Dunk Tank Trauma

From everything I heard, last Friday's carnival was enjoyed by many. There were a few glitches here and there, but that was to be expected. I appreciate everyone pulling together to make it a great event for the kids and families. I can't say that I enjoyed my time in the dunk tank. I'm not very fond of being in large containers of water. I guess I'll do anything to make a buck for the school. Well, almost anything.

ONE MORE DAY!

e on Education

I believe a school shouldn't have to sell snacks to pay for field trips. I believe a school shouldn't have to make the choice between keeping a reading specialist and a nurse. Decision makers must give schools the money necessary to provide the resources and tools necessary for ALL children to learn. Despite what politicians say, it's not easy to do more with less. I believe preschool should be free and mandatory for ALL children. Kindergarten should also be mandatory. I believe parents should be held more accountable for their children's education. It's about time parents share this accountability with teachers and administrators. We must provide tools and resources to parents so that they will be able to send their children to school ready to learn. Billions are being spent overseas to "build" democracy. How much money should be spent on "building" a life long learner? How many bags of Chex Mix has the Department of Defense had to sell lately?

Senator McCain on Education

Senator Obama on Education

'Reading First' Funds Headed for Extinction

Another interesting article in Education Week. Check it out.

Reading First Chronology
January 2002: President Bush signs the No Child Left Behind Act into law, and federal officials kick off the Reading First program in a series of workshops and video presentations.

March 2002: Publishers’ representatives and reading organizations ask the U.S. Department of Education to clarify Reading First rules, saying that many state officials believe there is a list of approved programs and products they must purchase for participating schools. The department says no such list exists.

April 2005: Publishers file complaints with the Education Department’s inspector general charging that federal officials were promoting the use of some commercial texts and assessments in Reading First programs, while discouraging others.

September 2005: The Education Department’s inspector general opens a broad inquiry into complaints about the Reading First program. A month later, Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate education committee ask the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to conduct its own review of the program.

September 2006: The first of six inspector general reports concludes that some federal officials and consultants may have had conflicts of interest and appeared to promote certain products that they were associated with.

May 2007: Congress grills federal officials and consultants in hearings highlighting the findings of the inspector general reports.

December 2007: Congress cuts the Reading First budget by 61 percent, to $364 million for fiscal 2008.

May 2008: A federal evaluation commissioned by the Education Department’s Institute of Education Sciences, finds that the $1 billion-a-year funding for Reading First had no measurable effect on students’ reading comprehension.

June 2008: House and Senate appropriations panels vote to eliminate all funding for Reading First.

SOURCE: Education Week

Four More Days

Just For Fun - I'm Digging This Tune

Five More Days

Five more days. Five more days. Five more days. Five more days.

There was an interesting article in today's L.A. Times about why Asian students do better than Latino students. I found the article fascinating. Check it out. There's another article in the Times about California's drop out rate. Looks like 1 in 4 California high school kids drop out of school. Sad. Time to refocus our energy and resources on education.

Wednesday

Ten more days left! Yes, I'm definitely counting. It's been a tough year. I'll be happy to say ciao to it.

I don't think I'm going to surpass my Year-3 posts total of 120. This is post number 93. I need 27 posts in 14 days. I don't think I can make it. Oh well. I'll be happy with 100+ posts.

I have a bunch of Tribes letters to respond to. Hopefully, I'll be able to post an interesting letter in the next few days. I'll try to write back to the kids during the weekend. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with myself this weekend. Wendy, Kathy, and Stephanie are helping me out with a few tasks. Actually some really big tasks. I really appreciate the help. I know what I'll do, I'll visit rooms and finish going through everyone's content standards binder. Yup, that's what I'll do. I don't think I'll be able to do it tomorrow or Friday. Oh, and I need to work on the class lists. Yup...that's going to take a while.

Lots of interesting things happened today. Two kindergarteners decided to use crayons to draw all over the MPR bathroom. What a mess! So...they spent the morning scrubbing walls. I spent a lot of time dealing with keys. Spent a bunch of time dealing with another issue - wish I could talk about it, but can't. Suspended a kid who showed his wee wee to some friends in class. Talked to A LOT of people. Half of the conversations I don't even remember...so sad.

I hope the rest of the week is calm.

Tribes Letter of the Week

I get so much joy from these letters. In the age of email and text messages, I'm so glad we're doing our part to keep the art and tradition of letter writing alive. I really wish I could post all of the wonderful letters I get from the kids. These letters are definitely "what's right with the world."