Friday Open Thread
Want to see something pretty unpleasant? Here's one charter school and their answer to how to encourage kids to get to college.
From The Guardian: are American universities turning away from "classic" books?
Last year, 309 colleges made such assignments. It's a great tradition, but something curious has happened since my days as a college student. Only eight schools assigned anything published before 1990, and only four assigned books that could by any stretch be considered classics.For American college students, 1990 appears to be a historical cliff beyond which it is rumored some books were once written, though no one is quite sure what. Why have US colleges decided that the best way to introduce their students to higher learning is through comic books, lite lit, and memoirs?
Here's a report - Beach Books 2012-2013: What Do Colleges and Universities Want Students to Read Outside Class? from the National Association of Scholar.
Friday funny video (snarky but funny) from the new fight-back group, Badass Teachers. I find Secretary Duncan's "look" particularly appropriate (at least for his education thinking).
I would ask what's on your mind but I think it's probably about eking out one last summer memory with your children and/or getting ready for school and/or wondering if there will be school next week. Again, I'm sure school will start and there will be no strike.
From The Guardian: are American universities turning away from "classic" books?
Last year, 309 colleges made such assignments. It's a great tradition, but something curious has happened since my days as a college student. Only eight schools assigned anything published before 1990, and only four assigned books that could by any stretch be considered classics.For American college students, 1990 appears to be a historical cliff beyond which it is rumored some books were once written, though no one is quite sure what. Why have US colleges decided that the best way to introduce their students to higher learning is through comic books, lite lit, and memoirs?
Here's a report - Beach Books 2012-2013: What Do Colleges and Universities Want Students to Read Outside Class? from the National Association of Scholar.
Friday funny video (snarky but funny) from the new fight-back group, Badass Teachers. I find Secretary Duncan's "look" particularly appropriate (at least for his education thinking).
I would ask what's on your mind but I think it's probably about eking out one last summer memory with your children and/or getting ready for school and/or wondering if there will be school next week. Again, I'm sure school will start and there will be no strike.
Comments
I guess that's how to "close the gap" in "reform" models: Teach students of color that "professionalism" is following the marching orders of White people.
The linked film is from Veritas College Prep, demonstrating Lemov Taxonomy Technique 39: Do It Again:
"Veritas Prep science teacher, Gary Bhagat, ensures that his scholars maintain excellence at all times. When they don't meet expectations they Do It Again. In the classroom Gary sprinkles in Technique 37: What to Do as well as Technique 42: No Warnings."
Does anyone know when EOC results and other state test scores will be sent? Do they come from the district or the state?
Does anyone know when the Source or the new system will be made live for parents to access? It's still not possible to access the old or the new system.
Thanks!
-an SPS parent
I wonder if this teacher his stuff at TFA's 5-week "Institute". This must be out of their handy toolkit of skills...
Lynn
And, I try not to be too cynical, but of course, there are crazy stories, like a family I know with 2 kids at the same school who were assigned to different bus routes. Different stop locations, different times. That's sort of the "easy" stuff they should be able to get right, yet mistakes happen and parents have little time to try to straighten it out before school starts.
Last I heard, kids from John Rogers, Olympic Hills, Sacajawea, and maybe Olympic View were going to be assigned to "JAMS" beginning next year (2014-15). Is that still the plan? If so, will they be assigned to a real comprehensive middle school, or will they be assigned to the K-8?
-NNE Parent
http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/cms/pages.phtml?pageid=294923
My understanding is JAMS will begin in 2014-2015 as a comprehensive middle school and JAK-8 will be assigned another building.
another parent
Confused?
Lynn
another parent
@Melissa - good to know that kids can't be assigned to a K-8 for middle school.
Will there be a chance to give feedback about the programming of JAMS at the upcoming public meetings, or will those meetings only deal with the boundary/feeder pattern issues?
Our family is seriously considering a move to Shoreline or Lake Forest Park, because we have very little hope that SPS will be able to pull off a high-quality middle school at JAMS. Several families we know have already made that move. I guess out-migration is one way to manage capacity?
