There are times when I wonder, I truly wonder, how some people think. What logic do they employ to arrive at a particular decision? How can they come to terms with their justification of a thought process gone awry?
A case in point is the German government’s decision to construct a Nazi museum on the site of certain World War II atrocities in Berlin. Note the enthusiasm:
The site "stands like no other place in Berlin for terror and genocide," Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit told reporters while marking the start of work. With the new center, he said, "one of the most important, authentic places of remembrance in Berlin will gain in stature."
I’m sure the Mayor and others mean well in constructing a thirty-three million dollar museum:
"We more than owe this to the victims of the Nazis' regime of terror, on whose fate decisions were made here."
However, these ideas often mutate and morph into something quite unintended. This well intentioned idea will in the not-so-distant future become a focal point for neo-Nazi and neo-terrorists who will use the site as a propaganda vehicle for their own purposes.
The thought process is warped - justified partly by the proximity to the Holocaust Museum. The museum is a wonderful tribute to the millions of Jews who were killed during the war. An official study site for Nazism, the root cause of the Holocaust is brain cramp in the collective thought process.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
IMPORTANT EDUCATION PROFESSIONAL WEBSITES
There are many sites available to educators relating to professional development. The following are considered to be some of the best.
AllThingsPLC
As its name suggests, AllThingsPLC provides extensive resources, including research articles and implementation tools, for educators seeking information about professional learning communities. Along with data and information on existing school PLCs, the site includes presentations and blog entries by Rick DuFour, who is considered one of the leading experts on teacher learning communities.
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development ASCD is a nonprofit membership organization that develops and disseminates information on effective teaching and learning practices. The organization offers a number of professional development products, including online courses, multimedia inquiry kits, books and videos. The site also includes summaries and analyses of important teaching topics, such as differentiated instruction and performance assessment.
Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement
The CCSREI has developed a searchable database of more than 4,600 articles and abstracts on school reform and improvement. Other features include an "ask the expert" e-mail service for help with school-improvement strategies, and a collection of research and issue briefs on school best practices.
Curriculum Associates: Topics in Education
The curriculum and test-prep publisher Curriculum Associates hosts a free professional development site for teachers. Offerings include award-winning online course modules on key education topics, including differentiated instruction and integrating the curriculum, as well as podcasts on teacher-learning news and developments.
Education Reform Network
Edform.net, part of the National Institute for Community Innovations, collects "exemplary, free, and inexpensive professional development materials" on school-reform initiatives identified by networks of expert education communities. Topics include classroom instruction, classroom management, and data-driven reform.
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
The government’s nicely designed education site compiles teaching and learning resources from dozens of federal agencies. Materials are available in core subjects and others, and include primary source materials, lesson activities, and professional development tutorials. Users can set up an RSS feed to receive regular updates of new resources on the site.
North Central Regional Education Laboratory: Professional Development Best Practices
As part of a "Pathways to School Improvement" series, NCREL provides analyses of critical issues in teacher professional development. Topics include creating time for professional development, rethinking teachers’ learning traits, effective use of technology, and evaluation of outcomes. Each discussion includes an overview, a list of goals and "action options," as well as resource links and contacts.
National School Boards Association: Professional Development Tips
Part of NSBA’s "Education Leadership Toolkit," this feature provides checklists for planning and evaluating professional development efforts, as well as guiding principles for effective teacher training.
National Staff Development Council
The NSDC is a national nonprofit organization that provides research and resources on professional development and student improvement. The NSDC’s site includes its official standards for staff developments, along with related discussion and links to supporting resources. The site also provides an extensive library of articles and reports on key issues in professional development, from staff-development basics to policy and advocacy.
SERVE Center: Tools Educator Quality
The SERVE Center, an education-research organization based at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, has developed models for professional learning, teacher research, and educator growth and assessment. The site includes links to tools and resources in these areas.
Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative
The U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative is designed to provide instructional assistance and professional development opportunities to teachers at a time of heightened academic pressure. The site includes a schedule of workshops provided by the department’s officially sanctioned Teacher Training Corp, and e-mail updates of resources and activities. Perhaps most valuable are the archived presentations and handouts from previous workshops in core subjects.
Tapped In
An online-community service designed specifically for teachers, Tapped In allows educators to collaborate on learning projects, participate in or lead topical discussions and groups, and engage in one-to-one mentoring sessions. The site, which is modeled as a virtual campus, also hosts online courses offered by professional development providers. A calendar of events is provided.
