From a teacher in Memphis

From a bathroom

2012-01-13T16:17:00.001-06:00

The fact that I found this poster in a bathroom made it so, so funny. Remember, it's what it sounds like.

Online schools not living up to their own hype

2012-01-11T09:39:00.000-06:00

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP Announces Investigation of K12, Inc. - Yahoo! Finance: The investigation focuses on whether the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by failing to disclose that: (1) according to various academic benchmarks, K12 students were chronically underperforming their peers at traditional schools; (2) K12 has aggressively recruited students to their schools, regardless of how well-suited they might be for the Company’s curriculum; (3) as a result of K12’s haphazard recruiting process, the Company experiences student retention problems resulting in high rates of withdrawal; (4) K12 schools often have far larger student-to-teacher ratios than the Company advertises; and (5) K12 teachers have been pressured to allow students to pass regardless of academic performance, in order to receive federal funds.

This company operates in Memphis and was marketed as a solution to the woes of public education. I get a large knot of disgust in my tummy when I see people capitalizing on poverty, I really do.

The McEducation of the Negro

2012-01-10T15:02:00.000-06:00

The McEducation of the Negro: Education is acquiring a basic body of knowledge needed to competently vote and play Jeopardy, appreciate music and art, go to college and get a job, communicate and so on.�

I had a professor in college who said that the benefit of going to college was being able to get the jokes at parties.

I've been doing a good deal of reading lately about school change and education reform. The more I read, and the more I experience, the more I feel that we are undereducating vast swathes of humanity in this country in the name of some sort of accountability and progress.

Learning is fuzzy. Different people will learn different things from the same lesson. Accountability is a way to make sure that learning is happening, but fine tuning it to identify what specific learning is happening is near the heart of the problem.

middle school / high school collaboration

2012-01-06T07:48:00.001-06:00

As part of a nascent project here in Memphis and specifically at Craigmont, I'm looking for documented examples of collaboration between middle schools and high schools in the same area.

Our beginning idea is to create a theoretical bridge between this middle school where I teach and the high school into which it feeds. It's right down the block, yet after working here for three years I do not know a single teacher there. The cultures are the schools are radically different, as is the quality of extracurricular programming (according to some observers). For example, the middle school has a chess club while the high school does not, and the high school has a debate club while the middle school does not.

We hope that by creating extracurricular (and eventually curricular) bridges between the two schools, we can increase student/parent/teacher/administrator motivation and create a culture of excellence.

Like I said at the beginning, I'm looking for documented examples of this sort of collaboration: any middle school clubs that attract high school students or vice versa.

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from discovery education

2011-12-02T09:10:00.001-06:00

This question was found in the Discovery Education database. Can you
feel the emotional affect?

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Brownsville Protects Chess Legacy at Its Schools - NYTimes.com

2011-12-01T07:47:00.000-06:00

Brownsville Protects Chess Legacy at Its Schools - NYTimes.com: Budget cuts may have taken more than $30 million out of the Brownsville Independent School District’s budget for the next two years, but administrators say they are working to preserve financing for one key pot of money: the chess budget. This academic year, it totals $400,000.

And I can't even find 2 other teachers in MEMPHIS who are willing to start a chess organization!

Surge in Free School Lunches Reflects Economic Crisis - NYTimes.com

2011-11-30T09:10:00.000-06:00

Surge in Free School Lunches Reflects Economic Crisis - NYTimes.com: Among the first to call attention to the increases were Department of Education officials who use subsidized lunch rates as a poverty indicator in federal testing. This month, in releasing results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, they noted that the proportion of the nation’s fourth graders enrolled in the lunch program had climbed to 52 percent from 49 percent in 2009, crossing a symbolic watershed.

That's more than half of the country's fourth graders living in poverty in the United States. Granted our definition of poverty is unique to us, but it is still relevant. I've stopped calling this country developed; we're caught somewhere between the first and second worlds.

just overheard

2011-11-28T12:52:00.001-06:00

"Mr. Fowles, how did y'all text message each other in the old days?"

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edupunk revisited

2011-11-18T10:22:00.001-06:00

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=418124&c=1

I've taken the year off from edtech hype, but I came across this story. While I do continually advocate the use of technology for instructional purposes, rather than for the purpose of being able to include "technology integration" on a spreadsheet somewhere, I've just lost the passion I had for the raw edge that I took to be edupunk.

The main problem I have with edtech is that it is often used as a method of replicating old processes rather than creating new ones, especially in the K-12 environment. When I ask teachers what they use a Smartboard for, many say they use it to watch movies.

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MP3 SKULL FOR THE WIN

2011-11-09T14:09:00.001-06:00

A student just introduced me to http://www.mp3skull.com

Life is good again.

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Merger of Memphis and County School Districts Revives Challenges - NYTimes.com

2011-11-06T10:22:00.000-06:00

Merger of Memphis and County School Districts Revives Challenges - NYTimes.com: Fearing that suburban politicians and Tennessee’s Republican-dominated legislature might alter this arrangement to allow more tax money to stay in the suburbs, Memphis voted in December to surrender the school charter. Multiple lawsuits ensued, and a federal judge ruled on Sept. 28 that the two districts would be governed by a unified board but would run separately for two years, and then would combine in 2013.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGUS!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you, New York Times, for not doing your homework. This whole debacle started not because Memphis had some vague fear, but because Shelby County started to ACTIVELY PURSUE Special School District status.

Joys of a flannel shirt

2011-11-04T09:24:00.001-05:00

There's just something so amazing about a new flannel shirt. I wear them often and everywhere. To work, to the store, to a party, to a campout. They rule.

Woot had a special on Haggar flannels and I grabbed two. Retail therapy. They're just such great shirts. Soft to the touch, warm, durable, easy to clean, hard to wrinkle, pleasant to gaze at, and economical. Who could ask for anything else from a piece of clothing?

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beautiful trees at craigmont

2011-10-28T14:56:00.001-05:00

I was told that Memphis used to be known for its foliage. This is the first thing I saw this morning. It is at times like this that my insides are at perfect equilibrium with my outsides. Diffusion ensues.

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Geosense

2011-10-21T08:41:00.004-05:00

From http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/10/geosense-online-vocabulary-game.html

This has the same addiction potential as Free Rice. You've been warned.

Geosense

another reason to hate edtech

2011-10-13T13:54:00.001-05:00

I walked into my classroom the other day after lunch and found these sheets of paper taped to a few of my computer monitors.

1. This was taped to the monitor, not the CPU. Last time I checked, monitors don't run operating systems.

2. The CPUs beneath said monitors actually run Linux.

3. RandOM capITAlizATION is ANNOYING!

4. To be honest, I really don't care that much.

See, I've taken the technology WAY out of my teaching this year. I use the computers when it is appropriate, but that is very rare these days. Of course, we haven't moved into research, yet, but when the time comes I am sure that the computers will be useful. I use my janky tablet so my beginner ELL can review vocabulary on a4esl.org. We've done a few collaborative writings, but the computer tends to be more of a distraction than a source of productivity even in a rather controlled setting.

Still, this is nothing like years past, when I had students sharing Google Docs, poring over Wikipedia entries, and stuff like that.

Why have I turned around so much?

A. My district pays for Google Apps, but doesn't use it.

A1. My district also pays for Gaggle, which is awful and recently lost the ability to edit Zoho Documents.

B. The districts takes away perfectly functional computers.

C. Why use an internet that is filtered beyond use? (We can't access videos through watchknowlearn.org anymore)

D. I'm pretty sure my students' eyeballs were beginning to bleed from too much screen time.

E. I don't want to become another one of those edtechs who considers himself an expert in education because he can wrangle a little code and plug wires into the proper places. There are enough blowhards out there; I just refuse to be one of them.

This year has been my best so far. The students are doing reasonably well. We have fun and respect each other. They're reading better and maintaining their focus longer.

goodbye, edtech. goodbye.

Now what's the real problem in Memphis?

2011-10-13T06:12:00.002-05:00

I've heard lots of people tell me about the big problems in this little corner of the state. We've got de facto segregation, troubled schools, violent crime, and the list goes on. That's in the city, of course. The suburbs, to hear folks talk, are seraphic.

Some angels just fall, I suppose.

Minor Differences

2011-10-04T16:58:00.002-05:00

In the spirit of the Oatmeal, I offer my own minor difference. The pictures below illustrate the following sentences:

The lion sold the bear the cake.

The lion sold the cake the bear.

Can you tell which is which?

which one doesn't belong

2011-09-19T09:19:00.001-05:00

from the KrogoSchnucks on Union Ave.

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Travel sucks

2011-08-31T09:15:00.006-05:00

OK. I don't get it.

Here is a price matrix for Chicago O'Hare to Dublin:

Cheapest flight is $946 going directly to Dublin.

Here is a matrix using the same dates and going to Amsterdam instead:

Why is it cheaper to fly to Amsterdam than to Dublin, using the same airline AND THE SAME DAY (that $864 is also Aer Lingus)? It would be cheaper to book the Amsterdam flight, then just get off at Dublin and forget the second flight, but you'd be hit with a penalty for that, I think.

Airline pricing = the last bastion of the Wild West.

Chuck D from Public Enemy and Adisa Banjoko Hit The 64 Squares!

2011-08-22T07:44:00.000-05:00

Chuck D from Public Enemy and Adisa Banjoko Hit The 64 Squares!:

This is pretty seriously cool. I've just rebooted chess club here at Craigmont with about seven kids. It's still a struggle to make chess acceptable to urban youth, and stories like this help.

check this stock chart madness

2011-08-19T13:52:00.001-05:00

Thank you, Google Finance. My money is apparently in a Delorean going 88 mph.

