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Education News **edited

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Think the NSA is bad?  How about the Gates Foundation??  Sends chills down your spine how this non-government corporation has so much free access to personal data.  The next question is:  for what purpose?  Sheila Resseger posted this letter to Secretary Duncan.  Thank YOU, Senator Markey, for asking these important questions.  Tim Furman posted this link for a gathering in Chicago on student privacy.

Rupert Murdoch, who owns the Wall Street Journal, along with other *cough* news rags, allegedly stole private information via cell phones to use against the owner.   Keep in mind that Coulson was directly linked to the British Prime Minister.  And the Gates Foundation is sponsoring “news” stories running in The Guardian.

Diane has a link up to this excellent post that just hits the nail on the head—how does one stack the deck so there is as little opposition as possible….?  One holds meetings at times that almost guarantee low attendance by those involved–teachers, parents who work and parents with little ones ( they won’t bring little ones to the meetings and  single parents will have difficulty getting sitters,too.)

The post features this video (under immature link):

Really eye-opening, eh?  Is it fair to characterize Deasy as a bully and an idiot?  From this episode, he seems to be a control freak running amok whom is more interested in feeding his ego than actual concern for the children.  He claims she is being disrespectful to the kids, while he is showing disrespect for their teacher.   Blessings to you, Patrena Shankling.  Nobody should have to be treated in such an abusive manner—and what you experienced was classic verbal abuse where it doesn’t matter what you say, the abuser will escalate his tirade.

More on Deasy here.

Speaking of abuse, Diane posted this on a child psychotherapist’s assessment of the testing, testing, testing of our children and how demoralizing it is to them.  Six years old!

And JCGrim posts a comment on how the abuse gets worse—Good God:

School leaders say La Vergne High has a split lunch period, half academic intervention to help students who may be struggling in a subject and half lunch.

“They are not segregating them in the traditional sense. If the kids’ scores are low in certain areas, they are getting help in that area. If you want to label that segregation, then that’s not the correct way to label it,” said Rutherford County Schools spokesman James Evans.

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Well, you know, they say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.  Whether the segregation is intentional or not, it is still segregation.  And what is wrong with you that you can’t even give the kids a break from learning for a half-hour?  The brain needs a break, for crying out loud!  Let the kids be kids and socialize without being overshadowed!

Diane posts here on Mark Naison.  He describes how and why he became an activist.  **edited to add link. Oops.

From his post:

Teachers everywhere were being driven out of their jobs and stripped of their autonomy and creativity. Children everywhere were being deluged with tests, and subjected to a one size fits all curriculum that, in all too many instances, smothered their unique talents and aptitudes.

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(sorry for the large text) —  as I’m reading this, I’m reminded of something a nun said at a parents’ meeting once:  we all have gifts to bring to the world–we have the jocks and beauty queens, but we need the nerds, the clowns, the creative, the stoic, etc. — those that are not necessarily celebrated in popular media, but whose gifts would surely be missed had they not graced the world.    Even those who are mentally challenged bring something to the world.

Naison is understandably upset with the Administration for the education policies.  However, I have seen a change in President Obama in the past, oh, year or year-and-a-half, in that he seems to be breaking away from the Clinton -thinking.  My hope is that the more President Obama sees the damage that is happening to the children and public education as a whole, he will rethink the policies and replace Arne Duncan.    We can hope….

Diane also posts the links to the Daily Show appearance.  When she stated that Jon was upset about Common Core and how his staff was personally experiencing what we’ve been blasting about, I was upset that he doesn’t talk about it on air!  Arrrgh!  A missed opportunity to help the public understand why we are so upset and how our children are being psychologically abused!

(A side note~  I admire Jon for adopting the pit bull, but still would not recommend them.  They have been bred to be fighters, and as such, their powerful jaws make it impossible to separate them from anything they’ve sunk their teeth into—there are stories of pit bulls who would not release even when someone was beating on them to get them off of another dog/human being. )

Diane has a link to Mercedes Schneider’s debunking the Louisiana “miracle”.  This is why one needs to ask how statistics were compiled and what methodology they used.  The lies will be exposed when these questions are answered.

Diane and Michelle Rhee will debate Feb. 6.  Rhee made increasing demands which seem to speak of the lack of substance to her arguments.

Finally, in my own little corner of the world– a quiz on Indiana politics and ruining public education by devious means.

Note in the comments that charter school proponents are now trying to market charter schools as “community schools” to make destroying public schools more palatable.

This comment just makes me want to cry because it’s so true:

Carol Ring

November 2, 2013 at 9:39 am

Indiana gets national recognition once again!

We are ‘leaders’ in many areas…eighth most polluted air in the nation, broken infrastructure, roads with cracks and potholes, 47th in the nation for adults with college degrees, most polluted rivers in the U.S., underfunding of public schools [so more money can go to charter schools], eighth most overweight population in the nation and our recent achievement in outstanding ‘education reform’ is an increased number of vouchers and charter school expansion!

Add to this list of achievements the desire of our GOP controlled Congress and Tea Partier Governor Pence to dilute Superintendent Glitz’s responsibilities simply because she understands the needs of children and teachers.

