Here is a breath of fresh air for Philadelphia which has seen its share of public school closures. The following is from the Philadelphia Declaration of Play which I am adding to my website under early childhood. Check them out and cheer! The Philadelphia Declaration of Play is an ongoing collaborative project created by local […]
Revisiting “A Strange Ignorance…” LEAD Poisoning and Student Achievement
Today I add a new link to what I believe is an important organization for early childhood education. CLEAR Corps: Protecting the Potential of Children (CC) addresses the serious issue, which I write about in Misguided Education Reform: Debating the Impact on Students, addressing the harmful effects of high blood levels of lead in children […]
More Reform Words Added to The Strange New Education Vocabulary List
I have added more reform words to The Strange New Education Vocabulary List posted August 28. These words create strange emotions in me. First I snicker, then I am sad. Application Coherence Deep understanding Dual intensity Enterprise Fluency Focus Memory Memorization Repetition
Nashville Showdown on the Common Core State Standards
Today senators in Tennessee are meeting to determine the fate of the Common Core State Standards. Some are calling it the Nashville Showdown. Seven speakers on each side of the debate get to speak. Five of the fourteen are from the conservative group the Tennessee Eagle Forum. Here is a list of the speakers and […]
Common Core is NOT Designed for Students with Disabilities or Gifted Students
I have reviewed the Common Core Standards for students with disabilities and I am flummoxed. All teachers have to do is provide multiple ways of learning and special accommodations. Students will master the online tests and go on to college and live happily ever after. First, certainly there are students with disabilities who, with the […]
Students Miss Out On Today With Common Core Standards and PARCC
Last May a book came out called Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending. The authors discuss how people work hard so they will be happy later in life. Some put themselves through great drudgery in jobs they can’t stand, commuting and working long hours. They also stay in awful jobs much longer than they […]
We Are NOT a Common Core Country
I have never liked just the mere title Common Core. We aren’t a nation that values common. We like differences, uniqueness, individuality, independence, eccentricity, distinctiveness, and originality. Since when do we enforce conformity? Pro common forces, including Stand for Children, are out in full armor, with pretty YouTube commercials, attempting to impress us as to […]
Sixty-Three Superintendents Who’ve Had Enough
I guess it’s a good thing 63 Tennessee superintendents are “pulling the reins in” on Tennessee education commissioner Kevin Huffman. I’m not exactly sure what that will mean in the end, or what direction they’re going to steer Huffman once they obtain those reins. They will have to giddy yap past Tennessee’s Gov. Haslam, who […]
More About Fluency/Timed Reading Homework
A teacher on Facebook commented on yesterday’s blog about the Fluency/Timed reading homework. She felt it necessary to insist students complete a timed reading homework assignment of 20 minutes or her students would never read. This particular teacher also recognized the argument against homework in general. But I don’t want to get into that right […]
Sucking the Joy Out of Reading—Fluency/Timed Reading for Homework
A parent I recently met, who is positively involved in her child’s education, noted her distain of having to document the amount of time her child and the family spend reading. There is nothing that sucks the joy out of reading more than the homework assignment of timing how many minutes a child and the […]