HAPPY FRIDAY!

Yesterday, a FB friend posted about this phone number: 707-998-8410.

If you haven't called it, you should do it right now.

It is an elementary school's take on surviving and thriving. It's called PepTOC, a pep talk hotline done by children who are surviving and thriving through all the madness. [You can donate to the effort here if you are inclined. They are crowdsourcing funds to keep the number going.]

This is important and amazing - not only because their pure energy can be felt through the phone line. But also because according to recent studies, children (along with the elderly) have struggled during the pandemic on many fronts, but they are soooo resilient. 

That doesn't mean we shouldn't support them. It's just so wonderful that these teachers realized these kids had so much to give the rest of us. And then they gave it to us. 

As an old high school teacher of mine used to admonish when I was down, "you think you have it rough," read this. [And he was right, and only reminded me when I was on the upswing.] 

This is the opposite sentiment -- we're in this together, here's some pure joy and energy.

The ROI for dialing a number [we do this so infrequently anymore] is ENORMOUS. 

If you want to read/hear more about it, this piece by NPR is lovely. This piece is also lovely. P.S. #5 was my personal fave.

Teaser on YouTube:

If small children are not your jam, try this piece on sound art from the DF. I also found it soothing and lovely to think of city sounds as treasures.

HAPPY WEEKEND! 

NRU Education Ed

It's been a while... I have been reading articles, but not as assiduously.

I looked up the other day and noted that there were no less than ten education articles open in my browser.  Only one was already read, and several did not make the cut.

Here are the ones I decided to share for no particular reason other than I didn't HATE these articles.

I guess I am still not ready to write editorially about the articles.

Do you have any comments on any of these?

New all girl schools in LA (middle schools)

UC touting its diversity starting the school year (meh)

Black-focused housing on Cal State campuses... this particular article touted by other readers to be most balanced, not even sure what that means, just passing it along.

**my favorite: a teacher getting help for her students on dealing with trauma...

The Feds on bilingual ed [or ELLs need more help]... something on closing the achievement gap?

From the Op-Ed section:
NYTimes asks "Is School Reform Hopeless?" [it is a whole set of articles, so get your coffee ready]
LA Times gives someone the chance to say why teachers are not the problem (Vergara redux)

NRU ed

children teach us
USC president takes to the classroom
John King and second chances
white folks teaching in the hood
unions get a reprieve
what black and latino parents want for their kids in school
six second teacher eval
gates foundation not so great at education 

um... still having a hard time reading through all the ed stuff, but I am still keeping tabs by saving the articles.

Some I have read, but I offer them here without editorial because I just don't have the emotional energy...

NRU sort of education edition, light

You can tell just how chaotic my life is because I can't even get it together to read any articles or to post about anything that I have read.

You can rest assured that I have read a few, that there are million open in my browser and another 17 million that I closed without reading...

Here's one that made it through because teaching and schools are on my mind.  This cold hard reality is slapping me in the face at present. We really do need to do something about housing...

Another slam on Common Core... here is the problem, they never actually state what the actual issue is.  Even worse, they don't even present one or two or three or any solutions.  I will say *again* until we decide collectively just what it is that we think public education is actually supposed to accomplish, we cannot begin to *solve* the problem.  This is a particularly big problem because we spend way too much time in fantasy history when it comes to education.  There is no silver bullet but there are many lead bullets.

Though, I have to say that reading about education just makes me want to run screaming in the opposite direction.  There are more still open in my browser, maybe I will make another NRU before the week ends, or maybe I will just quietly close them (and my eyes).


***not about education***
Ok... just going to put this in here because I have no where else to report this.  Many years ago, something like 23 or so I worked for a non-profit housing corporation in Trenton.  One of our projects was to help a community group get two or three families into homes that were to be rehabbed.  These families lived in conditions I didn't think were possible in the United States.  The first time I visited them, the first thing that struck me was that their homes had no floors, only dirt.  One family who had *won* the lottery so-to-speak, was a mom and her daughter.  Mom was really too old to be getting  mortgage, so the daughter decided to take it on.  Her name was Pearlie.  I am pretty sure she just won the lottery for real with her children.  She is a lucky lady.  And this couldn't have happened to a lovelier family.  Many congratulations and best wishes!