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The difference between legislative and de facto segregation

2011-08-11T07:19:00.001-05:00

From http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/news/education/

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Grants for Teachers

2011-07-25T06:42:00.001-05:00

This ad came up on Facebook. Why does Facebook think that teachers are prisoners in jumpsuits?

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Live updates: Memphis City Schools, City Council meet to discuss budget � The Commercial Appeal

2011-07-21T18:46:00.000-05:00

Live updates: Memphis City Schools, City Council meet to discuss budget � The Commercial Appeal: "6:40 p.m. The Memphis school board will meet at 6:45 p.m. on Friday to consider approval of the plan proposed by Wharton and Jones."

Unfortunately, as Jones was the lone dissenter in the original decision, I doubt this will hold much water.

Ex-Washington, D.C., schools chief Michelle Rhee gives take on education � The Commercial Appeal

2011-07-18T10:38:00.000-05:00

Ex-Washington, D.C., schools chief Michelle Rhee gives take on education � The Commercial Appeal: "'We are so concerned with making children feel good about themselves,' said Rhee, who moved to Nashville last week. 'But we haven't put in the time to make them good at anything.'

Rhee's ex-husband, Kevin Huffman, was appointed Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Education in April."

Dear God, WHY OH WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS TO US?

It's ok. Tennessee didn't need any more educational shakeups.

Conflageration

2011-07-14T10:39:00.001-05:00

If this isn't the darndest rootinest tootinest conflageration of craziness this side of the Pecos, then I'm not Yosemite Sam.

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VI IV 2011 pour une soci�t�plus juste？更公義的社會？ | un asiatique et son charabia 一亞裔的胡說八道an Asian Guy's rigmarole

2011-06-05T08:40:00.000-05:00

VI IV 2011 pour une soci�t�plus juste？更公義的社會？ | un asiatique et son charabia 一亞裔的胡說八道an Asian Guy's rigmarole: "pour une soci�t�plus juste, il ne faut pas oublier ou effacer l’histoire
要一個更公義的社會，我們絕不能忘記或改寫歷史
for a more just society, we must not forget or erase history"

MOA

2011-05-30T16:46:00.001-05:00

MOA

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Friday

2011-05-06T12:35:00.001-05:00

So there was this Canadian.

He worked at a carnival

At this carnival, there was a ride called the ferangulator

ferangulate really doesn't mean anything

and it was hard for the canuck carny to pronounce

so, when the people at the fair would line up to get on

he'd just say

"Happy F-Ride, eh"

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Education Week Teacher: National Teacher of the Year Sees 'Abilities, Not Disabilities'

2011-05-05T10:24:00.000-05:00

Education Week Teacher: National Teacher of the Year Sees 'Abilities, Not Disabilities': "In an interview after the ceremony, Shearer said that over the next year, while traveling the country on a speaking tour, she plans to promote STEM education and the importance of “making it accessible to students with special needs, minorities, and young women.”"

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooogus.

For the women, ok. I can see that.

As per special needs and minorities.....let's have a look at the numbers. Certainly she did a great job at the school for the deaf, but what has she accomplished in the past 14 years in terms of making science accessible to students with special needs and minorities?

Data here: http://apps.fcps.org/public/ProgressReport22Vol11.pdf

2010 Total Enrollment: 1860

2010 Total African American: 89

2010 Total Hispanic: 117

2010 Total Asian: 132

2010 Total SPED (not counting overlap with above categories): 147

2010 Total ELL: 0 (not enough data)

2010 Total Free Lunch: 112

Enrolled in AP courses:

Total: 1320

White: 1079

AA: 57

Hispanic: 76

Asian: 120

SPED: 0

Free Lunch: 50

This teacher works at a privileged school, teaches privileged children, and gets National Teacher of the Year. There are teachers of diverse students in poverty in this country who could teach circles around this lady. Too bad the data aren't as sexy for "those" students.

FIN

2011-05-03T20:31:00.001-05:00

From my online course.

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Drinking Blood

2011-05-02T10:24:00.001-05:00

Bin Laden Is Dead, Obama Says - NYTimes.com: "So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity."

Maybe I'm a peacenik. Maybe I'm a hippy. Maybe I believe in some moral measuring stick that says something about not killing other people.

I'm not an expert in international relations or policy, nor am I political scientist. I'm not even a philosopher. And I certainly am not a military strategist. Whether or not setting out to just kill OBL was right or wrong, I can't say.

I am, however, pretty revolted by the cheering and celebrating that has resulted. It seems to be closed-minded and naive to place so much importance on this one event. An end to war, go celebrate. An end to poverty, party down. An end to violence, get your funk on.

To gain so much joy from one death makes me think about ancient Rome. Maybe we're all just peasants and the global media has turned the world into our own personal Colosseum. Give us bread and circuses, masters of fate, and we will be satiated and calm.

No peace can come from death, and there is no dignity in morbid celebration. Try again, everyone.

update: Just found this from Kristof:

Osama’s declining image also means that he won’t be a martyr in many circles (although if Americans appear too celebratory and triumphant, dancing on his grave, that may create a sympathetic backlash for Osama). Many ordinary Pakistanis, Yemenis and Afghans will simply shrug and move on. His death won’t inspire people, the way it might have in 2002. And Al Qaeda is already going through a difficult time because it has been sidelined by the Arab Spring protests; on top of that, losing its top leader will be a major blow.

Second Journey to Biore Land

2011-04-30T13:31:00.001-05:00

If I could Biore my whole face, I absolutely would.

See the full gallery on Posterous

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No Video Here

2011-04-27T12:49:00.000-05:00

Slightly edited photo

Bill Gates thinks that educational videos are the best things since sliced bread.

The educational nonprofit started by George Lucas concurs.

The co-founder of Wikipedia, arguably one of the world's premier voices in what we call knowledge, is all for it.

Why, then, is our network administrator so darn against it? Educational Networks of America blocks not only http://www.youtube.com, but also the Youtube streaming server. It is that server which allows sites like WatchKnow, a human-organized index of educational videos, to exist. They were having problems with people accessing https://www.youtube.com. Now, rather than thinking of an intelligent solution they've simply lopped off a large chunk of the educational universe.

If you'd like to see what kind of work the ENA is doing in Memphis, go to their website. You can watch a video about their work in Memphis City Schools (as you can see in the picture). You may not, however, view this video while you are actually IN a Memphis City School. The video is on youtube.

Identify this creature, please

2011-04-23T13:49:00.001-05:00

Found this little guy crawling on my wall. He's in bug heaven now, but I'd like to know what it is I sent there.

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MCS board sets retreat � The Commercial Appeal

2011-04-21T08:02:00.000-05:00

MCS board sets retreat � The Commercial Appeal: "The annual retreat, held this year at the district's Teaching and Learning Academy on Union, will cost about $5,000, including $4,500 for a facilitator from Houston."

This is a fun article to read. One of our board members either makes a joke with a double entendre or is just silly, and we find that the board needs a Texan to facilitate their meetings.

Was Yosemite Sam a Texan? Did he wander through that great state in pursuit of Bugs Bunny? Could we call him in? Would he work for a boiled hare and a new six-shooter?

Budget Deal Fuels School Voucher Revival - NYTimes.com

2011-04-15T05:56:00.000-05:00

Budget Deal Fuels School Voucher Revival - NYTimes.com: "“Taking Ariona to school every day, noticing the language being used by the youth, noticing the trouble that would be started before and after school, I felt that environment wasn’t the greatest,” Mr. Mann said. He was “ecstatic” that more families would have a chance to receive vouchers."

I'm glad this dude's daughter is going to get a good education, because he himself is one dumb piece of mud. His celebrated voucher program will bring more people into his daughter's school, including "those kids who talk funny." I'm not sure if private schools are able to turn away children with disabilities, but if they can then perhaps Mr. Mann will like the school's environment even more.

Good for Mr. Mann for caring about his kid. Really. Shame on Mr. Mann for NOT caring about his community. Rather than carp about the children at his daughter's school, he could have done some transformational work to make it a better place. Better to siphon funds away, though.

It's no big deal. Peace to that guy. I'll choose stupid over evil any day of the week:

"Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who overcame a siege of the State Capitol to enact a law narrowing collective bargaining for public employees, mainly teachers, wants to expand Milwaukee’s voucher program, the nation’s oldest with 20,000 students. His plan would let any student, not just the poor, receive a voucher. Supporters say universal vouchers will make the city more attractive to the middle class."

WTF? My sister told me about this plan recently and I couldn't believe it. To begin to understand, you first have to think about access to schools. The notion of school choice can be deceiving if you are not accustomed to thinking of limits to mobility. As far as I know, neither private nor charter schools provide transportation, forcing parents to get their kids to schools. So, when people talk about how vouchers and charter schools provide more opportunities for "the poor," they're really talking about "people who aren't doing so well, but at least have transportation and are able to shift their work schedules to drive their kids halfway across the city."

The vouchers will take money out of the lower-class schools and feed it into middle-class schools. The worst will become worse. This WILL make the city more attractive to the middle class, though, due to gentrification and its cousin ghettoization. The poor will remain oppressed and invisible while the non-poor play with ipads. Great job, guv. The middle class citizens of Wisconsin thank you.

Coming up Short

2011-04-14T07:50:00.002-05:00

From the Coming Up Short report, which I heard about on NPR.

