Wednesday Open Thread

The subject for every speaker on tonight's Board meeting public testimony list?  The Student Assignment Transition Plan for next year.

As well, there is now an Amendment 5, put forth by Directors Pinkham and Burke.  It gives Licton Springs K-8 the same amount of space they currently have at Lincoln with the intent to help them to grow to 250 students.  It hopes to prod that growth by encouraging collaboration between the LS K-8 program and Robert Eagle Staff Middle School program.  (There are just four amendments total with one already withdrawn.)  The growth will be revisited no sooner than two years from 2017-2018.

Did you know the Superintendent has a blog?  He does.  I would not have known this as no formal announcement was put on the website homepage; I saw it in a tweet.


Experts in the U.K. are calling for "official guidelines" for children on the use of electronics with screens.  From the Guardian:

It is one of a series of measures outlined in a letter to the Guardian, highlighting what it describes as the increasingly “toxic” nature of childhood, and signed by 40 senior figures, including the author Philip Pullman, the former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the psychotherapist Susie Orbach and the childcare expert Penelope Leach.

It is 10 years since the group sent its first letter to the media, expressing concern about the way it believes children’s health and wellbeing are being undermined by “the decline of outdoor play, increasingly screen-based lifestyles, a hyper-competitive schooling system and the unremitting commercialisation of childhood”.

 In the U.S., this professor tells his students, "Leave your laptops at the door to my classroom."

Focus is crucial, and we do best when monotasking: Even disruptions of a few seconds can derail one’s train of thought. Students process information better when they take notes — they don’t just transcribe, as they do with laptops, but they think and record those thoughts. One study found that laptops or tablets consistently undermine exam performance by 1.7 percent (a significant difference in the context of the study)

Missouri has a new law that would give students who engage in physical fights (and someone gets hurt) at schools a whopper of a criminal record.  It is less about fights at schools and more about "how the state views instances of assault.) From The Huffington Post:

A letter to parents and guardians that Hazelwood School District in St. Louis County sent recently said that a law taking effect Jan. 1 could result in school fights being treated as class E felonies. Class E felonies could result in up to four years in prison. The letter said these types of acts were previously treated as misdemeanors.

Student(s) who are caught fighting in school, bus or on school grounds may now be charged with a felony (no matter the age or grade level), if this assault is witnessed by one of the School Resource Officers/police officers (SRO) or if the SRO/local law enforcement officials have to intervene.”

From The Columbian, a story about the Evergreen School District's move to less/no homework with some schools offering after-school clubs.

“They expose them to things they may never try,” Pope said. “It shows you that you can learn something new and take on a challenge.”


“We keep asking people in crisis to act middle class, and when they don’t, we punish them,” she said.


Beegle praised Evergreen’s efforts to replace homework with clubs, saying they’re giving opportunities to students who may otherwise never be able to afford to go to camp or participate in other after-school activities.

“We are removing the poverty obstacles and giving families and children the luxury to learn,” she said.

KING-5 has a story about baseball players at Rainier Beach High School who are trying to raise funds for new equipment and support players living in poverty.

 Gerald Smiley is the new baseball coach. He’s a former professional player, but he returned to Rainier Beach High School with the hopes of saving the team. When Smiley first took over, his budget for the season was zero. In just about a week, people from all over the community and different parts of the world have chipped in to raise more than $13,000.

From KNKX, surprising results from UW research; kids put more importance on gender than race.

It's not that kids don't know these racial categories; it's not that their not aware that race exists; They have just learned that this is not something that can be talked about. As adults that should raise our own awareness of what are the implications of that. Because of the gender differences and the way that kids are thinking about gender and race, it's a reminder to us as adults to be aware of the stereotypes and the socialization messages that kids are receiving."

What's on your mind?