AZLTE - in 2013

Dear Arizona Literacy Teacher Educators,

    

      The SOS Video we just added to our website is from 2011. But, it's great stuff and we wanted to share it.  Any comments?

David

tucson raging grannies will be singing this outside the movie theatre as people go in. then we'll go inside and take part in the public discussion following the movie. feel free to use it for your own local protests at showings of 'waiting for superman'

Waiting for Superman [tune: Ta Ra Ra BoomTeeYay] Carole Edelsky, Tucson Raging Grannies

Waiting for Superman--

Billionaires' latest scam

This propaganda shtick

Makes people give up quick

On our own public schools.

Gates's gang knows the rules

For bringing out the tears

While playing up our fears.

The film blames unions first

Then teachers who are worst.

And charter schools they say

Come come to save the day.

Here's what this film leaves out.

The school it likes to tout

Is hea-vi-ly bankrolled

By funders we're not told.

And what the research shows

Is charters rarely glow.

Most're only just as good

As schools in the neighborhood.

And that discrepancy

'Tween us and countries 'cross the sea

Can be attributed to

What we contribute to.

In Finland's schools you'll find

They open up kids' minds.

In U.S. schools we're pressed

To prep kids for the tests.

Waiting for Superman

Neglects to tell the plan

To privatize our schools

For which this film's a tool.

Flores hearings

After a two-year hiatus we're going to try again to put this AZLTE blog to work.

I've invited Mary Carol Combs to fill us in on the recent evidentiary hearings in the long-lived Flores case.

Watch this spot!

DB

Patty put these questions about the blog under the Welcome message below.

Okay, David, I have accepted your challenge. Here is my question: do these comments get categorized   or does a reader have to read thru every entry to find the ones of interest? 

Do people usually bookmark the blogs they participate in so that they are easily accessed?

Do people usually look regularly at the blog so as to keep up? 

So Carole, Yetta & I have been conversing about the posting of syllabi . . .could that conversation be     on the blog?

If we wanted to have an ongoing discussion of syllabi and wanted to post syllabi for our colleagues     who are members of AZLTE to view, would we be able to do that?

[I'll put my response in the comments. DB]

Krashen Speech

Here are two links to Steve Krashen's talk at the AzLTE conference on January 26th:

     http://services.ltc.arizona.edu/MediaServices/carroll/krashen_azlte.wmx

     http://services.ltc.arizona.edu/MediaServices/carroll/krashen_azlte.mov

You may have to copy and past them into your browser. 

Steve Krashen Letter

As you prepare to join us at our conference to hear Stephen Krashen, you might
find reading his letters enlightening. This one from 12/18 was written to USA today.
More to come!!!
••••••••••••••

Please consider going to the USA today website and read today's editorials - USA Today argues for a longer school day, Susan Ohanian says no. You can add a comment!! Here is what I wrote:
Even if the goal is higher test scores, Ohanian is right and USA Today is wrong. Studies consistently show that out-of-school factors are powerful predictors of test scores in reading, more powerful than school/instructional factors. See the work of Jeff McQuillan (The Literacy Crisis: False Claims and Real Solutions), and the recent study by ETS (The Family: Americaâ*(TM)s Smallest School). The recent international PIRLS study, in fact, found that no instructional factors made any difference in predicting fourth grade reading scores in 40 countries. Only the environment counted, factors such as poverty and access to reading material. To increase literacy levels, we don't need a longer sachool, we need better school and public libraries.
S.K.