Bus Drivers: Our Best Defense Against Terrorism?

Our country's Homeland Security Department has a brand new strategy that keep terrorists from trashing our turf. You know our bus drivers: those surly men and women who arrive a your door to drag you kids to school? They are going to be apart of a watchdog team that's gunna keep a sharp eye out for terrorists.

CNN.com says that a program called School Bus Watch wants use 600,000 drivers across the country to be "an army of observers." If the drivers see any suspicious activity, they must get their passengers to safety and then contact their dispatcher or 911 immediately.

I suppose that this is a good idea. Perhaps these bus drivers are the key to defeating Al-Quaeda once and for all. I part of me isn't entirely sure. If you were a school bus driver-a person who spends most of each week driving loud, annoying kids to and from school, would you even feel like going on "Al-Quaeda patrol"? I just hope that, while going on terrorist hunts, America's bus drivers will also try to stop crashing so !@#$@#$ much. Did you her about the crash in Waldorf, Maryland? Or the Pittsburgh school bus company that was raided by police? And don't forget about what happened to that poor little 4-year-old boy from Chilton, Wis. Of course, some efforts are being made to prevent these accidents from happening, I don't want anymore people-especially children-get hurt. All I'm saying is be careful, bus drivers (all that goes for the rest of you drivers, too!).

Tell me what you think of the DHS's plan. Or better yet, tell them.

Want to read a video report on the article? Be my guest, dude.

Moon Man reveals teachers blogs

Teachers Magazine has three teachers blogs that you might be interested in. I took the liberty to give you a slice of what to expect (in italics) under each link. Have fun. And let me know what you think of them.

It would be most wise to check out:

Certifiable?

Alfie Kohn is mad about tests. And I don�t mean he likes them.

This Saturday at the 2006 Language and Learning Conference at George Mason University sponsored by the Northern Virginia Writing Project, I had the guilty pleasure of hearing the iconoclastic progressive firebrand assault the paradigm under which all of us who teach today in public schools or who buy into any notion of �accountability� (read pols and the public) are complicit. Equal parts Woody Allen, Clarence Darrow, and John Dewey, Kohn waxed eloquent and often hilarious for four hours without notes or powerpoint on the evil effects of a system that valorizes standardized tests, grades and what he called �verbal doggy biscuits� (ever scribble �Good job!� in the margin of a kid�s paper?) above actual learning.


Ready or Not

When my World Civilizations students came in second period, they saw the basket of shells and wanted to know about them. Since they were tenth graders, I asked if they could remember the imagery of sonnets from ninth grade English. They could, and seemed to like the idea of comparing Juliet to the seashell. They asked if they could have a shell, too. Since they were having a test, I offered each one shell to hold as a �good luck charm�. Every student took one. And said thank you.

Another teacher asked me later what I was doing with seashells. She�d heard students talking about it. So I think it was a good lesson. If students are talking about a class, they are thinking.


Blogboard

New york-based teacher writingsam is forced to ponder the changing mores of students when, during a small-group writing workshop, one of her 4th graders nonchalantly asks her, �Are you a virgin?�

And the craziest part about it, was that the three students [in the workshop] didn't even respond, didn't even look up from their work, just continued on with correcting the paragraphs I had edited. It was almost as if asking your teacher if she's a virgin is equivalent to asking your teacher if she has a pencil.

As one of my coworkers always says, I wish my kids still had cooties. Instead, they're going to a school-hosted seminar with their parents about HIV/AIDS, nonchalantly asking their teachers if they're virgins, and bringing condoms to school. In the fourth grade.

Edweek Magazine brings more news about NCLB

I recently recieved a "NCLB Alert" newsletter from edweek.org, the Education Week magazine website.

The alert includes a "tracker" that features stories about NCLB. I would show all you fine people more of them, but the website only allows two articles per week.

Here ya' go:

�No Child� Effect on English-Learners Mulled
Educators who specialize in teaching English-language learners agree that the 4-year-old No Child Left Behind Act has brought unprecedented attention to those students by requiring schools to isolate test-score data for them. They disagree, though, on whether changes in instruction spurred by the law have been positive or negative overall.

�Adjunct Teachers� Could Do End Run Around NCLB Act
A White House proposal to bring math, science, and engineering professionals into public high schools to teach those subjects could bypass the �highly qualified� teacher mandate under the No Child Left Behind Act, while only temporarily easing the shortfall of mathematics and science teachers, education observers say.

More articles will be avalible next week!

One more CNN.com Article

I hit the Jackpot with CNN this week. Check out this video report on students being paid to show up at school. Are you kidding me? Disipline is fading, people. It's fading awaaaaaay.