"Coming Up Short compares common wages to the needs of a

sample family composed of a single working parent, one

preschooler and one schoolchild. As noted in Table 1 and

demonstrated below, single parents—who are predominantly

women—have the greatest income needs, regardless of

where they live, and are most vulnerable to gaps between

income and economic security. "

For good measure, here's Table 1:

All I could think about when I read this was the pretty large number of students in my school who have one parent and more, sometimes way more, than one sibling. I'm pretty sure that those parents don't make $27.35 per hour, so which items from the list get cut?

This is not the poverty index; it doesn't measure subsistence alone. Rather, this is one more step up Maslow's hierarchy and addresses security. If I remember right, you can't really skip steps on that pyramid, meaning that if my students don't feel economically secure, then how are they going to get their other needs met?

The Default Major - Skating Through B-School - NYTimes.com

2011-04-14T06:14:00.000-05:00

The Default Major - Skating Through B-School - NYTimes.com: "Business majors spend less time preparing for class than do students in any other broad field, according to the most recent National Survey of Student Engagement: nearly half of seniors majoring in business say they spend fewer than 11 hours a week studying outside class."

Liberal and fine arts majors across the nation, REJOICE! YOU ARE VINDICATED!!

Harbingers of Harbert Ave.

2011-04-12T12:36:00.001-05:00

There are two of these critters living on my block. Anybody know what they are?

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Microsoft innovation

2011-04-10T15:36:00.003-05:00

Facebook showed me an ad for a contest to be a Microsoft Innovative Educator. Turns out that in order to be innovative, you must also toe the Microsoft line. Too bad, so sad.

No Deal Overnight on Federal Budget as Abortion Remains Sticking Point - NYTimes.com

2011-04-08T09:00:00.002-05:00

No Deal Overnight on Federal Budget as Abortion Remains Sticking Point - NYTimes.com: "Democratic officials familiar with the negotiations said that proposed restrictions on money for Planned Parenthood remained the chief sticking point, and that attempts to resolve the disagreement through alternatives like allowing a separate floor vote on the issue had not been successful. Democrats said they were told by the Republicans that the votes of anti-abortion social conservatives would be needed to move any budget measure through the House."

Puh-lease. We are a country that:

fails to adequately educate its most vulnerable young people about safe sex
bombards that same population with highly sexualized media
provides that population with inadequate access to healthy food
provides that population with adequate access to booze
and is now using abortion as an issue to decide whether or not we keep the lights on.

Let's fight the first four battles before we tackle the fifth. In order to tackle those first four battles, however, we need to have our lights on. Washington, this is your chance to either shine or pass the buck.

Cathie Black Is Out as New York City Schools Chancellor - NYTimes.com

2011-04-07T11:25:00.000-05:00

Cathie Black Is Out as New York City Schools Chancellor - NYTimes.com: "Cathleen P. Black, a magazine executive with no educational experience who was named New York City schools chancellor last fall, stepped down Thursday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced"

Business prowess does NOT equal educational experience, it seems.

I'm actually a Haberman fan, though I've not yet been able to read the interview questions he created. He's got a set for administrators, as well. I wonder if Black would have passed.

How to fix America's worst schools - CSMonitor.com

2011-04-07T10:22:00.000-05:00

How to fix America's worst schools - CSMonitor.com: "On the other hand, she notes, her class is still on the American Revolution in February, and they've been working with the same question for weeks.

'They have severe deficiencies, but that doesn't mean you stop challenging them or asking them to do what high school students should do,' she says. 'I'm giving up the idea that they'll know US history really really well, but hoping they'll be critical thinkers and have reading comprehension.'"

This is a devil's paradox that urban teachers are forced into all the time. One one side, we don't want to lower our expectations one bit. I got furiously angry when I discovered that my students couldn't give me a definition of the word grammar. I polled other teachers in the school to see if they thought their students could define it. Most answered no.

As is easy to imagine, the bargain almost always falls on the side of standardized testing. "Well, if I have to decide whether my students understand the root vocabulary of the content area or one discrete, testable item, I'm going to err on the side of the discrete, testable item."

Another option is to teach the content in other, nonverbal ways. This is, I think, why lots of teachers in urban areas rely on videos and things to teach the content. Many tech folk advocate visual media in the classroom because it's more engaging for the students.

On my end, I side with the teacher in the article. Without literacy, all is lost.

Art

2011-04-03T14:32:00.001-05:00

Canvas at starving artist sale in central TN: $20

Custom frame: $72

This is my first framed artwork. I wonder when I'll be able to stop staring at it.

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D.C. School Reform Under Suspicion After Allegations of Inflated Test Scores - FoxNews.com

2011-03-31T06:03:00.000-05:00

D.C. School Reform Under Suspicion After Allegations of Inflated Test Scores - FoxNews.com: "'We followed all the right protocol,' she said. 'What I think is the unfortunate piece is often times, when the academic achievement rates of a district like D.C. go up, people assume that it can't be because kids are actually attaining higher gains in student achievement but that it's because of something like cheating, which in this case was absolutely not the case.'"

Well, the article is itself worth reading because it shows one very possible result of high-stakes testing.

This little passage, however, highlights a specific problem in education today. Educators sound like uneducated goofballs. Let's parse this little gem.

We followed all the right protocol. Strong start, Ms. Rhee. You're well on your way to sounding smart.

What I think is the unfortunate piece. The spiral begins. Piece of what, Ms. Rhee? Piece of pie. Piece of cake? What would an unfortunate piece of cake look like? This abuse of the word piece in educational circles has got to stop. I've heard college professors talk about "the reading pieces" and "the assessment pieces." Seriously, I want to cry.

when the academic achievement rates .... go up. Notice how she doesn't actually use the word learning. We're focused on testing gains, not learning gains.

it can't be because kids are actually attaining higher gains in student achievement. Smack me in the face with a blowtorch: this is effing terrible. I remember being 11. No, I really do. I would lie in bed at night, stare at my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles poster, and think to myself, "Golly, I'd love to attain a higher gain in my student achievement. I'd be smart like Donatello."

in this case was absolutely not the case. Once, I put a backpack inside of another backpack, but the first backpack was actually a pizza. Is this the same thing?

A little bit of learning is a dangerous thing, Ms. Rhee. If you're going to be smart, BE SMART. You had enough time to dig up some sexy buzzwords, but you apparently did not have sufficient time to craft a decent sentence. Thanks for making educators look even more ridiculous. Do you know anyone who runs a consulting firm? We have work to do.

Screenshot from explicit chess article

2011-03-30T07:46:00.001-05:00

In case they decide to take it down on us!

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Please tell me it's not just me

2011-03-30T07:45:00.001-05:00

Is it just me? Is it just me, or is this the most suggestive chess article ever written?

http://www.chess.com/article/view/mating-prerequisites

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Atlanta Calling

2011-03-29T23:10:00.001-05:00

Are my pithy blog posts this popular in Atlanta??

Private Prison Promises Leave Texas Towns In Trouble : NPR

2011-03-28T09:24:00.000-05:00

Private Prison Promises Leave Texas Towns In Trouble : NPR: "In Waco, McLennan County borrowed $49 million to build an 816-bed jail and charge day rates for bunk space. But today because of the convict shortage, the fortress east of town remains more than half empty. The sheriff and county judge, once champions of the new jail, now decline to comment on it."

I didn't expect NPR to empathize this strongly with private prison owners, but after listening to this story I felt like I should personally go on a convict hunt and find a few inmates to throw into the justice system.

Big Cuts at MCS

2011-03-26T15:30:00.001-05:00

Twenty percent cut to staffing at the office of superintendent. Five percent cut to salaries. This in a time when we're trying to close budget gaps and teacher benefits are potentially on the chopping block. I hope there's a good story behind this.

http://www.mcsk12.net/budget.asp

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Botox Nation

2011-03-11T07:45:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure what's worse: the fact that the daily special is about shoving chemicals in your face to eradicate nature, or the fact that THERE'S A PICTURE OF THE PROCESS IN MY EMAIL. Thanks, Livingsocial. I'll never sleep soundly again.

Point 3: it's such a popular process that they can offer substantial discounts just to get you in the door.

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Craigmont Middle Boys Soccer - Game One

2011-03-10T17:39:00.001-06:00

We played Cordova middle today on our field. Starting off the season with a home game was good for us, as we are a relatively fresh team and any advantage is welcome.

The team from Cordova Middle School, however, soon proved that advantage insufficient to gain us a victory. They're seasoned players and in amazing shape. Craigmont suffered its first loss of the season. I won't bother you with the score.

On the bright side, the boys played a good game and are totally amped to play the next one.

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Darling Bud of March

2011-03-03T09:02:00.001-06:00

Spring comes quite early in Memphis. Some of the trees along Belvedere have already bloomed, making the drive something like a slalom between large balls of popcorn. This particular little guy is on the tree near the bus lane at my school. I stand there everyday. I use this particular tree to note the changing of the seasons.

To my friends up north, I'm sorry. I'm not bragging. For your wretched weather, you have some advantages that the south does not have. Think about them as you're strapping on your parkas today.

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Attention Education Networks of America

2011-02-28T07:46:00.003-06:00

Dear ENA -

Look, I know that I can't convince you to have a sensible filtering policy. I'm beyond that now.

Could you please, at least, stick to ONE filtering policy rather than changing it up every now and then? Last week, I could access videos through Watchknow, and this week I can't. You're being unbearable.

Do you know about the video I made last night for my students? Maybe you abide by the filters you provide for educators, so you might not. Now I'm going to have to circumvent your filters so I can do what I was already going to do.

Thanks, you rock my world.

Love,
Mr. Fowles

It's heeeeeere

2011-02-26T17:03:00.001-06:00

Decided to shun Lonely Planet this a'time. I've heard good things about this one.

