Learning By HeartLearning By HeartThis Open Source Learning Community is created by educators for educators. Open Source Learning is the new name for Progressive Education. 
Articles
The Big Cram for Hunter High School By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ
2009-01-07 05:56:00 Reprinted fromThe New York Times, January 2, 2009While their friends played video games in pajamas or vacationed in the tropics, a dozen sixth graders spent winter break at Elite Academy in Flushing, Queens, memorizing word roots. Time was ticking as they prepared to face the thing they had talked about, dreamed about and lost sleep over for much of the past year: the Hunter College High School admissions exam, a strenuous three-hour test that weeds out about 90 percent of those who take it.On Wednesday, the final day of test-prep boot camp before the Jan. 9 exam, there seemed to be nothing more terrifying to these 11-year-olds than the risk of failure.Some had taken up coffee; others, crossword puzzles and cable news shows to glean vocabulary words. A few of their parents had hired private tutors and imposed strict study hours, and several had paid up to $3,000 for a few months of English and math classes at Elite, a regimen modeled on the cram schools of South Korea, China and Jap... More About: High School , Hernandez
ROLAND BURRIS: THE POST-CIVIL RIGHTS BLACK MAN BLUES
2009-01-04 22:23:00 Burris is no idiot. In fact, he's crazy like a fox. Roland Burris is right in line with the other "grabbers" in Chicago and Illinois politics. Burris sees an opportunity and he's going for it. What else would a 71 year old man want from a political career that was the envy of many but also dull, dull, dull. Roland Burris is acting out a REVENGE OF THE NERDS psychology that will have people talking about him long after this end game has played out. Burris never had that as Illinois Attorney General or as Illinois Comptroller. This is his moment in the national spotlight, his fifteen minutes of fame in DC. It must have burned his hide to see an uppity upstart like Barack Obama become a US Senator and then President-elect of the United States. Like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and other Civil Rights and post-Civil Rights era Black men, Burris sees what was denied him rather than what he effectively laid the groundwork for by being the first African American elected to statewid... More About: Blues , Post
BLAGOJEVICH AND BURRIS: WHAT ARE WE TEACHING OUR CHILDREN?
2009-01-02 09:32:00 This past week I tuned into the press conference given by Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois when he named Roland Burris to be his choice to fill President-elect Barack Obama's recently vacated U.S. Senate seat. The scene played out like a comic opera. Blagojevich looked shifty and like the canary who ate the catbird. Yep, that odd. Even though it seems like everybody except the Pope has asked Blago to re-sign for trying to sell that very same senate seat in question, the Illinois Governor is within his right to appoint a successor to Obama before next Tuesday when the other U.S. Senators are seated--representative Bobby Rush's feeble race politics comments aside.I have one word: Unbelievable.I must admit, I miss watching the drama that is Chicago and Illinois politics. This is proving to be a tremendous boon for bystanders, Republicans, and people who love politics as theater. It shows how broken our political system is. The long and short of it is: Roland Burris should ... More About: Children , Teaching
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2009-01-01 08:54:00 2009, WHAT'S OLD IS STILL NEW AGAIN More About: New Year , Happy , Happy New Year , Year
How long will the recession last?
