Pop Quiz: Doodling Dongs
Throughout my training to become a teacher there was one area that was woefully neglected. It is something that I have to deal with on a weekly basis in one form or another. I am talking about the epidemic of drawing penises all over my classroom. Go ahead laugh, it …
A Demonstration of Newton’s Third Law
Background Newton’s Third Law states that for every action force there is an equal and opposite reaction force. In other words when I walk and I push on the floor with 650 N of force (~145 lbs) the floor pushes back on me with the same 650 N of force. …
Streams of Consciousness: Science Olympiad
This past weekend I had the pleasure of being an event supervisor at one of the regional sections of the Science Olympiad here in the Midwest for the second year in a row. If you are not familiar with this competition it is for K-12 (this one was just middle …
Charter school admissions, parents and homework, zero tolerance and using videos in the classroom: Required Reading 3/20
Okey dokey-here’s what we’ve got: Some of the ins and outs of how Charter schools can select their students. The issue of Backfill. Are parents helping kids with their homework really helping? Really? So called “zero tolerance” has a lot of ridiculous aspects, like this kid who got suspended for …
Pop Quiz: Woo Hoo!! Spring Break!!
*Disclaimer: Daylight Savings Time has turned me into the walking dead. I have not functioned properly since before the time change. This pop quiz may read like stereo instructions because of this. Sorry. This week is “spring” break for me at most of the colleges I teach at. Of course …
Special Ed Defense, Teach for America, Khan Academy, and more math, earlier- Required Readings 3/9/2014
Everybody’s growing up or out!!! The struggle continues: a mom explains why her child deserves a education., even though he’s disabled. Why is this even a question? Some interesting developments over at Teach for America– someone over there is finally listening to the critics or maybe they think it’s a …
Educational dystopia, school reform, student data protections, USDA response, what can we do about the schools in NOLA, academia as a lifestyle choice- Required Reading 2/27/2014
Well, what has Speecharella been reading this week? Lots- Thanks to Alexander Russo for pointing us to this dystopian educational thriller- The Newman Resident. Though the task is somewhat akin to finding the corners in a circle, this is a pretty good take on making sense of the school reform …
Which kind of preschools work, which kind of sex-ed doesn’t, a meeting of minds and the subtext of “No excuses”- Required Reading 2/20/2014
Okay- here’s some of the latest if not all the greatest: Some recent discussion on the value of full day preschool. Think Progress hooks us up with some un-cheering data about what kind of sex ed doesn’t work. Can you guess? Ok, I’ll tell you: the kind that doesn’t tell …
Pop Quiz: Of Ferret Pee and Snake Hisses
No corny Valentines Day Stories for Pop Quiz. I only recognize the true holiday of my birthday today!!! In celebration of this wondrous day I give you a corny teaching story instead. Years and years ago I taught a physics lab class at a farm town University. Normally, I would start my …
School shootings, standardized tests, library of congress for teachers, art for students with autism and cuddly literacy- Required Reading 2/13/2014
Maybe it’s just because I have the flu and am feeling very dark , but I’ve somehow collected some really depressing links. I’ve discarded some of them but I have to put something in this column. I’ll wrap it up with a little cheer. First the yucky: Via the Answer …