Teacher Fired For Refusing Training

If your boss came to you and told you that you had to take a class to learn how to do your job better and that the company would pay for it, would you say no?  What if your manager said that if you didn’t complete the training, you would be fired?  I’m pretty sure that I’d go ahead and take the class.  Not everyone, however, feels the same way.

A school district in San Joaquin County, California told all its teachers that they needed to be trained in techniques to better teach students who were not fluent in English — about 20% of California students.  This instruction is part of the standard education for new teachers, but those who received their credential prior to 2003 may not have covered this information.  Theresa Messick of Ripon High School is one such veteran teacher.
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Students Asked to Supply Their Own Toilet Paper

It used to be that all kids needed when they headed off to school was a few pencils, some paper and a readiness to learn.   But these days, with school budgets stretched to their limits, parents are often asked to pick up the tab for a lot more than basic classroom supplies.  In fact, at a school in Ireland, parents are being asked to provide something that hardly qualifies as a school supply at all:  Toilet paper.  Continue reading »

They Say: Teachers Can Pre-Hate Your Kid

Turns out teachers really do pre-judge your kids based on reputation alone. So your little hellion is in for a hell of a year.

You’re packing up the moving van right now, aren’t you? Continue reading »

Does Meditation Have a Place in the Classroom?

The U.S. Department of Education recently awarded a major grant to help fund teachers’ training in contemplative practices such as meditation. Known as Cultivating Awareness and Resiliency in Education (CARE), the program that received the grant uses mindfulness meditation to help teachers recognize emotional patterns–both their own and their students’–so that they can more skillfully respond to classroom social problems like bullying. Continue reading »

Parents Think Schools Are A-OK

With President Obama’s big “controversial” speech on education this week (because “stay in school, work hard, and wash your hands are really hot-button issues) and the first day of school coming this week for most kids, the state of America’s schools is on a lot of people’s minds.

According to a report from Public Agenda, it turns out that what education reformers and bureaucrats think the big issues facing schools are not, in fact, what parents and educator themselves think of as the issues. Highlight of the report include:

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Preschool Teachers Accidentally Get High off Pot Brownies

USA Today described the aftermath of five L.A. nursery school teachers accidentally eating pot brownies as suffering “neurologic symptoms commonly associated with being stoned.”

So we’re going to assume they got the munchies and called the pre-schoolers “dude” a lot?

OK, end of making light of a serious situation. Continue reading »

Back-to-School is Vacation for Abused Kids

On the surface, a recent Washington Post article describing the horrors of summer vacation for victims of child abuse does its job. It’s a reminder that school serves as a respite for kids for whom home is not a safe haven.

But it does one great mis-service to the fight against child abuse. Continue reading »

Book of the Week: It’s Time for School with Tallulah

Learning about school from the teacher’s perspective, especially if that teacher wears a gingham bow, polka-dotted bandana, has a pink triangle for a nose and a tail peeping out of her skirt, can be very reassuring for first-time students. Tallulah the cat, the star of It’s Time for School with Tallulah, nurtures the minds of Roxy the pig, Freddie the alligator, Flapjack the dog and takes special care of Nigel the penguin, who’s new and feeling shy, even with his special purple scarf on.

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They Say: Don’t Treat Kids Like Prisoners in Schools

Here’s a novel concept: a new study out of Brown University is linking higher success rates for students with schools that provide students with “safe” and “nurturing” environments.

Basically, the study says if you don’t treat kids like prisoners, they won’t act like they belong in prison. Continue reading »

They Say: Nice Girls, Neat Boys Get Better Grades

Along with flashcards, private tutors and piping in Mozart, you’ll want to include neatly pressed slacks and personality coaching in your child’s long-term educational strategies.

A new study has found a significant link between beauty and grades, something everyone but the beautiful have long suspected. Continue reading »