2008-12-29 07:24:00 The recession is effecting everyone and everything from the banking and credit industry to auto and manufacturing concerns. The gloom and doom is thick in the streets like one of those fogs in the Central Valley that rear ends semis, jack knifes fifth wheels, and upends mini-vans and cars alike. We're in for quite a dense and protracted foggy economic picture. This current economic debacle has more to do with the lack of trust in the entire global system and the collapse in confidence that people and institutions are basically good and trustworthy. As a wise man once told me, it's like turbulence in an airplane. Turbulence just is. When you're sitting in your over-priced row 12, seat F and the plane hits a pocket of air that makes it dip and buck as if you're on a cheap carnival ride, most people who have flown don't start swearing at their pilot or flight attendants. They know that it is just turbulence. The bucking dip is neither good nor bad; it just is. That's wh... More About: Long , Recession
INTO THE WILD: AT THE EDGE OF THE AMERICAN WILDERNESS
2008-12-25 00:30:00 What's the most revealing movie of the past two years? It's not about high flying special effects, Brad Pit getting old, or Sean Penn playing a gay rights hero. It's not any of these, however, Penn is a part of what I found affecting about movies over the last two years. One movie in particular I dug, which represents the Thoreauvian dystopia that is America now. Into the Wild is Penn's take on John Krakauer's non-fiction book recounting the tale of Christopher McCandless. McCandless leaves his comfortable life and heads off to find himself in the wilds of Alaska. Just like Thoreau did around Walden Pond for two years, two months, and two days, McCandless discovers the essence of an uniquely American philosophy: one's self versus community. The trailer from "Into the Wild" reveals this most distinct of national traits--Horatio Alger, Abraham Lincoln, George Bailey, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, et. al. The American mythos is about humble beginnings, big visions, and ope... More About: The Edge , Wilderness , Edge
Teacher sorry for binding girls in slavery lesson: White teacher taped hand
2008-12-24 07:39:00 From the AP Wire: updated 4:34 p.m. PT, Mon., Dec. 8, 2008WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - A white social studies teacher attempted to enliven a seventh-grade discussion of slavery by binding the hands and feet of two black girls, prompting outrage from one girl's mother and the local chapter of the NAACP.After the mother complained to Haverstraw Middle School, the superintendent said he was having "conversations with our staff on how to deliver effective lessons.""If a student was upset, then it was a bad idea," said Superintendent Brian Monahan of the North Rockland School District in New York City's northern suburbs.The teacher apologized to the mother who complained and her 13-year-old daughter during a meeting Thursday that also included a representative of the local NAACP. But the mother, Christine Shand of Haverstraw, said Friday she thinks the teacher should be removed from the class."I think the teacher should have gotten some discipline," Shand said. "I know if that was me, I would ... More About: Girls , Slavery , White , Teacher , Hand
CHARITIES WE RECOMMEND: THE HUMANE SOCIETY
2008-12-22 23:58:00 It's Day III: What's more humane than the National Humane Society . With YouTube's Project for Awesome to reduce the world suck, you can get involved at the local level. You can view and later donate to your local humane society or animal rescue agency: More About: Humane Society , Charities
CHARITIES WE RECOMMEND: THE LUPUS FOUNDATION
2008-12-22 07:41:00 Day II: It's one of those diseases that gets the spit end of the stick--lupus. Let's wipe it out! Visit the Lupus Foundation More About: Charities
CHARITIES WE RECOMMEND: THE HEIFER PROJECT
2008-12-21 00:30:00 'Tis the Season: We want to recommend some charities to our readers so that you might share the gift of life and love during this season of giving. The Heifer Project is number one on our list. More About: Charities
WILL THE REAL SECRETARY OF EDUCATION PLEASE STAND-UP?
2008-12-20 08:04:00 So, what will Arne Duncan do as President-elect Barack Obama's Secretary of Education ? Like Obama, Duncan has been known to straddle the middle of the road.George Lucas's Edutopia proclaims::Arne Duncan has a type of personality that Obama seems to prefer, which is a pragmatist who will bring about change, but he'll do it in a way that will minimize confrontation in conflict," says Jack Jennings, president of the nonpartisan Center on Education Policy. "He's brought about change in Chicago, but it hasn't been a head-on clash with the teachers' union. He's done it in a way that they all walk away from the table congratulating each other."Even though the Progressives have claimed Obama as their own, Obama's true colors are beginning to slowly seep out. In actuality, Obama is as a hard driving pragmatist. I'm not sure what others will say about him, but the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. said, "He's (Obama) a politician and I'm a minister. He is anaswerable to the people whil... More About: Real , Stand Up , Stand , Stand-Up
Lost in the Crowd--By David Brooks
