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SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Sunday at the Movies (Dyslexia)
Here's a quickie clip about dyslexia and a blog posting from the Federation for Children regarding a new HBO documentary on dyslexia which will premier on Oct. 29. YouTube link
"Last month, Steven Spielberg opened up about being diagnosed as dyslexic five years ago. While he was diagnosed as an adult, Spielberg speaks about the struggles of learning to read and being bullied in school. What helped him overcome his struggles? Making movies and his parents’ dedication to ensuring that he received the education that best fit his needs. Every night, Spielberg says in his first interview about his dyslexia, his parents worked with him and reviewed his homework.
"And while James Redford, not Steven Spielberg, is the director of a new HBO documentary on dyslexia called The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia, which premieres on Monday, October 29, both have a lot to say on the subject matter. The film profiles students and famous faces including Richard Branson, Charles Schwab, and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, all of whom have thrived despite—and sometimes in part because of—their dyslexia.
"Today, we still don’t know a lot about dyslexia. But we do know that people with dyslexia have normal and healthy brains that work differently. There are more tools nowadays to help students struggling to learn to read, including a new font called OpenDyslexic, which weighs letters down to make them easier to read. And of course, there is a private school voucher program in Mississippi that began this school year for students with dyslexia.
"As we learn more about dyslexia, we likely will see more educational options for students with special needs. In the meantime, we’ll be tuning into HBO on October 29 to check out The Big Picture."
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
New math for old
Michael Zwaagstra had a fascinating op-ed piece in Halifax's Chronicle Herald on Oct. 3. In reporting on Nova Scotia's plan to adopt the Alberta math curriculum. Unfortunately, a while back Alberta fell into the hands of mathematical snake oil peddlars, and the province's math scores are plummeting. Already very low, Nova Scotia's math scores figure to drop even further once the new curriculum has been adopted.
But this was not the most interesting part of Mr. Zwaagstra's piece, in which he described a talk given by one of the head snake oil peddlars, Marian Small. During the course of her presentation, Dr. Small emphasized that there were many ways to get the right answer and teachers should be open to many different techniques. But when Mr. Zwaagstra asked whether teachers should accept the standard algorithms, Dr. Small replied in the negative. And when other members of the audience followed up, Dr. Small shut down their questions and proceeded with her presentation. As Mr. Zwaagstra writes: "It was ironic that Dr. Small emphasized the importance of acknowledging the validity of other perspectives, but did exactly the opposite with her own presentation. She gave a one-sided lecture and refused to seriously dialogue with anyone who expressed an opposing view."
It is actually pretty hard for me to believe that educators are still suckering for these "new" approaches - after some 50 years of experience with their implementation and mountains of research validating standard algorithms. But apparently it is the case.
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
We want it all - and we want it now!
Here's another in our series of troubling news being followed by cries for something additional to be taught in school (see our earlier blog on this). The latest is in response to the high prevalence of depression among young people - suggesting that schools should be teaching kids how to be happy.
Now, it's interesting (and convincing) that happiness can be taught, but a big question in my mind whether schools are the right vehicle for happiness lessons. I also wonder whether schools will be able find the time - after teaching financial literacy, sex education, swimming, fire safety, anti-smoking, computer literacy, environmentalism, drug education, media literacy, anti-bullying programs, exercises to combat obesity, job preparation courses, and - oh yes, academics.
I guess what I'm saying is - we ought to agree on what we want schools to teach, because they simply can't teach it all. And just maybe, if as seems likely we can't agree on what we want schools to teach, we should have differentiated schools, with different emphases, so everyone can choose the school that's best for their family. This just might turn out to be a different - and just as effective - route to student happiness. H/T TB
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
The Ontario Teachers’ Ponzi Scheme
Today's blog is for our readers who are Ontario teachers counting on retirement benefits. According to this analysis, your pension plan is already more than $45 billion in debt and sinking - meaning that either new teachers are going to have to bear a crushing financial burden in order to support your retirement or else you're simply not going to get the benefits you're counting on. I suppose a third option is that the Ontario government will bail out your pension plan, but that's not looking good at the moment either.
As the last paragraph points out, your unions are not helping matters one bit. H/T RW
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Education Legacy - At What Cost?
Following up on Malkin's post yesterday, I think that Moira MacDonald's SUN column today is a pretty good summary of the "education" premier's legacy. Her conclusion, trying to be the most liked premier has cost Ontario too much.
The result? Post-secondary instututions and employers still complain that graduates do not have even the basic skills needed to succeed.
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose
So Dalton McGuinty, the premier of Ontario, has announced he is stepping down and proroguing parliament until a successor has been chosen. As this process will undoubtedly take a couple of months, the prorogation will conveniently take the pressure off a scandal-ridden and union-besieged government. When the prime minister prorogued the federal parliament a while back, he was raked over the coals by the media, but apparently it is okay for Dalton McGuinty to prorogue.
I had to write about Mr. McGuinty's resignation, because it is big news, but truthfully I don't think it will make any difference to the education file. Look for more of the same.
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Our Children, Our Choice - Documentary Gives Meaning to Parent Power
The Society for Quality Education today released the first installment of its four-part video series, Our Children, Our Choice, a hard-hitting documentary short film that provides a powerful and compelling narrative on the need for school choice.
"Today's release, It's Not Fair to Ontario Parents, is an overview of what school choice can mean for parents and teachers," said SQE Executive Director Doretta Wilson. "Like the other videos in this series it talks about real people with real problems and most importantly, it offers real solutions."
The SQE hopes the Our Children, Our Choice documentary -- which will also be available on YouTube and on the SQE website --- will raise awareness as to how school choice can benefit Canada's educational system.
As Fred Gore, principal of Scholar's Hall, puts it in one of the videos, "I always find it sad that Ontario is perhaps the only province in Canada that does not allow parents the choice, or the privilege of choice, in education."
The other videos in the Our Children, Our Choice documentary series are:
• It's Not Fair to Poor Parents, looks at choice as an essential to making education more equitable for all families.
• It's Not Fair For Parents Who Don't Live in Alberta, examines the success of Alberta's charter schools.
• It's Not Fair to Bullied Students, is a sobering look at how school choice can be a solution for life or death situations of bullied students.
The SQE plans to release one video a week over the next month.
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Sunday at the Movies (Going Viral)
This video is of interest to us at School for Thought as we get ready to launch a series of videos. Stay tuned.
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Why we do what we do
Your daily overdose of cuteness..... H/T LL
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Maybe truant officers were a good idea after all…........
There are three main determinants of student achievement: what is taught, how it is taught, and how long it is taught for. School for Thought mainly focuses on effective teaching, but perhaps we should be paying more attention to the other two elements. A new analysis from Johns Hopkins University makes the point that the most effective teaching in the world won't help absentee students.
The fact that most education systems don't track absenteeism (it's the same in Canada) shows educators' surprising lack of concern over chronic absentees. The Johns Hopkins University study reports that some American states have begun tracking absenteeism and then moving heaven and earth in an effort to ensure that all students attend school every day. Perhaps Canadian authorities could take a leaf from their book. H/T TB