I don't know whether to laugh or cry about this. There's a new documentary out called The War On Kids which argues that the current culture of many schools is, in essence, a war on children. But from the trailer, at least, the movie seems pretty over the top, juxtaposing interviews with (mostly white) parents angry about how kids are being treated and footage of (mostly black and brown) kids getting arrested or searched for drugs in school. I'm curious, but I'm not really convinced. Are there enough ridiculous zero tolerance incidents in schools to call it a war on kids? Or are these just incidents of random stupidity as it usually sems, an unfortunate byproduct of a fearful society but not that much more? Reviews here: NYT, Variety. It was the Winner of "Best Educational Documentary" at the NY International Independent Film and Video Festival 2009.
Noisy buildings, classrooms, and homes aren't just bothersome. They have a big effect on kids learning, according to this Ashley Merryman article in Newsweek (What Do Preschools Have in Common with Bridges and Airports?). Just a 5db reduction can make a big difference.
"An
Iraqi soldier stands guard as school girls gather in the playground of
their school in Radwaniya west of Baghdad on November 16, 2009. Iraqi
soldiers paid a visit to the school handing out school bags, pens and
pencils. AFP PHOTO / ALI AL-SAADI (Photo credit should read ALI
AL-SAADI/AFP/Getty Images) via Jezebel
"Precious" is a film for blacks and a challenge to drop our own
emotional armor and embrace a real-life story we have been minimizing
for a long time -- that of a big, black, sullen-faced, illiterate girl
who lives in the depths of the ghetto and in all likelihood will stay
there." (Salon)
Tennis player Andre Agassi just revealed in a new book that he not only used crystal meth but also wore a wig to cover his baldness. (A mullet wig. Or maybe it was a weave.)
No matter. The point is that Agassi also supports charter schools, and has lent his name to one.
But the $5 million advance he got for the book is not going to the school or to his foundation -- which is good or bad, considering the aforementioned drug / wig use.
Who cares about the Berlin Wall coming down 20 years ago. It's been 30 years since the Class of 1979 -- inspiration for Fast Times At Ridgemont High -- graduated from San Diego's Clairemont High School (‘Fast Times’ class rolls back clock).
Or, if you must, read this brief Slate article about the confusion and misunderstandings that led the wall to come down and remember that luck and timing are more important than we like to think.
It's every liberal educator's worst fear come true: Sacramento Mayor (and charter school operator) Kevin Johnson and hard-charging DC public schools chief Michelle Rhee are engaged, making them what has to be the biggest education power couple of the moment (not counting Randi Weingarten and Joel Klein).
Capitalist and philanthropist Eli Broad (the guy in the middle) will be officiating the wedding. (No, that's not true but it would be creepy funny.)
“If Li’l
Wayne would rap the times table, that’s what they’d be doing.” Veteran gang member quoted in this blog post from Freaknomics about preventing youth violence.
Some of you doubted me when I first noted that the interactions between Don Draper and his daughter's pretty teacher would become one of the most interesting parts of this season of Mad Men (Hot For Teacher).
But indeed, the connection between Miss Farrell and Draper has been an intense one, developing and deepening even further in last night's episode.
Has their interaction peaked? Will things ever be the same? "Do I need to worry for my job?"
"It is with
great sadness that we at The Forum share with you the news of the death of our
friend and mentor, Ted Sizer. Ted lost
his battle with cancer on Wednesday while at home with his family."
In preparation for a possible swine flu outbreak (and to show off its digital offerings), one Chicago high school told 150 sophomores stay home and keep
up with school via the Internet and videoconferencing (Virtual Learning Is an Antidote to School Closure Edutopia).This is the first I've heard of this, but perhaps not the last.
"Johana Villafuerte,6, receives a H1N1 nasal flu spray vaccine from nurse Shajaira Powell-Bailey at the Broadmoor Elementary
school October 19, 2009 in Miami, Florida." (Jezebel.)
Little Suri Cruise, daughter of Scientologist actor Tom Cruise, is reportedly going to be enrolled in a Roman Catholic preschool in Boston (National Enquirer). This changes everything. (No, not really.)
A T-shirt with President Barack Obama's picture on it didn't go over
too well with a school teacher on Monday. But it was the wording on the
shirt and not the president's photo that might have broken rules. Those
words were "Hi Haters."
Quick! Before it becomes shapeless and predictable and everyone else is watching it! Start watching ""Community." It's technically even about education, so you can probably even watch it at work. In last night's show (the third episode), one teacher channels Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society (complete with the scene where they stand on their desks). The actor who plays the principal on Glee appears as Abed's stern but loving father. There are even some useful lessons about meddling in other peoples' lives (like teachers and reformers all love to do).
Youth violence is -- has been -- a major problem in Chicago for years now. The latest and most horrific example is this one. Warning: The video is graphic and upsetting.
Apparently the fight was brewing all day, and planned for after school.
But neither kids, nor teachers, nor school security were able to head
off what turned into a tragedy.
Teen beaten to death in Roseland mob fight WLS "The
people that did this, they need to come forward and tell us why they
did it and turn themselves in," said Jesse, Albert's paternal
grandmother.
Kid Beaten to Death in a Melee Tribune Witnesses say 16-year-old Derrion Albert was walking home from school
when he got caught in the middle of two gangs fighting.