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Dangerous Groupthink

2011-02-24T07:35:00.003-06:00

I have been following with fear the stories of the teacher strike and attack on collective bargaining coming out of Wisconsin. Sadness stung my heart when I read about a similar attack in Ohio. Then, other states follow suit, like a row of dominoes.

It's hard to believe that this is not some very dangerous form of Groupthink. Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Ohio are all states whose governorships recently switched from Democrat to Republican.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that the Republican party is, as a whole, trying to take out collective bargaining. There are several notable examples of Republican governors who support collective bargaining and the strategy employed by Wisconsin democrats. Still, as I go through the list of governorships that went from blue to red, I'm googling collective bargaining STATE and coming up with interesting results.

And, of course, the state I currently call home.

I hope, I really hope, that the people casting votes are weighing each fact critically, because these decisions will have critical outcomes for the nation's children. One of the reasons that Memphis is able to attract good teachers is that it has a good benefits and wage package. If the union's ability to negotiate that package is denied, then teaching will become a profession that people fall into as a last resort.

Republican-led state governments are in position to strong-arm their way through the legal process, but the ramifications will be dire. It's called collective bargaining, folks, so let's bargain. Wisconsin workers are willing to make concessions, but the governor is not. I tell my students every day that they need to think critically, and I expect the same from all elected officials.

Summer Plans

2011-02-22T10:57:00.002-06:00

Day 1 - Managua, Nicaragua
Day 2 - Canopy Tour
Day 2 - Ometepec
Day 2 - Climb a volcano
Day 3 - Beach
Day 4 - Granada
Day 5 - Granada
Day 6 - Transit
Day 7 - El Rama / Transit
Day 8 - Little Corn
Day 9 - Little Corn
Day 10 - Little Corn
Day 11 - Big Corn
Day 12 - Leon
Day 13 - VOLCANO BOARDING
Day 14 - Mangua
Day 15 - USA

Tennessee Senate approves bill to delay school merger � The Commercial Appeal

2011-02-09T10:42:00.001-06:00

Tennessee Senate approves bill to delay school merger � The Commercial Appeal: "The bill also provides that when the merger goes into effect in 2013, the state's ban on new special and municipal school districts is lifted in Shelby County -- freeing advocates of new districts to ask the state legislature to create new special or municipal districts in the county."

Wait. Wait. Just wait.

I mean really, just wait. Let that sink in a minute.

According to my reading, which is not legalistic to any degree, this bill says that once the city and county merge, a county special school district can be formed.

No surprises, of course, that the vote was split clearly along party lines.

Nashville, you've just done Memphis in. But don't worry, senators, your children won't be affected.

it's coming

2011-02-09T09:03:00.001-06:00

Who says the north gets to have all the fun?

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ENA - Request Site Review

2011-02-08T11:10:00.000-06:00

ENA - Request Site Review

They blocked bit.ly, which is basically the foundation of how I distribute URLs to students.

Early dismissal

2011-02-07T12:47:00.002-06:00

So we're dismissing early today. The snow has stopped, but I imagine the roads will be somewhat treacherous.

The announcements for the past two hours have indicated a small exodus as parents have arrived to pick their children up. It's like we're in the incredibly shrinking school.

So far, the gym has not announced a closure, so I'll make good use of the extra time.

Whatever happens, no more snow days. Please. We'll be cutting into the budget for that, and I imagine they'd pull the incredibly extended day for a few weeks right before the exhibition. No me gusta stay in class until 4:30!!

We're reading Hoot, by Carl Hiaasen. It's going really well thanks to accompanying questions I found online. Still thinking of ideas for a summative project.

tuesday weather forecast for memphis

2011-01-31T09:03:00.001-06:00

Ungood

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Getting Past the ‘Digital Divide’ | Teaching Tolerance

2011-01-31T08:57:00.000-06:00

Getting Past the ‘Digital Divide’ | Teaching Tolerance

I would probably have shared this article even if I hadn't been interviewed for it, because it touches on two issues I hold close to my heart: legacy hardware and tech integration in the classroom. The fact that I'm in it is an added bonus.

The main idea is about how teachers are bridging the gap in access to technology any which way they can. I'm pretty tired about hearing of "innovation" as made evident by incorporating Ipads in the classroom for kids to play games and enter data with. It's a tired excuse for innovation: using new devices to do old things. I come by it honestly: I use old devices to do old things.

The magic, the real innovative touch, is when you are using any device, or any pedagogy, to do NEW things with new outcomes and creating new knowledge as a result. That's the goal of any educator, tech-savvy or not. Sure, digital tools make this easier, but the tools don't dictate the learning.

The article gave me some historical perspective when it talked about how a teacher was using phones "with telephone and texting functions disabled." How this is different from what I would call a PDA is beyond me. I guess nobody makes PDA's anymore, though.

In other news, my technology goal for the week is to help my students connect to the novel we're going to read by conducting some background research. Maybe throw together a Wiki. Nothing major. I feel very lucky to have the hardware to make this possible, but I'm very cautious about this project pedagogically, because I'm not sure I'm a strong enough teacher to make this a valuable experience. Any suggestions are welcome.

stolen tweets

2011-01-27T12:11:00.003-06:00

I searched Twitter for the name of a local school and got this tweet:

Fear and Loathing at First Congo

2011-01-26T07:49:00.000-06:00

Confessions of a West Tennessee Liberal...: FBI and Police Harassment at Mid-South Peace and Justice Center

I wish I had been there. Seems like people requesting information may now be considered terrorists by the Memphis Police Department and the FBI. Of course that's a gross oversimplification, and I 'd like to believe that it was all a big misunderstanding.

Still. Read the blog post for yourself.

Merge no more, the Warren plan is here

2011-01-25T08:57:00.003-06:00

Look, Jeff Warren's plan is the best thing that's not on the table right now.

Don't trust that article too much. Jane Roberts falsely states that our two options are status quo and merger. There is no status quo anymore. It's either merger, surrender, or gross disparities in school funding.

Warren's plan is different. He wants to create a unified district, not just a merged one. This unified district could offer exceptional educational opportunities for all the students in Shelby County. It would be groovy if sub-districts were formed based on student need, but I see smaller committees in that vein rather than whole systems with their own boards. If there is any sub-districting, it will have to be geographical.

The funding, however, is universal. We'll all be draining the same pot rather than the financial back and forth that currently has SCS stymied in terms of long term capital investment.

Most kids will go to their neighborhood schools, just like they already do. Both city and county students will have access to services for exceptional students. Kids will be able to flow back and forth pending acceptance into optional programs. White Station will get VERY competitive. The redundancies inherent in having two overlapping systems will be discovered and surgically removed, saving time and money.

The city schools can't be run like the county schools. No way. We have uniforms, they don't. We have way more diverse students in poverty than they do. That takes special attention. And funding. It's ok, we can do that.

Shelby County wants to plan in the long term, and they should be able to. Warren's plan will make it possible. Once we've got the sources of funding under control, we will certainly be able to solve this problem. Freezing the boundaries of the school districts won't change anything, because nothing will force the City of Memphis to abide by that agreement. Nobody would want to live in a recently annexed part of Memphis, pay city taxes (including the city school surcharge), and not be able to benefit from that taxation.

So let's get ourselves under control. This is a financial issue. Let's treat it like one and sort out our dollars and sense.

P.S. Not even going to talk about the fairness of a city-wide or county-wide vote. That stuff's crazy.

Vinyl Amazon

2011-01-11T14:42:00.001-06:00

Wow. Amazon does vinyl. http://amzn.com/w/11PPE1XH4BBAT

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Let's compare Memphis City Schools to Shelby County Schools

2011-01-07T11:46:00.006-06:00

OK folks. The TN Department of Education report card is out and, guess what, Shelby County scored much higher than Memphis City just about every metric available. The first arguments made are usually along the lines that Memphis City students and teachers are somehow qualitatively different from and inferior to Shelby County students and teachers. Not to mention their parents. We love to sling mud at the parents.

Let's look at it a bit differently. Let's think quantitatively and check some numbers. These data are from the report card.

I've marked in red two very important rows.

First, the LEP students. Limited English Proficient is another way of saying ESL, or English as Second Language. Put plainly, these are students for whom English is not the primary language in the home. This category encompasses immigrants, refugees, and students who were born in the USA to non-English speaking parents. It is not hard to see why these students would have lower average test scores: they have difficulty reading the test. Furthermore, students newly arrived in Tennessee are only exempt from testing for one year. Most studies indicate that academic fluency takes something like 7 years to develop. Go figure.

Second, the Economically Disadvantaged. Hopefully, this doesn't need much explanation. Poverty affects learning and literacy in many ways: access to books, words spoken in the home, health and healthcare, schools, violence, crime, etc.

The lesson to be learned is this: stop pointing fingers at teachers, administrators, students, parents, or really anybody. Memphis teachers, administrators, students, and parents are qualitatively identical to those in Shelby County. The quantitative differences and their consequences speak loud enough to fill our ears without the whining and carping of people who have no sense of fairness, equality, or social justice.

Lifeline of a 14 year old ESPN "prodigy"

2011-01-07T09:53:00.000-06:00

Borrowed this from Susan Polgar's blog. Great chess story.

Here is the full article.

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

Scratch Entertainment Center

2011-01-02T11:03:00.001-06:00

I wanted something to house the TV, stereo, records, and other media. No good market solutions. Those of my friends who are shop-savvy, don't look. This thing is held together mostly by gravity. But, hey, I put it together in my living room.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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This is how Memphians move papasan chairs

2010-12-30T20:08:00.001-06:00

Memphis Style!

