21st Century School Teacher

Yes, that's right, I'm leaving my precious little baby behind for a trip back to my old stomping grounds.  It was super hard for me as another school year began, so a trip home to my old school is just what I need!  I'm going to take a few days to catch up on new gossip amongst my peers and visit with the little critters I've taught in previous years...(well, I guess those middle schoolers aren't so little anymore...). 

I'm already wondering how I'm going to do without my little Katie with me--I've never been away from her for 5 days.  Thank goodness Grandma and Papa (G & P) are in town to stay with Katie and daddy.  :)

How lucky am I to have such a beautiful daughter--it definitely softens the circumstances that I find myself in today.  And the latest-greatest news has me smilin' too.  (Drum roll please!)  G & P sold their house and are making arrangements to move to Arizona.  Looks like I can take a day or two a week to get myself back in the classroom.  I'm looking forward to subbing a few days here and there to keep my feet wet.  It will be hard not to have my own classroom, but that interaction with peers and kids is what I'm looking forward to... 

In Rush to White House, 'No Child' Is Left Behind Obama, McCain Reveal Little on Updates for Plan  By Maria Glod Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 15, 2008  is a nice article reviewing what we already know...  The two front runner candidates for the presidency are steering clear of this hot topic.  I like what Randy Pausch said his father told him, "If there's an elephant in the kitchen, introduce it!"  It's time for the candidates to be more specific about what they plan to do to the law that has the majority of Americans asking for legislative change.

It seems that Obama has outlined his intent for educational reform more so than McCain, but both are leaving enough out that it is hard for the average American to know what it is that they will do with NCLB.

This article suggests that Obama will work more closely with unions than McCain--no surprise there, and that he does support performance pay in addition that support union agreements.  McCain is clearly in support of attaching performance pay to test scores.

The article is a quick read and highlights what is being left out of the candidates' education platform...

Homework expert Harris Cooper, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, discusses the impact of homework with Madeleine Brand, as part of a series of reports on education. You can hear the interview here…

How much is enough or too much?  Basically, the ten minute rule still stands.  10 minutes per grade. More than that shows no negligible impact on learning… 

Kids in primary school should be guided by parents to make sure that 10 minute assignment is not being turned into an hour long assignment.  If the 10 minute rule is being broken, the professor suggests creating a dialogue with the teacher.

Soundsnap is a great student resource as it has a good size collection of free sound files. They are neatly categorized and easy to search--you can preview them before you download them... Most files come in a variety of formats from wav, mp3, aiff.  Quite often, we ask our students to put together presentations that require text and images... Sound files can also enhance student work, so this is just one more resource for them--long gone are the PowerPoint sounds of yesteryear (breaking glass and whooshes and, of course, the applause...)

OPENGOO is an open source, web based office suite... There are several online "office" suitess, why Opengoo?

Opengoo runs on the ubiquitous Apache/PHP/MySQL open source platform which happens to be the same platform used by Moodle, Joomla, and Drupal.

With Opengoo you can you can word process, e-mail,  etc.--students can share files--make presentations, etc.  Seems easy to learn...  As you know, open source applications are becoming more and more important how we facilitate learning in the classroom... I hope this r

I happened upon this Youtube video on De Tools of the Trade Blog...  Pretty interesting.  Apparently this psychology professor from Virginia, Daniel Willingham, discredits what teachers across America hold dearly to as they carefully plan their lessons to include best practice for visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners.  Go figure... 

Rhee's 'Plan B' Targets Teacher Quality Strategy Might Include New Evaluation Process, Linking Licenses to Classroom Performance  by Bill Turque--Sept 8

Apparently talks with the union regarding teacher-pay have not progressed to a vote in D.C....  What does that mean for Michelle Rhee, D.C. Chancellor?  It looks like Plan B. 

"It would make the District school system one of the few in the country to link the licensing of teachers to their classroom performance, rather than their academic credentials. New rules, scheduled to go into effect this week, would grant State Superintendent of Education Deborah A. Gist the discretion to create an advanced teaching credential specifying the bench marks instructors would have to meet to keep their jobs."