Here are the details from CNN.com:

A Massachusetts school has a plan for getting perfect attendance. They're buying it. But what do students think of a plan that pays them to show up? CNN correspondent Dan Lothian answers that question in his report and discloses what other school systems are doing to battle absenteeism.

Dozens of Teachers Quit Because of Cheating

It's sad. It's so very sad. And stupid. Adults are always whining about how kids today are crazier than they were back in the day. Then, they do something insane, like slapping a teacher from their kid's school. Now (thanks to CNN.com once again) I found out that 32 Florida teachers have either resigned or have been canned because of some cheating scam.

The ring leader, former high school teacher William McCoggle, who admitted that "he did little more than sell transcripts, requiring no tests, homework or other academic work" through his continuing-education classes. He was founded guilty in November for fraud. He agreed to spend two years in the big house and must pay up to $100,000 in restitution.

And it doesn't end there. CNN.com says:

Hundreds of teachers who never took classes are being investigated for buying continuing education transcripts.

Last fall, Ohio's Otterbein College, which has about 3,000 students, revoked nearly 10,000 credits given to 657 teachers. It was one of five schools that prosecutors say provided the course credits through McCoggle's company, Move On Toward Education and Training. Last fall, Ohio's Otterbein College, which has about 3,000 students, revoked nearly 10,000 credits given to 657 teachers. It was one of five schools that prosecutors say provided the course credits through McCoggle's company, Move On Toward Education and Training.

Some say that the firings and resignations was a bad idea, since it's the middle of the school year-they say it'll cause "disruption."

That rain already left the station. Should I even bother explaining how messed up the situtition is? No? Well, I'll do it anyway. We adults seem to be terrified of setting an example for America's kids. Grown-ups-including parents-smoke, drink, curse, commit crimes, commit adultery, commit several acts of bigotry and expect children to act right. If we truely want kids to change their ways, we have to change ourselves. And I do mean we. I have issues, too. We all do. And we must deal with those issues for our children's-or our future children's-sake.

Educators Want to Make Black History Everyone's History

Now that February (a.k.a black history month) is gone, people aren't that concerned about the history of African-Americans. Heck some of them-black and whiter-never cared to begin with. But others want the history of my people (that's right, I'm black and I'm proud) to stay in our minds.

Some of these "others" are a part of the Amistad Commission- a program created by legislators to examine whether the slave trade is being adequately taught in New York schools. The Commission, of many that are scattered across the country (cool!), was named after the slave ship Amistad, which was, according to CNN.com, " commandeered by slaves who eventually won their freedom in the U.S. Supreme Court."

One of the teachers involved in the Commission, Hofstra University Professor Alan Singer, invaded Oyster Bay, NY. to educate its schools (using visual aids-18th and 19th century newspaper ads from slave owners seeking help in capturing their runaway slaves on Long Island, diaries and other publications to document the slave trade in New York-and other methods such a rap music.) about slavery, which didn't exist in southern states alone. Slavery also occured in New York. Did you know that? I sure didn't.

CNN Offers "Cheat Sheet" for Standard Tests

Hello, parents!

Whether you know this or not, whether you like it or not, standarized tests are one of the biggest obstacles that your children must tackle through in order to move on to the next step. Is it fair that the your kids accomplishment mean next to nada if he or she doesn't do well on the MEAP, the ITBS, the CRCT and/or TAKS? No way, but that how we do things around here in the U.S. of A. And it doesn't end with the students. As you may know, these tests also affect the reputation of America's schools, their staff, even the states in which they live (remember No Child Left Behind?).


But what's worse about all these test is that many of us (probably) don't even understand how the scores of these tests are calculated.

If it makes you feel better, CNN.com has an article that'll help explain the whole standerized test process.

Katrina gives New Orleans schools a chance at reconstruction

Here's a photo of Hardin Elementary School, one of the many schools in New Orleans that were slaughtered by Hurricane Katrina...




CNN.com says that after Katrina was through with New Orleans,

But some administrators think that Katrina's wrath may lead to wonderful possibilities. Before the tragedy, New Orleans's school had "slimy mildew clinging to classroom walls for years, the termite-eaten floors, the paint peeling from school ceilings. " For decades "buildings were neglected. Kids weren't learning. Millions of dollars were squandered or stolen." Now New Orleans has a chance to rebuild its schools and make them stonger than before. All they need is about $1 billion.

Educators, however, have a solution: "Schools would be grouped in clusters run by managers. Students would have choices about where they'd attend. And most money and hiring decisions would shift from the superintendent's office to the principals, who are considered more attuned to their schools' needs."

I never thought there would be a bit a good spring up from such a disaster, but the plan sounds interesting. Where will they get these "managers" from? Is it smart to hand over money and hiring decisions to principals? What it more schools are being picked-by students-than others? Good luck, New Orleans! I hope your plan works.


MORE NEWS TO COME