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It's a race

2010-12-23T09:21:00.001-06:00

So Memphis City Schools is racing to surrender its charter. Shelby County might likely race to gain Special District status?

Who loses?

The students.

High value professional development

2010-12-17T10:38:00.004-06:00

Here's a screenshot from the online PD that all teachers are forced to complete:

Notice that Professor Wise doesn't say anything.

Maybe, one of these days, I won't be disappointed anymore.

#pdfail

Youtube shutdown!! Oh my!

2010-11-30T14:48:00.004-06:00

OK. I'll admit it; I was pirating Youtube at work. See, there was a trick whereby I could directly access Youtube. I used it to find instructional material and occasionally to play instrumental music for my students to work to.

That is over. ENA has apparently blocked the port through which all Youtube videos are streamed. This is good, I guess, in that it blocks Youtube for non-educational purposes, but bad in that it also blocks Watchknow, which is a huge collection of hand-sorted educational clips. This is also the site I had been using to collect all of my videos.

Now, I can either upload to Youtube from home and access via Gaggle, or I can use Watchknow if and only if the videos are hosted on Watchknow or a school-approved site. I'm just sad because Watchknow held such promise and the experts at ENA have shut it off without consulting teachers. At least not this teacher, anyway.

Copycat

2010-11-16T21:21:00.002-06:00

Today was a good day. We were learning about analogies and practicing with a web quiz.

One of my students wanted to work the IWB, so I let him up and sat down away from the front of the room. Without warning, this student started to act just like me, mimicking my every teacher mannerism. It was hilarious and...educational. The rest of the class leaned towards the content, trying desperately to engage with it and shouting their explanations out.

The students played the teacher quite well. He elicited sentences explaining the relationships between the words, and called on several different students.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwww.

edupunk

2010-11-07T19:48:00.002-06:00

If you’ve ever been to an educational technology conference, this scene from the vendors room might be familiar:

(you walk casually through the foyer)

VENDOR: Hello there! How would you like to engage your digitally native students, differentiate instruction, match state standards, assess learning in real-time, and teach modern skills for jobs that may not even exist yet?

YOU: (overcome by the long train of edtech buzz words, yet intrigued) Sure, what’ve you got?

VENDOR: Lookee here, boy, and ye shall see. (Vendor unveils a gadget that allows students to interact with a projected computer image) See! It’s the next big thing.

YOU: So, they can write on the board with it?

VENDOR: No, it’s much more than that. They can choose the color, the line type, and you can turn their gadgets on and off at will. They can also answer questions with it.

YOU: So let me get this straight. This is a cool little device that lets students interact with the board without getting up from their seats, and it also works as a response system, right? Sounds cool enough? How much?

VENDOR: Well, let me show you what else it can do, first...

The last thing that a tech vendor wants to do is mention the price (the aforementioned gadget could run as much as $1,400 per device). In the economic climate that schools today are facing, especially urban schools, such an expenditure is not possible. Yet, the tools are good and they meet a specific need. In the example above, the product achieved a certain degree of learner interactivity, which can increase motivation and help realize learning outcomes.

What’s a cash-strapped district to do, then, if it can’t afford vendor products? Keep in mind that the products on offer are often not limited to hardware, but often incorporate software, as well. When faced with a wall, you can go over it, around it, or under it. What these schools and districts need to do, though, is plow right through it. This means taking the bull by the horns and searching for innovating solutions and opportunities using existing resources and expertise, while relying very little on paid solutions and products. This approach, called edupunk allows high-need districts to leverage on the research and innovation of the product market while not relying on them for the supply.

Bear in mind that this is not a tool. It’s not an application, program, or a piece of hardware. Edupunk is a state of mind. Edupunk is to traditional educational technology what critical pedagogy is to mainstream education. It’s a disturbing force that challenged individuals to throw themselves into the sea in the attempt to smash through the status quo.

Edupunk has a goal and that is the advancement of students at all cost. This goal is central to edupunk methodology since most teachers who adopt it do so out of the necessity imposed by working in a low-resource environment. In the United States, this amounts mostly to teachers working in very rural or very urban environments, whose students will be forced to compete with more affluent children in the market for work and higher education. Teachers in these environments, then, are charged with providing opportunities for these students to excel in a compressed time frame, with few given resources, against social odds, and often in the face of staggering bureaucracy that seems to inhibit rather than promote progress.

It’s prudent at this moment to define some terms that are central to edupunk:

1. DIY - This, of course, stands for do-it-yourself--a term usually reserved for home repair. Edupunk activity has to stem from teachers themselves. This is an ontological necessity rather than a categorical one; teachers in high-resource environments enjoy access to abundant resources both in and out of the classroom, so they don’t have to struggle to achieve parity since they set the status quo. Let me be clear in that I am not disparaging teachers in affluent schools. Each child deserves the best education they can get. The sticking point is that teachers in high-poverty schools have to strive to achieve equality at a great material disadvantage, requiring intense personal investment in their site.

Since edupunk is a DIY movement, it is also site-based. Teachers can’t make effective decisions for other teachers (though suggestions are great), so each teacher must create their own response to the opportunity that is their class. Teachers can either throw their hands in the air and chalk it up to the environment, or they can face reality and work tirelessly to improve it.

2. Anti-establishment - It is too often true that teachers who keep the students’ best interests at heart are labeled disruptive or uncooperative while in the pursuit of excellence. There are many tinfoil hat conspiracy theories that can address this, but it’s not worth going into here. It’s enough to say that what’s best for the student trumps what’s best for the principal, the superintendent, or the board of education. Technology can usually slip under the radar, but there can be friction. Installing Linux on a heap of supposedly dead computers can rub against those who would, say, rather see the school filled with shiny, new Windows workstation.

To be clear, even though edupunk has been framed as a technological movement, it isn’t necessarily so. A teacher who can craft transcendent educational experiences out of a whiteboard and a few markers in full defiance of the test-prep curriculum deserves no less respect than the teacher who brings the world into the classroom using an internet-connected computer and projector. Just imagine equipping that first teacher with the tools of the second teacher, though, and the value of edupunk becomes clear: give teachers what they need to completely rock the students’ worlds.

3. Punk - This connects nicely with the previous point. Just like punk music flew in the face of then-established norms (which can be said of many successful artistic movements), edupunk seeks to upend traditional pedagogy in a modern way. Edupunk naturally reacts against commercialism, but I wouldn’t call it anti-capitalist. That territory is held firmly by critical pedagogy. Rather, edupunk works within the given system and the given restraints for the benefit of the students. Low-resource areas can not, by definition, be heavy consumers of commercial educational technology. The money simply isn’t there.

4. Edu - As much fun as it is to slap edu in front of a word and make a new paradigm, the educational component of edupunk deserves some attention. Since edupunk makes use of new technologies, it is able to achieve drastic results. Students in low-resource areas are a wildly diverse bunch, but the average performance--on any metric--falls significantly below students in more affluent areas. Teachers need ways to reach students on an individual level with an economy of time and space. Since it is ineffective for the teacher to push the content down to the students, who reside at different levels, students need to learn to pull the content down to themselves...hopefully elevating themselves a bit in the process. Edupunk learning is student-centered and hyperpersonalized. Since student-teacher communication is not limited to the handwritten in an edupunk classroom, the students have the ability to bring together several media to express themselves and their understanding. This ought not undermine textual reading in any way, of course, but instead it should support and enhance it.

If you want to grasp a theoretical framework for edupunk, think Paulo Freire meets Che Guevara meets Linus Torvalds. Paulo Freire was a Brazilian educator who fought for a new system of education in which learning was relevant for the learner and liberated them from the oppression they faced on a daily basis. Che Guevara, the most popular name on the list, was an Argentinian freedom fighter who, as we all know, fought to instigate and support the revolution in Cuba using guerrilla tactics (on which he wrote a book). Linus Torvalds is a Finnish man who created and maintains the Linux kernel. So, a Brazilian educator, an Argentinian revolutionary, and a Finnish computer programmer walk into a bar...

And out walks edupunk philosophy. First, it draws from Freire by resisting the corporate hegemony in educational products and processes. Freire’s pedagogy involved direct, meaningful contact between the teachers and the students in a reformed school environment. Of course, it’d be nice to revamp the school environments in the areas of the world most stricken by poverty, but this is not always possible. Teachers can, however, choose to allow or not allow a corporate influence to permeate their classroom.

Che Guevara gave us three simple guidelines for effecting change:
1. Popular forces can win a war against the army.
2. It is not necessary to wait until all conditions for making revolution exist; the insurrection can create them.
3. In underdeveloped America the countryside is the basic area for armed fighting.
(http://www3.uakron.edu/worldciv/pascher/che.html)

We can rewrite these for educational purposes:
1. Teachers can prevail against outside influence.
2. It is not necessary to purchase expensive solutions to impact student achievement; teachers can create their own solutions.
3. This one is specific to the economic and educational conditions in the United States Real, persistent, and meaningful change will come out of America’s poor areas. This is true because necessity breeds innovation, and only innovation can break through the status quo. All of America’s schools are driven by AYP, and we are therefore falling behind internationally. The remedy for this will be found only where the need for it is greatest.

Linus Torvalds is the man who started the greatest computer revolution in the world, and he did it rather unintentionally. What started out as a pet project has grown into the system that powers the Internet. The real power behind Linux, however, is not Torvalds himself. Rather, it is the power of the open source community that has worked together for years to craft something really beautiful: a fully-functional, constantly-updated, and free operating system.