NRU education edition

NRU light

I take seriously the authors' discussion of the need for better "education" on the subject of free speech, but even their analysis of the problem ignores what underlies the problem.  Free speech, and regulations of it, is an extremely nuanced idea that requires the ability to be able to communicate  what is offensive about speech as well as to listen to the intent of the speech.  Understanding nuance and effective communication are skills we should work on with students as well as the ability to critically think about issues.  Blanket statements like free speech do not really capture the nuances necessary to further discussion or debate...ugh, all this said, I don't know how to feel about this article.  I am tired of "older" people assuming "students" are just under-educated whenever their responses or beliefs do not match those of the older society.  Maybe there are things we can learn from each other.


these are not editorialized because I am covering my eyes and/or too busy ruining children's lives to read (ugh):
New Dept of Ed Secretary
Where will Spanish, the language, go with all the English being infused?
New LA County Sup

NRU Education

So, putting these here, not sure I can stand to read them... some I have read, and cringed.  Uyyy...

New LA superintendent is calling for a truce with charter schools... obviously this plea is aimed at the teachers' union ... I guess it doesn't matter if I show my bias because ya'll know how I feel already, but, really?!  In my opinion, and no it ain't humble, the charter schools in LA are like Netanyahu and can not be trusted not to blow up a school during a so-called truce.  Glad I am not in that negotiation meeting.

Harvard's bold plan to reform K-12 (yawn and eye roll), no, I have not read it.

A principal's meeting with a former student in the elevator, also have not read it yet, but I am considering it.

short but sweet but hoping to have a *real* post tomorrow or Wednesday ;)

NRU Education, again, I can't help myself!

Every day, I say, I won't read pieces on education.  Sometimes I use my online retail therapy approach for poor people: put items in cart, close browser window before buying (sometimes I go all the way through to the cart for fun).  In this instance, open articles I want to read, leave them open in browser until I can stand to close the tab.

These stayed open to long and I read them, oops..

Stumbled upon this piece on resiliency, so interesting ... and deserving of more research.  My research feelers go crazy for this stuff.  I need to figure out how to get my research on without it feeling like phantom limb pain.

I found someone on fb that seems to specialize in occupational therapy aimed at children/youth/adults with developmental disabilities including autism and adhd [I will not go down the rabbit hole of how I feel about adhd diagnoses or diagnoses in general].  I have been gorging on the articles he posts.  Some I will store here for future reference, some I have already closed.  I am brewing, stewing, considering potential new careers (more on this soon or later, why make promises I can't keep, might not keep), and these articles are providing fodder for lingering thought.

Not sure if this is really education, it is in the sense of the word educacion in Spanish it is.  How do we talk to our kids about race? Is there one way to do it?? Here is one fairly facile version.  The reality is that talking about difference, in general, is more complicated ... and changes with the age(s) of your child.  For sure, it is important to engage as often as necessary and appropriate and to "normalize" these kinds of conversations so your kids will know it is alright to come to you with questions, quandaries and uncertainty.

These are the ones that I really wanted to read, but decided it would be too much heart ache ... so, without any editorial remarks:
Teaching not for Introverts (subtitle: why introvert teachers are burning out)
LAUSD's Miracle ... 
Here's one about a lawsuit regarding special ed in Pasadena, I may just read this someday, but right now it hits a little too close to home.
Apparently the charter school miracle is getting exposed.  Even though I predicted this ... I still can't bring myself to read it just now.

Just haven't gotten to these but I will read them, soon:  Washington Posts' What Parents and teachers don't know but need to understand about ADHD, part 1 and part 2.

[It the links don't die, I guess I can come back and read them if I get over my own burnout.]

NRU education edition

Really, I keep saying I am not going to do this, and then I can't help myself.

These are the articles that stayed open on my browser until I just had to share them.  Hope you enjoy.

Wow ... if you want to be inspired, read about this teacher.  There are many others out there, but we like to focus on the "bad apples."  I love everything about this teacher ... and I hope others are inspired to bring their magic to classrooms everywhere.

Starting strong down the proactive, positive, inspiring work and staying in that lane.  This NY Times article describes a thoughtful program in Oakland to help Black boys achieve greater heights in education.  I sure wish them well -- and lots of strength and staying power because it takes time to build up when you are starting so far behind 0.  These boys deserve this kind of truly thorough, meticulous and empathetic approach to inspiring excellence.

