Shining a bright light on a subject at the federal level is usually a good thing for folks that do the work on the local level. This week, education was the theme de jour for the folks at NBC. Though nothing big will come from this week of talking, I hope that a community member or another parent will get interested in what we are doing for kids each day at MRH Middle School. I continue to say and believe that we have some of the best middle school programming in the area, and I hope that this week of television points a few people into partnership with our work for kids. Waiting for Superman, the movie that is moving all the mouths, will be a great opportunity to think, discuss, and push for real solutions for difficult problems. There are no movies that are bad. There are just bad discussions after movies.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Getting this Message to Middle School
I do believe that we as middle school educators face a daily battle with the whys. Why is this important? Why are we doing this? How will this lead to my happiness. I have been working on some ideas to get students to look further ahead. Using infographics like this seem to be a way forward for our visual learners that are always demanding more answers about purpose.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Things that Bug Me
After a long weekend of catching up on my Google Reader, this is the best that I could share out. It is part freakonomics, part insanity, but it sort of thing that seems to fit into my solutionist philosophy. Enjoy.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Five for Friday- Links and Ideas
Want to connect and partner with another school that has the same philosophy as MRH; try King Middle School in Portland, ME. They are an expeditionary learning school and 1:1. Be bold, e-mail a teacher there and start a partnership today.
http://king.portlandschools.org/
Another article that promotes our technology integration policy of teach how to use what is available responsibility, not restrict
http://mindshift.kqed.org/2010/09/help-kids-be-safe-and-comfortable-with-social-media/
This may be one of those articles that sparks a whole new way of gathering and sharing feedback in your classroom.
http://mindshift.kqed.org/2010/09/blogging-another-teaching-tool/
Great daily bit of professional development from other great teachers throughout the state.
http://paper.li/stevejmoore/missouried --
With the much hyped Oprah episode about schools this week, I thought this essay did a much more fair review of the current state of public education.
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2010/09/27/100927taco_talk_lemann#ixzz1068eAQHD
http://king.portlandschools.org/
Another article that promotes our technology integration policy of teach how to use what is available responsibility, not restrict
http://mindshift.kqed.org/2010/09/help-kids-be-safe-and-comfortable-with-social-media/
This may be one of those articles that sparks a whole new way of gathering and sharing feedback in your classroom.
http://mindshift.kqed.org/2010/09/blogging-another-teaching-tool/
Great daily bit of professional development from other great teachers throughout the state.
http://paper.li/stevejmoore/missouried --
With the much hyped Oprah episode about schools this week, I thought this essay did a much more fair review of the current state of public education.
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2010/09/27/100927taco_talk_lemann#ixzz1068eAQHD
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Focus and Finding a Rhythm
It takes a long time for a staff to really feel like they are in sync, whether it is co-teaching, common language or team decision-making. I am really excited about how my staff works together. It would be fantastic to keep this group of folks together for five or more years just to see the power of this oneness. One day I hope that my staff can find this level of being in rhythm, enjoy the video.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Poverty and Education
Recently, I read an incredible critique of Ruby Payne's work on poverty that poked at the language of the culture of poverty that Payne describes throughout her work. I began to buy the argument that the language that Payne uses is too generalized to truly help educators and society meet the needs of kids. This doesn't mean though that I don't see the huge ties between poverty and education. If anything, we are the providers of opportunities to help kids escape poverty or insulate other students from slipping back into poverty. This concept along with the recent information about poverty in the United States has me truly grounded in my role in helping kids. See below for the recent poverty stats....
43.6 Million: Census Declares More Americans are in Poverty than Ever Before
by Claire Lorentzen 09-20-2010
It is the highest number America has ever seen: 43.6 million people are living in poverty in the United States, the wealthiest country in the world. According to new data released yesterday by the Census Bureau, the 2009 U.S. poverty rate was at 14.3 percent, up from 13.2 percent in 2008. Considering that our nation is facing a 10 percent unemployment rate –- a 2.6 percentage increase from 2008 — “The news could have been a lot worse than it actually was,” claimed Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs Rebecca Blank at a Brookings Institution panel on the Census data last Thursday afternoon. Others at the panel agreed with Blank, while making it clear that regardless of the higher predictions, these statistics yell out for a renewed “war on poverty.”