Throw these three together and you’ll get something like this:

Let’s move on to how this might actually apply in the classroom.

1. Course Management. Jim Groom’s first post about edupunk was actually a reaction to Blackboard, a popular commercial course management system. The backstory is that he and some other professors shifted their work from Blackboard to a simple Wordpress blog. Though the solution was not as immediately graceful as Blackboard, it afforded the teachers a great deal more control and was free.

2. Hardware. As satirically demonstrated in the introduction to this article, there is not shortage of educational gadgets and devices being pushed on teachers. Chciago Public Schools is even launching an iPad initiative. While these devices are great, the realities faced by urban schools often preclude adoption of these devices. Teachers, then, must work with what they have. Whether it’s a wiimote whiteboard or a webcam document camera, edupunk teachers make maximum use of their resources to teach their students. Even though edupunk is not specifically about technology, technology does play a large role in creating opportunities for learning.

3. Teacher-made materials. Whatever the medium of delivery, teachers need to have powerful tools to create engaging, interactive learning materials for their students. While textbooks and content providers often provide activities to this purpose, it behooves all teachers to create them on their own. This gives the teacher more control over the curriculum and more flexibility in serving the needs of the student body.

4. Applications that open up the world. The internet, from its onset, has been about connecting people. Students in low-resource areas are often geographically isolated not only from the rest of the world, but also from the areas of the city outside of their own neighborhood. Modern technology offers teachers a way of opening that door for students for no cost. Something as simple an an e-mail exchange can give students a perspective about the world that they never had before. Electronic exchanges enhanced by multimedia are even more effective in this purpose.

Modern technologies also give students the chance to experience their own environments from a different point of view. News articles, videos, and audio samples from their own world allows students, in Freire’s words, to read the world before they read the word. Commercially distributed educational products are sanitized and filtered through the moral values of the publisher, who can not possibly know the intricacies of the realities faced by students in the world’s poorest places. Since most educational products these days focus on exam preparation and readymade chunks of knowledge rather than in-depth analysis and evaluation, teachers need to use modern technology--in whatever way they can--to bring students to a greater realization of themselves and their place in their environment. Contextualizing classroom learning in the students’ own lived experience makes possible moments of true, binding literacy rather than shallow, rote regurgitation.

Google Streetview is a great example of this phenomenon. In the city of Memphis, where many students have not seen the Mississippi River, Google Streetview gives students the chance to explore the place that gave their city its name. Comparing Memphis, Egypt with Memphis, Tennessee, though not necessarily an innovative idea on its own, could open the doors for a deeper analysis of the students’ home in light of of their recently acquired knowledge. Students would have read the world, using Google Streetview, before they read the word, being whatever materials they find while researching or studying the conditions of their home.

Connections

Edupunk is connected to other modern motifs, namely Maker Culture and self-education. Maker Culture is a movement of driven individuals who see the world not for what it is, but what they can do with it. While most of us would look at pipes and motors and see excess construction materials, makers look at those same products and see wind turbines.

This is not to say that anybody reading this needs to go out and buy a soldering iron, but it does give an idea of the proper mindset of the edupunk educator. Much like Che’s guerillas took what they found in the environment and appropriated whatever they could, teachers need to be able to think the same way about any possible educational materials. Computers are a good example. In order to make use of the vast wealth of information available on the internet, a teacher clearly needs an internet-connected computer. Seeing as educational budgets are tight the country over, this charges teachers with maintaining and possibly acquiring their own educational equipment. Computers For Learning is a great method of doing that. It matches excess hardware with schools, but there’s a catch. While the hardware is free, the laptops usually don’t have hard drives because they’ve been removed for security purposes. This means that teachers who wish to make use of this most awesome resource are going to need to know how to a) install a laptop hard drive and b) install an operating system.

Self-education has been popular lately, thanks to Bill Gates. The main push for self-education, in my opinion, came with MIT’s Open Courseware project in 2002. Teachers published their syllabi, reading selections, powerpoint slides, and other instructional materials in an effort to spread their knowledge around the world. The Open Courseware Consortium has collected and aggregated as much open courseware as possible and has indexed it to make it searchable. Give it a try. You just might learn something.

Closing up

As much as I’ve tried here to encapsulate the various ideas behind the shifting notion of edupunk, you’ll find that the idea will shift again within a small frame of time. Even though there have been several attempts to pin it down, there’s no definite answer.

If nothing else, edupunk can drive teachers to seek out solutions where they previously saw none. There’s an all-too-common problem: a teacher walks into a classroom and meets a large number of students who have trouble reading. Worse than that, they’ve become so accustomed to information in small chunks that they have problems digesting large, complex issues. Standardized tests be hanged, these children need to become literate--whatever that word means to you. Whether you wait for a packaged curriculum to come down the conveyor belt or craft something magical in your classroom--no matter the cost--can be the life or death of those kids. Edupunk is just a group of ideas to help you get there.

Post Results Blues

2010-11-04T09:03:00.003-05:00

I can't begin to adequately describe my disappointment with my city, my state, and my country.

Memphis

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/nov/02/consolidation-memphis-shelby-voters-weighing-merge/?partner=popular

Perhaps my wrath is here more directed at the suburbs, but the city should have stepped up to the plate and voted for consolidation in greater numbers. We have two concurrent and redundant systems that fight each other rather than support each other. The suburbs have to realize that they depend on the city for survival and consolidation is the only current solution to make that happen. Was the only current solution.

Tennessee

http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/politics/local_politics/110110-republican-wins-could-mean-changes-for-shelby-county-schools

Tennessee Republicans are apparently mulling over a bill that would allow "special" school districts (and not special in the euphemistic way often attributed to education). This special school district would prevent consolidation forever. Like I posted on that article, I wish the suburbanites would notice that their continued success, wealth, and excess depend on the city of Memphis and its inhabitants. If you're not going to give the parents a chance at success, at least give the kids a break.

The United States

No link necessary. Just check out CNN.

Politics is theatre. Theatre is politics. Politics is a bloodsport.

The discourse focused around who would be "in power." Notice, at no point did any pundit claim that power would rest in the hands of the American people, but only the Democratic or Republican party. How anyone could hear this, or say this, without instantly vomiting is beyond me. The current Republican insistence that it's either their way or nothing until 2012, while still attacking the President for not reaching across party lines, makes me wretch.

We're so afraid of critical thinking in this country that all we can do is think enough to join an ideological gang and roll along with it. Government of the people, not of the parties, y'all.

Something rotten in the comment section of the Commercial Appeal

2010-10-31T16:47:00.007-05:00

Quick introduction: The newspaper serving the Memphis area is the Commercial Appeal. It's a Scripps paper. The newspaper often carries stories about the local school district, Memphis City Schools (by whom I am employed). Many of these stories are written by Jane Roberts.

Some of the articles are quite cute, like our recent ketchup scare or how Mr. Falvey (a super-awesome guy) won a teaching award.

Other articles tackle bigger issues, like our embattled school board, a change in grading policy, and missing textbooks.

If you have a peek at the comment section of the more challenging articles, you'll see that a few people post repeatedly within the first two hours (midnight until 2 a.m.). It's a positivity blitzkrieg, with nothing but kind words to say about the school board and the superintendent. Now, I've got nothing wrong with positivity, but this seemed to me a little awkward so I did a bit of research. I read through many of the comment sections and identified people who I (and a significant number of other posters) thought to be representatives of one person or just one person making comments with multiple accounts.

Here's that list:

Another clue that some of these posters are the same people is the continued use of "Jeffry Hernandez" to refer to Jeffrey Hernandez. The Google Cache links will have Jeffry Hernandez in yellow. For the Commercial Appeal article, you can just hit Control-F on your keyboard, then type "Jeffry" without the quotes.

PallasAthena: From the Google Cache
beautyisourjob: From the Google Cache
lyons: From the Google Cache
Nadine: From the Commercial Appeal

Here's the google search that yielded this information.

So the only question left to ask is Why? Why would someone post under at least four names in order to attack critics of the school board? Why would someone flood the comments section of a newspaper? Why would someone intentionally misspell an administrators name?

The answers, I believe, fall under two categories: search engine optimization and site control. Search engine optimization aims to trick Google into thinking things by associating words with each other. This is traditionally done with linking in blogs, but I don't suppose commenting without linking is impossible.

Site control is somewhat more sinister. While there is nothing wrong with early-morning posting, it is pretty clear to me that this is done in order to fill the first 50 comments early so most readers' comments would be displaced to page 2 or 3, thereby severely decreasing their visibility.

allAfrica.com: South Africa: Play Chess, Says Zuma

2010-10-25T11:22:00.000-05:00

allAfrica.com: South Africa: Play Chess, Says Zuma: "'We want to convince parents and teachers that chess is one of the most powerful educational tools available to strengthen and enhance a child's mind,' said President Zuma at the gala dinner of Moves for Life Chess Programme on Sunday."

From Susan Polgar's blog, this story is great. President Zuma juxtaposes chess and video games, with chess winning out in the end.

Beat me to it

2010-10-23T12:16:00.000-05:00

OMG. My girlfriend and I had an idea to make a video kind of like this one, but it would have been an interview where a candidate dropped random buzz words in an effort to overwhelm the administration. Differentiation, collaborative, word wall, strategy.

Via Larry Ferlazzo.

How to change nothing

2010-10-21T09:09:00.002-05:00

So, I'm supposed to be taking a class called School Change and the Internet. It was supposed to start yesterday and last eight weeks, one of those condensed classes that are heavenly for people like me. The course is part of a 4-class sequence leading to a K-12 technology certificate that should theoretically allow me to work in a professional educational technology capacity (or at least look cool on my CV).

