Don't Wait Until Martin Luther King Day

Strategy:

One of the easiest things to do as a teacher is to integrate achievements of people such as Martin Luther King Jr. into your classroom discussions and community year round. Although our government has set aside special time to honor his particular life and legacy, the simple concept of civil rights is a very basic tenant that will resonate with many children as young as kindergarten who can't believe that there was a time in our history when students were sent to different school based simply on the color of their skin.

Each year when I introduce my kindergarten class to the idea fiction and non-fiction, there are bins that are clearly labeled with stickers on the front, F for fiction and NF for non-fiction. Right there at the front of my bins are stories of people such as Ruby Bridges, Madame C.J. Walker, Sitting Bull and of course, Dr. King. Each time I present a story to the class while covering up its classification on the front cover, I will ask if we have just read fiction or non-fiction. We even chant it together while tapping on our legs, "Fiction means pretend. (Clap, Clap, Clap) Non-fiction is real."

One of my favorite non-fiction books, Happy Birthday Martin Luther King Jr., follows the life of Dr. King from a young boy to his death. Mid-way through the book there is a page where Dr. King is on a playground helping two boys solve a disagreement. Before we come to this part,

the books explains how Dr. King worked with people, sang with them, prayed with them and walked with them to help them use words and not violence to solve problems. When reading the page about the playground and I ask the students before revealing the words what they think is happening on the page. Almost invariably they answer, "Dr. King said use your words."

So, the simplicity of this has become a mantra in our kindergarten community. "Dr. King said use your word." Just by sheer biological developmental, students of this age are egocentric and particular about their personal space, tools and placement in line. Often hands do the thinking and push, pull or hurt a classmate before they have even thought of the alternative. As we have practiced integrating Dr. King's ideals into our classroom students now will say to each other when one has become physical, "Dr. King said use your words." This has become a simple non-shaming reminder for students what the expectations of in our classroom community as well as the world beyond our school.

In our classroom, their are three large posters of Dr. King that repeat the written mantra and the students helped to decide where they should be placed as reminders. They are in our group time area, close to where we line-up and just outside our classroom door. Not only does the color of Dr. King's skin match some of my students, but additionally it does not match others.

Beverly Daniel Tatum

Here's a great interview with the excellent author, professor and current college president Beverly Daniel Tatum. The interviewer asks some great questions, and then gets out of the way to allow Dr. Tatum to discuss critical race theory.

Give it a read!

Rebecca Costa: Superman Versus The Supermemes

I read over at the huffington post a post about education by Rebecca Costa. I think it's a really interesting look at the problems facing education, but I do have some concerns about the issues she feels faces education. I'll have to find a copy of her book The Watchman's Rattle: Thinking Our Way Out of Extinction. Perhaps she further details these topics there.

Which supermemes currently prevent progress in education? The Watchman's Rattle describes five universal behaviors that inhibit solving the problem once and for all:

1) Irrational Opposition: This occurs when people are more comfortable rejecting remedies rather than advocating solutions. If every solution that is proposed can be found to be flawed, then none will be adopted. Simply put, across-the-board opposition results in gridlock.

I completely agree with this. Too many solutions are rejected because there isn't any proof that it works. Although it's hard to justify trying something that hasn't been shown to work when your job, your school and the children you teach rely on you to meet certain standards.

2) Counterfeit Correlation: When we hastily determine the relationship between a cause and effect(s), this leads to an incorrect diagnosis of our problems. We are left to pursue one ineffective remedy after another, all the while wasting precious time and resources as the problem continues to grow in magnitude. In the case of education, we have sited everything from outdated textbooks, the eradication of physical education, poor school lunch programs and low teacher salaries as the culprit -- but how many of these quick fixes are based on valid scientific studies?

I feel that this is in direct conflict with the previous statement, although I do agree with it as well. There are countless "solutions" that are suggested that have been proven to have no correlation with student performance.