Ouch!  Sounds like this could be messy...  But I have to admit, I don't think this is a bad idea. 

"The contract is the way that I would prefer to go," Rhee said. "But if we can't get to agreement on the contract, there's another very clear way that we can get there. . . . The bottom line is we are going to bring accountability in a very significant way to the educator force in this school district."

Why shouldn't teachers be held accountable for making gains in their classrooms?  As long as teachers are provided with adequate 21st century resources, showing gains in academic performance should be easy-shmeazy...  (I'm not one to easily run scared). Come on in and inspect all you want!    Now someone once told me that there are two kinds of bosses, those that get what they expect and those that get what they inspect...  And really, I'd prefer to work for someone who has high expectations and then prove them right. 

But unfortunately, our education system is heavy with dead weight--it is time for a bit more accountability--and I'd like my pay to be attached to that accountability, too--Thank you very much!  Seems like it would be in the best interest of the D.C. union members to take Rhee up on Plan A because Plan B gets the same result, potentially without the big bucks to soften the blow...

I'm going to continue to follow this spectacle--Rhee is a true strategist--let's see if she comes out on the winning team :)  Go Michelle!

On the Republican Convention: McCain Is Wrong About School Vouchers By Bruce Fuller posted on nytimes.com discusses MCain's stance on education...


Although I don't want to get all political on this blog, it is worth noting where the candidates stand on education.  This particular post on nytimes.com suggests that McCain is fused to "President Bush’s ideological hip." when it comes to education.  Hmmm...

"He is eager to expand taxpayer financed vouchers to aid parents who send their children to parochial schools, to “shake up schools with competition,” as he said Thursday night in his acceptance speech. And he aims to further centralize elements of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind initiative, rather than rethinking how Congress can narrow achievement gaps without micromanaging the daily work of teachers."

So basically, more of the same Bush agenda...  yada, yada...

The post goes on to cite a recent Gallup poll... "just two in five Americans support school vouchers. On No Child Left Behind, four in five believe they should be revamped by Congress, to de-emphasize standardized tests. Mr. McCain’s speech alleged that Mr. Obama wants schools answerable to “entrenched bureaucrats,” rather than to parents, yet it’s the Republican candidate who still supports Washington’s maze of rules under the No Child Left Behind legislation."

Below is an overview of both candidates' plan for education take directly from their websites--read and decide for yourself, which plan do you support?

Obama's plan for education:

Barack Obama's Plan Early Childhood Education Zero to Five Plan: Obama's comprehensive "Zero to Five" plan will provide critical support to young children and their parents. Unlike other early childhood education plans, Obama's plan places key emphasis at early care and education for infants, which is essential for children to be ready to enter kindergarten. Obama will create Early Learning Challenge Grants to promote state "zero to five" efforts and help states move toward voluntary, universal pre-school.

Expand Early Head Start and Head Start: Obama will quadruple Early Head Start, increase Head Start funding and improve quality for both.

Affordable, High-Quality Child Care: Obama will also provide affordable and high-quality child care to ease the burden on working families.

K-12 Reform No Child Left Behind: Obama will reform NCLB, which starts by funding the law. Obama believes teachers should not be forced to spend the academic year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests. He will improve the assessments used to track student progress to measure readiness for college and the workplace and improve student learning in a timely, individualized manner. Obama will also improve NCLB's accountability system so that we are supporting schools that need improvement, rather than punishing them.

Make Math and Science Education a National Priority: Obama will recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession and will support efforts to help these teachers learn from professionals in the field. He will also work to ensure that all children have access to a strong science curriculum at all grade levels.

Address the Dropout Crisis: Obama will address the dropout crisis by passing his legislation to provide funding to school districts to invest in intervention strategies in middle school - strategies such as personal academic plans, teaching teams, parent involvement, mentoring, intensive reading and math instruction, and extended learning time.