I logged onto the university's e-learning system yesterday morning and saw that the course shell was available. I clicked on it. It was perfectly empty. Not a word was written, not one assignment entered, not one discussion started. Nothing.

The professor for the course was not listed on the university's website, so I figured he or she was some faceless adjunct with nothing on the line. I, however, have schedule my degree quite precisely and I can't afford for a class to be cancelled because someone got lazy. I e-mailed a friend of mine in the department who forwarded my concern to the director.

Twenty-four hours later. The shell remains empty. Like my heart.

This is fascinating because while K-12 teachers across the country are called worthless, useless, and lazy for not being able to make proficient readers out of urban youth, university professors can spontaneously decide to not show up for work and very little if anything is done.

REBEL post

2010-10-17T12:15:00.002-05:00

This post is in response to REBEL day, as posted here: http://edupln.ning.com/forum/topics/rebel-reforms-from-educational

I read a lot of the "edublogs" out there and I find two strong undercurrents: malaise and blame. There is not often a general direction to the ill feelings; they are just posited and left to drift through fiberoptic cables. Complaining about a movie, complaining about Rhee, complaining about websites being blocked, complaining about other teachers not using e-mail...it goes on.

There's always a "we have to" moment. I've noticed these moments at conferences as well. "We have to change." "We have to reconsider." "We have to think about." "We have to have discussions about." Never, not never, have I heard, "I have" followed by anything more than references to blogging and Twitter posts.

Reform will start in a classroom. It already has. That classroom will not be in a charter school, because charter schools unfortunately do not capture all of the variables present in distressed areas. Teachers are out there every day working hard to impart valuable knowledge and wisdom to young minds, with or without blogs, wikis, and podcasts. Reform will begin with a critical love ushered in with strict determination and strong will.

"We" have plenty of theory to throw around. Not until that theory is turned to praxis will anything valuable happen. Stop blogging about teaching. Stop making metaphors. Start teaching. Then, blog about your individual successes and the successes of other teachers at your school. Form collectives with them to serve your communities with great efficiency. Then, we'll talk. We'll all talk.

How to whine and ignore the elephant: A manifesto by education leaders

2010-10-09T07:34:00.001-05:00

How to fix our schools: A manifesto by Joel Klein, Michelle Rhee and other education leaders: "If all of our neighborhood schools were great, we wouldn't be facing this crisis."

Thanks for the genius insight there, guys. Really couldn't have done it without you.

The above quote is in reference to charter schools. Basically, they're saying that if every school were a charter school, we'd all be fine. Here's the paragraph it came from:

We also must make charter schools a truly viable option. If all of our neighborhood schools were great, we wouldn't be facing this crisis. But our children need great schools now -- whether district-run public schools or public charter schools serving all students -- and we shouldn't limit the numbers of one form at the expense of the other. Excellence must be our only criteria for evaluating our schools.

Here's what I find interesting: this manifesto was written by superintendents, who tend to not have a say in the operations of charter schools. The proliferation of charter schools, then, takes students off of these people's hands, which might be a good thing. There are two basic differences between charter and regular public schools. First, charter schools have more levity in hiring and labor practice. Second, charter schools CAN SELECT THEIR STUDENTS! Imagine two hospitals, one private and one public. The private hospital (which in our example receives public funds) can turn patients away who aren't healthy enough or whose conditions worsen while under their care. The private hospital is bound to have better data, yes?

It's the same with charters. They have sexy data, but it is based on non-public practices. Yearning for charters sexiness with public school reality is just a pipe dream, supes.

This article has a good answer to the manifesto. Better than mine, anyway.

National Chess Day!

2010-10-05T09:34:00.000-05:00

The United States Chess Federation - National Chess Day on October 9th: It's Official!

I didn't expect to make two chess-related posts in a row, but this is great news. Lamar Alexander, a senator from Tennessee, supported this motion. While National Chess Day has been around in theory since 1976, only now is it a nationally recognized day.

My chess club grew last week from 6 to 11 students, and more are supposedly on the way. Chess is a really powerful tool for all children. It teaches patience, diligence, attention to detail, and--quite importantly--responsibility.

When I say that chess teaches responsibility, I mean that in a game of chess there are no outside influences on your game. The entire world resides in 64 squares and 32 chessmen. Victory and defeat are wholly personal entities, not attributable to someone looking at you funny or saying anything to you.

Marostica Scacchi: Performances

2010-10-03T12:32:00.000-05:00

Marostica Scacchi: Performances: "Also this year on the great marble Chess-board in the Castle Square is represented the famous
CHESS GAME WITH LIVING PERSONS, EDITION 2010."

September 8, 2012, anyone?

Gloomy Saturday

2010-09-25T08:51:00.004-05:00

You know, I wanted to write something smart about the Pledge to America. I wanted to comment on its use of divisive language, its use of propaganda devices, or the general impracticability of it all. I wanted to comment on how it ignores poor America, marginalized people, and global responsibility.

Rather, I'll just post this picture.

Mr. Obama Your Not My Daddy.

Of course this is not a definitive statement. It's just a simple misspelling...a very simple one. It doesn't prove a thing. Still, it makes me smile.

About.me / afowles

2010-09-22T12:22:00.000-05:00

About.me / afowles

About.me is a new service that allows you to consolidate. It's something like the profile of all profiles, that promises to pull everything from multiple sources into one place to give everyone in the world the chance to learn about you. It seems a bit solipsistic, if you ask me, but that fits my bill fine. As I grow my edtech empire, maybe this could become something like a virtual calling card. Or, if nothing else, just another place on the web for my name to sit.

New Class Wiki

2010-09-20T22:29:00.001-05:00

I've started a class wiki with all of my "courseware" on it. Some funny videos. Hopefully more to come. Check it out.

Upcoming Presentations

2010-09-15T21:09:00.004-05:00

So I'm giving a few edtech talks here in the next few months. I've got one short one, and two longer ones. The shorter one can be summed up in this video:

The second two are going to be a bit longer. These are my topics:

1. Vendor-neutral IWB activities
2. Teacher-made interactives

I want to focus on technologies that give teachers more freedom in their classroom and provide students with some really deep and meaningful learning experiences. Any suggestions would be welcome?

Learning a Language Adds Value to Travel

2010-08-31T15:51:00.000-05:00

Learning a Language Adds Value to Travel - NYTimes.com: "pay attention in your foreign language classes"

Great article I just wanted to share quickly. Reminds me of my first week in Poland.

I was in class and I had to sneeze. After having done so, I asked my students what you say in Polish after someone sneezes. Wojtek said, "Oh, it's smacznego." I was very thankful for this advice and I took it home with me.

At home that evening, my roommate at the time sneezed and I said Smacznego!!! with as much gusto as possible. She looked at me, puzzled. "What's the matter," I asked.

"Smacznego means 'good appetite' or 'bon appetit'," she answered. It's all the funnier because English has no good phrase for this expression.

New year efforts

2010-08-29T18:15:00.002-05:00

I've got a few new efforts this year that I'm going to really stress.

The chess club: I don't want this to be like my other chess club, which fizzled as soon as sports amped up. I've got good kids and I'm going to train them as best I can
Methodical vocabulary acquisition: Kids need words and I'm going to do my best to make sure they get them. We've spent the past weeks focusing hard on parts of speech in order to facilitate them recording new words in notebooks. The notebooks themselves need some work: right now I'm just using some sheets of paper stapled together.
Intensive reading: I've got a literacy block, so there's plenty of time. I need to instill a drive to read, which involves setting purposes and finding the right material. Textbook material usually doesn't fit the bill.
Screencasts and other videos: Kids can get a lot from short videos, and using Etoys during the screencast allows me to create some sticky learning experiences. I haven't yet used my video camera in class, but it's coming. Yes, it is.
Cornell Notes: middle schoolers are not good note-takers, but at least I can give them the foundation for later in their academic careers.

I'm definitely not teaching the same year over and over. Also, I'm set to take the middle school content knowledge exam in November and the reading exam in January or so. "Regular" classroom, here I come!

Into it one week

2010-08-14T16:59:00.003-05:00

One week of the new school year down and I'm feeling rather optimistic, though it wasn't always so.

Working the transportation table at registration was quite depressing. It was my job, essentially, to tell parents whether or now their student could ride the bus to school. Their is a zone, contained within a 2.6 mile radius from the school, in which the district will not provide transportation. This is called the parent responsibility zone. Now, if you live in Memphis, and are familiar with the northern part of the city, you know that you wouldn't want a sixth-grader walking 2.6 miles, especially in the heat we've been having.

Still, the district can't give every child a ride to school, so the line was drawn. I met parents who lived 2.2 miles away whom I had to turn away. I was met with choice words from some, sadness from others, and quiet resignation from the balance. One parent even said, "Well, I guess my child won't be going to school, then, because I can't take him." It'd be easy to cut that statement apart and look at its constituent elements, but it would just yield sadness and depression, so I'll leave it alone.

In the hallways, things are looking good. The students are bright and eager, the teachers are positive, and everything is in harmony. With such an auspicious beginning, I hope to have smooth sailing...at least until Halloween or so.

My classes are very nice. Unlike last year, where I taught ESL Language Arts and Social Studies, this year I'm taking on ESL Language Arts and Reading, and I have my kids for two classes back-to-back--a literacy block. I'll be able to focus intensely on reading and writing, areas in which long-term ESL students tend to falter.