This is the beginning of an interesting series on how to work the Four Agreements with middle school girls.  I love this book and applaud this woman's efforts.  This piece specifically deals with the first agreement: Be impeccable with your word. This one is for the second agreement: Don't take anything personally.  Stay tuned for the last two ... that is check back with Christina's blog for those other two.

This is a beautiful (and succinct) piece on autism from someone who has autism.  His five things you should know could not be expressed in a more open or striking way.  Everyone should read this -- but parents especially should take his words to heart.  Excellent empowerment...

Ok, so you knew this happy happy could not last on a news round up about education, right?  So, this piece is about how young Latinos don't see themselves in books and why that matters.  Short synopsis -- it matters! 

I'm gonna call it here even though I am sure more stuff will pop up ... this is a lot to digest in one take and I am pleased with the upbeat perspective.  Let's try to have a week filled with this approach to life and challenges.

NRU education

I am a news junky, and no matter how much I try to tell myself to look away when I see the education posts, I can't.

This one caught my eye, in part because it was unfinished, and in part because these are the conversations more stakeholders need to be in on.  I am glad students' voices are trying to be included, albeit somewhat to very coached.  But we need more teacher, parent and neighbor voices included too.

Apparently there is some good news to come out of the new ESSA .... states *can* choose to evaluate teachers with something other than test scores.  Let's not go crazy celebrating.  It still leaves the decision up to the states.

I offer you a pediatrician's view on ADD and ADHD and why we treat it improperly because we don't truly understand it.

Um... this guy is making a case for why TFA is really a glorified temp agency.  I am giggling and eating popcorn while eating this one.  I hope you enjoy it. 

Here's a little more on the autism spectrum ... and I am still working on this one, so I can't say more than that.

NRU education edition

It has been hard to read these ... not because they are bad news, but because I feel like in my break up with education, I need to figure out how to not *care* about this stuff.  Fat chance, I guess, but one has to try to build some healthy boundaries.

This is a long list of mixed bag stories - mostly offered with little commentary. Enjoy, ignore, distribute, or refute at your leisure.

LAUSD and how teachers are dealing with new discipline guidelines...

Rewriting the curriculum to include a South Korean heroine...in Korea, of course, not here, don't get excited.

What teachers really want, it's not what teacher haters would have you believe.

Closely related: low teacher morale, the newest education crisis.

Op Ed on teachers for the needy.

A different take on schools in the US and what our typical view says about us.

Ostensibly this is a story about a strange coincidence and students' resiliency, but it is also the story of a great teacher.

A piece on a different take on teaching English Language Learners, hopeful..

Geffen, UCLA and paying for private school education for the profs and staff of a public university.  You do the math.

Thanks to the many college students standing up to bias, prejudice, ignorance and racism (on small and large scales) around the country, some of the news media decided to talk about microaggression (or whining as many who have never suffered discrimination-other than red cups at starbucks- would have you believe).

NRU education edition

Hmmm...online college for philanthropy? Sounds interesting and potentially awesome and potentially dangerous depending on who is giving the classes.

I can't even offer commentary on this piece about UC and whether or not they are spending enough on their core mission ... just read it and you decide.

Something else I am too tired to offer commentary on ... better late than never?  Or just WTF? Or please, it's just too little too late? I don't know, but here it is.  When teachers are crying in their cars or on their kitchen floors due to the pressure, and students are routinely not performing well, one has to question the value (and/or the purpose) of the standardized test.  And Florida is dealing with its own conflicting feelings about testing: superintendents hopping mad about tests used and statisticians rating Florida students as top five.  It certainly leaves me thinking that putting so much stock into standardized tests is at the very least deeply troubling.

As I am tangentially connected professionally to this topic, I can only offer this as an interesting read.

I hope this is really a good thing because too many companies have been taking advantage of the poor, marginally educated and undocumented folks when it comes to "higher" education.

On a happier note, mindfulness in schools is not only catching fire, it is also getting noticed in the media.  Except for the crazies who will sue the school for religious freedom, this is a good thing (ala Martha Stewart).

And here is what using data productively (instead of pejoratively) can do for a school.  Outstanding! This is the kind of school where I could be a happy teacher.

