Critical Thinking Pathways
"The highest form of critical thinking? A person disagreeing with her/himself."
Empowering students to gather, organize, analyze and choose thoughts is the goal of teaching.
No Common Opinion on the Common Core
Poll: Common Core support among teachers plummets, with fewer than half supporting it
Anybody watching the escalating battle across the country over the Common Core State Standards and aligned standardized testing
will hardly be surprised by a new national poll which reveals a
significant loss of support over the last year — especially among
teachers, whose approval rating dropped from 76 percent in 2013 to
only 46 percent in 2014.
Originally, universal education in the United States was for the improved citizenry. It seems the Common Core focuses on creating more worker bees to help the world economy.
Student Filmmakers Get Caught Up in Immunization Debate
But no one expected the kind of attention that has lately muzzled one of
its most acclaimed works — a short documentary produced by an
extracurricular offshoot of the program.
The movie, “Invisible Threat,” bills itself as a report on “the science of disease and the risks facing a society that is under-vaccinated.”
Schools are becoming more rigid on the requirements of vaccinating students as whooping cough and measles cases increase.
Activities for Teaching Students How to Research With Google Books
Google Books can be a good research tool for students if they are aware of it and know how to use it.
Research is the best gift of Google.
Great Back to School Ed Tech Rubrics
The rubric for public speaking communicates especially well.
These are rather clear and precise rubrics to help students analyze their production goals and success in academic work.
Top ed-tech stories to watch: Schools grapple with data privacy
As school leaders turn to software companies for help in collecting and
storing student data in the cloud, privacy advocates worry about what
will happen to the information—and whether it might be used for
marketing purposes.
No doubt of other privacy issues concern parents trying to maintain the security and safety of children.
Check out these websites for more interesting articles: Edudemic, eSchoolNews , and EdTechReview.
Make Social Learning Stick
Chromebook
Sales Top 5 Million, Largely on Education Front - See more at:
http://www.educationnews.org/technology/chromebook-sales-top-5-million-largely-on-education-front/#sthash.G77B7EFR.dpufMake Social Learning Stick: New Friends, New
For most children, making and keeping friends is essential to building confidence and having a sense of well-being at school.
Teachers and parents can reinforce behaviors and increase understanding of the meaning of friendship through these activities.
Some Kids Really Do Beat Autism, and That's Good News
The New York Times reported
last week that approximately ten percent of autistic children lose
their diagnoses, but no one seems particularly happy about it.
The quality of a student's personhood--including a disability--is a delicate topic for parents.
Plan For Special Education Substitutes Draws Concerns
Dozens of Baltimore classrooms could be staffed by long-term substitutes
when school begins, a plan drawing concern particularly because
special-education students — who often struggle the most academically —
could be the largest group affected.
Budgeting is usually the cause of the use of long-term substitutes. NCLB , and the serious requirements for qualified personnel in the classroom seemed to solve this problem. Apparently the crisis is raising its ugly head again, maybe as teachers retire.
Check out these websites for more interesting articles.
Gen Ed/Special Ed Teamwork 
What GenEd and SpecEd Need to Know About Each Other 
GenEd and SpecEd Communication
When GenEd and SpecEd Collaboration Really Works Putting the Puzzle Together http://melanielinktaylor.mzteachuh.org/2014/07/when-gened-and-speced-collaboration.html
When GenEd and SpecEd Collaboration Really Works: Playing To Each Other's Strengths 