It sometimes feels overwhelming.

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God help Indiana.

Blackfish

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CNN has aired the Orca documentary Blackfish–specifically the captive Tillikum that killed trainer Dawn Brancheau.  Not only did he kill her, but another trainer twenty years before, and there was a dead man found on Tillikum’s back, mysteriously appearing one morning.  As the researcher states during the documentary, orcas are not known to attack human beings while they are free–it’s only in captivity that they have attacked humans.  My recent post on OSHA (or Sea World) refusing to release information on their protocol.

Before, when I commented on the Blackfish doc, I remarked how the “whale song” made me cry.  I didn’t understand why at the time….but now I am wondering that this whale’s cry is from being separated from its family and/or a mother whale being separated from her child….knowing that these mother whales cry as a human mother would after having her child taken away….it makes sense.

I posted a link on the Fu Manchu blog on an organization fighting  to stop holding whales captive.   It’s a brutal, selfish practice and it needs to stop.

At the closing scene of Blackfish, they show the orcas swimming freely as they were meant to, and how spirited they were–their dorsal fins are proudly straight–not flopped over like Tillikum’s.  It is awesome to watch them.   As I watch that segment, it occurs to me that perhaps if they took Tillikum back to the Washington State area where they captured him, perhaps he could find his family and rejoin them?   I know that sounds like a long stretch, because he has been in captivity so long, but I would think that his mother would recognize him.    It would be worth it giving it a shot.  He deserves that.

 

Plagiarizing isn’t really stealing….

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Rachel Maddow has an issue with Rand Paul claiming someone else’s writing is his own….and how he pretends “it’s no big deal”.

If you recall the post on only the crooks get jobs.…there seems to be a pattern here, eh?

But, no, we’re not done…I was watching the Ed Show on MSNBC, and he was stating that Bill O’Reilly has made the claim he knows why Jesus died–because he went after the tax collectors.  Ed said it was because he was sent here to die for us so that we could have everlasting life.   He also said something about the moneychangers being thrown out because they were in the Temple.

Hmmm….I remember making the statement on a comment on crooks and liars regarding this subject.(tried to find it,but it’s not on the website).

It’s been probably a year since I made the comment, and some of you might remember it–someone on the blog had made a crack about Jesus not caring about the poor, etc.  To which I replied that Jesus fed the poor with loaves and fishes, he touched those with leprosy (which was like AIDS in those days), and he threw the moneychangers (bankers) out of the Temple when the religious leaders had allowed them to set up shop there.  I said that was probably the real reason Jesus was murdered–he made the religious leaders look bad (and pissed off the bankers by interfering with their business).

I haven’t read O’Reilly’s book.  I don’t know the exact quote or context of it ….but it would piss me off to know this creep has a book out there, making $$$, while he stole an idea from someone else.

Oh….and O’Reilly claims that Jesus told him to write the book.

Um-hmmm….if Jesus had really told him that, he would have told O’Reilly to pay for the costs of printing it and hand out copies for free.

Never ceases to amaze me when people try to make money off of Jesus….I can’t imagine he would have healed someone and then said “That’ll be $100.”

 

Solar in Canada

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Global News features a homeowner who installed solar panels and is now seeing the benefits.    He requested a meter that would feed the excess energy he doesn’t need back into the utility grid, but didn’t see it for months.  The power company exec offers no explanation, only to say that the problem has been fixed.  And the reporter stated that someone refused to be interviewed…I’m assuming it’s the power company’s representative? 

Anyway, I thought about all the excuses used for not pushing solar energy for the northern states–that there’s just not enough sunlight to make it economically feasible—and here we have someone in Canada, which has even less sunlight and because of the shape of Earth, is less intense energy from the sun, and yet they are still able to absorb enough energy to power their homes and have more to send back to the utility company.  Kind of blows that excuse, doesn’t it?

There are others here in the U.S. who go completely off-grid, where they’re not attached to the public utility, and they use batteries to store the excess energy for days that the sun doesn’t shine. 

The time has come for solar.  Cheap–when you factor in environmental damage by all other means of producing energy:  coal (mercury, lead, arsenic), oil (cancer), nuclear (cancer), gas (fracking–mercury, cancer, and God only knows what else).—plus their detrimental effects on climate change.

Clean.  Unlimited power source.

I did a web search and found a national geographic video on a solar farm–but the narrator states that unlike solar panels, they use mirrors that reflect light upward, and then a tube with synthetic oil captures the heat, to transport it.  With that information, I clicked off the video.  Why on Earth would they use synthetic oil??  It just seems that we are so creatively challenged that we can’t think outside the oil box. 

It’s just so harrrrd to think sustainably!!     /said with dripping sarcasm

Education News

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Diane Ravitch has this up on an open letter to the Los Angeles School Board.    A report here on Deasy and the electronics fiasco.

You might recall that the Smartboard in the classroom made me ill with a headache and nausea and causing adrenal distress, making me extremely tired.    I had to shut it and the “wand” used with it off and felt better within about 30 minutes. I wonder how many kids in the classroom were affected and not know enough to speak up?  (or worse–when they complain of nausea and want to see the nurse are thought to be making excuses?)