One more silver lining in the education edition:  East Los High, a netflix original series, is apparently not just a teeny bopper show, it is a teeny bopper educational experiment.  Now that is an interesting use of technology and education.

NRU education

I was cleaning my email inbox (yes, I must have many other things to do that I am occupying my time with this), and I found a bunch of articles about education I have been apparently hording.

Here they are for your pleasure...

This is a little piece about testing, framed so that it purportedly takes on the parent perspective.

It should not surprise anyone that Jeb! is a fan of common core -- but it is somewhat surprising that he not take the party line on every little thing.  I think since this article, and Trump not going down in the polls, he is starting to sound more like a teabagger every day though.

Not really about education, in a schooling kind of way, instead this is about mothering.  In fact, it impacted me because it talks about how often we put our hearts and souls into something, like education, and even with adequate resources, time and effort, we cannot change a tragic (or stupid) outcome.  It is rare for mothers to admit this -- so I really appreciated the bravery in this piece.

I can't remember now if I shared these two already (could be) and I was just keeping them so that I could look at the transcripts ... but gonna share again, just in case I didn't before.  NPR covered a lawsuit against the school district in Compton about trauma.  I do not disagree that trauma causes students stress at school (at home, in life, etc.), but I am not sure how the school district labeling these students as disabled will help with the problems created.  My personal experience with IEPs does not lead me to believe that students will get better educations or more help in dealing with the issues.  If the problem is so great, it seems like the district might pursue healing projects, like mindful schools or peer counseling, that would benefit the entire student body.

This opening of the school year was very difficult for many districts, including Oakland, because of teacher shortages.  It is super interesting to me given the anti-teacher climate in the media.

NRU education edition

Heart-breaking yet illuminating piece on how to help adult autistic citizens. It details, in part, some of the needs for research and policy that we simply haven't considered as we warehoused children with autism (or patted them on the head at school until they were 18 as if they would become different by becoming "adults" by age).  It is also heart breaking because it reveals the personal level of dis/connection and responsibility this adult sibling feels for his brother now that his mother has passed.  There is overwhelm and jealousy and rivalry and a sense of helplessness -- I am sure it is true on both sides, they just don't have the means to talk about it.  Like I said, heart breaking.

The Los Angeles Times sat down with two parents to ask them what they want for their children's education.  That is to say, ostensibly that this what this article promises.  Instead, it provides a litany of complaints about the public school system -- many, I am sure well deserved complaints.  However, talking about the air conditioning and/or the adequacy of virtual labs is not necessarily getting at what these parents (and others) want for their children's education.  Neither does bemoaning the broken computers or ballooning class sizes.  These are conditions, not sets of skills or knowledge or preparation or goals.  These are just conditions, materials and deployment of resources.  However disjointed those resources are applied, if the goals are not either transparent or aligned between the district and the parents, it really doesn't matter what materials they have in class.  It certainly doesn't matter if there is air conditioning .... perhaps that would be better fodder for a discussion on climate change.

Ugh... I could barely bring myself to read this piece on Broad's latest plan for LAUSD.  I had hoped that he had tired of puppeteering with LAUSD administration and turned his attention to art.  Alas ... he just closed up the Broad Fellows program in order to work on something else.  I just want to say once again that there is no credible evidence that charter schools are better options overall for all students.

NRU - back to school edition

It's late ... but better late than never, as they say.

PBS was getting into the whole back to school vibe.  They provided two pieces on how to for parents -- how to help with homework (without being a nag or a helicopter parent) and how to get involved in school.  Both pieces that folks with kids in school might find interesting ... especially because they come from "experts" - oh how we love experts! What would we do without them??

More on California state colleges and universities and the decline of transfers.  This article only provides un-analyzed numbers, but the issue is real.  I think I said a while ago that it was not possible for transfers to solve the lack of space for students -- even if we accounted for the out-of-state student funding plan -- we do not have the spaces in higher ed we need.

I am at a loss as to how to adequately address this article about student debt -- it had me fuming at the first paragraph.  Should we really be comparing ITT student debt with all college debt?? This is a real issue, but it needs to be dealt with in a more responsible manner if we are going to find solutions.

One more thing to think about the underprivileged and college success presented through the positives.  These are the kinds of research projects I would like to do .... someday.

NRU education edition

These are dated -- some of them, but it took me a while to be able to actually read them and have something to say.

