Eventually schools will sort themselves out just like fast food franchises and they will be just about as good. It all reminds me of the privatization of the prison industry. For-profit prisons reap compound benefits from perverse incentives. Having fewer employees with lower pay increases profits. Fewer employees and lower pay perpetuate prison dysfunction, reduce rehabilitation and increase recidivism. That’s good for profits too. It’s a grand win-win — except for the prisoners and our society.
Archives: Bookmarks
Measuring Teacher Effectiveness: Are We Creating an Education Nightmare? — THE Journal
Educators are concerned because their evaluations will be tied to results of their students’ standardized testing, which are used in value-added calculations, while other factors, such as experience and training, are diminished. There’s concern that the increase in testing that will be required to use those models to rate all teachers might come at the expense of learners, taking the joy out of learning and making it boring, as President Obama pointed out (“Remarks,” 2011). And there’s concern about our lack of agreement on what it means to be an effective educator.
How Hollywood Learned to Love the Semantic Web
http://www.rcs.k12.va.us/hvhs/laptop/docs/RCPS_Conduct_Code.pdf
Roanoke County Internet Use Agreement
A different take on responsibility . . . .
World’s Simplest Online Safety Policy « My Island View
Educational Leadership:The Key to Changing the Teaching Profession:How North Carolina Improved Teacher Evaluation
Standard IV: Teachers facilitate learning for their students. They know the ways in which learning takes place and the appropriate levels of intellectual, physical, social, and emotional development of their students. They plan instruction appropriate for their students and use a variety of instructional methods. They integrate and use technology in their instruction, help students develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, and help students work in teams and strengthen their leadership qualities. They communicate effectively and use a variety of methods to assess what each student has learned.
MITS Freedom Stick
The MITS Freedom Stick is a portable, use-anywhere accessibility solution. Install this software package on any 4gb USB Flash Drive (full) or 2gb USB Flash Drive (lite) and you create a set of tools for your students that they can carry in their pockets which will make any Windows computer highly accessible.
The Freedom Stick contains a fully accessible version of the Firefox web browser, the full Open Office suite (comparable to Microsoft Office), the Balabolka Text-To-Speech system, an on-screen calculator which allows students to paste their math work into homework or test documents, a “mind mapper” (similar to Inspiration), the Audacity audio recorder/player, and many, many more supports.
http://esblogin.k12albemarle.org/attachments/5b9a7167-5154-44dc-9c77-24cc8cc36f92.pdf
Touch Press – Home
This new digital edition of T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land brings alive the most revolutionary poem of the last hundred years, illuminated by a wealth of interactive features. The title’s groundbreaking design carefully respects the typography and integrity of the original poem, yet offers spectacular new ways to explore The Waste Land’s significance and influence. The project aims to extend the reach of Eliot’s greatest work, bringing a new depth of understanding and sensitivity to poetry in the digital space.