Teacher Leaders Network
The Teacher Leaders Network, an initiative of the Center for Teaching Quality, is a professional community of accomplished educators dedicated to sharing ideas and expanding the influence of teachers. The group’s Web site includes blogs on instructional and teaching-policy issues, as well as excerpts from members’ daily e-mail discussions on current classroom topics.
The Teachers Network: Action Research Projects
The Teachers Network, a nonprofit effort to connect exemplary teachers, posts research studies conducted by classroom teachers on a variety of professional development and student-improvement initiatives. Issues addressed in current projects include teacher collaborative study, interdisciplinary team teaching, supporting new teachers, and the impact of NCLB on instruction.
AllThingsPLC
As its name suggests, AllThingsPLC provides extensive resources, including research articles and implementation tools, for educators seeking information about professional learning communities. Along with data and information on existing school PLCs, the site includes presentations and blog entries by Rick DuFour, who is considered one of the leading experts on teacher learning communities.
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development ASCD is a nonprofit membership organization that develops and disseminates information on effective teaching and learning practices. The organization offers a number of professional development products, including online courses, multimedia inquiry kits, books and videos. The site also includes summaries and analyses of important teaching topics, such as differentiated instruction and performance assessment.
Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement
The CCSREI has developed a searchable database of more than 4,600 articles and abstracts on school reform and improvement. Other features include an "ask the expert" e-mail service for help with school-improvement strategies, and a collection of research and issue briefs on school best practices.
Curriculum Associates: Topics in Education
The curriculum and test-prep publisher Curriculum Associates hosts a free professional development site for teachers. Offerings include award-winning online course modules on key education topics, including differentiated instruction and integrating the curriculum, as well as podcasts on teacher-learning news and developments.
Education Reform Network
Edform.net, part of the National Institute for Community Innovations, collects "exemplary, free, and inexpensive professional development materials" on school-reform initiatives identified by networks of expert education communities. Topics include classroom instruction, classroom management, and data-driven reform.
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
The government’s nicely designed education site compiles teaching and learning resources from dozens of federal agencies. Materials are available in core subjects and others, and include primary source materials, lesson activities, and professional development tutorials. Users can set up an RSS feed to receive regular updates of new resources on the site.
North Central Regional Education Laboratory: Professional Development Best Practices
As part of a "Pathways to School Improvement" series, NCREL provides analyses of critical issues in teacher professional development. Topics include creating time for professional development, rethinking teachers’ learning traits, effective use of technology, and evaluation of outcomes. Each discussion includes an overview, a list of goals and "action options," as well as resource links and contacts.
National School Boards Association: Professional Development Tips
Part of NSBA’s "Education Leadership Toolkit," this feature provides checklists for planning and evaluating professional development efforts, as well as guiding principles for effective teacher training.
National Staff Development Council
The NSDC is a national nonprofit organization that provides research and resources on professional development and student improvement. The NSDC’s site includes its official standards for staff developments, along with related discussion and links to supporting resources. The site also provides an extensive library of articles and reports on key issues in professional development, from staff-development basics to policy and advocacy.
SERVE Center: Tools Educator Quality
The SERVE Center, an education-research organization based at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, has developed models for professional learning, teacher research, and educator growth and assessment. The site includes links to tools and resources in these areas.
Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative
The U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative is designed to provide instructional assistance and professional development opportunities to teachers at a time of heightened academic pressure. The site includes a schedule of workshops provided by the department’s officially sanctioned Teacher Training Corp, and e-mail updates of resources and activities. Perhaps most valuable are the archived presentations and handouts from previous workshops in core subjects.
Tapped In
An online-community service designed specifically for teachers, Tapped In allows educators to collaborate on learning projects, participate in or lead topical discussions and groups, and engage in one-to-one mentoring sessions. The site, which is modeled as a virtual campus, also hosts online courses offered by professional development providers. A calendar of events is provided.
Teacher Leaders Network
The Teacher Leaders Network, an initiative of the Center for Teaching Quality, is a professional community of accomplished educators dedicated to sharing ideas and expanding the influence of teachers. The group’s Web site includes blogs on instructional and teaching-policy issues, as well as excerpts from members’ daily e-mail discussions on current classroom topics.