I am slowly coming out of my terse stage -- or at least trying to.  It might have something to do with a 1000 word a day challenge.

I would like to know when the madness will cease, but I am afraid that we keep doubling down on specious data from standardized test, what those data might mean, and how we are going to apply what we think they are saying.  Ugh.

A primer on social media and bringing state legislators and the public around on higher education spending.  State schools around the country, and at the UC, might do well to see if there are strategies here to help secure legislative support.

I have mixed emotions about this piece. I applaud Cerritos College's efforts and success with Latino students to date (though the numbers are really not that high). But I still wonder if and when many white parents will also be suggesting this place as a first stop rather than going directly to a four year college (hoping they could finish in that time).  I think this piece does, however, provide some very simple insights about the barriers and the scaffolding that addresses those barriers.  As someone quoted in the piece said: this is not rocket science.  If only we could actually apply these lessons in more places.

NRU mostly education

This is an inspiring and disheartening article all in one.  Over 25 years ago, when I was a first generation, not necessarily low-income, student at Princeton, we faced these SAME issues.  I am glad that the students are organizing themselves around the issue rather than just striving to be corporate tools.  I am sure that there are still those aspirations among some of these first gen students.  I am disheartened because the issues remain so striking - perhaps more striking.  These students have more financial help, in most cases, and yet describe similar

The importance of a college education for young people, however, continues to pile in ... despite all the anti-college rhetoric.  Yes, it will cost something to get it; and No, any building with the word "college" does not count.  In the end, the college education will still be more valuable than another 4-10 years in close to minimum wage earning ... which has its own detrimental aspects for the economy as a whole. If only the vast majority of people did not rely solely on FB for their news.

I am not sure how to feel about this story at all ... are they vicious felons that need to be punished or folks caught in a vise of our making?  I am sorry that no one could figure out how to use this situation to open a dialogue about the usefulness of the very tests they were accused of cheating.  That might have been worth the waste of so much time and money.

Um... I am not sure if this is education and not exactly sure how to feel about it, either, but it is *interesting* -- blogger smackdown about who is more uninformed?  blogger smackdown about who is more popular? the problem with too much information and too little filtering?  the problem of people believing anything that is on the internet? Maybe it is just about when we want to believe what we see/hear (not necessarily read because I am not sure who is reading ....).

Last week was National Public Library Week... and many people wrote a bunch of articles, but this is the one that I really liked.  So, I am sharing it.

NRU mostly education

There is so much "information" floating around about "college" and "loans." Yes all of these words are purposefully in quotation marks because of the lack of definition applied to reporting on these issues.  And, then, I opened a piece in the education section of the NY Times, warily, and within two paragraphs, I was ready to share it.  There are dangers out there about loans ... but they apply to specific situations ... and we should definitely educate students preparing for college about these situations.  It is part of a much larger conversation I have had here about why we need to be careful not to either too quickly defend or damn college for all. 

For all those who do not understand why Black folks (and folks of many other colors) are disturbed by the Ferguson and Staten Island grand juries' decisions, here is something for you to ponder. We live in a country where the so-called justice system routinely metes out punishments soley or inordinately based on race, saving compassion and empathy for white perpetrators.  And, this starts very early, in school.  This is not new, and it will never go away if we are unwilling to admit to it and face it.  And mass demonstrations may not be the most effective measure, but if they move anyone to contemplate, consider or research, then it is worth it.

People frequently ask how algebra or geometry are part of real life -- in an attempt to say that we should not require math for all students, or at least not that much math.  I am not a math fan.  I happily got out of math as often as possible.  However, I understand that math is not only an integral part of life, that it can help us to solve problems, large and small.  This article about how game theory helped the high school application process in New York amplifies this argument. And it is fascinating and fun ... I said that -- about MATH!

Loaded for Bear and Being Nice

I have been told more than once that you can get more bees with honey than vinegar.  It’s not that I doubt that might be true for some, but it has not always worked for me, especially in the most tense situations.  Perhaps the issue is that I am not looking to attract bees, just to tame them.

Full disclosure:  I use what I call “little girl voice” whenever necessary to get what I need.  It works with those who want to “save” you – or those who are susceptible to helping.  And, to be honest, it works with those who need to be the stronger, more powerful one.  It is not exactly “baby bird” who behaves as though she were completely defenseless.  Of course, if I tried to do baby bird with anyone who already knows me, I would be laughed off the planet.  It is not a huge difference, but little girl just admits her needs, not that she needs all.