2008-12-17 08:15:00 from the New York Times--December 16, 2008--http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/o pinion/16brooks.htmlAll day long, you are affected by large forces. Genes influence your intelligence and willingness to take risks. Social dynamics unconsciously shape your choices. Instantaneous perceptions set off neural reactions in your head without you even being aware of them.Over the past few years, scientists have made a series of exciting discoveries about how these deep patterns influence daily life. Nobody has done more to bring these discoveries to public attention than Malcolm Gladwell.Gladwell’s important new book, “Outliers,” seems at first glance to be a description of exceptionally talented individuals. But in fact, it’s another book about deep patterns. Exceptionally successful people are not lone pioneers who created their own success, he argues. They are the lucky beneficiaries of social arrangements.As Gladwell told Jason Zengerle of New York magazine: “The book’s saying,... More About: Lost , David Brooks , David , The Crowd , Brooks
Improving Public Schools Hearing: Arne Duncan Part 1
2008-12-16 17:41:00 Arne Duncan , unvarnished, talking about improving public schools in the City of Chicago, known as the city that works. More About: Schools , Public , Part , Hearing
Chicago Schools Chief Is Obama’s Education Pick--By SAM DILLON
2008-12-16 17:39:00 December 16, 2008--from the New York Times--http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/ us/politics/16educ.html?_r=1&hpArne Duncan, the Chicago schools superintendent known for taking tough steps to improve schools while maintaining respectful relations with teachers and their unions, is President-elect Barack Obama’s choice as secretary of education, Democratic officials said Monday.Mr. Duncan, a 44-year-old Harvard graduate, has raised achievement in the nation’s third-largest school district and often faced the ticklish challenge of shuttering failing schools and replacing ineffective teachers, usually with improved results.He represents a compromise choice in the debate that has divided Democrats in recent months over the proper course for public-school policy after the Bush years.In June, rival nationwide groups of educators circulated competing educational manifestos, with one group espousing a get-tough policy based on pushing teachers and administrators harder to raise achievement... More About: Education , Schools , Chief , Pick
NO PROCESS, NO PEACE: Michelle Rhee and the DC Public Schools
2008-12-15 04:05:00 One person's name that has been floated as a possible Secretary of Education is Michelle A. Rhee, the Chancellor of the District of Columbia's Public Schools . Take a look at the News Hour's John Merrow's initial report on Rhee and her "gutsy" moves to shake things up in our nation's capital. Is Rhee a reformer or just foolish? You be the judge. More About: Peace , Process
Why All the Fuss (About the New Secretary of Education)
2008-12-15 02:38:00 As the last article that we posted around the selection of the new secretary of education, Barack Obama's choice in a chief of America's educational system will be hotly scrutinized. Obama is playing his true intentions close to the vest largely to see how the media may play out the possible choices.You can probably rule out all of the front runners, including Linda Darling-Hammond, the Stanford University Professor, Arne Duncan, the City of Chicago's school chief, and Joel I. Klein, who is the Chancellor of New York City public schools. Why would these folks not be considered in the running for this much contested role? Since Barack Obama does not like being second guessed or figured out when it comes to education, he and his team of rivals will pick a relative unknown for the seat. Picking an unknown for the Secretary of Education would indicate that President-elect Obama wants to break away from the expectations that come with this crucial hire. While Senator Ted Kennedy ... More About: Fuss
Uncertainty on Obama Education Plans--By Sam Dillion
2008-12-15 02:30:00 (from The New York Times, Sunday, December 14, 2008)As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to announce his choice for education secretary, there is mystery not only about the person he will choose, but also about the approach to overhauling the nation’s schools that his selection will reflect.Despite an 18-month campaign for president and many debates, there remains uncertainty about what Mr. Obama believes is the best way to improve education.Will he side with those who want to abolish teacher tenure and otherwise curb the power of teachers’ unions? Or with those who want to rewrite the main federal law on elementary and secondary education, the No Child Left Behind Act, and who say the best strategy is to help teachers become more qualified?The debate has sometimes been nasty.“People are saying things now that they may regret saying in a couple of months,” said Jack Jennings, a Democrat who is president and chief executive of the Center on Education Policy in Washington.... More About: Plans
Who Will He Choose?--By DAVID BROOKS
2008-12-12 07:35:00 As in many other areas, the biggest education debates are happening within the Democratic Party. On the one hand, there are the reformers like Joel Klein and Michelle Rhee, who support merit pay for good teachers, charter schools and tough accountability standards. On the other hand, there are the teachers’ unions and the members of the Ed School establishment, who emphasize greater funding, smaller class sizes and superficial reforms.During the presidential race, Barack Obama straddled the two camps. One campaign adviser, John Schnur, represented the reform view in the internal discussions. Another, Linda Darling-Hammond, was more likely to represent the establishment view. Their disagreements were collegial (this is Obamaland after all), but substantive.In public, Obama shifted nimbly from camp to camp while education experts studied his intonations with the intensity of Kremlinologists. Sometimes, he flirted with the union positions. At other times, he practiced dog-whistle pol... More About: David Brooks , David , Brooks , Choose
