Proposed hit to undocumented students in Alabama

We've had a few recent discussions around undocumented student status, and I thought some of y'all would be interested in this article, which is about this piece of legislation in Alabama--dubiously named the "Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act"--that includes a prohibition on K-12 students' "participation in any extracurricular activity outside of the basic course of study." And of course, it's all in the name of jobs. It sounds like it's made it through a couple rounds of how-a-bill-becomes-a-law, though there will certainly be legal challenges if it passes.

Balloon Art!

I clicked on this link because I thought it might have something good for Devan's balloon-stencil-coolness project. But really, it's just a bunch of cool balloon sculptures. And I learned a new word: airigami--the fine art of folding air. I mean, how fun would it be to have this giant gumball machine around?? Balloon sculpture would be a pretty fantastical thing to bring into the classroom.

Procrastination Station!

Cyberped-tastic video project:

Dave Eggers on Teacher Salaries, etc.

Okay, so this opinion piece is not just by Dave Eggers, it's co-written by Ninive Clements Calegari. I didn't know who that is, but turns out she's a cofounder of 826. The authors are arguing for the importance of increased teacher salaries in education reform, particularly as a tool to lower teacher turnover. As we see a lot of, examples are made of Finland, South Korea, and Singapore. But as the article illustrates, beyond just salaries, their successes can be attributed to very different treatment and perception of the teaching profession on a national level. So the authors don't contend that increased salaries are The Solution to American Education, but that the changes it would affect could facilitate a broader progress in the attitudes toward teachers and education reform.

And, of course, Dave Eggers is a great writer (I think). And if you haven't been to 826 Chicago, you should definitely check it out! It's a great resource for students (free writing programs), and the storefront sell fun spy toys, as well as published work by youth.

And, because I know you all like TED talks:

But hey, I guess Osama bin Laden was just nabbed. Sooo we can just divert all the military dollars to schools, right?

Sir Ken Robinson says some other cool stuff about learning

Thanks, Lee, for the Sir Ken Robinson lecture - nothing like a video like to that to send me into a two-hour TED spiral. I don't always like everything the man says (or maybe just how he says it), but about 95% of the time I'm like, 'Yes! I want to show this to everyone!' Anyways, here's another couple videos if you want to hear more from him. In these, he isn't addressing the STEM issue as explicitly, but places similar emphasis on learning and education that fosters creativity, critical thinking, and purposeful action.

This one has fun graphics! You'll like it!

This one's less pretty, but definitely still worth some brain time.

Organization in Chicago Charters

I've accidentally fallen a bit behind on my blogging--which is silly because I've been enjoying it--but here is an article I meant to put up awhile ago regarding unionizing in charter schools. As it's shamefully two weeks old, this may be old news to people, but I think it's an important conversation in education right now.

I am a supporter of organizing (or at least the right to), and so the anti-union rhetoric in many Chicago charters is disturbing to me, especially since they seem to be doing a lot of the hiring these days. So beyond the unfortunate situations for some of the teachers who have attempted organizing, what I really appreciate about this article is the cases where charters and unions have been able to make it work, as well as the sentiments from our own C.T.U. regarding moving toward that goal. Often the charters and the unions are presented as binaries, but both share the priorities of high quality teaching and learning, both are a serious part of the educational landscape, and schools would be best served by their ability to work together. If the big sticking point for some charters is the need to not be tangled in the bureaucracy of the traditional big union contract, then perhaps some kind of personalized reconceptualization could work, as exemplified by the Green Dot network in L.A. (which I don't know enough about to make any declarations).

Of course there are fundamentals of professional organization that will need to be held on to, but unfortunately I hear more about the unions consenting to reform in the name of progress and anti-union charters and policymakers voicing a lot less willingness to cooperate. Of course, as this article illustrates, that is not the case for all charter school administrations, and hopefully there will continue to be working examples of how these organizations can find common ground in order focus on our most pressing educational goals--quality student learning--which I'd like to think all sides share.