Expand High-Quality Afterschool Opportunities: Obama will double funding for the main federal support for afterschool programs, the 21st Century Learning Centers program, to serve one million more children.

Expand Summer Learning Opportunities: Obama's "STEP UP" plan addresses the achievement gap by supporting summer learning opportunities for disadvantaged children through partnerships between local schools and community organizations.

Support College Outreach Programs: Obama supports outreach programs like GEAR UP, TRIO and Upward Bound to encourage more young people from low-income families to consider and prepare for college.

Support English Language Learners: Obama supports transitional bilingual education and will help Limited English Proficient students get ahead by holding schools accountable for making sure these students complete school.
Recruit, Prepare, Retain, and Reward America's TeachersRecruit Teachers: Obama will create new Teacher Service Scholarships that will cover four years of undergraduate or two years of graduate teacher education, including high-quality alternative programs for mid-career recruits in exchange for teaching for at least four years in a high-need field or location.

Prepare Teachers: Obama will require all schools of education to be accredited. He will also create a voluntary national performance assessment so we can be sure that every new educator is trained and ready to walk into the classroom and start teaching effectively. Obama will also create Teacher Residency Programs that will supply 30,000 exceptionally well-prepared recruits to high-need schools.

Retain Teachers: To support our teachers, Obama's plan will expand mentoring programs that pair experienced teachers with new recruits. He will also provide incentives to give teachers paid common planning time so they can collaborate to share best practices.

Reward Teachers: Obama will promote new and innovative ways to increase teacher pay that are developed with teachers, not imposed on them. Districts will be able to design programs that reward accomplished educators who serve as a mentor to new teachers with a salary increase. Districts can reward teachers who work in underserved places like rural areas and inner cities. And if teachers consistently excel in the classroom, that work can be valued and rewarded as well.

Higher Education Create the American Opportunity Tax Credit: Obama will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students. Obama will also ensure that the tax credit is available to families at the time of enrollment by using prior year's tax data to deliver the credit when tuition is due.

Simplify the Application Process for Financial Aid: Obama will streamline the financial aid process by eliminating the current federal financial aid application and enabling families to apply simply by checking a box on their tax form, authorizing their tax information to be used, and eliminating the need for a separate application.



John McCain's Education Principles:

John McCain Will Enact Meaningful Reform In Education. Now is the time to demand real, new reform earned through discipline, grinding work, tough choices and leadership. John McCain has dedicated his career in public service to the hard and sometimes unpopular work of achieving meaningful reform.

The Education System Must Provide For Equality Of Choice. Too many of our children are trapped by geography and by economics in failing schools.

We Must Empower Parents. Involved and empowered parents and excellent teachers are the two greatest determining factors in a child's education. If we are to succeed, we must empower committed parents with critical knowledge about their child's performance, and empower them with real and meaningful choices to act upon that knowledge.

We Must Empower Teachers. If America is to truly reform public education and make good on the promise of individual freedom and independence through knowledge, we must ensure that every child has the opportunity to be inspired and motivated to achieve their potential by a strong classroom leader.

John McCain's Education Policy:

John McCain Will Build On The Lessons Of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). There should be an emphasis on standards and accountability. However, our goal cannot be group averages. Instead, our focus should be to inspire every child to strive to reach his or her potential. While NCLB has been invaluable in providing a clear picture of which schools and students are struggling, it is only the beginning of education reform.

John McCain Will Provide Effective Education Leadership. John McCain is committed to high standards and accountability, but he is also committed to providing the resources needed to succeed. He believes we should invest in people, parents and reward achievement.

John McCain Will Work To Ensure That Our Children Have Quality Teachers. The single biggest challenge in turning around a failing school is getting quality teachers into that school. To overcome this challenge, John McCain will:

Encourage Alternative Certification Methods That Open The Door For Highly Motivated Teachers To Enter The Field. John McCain will devote five percent of Title II funding to states to recruit teachers who graduate in the top 25 percent of their class or who participate in an alternative teacher recruitment program such as Teach for America, the New York City Teaching Fellowship Program, the New Teacher Project, or excellent university initiatives.