RE-DEFINING SUCCESS: MALCOLM GLADWELL'S NEW BOOK, OUTLIERS
2008-12-09 03:36:00 I just had a great discussion this evening with my friend Emily who is the Head of a school in Vermont. We were talking about the nature of success in our industry, education, and generally what it takes to be successful at anything. Although I haven't read Malcolm Gladwell's new book, Outliers, I am intrigued by the book's premise about what makes people in different endeavors successful. I have been thinking a great deal about this subject since Barack Obama's election and before, really. The premise, or 10,000 hour rule, certainly applies to Obama. Think about it.Take a look at the video from the London Economic Forum and let me know in the comment section below whether or not you agree with Gladwell's premise. Also, if you're interested in getting the book, go to your nearest library, book store, or just click on the link to your right to order Outliers from Amazon.com. Finally, check out the video on the Amazon site where Gladwell also talks briefly about success i... More About: Success , Book
RESTORING FAITH IN HUMANITY: DOING COMMUNITY SERVICE WORK WITH HABITAT IN N
2008-12-05 14:38:00 Dateline: New Orleans, December 5, 2008A contingent of students (6) and staff members (10) from Bentley School arrived three days ago for the annual People of Color Conference sponsored by the National Association of Independent Schools. Our first day was spent in the Upper Ninth Ward doing community service work together with members from other schools across the nation with Habitat for Humanity .Enjoy! More About: Faith , Community , Service , Work
GUEST POST: BY LIA
2008-12-02 08:55:00 As an educator, I know how difficult it is to motivate all students in all subjects. I’m glad formal and research-driven incentive programs are being explored in schools across the country.Alfie Kohn’s states that “getting them hooked on the rewards” undermines the ultimate goal of loving learning for its own sake. However, research has shown that even after rewards have been removed, the positive effects persist. In a Kenya study, “Incentives to Learn” published in January 2008, the removal of rewards did not impact motivation. “Surveys of students in our Kenyan data provide no evidence that program incentives weakened intrinsic motivation to learn or led to gaming or cheating.”Also, in an evaluation of the Advanced Placement Incentive Program (APIP) conducted by C. Kirabo Jackson of Cornell University, “A Little Now for a Lot Later; A Look at a Texas Advanced Placement Incentive Program” published December 2007 Kirabo reports that AP course enrollment increased... More About: Post , Guest
TONI MORRISON DISCUSSES HER NEW BOOK: A MERCY
2008-11-30 04:02:00 Last week at Head-Royce School in Oakland, California, Toni Morrison sat down for an interview with NPR. See part of the interview above. After the interview and book signing, Morrison allowed a brief meet and greet with a group of African American young men and boys at the Vanguard Conference, the first of its kind in Independent Schools. I was one of the faculty mentors and session leaders for the day. Since the meet and greet with Morrison was impromptu, meaning most of us didn't know that we we're going to meet the Nobel Laureate that day, we couldn't adequately prep for her visit. One of my colleagues from a San Francisco private high school gamely gave a bit about Morrison's history as we waited for the arrival. After a few halting minutes, I jumped up and attempted to fill in the blanks. I'm happy to say that I'm a Morrison fanatic with a good deal of arcane trivia at my fingertips. It was surprising to me that less than 1/3 of the boys and young men had ever he... More About: Book , Mercy
All Kinds of Minds Educator, Mel Levine Accused of Child Molestation
2008-11-28 20:49:00 Say it ain't so, Mel!---From The new York TimesNovember 25, 2008Accused Pediatrician Is Leaving InstituteBy TAMAR LEWINDr. Melvin D. Levine, the famed pediatrician who is facing five lawsuits accusing him of molesting young boys during physical examinations, has resigned from All Kinds of Minds , the North Carolina institute he founded in 1995 to train teachers to help children with learning disabilities.The co-founder of the institute, Charles Schwab, who provided financing and served as co-chairman with Dr. Levine, resigned in September.The institute, which has teacher-training contracts with two states and dozens of individual schools, said it would continue its work of spreading Dr. Levine’s views on how children learn.“All Kinds of Minds was formed to create a venue and legacy for his work so the genius of this man wouldn’t die with the individual,” said Mary-Dean Barringer, chief executive of the institute. “Do I think we’ll make it through without him? I do.”Bot... More About: Molestation , Child , Educator
SCHOOL ME: WHAT'S NEW, WHAT'S HOT
2008-11-27 09:57:00 The following video came from another blog http://sfjukebox.blogspot.com/. Here's what they wroteKwaito is a South African brand of house that combines house beats and sweet basslines with (usually) lyrics rapped or sort of chanted. More About: School
Obama's Possible Candidates for Education Secretary By PAUL BASKEN
