Category Archives: creativity

More eye candy

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iMackenzie has a wonderful pic up called Glittering River.

I can hear the water moving…smell the scent of fish and wet soil…feel the breeze off the mountains…and the warmth of the sun upon my face…

(and I try not to think about the amount of heavy metals/pesticides/herbicides/fertilizers that have made their way into the life-giving water…but blocking it out and enjoying the moment isn’t always possible.)

 

NPE Twitter storm

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Reclaim Reform has a post up on the twitter storm demanding Congressional investigation into the profiteering of standardized testing.

From the link to NPE:

How good are the tests?

Problems with the actual content of tests have been extensively documented. There are numerous instances of flawed questions and design, including no right answer, more than one right answer, wording that is unclear or misleading, reading passages or problems that are developmentally inappropriate or contain product placements, test questions on material never taught, and items that border on bizarre, such as a famous example that asked students to read a passage about a race between a pineapple and a hare. Tests are not scientific instruments like barometers; they are commercial products that are subject to multiple errors.

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Linda Darling Hammond testifies

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Diane Ravitch has a post up on Linda Darling-Hammond testimony at the Vergara trial.  She outlines the criteria for evaluating teachers for tenure and helping struggling teachers:

“Well, it’s important both as a part of a due process expectation; that if somebody is told they’re not meeting a standard, they should have some help to meet that standard.

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Absolutely.  If a teacher is abusive or grossly inadequate, you want them out.  But if a teacher is good in some areas, but needs help in others, by all means, they should get support and encouragement in those weak areas.  In any line of work, you would expect some guidance from those more experienced.  Why should the teaching profession be any different?

More:

And the third reason is that when you create a system that is not oriented to attract high-quality teachers and support them in their work, that location becomes a very unattractive workplace. And an empirical proof of that is the situation currently in Houston, Texas, which has been firing many teachers at the bottom end of the value-added continuum without creating stronger overall achievement, and finding that they have fewer and fewer people who are willing to come apply for jobs in the district because with the instability of those scores, the inaccuracy and bias that they represent for groups of teachers, it’s become an unattractive place to work.

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Word.

This comment by Teacher Ken gets at the heart of teaching and tenure:

I have been the cooperating teacher for five student teachers from the University of Maryland at College Park, three from the undergraduate program and two from the masters’ program. The only one who failed to ‘make it’ was a 4.0 student who refused to listen to the notion that he had to meet the kids where they were in order to be able to inspire/entice them to move further. He dropped out before doing his full load of student teaching.

I have been a building union rep and have served as an informal mentor to both beginning and struggling experienced teachers. I have helped some turn around and have counseled others out of the profession. I have as a union rep helped remove a tenured teacher (who never should have gotten tenure) who was not merely ineffective but a danger to students.

We have those who should never go into teaching – they don’t like kids.

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This can’t be stated enough–the pro-Charter, anti-public schools, anti-Teacher’s union mob would like to play on people’s emotions and say that bad teachers get a free ride once they get tenure.

As Diane has stated in the past, tenured teachers are not guaranteed a job, per se, but are guaranteed the right to a fair hearing if charges are made against them.  That seems reasonable to me.

However, I have heard of instances of bad teachers being kept on because the principal was afraid to confront them.  They feel they had to have mountains of evidence to get rid of a bad teacher. It might also be just a clash of personalities…where the child is better suited for another teacher.  The teacher isn’t necessarily bad and the kid isn’t necessarily bad, but they just butt heads.

On the other hand, I would not want to see a teacher sacked over gossip (lack of solid evidence)…because I’ve seen that happen, too, where some big mouth started a rumor and the good teacher left.  He was one of those teachers that really connected with the kids, too.  The gossipmonger was probably jealous of his ability to connect and the resulting popularity.

And Teacher Ken’s point about the 4.0 teaching student is spot on.  You can be the smartest person in the room, but if you don’t like kids and can’t get down to their level to help them learn, you’re in the wrong profession.  (Gee…why does this describe Bill Gates to a “T”…??)

Native American Drawings

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Scott Sewell has several drawings posted on his blog:

Four Winds

Her Powwow Pride

Wace.  This one I love.  Such tenderness.

Dreams of Old Days

This is kinda funny.  The Native American society was not a hierarchy, like white society.  I found out recently that the Chief system was forced upon them by the whites–they had been an egalitarian society prior to that, so there were no princes or princesses…strictly a figment of someone’s vivid imagination.

The very name for whites–wasichu –was because of white people’s way of taking for themselves without regard for the others.  This name means “one who takes the fat” because the very first white man that walked into an Native American village was hungry.  He was offered some meat from a deer killed recently.  Since the deer is very lean, the Native Americans reserved the fat for the elderly and the children.  They saw this white man as selfish for his actions.

Also, if a Native American acquired wealth, he/she is expected to share that in what they called the “giveaway”.  Once a year, the wealthy will spread their things out on a blanket and those who are in need could come and take what they needed.

And they saw America as a complex ecology that required careful cultivation.  They were careful to always leave plants behind instead of taking them all.  Same with animals.  They always treated the animals with respect and prayed over the ones they used for meat, clothing and tools.

Terry Richardson Assistant Identified

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Leslie Lessin has been identified as the assistant to Terry Richardson.  My prior blogs on him here and here.

She is apparently the one who was allegedly cheerleading/cajoling the young women into whatever Terry Richardson wanted.  She tried to smooth things over (and what sounds like brainwashing) in a cab ride home with one of the young women.

It’s nice to hear from the guys about the stories of the women. 

“I felt that to dignify [accusations] with a response was a betrayal of my work and my character”

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Richardson is concerned about his character? Really?  How dignified is it to having your member photographed while a woman performs a sexual favor? Because I don’t see a lot of dignity in that.  Nor in putting a woman in a garbage can, or calling her a slut.

“I collaborated with consenting adult women who were fully aware of the nature of the work,”

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“Nature of the work”…what does that mean, exactly?  Do you tell them you are going to whip your member out and make demands that they perform sex acts?  Is that in writing? Because if it isn’t in plain language in the so-called “release” then you have no freaking case.

These accusations have been occurring over years and nothing has been done. 

Women are apparently sick of it and are boycotting anything connected with Richardson to make their voices heard. 

 Indeed, gaslighting is classic tactic of an abusive personality. Richardson insists that it is an ill-informed, pitchfork wielding internet leading the charge against him while subtly failing to address the fact that these allegations have come from multiple sources, repeatedly and over a number of years.

But if the allegations are true, then Richardson isn’t just undermining his victims by questioning the credibility of their accusations – he’s further abusing them by attempting to erase them from the situation altogether.

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And as each of them have stated, they were intimidated at the time…so for them to come forward is a brave thing to do.  It gives their testimony more weight because they have a lot to lose (not working again is a big incentive NOT to say anything).

Richardson’s involvement with Miley Cyrus’ vulgar performances (Wrecking Ball, for one; and Blurred Lines, for another) speaks volumes.  He’s a creep who loves to degrade women.

There is a positive sexuality and a dark, negative sexuality.  Terry Richardson is dark and devoid of any conscience, in my opinion.