Here are some statistical highlights from the 2009 Census data:
One in five children live below the poverty line. The poverty rate increased most steeply for children under the age of 19, jumping from a rate of 19.0 percent in 2008 to one of 20.7 percent in 2009.
29.9 percent of female-headed families live below the poverty line. The rate is up 1.2 percent from 2008.
25.3 percent of Hispanics (up from 23.2 percent in 2008) live below the poverty line.
25.8 percent of blacks (up from 24.7 percent in 2008) live below the poverty line.
One in seven (14.3 percent) Americans are in severe economic deprivation.
Just to put the 2009 American poverty rates in some sort of historical perspective: Poverty declined between the years 1993 and
2000, but then increased between 2001 and 2004. While economic deprivation declined slightly again in both 2005 and 2006, it then increased again in 2007 and 2008. Now in 2009, it has once again increased, but by one of the third highest rates since that data was first collected in the 1960s: 1.1 percent.
Where do these numbers come from? How is the poverty rate measured?
Well, the official poverty rate in the U.S. has been defined and measured in the same way for the last 37 years. The measurement sets the poverty threshold equal to three times the subsistence food budget, which was set by the United States Food and Drug Administration and its Economy Food Plan in 1961. Since its introduction in 1963, the measurement has only been updated yearly for inflation, according to the Consumer Price Index. The base poverty threshold was set at three times the subsistence food budget for an individual. This multiplier of three was first chosen because the 1955 census found that, on average, one-third of a family’s budget was spent on food. Whether or not this estimate holds is largely up for debate (and will be discussed in future God’s Politics blogs). The poverty threshold was then adjusted for family size and age. For example in 2008, the threshold for a single individual was $10,991 dollars and for a family of three it was $22,025 dollars.
Then, in order to determine whether or not an individual or a family falls below this threshold, their pre-tax income is accounted for. Pre-tax income includes all pre-tax earnings, Social Security payments (since they are paid in cash — which may help explain why the poverty rate of elderly has not increased). The income measure also does not include any sort of in-kind benefits such as Medicaid, food stamps, as well as out of pocket medical expenses. Pre-tax incomes are also not adjusted for according to geographic location.
If a family’s total pre-tax income is less than the threshold for their family size and respected ages, they are below the poverty line. This is the case for 43.6 million Americans.
Claire Lorentzen is the online editorial assistant at Sojourners.
43.6 Million: Census Declares More Americans are in Poverty than Ever Before
by Claire Lorentzen 09-20-2010
It is the highest number America has ever seen: 43.6 million people are living in poverty in the United States, the wealthiest country in the world. According to new data released yesterday by the Census Bureau, the 2009 U.S. poverty rate was at 14.3 percent, up from 13.2 percent in 2008. Considering that our nation is facing a 10 percent unemployment rate –- a 2.6 percentage increase from 2008 — “The news could have been a lot worse than it actually was,” claimed Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs Rebecca Blank at a Brookings Institution panel on the Census data last Thursday afternoon. Others at the panel agreed with Blank, while making it clear that regardless of the higher predictions, these statistics yell out for a renewed “war on poverty.”
Here are some statistical highlights from the 2009 Census data:
One in five children live below the poverty line. The poverty rate increased most steeply for children under the age of 19, jumping from a rate of 19.0 percent in 2008 to one of 20.7 percent in 2009.
29.9 percent of female-headed families live below the poverty line. The rate is up 1.2 percent from 2008.
25.3 percent of Hispanics (up from 23.2 percent in 2008) live below the poverty line.
25.8 percent of blacks (up from 24.7 percent in 2008) live below the poverty line.
One in seven (14.3 percent) Americans are in severe economic deprivation.
