than ends.  But when it comes to education, the “ends” are our children. And the means we choose for them, either consciously or through indifference, reveal who we really are as a people."

Is Algebra 2 needed for everyone?  

""We want to give hope instead of [requiring] these advanced courses specifically designed for someone going to college," he said in an interview. "So, you're going to be ready, maybe not for college, but for the workforce, or a technical college. ... And you're going to graduate; we're going to keep you in school.""

Boy is this a great article.  Nothing more irritating than stupid rules.  To get around them as educators:  

1.  ASK kids the HARD questions that get them thinking

2.  Stop grading things that don't matter

3.  Get positive press when your kids do cool things

4. Find where the REALLY hard line is

5.  Ask for administrative support BETTER

The best?  Find out where the REALLY hard line is.  Too many of us interpret parts of administration's sentences literally and wonder why we sit inside a straight jacket!  

powerful video.  Please watch!  

"We hate school but love education".  

"Visionary leaders see the common core as the leverage they need to dramatically change outcomes for students and the systems in which students learn. They call for students to not only master content and basic skills, but also critical dispositions like analysis, research, inquiry, and deeper learning outcomes, such as communication skills and critical thinking and problem-solving

1. First, some districts are using their common-core implementation to reinforce their commitment to a 21st-century learning model.

2. Capacity-building through professional development.

3. New assessment strategies.

We still have time to follow a better path—to treat the common core as an opportunity to transform teaching and learning and embrace a broad and expansive notion of college and career readiness.

Ts need to consider hopping off the first two levels and into deeper levels of  knowledge (http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/sia/msip/DOK_Chart.pdf)

Thinking Routines are one such way to design learning so that students indeed take content to strategic and extended forms of thinking.  http://www.old-pz.gse.harvard.edu/vt/VisibleThinking_html_files/03_ThinkingRoutines/03b_Introduction.html