Provide Bonuses For Teachers Who Locate In Underperforming Schools And Demonstrate Strong Leadership As Measured By Student Improvement. John McCain will devote 60 percent of Title II funding for incentive bonuses for high performing teachers to locate in the most challenging educational settings, for teachers to teach subjects like math and science, and for teachers who demonstrate student improvement. Payments will be made directly to teachers. Funds should also be devoted to provide performance bonuses to teachers who raise student achievement and enhance the school-wide learning environment. Principals may also consider other issues in addition to test scores such as peer evaluations, student subgroup improvements, or being removed from the state's "in need of improvement" list.

Provide Funding For Needed Professional Teacher Development. Where federal funds are involved, teacher development money should be used to enhance the ability of teachers to perform in today's technology driven environment. We need to provide teachers with high quality professional development opportunities with a primary focus on instructional strategies that address the academic needs of their students. The first 35 percent of Title II funding would be directed to the school level so principals and teachers could focus these resources on the specific needs of their schools.

John McCain Believes We Must Empower School Principals With Greater Control Over Spending. Funding cannot be effectively apportioned in Washington, but it shouldn't be a state-level official or district bureaucrat either. The money must be controlled by the leader we hold accountable: the school principal with a single criterion to raise student achievement.

John McCain Will Make Real The Promise Of NCLB By Giving Parents Greater Choice. Choice is the best way to protect children against a failing bureaucracy. But parents must have more control over the money.

John McCain Will Expand The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. In our nation's capital, we have seen the dramatic benefits of giving parents control of money and choices. The Opportunity Scholarship program serves more than 1,900 students from families with an average income of $23,000 a year. More than 7,000 more families have applied for that program. The budget for the Opportunity Scholarships is currently $13 million. John McCain believes that this extremely successful program should expand to at least $20 million benefiting nearly a thousand more families.

John McCain Will Ensure Children Struggling To Meet State Standards Will Have Immediate Access To High Quality Tutoring Programs. Local school districts can certify education service providers but providers can also bypass the local bureaucracy and receive direct federal certification. Education service providers can then market directly to parents. Title I money will be directed straight to the provider.

John McCain Supports Expanding Virtual Learning By Reforming The "Enhancing Education Through Technology Program." John McCain will target $500 million in current federal funds to build new virtual schools and support the development of online course offerings for students. These courses may be for regular coursework, for enhancement, or for dual enrollment into college.

John McCain Will Allocate $250 Million Through A Competitive Grant Program To Support States That Commit To Expanding Online Education Opportunities. States can use these funds to build virtual math and science academies to help expand the availability of AP Math, Science, and Computer Sciences courses, online tutoring support for students in traditional schools, and foreign language courses.

John McCain Will Offer $250 Million For Digital Passport Scholarships To Help Students Pay For Online Tutors Or Enroll In Virtual Schools. Low-income students will be eligible to receive up to $4,000 to enroll in an online course, SAT/ACT prep course, credit recovery or tutoring services offered by a virtual provider. Providers could range from other public schools, virtual charter schools, home school parents utilizing virtual schooling resources or district or state sponsored virtual schools. The Department of Education would competitively award the funds to a national scholarship administrator who would manage the student applications, monitoring, and evaluation of providers.

Like Wikipedia--but all about things living!  "The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) is an ambitious project to organize and make available via the Internet virtually all information about life present on Earth." Biodiversity galore!

Another whiteboard application--set up nicely for collaboration...

"Scriblink is a free digital whiteboard that users can share online in real-time. Sorta like pen and paper, minus the dead trees, plastic, and the inconvenience of being at the same place at the same time. Scriblink is all about collaboration. Whether you're there for fun or more practical things like layout planning, concept diagramming, or tutoring a friend in math, Scriblink brings you the power of free hand expression with anyone, at anytime, anywhere in the world."

I like this one...