More Detroit: Art Stuff

While taking a far-too-often dip into my facebook newsfeed, I saw this article about a student art project that has grown into a much more developed initiative. The artist--Veronika Scott--is a student at CCS (Center for Creative Studies, an art school in Detroit), where she began creating sleeping-bag-winter-coat-backpacks for some of the city's 20,000 homeless citizens. Her assignment was to create a design that filled a need, and apparently it did so much so that she founded a non-profit organization to continue the project. Always exciting to see a school project that extends beyond its own walls! Reminds me a bit of Michael Rakowitz's paraSITE project that I know a lot of people have seen, which also seeks to address the needs of homeless people through innovative and often collaborative design.

As many of you probably know, Detroit, in all of its hullabaloo, is also home to a vibrant contemporary art scene. Many people are putting their money on the arts as instrumental in the city's progress, and the Rust Belt to Artist Belt conference is addressing that kind of transformation. This year--this week, actually--the conference will be held in Detroit, and Scott will be serving as a panelist.

Also, when I was home for fake-spring-break, I was able to check out MOCAD--the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. It's a small, non-collecting space that opened just a few years ago, housed, quite appropriately, in a former auto dealership. Both the shows that were up on my visit were really great. It's definitely worth a quick visit if you're ever in the area. I was so happy that their shows were thesis-relevant that I gave them $5.

Major Charter Overhaul in Detroit

I don't even know where to start with this one, as it's obviously a super-complex situation. I haven't been paying enough attention to all the ins and outs of DPS since moving to Chicago, so I don't feel comfortable speaking on this with any authority. I know that growing up in the area, I was 'against' charters--though in retrospect I wasn't all that knowledgable on the topic.

As many of you know, I spent some time working in a charter high school here, which certainly complicated my views. I can obviously speak on this for days, but to super-simplify: I don't think it's the best systemic answer for public education, but I get the sense of urgency on the part of parents and students who perhaps don't have access to the type of rigorous academic environment they see as desirable for college preparation. I don't think for-profit companies should be running schools, but there are benevolent individuals and organizations that have started charters, and I do get the perspective of many educators who love working in a school where they feel effective and safe. I understand that, on the whole, charters are not more successful than traditional public schools, but I will only speak for the school I was at--and not necessarily those of the the network it's spawned, where administration differs, but where a few of my fantastic teacher-friends work. This school is certainly not for everyone, but it has been great for a lot of students; I think it's important to keep that in mind when making structural critiques of the charter system (which I do). Okay, that was a little more than the two cents I intended to insert, but man, this education thing is tricky.

Anyways, read the article, and I look forward to the imminent debates on the DPS topic. Detroit is not Chicago, but there are always lessons we can take away. Ultimately, the biggest tragedy is that it's come to this. My initial reaction is that this charter overhaul is scary, but of course I can't speak for the students, teachers, and parents of Detroit, who have been fighting for reform for longer than I've been around. Stay tuned....

NCLB in Michigan/Newspapers

I just put this up on the NING, but I wanted to add a couple more talking heads to the Bill Gates conversation tonight - but obviously no big deal if you don't get a chance to read it in the next few hours. This was a sidebar on bigger article in the Detroit News on No Child Left Behind. Obviously, some of the article focuses on Michigan-specific issues, but it's worth a read for everyone.

The Detroit News tends to lead toward the right, and between that and its often subpar quality, I've never spent much time with it, but it is one of the two major newspapers [barely] surviving in Michigan (the other being The Detroit Free Press). My dad reads four+ newspapers a day, and remains a loyal subscriber, even though he probably gets more out of the usually higher quality journalism of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. The Detroit newspapers can't even afford to be printed dailies anymore, so I suppose they need all the support they can get.

