Greenhaus Education and Other "Effects"

My daughter sent me this article, Parents are Freaking Out Because They Can't Answer a 7-year Olds Exam Question,  the other day concerning a Twitter posting about a math problem that was frustrating students, parents, and lots of people on Twitter obviously. Here's the problem: The issue is there are two answers that could be correct: 65, if you use the 'work backwards' method, subtracting out the 17 that just got on from the 63 and then adding back the 19 that got off.  The other answer is 46, which results from simply subtracting out the 17 that just got on from the 63 currently on the train.  The teachers exam rubric/'test key" stated the correct answer as 46.  Hence - all the confusion, because that would mean the 19 was an unneeded number. The real problem here, and it is NOT an isolated situation, is that this question is very poorly worded, and thus open to both interpretations. The work-backwards approach assumes that the question is asking ...

I have read a couple articles of late that have kind of pissed me off.  Mainly because they perpetuate the ideas that 1) The Common Core State Standards are handed down from the Federal Government, and 2) that the CCSS are the driving force behind Standardized Testing.  While there are connections, both claims are a complete disservice to the purpose behind and the reason for The Common Core State Standards. And they completely ignore the fact that Standardized Testing is actually controlled by testing companies and publishing companies. I've already posted on this before - " What People Think Is Common Core ISN'T"  and "Common Core, It's NOT the Devil"   so I apologize now for being repetitive. One article I read last night, entitled " What's the largest number you can represent with 3 digits? Nope. It's not 999."   is a great article. I agree with everything the author said and applaud his sticking by his daughter, the second teache...

I am sitting on my porch and trying to do some fine edits on my first 2 chapters of my dissertation proposal and start my third chapter.  Naturally, I am doing anything but that!  I was looking at my twitter feed ( @vpigreenie ) and saw this post from @iEducator about five careers that let you have fun on the job, of which teacher is the number one career for having fun.  As the article puts it: "Fun factors: According to the U.S. Department of Labor, teachers often "use games, music, artwork, films, books, computers, and other tools to teach basic skills." And because teachers are constantly around kids, it's more natural to be light-hearted than it might be in a workplace full of adults". Looking back on my 17 years in the classroom, I would agree that I definitely did have a lot of fun.  I was one of those teachers that used games, let my students work together and talk in class as we learned, and used the computers as much as possible. However - es...

(I cannot believe I haven't posted for a week! My goal of at least 2 posts a week, preferably more, seems to be getting more difficult, especially as my travel schedule picks up.  I will have to be more diligent.  The good thing about the travel though is I am out and about talking with teachers, teaching myself, and so getting some fodder for my posts.  This should get the creative juices going). I wanted to reflection on another talk from the Learning without Frontiers 2012 because I find them quite thought provoking, especially as I go back and re-listen to them.  (See my previous 2 reflections, "Technology Is Neutral" and Mobile Devices In Education ). The talk I want to focus on this post is from Francis Gilbert , a teacher in the UK. Francis gave a great talk called Escaping the Education Matrix , which I have posted below. I agree with all Francis' points, and, even though he was speaking from a UK perspective, I found what he said about assessment a...