Thank A Teacher This Week!

Yesterday was the beginning of Teacher Appreciation Week for 2016. It goes without saying, we should always thank the teachers. They have a tough job. They are, in a sense, back-up parents for our children. For those who are parents out there, have you ever had that moment with one or more of your kids where you just want to escape to the Bahamas for a few years? We’ve all had those moments. Now imagine a classroom full of those kids, and it isn’t play time. It’s time to learn time. And teachers can’t (and shouldn’t) say a lot of the things parents say to their kids. Why wouldn’t we appreciate them? I’ve given teachers a rough time since my son entered Kindergarten, but they all deserve kudos for multiple reasons. So when you are out and about this week, let your child’s teacher know how much you appreciate them. Give them a WaWa gift card, or some flower seeds, or a card, or anything. We have a symbiotic relationship with teachers. We both want our children to succeed. We must appreciate them!

Mandatory Computer Science Class Part Of New Legislation Introduced Today By State Rep. Heffernan

House Bill 355 would make a computer science class mandatory for all public high schools by the 2020-2021 school year. Sponsored by State Representative Debra Heffernan, this class would also be used as part of the total credit for math and/or science requirements for graduation and directs the State Board of Education to approve this by the 2017-2018 school year. I took a computer class in high school. We have come a long way since the days of elementary computer programming and learning how to make a really bad pinball game on a computer. But have we come too far? As personalized learning looks to take over education in the next few years, our children will lose human instruction to modules on the screen. How long will it be until students are teaching teachers? Don’t laugh… it’s coming!

Peter Greene: The PTA Sells Out (Again)

Diane Ravitch's blog

Big news! The National PTA has joined forces with the Data Quality Campaign! What does this mean for your child? Nothing good. They have agreed that all children are data points, whose data can be mined by corporate entities. Who are those guys (as Butch Cassidy once asked)?

Peter Greene explains it here. He explains what all of this means, but only the National PTA can explain why they have joined forces with the Inside-the-Beltway Crowd, who see children as abstractions.

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