So, there I was in the second IEP with the usual suspects plus the regular teachers who had been put on notice that I wasn’t letting them off the hook.  I was nice - to a point, that is to say, nice but firm.  I wasn’t impolite – just direct, attentive and relentless.

 

I would feel bad about holding their feet to the fire if 1) the psychologist had bothered to learn my niece’s name; and 2) she had not brought the photocopy of “the law” complete with yellow highlights to back up her defense of the school district’s fuck up so many years ago.  MAYBE ... that is, maybe I would feel bad if...

Yeah, I’m not afraid to be strong and smart and if that means not nice, so be it.

Vinegar forever.

I am loaded for bear, so they are on notice.

[In case you didn't notice, these photos are largely unrelated.  I took them while walking around downtown LA, that's the only tie in.  But I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the news headlines with the evangelizing headlines!]

Education NRU, more bits

Uh... I started this the other day, and then this happened. So, read the rest with the knowledge that I was just anticipating from what I had read.   You will note that this is Thursday and yet this is really not a poetry or quote.  But, news intervened.  I will get to the quote tomorrow.

I saw this steady stream of education pieces focused on Deasy and his missteps at LAUSD, and I should have wondered: How has this man incurred the wrath of the LA Times?  I heard a piece on Warren Olney's LA call in show on the way home from somewhere, and it added to the intrigue.  Apparently, there is a fight to the death to see if they will buy out Deasy's contract with all the typical crew checking in from here and there.  The union wants him out.  No surprise, since he has done nothing to cultivate teachers as partners.  The board has adherents and detractors -- also not surprisingly.  Olney had the head of the union on and they hashed out all of the serious problems facing the district and places where Deasy has not made it better or done questionable things that have threatened to make it worse.  It is sad to say that the Jefferson mess has turned into two black eyes, one for the district and one for Deasy for many reasons, but that all anyone can think about is how should they apply the concealor.  Antonia Hernandez was another guest who favors keeping Deasy to the end of his contract.  I am not sure what all of her reasons really are -- but I have to admit that I agree.  On the one hand, it is not clear that he can be effective if so many are now turned off by his leadership style and decision making process.  But, how will buying him out and having to buy another big ticket superintendent help?!  We don't fire superintendents no matter how much we think we do... they get a nice fat paycheck while they look for their next job.  No "fired" superintendent is really hurt in this process ... they almost always bounce back into other equally troubled districts with similar results.  Her final plea, perhaps, was the most convincing and sad, who on earth would want this job if this is how we behave?

I saw one comment on an article at LATimes.com calling for the state to take over the district, ala Oakland several years ago.  I mulled that -- and several evenings later, as I pulled a grocery bag out of my trunk, I wondered if it wouldn't be a terrible idea.  But the state really only cares if the district goes bankrupt, right? 

NRU education, small bits

This is going into the hopper for the dissertation, but I think it is worth sharing it here.  Teacher wars are not new to this world … rather perhaps teachers have always been the easy targets.

Somebody in Oakland got the memo on how some business models are just not good public relations moves.  Just because all the other state colleges and universities are using international and out of state students as cash cows doesn't mean that it is right.  I mean, public being the operative adjective here.  I can't wait to hear how this turns out … stay tuned.

I wish that there were more information on how the teachers fit into this "fight" slash "debate."  The thing is without the teachers, this debate is so incomplete… and who is talking to the parents in this situation?  There seems to be an assumption, again, that the vocal minority can just muscle in and shut things down.  Will the crazy people back down when they figure out that they can bully the school board but not theCollege Board?  Right, probably not!

The saddest part of this piece on Deasy and LAUSD is that it demonstrates that sometimes he has really great initiatives ... but he has chosen to not work with the teachers too many times ... he really could have been a great superintendent ... instead he made buddies and enemies with the wrong folks.  If you are going to work in LA and try to make change, you have to have some allies on the school board and make serious friends with the teachers/union.  Being friends with the Broad people and the Students First people will only place you firmly in the back biting, manipulative and ultimately not productive side of this war.  Make no mistake, this is war, it is not education.