Just to put the 2009 American poverty rates in some sort of historical perspective: Poverty declined between the years 1993 and
2000, but then increased between 2001 and 2004. While economic deprivation declined slightly again in both 2005 and 2006, it then increased again in 2007 and 2008. Now in 2009, it has once again increased, but by one of the third highest rates since that data was first collected in the 1960s: 1.1 percent.
Where do these numbers come from? How is the poverty rate measured?
Well, the official poverty rate in the U.S. has been defined and measured in the same way for the last 37 years. The measurement sets the poverty threshold equal to three times the subsistence food budget, which was set by the United States Food and Drug Administration and its Economy Food Plan in 1961. Since its introduction in 1963, the measurement has only been updated yearly for inflation, according to the Consumer Price Index. The base poverty threshold was set at three times the subsistence food budget for an individual. This multiplier of three was first chosen because the 1955 census found that, on average, one-third of a family’s budget was spent on food. Whether or not this estimate holds is largely up for debate (and will be discussed in future God’s Politics blogs). The poverty threshold was then adjusted for family size and age. For example in 2008, the threshold for a single individual was $10,991 dollars and for a family of three it was $22,025 dollars.
Then, in order to determine whether or not an individual or a family falls below this threshold, their pre-tax income is accounted for. Pre-tax income includes all pre-tax earnings, Social Security payments (since they are paid in cash — which may help explain why the poverty rate of elderly has not increased). The income measure also does not include any sort of in-kind benefits such as Medicaid, food stamps, as well as out of pocket medical expenses. Pre-tax incomes are also not adjusted for according to geographic location.
If a family’s total pre-tax income is less than the threshold for their family size and respected ages, they are below the poverty line. This is the case for 43.6 million Americans.
Claire Lorentzen is the online editorial assistant at Sojourners.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Defining Our Success
This was my open letter to the Comm. Arts 6-12 team today following our first group meeting.
Since we ran out of time to have a discussion on this topic today, I thought that I would formulate my ideas a bit further using the new ning. I hope that this forum proves to be a fruitful way to discuss our road forward as a learning group.
It is clear from our conversations today that there are many instructional pieces on the table in varied shapes and sizes for each of you which makes it difficult to coalesce our learning around a singular topic or area, but I thought that I would generate some initial ideas to see if they spark an interest.
If the Communication Arts CAT team had a successful year, what would that look like? I really like the potential that this question poses to bring a group of individuals who are seeking high levels of learning for their individual kids to a place where they can embrace the potential and power of the team working together on a goal.
The book Teach Like a Champion names a number of best practices, but the power of the book comes from measuring the use of the techniques in the classroom. Should we choose to measure our use of these techniques?
A lot of time was put into the G.U.M.s curriculum. Does it make sense to measure its implementation success?
Do our grades indicate learning? If so, can we measure the growth of the department based on the grades that students receive? Can we average percentages eight times a year and reflect on what this means?
Again, someone will define your success this year. I don't want it to be someone other than you, but it makes sense for us to get out in front of the train.
Since we ran out of time to have a discussion on this topic today, I thought that I would formulate my ideas a bit further using the new ning. I hope that this forum proves to be a fruitful way to discuss our road forward as a learning group.
It is clear from our conversations today that there are many instructional pieces on the table in varied shapes and sizes for each of you which makes it difficult to coalesce our learning around a singular topic or area, but I thought that I would generate some initial ideas to see if they spark an interest.
If the Communication Arts CAT team had a successful year, what would that look like? I really like the potential that this question poses to bring a group of individuals who are seeking high levels of learning for their individual kids to a place where they can embrace the potential and power of the team working together on a goal.
The book Teach Like a Champion names a number of best practices, but the power of the book comes from measuring the use of the techniques in the classroom. Should we choose to measure our use of these techniques?
A lot of time was put into the G.U.M.s curriculum. Does it make sense to measure its implementation success?
Do our grades indicate learning? If so, can we measure the growth of the department based on the grades that students receive? Can we average percentages eight times a year and reflect on what this means?
Again, someone will define your success this year. I don't want it to be someone other than you, but it makes sense for us to get out in front of the train.
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