The Teachers Network: Action Research Projects
The Teachers Network, a nonprofit effort to connect exemplary teachers, posts research studies conducted by classroom teachers on a variety of professional development and student-improvement initiatives. Issues addressed in current projects include teacher collaborative study, interdisciplinary team teaching, supporting new teachers, and the impact of NCLB on instruction.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
STUDENTS CONTINUE JUNK-FOOD FIX
What do you think of this lunch: a bag of Skittles, a bottle of regular soda, two Little Debbie brownies, and a deep-fried pizza stick?
It seems that many students, especially low-income students, will go to great lengths to keep their junk food.
Many school districts across the country have done away with unhealthy snack foods and vending machines offering sodas and other sugar-filled drinks. They have overhauled their cafeteria offerings to ensure the appropriate number of calories and elements of nutrition. To no avail.
Many students now bring their lunch rather than purchasing it in the cafeteria, and that lunch consists of relatively inexpensive but high-calories low-nutrition offerings.
Consequently, the revenues garnered from on-campus vending machines are now lost, and many school activities supported by the profits from these machines have been lost. School newspapers, clubs, and intramural programs are gone from many campuses.
Ironically, some school districts are considering a return to vending machines offering junk foods but limiting the times that the machines are turned on.
It seems our fast-food culture will continue regardless of well intentioned efforts to curb its unhealthy inroads.
It seems that many students, especially low-income students, will go to great lengths to keep their junk food.
Many school districts across the country have done away with unhealthy snack foods and vending machines offering sodas and other sugar-filled drinks. They have overhauled their cafeteria offerings to ensure the appropriate number of calories and elements of nutrition. To no avail.
Many students now bring their lunch rather than purchasing it in the cafeteria, and that lunch consists of relatively inexpensive but high-calories low-nutrition offerings.
Consequently, the revenues garnered from on-campus vending machines are now lost, and many school activities supported by the profits from these machines have been lost. School newspapers, clubs, and intramural programs are gone from many campuses.
Ironically, some school districts are considering a return to vending machines offering junk foods but limiting the times that the machines are turned on.
It seems our fast-food culture will continue regardless of well intentioned efforts to curb its unhealthy inroads.
Friday, November 2, 2007
PROGRAMS ARE INNOVATIVE, POLITICAL, RETRO
TEACHERS WORK TO COMPREHENSIVELY PRESENT THE CONCEPT OF GENOCIDE THROUGHOUT HISTORY
More middle and high school teachers are tackling lessons on genocide and human rights with an array of new curriculum resources and sometimes with the aid of survivors and other advocates. "When we're teaching about the Holocaust, I think it's important for students to realize it's not something that happened once in our history, but that genocide is an issue that erupts around the world in situations of intense racial or ethnic conflict," said Gayle Y. Thieman, president of the National Council for the Social Studies.
JOHN'S VIEW: This makes such good sense! Teachers make an "exotic" unit even more interesting for their students by melding history with current events. Great stuff!
MARYLAND REQUIRES SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS TO PASS EXIT EXAMS
As the Maryland board of education considers whether to make exit exams in English, algebra, biology and American government mandatory for graduation, parents and advocates are split on whether students with disabilities should be required to pass the exams. Only one in three students in special-education classes are passing the tests, and while some say the mandatory tests would force schools to give students with special needs access to standard curriculum, others say the tests aren't fair to these students.
JOHN'S VIEW: Special education students, depending upon their needs, are given a vast amount of indidivudal support in order to level the playing field for them. While greatly expensive, that's fine. Now whiners want the playing field tilted down hill in order to allow sped students to pass abbreviated tests or to pass by the tests altogether. Get real. While it is unfortunate that these students have learning difficulties, they're going to have them for their entire lives, and they need to learn to deal with it now. An employer will not be any where near the advocate that the public schools have been.
NEW YORK SCHOOL CHALLENGES STUDENTS WITH AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR PROGRAM
At Brooklyn's Automotive High, teens learn car repair alongside a traditional high school curriculum. "They've got to hit the books, not just handle a wrench," said principal Melissa H. Silberman.
JOHN'S VIEW: While this program has real value for students, schools, and society, I can't believe I'm seeing it listed as an innovative program. Combining academics and "mechanical arts" goes back to Dewey in the early part of the 20th century. It's good stuff but hardly innovative.