3) Personalization of Blame: As soon as we hold each individual accountable for debt, obesity, and depression, and other such issues, society is off the hook. Blame the parents for the fact that they aren't more involved in their children's education and the systemic problem doesn't have to be addressed.

Isn't there also a problem when we blame systems, as in, I don't have to take personal responsibility for debt, obesity and depression. I think there needs to be a balance in how much the system and how much the person is blamed.

4) Silo Thinking: In tackling complex, multi-dimensional problems, it is crucial that nations, organizations, and individuals work in tandem. Adopting a territorial mindset greatly impedes progress. In the case of education, why aren't neuroscientists who understand how the human brain learns part of the discussion? Does it make sense to fix education without first understanding how the brain loads content, solves problems and retains information?

Absolutely. I'd love to hear what other resources could be used to improve education.

5) Extreme Economics: The financial bottom line becomes the unilateral litmus test in determining which solutions are valid. Economic considerations drive decisions for everything, from hospital care, immigration policy, to whether each child needs a locker, computer or physical education. We begin to speak in economic terms such as 'investing in our children's education.' Really? Since when was education an investment? It was supposed to be a 'right.'

Yep! Although, wouldn't an economist be another great resource in looking at how to reform schools?

Read the rest of the article here: Rebecca Costa: Superman Versus The Supermemes

California Supreme Court Upholds Law Granting Undocumented Students In-State Tuition

The California Supreme Court has upheld a law that allows undocumented students to pay instate tuition. College is necessary tool to achieve in today's market and residents of a state should not be denied the same opportunity other residents get.

"WASHINGTON -- The California Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld AB 540, a law allowing undocumented students to pay in-state tuition -- rather than the more expensive out-of-state tuition -- at public colleges and universities. The decision overturned a lower court's ruling and will likely have a wider impact as 10 other states have a law similar to AB 540.

The plaintiffs in the case were out-of-state students and their families, who argued that they should not have to pay higher tuition while undocumented immigrants were granted the lower in-state rate. 'U.S. citizens should have at least the same rights as undocumented immigrants,' said plaintiff Aaron Dallek, an Illinois native who graduated from UC Berkeley in 2006."


California Supreme Court Upholds Law Granting Undocumented Students In-State Tuition

St. Cloud Working to Close Gap in Students Taking AP Classes

Interesting article from MPR...

"The district is seeing signs of success in some student populations. For instance, the number of blacks and Hispanics enrolled in AP classes has tripled in three years.

In 2007-08, a total of 526 students enrolled in AP classes. Approximately 10 percent of those students were non-white.

In 2010-11, 694 students enrolled in AP classes, with the number of non-white students growing to nearly 14 percent.

Still, honors and AP classes still do not reflect the proportion of minority students enrolled in the district."

Schools work to enroll minority students in AP classes

Global Education Conference

Huffington Post has all the information on the Global Education Conference. Really amazing presentations. It's fun to look at all the sessions available and realize that they will be led by people from all over.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/esther-wojcicki/inviting-all-educators-wo_b_783105.html

How to Create Videos with Quicktime

Quicktime is a great resource for teachers. With the latest version of quicktime, you can create videos of your screen, videos using your iSight and audio recordings. I'm going to quickly explain how to use quicktime to create videos.

1. Open Quicktime. Most likely, you don't have Quicktime on your dock, so you will need to go applications (in finder) and open in through there.

2. On the menu bar go to File.

3. You will have the choice between New Movie Recording, New Audio Recording and New Screen Recording.

• New Movie Recording This will create a video with your iSight (the camera above your screen). A new window will open, showing you what your iSight is seeing. Press the record button in the bottom center of the window to start recording.
  
• New Audio Recording Please see Nate Tangen's document on how to use this feature.
  
• New Screen Recording This is the tool that I use to create my videos. It will make a video of what is on your screen and save it to your movies folder. Make sure you click on the down arrow to the right of the record button, and select built in microphone to record your voice.

Hope this helps you use Quicktime!