Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, November 22, 2012

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 11-22-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch


I Give Thanks to You

On this day, I pause to thank you, the readers of this blog.
I thank you because you care about children and the future of education.
I thank you because you understand that the way we educate our children today shapes the society we will live in for decades to come.
I thank you because you teach me, you encourage me, you give me strength.
I thank those of you who are parents, doing what is best for your child or children.
I thank those of you who are educators, who have dedicated your life to helping others learn and develop.
I wish you and your family a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.



Be Sure to Thank Your Favorite Teacher

Happy Thanksgiving to all.
I love this. It came from a post on August 28. It was inspired by an article written in the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette by a copy editor.  He wrote about his grandmother, who taught Neil Armstrong.
Neil Armstrong never forgot her. Even when he became world-famous, he remembered his favorite teacher.
Neil Armstrong had something to say about merit pay, albeit obliquely. When people hailed him for his achievement, he was quick to point out that there were many people whose work put him into space–scientists, engineers, technicians, hundreds of unknown, unsung heroes. He didn’t do it alone. It took teamwork.



Thanks to The Valiant Teachers of the Year in Acadia Parish

Just a few days ago, the Acadia Parish school board in Louisiana honored its teachers of the year.
Each of its 27 schools selects a teacher of the year. Then, the district selects 3 teachers among the 27 as district winners: the Elementary T.O.Y, a Middle school T.O.Y., and a High school T.O.Y. to represent our district at the Regional T.O.Y. level which eventually feeds into the state T.O.Y. competition.
As readers of this blog know, the state of Louisiana has done more to discourage, demean and demoralize its teachers than almost any other state (I have to say “almost” because there is always Florida and a few other contenders).
Bryan Alleman, a teacher in Acadia Parish schools, was invited to be master of ceremonies for the event and he 



Thanks to These Teachers!

A teacher and parent remembers the teachers who made a difference, the ones whose work is still remembered many years later:
Thank you to the science teacher who let my son hand in elaborate hand-drawn cartoons explaining scientific processes. And to the history teacher whose project options allowed for students to act out interviews with historical figures. Thanks to my daughter’s high school English teacher who allowed the students to make puppets and perform scenes from A Midsummer’s Night Dream. Thanks to the physics teacher who let the students design and build model bridges and catapults (and I mean really build them, by hand, not using a 




Diane in the Evening 11-21-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: When Happy Talk Is Mandated by dianerav A reader in Texas responds to a post about the Dallas superintendent, who has sent out directions to schools to express themselves only in positive terms: This blog reminds me: we got a new superintendent in our district where I was the deputy superintendent. His FIRST act was to send out a memo to all staff. His directive was that absolutely everybody had to start all letters and all memoranda and all emails with this statement: “Today is November 21, 2012, and it is a wonderful day!” Many of us spent the rest of t... more »