A commenter on the Deasy article posted this link on the electro-magnetic (radiation) exposure to the teachers and the kids in the classroom.

I was watching the South Bend news station last night where they were proudly promoting a woman whom had donated money to the school system to purchase smartboards for those classrooms that did not have one, I believe it was kindergarten through second grade.  For someone who hasn’t see them–these things are huge monstrosities that cover probably six feet across (guessing).

The news video showed a child at the smartboard pointing to a picture and the word that goes with it.  A teacher spoke and said it was a great way to see how well the child was learning.  While the story was running, I was thinking that a child could just as easily go to a chalkboard and demonstrate what they have learned.

And then there’s the waste of electricity plus exposure to electronic pollution.  When there is a smartboard in a classroom, there is little or no space for writing on the blackboard.   So I am left with the option of using the smartboard, which I won’t do anymore after the experience I had, or speaking in front of the class to get an idea across, which sometimes is not the best option, especially for someone who is dyslexic and needs the visual cues of writing on a chalkboard.

Finally, I don’t see where the smartboard actually helps a child to learn better.  Somebody made some major bucks on foisting yet another useless tool onto the cash-strapped public schools.

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In other, more sobering news:

The New York principals write a letter outlining why Common Core is failing the kids.  Reading of the effect on children who react with physical symptoms is heartwrenching.  Those poor kids will hate learning, when it’s their natural instinct to learn and explore.  Way to go, Common Core! /snark

Additionally, the letter states that children whom have never been labeled as learning deficient are now being so labeled and missing out on music and art classes that would most definitely help them to learn.

As I read about the students feeling like failures, my heart sinks.  I know how they feel–my dyslexia (undiagnosed) would have surely put me in the “dumb” category when that wasn’t the case.    I already felt dumb, however, and through my own will learned to adapt.  If a child is labeled as dumb by testing that does not allow for differences in learning, that child will never realize their true brain power.  They will not seek to move beyond the label placed upon them.

And this comment from Neanderthal really strikes to the heart of this debate:

neanderthal100

October 29, 2013 at 7:33 am

I paid a young man $1000 plus just the other day for a maintenance job for my house…Graduated around 2007..

He said to me…”You know, I never could do fractions when I was in school because they wanted us to use the calculator and it made no sense to me..I could get the right answer on the calculator but I never understood what I was doing.

I took so many tests that my guessing was really good.and I passed.

My father was shocked to find there were no vocational classes that I could take so he taught me the skills I need to know .

Now that I have to measure for my job and get paid for what I do….I learned the fractions and they are so easy.

I remember the math that I did was always for test questions…

My nephew is having a hard time because it is even worse now with this new math..

His teacher tells him everyday that he has to know this or that for a test and he gets ill on every test day.

Why don;t they have classes for construction workers?
That would have made so much more sense as I do not like the math with the y’s and x’s

I am very glad I am out of school and if and when I have children. I will teach them myself”

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Pretty telling, isn’t it, when  a child doesn’t learn the skills needed for a paying job.  This is just insanity.

Bombs, not food, say repubs…

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Susie Madrak has this up on the continued republican war against the poor.    To say it is demoralizing would be an understatement.

Shall we play the six degrees to Clinton game?  He pushed for “workfare” , which required welfare recipients to work for free–truly a corporation’s dream of forcing people to work and not pay any wages or benefits!  Slave labor rocks!!  /snark

When I asked for assistance after first moving to FW, I was required to do community service for two and a half days.  The money I requested?  $25.  Yes, you read that right— $25,   It was a humiliating experience when having to ask in the first place and then being put down by the social worker for having moved to FW without a job.  I was, um, hoping to get a job….

The Brits who are conservative are also playing the “we want to help you help yourself” game–

links here and here.

From the last link:

There is no reason to think, however, that the criticisms levelled at workfare won’t also apply to the new scheme. Is, for example, a person spending 30 hours a week picking up litter more or less likely to find a paying job? Research which looked at similar schemes in the US, Canada and Australia found that:

“There is little evidence that workfare increases the likelihood of finding work. It can even reduce employment chances by limiting the time available for job search and by failing to provide the skills and experience valued by employers. Subsidised (‘transitional’) job schemes that pay a wage can be more effective in raising employment levels than ‘work for benefit’ programmes. Workfare is least effective in getting people into jobs in weak labour markets where unemployment is high.”

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Truly disgusting how punitive these people are towards the poor.   Why not just have a public hanging and be done with it, already?

Lastly, here is the video someone suggested on crooks and liars:

Diane Ravitch on Melissa Harris-Perry

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Diane Ravitch was on Melissa Harris-Perry, and had a wonderful discussion on public education.   I wish they could have had more time to go in-depth about it, but I’ll take it.  You’ll have to click on each link separately, because NBC has chosen to not run them in sequence.

 

New faces of soul food

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Michael Twitty has a link up to a piece on soul food.  I like how he characterizes it as not necessarily West African, but a food of an enslaved people.

I recently made collard greens with chicken fat to flavor it….and I couldn’t believe the difference in taste.  It took the bitterness out and added something sweet to it.  I also put in chopped garlic cloves.  Yum.