The "Choice Act" isn't really about "Choice".

Another day, another call to make:

Please call your representative and ask him/her to vote NO on U.S. House Bill 610 (HR 610) introduced by three Republican reps.

This bill will effectively start the school voucher system to be used by children ages 5-17, and starts the defunding process of public schools. In addition the bill will eliminate the Elementary and Education Act of 1965 (ESSA), which is the nation's educational law and provides equal opportunity in education. ESSA is a big comprehensive program that covers programs for struggling learners, AP classes, ESL classes, classes for minorities such as Native Americans, Rural Education, Education for the Homeless, School Safety (Gun-Free schools), Monitoring and Compliance and Federal Accountability Programs.

Let me be clear, I am not categorically against Charter schools, I have worked in some truely remarkable charters. But I am categorically against charter, private, and home schools replacing public education.

The Bill also abolishes the Nutritional Act of 2012 (No Hungry Kids Act) which provides nutritional standards in school breakfast and lunch.

The bill has no wording whatsoever protecting Special Needs kids, no mention of IDEA and FAPE.

Some things ESSA does for Children with Disabilities
-Ensures access to the general education curriculum.
-Ensures access to accommodations on assessments.
-Ensures concepts of Universal Design for Learning
-Includes provisions that require local education agencies to provide evidence-based
interventions in schools with consistently underperforming subgroups.
-Requires states in Title I plans to address how they will improve conditions for learning including reducing incidents of bullying and harassment in schools, overuse of discipline practices and reduce the use of aversive behavioral interventions (such as restraints and seclusion).

So as a stated above, time to make some calls! If you are uncertain who to call, you can find your Congress-person here.

Hajimé!

Disappointed by Time...

If you are on Facebook, or tuned into teaching related news, likely you've heard of this coming Time Magazine cover (beginning of November). Read the fine print... if you are a teacher, it should be offensive. If you are not a teacher, it should still be offensive.

Word on the 'net has it that the article inside is actually fair and balanced. But boy does that cover get my hackles up. Guess that was the intention?

Across America, teachers are being asked to serve as counselors, parents, food-banks, cops, custodians, oh, and lets not forget they are supposed to teach. Yet Time Magazine wants to focus on how hard it is to fire bad teachers?!?!

The American Federation of Teachers is running a petition to get Time Magazine to apologize for the offensive cover. You can find that here if you are interested.

#TIMEfail #subscriptioncancelled #techmillionairesdon'tknowshitaboutteaching

Happy teaching folks. Carry on the good fight.

Innovative Funding Idea!

Often staff call or email me asking for technology for their classroom. If and when I can supply it we are both delighted. Sometimes though I am not able to provide the technology for various reasons. In such situations I often suggest that the teacher utilize their PTA funding (if they have any), write a grant or ask a parent to do so.

For many folks this feels like a daunting proposition. One of my colleagues, and fellow blogger, Ruth Morgan has experienced success in grant writing. Now she has stepped into another money making endeavor to provide an iPad for a classroom. Ruth is using donors choose in order to raise money to buy an iPad. One aspect about donors choose that I like is that unlike grants, there are very few if any rules that she has to follow.

Tek-Ninjas I encourage you to take a look at Ruth's page as a possible way for you to provide technology in your classroom, and while your at it, give some moolah to Ruth's project.

Ruth's project can be seen and supported here: donors choose site. Below is her write-up.

Ms. Morgan's technology project at Ephesus Road Elementary School in Chapel Hill, NC | High Poverty

I am sure all of you have heard about the struggles of people with autism and developmental disabilities. I see these struggles daily. I am a speech pathologist and work closely with a teacher for a group of elementary students in a special education classroom. We co-teach groups and work with the kids throughout the day.

This classroom has seven fourth and fifth grade aged children, all of whom have autism or other severe disability. All of them struggle with a severe communication handicap. The classroom has some access to resources such as a Smartboard and low-tech augmentative communication systems. The classroom also has one iPad. We have discovered, though, that with these children, one iPad isn't enough. One child needs this to learn to use an augmentative communication app, while other children use apps to learn basic concepts. Another child uses the iPad as a calming device, using simple cause-effect apps, and listening to music. Other children use social story apps to help learn expected behaviors both in and out of the classroom.

An iPad 2 is a game changer for autistic children. With communication apps such as Proloquo2Go, nonverbal children can have a voice. With educational apps, the children can develop early literacy and math skills. With social stories apps such as Pictello, the children can see themselves in social stories and learn how to act appropriately. A library of photographs can be stored on the iPad 2 for easy reference, and since the camera feature is there, it would be easy to continually add pictures. It would be a portable picture dictionary!

The camera feature on the iPad 2 is incredible. Items the children need to learn to request can be photographed and then imported seamlessly into the communication software. Videos of the children using appropriate behavior can easily be taken, and then shown back to them. Children can practice speaking, and get instant feedback using the camera feature. There are myriad other uses for a camera, and this feature on the iPad 2 is wonderful!

Please help give this classroom a voice. An iPad 2 would be a wonderful tool to help these children learn to communicate, to read, to learn social skills, and develop functional skills for the future.

Happy tech-ing!

Posted with Blogsy

North Carolinians, are you paying attention to what is happening?!?!

Senate committee calls for ending class-size caps

A bill approved by the Senate Education Committee here in NC would end the policy of capping K - 3rd grade classes to 24 students.  Matthew Burns, WRAL reporter writes a great article on the subject that can be read at the link above. 

Burns quotes Sen. Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph as having stated "I don't know if 10 kids in a classroom is better than 15 or not".  Tillman is a retired school administrator. He goes on to say that he doesn't know what the ideal number is. IMO he is either being disingenuous, or he must have not been terribly competent as a school administrator.  

Tillman also states that he doesn't care if a teacher has 30 or 13 students in a class but that teachers will be graded on progress only. 

Let's pay attention folks, public education is under attack, and McCrory and company are in the process of deconstructing public school funding, while raising expectation for teachers to more and more rigorous but misguided standards.