My initial response to the nytimes.com changes was to be bummed, but I do think that its fair. I mean, I haven't paid for a print subscription in years, in lieu of using the online services . . . and I know many others do the same. Allegedly they'll be offering a university discount soon, and right now it's only $0.99 a week (a special offer). In college, my roommates and I split the student-discounted price for the printed version, and it was very reasonable. So I guess either the funding structure of newspapers needs to be changed radically, or we all need to start paying a little more to support our newspapers.

Teens talk about what they'd plan for a museum...

Here is the link to the NYT blog that asked teenagers, "What Would You Plan If a Local Museum Paid You to Attract Teens?" Interesting companion piece to Lindsay's article.

Student Walkouts in L.A.!

The Los Angeles public schools have gotten a lot of press in the last year for their pink-slip and teacher assessment tactics, and today there have been student-led demonstrations and walkouts across the city - exciting stuff! In particular, students are speaking up against drastic cuts to humanities and arts programs.

Here is a video that shows some of the action at a middle school where the students decided to keep their protests on-campus. The awkward tween girl interviewed here is *shocker* not so eloquent, but I love that the students are using their arts education--in this case music--to illustrate what is being taken away from them.

Rahm's Arts & Culture Team

Here's a quick rundown of the members of the Arts & Culture Transition Committee, from Time Out Chicago. Apparently this list is in response to a less-than-flattering reaction from a WBEZ blog.

Cyberped and Revolution!

The director of Al Jazeera points to the roles of participatory cyber-technology in the recent Arab uprisings. He discusses the value of global connections for youth who have come up under repressive dictatorships, as well as how digital technology has been crucial in enabling Al Jazeera to get news and images from citizens in countries where they couldn't get reporters on the ground (like Tunisia). And in another illustration of the power of the internet, this TED talk just happened a couple days ago!

Our harshest critics?

I came across this while *procrastinating* after looking at the Google Art Project lesson plan Kelsey posted:

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/how-important-is-arts-education/

It asked students (13 and up) what they think of arts education. I didn't read every comment (there are a ton), and certainly NYT comment boards are not any kind of empirical study, but there's some really interesting stuff here. Those who responded are generally supportive of arts education--though not always for reasons I would use in a debate--but there are also comments (see #1) which serve as a reminder that we will have students coming through our doors who have already decided that they don't like art, or it's pointless (and so on). And even students who 'like' art can present challenges based on their perceptions of what art class involves. Not always the most comforting thoughts, but important to keep in mind as I develop my approaches to teaching art.

That said, it's fantastic that there's this whole section which asks teens to reflect on contemporary issues, in a pretty nonthreatening (anonymous) way. I know that involving student voice in curriculum can be easier said than done, but this is nice place for a reality check. I'm sure when I'm teaching I'll need to be reminded to really honor my students' reflections and prejudices.

CReATE Forum

I'm glad we were able to attend this forum on public education at UIC last night. It's the kind of event that I always intend to attend more of . . . but don't have a great track record of making it to. I think that with all of our wonderful academic dialogue at SAIC, it's really important to be mindful of our purposes beyond our school walls, and forums like that are a space where the academic and 'real world' meet, ideally to enhance both. And I think several of the speakers addressed that - that it's great for lots of voices to be able to come together and talk about how we want similar things, but a very crucial part of the equation is what we make happen on the ground, outside of those rooms. I'm a little unclear as to how I will continue to navigate these issues as a student, beyond attending events like this and attempting to raise awareness, but I do appreciate getting amped up like that - sometimes it's just what I need to get my head out of my books. And really, it's very exciting to be involved in an arena that so many people care about so deeply.

And on that note, I wanted to share that I think Jon Stewart has been really spot-on with his Wisconsin coverage. I've fallen out of my Daily Show habit in the last couple years, but I've been having a bit of a frienaissance in the last couple weeks, keeping up with the shows the day after (online, if you don't have cable like me). He's been really great about illustrating a lot of the systemic issues with union-busting, and has been an advocate for teachers and bargaining rights in general. Anyways, here is Monday night's episode, which I saw after the forum last night. (The Wisconsin/teacher bits are in the first half.)