2008-11-22 01:42:00 [RE-PRINTED FROM THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION--Wednesday, November 5, 2008]If history is any guide, Barack Obama will spend several weeks chugging through higher priorities on his presidential to-do list before choosing an education secretary.And if he follows past trends, Mr. Obama is not likely to choose a secretary on the basis of higher-education policy. His nominee will be the ninth U.S. secretary of education, and nearly all of the previous eight were known more for their backgrounds at the elementary and secondary levels.Only one had a background focused primarily on higher-education: Lauro F. Cavazos Jr., who had been president of Texas Tech University and dean of the Tufts University School of Medicine. Mr. Cavazos was named education secretary in 1988, the last year of the Reagan administration, and resigned in 1990, under President George Bush."There's been a big emphasis, sure, on elementary and secondary," Mr. Cavazos said in an interview. "That's where practical... More About: Education , Candidates , Paul
IF I WERE SECRETARY OF THE US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
2008-11-19 16:47:00 The work that needs to be done on a policy level is to dismantle No Child Left Behind. The law is unreasonable and purports to have all children on grade level by 2012. Now, if I designed a test that I knew all of the test takers would fail, I would conclude that the fault is with the test maker, not the test taker. Students and their teachers cannot possibly achieve the aim that the proponents of of NCLB intended. In it's place, I would write and support laws that made sure that all students had safe schools to go to, with curricula that inspired them to reach beyond themselves. I would put the emphasis on achieveable goals for each school, classroom, and student with high expectations for each but no punitive high stakes measures. I would put the emphasis squarely on teacher quality, with lots of observation and feedback and professional development, but I wouldn't make people fear for their jobs or livelihoods, unless they were truly mediocre or bad.I would put the emphasis o... More About: Education , Department , Department of Education
The New Secretary of Education: Colin Powell or Linda Darling-Hammond?
2008-11-18 05:19:00 How important is the Secretary of Education ? Some would say, "Not very."The last two chiefs of education, Ron Page and Margaret Spellings, were noted more for pissing off the teachers' unions rather than for any policies that they authored or advanced. Of course, these past eight years will be known for its Everest-like failures and monumental divisiveness in education (and just about everything else) rather than promoting the cause of education as a surefire way to advance through the American caste (err...) class system. Once upon a time the goal of our educational system meant advancing through the various rungs up the ladder one rickety step at a time. It wasn't always easy, but somehow men and women, boys and girls, and children of all ages were better for their tenacity and perseverance. "What's good for the goose is good for the gander." (I'm still not quite sure what the heck this means.) Although with the election of Barack Obama to the highest Office in the land... More About: Colin Powell , Linda , Darling , Powell
How Stereotyping Yourself Contributes to Your Success (or Failure)
2008-11-17 19:53:00 People's performance on intellectual and athletic tasks is shaped by awareness of stereotypes about the groups to which they belong. New research explains why— and how we can break free from the expectations of othersBy S. Alexander Haslam, Jessica Salvatore, Thomas Kessler and Stephen D. ReicherYou tried so hard. But you failed. You did not pass the test, you performed poorly in the interview or you missed your project goal at the office. Why? Is it that you were not capable? Or could something more subtle—and worrisome—also be at work?As it turns out, research shows that such performance failures cannot always be attributed simply to inherent lack of ability or incompetence. Although some have jumped to the highly controversial conclusion that differences in attainment reflect natural differences between groups, the roots of many handicaps actually lie in the stereotypes, or preconceptions, that others hold about the groups to which we belong. For instance, a woman who know... More About: Success , Failure
Savoring the Undertones and Lingering Subtleties of Obama’s Victory Speec
More articles from this author:2008-11-09 01:30:00 [from http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11 /07/savoring-the-undertones-and-lingering -subtleties-of-obamas-victory-speech/] Like many great orations, Barack Obama’s victory speech on Tuesday night was deceptively simple. As powerful as it was to hear, the hidden complexities and import of the president-elect’s words surface only after we re-read the text and think back on the moment.A confirmed fan of Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Obama drew on another flawless speech, the Gettysburg Address (pdf) (“a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from the earth”), while also celebrating both the inherited majesty of the Democratic process and his own achievement — the broad coalition that elected him. He echoed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ( “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice’’) when he praised the electorate for rejecting the rhetoric of fear and for “ put[ting] their hands on the arc of history and bend[ing]... More About: Victory 1, 2, 3, 4 |
|
 |
|
 |