Most of my students are long-term ESL students, though my goal is to make this their last year in ESL. Seriously, they've been in ESL since kindergarten. It's not language interference that's causing their problems but lack of proper literacy development. Whether or not I can craft activities to build that up for them in the course of one semester (the ESL test is in February) I do not know, but without the burden of teaching Social Studies it ought to be a great deal easier. The kids were initially hesitant (there is a HUGE stigma against ESL students who are verbally fluent), but I think I've won them over by showing them where they need to improve and giving them two good initial days of instruction and assessment. I was working registration Mon-Wed.

We got really crazy with "types of words" also know as parts of speech. I'm going to take a very lexical tack in my classes this year, so I wanted to construct these ideas from the ground up. We had a wild overview of types of words that helped us answer our big question of What is a word? in great detail. After that, of course, comes What is a sentence? followed by What is a paragraph? followed by What is a text?. Am I allowed to double up punctuation like that?

Chess club was a let down. No kids showed up. I need to market. Any ideas on how to market a chess club to an inner city middle school? Maybe show some videos? The assistant and resident principals both play, so I was thinking of setting up a mini-tournament in the lunchroom one day.

Here's to another school year!

The Dark Side of Ed Reform

2010-08-11T05:38:00.000-05:00

The Answer Sheet - The truth behind the get-tough success stories in school reform: "However, I think the problem is less that the “nice” teachers haven’t shared their stories of effective, respectful work environments. I think the bigger problem is that the public has been deprived of the full story where the bullies are concerned."

Fantastic article here. I like how it does the impossible, criticizes Michelle Rhee. I'm quite sick of the treatment she receives simply because she's making large cuts. Rattling off a dozen buzzwords does not necessarily make for good leadership, but since Ms. Rhee came around I've heard nothing but the same dozen words and phrases over, and over, and over again.

The DC schools' minority students lost ground last year (http://www.nclb.osse.dc.gov/reportcards.asp). Look at the "All Schools" report and compare the Proficient and Advanced scores from 2009-2010. Large drops in Proficient status, small gains in Advanced status.

If you’ve ever tried to give a URL (web address)...

2010-08-09T22:10:00.000-05:00

If you’ve ever tried to give a URL (web address)...

This is a post from over at #edtechessentials that I think is worth sharing. It's about being able to say "go 301" to your students and them going directly to the web site you want.

Official Google Blog: Update on Google Wave

2010-08-04T19:31:00.000-05:00

Official Google Blog: Update on Google Wave

Wave no more! This is a pity, especially since it really only did release last May, when the school year was winding down. I bet lots of ed techies were planning on incorporating Wave into their work this year.

I found the biggest hassle of wave was trying to decide when I should send an e-mail and when I should send a wave. Start a Google Doc or start a Wave. In the end, those other products won out because there simply weren't enough Wave users to make it practical. Still, I wish they would have given it a few more months!

The winner is!!!!!!

2010-07-31T14:34:00.000-05:00

And the worst quote in Obama's history goes to..............this one.

"So, no, I don’t support all charter schools, but I do support good charter schools."
Remarks by the President on Education Reform at the National Urban League Centennial Conference | The White House

So, no, I don't support all dictators, but I do support good dictators.

So, no, I don't support all gangs, but I do support good gangs.

So, no, I don't support all drugs, but I do support good drugs.

So, no, I don't support all murderers, but I do support good murderers.

It just goes on and on.

Prez. Obama - please get a grip on education. The Mastery School you talked about in your address, the one with drastic gains, has a process of selective admission. Of course they are going to get good scores. If a hospital only admits healthy patients, that hospital is going to have a larger success rate than a hospital that admits all patients. The comparison is wholly disingenuous. For shizzle. The Mastery enrollment packet allows the school to deny admission to kids who have been suspended or expelled in their previous schools.

Secondly, pick your examples carefully. The Pickett School is run by the Mastery School. Also, here's a quote from Mastery's enrollment flyer:

Information sessions are held for parents and prospective students that provide
the opportunity for you to learn about Mastery's college pareparatory (sic)
currciulum (sic) and high standards for all students.

COUNT THE SICs. NOT ONE BUT TWO! ONE SENTENCE! RIGHT THERE NEXT TO EACH OTHER! HIGH STANDARDS FOR PROOFREADERS!! BOOTY!

Chess is my life!!

2010-07-26T09:12:00.002-05:00

This absolutely rekindled my desire to bring chess into schools. I was sitting at the chess park in Chicago (on the lake at North Ave), too sheepish to play a game, when this man walked up to the tables and shouted, "Chess is my life!"

He knew everybody at the pavilion--by name--and greeted them. The suit, he explained, was a remnant of his going to church that day to ask forgiveness for what he was going to do to folks at the pavilion. This man, whose name I stupidly forgot to ask, brought the pavilion to life and made me remember that chess is a great equalizing force. I looked around at all the folks in the pavilion, all different races and ages, and was forced to smile at what I saw.

I knew I wanted to get a video of this guy, so I offered to play him a game. I expected nothing short of a crushing defeat, which would have cost me a dollar. We drew! I had to take one move back, though, shortly after I'd made it...and I think he was taking it easy.

If you're reading this and you're a chess player with a video camera, please record a video of yourself saying "Chess is my life!" and upload it to youtube, tagging it with chessismylife. Tell your friends and have them tell their friends. Anybody, then, who's trying to start a chess club in an area with kids who think that chess isn't popular at all, or that nobody plays it, can just search for that tag and start playing videos. This could be a powerful message to bring chess back into our cities and schools.

Chess is my life!

CNN - Best Places to Live

2010-07-14T08:39:00.002-05:00

It's a bit sad to see my city on several lists, but not the "best of" list. These places are pretty cool. I do call foul, though. Naperville, IL is included, but not Bloomington-Normal? Seriously? I'm not saying that Bloomington-Normal is the greatest place in the world, but it totally rocks Naperville.

NOOKstudy, eTextbook Reader, Textbook Application - Barnes & Noble - Barnes�&�Noble

2010-07-13T14:15:00.000-05:00

NOOKstudy, eTextbook Reader, Textbook Application

No, no they didn't. A NOOK study application! Full color! Half a million free eBooks!!

This may have just tipped the scales in favor of the nook as far as Mr. Fowles is concerned.

My main interest in ereaders is their potential for use in education. If these virtual textbooks are nearly as usable as real textbooks, it might be a viable alternative. What you lose in the ability to flip back and forth easily you gain in portability, searchability, and price.

I wonder what textbooks will actually be available.

From a teacher in Memphis

From a bathroom

Online schools not living up to their own hype

The McEducation of the Negro

middle school / high school collaboration

from discovery education

Brownsville Protects Chess Legacy at Its Schools - NYTimes.com

Surge in Free School Lunches Reflects Economic Crisis - NYTimes.com

just overheard

edupunk revisited

MP3 SKULL FOR THE WIN

Merger of Memphis and County School Districts Revives Challenges - NYTimes.com

Joys of a flannel shirt

beautiful trees at craigmont

Geosense

another reason to hate edtech

Now what's the real problem in Memphis?

Minor Differences

which one doesn't belong

Travel sucks

Chuck D from Public Enemy and Adisa Banjoko Hit The 64 Squares!

check this stock chart madness

The difference between legislative and de facto segregation

Grants for Teachers

Live updates: Memphis City Schools, City Council meet to discuss budget � The Commercial Appeal

Ex-Washington, D.C., schools chief Michelle Rhee gives take on education � The Commercial Appeal

Conflageration

VI IV 2011 pour une soci�t�plus juste？ 更公義的社會？ | un asiatique et son charabia 一亞裔的胡說八道an Asian Guy's rigmarole

MOA

Friday

Education Week Teacher: National Teacher of the Year Sees 'Abilities, Not Disabilities'

FIN

Drinking Blood

Second Journey to Biore Land

No Video Here

Identify this creature, please

MCS board sets retreat � The Commercial Appeal

Budget Deal Fuels School Voucher Revival - NYTimes.com

Coming up Short

The Default Major - Skating Through B-School - NYTimes.com

Harbingers of Harbert Ave.

Microsoft innovation

No Deal Overnight on Federal Budget as Abortion Remains Sticking Point - NYTimes.com

Cathie Black Is Out as New York City Schools Chancellor - NYTimes.com

How to fix America's worst schools - CSMonitor.com

Art

D.C. School Reform Under Suspicion After Allegations of Inflated Test Scores - FoxNews.com

Screenshot from explicit chess article

Please tell me it's not just me

Atlanta Calling

Private Prison Promises Leave Texas Towns In Trouble : NPR

Big Cuts at MCS

Botox Nation

Craigmont Middle Boys Soccer - Game One

Darling Bud of March

Attention Education Networks of America

It's heeeeeere

Dangerous Groupthink

Summer Plans

Tennessee Senate approves bill to delay school merger � The Commercial Appeal

it's coming

ENA - Request Site Review

Early dismissal

tuesday weather forecast for memphis

Getting Past the ‘Digital Divide’ | Teaching Tolerance

stolen tweets

Fear and Loathing at First Congo

Merge no more, the Warren plan is here

Vinyl Amazon

Let's compare Memphis City Schools to Shelby County Schools

Lifeline of a 14 year old ESPN "prodigy"

Scratch Entertainment Center

This is how Memphians move papasan chairs

It's a race

High value professional development

Youtube shutdown!! Oh my!

Copycat

edupunk

Post Results Blues

Something rotten in the comment section of the Commercial Appeal

VI IV 2011 pour une soci�t�plus juste？更公義的社會？ | un asiatique et son charabia 一亞裔的胡說八道an Asian Guy's rigmarole