Drop a line if you'd like to discuss any of these programs further.
More middle and high school teachers are tackling lessons on genocide and human rights with an array of new curriculum resources and sometimes with the aid of survivors and other advocates. "When we're teaching about the Holocaust, I think it's important for students to realize it's not something that happened once in our history, but that genocide is an issue that erupts around the world in situations of intense racial or ethnic conflict," said Gayle Y. Thieman, president of the National Council for the Social Studies.
JOHN'S VIEW: This makes such good sense! Teachers make an "exotic" unit even more interesting for their students by melding history with current events. Great stuff!
MARYLAND REQUIRES SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS TO PASS EXIT EXAMS
As the Maryland board of education considers whether to make exit exams in English, algebra, biology and American government mandatory for graduation, parents and advocates are split on whether students with disabilities should be required to pass the exams. Only one in three students in special-education classes are passing the tests, and while some say the mandatory tests would force schools to give students with special needs access to standard curriculum, others say the tests aren't fair to these students.
JOHN'S VIEW: Special education students, depending upon their needs, are given a vast amount of indidivudal support in order to level the playing field for them. While greatly expensive, that's fine. Now whiners want the playing field tilted down hill in order to allow sped students to pass abbreviated tests or to pass by the tests altogether. Get real. While it is unfortunate that these students have learning difficulties, they're going to have them for their entire lives, and they need to learn to deal with it now. An employer will not be any where near the advocate that the public schools have been.
NEW YORK SCHOOL CHALLENGES STUDENTS WITH AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR PROGRAM
At Brooklyn's Automotive High, teens learn car repair alongside a traditional high school curriculum. "They've got to hit the books, not just handle a wrench," said principal Melissa H. Silberman.
JOHN'S VIEW: While this program has real value for students, schools, and society, I can't believe I'm seeing it listed as an innovative program. Combining academics and "mechanical arts" goes back to Dewey in the early part of the 20th century. It's good stuff but hardly innovative.
Drop a line if you'd like to discuss any of these programs further.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
CLEANING OUT A DESK DRAWER OF MY MIND
I AM SO VERY TIRED OF HEARING
about Larry Craig. It's time and that time is now for him and his wide stance to move on to other men's rooms flushed in blissful anonymity.
about A-Rod and where he might go after leaving the Yankees. I have an idea of where he can go.
about Newt Gingrich who had his chance, but who broke his contract with America. He was a great idea-man but a poor leader. Note the past tense. Let's keep it that way.
about George Bush's poll ratings. He is a strong leader who doesn't waver. Has he made mistakes? Yes. He doesn't pay attention to polls, and neither should we.
about Heather Mills and Paul McCartney and their divorce. Get it over with.
about the Patriots and videogate. They were doing what every other team did. Did they break the rules? Yes, but in a technical sense. There was absolutely no advantage for the game being recorded.
about Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. Trade him. Get it over with.
about Britney Spears. Get her a new circle of advisors and friends who will help her steer a straight course.
about Paris Hilton and her trip to Rwanda. Let's buy her a ticket, one-way.
There, I feel better! But do you get the idea that our news organizations have become mired in drivel and by extension - us?
Go Sox! Now there's a story I never tire of hearing.
about Larry Craig. It's time and that time is now for him and his wide stance to move on to other men's rooms flushed in blissful anonymity.
about A-Rod and where he might go after leaving the Yankees. I have an idea of where he can go.
about Newt Gingrich who had his chance, but who broke his contract with America. He was a great idea-man but a poor leader. Note the past tense. Let's keep it that way.
about George Bush's poll ratings. He is a strong leader who doesn't waver. Has he made mistakes? Yes. He doesn't pay attention to polls, and neither should we.
about Heather Mills and Paul McCartney and their divorce. Get it over with.
about the Patriots and videogate. They were doing what every other team did. Did they break the rules? Yes, but in a technical sense. There was absolutely no advantage for the game being recorded.
about Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. Trade him. Get it over with.
about Britney Spears. Get her a new circle of advisors and friends who will help her steer a straight course.
about Paris Hilton and her trip to Rwanda. Let's buy her a ticket, one-way.
There, I feel better! But do you get the idea that our news organizations have become mired in drivel and by extension - us?
Go Sox! Now there's a story I never tire of hearing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