This sounds pretty awesome...

There's a warehouse with free art supplies for teachers in New York. Do we have resources like this in Chicago? Jessica says she thinks there's a CPS secret location - anyone have any knowledge?

Bright Shiny Objects!

Look at what graphics can do! I've heard of people making fun of USA Today because of their use of colored graphs--under the snobby assumption that they're a dumbed-down analysis for people who don't want to read. Imagine if newspapers with wide readership like that featured more graphs that "explain everything that's wrong with America."

Daley Forever!

Did you see any of these?

Dramatic Cuts for DPS

Wowza - class sizes of 60?! Detroit Public Schools is no stranger to bureaucratic insanity, but I will be definitely be keeping up on how this one plays out.

In light of our mayoral situation . . .

Here is a compelling case study of John Fetterman, the controversial and innovative mayor of a blighted post-industrial town outside of Pittsburgh. While the workings of Braddock, PA (pop. 2,700) are on a very different scale from Chicago, there is certainly wisdom we can glean from his examples of dramatic urban renewal initiatives; just as we aim for arts education to cultivate diverse perspectives and creative problem-solving, the lessons of this town can be a jumping-off point as we consider how we'd like our new leadership to proceed.

Notably, Fetterman's programming places heavy priority on the arts and education and social justice. That said, he has done a lot of his work by side-stepping community accountability and creating projects through his own nonprofit, which has become a major landowner in Braddock.

It's kind of lengthy, but worth a read.

Education Week Article

I really enjoyed Emily's article selection: "The Skills Connection Between the Arts and 21st-Century Learning," by Bruce D. Taylor. For the most part, the ideas discussed are not new to me, but the language functions really well to articulate a lot of complex points that often have me tripping over my words and running my mouth. Not having gone to art school for undergrad, many of the arguments Taylor makes for contemporary arts education echo my motivations to pursue a career in this field (I'm pretty sure there were some similar sentences in grad school essays). Further, I often find myself in education-related conversations with friends in which I have a lot of trouble clearly communicating my positions on current issues or even what I'm doing in this program and am always interested in articles like this which synthesize and articulate my points much better than I do.

Found on Facebook

I realize that I find a lot of good articles, sources, etc. via my 'friends'' posts on Facebook. I imagine that if I was utilizing more online forums (Twitter, etc.), this would be coming from more places, but as of now I suppose I have enough resources to keep me occupied. There are a lot of people who I 'hide' from my newsfeed (for various reasons, but mostly because they aren't actually friends and they post a lot of stuff I don't care to read), but on the flip side, there are a handful people who I'm not in contact with, but leave up only because they post interesting links.

I came across this article on a quick peek, and it prompted me to start taking note of how much internet information I am receiving from just a few places.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/02/15/133748476/bees-who-work-for-the-police?sc=fb&cc=fp

Personal issues aside, this article is worth a quick read.

Blogging Break-Ice

I've actually been thinking about this class and this blog a lot since last week, and have come up with about four different things I've meant to blog (articles, technology frustration), but here it is on Tuesday...and I've procrastinated again. While this does reflect bad habits that permeate my everyday life, it also speaks to the unique relationships I've had while becoming acquainted with new technologies, which I will attempt to delineate at a later time.

For now, so I can get this blog rolling, here is a link:

http://www.isacs.org/resources/calendar/detail.asp?id=194

This is a conference one of my aunts (a middle school art teacher at a private school near Detroit) is attending this Thursday, here in Chicago. It's a 'diversity summit' for an association of independent schools (ISACS) that I don't know anything about, but the topics sound really interesting--particularly because it's concerning how these issues are being discussed in the world of private schools, which I don't know as much about.

My Most Relied Upon Internet Site

Seeing as I'm not great at the internet yet, my primary go-to resource is nytimes.com; seeing as I mostly only read about food, my bookmarked site is:

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/dining/index.html