-NNE Parent
Lack of out-migration IS one of the causes of the capacity management issue. You could be right. Or, it's just too much for the district to handle well.
http://www.king5.com/news/education/Seattle-parents-left-in-the-dark-about-school-assignments-221407511.html
My kids attend the same elementary school and last year their transportation assignments split them to two different stops/times. We just showed up at the stop that was most convenient for us with never any issue.
-StepJ
Not true. Medically fragile students get assigned to Orca. Autistic students get assigned to TOPS. Other Autistic students are assigned to South Shore. Nope, you don't put it down as a choice, you just get the assignment letter sending you to these K-8s. Don't like it? Nope you don't get to opt out either.
All these nobodies are students too.
Sped Parent
Thank you for that link. I never thought to look on the Jane Addams K-8 school website, much less scroll all the way down the page, past the principals, assistant principal, teachers, custodians, etc... for the name of the JAMS Planning Principal (I'm assuming she is the planning principal for JAMS, though she is just listed as "Planning Principal" (no JAMS).
So, my next question is: Who is Paula Montgomery, and when will prospective JAMS parents get to meet her? Also, will she be just the "planning" principal, or will she go on to become the principal of JAMS in 2014-15?
-NNE Parent
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/paula-montgomery/72/1a9/62b
Lake City Parent
Take Back Mann
HP
I'm expecting the Fall meetings to be lively to say the least.
Another NE mom
Depending who you talk to, co-location of JA-K8 and JAMS is still a possibility, for 2014-15 and possibly 2015-16. The new building for the K8 at Pinehurst is not due to open until 2016. If co-location happens, how overcrowded the building gets will depend upon how many JAMS students are assigned to the building during the interim period.
Add Hale portables to that mix, and, in my opinion, you get an over-committed mess at the Jane Addams campus. Clarity is desperately needed on this, as Shoreline does, at this point, look like a more rational choice for middle school for Lake City-area families, at least for families of current 4th and 5th graders.
-Another LC Mom
curious
Yes, one option would be to transfer to a Shoreline elementary school for 6th grade, though parents sometimes choose to pull their kids out of SPS and transfer to Shorelibe in 4th or 5th grade, so that their kids have more time to make friends at their new school (and continue to Jr High with those friends since Shoreline has elementary to middle school feeder patterns). This was pretty common place pre-NSAP, when the SPS middle school assignment for north-end kids was unpredictable and usually not Eckstein. Moving to Shoreline guarantees placement at a Shoreline school, but inter district transfers are slso an option, though only on a space - available basis.
-Another LC Mom
As I mentioned before, due to all the uncertainty around JAMS, our family is looking into moving North (Shoreline or Lake Forest Park), or possibly South (to whatever becomes the Eckstein attendance area). The process for switching to Shoreline schools is, indeed, a pain, though the elementary and junior high schools there seem to be excellent. We own our home, so this is not an easy decision for us.
I guess the JA/ESTEM K8 could be an option, but I've heard that the middle school expansion they made this year (doubling the size of their middle school program???) was just a temporary, one-year-only thing. Besides, enrolling our son at a K-8, when we've already done the elementary thing, seems a bit odd.
I'm glad to see that there has been a planning principal assigned to JAMS. Hopefully, this is an indication that SPS is committed to opening a solid comprehensive middle school in the Jane Addams building in 2014-15, but I'll need to see much more before our family accepts their JAMS assignment.
-NNE Parent
-StepJ
My son goes to an option school in a different neighborhood. We just assumed we would be driving him but we just got a letter stating her will have door-to-door bus service? He does not have an IEP. Is this a new policy or did SPS make a mistake?
8/31/13, 9:19 PM
It would help to know which school and "neighborhood" you are talking about. Salmon Bay gets busing from both Whitman and Hamilton service areas for example. TOPS had extended grandfathering for awhile, I don't know if that is still in effect.