“Six Degrees of Separation” is based on the math of social networks. Thrillers have a special propensity for edgy twists on game theory. And what is a disease-outbreak movie if not an illustration of mathematical epidemiology, with puffy suits? To see movies through their math, sometimes, is to watch a whole different drama.
"If I had wanted to learn something, I wouldn't have come to community college."
These are some of the opening lines from "Community," the new NBC sitcom that premiered last night (and apparently the brainchild of the "Arrested Development" people).
It was actually pretty good -- Chevy Chase, that British guy from The Daily Show -- though not exactly inspiring when it comes to the whole notion that community colleges provide any educational value.
It'll give you a good Wednesday morning jolt, but I'm not entirely sure if there's otherwise anything particularly edifying about this video:here. Please let this not be part of St. Louis' remnant school desegregation efforts.
This writer (Trench Warfare on the Board of Ed) got onto his local school board, found himself constantly blocked, but nonetheless defends the existence of boards that many find unnecessary and ineffective. He describes boards as "a kind of last hope for democracy, where a rogue can actually be elevated to position of authority, bringing a flashlight –- and, sometimes, a pulpit — to the process."
Two stories off the EWA.org site about kids with special needs that challenge schools -- homelessness being on the rise this last year or so in particular:
The rise, to more
than one million students without stable housing by last spring, has
tested budget-battered school districts as they try to carry out their
responsibilities — and the federal mandate — to salvage education for
children whose lives are filled with insecurity and turmoil.
Most
teen moms don't graduate high school, and national statistics show that
far fewer — only 2 percent — go on to earn a college degree before age
30. The problem is particularly profound in Houston — where more girls
under 15 give birth than in any other U.S. city, according to a report
last week from the research nonprofit Child Trends.
Want to know where Michael Jackson's kids are going to get educated this year? Of course you do.
At first it appeared that the kids would shift from being homeschooled to attending a snazzy LA prep school, Buckley. More recently, however, it seems that they'll continue being homeschooled. So says TMZ (The Jackson Kids' Education).
Here's another clip of Stephen Colbert, this time playing history teacher Chuck Noblet on the comedy sketch show Strangers With Candy. Warning: Dialogue is graphic:
Rolling Stone says that Colbert's depiction of this fact-fudging, outburst-prone teacher "subtly set the stage for the evolving Colbert character on the Daily Show." (Before the Report)
I'm not actually all that offended or in disagreement, but schools chief Ron Huberman yesterday had to defend his choice of Jeremih, a Chicago singer who's current hit, "Birthday Sex" is about just that, as the school district's choice for getting the word out about the importance of going back to school.
“He had 70 million hits on his MySpace page. For us to be naïve and
believe that this is not what our students are listening to would be
not living in the world where our students are,” Huberman said.
Stephen Colbert roasts the Fairfax County School system for suspending and threatening to expel a girl who took birth control pills in the lunchroom. The re-enactments are especially fun on this slow Tuesday afternoon.
If librarians can can lobby for a library-themed Ben & Jerry's flavor, and Stephen Colbert can get his own, then why not one for education, too?
Come on, we're 50 million kids and $550B in spending a year. We're cute, we're zany, we're All-American (whatever that means these days).
But the competition is tough -- the librarians already have 40,000 people signed up for Facebook, and their flavor name ideas are some of them pretty awesome. They've got the New Yorker helping them (Tasty De-Lit.
Someone's going to have to really step up if we're going to pull this thing off and crush those eye-glass wearing, rule-enforcing ants.
Good news! Sidney Lumet's daughter Jenny (who directed Rachel Getting Married) is working on the movie version of "Strange Prom" -- last year's New York Times story about immigrant high schoolers planning their school's first prom. Check it out, and then read my interview with Brooke Hauser, who wrote the NYT article that was published last summer (On The HotSeat).
You may remember the long saga of Charleston High School's prom, which Morgan Freedman offered to pay for last year -- if only it would finally become racially integrated. Well it was, and now a year later it's finally being broadcast on HBO: Prom Night In Mississippi.
Journalist Bob Schieffer, of CBS's Face the Nation, has taken in Dariya Fadeeva, a former Chechen student who survived the massive September 2004 attack on her school because she was late to school that day (CBS's Bob Schieffer Opens His Home to Russian Student).
Another TV show with a (tangential) connection to education. This one is HBO's NSFW show, "Hung" (An early look): "The new HBO dramedy is set in Detroit against the backdrop of a
financially ruined automotive industry skyline, and as the world
crumbles around him, Ray is forced to re-evaluate his life while
everything he cares about slowly slips away. It's unsettling and sad,
but in some ways, fortuitous ... at least for HBO anyway. Considering
the current economic crisis many Americans are experiencing, a lot of people are going to relate to this show."
Have you seen it? Does it look any good? My guess is no. Sad that in the world of pop culture working in a school is still considered to be such a horrible thing that it might justify an illegal job on the side. Hung is not to be confused with Breaking Bad, the AMC drama about (sort of) a high school chemistry teacher, which just finished its 2nd season (Walter White's Report Card).
A
YouTube video was posted on June 9, 2009, in which an 8th grader named
Aaron Shutway, standing at one end of a basketball court, performs a
front handspring while holding the ball, and in landing the flip shoots
across the court, and makes the shot. (Videogum)
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